Snapshots of me come in three flavors: goofy, deranged and retarded. The last photo taken of me in which I looked somewhat human was my fifth grade school portrait. That’s kinda why I dig me some Jonathan Papelbon. I’ve never seen a photo of the guy in which he doesn’t look like he’s either drunk, hungover or trying to convince some unsuspecting college girls to help him load a sofa into the back of a van. But watching him go apeshit and pump his fists after every save has become an essential component of The Red Sox Experience. And last night he did it for the 132nd time, tying Bob Stanley for the team record. Which means that unless Pap wakes up tomorrow to find that his arms have been eaten by zombies, he should be taking over the top spot before week’s end, sloppy grin and all.
That wasn’t the only piece of awesome tucked into last night’s game, which was surprisingly entertaining for match-up against the division’s cupcakes. Jay Bay helped secure Pap’s save with a brilliant diving grab of the final out. Jon Lester gave up no runs and struck out 8 over 7 innings with some absolutely filthy stuff. Drew got three hits at the top of the order, including a home run, triple and single. And the Captain himself got a couple hits as well.
The only dark cloud on the horizon is the Mike Lowell situation. The guy’s getting his hips pumped full off vodka to help ease the pain, and he’ll be far from reliable for the balance of the season. Meanwhile, the Yanks and Rays keep winning, reminding us that this division will likely be a three-horse race by the time August rolls around. We’re gonna need some production if Lowell goes tits-up, so what’s it gonna be? We’ve got plenty of chips to play, so it will be interesting to see what Theo’s got up his sleeve in the coming weeks.
