| 21 May 2009
Do you feel that?
That's the weight of the world being lifted off of David Ortiz' shoulders...
The Red Sox took an 8-0 lead over the Blue Jays with four ding dongs in the 5th inning, but the real story was Big Papi's first homer of the 2009 season. Jason Varotek got the party started with his second homer of the game, but Lugo grounded out and Ellsbury was eventually thrown out at home on a Dustin Pedroia double... leaving David Ortiz with two outs and Dustin at third.
The crowd rose to it's feet like they have for every one of Big Papi's at-bats since the Sox came back to Fenway and, with that golf-like swing we've come to love, Ortiz stroked a deep fly ball to centerfield.
380 feet later, the curse was broken and all was right in the world. Big Papi was a home run hitter again. He took a well deserved curtain call and went on to go 2 for 5 with 2 RBI.
It was great to see Ortiz snap this homerless streak, but it was also great to see the Red Sox look like the team we planned to be rooting for in 2009.
Brad Penny had his best outing of the season, locking down the Blue Jays for six innings on less than 90 pitches. He only fanned two and fell apart quickly in the 7th, but he earned the win and is starting to look like the potential 10+ game winner we were hoping for.
Kevin Youkilis returned from the DL and picked up where he left off 15 days ago, going 3 for 5 on the night. He's now batting .404 on the season...
Tek, Ortiz, Bay and Lowell combined for four homers in one inning. That gives Bay 12 dingers on the year, two behind the AL leader Carlos Pena (14) and 42 RBI, four behind Evan Longoria's league leading 46.
Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 15 games... even if that one hit came on a failed bunt attempt that the pitcher chose to dive for. He may have reached anyway, but you never want to pop up the bunt. Ells was also tagged out at home on Pedroia's 5th inning double, making for a frustrating night, but he's hitting .304 on the year... I just wish he'd learn to walk a little more often.
And with the offense in full swing (every player had at least one hit), the bullpen locked things up without Jonathan Papelbon... MDC finished Penny's inning, Bard struggled in his Fenway debut, but Okie Dokie cam to the rescue, and Saito closed out the ninth.
Bottom Line: These are the Boston Red Sox we've been waiting for. All that's left is for Jon Lester to feed off of this positive mojo tonight and get Matsuzaka back in the mix and this team will be scary again.
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