Adding in the full analysis: okay, bad Manny defense today, but Bellhorn apparently loves that pole like a fat kid loves cake, and Manny broke his RBI duck, so all is forgiven. Three homers in three games, and all at crucial points. Are there still people who like Pokey over him? And how appropriate is it to have a Pesky Pole shot in a World Series against the Cards?
On the bad side, our defense was sloppy today, and the prospect of Ortiz at 1B doesn’t exactly give me thrills. Walker was scary, and it was good thing that Pujols and Rolen weren’t hitting behind him. Actually, how weird was that? Everyone was scared by the #3-4-5, but we got burnt by guys like Mike Matheny and Marlon Anderson. On the bright side, the St Louis pitching staff looks very hittable up and down - even Haren looked to have control issues. Use them up and wear them out. And nice that a Cards error (that E6 by Rentiera) was the winning run.
The thing I love about the ‘04 Sox is, every time they squandered the lead here, you just knew they’d get it back. One more win. One win at a time.