They're Baaaaack!! Papi's hitting Again! - Peter

Well, yesterday's worries over Papi's apparent hitting woes were, as I'd hoped, just a temporary thing--if today's show is any indication. Played this afternoon at Oakland, the Sox won again--in classic Sox championship form. Papi came to bat in the 5th at 0 for 12 for the season and got his first hit, a single. But the best was still to come--later on, he put the Sox up two zip with a patented shot to right. I'd like to believe he read this blog after last night's post, but I know he can take care of Papi himself--and did so in a great way! Fittingly enough, who else would it come against but a former teammate--former Sox pitcher Alan Embree. After all, whose offerings would the Sox be most familiar with but former teammates?
This pair of games in Oakland also seems to have awakened Varitek's bat. In addition to last night's 2-4, he repeated today. Also got his second homer in as many days, though the official scorer will show only one. As I mentioned here last night, he was robbed of the first homer by bad umpiring. As clearly shown by replays, the ball hit the right field wall well above the yellow line that demarcates home run territory.
Manny almost got in on the fun today as well, driving a shot to dead center that had all the signs of going out, but that was caught almost 400 feet from home at the last second.
Other items of note: Youk now has the all time record for consecutive errorless games by a first baseman. Formerly held by Steve Garvey (who I could never stand), Youk is now at 194 games and counting. May you never flub one, Youk. Lester pitched a gem, almost as if he were imitating the performance of the Diceman last night. Keep it up guys--only 158 games to go 'til the post-season.
Separately, as usual, the crowd at Oakland Colosseum had so many Red Sox fans, many attired in Red Sox jerseys, tee shirts and caps, that it almost seemed like an adjunct to Fenway. Not suggesting it's as good as the Fens, but from a crowd loyalty standpoint, it's almost like being home--the cheers, the screams, even the "Let's go Red Sox" chants.