Now It's Two In A Row Over Stripes!

Well, what a difference a year--and a much better manager--makes! Sox took the Stripes again today in Yankee Stadium, this time 7-4. Farrell's looking great as manager, as we always knew he would, and the blend of old and new players is looking just fine, thank you. With today's win, it's the first time in 14 years the Hose have opened a season by winning at least the first two. In 1999, the last time it happened, they opened 5-0. Hell, they didn't even open with wins in the first two games in either World Series Championship year! Bucky looked real good in his first start, going seven and gibing up a single run on a Hafner solo shot. He allowed 8 hits and kept them well scattered. On the few occasions he had multiple base runners, he pitched and got out of it unscathed. Farrell's apparently got him taking less time between pitches than he formerly did, and it's resulting in better results. He's looking (all spring and after one regular game) more like the guy who came up a few years ago. He also picked four K's and threw only 92 pitches. The first two relievers who succeeded looked a bit shaky and gave up a total of three runs between them, Aceves allowing a 3-run shot by long time Sox thorn, Vernon Wells (one of those runs was Youk, now wearing Stripes and getting a pair of singles tonight). But the new Sox closer, shut things down before they got out of hand, throwing an inning of shutout ball. Jake had two ribbies again tonight, while Nava, the Dustman, Victorino, Salty and Iglesias each picked up a pair of base hits. Jackie Bradley, Jr. also had another great catch in the field, got his first major league hit, scored two runs and added another ribbie. Tomorrow it's Ryan Dempster for the Sox against the old Yankee starter, Pettite. Should be a good one--even better if we get the same result as the first two games of the series.