The Long and Short of It

Sox: 6 Birdies: 4

The long: Beckett's fifth inning, where he gave up 4 runs to the Baltimore boys on a RWI (is there a stat for runs walked in, or did I just make it up?) and a bases-clearing double by a first baseman referred to by the O's radio announcers as--I kid you not--"Huff Daddy." The short: Youk coming a triple short of the cycle on a night that netted him 4 ribbies, or two thirds of the Sox run tally for the night. The other two RBI belong to Tek and Lowell, the latter of whom is tied with Bay for the lead in the Red Sox Ribbie Race with 10 apiece.

Beckett had a somewhat lopsided outing, being effective in every inning but the laborious fifth, where he was channeling Brad Penny from last night's second inning, but with less damage. He bounced back nicely in the sixth with a 1-2-3. The Sox chased O's starter Adam Eaton after four innings and six runs.

In other news around the division, the Yanks got knocked into next week by the Tribe at the brand spankin' new Yankee Stadium II: The Steinbrenner Edition. 22-4, my friends, 22-4! And if we thought last night's 7-run attack by the O's in the second inning was bad, try doubling that number and you get the Tribe's second inning against the Yanks. Holy one-sided slugfest, Batman!

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!