Had 'Em All the Way

     After the Red Sox out-slugged the Blue Jays Friday night, and Kid Clay shut them down en route to an unexpected thriller Saturday, more than one Red Sox fan would tuck away those two wins and prepare for the worst on Sunday, a game in which the Jays turned loose on us the best pitcher in baseball. Yes,he hasn't been the same since that injury, and yes, he's in the worst slump in recent memory, but he's still the Doctor. And the man we countered with was a little shy of a sure thing.

     But when Paul Byrd took the mound Sunday afternoon, Roy Halladay be damned, he was amazing. Considering the guy has an 82 mph fastball, considering he's drawing social security, and especially considering he's been retired for a year, inactive for months, and stayed in shape this summer by throwing BP to 13-year-olds, he was awesome out there. 6 shutout innings is about one more than we could have hoped for, and several less runs than I, for one, expected. Spotting the fastball, dropping those hooks in, and generally gritting through every at-bat the way he has done for his whole career, Byrd thrilled the Fenway crowd and made us, for at least three hours, forget about Tim Wakefield and his bad back.

     Halladay, meanwhile, was found bound and gagged in a car trunk in Ontario, however, shortly after a 6'6" man impersonated him for six innings, allowing 7 hits, a walk and four runs. Surprise surprise, Toronto did nothing to pick up their ace, and the Red Sox won, 7-0.

     The other big story of the day was Billy Wagner. Like Byrd, Wagner is 37 and hasn't pitched in approximately a year. Unlike Byrd, however, Wagner has been recovering from Tommy John surgery for 11 months (a freakishly short perdiod of time). According to reports, Wagner last pitched Monday for the Mets, and was hitting 96 on the gun, but naturally I was skeptical. After Sunday's showing, all I can say is good luck in the lefty specialist role, Oki. Wagner pumped pinpoint gas in there at 95 and embarassed Blue Jays left and right with the breaking ball. I know Wagner is on the short list of best left-handed relievers of all time, and I know the scouting reports were positive from last week, but after seeing him pitch this afternoon, one word come to mind: legitimate.

     This bullpen, the only bullpen in the history of the game that needed NO help, just got some. So I guess we're running at about 110% out there now. Sweet.

     With the additions on offense working great (V-Mart), the defense clearly boosted (Gonzalez), a #3 starer emerging from the woodwork in Buchholz, and the bullpen even better, I like this team a lot more than I did two or three weeks ago. I'm already looking at the acquisition of A-Gon as the turning point for the scuffling second-half Red Sox.

     Here's hoping this trend continues in the nightmarish Tropicana Field.

     Thanks for coming out,

    -Matt