Dubi, Jake, Dusty and the Sun

Well, the headline pretty much sums up most of the credit for today's Sox victory. Felix Dubront gave his 15th consecutive start of at least seven innings with three or fewer runs (today was zero) allowed. Jake drove in a pair of runs and The Dustman hit a screaming double down the line in left that plated another.

The sun? For the Dback right fielder, Parra, it made fielding an exercise in futility. Early on, Papi hit a smoker to right, and when Parra got under it, he finally couldn't find it and it ricocheted off his glove. Later, in the 6th, with men on second and third, Jake hit a fly to right and, once again, Parra lost it in the sun. This time, it looked at the last second as if he were trying to avoid getting hit in the head by the ball and was ducking out of the way. The ball fell harmlessly a few feet to his right and Jake had a single and an RBI.

As for the pitching, Dubi's performance pretty well speaks for itself. His streak is the longest by any Sox pitcher of this type since Wakefield had 17 in 1995, and extends his streak for this type of start by a portsider as the longest since at least 1920. The pen, as usual, did a good job of slamming the door. Both Britton and Uehara threw one hit shutout innings, Britton's on just nine pitches, and the game was over with another W for the Sox. They now are at a season high 23 games over .500, with fortynine games to go for the season.