To Within an Inch of Their Lives

Tonight, the Red Sox beat the Indians to within an inch of their lives, with a 23-7 victory in Fenway Park.

The Sox scored the most runs ever by a team in the postseason, breaking the Yankees' 1936 record of 18 against the (then-New York) Giants. It also turns out to be the largest run differential (16) in the postseason, breaking the Braves record from a 15-0 laffer over the Cardinals in 1996.

John Valentin hit two home runs and 7 RBI, effectively (one thinks) erasing his "goat" label from game one.

The Sox were entering their fourth time through their batting order in only the fourth inning. Indians reliever Steve Reed - who allowed 8 runs - was clearly frustrated and looked like he threw at Darren Lewis at one point. But obviously Indians manager Mike Hargrove wasn't going to tire the whole bullpen in a lost cause.

The TV at one point late in the game displayed a shot of a small group of Indians fans - wearing red, their faces painted the same - standing forlornly near a wall. That must have been the worst; one thing to be beaten by the opponent on enemy ground, quite another to be so thoroughly humiliated by it.

One wonders if the Sox were taking out their frustrations at having lost 8 of their last 10 postseason games to the Indians - and 18 of their last 20 postseason games against anyone - all at once. (Although I think only Valentin and Tim Wakefield are left from the Sox' 1995 playoff team.)

So all of a sudden the series is tied up 2-2, and the Sox are part of history once more. Wouldn't it be terrific if they could pull it out, then beat the Yankees in the ALCS, and then meet and beat the Mets in the World Series? What a huge catharsis that would be! (But, when Subrata asked me, I wisely decided not to put money on it. But still...!)

With Pedro Martinez still on the shelf with his strained back, Bret Saberhagen will go for the Sox tomorrow, reprising the Game Two match-up as he faces Charles Nagy in Cleveland. While this doesn't make me feel good, maybe we'll get lucky and Nagy will be hittable tomorrow, as Bartolo Colon was (eminently!) tonight.

Ah, it's good to see your team win.

Other than that, the day was rather medium. We played a new game, Serenissima, at Subrata's today, as we slowly work our way through my closet-o'-games. This one's a Mediterranean trading game, circa the 12th century, where you move commodities around the map to fill warehouses at various cities. There's also a combat element, as the strength, speed, and carrying capacity of ships are all rather precariously balanced. I ended up getting pounded on late in the game by someone who built up a huge armada out of the blue.

Oh, and it seems my new neighbor has moved in. That was fast! Not two cute young women, but apparently one, anyway. I met her briefly while I was changing the light bulb outside my front door (and doing a rotten job of it, too; I'd though I needed to take the darned thing apart, when in fact one of the panes had already been removed. Gah). She said the landlord had called me "the neighbor who's never home". Sure, I spend a lot of time out with my friends, but I do spend some time at home. When else would I write these entries?