Welcome to Boston, Jason Bay!

Sox: 2 A's: 1

Jason Bay's first game as a Red Sox was a long, but hugely successful one. The left fielder from North of the Border, who came over from the Pirate ship in the trade that sent Manny westbound into Joe Torre's realm, scored both of the game's runs, with some help from the rookie Jed Lowrie. Lowrie hit a sac fly that brought him home in the 2nd, scoring the game's first run following his first Red Sox at-bat, where he drew a walk. Bay was on base four times, with two walks, a triple, and being hit by a pitch. He made a run-saving diving catch and played the ball well off the wall in his debut. The Fenway crowd welcomed Bay with open arms and plenty of homemade signs, many of which played on Massachusetts' official nickname of "The Bay State". He got a standing ovation as he walked to the plate for his first at-bat and as he took first on the walk, not to mention when he scored the team's first run two batters later.

Though the offense was far from overwhelming, especially with RISP, the team played better than they had since Sunday night's win over the Yanks. The A's aren't exactly the Angels, but the Sox had an energy to their play that had been lacking earlier in the week. An energy that came from making a fresh start.

Tomorrow, Lester takes the mound against A's lefty Dana Eveland. Let's hope Mikey Lowell is okay and doesn't need to go on the DL. He left the game in the 10th after tweaking his hip running to first.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON A GREAT DEBUT BY JASON BAY!!!!