Wakefield brings it! Woo. That knuckleball was floating all crazy: it was one of those nights you knew that the one of the people to get a hit would be the opposing pitcher. And my fears about the Sox facing Lieber prove unfounded.
So, a 3-hit shutout (that Embree was a part of, miraculously), and three homers from Mirabelli, Manny, and Ortiz. Any worries that Manny has somehow lost his ability to hit lefties seems to have vanished.
Meredith, a Philly native who went to Boston to study, had a good take on Philadelphia negativity:
The Red Sox are in town this weekend for a three-game series, which means Terry Francona is returning to the city that loves to hate him. The city’s hatred for Francona has been well documented. The tire slashing, the threats of physical violence, the constant shower of boos at the Ballpark - I always dismissed those as acts of the minority of idiots that each sports city can claim. But listening now, I’m amazed at how unintelligent and pathetic their constant negativity makes them seem.
With the World Champion Red Sox preparing to play their first games at the Bank, talk of the series has taken over the Philadelphia airwaves this morning. Show hosts are furious with Francona’s recent comments to the Boston Globe regarding Geno’s Steaks. They’re calling Schilling a gutless fake puke, which they’ve called him since his last season in Philadelphia. Gutless? Really? I know a bloody sock that would beg to differ.
Yeah - the only reason Schilling could be called gutless is because he left his guts on the field last postseason.