This One's For Dom

Sox: 7 Rays: 3

As he was watching a replay of last night's game, when the Sox scored 12 runs before the first out of the sixth, Red Sox legend Dom DiMaggio passed on to the great baseball diamond in the sky. DiMaggio's playing days were way before my time, but from what I had read about him in David Halberstam's "The Teammates" he was a talented and underrated centerfielder and one of the Splendid Splinter's dearest friends. He played for the Sox from 1940 - 1953, his entire baseball career, and missed three seasons serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was 92.

The Sox put on another sixth-inning show tonight, albeit not to the same epic proportions as last night. Pedey beat out an infield hit to start the inning, then Papi walked. That's two men on for Jason Bay, who did what he does best in those situations and went deep to tie the score at 3. Lowell, who found himself in a pickle in his previous at-bat by trying to stretch a single into a double, this time made it to second on time. Drew, who was mired in a three-week homer drought, snapped his dry spell with a two-run dong to right. The Sox had now overtaken the lead and Shields was mad as hell at himself for coughing it up. By virtue of some more stellar bullpen work, they held onto the lead and added two more runs off Grant Balfour in the eighth, where Lugo picked up his first hit of the night, Jake his second, and Pedey his fourth.

Brad Penny picked up the win, a well-deserved one after his second consecutive quality start. He kept the Rays to three runs over six and a third innings. This is a good sign for Penny, who has struggled to get his footing so far this season. This win is also good for the Red Sox, starting the series off on a high note after dropping three of four to the Rays last weekend at that place. Lugo is starting to get back into the swing of things (no pun intended) at the plate and in the field. Having him start at DH last night, I think, really helped him ease back into starting at short tonight. Let's hope he carries the momentum through as his playing time increases.

Tomorrow afternoon, it's a battle of the lefties, as Jon Lester faces Scott Kazmir. Kaz has struggled lately as Lester is starting to settle in. It will be interesting to see who has the upper hand tomorrow. I'm giving my vote of confidence to Lester. Two out of three (at least) against the Rays would go a long way in giving the Sox confidence that they can beat this team that has been a thorn in their side since last season.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!