The Gettysburg Address

Matt Clement was awesome yesterday. I’m trying to find better words, but “awesome” is the one that comes to mind. The guy cruised past Braves hitters one by one, making them look absolutely silly with that sinker, and blowing them away with the fastball. Looking back to the last complete game with Pedro against the D’Rays, I can’t remember a better pitching performance in a Sox uniform since then. He sure didn’t look like a career .500 pitcher yesterday.

Besides Lincoln…I mean, Clement’s masterful outing, the offense delivered with timely clutch hitting. The Fenway fans shouted “Yooooooooooooouk!!!” as the rookie entered the box, then he quickly punched a fastball into left field. The Braves would never be the same. In the finale of interleague play (thank god), Manny broke out of his short slump with a big homerun. It was interesting how Manny approached this game- just trying to slap pitches into right field, constantly going the opposite way, really focusing on the ball and nothing else. The distractions didn’t seem to be there.

Another note- the Red Sox must, and I mean MUST, keep Youkilis in the major leagues. Enough with the short stoppages in Pawtucket, this guy is ready. He’s never been more ready. He’s got the major league qualified bat and even flashed some leather in the field in the ninth inning on a tough grounder. First base, third base, outfield…hell, if Tito caught the guy, he’d be fine. It’s not quite Al Jefferson-like, but I really love watching Youk play.



Oh yeah, and Mr. Baseball wants back.