The Phillies would not be able to deny Tim Wakefield the win that had eluded him for so long.
Tim Wakefield must have felt like he drew the short straw….first being sent to the bullpen and then when he gets to make his grand return, he is facing the one and only, Roy Halladay. However, Roy Halladay and his amazing awesomeness does not scare Wake…nope, not at all. Wake pitched 8 shutout innings and finally got that win #190 that has been eluding him for so long. BTW…Roy Halladay came into the game having an even 14-14 record when facing the Red Sox. We now have a winning record against the ace of all aces. Hmm…isn’t there some rumor out there that the Red Sox can’t hit good pitching???
How did all this run scoring happen? Well…Youk got it all started with a smoked triple in the 2nd inning…where he actually got hit by the ball as he trucked into 3rd base. JD Drew got the RBI on a sac groundout. Sox lead 1-0. Then in the 4th inning, Beltre hit what looked like an inning ending DP, but turned into an error by 3rd basemen Greg Dobbs…two runs score. Sox lead 3-0. In the 6th inning, Youk hits a solo homerun…followed RBI singles by Marco Scutaro and Jacoby Ellsbury. Sox lead 7-0. Doc had enough of the game and said goodnight. I don’t know the last time Halladay gave up 7 runs in one of his starts….but I am pretty sure it was a long time ago. In the 9th, we got one more run across the board on a Beltre sac fly. Sox lead 8-0. Wake was done after 8 innings and Ramon Ramirez came in…and continued his pitching struggles. He allowed 2 doubles and a HR. However, in the end…the Sox still came away with the win 8-3.
And let’s not forgot about the defense. Beltre and Youk had a spectacular play in the 6th inning. I was literally in awe. Beltre got to a ball that I thought had hit written all over it…and chucked it over to Youk, who while snagging the catch…fell down…but kept his foot somehow on the bag and got the runner out. Wowza. This is the defense that Theo had been telling us all about. And remember that youngin’ Jacoby Ellsbury. He made a diving catch in the bottom of the 7th to rob Ibanez of a hit. He dove and flipped over…right on that rib cage of his. We all collectively held our breath. Ells hopped right up…and looked no worse for wear. Welcome Back Jacoby! You’ve been missed.
I do love the games the last week or so. It feels like things are coming together. Offense…clicking. Defense…pretty gosh darn good. Pitching…I love that our pitchers seem to be in a competition to see who can be crazy dominant and go at least 8 innings strong. All we need is Beckett and Lackey to get in on the fun. Great Game! Great series!
Sox WIN 8-3.
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