Cloud Nine: Lester and Sox at Nine Wins

Nine is a wonderful number. Ted Williams wore the number nine. There are nine position players in baseball. There are nine innings. I could probably make an effort to come up with more wonderful facts about the number nine that relate to baseball, but the best I have right now is that the Sox win streak is now nine. That win streak, for the most part, has been ridiculously decisive. The Boston boys have managed 83 runs over the course of this nine game win streak compared to the 36 that the A's, Yankees, and Blue Jays have managed to put up. File that under ‘good things.’ (I absolutely filed it under ‘good things.’)

Jonny had a perfect game through three and two-thirds innings. Yes, the same Jon Lester that had a really rough month of May. HE was perfect for a third of this game. Actually, aside from the Bautista home run, which really, I’m surprised he didn’t hit more off of us this season, Lester only allowed a single and a walk to Encarnacion in the fifth inning and eighth inning respectively. He pitched eight, collecting eight strikeouts and lowering his ERA to 3.73. There’s something so appealing about a low ERA. I wish I could accurately describe my appreciation. I can’t. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Jonny looked good. It’s great to see him jump back on track like this. Hopefully he doesn’t regress back into May.

The Sox only managed to squeak by with 17 hits and 14 runs in this one. I know, it’s not eighteen hits and sixteen runs like the game before, but we can’t be greedy, can we? Apparently, we can. Ernie got the offense going in the first inning with a solo home run. Two innings later, he grounded out a brought the second run home. Youkilis followed that up with an RBI single, bringing the score to 3-0. Jonny gave a run back in the bottom of the fourth, and then it was bedlam from there on out.

In the fifth, CRW singled and was brought home by a Munchkin home run. Did I mention that his knee is ok? Because his knee is ok. An Ernie double and a Youkilis walk later, Ortiz stepped up and launched his second fifth inning three-run home run in two days. He must like the fifth inning. I know I’ve been enjoying them. With the bases clear and nobody out, Drabek came out of the game and his replacement allowed singles to Crawford, Salty, and Scutaro. Scutaro picked up an RBI, and it was 9-1 Sox.

Scoring picked right back up in the sixth inning. Munchkin walked, Youkilis doubled him in, Ortiz doubled Youkilis in, and Salty doubled Ortiz in. Three more runs. But wait, there’s more! In the ninth, with CRW on base, Youkilis hit a two-out two-run home run to cap off the scoring for the weekend and to add just a little insult to injury. His home run was like a ‘yo mama’ joke after spending two hours worth of taking a lead pipe to someone’s spine. Yeah, it was insulting, but they are in too much pain to care.

Needless to say (but I’m going to say it anyway), that was a pretty spiffy weekend from our red stocking-d friends. I hope they spend their off-day napping and doing whatever they were doing before every game this week, because it was working. Tuesday brings us Wakefield vs. Sharky Shields… who I would take great pleasure in humiliating on the mound so…. Yeah. I don’t think I’m asking for much.