A Sweep & A Fresh Start

Well, the Hose finally got to .500! First time all season, due to the horrendous 2-10start. But just as sweet as that is, is the way it was done--against Mr. Hankie's Yankees, at Yankee Stadium and after being down by 4-1 after just two. The Sox quickly tied it in there next turn at bat. Yoooouuuukkk drove a ball deep into the cheaps with a couple of guys on base and suddenly, it was four apiece. That's where it stayed for two innings until Big Papi turned on a Garcia offering and drove it about ten rows deep in right: 5-4 Sox. Then, in the 6th, the Sox added a run without a single hit. A couple of walks, a stolen base (Dusty's seventh) and an error by ARod, who apparently had decided to channel Billy Bucks, only at third, allowed Dusty to score. Unfortunately, the Stripes got that one back on A-Rod's double and an error in the outfield by Crawford that allowed a Yankee runner to score; Sox 6-5. Bard got out of the jam, nailing down the final out of the inning. Sharp he wasn't, but, as you've heard me say before, he really pitched at that point--he made the pitches he had to when they had to be made. After holding on through the 8th without a hit in an inning and a third, he handed the ball to The Laser to close out the game. True to expectations, that's exactly what Pap did. Starting by K'ing Granderson, he then got a weak popup from Texeira, followed by a game-ending groundout from A-Rod--save 7 on the year. All the time this is happening, I'm standing in front of the wall-mounted big screen, repeating, "Just throw it by him" over and over and over, as if Pap would try to do anything else. Seemed to work, though.
Although Lester wasn't sharp, he persevered through six to get his fifth W, getting 7 K's in the process, but allowing four runs, three on a pair of HR's in the 2d inning. With his four freebies added in, his game WHIP was a mediocre 1.5. But, like Bard later on, when he had to make pitches, he did just that. The result, the Stripes couldn't get anything serious going after the 2d. The Sox offense was concentrated in three players: Youuuukk (2-5 with a homer), Papi (3-5 with a homer and double, just missing the cycle by a triple) and Salty (2-4 with his final insurance run homer in the 8th).
Unfortunately, two Sox streaks ended in the game, both Gonzo's. His consecutive game streak came to an end at 21, and his consecutive game homer streak ended at four.
Back home tonight to host the Birds.