Bolt From The Blue, Take Two

Tuesday night it was Carp who put a big FOUR on the board in the 8th after the Rays had tied the game at 4, and the Sox thus snatched the W. Uehara closed it out. Tonight, the game started with the Sox looking as if they would blow out Yankees starter Kuroda and the Stripes along with him. Immediately in the 1st, the Hose put four on the board before everyone had even had much chance to even get settled in their seats. They then jammed the sacks in the 2d with just a single out, and it looked like bye-bye time for Kuroda. However, he worked out of that jam and another almost as serious in the 3d, at the end of which the Sox led 4-1.  From that point things remained unchanged until the NY 6th, when they picked up another run and the 7th, when on Cano's third dub of the night, they tied the game at four. Only workman's speed and solid pitching for the third out of the inning saved the Sox from worse at that moment.
It also set things up for the Hose in their half of the inning. Vic led off with a single, and the new pitcher brought in to deal with Papi couldn't. He hit the big DH and now there were two on. Both teams then substituted. Gomes pinch hit for Carp, while the Evil Empire brought in another guy from their pen. Result: Gomes won the matchup and picked up a freebie to load the bases, and still no one was out. Nava K'd to bring Salty to the plate. After a first strike, he then struck--just like Carp on Tuesday. A smooth solid swing and the ball leaped off the bat heading for its ultimate resting place--the other side of the Sox pen. It was almost a no-doubter. I say almost because, while it looked like a solid shot, it took about a second to be certain that it was going all the way and not just a double. By the time he reached first, it was gone, and with it, any hope and spirit that Mr. Hankie's Yankees might have developed in the top of the inning. Grand slam! In fact, the play by play announcer's commentary as he initially came to the plate and then circled to return to the plate was one of the most enjoyable I've heard in a season of enjoyment. He was saying, as Salty stepped in, the Sox lead the Majors in runs scored from the 7th inning on, with 241 so far this year. Then Salty swung, and the play by play said, "Make that 245." Nothing else needed to be said.
From that point on, it was all Sox pen. First Tazawa picked up the 8th with a perfect 10 pitch contribution. Then Uehara did his thing in the 9th--perfection, and on just nine pitches, one of which was another K. He now has retired 37 consecutive batters, the most by any pitcher since Jenks of the Pale Hose eliminated 41 in a row in 2007.