For a second straight game Philly got tossed in the gutter by the Sox, receiving a 10-2 uppercut straight to the jaw one day after being bloodied in a 12-2 beat-down. Much-maligned (at least by me) Scott Atchison pulled down an emergency start (more on that later) and didn’t completely blow chunks (3 IP, 2 ER), but it was Boston’s bullpen that did the heavy lifting in this one as a combination of Manny Del, Okajima, Ramon Ramirez and Papelsmear chucked six scoreless frames.
Some dude named Daniel Nava decided to have his career highlight come on the first pitch he saw in his first career at-bat, joining Kevin Kouzmanoff as the only two players to do this. And we all know how well it worked out for K2. But seriously, I’d have busted a nut rounding first.
And the reason for the emergency start? Dice-K is apparently hitting the DL again, which stinks because it seemed like he was starting to figure things out a little. Glad to see he isn’t worried about it, what with him being a doctor and all. I can’t wait to see how out of shape he gets from forearm soreness.
From sea to shining sea, America sucks at soccer. Yet somehow we distracted an entire stadium full of rabid football fans and opposing players just long enough to smear Crisco on the ball. Three cheers for getting lucky. Now watch us lose to Micronesia or some place like that.
Game 5 is tomorrow, and basically a must-win for the C’s. This series could hinge upon the health of Andrew Bynum, and L.A. knows it. This is the perfect opportunity for Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce to re-introduce themselves to the Fakers in the form of aggressive dribble penetration, which serves the dual purposes of softening up the Laker interior defense and setting up shooters for open jumpers. If Ray Allen can get it going off kick-outs, this thing is going back to L.A. with the good guys only needing a split.
I’m going to wake up at 7:30 in the morning tomorrow to watch Algeria play Slovenia, and I’m going to root for whichever country has a lower infant mortality rate. That may sound fucked up, but only the strong survive in World Cup soccer. Sorry, football.
New England Rage 