Peavy and Long Ball Equal Sole Possession of First Again

Tonight, in ESPN's Game of the Week, the Sox took it to the Dodgers. You'll note I will sometimes refer to the LA team as the Bums. It is not meant as a sign of disrespect, but rather a long cherished historical reference to the team, going back all the way to Brooklyn. In fact, when they first arrived in LaLa Land, they hired famous clown, Emmett Kelly, to be the team mascot because his costume was always a down at the heels bum.
As for the game, Peavy made his best showing since coming to the Sox from the Windy City. He pitched a complete game three hitter, picking up five K's against a single free pass. His pitch count fore the evening: 111.  The man was completely in control all  of the way.  The only extra base hit was by a former Sox player, AGon, who took a ball left a little too much over the plate, and deposited it in the seats for LA's sole score. It was fitting for the Sox to take this win and capture the series as today is the anniversary of last year's nine player blockbuster trade with these same Dodgers.

Beyond Peavy's excellence on the mound, the Sox offense was an ongoing steamroller.  It began in the first inning, with the Hose getting a single run when Vic doubled to left, followed by what was ruled to have been an infield hit by  the Dustman(actually replays showed the ump blew the call and Pedey should have been called out), after which Nap stroked a long liner that bounced into the seats for a ground rule double and plated Vic. Unfortunately, what could have been a bigger inning and perhaps blown open the game right there was squashed when, after Gomes was intentionally walked to load the sacks, Midds hit into a tailor-made DP to end the inning.  No matter. In the 3d and 4th, the Hose added single runs to take a three zip lead. The second of these runs was Xander Bogaerts' first MLB ribbie, and by the time the night was over, he'd added another hit to go 2-4 and raise his BA to .333. Agon got one back in the Bums' half of the inning with his shot, but afterwards, it was even more all Sox. Salty, Vic and Nap, in that order, all went deep for a total of five more runs, Nap's so obviously a no-doubter when it left the bat that the Dodgers' left fielder didn't move at all, other than to look over his shoulder and watch it sail about twenty rows deep into the cheaps.  Overall, the Sox had seven extra base hits among their total of twelve. Jake also swiped his 47th base for the season, later scoring on Pedey's sac fly in the 3d.
Overall, with tonight's win, the Sox took four of six on the Left Coast, head home for a stand, and have the day off tomorrow, a rest that's not only well deserved, but also needed after this ridiculous schedule of the past couple of weeks.