Now That's The Way to Play!

Boy! After the idiocy of losing on Tuesday night to a walk-off walk--could anything even sound more ridiculous--the Sox manhandled the defending World Champions yesterday afternoon. Under a bright sun--you should see my sun burned face--the Hose took it to the Giants, a game I thoroughly enjoyed attending with my younger daughter, Sara. Sitting in perfect seats just a few rows behind the dugout, we had a full view of everything. And there was quite a bit to see!
After failing to score in the first, in spite of a couple of hits, including a double by Jake, the Hose broke the ice in their half of the 2d, picking up a pair of runs on Middlebrooks' 11th homer of the season. In their half of the inning, the host team managed its only pleasant event of the game--their third baseman's first, and to date only, HR of the year. That took care of all Giants scoring, but for the Sox, it was just beginning.
Not content to sit on their laurels as they'd done the previous evening, the Hose quickly added three in the 3d, and another in the 4th. At this point, they had my untieable on one swing lead--at least five runs, 6-1.
Things then settled down for a few innings under the balmy sun and breeze until the 7th, when the Sox sent eight to the plate and added five more runs to the total. This outburst was highlighted by a three run shot to the right field cheaps by JD's younger brother, Stephen Drew. The blast was his tenth of the season. The hose had one more run to add and it came in the following inning, aided by a pair of errors by Giants fielders.
Overall, the Sox leaders on the day were Jake and Vic, who each picked up three hits, including a two bagger apiece. In addition, Jake added to his MLB-leading total of swipes with his 46th in the 3d, on his way to scoring the Sox' third run of the afternoon. Besides these two guys, the Dustman had a pair of two baggers, to give him a nice round thirty for the year, as well as his 70th ribbie.
On the other side of the ledger, the Sox leader was unquestionably their starter, Doubront. Continuing his season's total of good solid pitching efforts, he went eight innings, allowing just five hits and a lone freebie for a game WHIP of 0.75. He also grabbed three K's along the way. He could have finished out the game, but Farrell figured that 114 pitches was sufficient for the day and let Sox closer Uehara do his thing for the 9th. I questioned the wisdom of using your closer in a not even close to save situation, but, given the fact that the Hose have the day off today, are only going 500 miles south for their next series (against the Bums), and only took less than half of his average of 13 pitches per outing (he threw six pitches yesterday), it appeared to matter little. After his perfect outing, his ERA had been reduced to an almost microscopic 1.27.
With the win and the Rays' corresponding loss, the Sox are back in first in the Eastern Division. The Rays start a series at home against the Stripes tomorrow. Hopefully, the two teams split their series while the Sox sweep the Dodgers in LA. Unfortunately, Papi cannot DH and Farrell has to decide when and how often to use him at first. By the way, after an 0-8 performance against SF, he left the game in the middle innings with a stiff back. Hopefully, that's just a minor irritation and he's fine by the time the Hose arrive in LaLa Land.