It all looks the same, doesn’t it? That familiar Big Papi pose as he knows he’s launched another ball into orbit. And yet familiarity in this case breeds awe, not contempt. #43 with a bullet.
So the Sox finally won it in this rain-stained evening. Not as sterling a performance by Wakefield as the last game, but a very good one still. He’s been great lately. And this isn’t pretty baseball: scoring on a strikeout-passed ball, winning on a HBP… but it’s solid baseball. And it showed the perennial dilemma: you can’t pitch to Ortiz… but you can’t walk him either. Ken Macha’s five-infielder strategy was very intriguing, but what kind of strategy is intentionally walking Ortiz to get to Manny anyway?
A thought from early in the game - Damon dropping the ball was kind of a clunker of a moment - still, good to see him back. He really seems to have been banged up in this long stretch of games, and the Sox need him to help to cling on to the AL East.
It’s time to be home and dry.