But that meant I was going to miss today Patriot's Day game between the Red Sox and Rays. But I did something today I never did before: I taped a baseball game on my DVR, and did my utmost not to know a single thing that was going on at Fenway. And I was successful.
I got home just after 5 PM and turned on my TV and settled in with my remote. It was great, watching a three-hour game in almost exactly have the time, eliminating commercials and other pauses.
I saw that the Sox ran into a buzzsaw at Fenway named James Shields. Fenway is normally his House of Horrors (lifetime he was 1-9 going into Monday), but Shields, who has somehow gotten a nickname of "Big Game James" (name me the first big game he has ever pitched and won) was on his game, going 8 1/3 innings and getting the win as the Sox lost, 1-0.
Daniel Bard was good, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing just the one run (on a bases loaded walk) in the 7th. Bobby Valentine kept him in despite the fact he was clearly running out of gas. (Bard walked seven, including the final two hitters on four pitches each).
The game ended very frustratingly for the Red Sox. They got Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz on first and second with two outs, and Cody Ross was caught looking to end the game. But the pitch zone clearly showed that all five pitches closer Fernando Rodney threw were out of the strike zone. Another of MLB's incompetent umps, Larry Vanover, looked like he was in a rush to get out of Fenway. Terrific.
Anyway, the Sox took three of four from Tampa Bay and face the AL champion Texas Rangers at Fenway for two games starting tomorrow night.
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