Lowrie Being Papi

Sox: 6 Jays: 5

It wasn't a walk-off because they're on the road, but Lowrie bangs a clutch homer in the top of the 11th to put the Sox on top of the Blue Jays for a final time in this see-saw of a game. It was his second homer in his young major-league career and the first since his July call-up. Lowrie had been in a bit of a mini-slump at the plate this series and had gone 0-for-4 going into that last at-bat, but all it takes is a good pitch to hit and the ability to hit it long and high enough to clear the outfield fence to turn things around. It was a good day for the "little guys"--the under-200-pounders--at the plate. Besides The Jedster, Coco and Pedey hit some clutch homers of their own. Pedey hit a 3-run shot in the third to get the Sox on the board and Coco tied the game at 5-5 with his solo dinger in the seventh.

Dice-K had an uncharacteristic high-hit, low-walk outing, giving up 5 runs and not factoring into the decision. In fact, the king of base on balls' only walk was an intentional one. The Jays swung early and connected! Dice-K had to be thinking "What the &*!? Guys NEVER do that when I'm on the mound!" He was dealing for awhile, retiring five straight batters when Jake made a Dinn Trophy-worthy catch in fourth, but face-planted against the right field wall in the process, scratching his eye with his sunglasses and losing a contact lens. He held on, recording the out, but some commotion ensued when Tito and the trainer came out and had to search the bullpen behind the wall for the lens. They found it, but trying to put it in Jake's eye was easier said than done. After four or five tries, Jacoby was like "Enough is enough! I'll put it in my own eye, thank you very much!" Much to the relief of the Red Sox, he stayed in the game. However, the episode disrupted Dice-K's momentum and he ended up surrendering the Jays' third run before the inning was over--a solo homer by Lyle Overbay.

The game went up and down from there, with the Jays tying, then taking over the lead in the sixth. In the seventh, the Coco homer tied it up again and it remained tied, forcing extra innings. Both closers entered the game, doing their job and holding the tie. Paps threw a mere 16 pitches over two innings! Bay made an awesome game-saving catch against the left field wall in the 10th. Lowrie pulled off his heroics in the top of the 11th and in the bottom of the inning, Manny Delcarmen came in to pitch in relief of Paps. Fans, like myself, were groaning "uh oh!" when we saw him warming in the pen in the top of the inning, but after walking the leadoff batter, he settled down and grabbed the save, but not before Cora landed on top of Vernon Wells to record the first out of the inning. The last two outs were more routine and the game ended with a strikeout of Jays newbie Jose Bautista.

What a great moral victory for the Sox, who have been dogged by the Jays the entire season. Winning this series in Toronto is huge for them. It puts them at 4-2 so far on the road trip with two series wins and sends them to the Bronx on a high note.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!