Being stuck at work on Opening Day sucks. I know I wasn’t the only one either. There was a time at previous jobs that you would schedule your break for late in the afternoon so you could go into the employee lounge and catch a decent chunk of the game. Well, at the new job, there’s no TV, so that wasn’t an option. I don’t miss enough games to opt for the MLB TV computer thing so I’m left clicking refresh on Boston.com and ESPN.com.
Well, the game flew by. By the time I got in the car it was already the bottom of the fourth and the Sox were up 4-1 thanks to Little Dusty’s home run and some timely hits from Mike Lowell and Jason Bay. When I got home, Beckett was cruising. Ending the day striking out 10 in seven innings. He looked really good spotting his fastball like throwing darts.
Oh, and in the bottom of the sixth Jason Varitek hit a home run. Yeah, that Jason Varitek. Oh, and he did it from the left side of the plate for all of those saying he should only bat righty. In fact everyone in the lineup had a hit except Ellsbury. You can’t steal first. His at bats look the same, every time. Watch the first pitch, foul off the second, and dribble out or weak pop/line out. Isn’t the point of the lead-off hitter to work the count, not go down on three pitches? Just saying.
Okajima was the only other negative for the Sox hitting a man and walking another. I’m sure you could put in on Masterson who actually gave up the hit that allowed them to score, but had Okie never put them on base, they wouldn’t have been there to score.
Paps then came on in the ninth and continued what Beckett had started throwing some serious gas. After a pop out he struck out the final two batters for his first save of the season. You just know the game is over when he takes the hill in the ninth. Red Sox win 5-3 and start the season on a very good note.
Look for Rocco to get a start tonight for the Sox. Let’s keep the home cooking going. Baseball’s back and more importantly, the Sox are back.
