Victory!

Seemingly limping to the wire, it turned out that the Sox pitching staff had just a little more gas in it than did Cleveland's, thanks to the return of ace Pedro Martinez. A rousing slugfest through the first three innings, Sox starter Bret Saberhagen and Tribe starter Charles Nagy each got pounded, as did Sox reliever Derek Lowe. Then, in the fourth inning, Martinez entered, throwing six no-hit innings for the win.

Meanwhile, the Indians twice tried a strategy that should have worked for them: With men on second and/or third base, they intentionally walked superstar shortstop Nomar Garciaparra to pitch to slumping outfielder Troy O'Leary, and twice O'Leary came through with home runs, matching John Valentin's record-tying performance from yesterday with 7 RBI. The sox scored an amazing 44 runs in their three wins over the Indians.

This is the first time since 1995 (when Seattle did it) that a team has come back from a 2-0 deficit to win a Division Series, a period spanning 16 such series, though of course Boston's incredible run output is what made it so remarkable.

Martinez was reported to have been throwing on the side before the game, and everyone took a 'wait and see' attitude towards his strained back. One report I saw just before the game said that he was available for 40 pitches if necessary. But he said that when he came in and started throwing, he felt better than he'd expected, and he ended up hurling 97 pitches in his 6 innings, collecting 8 strikeouts and walking 3 batters. And all this after Rob Neyer's ESPN column today hinted that Pedro's injury was more serious than anyone had guessed. Hah!

Now the Sox go to New York to face their arch-rivals the Yankees. Unfortunately, they face a Yankee team fresh and rested from its sweep of the Rangers, while the Sox' pitching staff is battered and exhausted. Still, they've got to feel energized and thinking that they have a chance to take down nearly anybody. Woo-hoo!

And as for the Indians (my grandfather's team), they exited the postseason earlier than they have in several years, and with an ownership change on the horizon, it may be that their day is passing. Too bad; they're a good team, and deserved to win in 1997.

Still, baseball in beantown is still alive, and that's what matters!

One thing I'd forgotten about the postseason is that it's an ideal time to do housework. I spent part of tonight sweeping and mopping my linoleum floors with the game on in the background, and they're much cleaner now. (They're not perfect, because they're patterned in such a way that they collect dirt in little crevasses, but it's good enough. Much better than it was!) I should do another stint of vacuuming soon, too.

Have I mentioned that over the weekend I used the final peripheral on my car? That's right, I used my horn, to signal to the guy in front of me that the light had in fact turned green. As it was rather hot over the weekend I was shut inside running the A/C, and the horn certainly sounded rather muffled. It also seems that the two buttons on the wheel each control one of the two horns in the car, which is rather weird.

One thing I'm not so fond of about my car is its gas mileage, which has been hovering around 30 MPG, when I'm used to getting 35-40 MPG, even in the city. Sure the A/C has a little to do with it, but I suspect that the big difference is just the more powerful engine and the heavier car. Also, the car has a light that comes on to indicate that the gas is getting low, but the measuring device in the gas tank is pretty sensitive to the gas sloshing around in there, so it comes on frequently when I make right turns, even when there's still a gallon or two left in the tank. Annoying. It will take me a little while ti figure out exactly when I'm really about to run out of gas.

Still, if that's the worst thing about this car, then I can cope.

It turns out that, in fact, there are two women in the apartment next to me, one of whom has a young son. They're still moving in, and tonight one of them noticed my cats and asked if we're allowed to have cats here, since the ad they responded to said no pets, and she has a cat at her old (soon-to-be-vacated) apartment. I dunno if my landlord has changed the lease since I moved in, or what. I guess she's going to ask him about it. Too bad she didn't do so before she moved in...