SOX WIN, TAKE 2 OF 3 FROM B-MORE

With the bases were loaded and the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth, David Ortiz hit a deep fly ball to the warning track in right field. Tie game, right? Uh, no. Doug Mirabelli, reprising the roll of "the confused base-runner on third" that Jeff Suppan perfected so well in the '04 World Series, managed to get thrown out at home by a large margin.

How'd he do that, you ask? The short answer is by being stupid. The long answer is he thought he left the base too early, so after taking three steps toward home he turned around and went back to third. This is pretty dumb, but if you do leave too early then OK, just don't get thrown out at... Hey Doug! Come back Nooooooooooo!! Yes, after leaving too soon, Mirabelli decided that he could still score. Basically this amounted to a water buffalo attempting to out-race a cheetah. Mirabelli was out by five feet. It would have been more but I think Miguel Tejada wasn't prepared to throw the ball home and had to re-set himself when he saw Mirabelli's rumbling towards home.

Fortunately, Dougie made up for it the next inning, singling in the leading run as the Red Sox went on to win 7-4. Tim Wakefield got the win and Eric Gagne came on to pitch the ninth. Gagne was given a standing ovation and proceeded to strike out the first two guys on seven pitches. After that he got a pop up over by the bleachers down the left field line. It should have been caught, but Mike Lowell missed it and it bounced and went into the stands for a ground rule double. Corey Patterson then singled home a run making it 7-4, but Gagne got the next hitter to fly out to right field. Game over.

AL East: New York lost in a bizarre game wherein both teams scored eight runs in the second inning. Toronto and Tampa were off last night. The Red Sox restore their lead over New York to 8.0 games. They lead Toronto by 12.5, Baltimore by 15.5, and Tampa by 24.5.

Today (Friday): The Sox now leave for a long road trip. They open a three game series tonight in Seattle followed by a three gamer in Anaheim. Then they get a travel day and play three at Baltimore before returning home. Tonight, Jon Lester faces Horacio Ramirez at 10:05pm EST.