Yo quiero Jacoby Ellsbury...y Jonathan Papelbon! (Hey, I still remember Spanish from middle school!)
I'll just start this entry off with a link to The Dugout today: See how Papelbon really picked off Matt Holliday!
That aside, let's talk about the game for a moment. This was more of what I expected the series to be like - good, solid pitching and a lot of small ball. The final score was 2-1 in Boston's favor. Not a big margin of victory like in Game 1, no, but we'll take what we can get.
There are five people I really want to single out who were huge for the Sox last night, and three of them are pitchers. Curt's start wasn't his best ever, but it was good enough - he only allowed one run (in the first inning) and kept the Rockies at bay until the sixth, when Okajima came in with one out and two men on. Okaji did his duty, and I blasted Okajima Oki-Doki for everyone in the room every time he successfully completed an inning. When there were two outs in the eighth, Matt Holliday came to the plate, and Terry Francona made the call for Papelbon. Okaji smiled as he left the mound for the dugout - he knew that he did exactly what had been asked of him perfectly, and I'm sure he was more than relieved that he was done for the evening.
Then the most amusing part of the evening began. Matt Holliday was 3-for-3 at that point, and Papelbon was on the verge of striking him out when he hit a liner right back at the closer. Papelbon got out of the way by falling backwards and actually completed one full rotation before he was done. Pedroia was able to stop the ball, but he had no play on it. It looked as if he had damaged his shoulder slightly again, but what appeared to be a grimace to most people looked more like a grin to me - it appeared on his face right after he looked in the general direction of Papelbon, which further supports my theory that he, like myself and everyone I was watching the game with, was laughing. He also managed a hit in the bottom of the eighth, which tells me that he's just fine (although he may have willed himself to do it just to avoid riding in a wheelbarrow - explanation here).
But this is the reason I'm highlighting Papelbon right now. Matt Holliday was on first and Todd Helton, the man I refer to as Youk With A Wig, was at the plate. Papelbon received the sign to pick Holliday off from Varitek, who got it from the bench, and with one fluid movement Holliday was tagged out at first by miles. It was Papelbon's first pick-off ever in his major league career (even Clay Buchholz beat him to it - he got a pick-off during the no-hitter) and he did it perfectly. He then came back in and retired the side in the ninth, and FOX replayed his fistpump about ten times (and everyone in the room imitated it about ten times).
Right, so that just about covers the three pitchers. Who else am I going to touch on? Well, for starters, there was Mike Lowell, the offensive hero of this game. He was the epitome of good baserunning tonight, pushing himself to third base on a J.D. Drew single and later scoring on a Varitek sacrifice fly. (Incidentally, J.D. had a very good night at the plate; he was 2-for-2 with a walk and would have had an even better night if he hadn't been beaned in the shin his first time up. Just pointing that out because it probably flew under the radar, so to speak.) Lowell also smacked an RBI double to bring in David Ortiz, which put the Sox ahead for good. We need to resign this man. Now.
Finally, I'd like to issue a special thank you to Jacoby Ellsbury, who got everyone in the United States a free taco by stealing second base last night. I smell an endorsement deal...but first, the group I've been watching the games with and I have to go to Taco Bell on Tuesday! We already looked up the directions last night. This'll be awesome.
I also think it's funny that so many people independently thought of the nickname "Tacoby Bellsbury." I came up with it during the game, and everyone else seems to have done exactly the same thing. There's no way we're copying each other, either, due to the timing. We just all thought of it. I love how the mind works, don't you?
I'll close this one off with two things. First off,
hanachan01, congratulations on becoming a full convert! She has recently gotten herself a Sox hat and a Papelbon shirt, so it's pretty much official now.
The other thing? One of the best pictures ever. I love how everyone on the team seems to feel this urge to do things to Dustin Pedroia:
(Image credited to Elise Amendola.)
That aside, let's talk about the game for a moment. This was more of what I expected the series to be like - good, solid pitching and a lot of small ball. The final score was 2-1 in Boston's favor. Not a big margin of victory like in Game 1, no, but we'll take what we can get.
There are five people I really want to single out who were huge for the Sox last night, and three of them are pitchers. Curt's start wasn't his best ever, but it was good enough - he only allowed one run (in the first inning) and kept the Rockies at bay until the sixth, when Okajima came in with one out and two men on. Okaji did his duty, and I blasted Okajima Oki-Doki for everyone in the room every time he successfully completed an inning. When there were two outs in the eighth, Matt Holliday came to the plate, and Terry Francona made the call for Papelbon. Okaji smiled as he left the mound for the dugout - he knew that he did exactly what had been asked of him perfectly, and I'm sure he was more than relieved that he was done for the evening.
Then the most amusing part of the evening began. Matt Holliday was 3-for-3 at that point, and Papelbon was on the verge of striking him out when he hit a liner right back at the closer. Papelbon got out of the way by falling backwards and actually completed one full rotation before he was done. Pedroia was able to stop the ball, but he had no play on it. It looked as if he had damaged his shoulder slightly again, but what appeared to be a grimace to most people looked more like a grin to me - it appeared on his face right after he looked in the general direction of Papelbon, which further supports my theory that he, like myself and everyone I was watching the game with, was laughing. He also managed a hit in the bottom of the eighth, which tells me that he's just fine (although he may have willed himself to do it just to avoid riding in a wheelbarrow - explanation here).
But this is the reason I'm highlighting Papelbon right now. Matt Holliday was on first and Todd Helton, the man I refer to as Youk With A Wig, was at the plate. Papelbon received the sign to pick Holliday off from Varitek, who got it from the bench, and with one fluid movement Holliday was tagged out at first by miles. It was Papelbon's first pick-off ever in his major league career (even Clay Buchholz beat him to it - he got a pick-off during the no-hitter) and he did it perfectly. He then came back in and retired the side in the ninth, and FOX replayed his fistpump about ten times (and everyone in the room imitated it about ten times).
Right, so that just about covers the three pitchers. Who else am I going to touch on? Well, for starters, there was Mike Lowell, the offensive hero of this game. He was the epitome of good baserunning tonight, pushing himself to third base on a J.D. Drew single and later scoring on a Varitek sacrifice fly. (Incidentally, J.D. had a very good night at the plate; he was 2-for-2 with a walk and would have had an even better night if he hadn't been beaned in the shin his first time up. Just pointing that out because it probably flew under the radar, so to speak.) Lowell also smacked an RBI double to bring in David Ortiz, which put the Sox ahead for good. We need to resign this man. Now.
Finally, I'd like to issue a special thank you to Jacoby Ellsbury, who got everyone in the United States a free taco by stealing second base last night. I smell an endorsement deal...but first, the group I've been watching the games with and I have to go to Taco Bell on Tuesday! We already looked up the directions last night. This'll be awesome.
I also think it's funny that so many people independently thought of the nickname "Tacoby Bellsbury." I came up with it during the game, and everyone else seems to have done exactly the same thing. There's no way we're copying each other, either, due to the timing. We just all thought of it. I love how the mind works, don't you?
I'll close this one off with two things. First off,
hanachan01, congratulations on becoming a full convert! She has recently gotten herself a Sox hat and a Papelbon shirt, so it's pretty much official now.
The other thing? One of the best pictures ever. I love how everyone on the team seems to feel this urge to do things to Dustin Pedroia:
(Image credited to Elise Amendola.)