Sox Astroglide Houston

I know about the middle of the title above. But the Sox dismantling tonight of the 'Stros was that smooth and easy. Scoring in the 1st, 3d and 5th innings, the game was essentially over at the end of the 1st. The number of runs wasn't huge, but the clear effect of the Sox 1st inning barrage was just as overwhelming for the Astros. Eight Sox players came to the plate, five reached (four on hits) and the score was four-zip, Sox before the 2d inning began. Included along the way was the fifth steal of the year by the Dustman, and the first of 3 hits by Papi. Although the 'Stros got one back in the top of the 2d, and another in the 3d, the Hose were not deterred. In their half of the 3d, they tacked on another run--Papi's first homer of the young season. This was a monster shot, landing deep in the cheaps in dead center. It was a true no-doubter--gone the second it left Papi's bat. Houston wasn't scoring any more in the game, but the Sox were not done yet. Skip forward a couple of innings and they added their final pair of runs. First Papi picked up his third knock in three at bats, followed by a hit by Carp. After that Salty drove home Papi with another hit and he was followed by an RBI double from Middlebrooks. Seven-two, Sox. Will is starting to show signs of his burst on his call up from last year, and if he gets really going, added into the rest of the Sox offense, it may be a very interesting offensive year in the Fens.
Papi ended up 3-4 with a pair of ribbies, including the aforementioned HR. Nap got his 11th two-bagger, top of the league, while both Carp and Salty each had a pair of hits. Of 11 Sox hits on the evening, five were for extra bases.
Defensively, Bucky's ERA rose a bit, but 1.19 is still pretty damn fancy, and he added another ten K's to his record for the year.  He also leads the league in won-lost at 5-0. ESPN, in tonight's MLB show, revealed that of all Boston starters going back to 1917 with a 5-0 start, from Babe Ruth, Bucky has the best ERA of the four pitchers who are in that group. The babe was 2.20, and even Pedro, who was the only other one under 2.00, was higher than Bucky. Pretty good company to be mixing with. The pen covered the final inning and a third  without giving up anything more than a single in the 9th off of the newly returned Bard. Bard looked more or less like the old Bard (pre-2012)  and recorded his first K in the process.
Tomorrow's another game against the Astros, the second of four, and we would hope that the Sox would do more of the same to them that they did tonight.