A Good Finale: Peter

Well, Jenn, at least the Oakland finale was worth watching. It served a couple of purposes: it got the Hose back on the winning trail, hopefully to continue further up the coast in Seattle tonight, and it showed why pitching a perfect game doesn't necessarily mean anything beyond the event. (The same pretty much goes for no-hitters too, as any review of exactly who all of the no-no's in history belong to.)The Sox came to their season finale in Oakland with no chance of winning the season series for a fifth consecutive year, again largely due to the war scene injury list they've assembled. They were facing another of the A's good (but NOT, contrary to local opinion, great young pitchers. This one, Dallas Braden, had an additional distinction. He'd been lucky enough to toss a perfecto this year--and done not much of anything else worth writing about since. Yes, he had an ERA in the 3's, which is pretty good on its face, but nothing overpowering. Look at some other of history's perfect games as a comparison: Cy Young (yes, that Cy Young)(most career wins ever: 511); Sandy Koufax (HoF;the perfect was his then-record FOURTH no-no of his career; a regular 300K/season pitcher);Jim Bunning (HoF; no-no's in both leagues);Randy Johnson (second all-time career K's;HoF;Series MVP)--you get the picture. Then you go to the other extreme: Braden; Gallaraga (Tigers hurler who threw a perfecto, only to have an umpire blow the call on the final out & who since is less than even average.
Anyway, the Sox were out there in Alameda County Colosseum and found themselves down three zip before you could even finish your first bag of peanuts, well maybe your second bag, as it was the 5th by the time things got this bad. It didn't show any signs of getting better as JB suddenly couldn't find the plate, walking four in a row! OUCH!! Looking grim until the Hose responded in the very next inning with four runs by a combination of timely hitting and smart baserunning. Jd jammed one deep into the Colosseum outfield for a two run two bagger and then, safely ensconced on second base, came around along with Mike Lowell, on Kalish's perfectly timed pinch single. Just to solidify things, in the 8th with one gone, JD again got the key hit, this time loading the bases for a moment--until an A's error byh one of their "good young pitchers" allowed Beltre to score the Sox' fifth run.
Atch pitched his second perfect inning and then, comes the 9th. Hose got nothing so on comes The Laser. Your uncle Phil and I had debated him just a few hours earlier--his recent return, for the most part, to the Pap of a few years ago (my claim) vs. he's not the guy he used to be (Phillip). Pap settled it for this game. Thirteen pitches after taking the mound the A's had gone three up and down, all K's and the game was over--bing, Bang, BOOM! Pap got his 36th save and JB had another win. Hadn't done all that poorly either other than the aforementioned four straight BB's. JB got seven K's in six innings, although his game WHIP was a bit high, largely due to the four walks. Offensively, I think you have to say that JD was the big hero, going 3-3 and driving home a pair of runs, while Papi & Beltre each picked a pair of hits.