The Beat(s) Go(es) On--Peter

Well, what began two nights ago in Baltimore and continued last night has continued--in every way. Manny, Jacoby and the Sox all continued their recent explosions. With Bartolo Colon pitching and gaining his third win since joining the Sox rotation (perhaps not quite so impressively this time as the prior two W's), the Sox won their third road game in succession and their first road 3 game streak of the year so far, 9-4. Going 3-5, Manny was a major contributor to the victory. In his third at bat, he drove a ball deep into the stands for a two run shot that left him with three RBI's for the day. A couple of pitches later, Lowell went deep for a back to back homer. At that point the game was, for all practical purposes, over as the Sox were up 7-1.

Ellsbury continued his assault on the Orioles with his baserunning, picking up another steal, his 7th in the three games so far in this series. This further cements his position as the leader in the AL in steals.

Overall, the Hose got a total of 16 hits, five of which were for extra bases, three of those being for the circuit. Manny and Lowell were like bookends in the hits department, each getting a double to go with his homer. Additionally, in another somewhat bookend performance, Manny and Jacoby each was 3-5 on the day.

The pitching was adequate--as good as it had to be to win. Colon surrendered all four of the O's runs in his six plus innings of pitching and got 5 K's. It was enough to get the W. The bullpen held the fort for the rest of the game with Lopez, Hansen and The Other Manny each throwing an inning of shutout ball. Hansen's, in fact, was perfect and came with a pair of K's to boot.

Let's hope that tomorrow the Sox get the final game of the series and keep the streak going. It'll be a good prep for the arrival of the Rays in Fenway on Tuesday.

Speaking of the Rays, they unfortunately won again today and maintain their 1 game lead over the Sox, while the Stripes lost to the Twins and fall another game behind.