Five Dong Night

Sox: 8 Jays: 3

PAPI GOES DEEP!!!!! Tonight's game was rich with storylines, but the biggest, and most heartwarming of them all was Papi's first long ball of 2009. It was the fifth inning and Tek had already hit his second dinger of the night in as many at-bats. Pedey had hit a double and made it to third on a throw home to the plate, where Jake was thrown out trying to score from first. Papi got a pitch to hit and he blasted it to straight away center, going the distance to land just to the left of the center field seats. Two batters later, J-Bay got in on the action, crushing his 12th jack of the season over the Monster seats and into the parking lot, bouncing off a few cars on its way down and scoring Youk. Lowell, who grounded into a double play earlier in the game, knocked another one out. Baldelli tripled, and Tek whiffed to end the inning, but what an inning it was! Papi got the 800 lb. gorilla off his back and Red Sox Nation rejoiced. Meanwhile, the poor rookie who entered with a 2-0 record and sparkling 1.80 ERA was lit up for 8 runs, five of them big flies. As great as I feel for Big Papi, I feel bad for young Brett Cecil, who probably wishes he never set foot in Fenway Park.

Storyline #2: Jake's record-setting night with the glove. He broke a team record and tied the major league record for most put-outs in a game with twelve grabs in center field. He also extended his hitting streak on a bunt single that Cecil face-planted trying to catch.

Storyline #3: Welcome Back Youk! The Sox first baseman, with his stellar glove and blazing bat went 3-for-5 tonight, making it seem as if he had never been gone for two weeks. Talk about not missing a beat!

Storyline #4: Turbo 'Tek homers in two consecutive at-bats, with #6 and 7 on the season. With the rumors about trading young pitching for Victor Martinez, the captain was out to prove he still has some left in the tank.

Storyline #5: Penny continues to trim down his ERA. He has another solid outing, going 6.2 and giving up two runs. Despite a rough beginning to the season, Penny is stringing some quality starts together and becoming a fine #5 starter (knock on wood).

Am I forgetting anything??? Great night for the Red Sox and a night David Ortiz can go to bed with a light and happy heart. Adding a double to his homer tonight sweetened the deal even more. Tomorrow, Lester hopes for a redemptive night of his own, as he takes the mound for the final game of the series. A year ago yesterday, he made Fenway magic with his no-hitter. While it's unrealistic and patently unfair to expect him to come anything close to repeating that feat tomorrow night, a 6-7 inning start with 3 or fewer runs and avoiding a big inning would be a nice turnaround from his Seattle start.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATULATIONS, BIG PAPI!!!!!!