Sox Take Two of Three from Stripes--Napoli's Heroics Close It Out!

Well, I haven't provided a game by game reportage of the Yankees series at Fenway this weekend. The Sox took the first on Friday night, 4-2 with some good all around team play, combined with a solid start by Dubront that was backed up by more excellent work from the pen. Yesterday, the Hose got themselves pushed back by the Stripes' Kuroda, who did a good seven innings at limiting the Hose' offense. Kuroda was eventually followed for the save by, who else? Rivera for his 31st save of the season. Yanks, 5-2.
Tonight's game, however, topped both of them for excitement, swings of momentum and exhilaration followed by frustration. Dempster got the start after the Farrell decided to give scheduled starter Jon Lester an extra day or two before his next start. Things began badly for the Sox as a throwing error by Dempster that could have ended the inning on a DP with no runs allowed Stripes runners on 2d and 3d. This was followed by a throwing error by Salty trying to nail a Stripes baserunner swiping second. Both throws ended up in the same location--center field. By the end of the inning, it was Stripes, two zip and the Sox lucky it was only that bad. The following inning they allowed another run and it was 3-0, New York. Not looking good. However, in the 3d, the Sox picked up a quick run, kept putting men on base and then Nap gave to Sox the lead, 4-3 with one swing of the bat. This was one of the best definitions of a no-doubter I've seen in a long time. The instant Nap swung, the only question unanswered was just how deep it would be when it finally landed outside the park. The answer in this case was either Landsdowne Street or, possibly, the Masspike. The Hose added a couple more the following inning and then Gomes, taking a cue from Nap launched a missile so high and deep into the evening sky that after it bounced off the upper quarter of the light tower over the Monster, it didn't bounce back to the field. Instead, it ricocheted over the wall onto the Masspike. Sox 7, Stripes 3. Things were starting to feel like a definite Sox victory. But n  o  t    s  o    f  a  s  t. Over the next few innings, Mr. Hankie's Yankees clawed back until suddenly in the 7th, the score was tied at 7. Enter the Evil Empire's bullpen. In the last five innings, this group of relievers, many of them unheard of, put the K on 10 Sox batters! In one stretch, four consecutive Sox batters got the K. It made no difference who the batter was or where in the Hose lineup. He came to the plate, took or swung at a few pitches and walked bank to the dugout. In the 8th the Sox had the chance to effectively end the game as Nap came to the plate with the sacks jammed and just one out. What happened? You guessed it! Nap swings at the perfect pitch, but tops it instead of meeting it straight on. Result? A 4-6-3 DP and inning over.
Uehara came on to pitch the 9th and gave his usual effort, allowing no Yankee runs. The game similarly went through the bottom of the 9th, through the 10th and the top of the 11th. Britton and Beato each matched Uehara's efforts with an inning of their own, apiece, of shutout ball. Then, in the bottom of the 11th, with two gone and nobody on base, Nap worked the count full. Next pitch was a fast ball right out over the plate. This time, there was no topping the ball. Nap took one solid swing, the ball launched, the crown stood and cheered hopefully and then erupted as the ball settled into a fan's hands in the second row cheaps behind the center field wall. If that weren't enough for members of Red Sox Nation, the lucky fan was wearing a very faded Yaz (sorry, but even after a lifetime of Sox rooting, I still can't spell out Yaz' name correctly) jersey. Everyone in Fenway (except those in the visitors' dugout) went berserk! The drive couldn't have come at a better time either. Earlier today, both the Rays (Sox next opponent) and the O's won. So, this win allowed the Bosox to maintain their game and a half lead over the Rays and return, for the third time, to twenty games over .500. This was the 100th game of the season--62 to go.