Good game…good game

It’s been a while since I’ve said this, but last night’s 6-1 win against the Blue Jays really was a good game. With the fast-moving Roy Halladay and the s…l…o…w pitching Clay Buchholz pitching you’d figure they would balance each other out into a 3-hour game and it came in at 2:57. Buccholz pitched the best game he has thrown since the no-hitter almost two years ago. A couple of times he got in trouble, especially that bases-loaded jam in the sixth, but managed to get out of it, and he actually pitched six full innings, meaning the Sox only had to use three relievers. (The Jays, on the other hand, got three innings in relief from Josh Roenicke, son of Gary, nephew of Ron). The relievers were back on track with the trio of Ramirez, Okajima and Saito throwing three innings of scoreless, no-hit baseball striking out six.

And while the pitchers were pitching, the hitters were hitting, against one of the game’s best. Halladay was out after five, having given up home runs to David Ortiz and Jason Bay. It’s nice to finally get a good pitcher on a bad night, instead of the way it has been going, getting a bad pitcher on a good night. With 10 hits, including four extra-base hits, it was a game when the offense was what we expected it to be, and not what it has become.

So, the Sox have at least won this series, and a win tonight will put a positive spin on things as the team comes home for the long homestand.