Brent Lillibridge - Amen!

Back to great starting pitching and great defense, and good-enough hitting for the win! Literally - a win!

Zach McAllister starter today and he totally shook off that "zomg that was awful!" start against Minnesota (where he only had 2 ER but there were like 10 runs in the 2nd inning) and pitched a beauty! He went 8 innings. EIGHT! Not only did he win the game but he saved the bullpen. In his 8 innings he struck out 4 and only gave up 3 hits and 2 runs. He's our new rotation stud! So nice to have someone reliable around.

Speaking of reliable, ol' Smooth Face Perez came up for the 9th and just wasn't having any of it. He got 2 outs really quick then got Pedroia to 2 strikes then gave up a single. Then he was like "Yo, Justin, I'm really happy for you. Imma let you steal that base but I just want to say that Ezequiel Carrera is the best left fielder we've had this year." BALLGAME!

Zeke wasn't the only defensive highlight today. Asdrubal was hot stuff, natch. Not just once but twice! Brantley and Lillibridge teamed out for a super sexy outfield assist, as did Duncan and Lillibridge. Plus there was some baserunning going on - double steal!

Man did you hear the "Let's go Red Sox!" chants at one point? Who ARE these people? I think Red Sox "fans" are just IRL griefers. They probably go home and steal kids' money on World of Warcraft. That shit didn't last too long beyond the 6th inning. "Red Sox fans" are fickle as hell.

The hitters were totally chipping away at the score today. They scored in 5 out of 8 innings, albeit 1 run at a time. They only got 6 hits but coupled that with 4 walks and then of course, as I said, double steal!

Kipnis was out again today. I guarantee he is aggravating his neck by being upset about his neck. He needs to relax his TMJ muscle. Too bad our friend Jen is on vacation - she's got the magic touch when it comes to massage, I'd totally get him an appointment with her. Everyone send him well wishes on Twitter! Oh, looks like he's got a Facebook page now. And he's really stepping out into the community, which Kenny Lofton urges all players to do. Bravo!

Jason Donald was leadoff today and he continued his hot streak (work with me here) going 1 for 4. Unfortunately that didn't translate in to any runs or RBI.

Asdrubal's only appearance on base was from a walk, but he made the best of it. Choo also didn't get any hits but he was on after Asdrubal when he got hit by a pitch. That's when they did the double steal! Then Santana gets put on and Brantley hits a sac fly to score Asdrubalfor the go-ahead run.

Santana went 1 for 3 with a double in the 8th inning. He came around to score when Zeke came in to bat in Shelley's spot and got an RBI single. He's hitting .385! (Not Santana - he's only hitting .240)

The man of the night was Brent Lillibridge. In fact he was one of Head & Shoulders' Mane Men tonight and they made a whole video about it! He went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and 2 runs. Plus he had that sweet play to get Ellsbury at 3rd. Oh and he was a triple shy of the cycle. Yeah, he got a homer in the 3rd inning, his first of the year! If you didn't know, we got him from Boston, but he only played 10 games with them (they were "renting" him?) They got him from the White Sox, where he hit under .200 and he hit .125 with Boston. So far he's hitting .300 with us in 11 games. I am, without a doubt, coming around fast on this guy!

Oh crap - I just decided to see if he had a Twitter account (@BSLillibridge) and he does and uh it's uh...well he loves Jesus. Don't get me wrong - Jesus is just all right with me. But Brent is sort of enthusiastic about it on his Twitter account. But what the heck, I'll give him a chance. Maybe that's why he's thriving here? A good chunk of our team is Crazy4Christ. Those heathens in Boston did not jibe with his exuberance for the Lord and today Brent and the Lord made them pay.

Sweet Lou executed a perfect suicide squeeze today, to score Lillibridge after Kotchman moved him over to 3rd. Praise be!

Nice game all around today and Brent Lillibridge played a big part, no doubt. Kind of fun seeing some new faces when those new faces are doing well and making a difference. Unlike when we saw Johnny Damon's stupid old face and he ruined everything.

Tomorrow is the 4th and final game against the Red Sox at 1:05. It's Corey Kluber versus LHP (5.36). If we can score another 5 we'll be golden. Have a nice fresh bullpen waiting too if Kluber can't hack it but his last start was great so I'm hoping to have a nice Sunday win for a change! Of course I'll be out kid wranglin' at a first birthday party so you'll have to wait for my witty and clever commentary, and over-abundance of exclamation points.

See you there!!

Radio Chatter:
"New floormats are nice this time of year."
"Why don't you purchase them for Andrew?"
"You brought it up - just making suggestions from the accessories department."
- Jim Rosenhaus and Tom Hamilton on what could be given away instead of a Nissan for a grand slam

"Ellsbury probably still can't believe that wasn't a home run!"
- Tom Hamilton on Brantley's outfield putout of Ellsbury in the 6th

"If you can't turn your head, it makes it tough in baseball."
- Tom Hamilton on Kipnis' stiff neck

"He's got 106 pitches now and he looks like one of those olympic runners staggering to the finish line."
- Tom Hamilton on Franklin Morales before he's taken out

"Good to hear John Adams banging the drum in the bleachers. When the Indians were in a losing streak he was banging his head in frustration."
- Tom Hamilton