Bay Takes the Sox to 11

Dad --

Last year I was very happy with the Manny Ramirez/Jason Bay trade. This year... I'm even happier. That's twice now in 4 games that Jason bay has gotten a home run in the 9th to keep the Sox in the game and lead them to the win. It's been awesome.

Yesterday's game against the Cleveland Indians while short, was going nowhere. As the 9th started I was beginning to think we were looking at another extra long, extra innings game. After all, up to that point, the score was still zip-zip thanks in no small part to the two starting pitchers - Tim Wakefield and Cliff Lee. Wake kept the Tribe to just one hit through seven innings and although the Sox had several opportunities to score, not one could make it across homeplate. That is until Kerry Wood took the mound in the 9th.

He did what no pitcher wants to do in a scoreless game - give up a lead-off walk to Dustin Pedroia. Then Big Papi got a single. Things were looking up until Youkilis flied out. But that's okay because Bay was up next. He'd already been on base twice earlier in the game, so a simple single would have probably knocked in Dustin. But Bay wasn't going to settle for a single. And neither were Red Sox nation.

On an 0-1 pitch Bay took that ball and crushed it to deep left center field. Grady Sizemore may have made a few spectacular catches during the game to keep the Sox scoreless, but there was no way he was going to catch this one. It was so far over his head, all he could do was stand there and watch it leave the park.

As a fan suggested in an e-mail to W.B. Mason Extra Innings, maybe Massachusetts should consider changing Boston Harbor's name to Jason Bay. What do you think?

Jenn