They did it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76RrdwElnTU&feature=related
Yes they did, for the first time this year the Red Sox are over .500, following a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers last night at Fenway Park! It was their seventh attempt to get over the hump and going in, it did not look good as they faced last year’s MVP and Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander. However when it was said and done, the Tiger ace had surrendered more runs (5) and more hits (10) than any outing this year.
David Ortiz had three hits and a pair of RBI including a home run into the Monster seats.
Daniel Nava’s three run double in the fourth inning broke the game open giving the Sox a 4-0 lead.
Daniel Bard drew even 5-5 with 5 2/3 innings in which he surrendered two runs.
Four Red Sox relievers recorded holds last night paving the way for Alfredo Aceves 12th save of the year.
Scott Podsednik has become the latest Red Sox scotch tape and glue guy.
The Red Sox most recent center fielder, 36-year-old Scott Podsednik, last played in the major leagues with the Dodgers in 2010. Since then his baseball journey has taken him from Clearwater FL, to Dunedin FL, out for a stint in Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League before returning east to Lehigh Valley PA and Pawtucket Rhode Island before landing in centerfield at Fenway Park. Last night he contributed two more hits and scored a run. He is hitting .467 in six games with the Red Sox and he still can run like the wind!
Last night Bobby Valentine started his 40th different line up in 49 games. And it was that 40th line up which finally got this Fenway rendition over the hump!
On May 10th, the Indians shelled Josh Beckett on their way to an 8-3 win at Fenway Park. The loss put the Red Sox at 12-19, mired in fifth place seven and a half games back. Since that time they have won 13 of 18, Beckett has had three starts, pitched 21 2/3 innings, given up three runs for a 1.24 ERA, only 15 hits and the Red Sox have won all three games, Beckett winning two of them.
Since Beckett’s “golf” scrum with the media, he has been lights out!
I must confess that the 2012 rendition of the Boston Red Sox was, going in, not an easily likeable bunch. My son asked me early on, how many of those guys can you really like? And going down the list he was correct, they were a bunch who collectively would be hard to root for, however, it’s always about the name on the front of the jerseys and that is for whom to root.
Last night the Red Sox got over the hump. They are 25-24, still in last place in the AL East but they are only 3 1/2 games out of first place and 2 1/2 out of the Wild Card race. Youngsters named Doubront and Middlebrooks and Nava and Aviles have emerged as forces and then you throw in a 36-year-old reborn outfielder looking for his last grasp at the brass ring and you know, it’s pretty easy to root for them.
Tonight Bobby Valentine will make out his 50th line up card. In all probability it will be his 42nd different line up. In the line up will be Dustin Pedroia, playing with a splint on his thumb to protect a torn abductor muscle in his thumb. What the hell is that? He’s going to try to play through it. Of course he is and that is why anybody who loves the game of baseball roots for that guy because I am convinced that if you closely examine what runs through his veins, you would find a bazillion kabillion microscopic baseballs.
Ya know what? I’m starting to like these guys!
And so it is on this day in Fenway Park history, May 30, 2012, over the hump day.
