A Win on this (objective) blogger's scorecard...

Sometimes a win feels more like a loss. Perhaps the team's effort was uneven. Maybe the opponent's performance was just more craptacular. Or an injury to a key player rendered the victory almost meaningless. (See Phillies, 2007 Philadelphia.) Conversely, a team can fall short on the scoreboard, but still demonstrate characteristics that are much more significant when the big picture is considered. Monday night, the Red Sox exhibited the traits that make them a World Series contender. Though an 11th inning HR off the bat of A's 3B Eric Chavez sent Boston to a 5-4 loss, the Sox showed what they were made of Monday night (and Tuesday morning).

The Sox had enough readily available excuses for a poor performance to stock a spring training roster. After their four hour game ended after midnight on Sunday, they flew across the country, not getting into their hotel rooms into 5am. The pre-game buffet options were, at best, lackluster. Their two relief aces, Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, were not available for action, as they were representing the Sox in an MLB-sponsored trivia contest. Their starting pitcher, Julian Tavarez had an ERA more than 200% higher (with 200% less hair) than that of his A's counterpart, Danny Haren. Backups Doug Mirabelli, Eric Hinske, and Wily Mo Pena were all in the starting lineup. Boston's chances for a victory didn't look all that promising.

Going into the 9th inning, those chances looked even less promising. Much less. Danny Haren had pitched brilliantly, allowing only two runs (on solo HRs by David Ortiz and Wily Mo Pena) over his 7.2 innings. Haren permitted a mere four hits and one walk, while striking out nine Sox batters. Julian Tavarez, pitching on seven days rest, was not quite as effective. He gave up three runs on nine (!) hits over 5.2 innings. Tavarez managed to pack 107 pitches into those 5.2 innings, including an astounding 72 in the first three frames. The Sox trailed 4-2 as they batted in the 9th against A's (3rd-string) closer, Alan Embree. Embree had been perfect in all four of his 2007 save opportunities going into the game, and had a 2.45 ERA in May.

David Ortiz started the inning with a double, but Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis were retired, both failing to score Ortiz. With two outs, Sox Manager Terry Francona opted to pinch-hit for gajillion dollar RF J.D. Drew, sending C Jason Varitek up to bat for the slumping outfielder. Varitek came through with an RBI single, and was replaced by pinch-runner Coco Crisp. Crisp then scored from 1st on a single by Wily Mo Pena, as the speedy Crisp was running on the pitch as Pena drove it into right-center. The game was tied.

While Papelbon and Okajima demonstrated the breadth of their knowledge in Alameda, Joel Pineiro attempted to demonstrate that he was a capable reliever in Oakland. He failed. Pineiro gave up a walk and a single, putting the go-ahead run on 3rd base, with no outs. Francona went to J. C. Romero, who walked the 1st batter he faced, loading the bases. But then Romero struck out Eric Chavez, and got Bobby Crosby to hit into an inning-ending 5-2-3 DP. Youkilis to Mirabelli to Hinske. Chavez redeeemed himself with the game-winning HR two innings later, off Kyle Snyder, but the Sox had almost won a game they had almost no business being in. Terry Francona deserves a lot of credit for that.

Tom Caron deserves a lot of credit for the strong pre-game performance. May Pitcher of the Month Amalie Benjamin had some updates on Jon Lester's rehab in her pre-game segment, and she allowed only one run in her six innings of work. With strong perfomances on the Extra Bases Blog, and in her game story for Sunday's night's game, she's off to an excellent start in June. However, she did tire a bit in the 6th, and was saved by a tumbling catch by Kathryn Tappen in CF, and a nifty play on a line drive by SS Eric Frede. Caron took note of the hard-hit outs in the 6th, and sent Gordon Edes out for the 7th inning. Edes pitched the 7th and 8th, and his MLB Notebook was as insightful as usual. 1B Don Orsillo helped get Edes out of trouble in the 8th, digging out a low throw from 2B Jerry Remy, completing a Frede-Remy-Orsillo twin killing. Eckersley shut the door in the 9th, punctuating yet another save with an unprovoked shot at the Yankees and their overall suckitude. Nice. The pre-game players performed well, but it was Caron who put them in position to win. SS Frede will have to content himself with his three Gold Gloves, and his .321 lifetime batting average, because he won't be taking the reins from Chessmaster Caron any time soon. The Sox send Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound against old pal Lenny DiNardo tonight, as they attempt to match the success of their pre-game crew.