Thanks A Lot, Scott

Things are not going too swimmingly in Red Sox Nation. Currently as I type this sentence, I’m electrocuting my nipples and frantically banging my head against the desk. The hellish, devil-spirited, freakin Yankees are in first place, and the Red Sox have stooped as low as tying the Orioles for second. Last night was the biggest roller coaster ride of the season, and I’m not just talking about the Sox game. Things started off well, but Kazmir settled in, and after I had passed out numerous times, the Sox were down 3-1 late in the game. After Lou’s brigade, I woke up and began to pray to my Bill Mueller statue. Didn’t work. Sox lost, and Damon’s hitting streak was snapped.

The night wasn’t over. The Yankees were up 9-5, but a nice two run rally gave the Rangers hope at 9-7 in the sixth. The next batter hits a routine popup to Bernie in center, and my friends and I let out a collective groan in disgust. There goes the rally, and Rivera is already pacing around in the bullpen. But, Bernie drops the ball, and the Rangers tie it at nine. The place went crazy. We were laughing, pointing, jumping, dancing, starting random Yankees Suck chants and putting up Yankees Choke posters outside of my house. After a Soriano single, it was 10-9 Rangers and life was good again.

Thanks to Extra Innings, we also followed the Orioles-Twins game. We watched BJ Ryan blow a save and the Twins tied it at two in the ninth. Sweet, maybe the Sox will remain in first after all. But then the night went downhill, starting with the Orioles winning the game on a Tejada homerun, then Sierra doubling in two as the Yankees took a 11-10 lead. We were on our hands and knees, hoping, praying for a Rangers miracle, but the damn Rivera is just too good. Night ruined.

To make matters worse, it looks like the Orioles have won the AJ Burnett Sweepstakes. They add a nice starter to complement Bedard, Lopez, Chen and whoever else kills the Red Sox every time we meet. But for the Sox, this is a really big game tonight, with Boomer taking the hill against former Sock Casey Fossum. Let’s shake this off and keep the faith. The Sox will be in first place when the night ends.