Manny Going Classic: Again!--Peter

Well, after a horrendous first week of July, Manny is showing signs of returning to his classic self. After last night's game winning hit in the bottom of the 8th to break a 0-0 tie, he outdid himself tonight.

The Sox entered the 8th in need of runs again, although tonight it was worse as they were trailing 5-2. Since the Twinkies had matched every run the Sox had gotten so far and then some, getting this late in the game with not much to show for it wasn't the most promising outlook to have coming down to their last six outs. But Jake doubled, was followed by another hit by Dusty, and then brought home by a fielder's choice grounder from JD. Now it's 5-3, Twins.

Up comes Manny and this time Manny was being Manny in the way he does best. He launched one, creating a souvenir for someone in the cheaps. Now, we're no longer trailing. It's 5 even. But it's not over yet!

Following the gist of Manny's example, Yoooouk drives one deep, settling finally for a double to go with his earlier triple. Next man up, Moss figured no reason to spoil the party and promptly plates Youk with the final run of the game; 6-5 Sox.

Which brings in Laserman to end it all. However, pitching on his third night in succession, Pap made it a little edgy. It wasn't intentional, but it was edgy nevertheless. The first batter he faced hit a drive to center and Coco, trying his outstanding ability's damndest to make the catch, demonstrated a little less judgment than he perhaps should have. If he plays it safe, it drops for a leadoff single--not great, but still manageable. At least the hitter won't start the inning in scoring position trailing by just a single run. If he makes the catch, it's a guaranteed web gem on Baseball Tonight. But if he dives and misses it, it's likely going for extra bases with none out. The only question in this case is will it be for two or three?

Coco misses it in a valiant attempt, the ball skipping by him heading for the wall in deepest center. Fortunately, both of the other outfielders were moving toward the play all along and were able to quickly intercept it before it rolled to the wall. This excellent foresight kept the runner to a double.

A sacrifice gets the runner to third, but then Pap turns it up a notch. Hell, he turns it up a couple of notches. Next batter touches nothing but air with the stick and the final guy disintegrates his bat in a simple grounder to short. Game over--and best of all, we regain another game on the Rays.

Incidentals: Dusty kept his hitting streak going, now at a career best 16 in a row.