Sox kick back and win again

It was a leisurely and relaxing night at the ballpark on Wednesday. It was good night for reminiscing about Manny Antics of the Past. (The acrobatic catch of a Johnny Damon relay throw was definitely my favorite.) A good night for hawking Matsuzaka headbands, which are good for "wedding and banquets." (I'm OK with RemDawg hawking his wares because, well, he's RemDawg. If Amalie Benjamin wanted to hawk her clothing line on the air, that would also be fine. I'm sure Amalie's line is much classier than that of the wife of that guy on the Yankees.) A good night to ponder just how many Red Sox should make the All-Star team. (Definitely, at least 11.)

The action on the field was pretty good too. For Sox fans. Boston demolished the Blue Jays, 9-3, in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score would seem to indicate. It was the 8th straight loss for Toronto. Daisuke Matsuzaka was superb, allowing only one measly run in seven innings, whiffing eight. He avoided the one really bad inning that seemed to haunt him each start this season, and lowered his ERA from 5.45 to 4.80. The Sox belted four more HRs, courtesy of Messrs. Lugo, Lowell, Ortiz, and Ramirez. David Ortiz went 4 for 5 (.311 BA) and Dustin Pedroia (2-4) raised his BA to .267(!). It seems like just last week Lil' Dustin's BA was .172. (May 3rd) But he has gone on a 10 for 17 tear, giving him a .500 BA in May, coupled with a blistering 1.345 OPS this month. (Good thing they didn't send him down to Pawtucket, as this foresight-lacking blogger clamored for the Sox to do.) With the exception of J. D. Drew (4 for his last 41!), it was a good night for building up those All-star stats.

The 22-10 Sox go for the sweep at 7:07 tonight, with Tim Wakefield (3-3, 2.11) facing Jays ace Roy Halladay (4-1, 3.59). It seems like the Sox have spent half of their season facing Halladay and the Jays. Halladay has a 2.94 ERA against the Sox this season, in 2 starts. (So, I guess only 9% of the Sox' games have been against Halladay.) Hopefully, the Sox can continue their streak and get Wakefield some run support.