If right around first pitch you had told me that you were picking Shane Victorino to be the hero of last night’s Red Sox game, I would have immediately demanded a quart of your urine. Not just because I am an avid collector of urine samples but because I would have needed you checked and scanned for hallucinogens. Sure, Shane will always get the mulligan for his heroics in the 2013 postseason, but the oft-injured 2015 edition already has most of Red Sox Nation clamoring for Rusney Castillo’s promotion.
Simply put, you would have had an easier time convincing me to drop a couple grand on St. Louis Rams Super Bowl tickets than making me believe that Shane would come up big when we needed it most.
But, as we must remember, baseball makes no sense. So it came to pass that just one day after Wade Miley notched a win over Sonny Gray, Shane Victorino was the catalyst in another Red Sox victory. He not only hit his first home run since last July, he saved a run with his glove, turning what could have been a double into a crazy double play.
I’ll be damned if we all didn’t feel like Shane after that.
Meanwhile, Joe Kelly survived a shaky first to turn in a respectable 6.1 inning, five hit, one run performance. So that’s two respectable starts after Justin Masterson’s Oakland implosion.
Is this the start of a turnaround? Has this Red Sox team found itself? Is the fact that they’ve won four of their last five a sign that things are getting better? You’re only as good as your starting pitcher, and tonight we’ve got Clay on the hill.
Where you putting your money?
