Saturday, September 17, 2011

The lead's back to four

Red Sox win last night 4-3 as Josh Beckett comes back from a sprained ankle to throw six solid innings against the tenacious Rays.

Giving up only 3 runs, and getting 7 K's while throwing just over a hundred pitches, the Sox's ace kept them in the game against the formidable James Shields who forced Boston to play small ball to keep up.

Evan Longoria continued his re-awakening with another monster home run off Beckett. Pity he had that mystifying slump late in the season. They could have used some reliable power from their marquee player.

Maddon got ejected late after arguing balls and strikes as the umpires seemed to be favoring Beckett with their calls. This isn't the first time the Rays have complained about this and I've got to agree, it seems a little blatant at times. You hope for things to be called down the middle in important games like this . . . but I've seen enough calls given to big name pitchers and hitters, it's one of those things where you just have to accept it as a part of the game.

Takes some of the fun out of a tough pitcher's duel at the end of the season though.

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