Baking Up Fun: Dice Goes Eight

Do you know what I was doing at the start of this game? I was baking. I had Easter baking to do because I'm the baker in the family and people demand pastries and things of that nature. Do you know what I was doing at the end of the game? Yes, you are correct. I was baking. I'm a little too superstitious for my own good sometimes. Between the Sox and Bruins, there was no way I was switching it up mid-game for fear of ruining the good luck. So I ended up with about three baked goods more than I intended, but it's fine because they were delicious. Almond merengues were worth the exhaustion, damnit, because they brought the win(s)!

Quick word on the Bruins: Holy cow, what a game. I don't even like hockey and this one had me on the edge of my seat (on the rare occassion that I was actually sitting down). Tim Thomas is unbelievable. I don't even believe in him, that's how unbelievable he is. Amazing. Ok, so that wasn't so quick. It's fine.

Onto the Sox! After his last outing in which he lasted seven against the Blue Jays and only surrendered one run, I had no idea what to expect out of Dice-K. Much like everyone else on the team, Dice-K had a rough start to the season, but has really been rounding into form as of late. Despite that, if you had told me that at any point this year over a span of two games, Dice-K was 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and had only allowed 2 hits over fifteen innings, I would have slapped you and called you a liar. I guess now you can slap me and call me a disbeliever. Don't pretend you expected this from him! You know you didn't. While unexpected, it's certainly delightful. I like this version of Dice-K. Someone figure out how to keep him like this.

You mean Tito already figured out how to keep him like this? Varitek, you say? Well, who am I to doubt the gorgeous catching prowess of the Captain? Sure, I can doubt his bat, but I would never doubt his catching and game calling. I agree with Tito. I think sometimes people just trust Tek more. Salty's going to have to prove that he won't let runners score from second on a passed ball and no I will NOT let that go. Not yet anyway. I have no problem with Tek being Dice-K's catcher. NO problems at all. I do have a problem with Tek swinging at the high fastball. When will he learn to lay off?

The scoring in this one started with Crawford driving in Lowrider in the 2nd. I feel like I've typed that a lot already this morning, and I have... because Lowrider was on base approximately all weekend. Ernie added another RBI in the 3rd, driving in CRW. Youkilis hit a 2-run shot in the fifth, which I will credit to Varitek because Youkilis doesn't deserve it. Then in the sixth, Jason notched his second hit of the season! An RBI double brought Crawford home from second. Bottom of the order getting it done! Way to go, Captain!

Really, one run was all we needed. I think during this series, Dice won the 'Ace' card. Eight innings, three walks, nine strikeouts, one hit. Bard closed, allowing one hit and collecting two strikeouts. That, my friends, is masterful pitching and I love it. The offense was well appreciated, but the pitching was the star. This is the team we've been waiting for. Quick, someone make them some coffee and pull out the vacation slideshows so they can't get up and leave!

Next up, John Lackey vs. Matt Palmer. Can Lackey pitch well enough to earn us the coveted and rare 4-game-sweep in Anaheim of Orange County somewhere around the LA area? Spoiler: He can. I love being able to see into the future. One more game to recap! Almost done!