Dusty Saves Pap--& Sox!:Peter

The way this game went, Jenn, I began to think that Isner & Mahut from Wimbledon had put on MLB uniforms and traded rackets for bats! Sox down by two; Sox up 6-2; Sox the next inning down 8-6;Sox up 11-9 after seven and a half. Then, Pap blows his second save in two nights in the 9th and it's 11-11 into the Sox 10th. Things are definitely not looking encouraging when who saves the day? Dusty, having perhaps the greatest day of his career, gets his fifth hit of the night. But wait, Jenn, if you've not yet watched your Tivo, the hit is his THIRD round tripper of the evening! No typos here, Jenn. I mean we all know that Dusty has a bit of power; he's good for 18-20 HR's a year, but since when is he doing a believable imitation of ManRam and Papi at their best? Well, tonight that's exactly what he did! He ended up with only a triple short of the cycle, but you know what, Jenn, I'll take his night as is, and triple be damned! Line score for him was single, double and the aforementioned three shots to the cheaps, along with the accompanying five ribbies.
His offense wasn't the only power shown by the Sox. Beltre also put one where it wasn't coming back, along with a double for three ribbies, and Tek and Cameron each collected a double. The latter pair were very timely in helping to establish a Sox lead late in regulation.
The Sox pitching, on the other hand, was all over the place. Dice took the ball to start and did a decent job through five. He allowed two runs, but only gave up five hits while striking out a half dozen--all pretty good work for the first time after another DL stint. He was the pitcher of record,as they say, and looking like he'd get another 'W', assuming the pen didn't give back the lead. Of course, Jenn, you know what they say when you assume anything--you make an ass of you and me. Sox pen exactly!
Manny came in faced three batters in what may be his worst outing of 2010, and they all ended up crossing the plate by inning's end. Next on the hill: Oki. He face six batters, and, by comparison with Manny, wasn't quite as bad. Unfortunately, three of his six also crossed plate and the Hose' 6-2 lead was now an 8-6 deficit. This ain't the way to win ball games and stay in the chase for the division title.Finally, Ramirez closed out the inning, getting his lone batter on five pitches.
Our heroes, not to be swept if they have anything to say about it, come back in the 7th and score three to retake the lead, 9-8. Better yet, they extend it in the 8th with a pair on Dusty's second blast of the evening. Atchison comes in from the pen, gets through the Rox 7th unscathed and manages to only give up a singleton in the Rox 8th, so the Sox still have the lead, 11-9 going to the 9th. After they fail to take out any insurance, The Laser comes on to face the same team that blew him out last night. Couldn't happen again--or could it?
Well, at least Giambi didn't deposit a shot into the cheaps again. Pap started out OK, looking like he was going to make it right after last night. First batter: classic Laser heat and it's a K. From there not so good. By the time the inning was over, Pap had his second consecutive Blown Save, 3d of the year and the score was 11 all. Could have been worse. At least all of these were singles. So extra time here we come. Once we get a baserunner, it's once again Dusty to the rescue--a lovely drive over the wall in left and it's Sox 13-11. This time, Pap isn't taking any prisoners. It's three up, three down, capped with a K to end it once and for all. Could have been worse. The aforementioned Wimbledon match lasted over eleven hours and took the better part of three days to finish. Sox won this one in a single evening--finally. Thank you Dusty!