For a while the Sox seemed headed to a frustrating loss. Shit tons of men left on base, no hits when it mattered (a paltry 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position), Bobby V no doubt watching from his secret base on the moon, cackling about how John Farrell would be denied his better-than-all-of-last-season seventieth win.
But then the Baseball Gods (a division of GAMMONS, INC.) woke up and reminded themselves that these were the Boston Red Sox. Playing the Houston Astros. So normalcy was restored.
After falling behind 5-2 in the sixth, the Sox powered back with two in the seventh and three in the ninth–the latter coming courtesy of Stephen Drew, who cracked a game-winning home run like it was no big thing. But it was. The dude saved us from losing a series to the turgid Astros, which would have been a dismal stain on the schedule, not to mention the thing most likely to send me back to rehab. With one swing, he set us up to win the series and the potential to leave Houston 2.5 games up on the Rays (assuming they drop tonight’s game with Arizona, which they’re currently losing in the seventh).
In the bottom of the inning, Koji came in. And you know how that goes.
As diligently as last year’s team sought out new and excruciating ways to lose, the 2013 team never says die. Going into the ninth, you had a feeling the Sox could pull it out, down by one and with Ortiz, Carp and Gomes coming up. But it was Drew who proved the big gun. And he has very quietly become one of the most clutch guys on the team.
So we’ve won our seventieth game, for the first time since The Marco Scutaro era of 2011. And I’ve gotta say it feels pretty good to be a Red Sox gangsta.
