Two home runs from Dustin Pedroia, one of them a grand slam that clanged off the Pesky Pole in right, a jitterbug-dancing knuckleball delivered by Steven Wright, and the punchless line-up rolled out by the Atlanta Braves all added up to another win for the Boston Red Sox last night.
The 9-4 win was Boston's fourth in a row, third against the Braves, the only positive for the Atlanta squad being a home run by Freddie Freeman that broke a homerless streak that had stretched sixteen games, longest for the franchise since 1946 when they used to play in Boston. David Ortiz also had a big night with three doubles, moving him past some pretty impressive names on a list for career extra base hits, including George Brett, sixteenth all time, not to mention former Red Sox legends Jimmie Foxx and the Splendid Splinter himself, Ted Williams. Meanwhile, Steven Wright was torturing his catcher for the night, Ryan Hanigan, who allowed four passed balls, which is actually a very good showing given how confounding Wright's knuckleball really is to secure in a mitt. It's so odd to see a baseball move up, down, and sideways all in one flight from the mound to the plate, but as hard as it is to catch it's even harder to hit, and Wright has been terrific in all of his starts for the Sox this year. He has just a 2-2 record to show for it, but the two losses came due to lack of run support, and his ERA tells the real story: a minuscule 1.37 after his seven inning performance and win last night. It's going to be tough to take him out of the starting rotation, even when Eduardo Rodriguez comes off the disabled list. One more note, if you're heading to tonight's game at Fenway, also against the Braves, I'm extra jealous, because tonight is Grateful Dead Night at Fenway. Tie-Dyed dancing bear T-shirts will be handed out, and yes, I want one.
In Texas, the Rangers saw the return of their former all-star short stop Alex Rodriguez, now playing for the NY Yankees and starting his first game since last Sunday when he suffered an oblique strain. A-Rod wasted no time getting back to form, blasting a home run that gave him one-hundred career dingers hit in the Ballpark in Arlington. The A-Rod round tripper tied the game at 2 but the Rangers got an RBI triple from Elvis Andrus in the sixth inning and that proved to be the game-winner in a 3-2 Texas victory. CC Sabathia pitched well but lacked for run support and took the loss, dropping to 1-2 on the season.
As much as the Red Sox have enjoyed playing the Atlanta Braves, the NY Mets are just as happy to have been facing the Cincinnati Reds. The Mets won their sixth straight last night, thanks to the red hot Neil Walker, who hit a third inning home run, his ninth of the season, to power the Mets to a 5-2 win over the Reds and a sweep of the series against them. Walker is now tied for the major league home run lead, and Mets fans upset that the team let former second baseman Daniel Murphy leave for free agency are now saying "Daniel who?" Matt Harvey got the win on the mound, his second victory in as many starts.
To the NHL playoffs and that hotbed of hockey Nashville, Tennessee just took a big step in thwarting the very kind of sarcasm I just expressed, as the Nashville Predators won a Game seven playoff for the first time ever, beating the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 last night in Disneyland. Colin Wilson and Paul Gaustad scored for the Predators and then goaltender Pekka Rinne shut the door on the Ducks, making 36 saves and sending the Preds to round two where they'll face the San Jose Sharks.
The NY Islanders and Tampa Bay Lightning started their round two match up last night in Tampa and the Islanders immediately stole home ice advantage away from the Lightning with a 5-3 win. Shane Prince scored twice for the Isles and John Tavares added a goal and an assist.
The NBA playoffs roll on as well, and despite the absence of the mercurial Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors ousted the Houston Rockets from the tournament with a 114-81 rout in Oakland. In Miami, Courtney Lee came up huge for the Charlotte Hornets, nailing a three-pointer with 25 seconds left to give Charlotte a 90-88 win over the Miami Heat and a three games to two lead in the series, and the Portland Trail Blazers are now up three games to two over the hard luck L.A. Clippers after a 108-98 win. The Clippers are without two of the best players on the planet in Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, both injured and lost for the series, which I doubt will last longer than the next game given the importance to L.A. of both those stars.
Locally, in college mens' lacrosse Williams topped Middlebury 13-9, and Lasell beat Norwich 11-7. In womens' lacrosse Bentley got past St. Michael's 10-8, and Middlebury beat Williams 10-9 in overtime on a free-position shot by Bridget Instrum. The Panthers will next host Tufts in a NESCAC quarterfinal game Saturday.
