
It’s not every night you go into a road ballpark and find a way to win on Loonie Dog Night. Seriously, Blue Jays fans ate over 64,000 hot dogs tonight. When the fans put forth that kind of effort, it’s hard for a road team to win. The Red Sox found a way to overcome adversity and prove once again that Canadians can’t even eat hot dogs correctly.
Say what you want about the front office, ownership, the GM, whoever. Don’t tell me that the team on the field isn’t playing an incredibly entertaining brand of baseball. There are a lot of young players and the team, and with that comes inconsistency. Right now, the youngsters have started to put it together, scoring runs when it doesn’t look like there are even opportunities.
Look at the eighth inning tonight. Tyler O’Neill homered to tie the game, and Dom Smith reached on a two-out single. David Hamilton, who wasn’t even supposed to play tonight, pinch runs for Smith, immediately steals second base, and then scored on a Ceddane Rafaela single to right field. Earlier this afternoon, I received an alert on my phone that statewide 9-1-1 services were unavailable. The Red Sox must not have gotten the memo that they were restored because they’re stealing bases with no regard for defenses.
That’s another series win, how about a sweep tomorrow?
Three Studs
Ceddane Rafaela (3-4, RBI, SB)
How about Ceddane Rafaela? Over the past few weeks, he’s been the best player on the planet. Every night you look up, he has two, three, or even four hits. He’s also one of those guys with the ability to wreak havoc on the basepaths and turn singles into doubles.
Tyler O’Neill (2-4, HR)
Oh Canada! Our home and native land! Tyler O’Neil loves hitting in Canada. He has three home runs in the first two games of the series and looks like the player we saw to start the season. If he can stay healthy (big if), it’s a huge boost to a lefty-heavy lineup.
Kenley Jansen (1 IP, 1 K, SV)
For all the slack that Kenley has caught this season, he’s actually been pretty good. Sure, his velocity is still down. Fortunately, velocity doesn’t show up in the scorebook. With his save tonight, he now has 13 saves in 14 attempts. He’ll never be a fan favorite, but he’s getting the job down.
One Dud
Enmanuel Valdez (0-4, Error)
Not the best night for Valdez. That’s baseball for you.
Play of the Game
Joe Castiglione described Willie Mays as the best player he ever saw live. Considering Castiglione has seen about 90% of players who ever played at the big league level, that’s incredibly high praise. Rest in Peace, Willie Mays.
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