Grinding and Winning

Well, last night's final game against the Astros was pretty much a repeat of the prior two, the only exception being the Sox broke on top for a change before allowing the 'Stros to take the lead. Once they did, however, the guys from Houston held on right to the biotter end. The only runs the Hose could seem to muster were the pair they scored at the start and then on it almost all Houston in the scoring department. Result: the Hose found themselves once again trailing entering the final innings, 5-2.  It seemed that whenever the Sox tried to mount a rally, Houston's hurler would finally find a way to squelch it. In the 6th, they had a bases loaded opportunity with just one gone. Unfortunately, both Jake and Vic were K'd--end of rally.To make matters worse, Vic was tossed in the next inning when he suddenly ran out of the dugout to argue strikes with the ump. But not to worry. In their half of the 7th, the Hose put a runner on and Johnny Gomes saw to it that he wouldn't be left there. One swing and the score was 5-4, 'Stros--still behind, but a lot closer. Nothing else in the 8th.
Then came the 9th. Papi led off with another single, his fourth hit of the game for the second consecutive evening (at one point earlier on, he was seven for seven over the two games). Gomes walked to put two on, and then up came Drew. The next thing you knew the folks in the cheaps in right had a souvenir, and the Sox had the lead, 7-5, which would be the final score.
The pitching was a little sketchy at the start. Dempster got his usual high K's for innings pitched with seven K's for 6 innings. But he also allowed seven hits and five runs in that time, which means he's given up a dozen in as many innings over his last two starts.  In the late innings, though, the pen was outstanding! First, Tazawa pitched a pair of perfect innings, eventually getting the W. Then, the W was assured when Uehara slammed the proverbial door on any ideas the Houstonians might have had by striking out the side for his eleventh save.