Closer, But Still A Win

Tonight the Sox finished this series at Toronto with another win against the Jays. It was a lot closer than last night's laugher and the Sox were outhit, 7-6, by the Jays, but the only stat that counts at game's end is the score, and the Hose took care of that 3-1. After trailing early, the Hose put up a deuce in the 2d and tacked on the final run of the evening in the 6th. Not that both teams didn't have opportunities for more runs, especially the Sox, but good pen work again from Tazawa, Uehara, Miller and Hanrahan, he for his 4th Save of the season, kept the Jays in check and preserved the Sox lead and ultimately, the win. Dempster got his 2d W with the Sox, six innings of four hit, one run ball with four K's. He reduced his ERA to an even 3.00 and appears ready to join the other two members of the rotation (Lester & Bucky) in the sub-3 club next outing.
Offensively, Papi had the night off. Hope he's not having any achilles relapse. He's going so well so far since coming back to action. Tonight's heroes were Nap, with another two-bagger to extend his MLB-leading total to 15, and Gomes, who got above the Mendoza line with a pair of hits and an RBI. Jake also picked up another ribbie, as did Drew on a sacfly. As the Stripes were off tonight, the Hose' lead grew to 2 1/2 games and remained at 3 1/2 over the O's, who won in Anaheim. Tomorrow the team goes up against West Div leader Texas in Arlington (TX not MA). Should be a good series, but not sure if the Hose will have to face the offerings of the Rangers' ace, Yu Darvish. We'll see as the weekend unfolds.