Into the Tigers' Den--Results Like Daniel--Peter

First off-before I get to tonight's game, I want to speak of something more serious than baseball; more sinister than a fastball high and tight. I want to talk about MURDER and the idiocy of some Yankees fans who have blogged on the web that the victim deserved it because he likes the Sox. More specifically, I want to speak of the cold blooded murder of a Red Sox fan for no other reason than he was a Sox fan. A moment of silence for Matthew Beaudoin who was cold bloodedly run down by a Yankees fan in her car after a verbal disagreement over their team differences. People, it's JUST A GAME! Yes, I follow the Sox and have for over 60 years, and I figuratively live and die for their play and everything they do. But I try to draw the line at insanity such as this. Now, in a moment of Yankee-loving insanity, one life has been taken and another, the killer's, has been ruined. She will, hopefully, spend the rest of her life in a cage with no hope of parole, where she belongs. Those fools who blog their joy at this outrage are no better than her and belong in the same cage. If they're allowed to walk the streets, I hope they are kept on a strong leash--a very short one at that. Just remember, no game, team or sports event is worth murder. There's enough misery in this world to go around multiple times without some idiot adding to it over their dislike of another's sports loyalties. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Matthew Beaudoin.

Now, on to tonight's game. The latest streak continues, now four in a row and six of seven. As with many of the other games in the recent streak, this was largely another team effort--with a select few the driving focus of the effort. Dice-K started the game and won his fifth decision without a loss. But this wasn't what you'd call beautiful--not by a long shot. Yes, the Diceman gave up only two hits and a single run in the five innings he pitched, but he also gave a free ride to eight Detroit batters. Trust me, it isn't easy to walk eight batters in five innings, much less the entire game, and still be the winning pitcher. But, check it out--at the end of the evening, he had the 'W'.

The pitching ranged over quite a bit of the spectrum. After the Diceman's departure, Chris Hansen, just back from the farm, let in two runs in an inning and two thirds, but was rescued just in time by Okajima. Oki came in and over an inning and a third, tossed 13 pitches, allowing a single hit and shutting down the Tiger attack. Then the expected followed--The Saver came in and tossed the same number of pitches, allowing nothing--absolutely nothing from the Bengals' bats. Once again, game over.

As far as the Bosox offense was concerned, it was a multi-faceted affair. Of eleven hits, six were for extra bases--three doubles and a trio of round trippers. Three Sox hitters rang up a pair of ribs each, including two each for Papi and Mike Lowell. This pair also each had a homer and their respective slumps appear more and more to be over every day. Papi now is among the top half dozen in the AL in homers and is also among the leaders in ribbies, having even taken over the lead in that category for the Sox from Manny. Papi went 2 for 4, and Lowell was 3 for 5, getting hits in his first three at bats, including the homer that started the Sox on their way for the evening.

A few post-game thoughts....the Sox seem to have once again returned to an all-round approach to their efforts, and, as such a policy usually does, it is definitely bearing fruit. Not only are the Sox winning, they are averaging over five runs a game in every win. Let's face it--even though the Tigers are playing well below their pre-season expectations, it is exactly what the Sox are doing that is and will continue to be necessary for them to continue to win games, open up and maintain a lead in their division and, later on, in the league. It's something to enjoy and savor, both for the present and for future memories.