Victory! Sox Go Johnny Drama

VICTORY! VICTORY baby!

OK, so it's just a spring training game, but the way Boston was going, the possibility of dragging a weighty losing streak into the start of the season was starting to look more like an eventuality than a remote possibility. Instead, the Sox can finally spend an evening enjoying a win, 4-3 against the Mets, as opposed to the previous high of enjoying the end of a seven-game losing streak.


It came from - who else - Tim Wakefield, who was actually more pedestrian than he'd been in previous spring training starts. Wake gave up two runs in four innings (5 H, 3 BB) then turned the ball over to Jonathan Papelbon, who kept the slate clean through two innings, and Manny Delcarmen, who duplicated Paps' success. Dan Kolb then finished off the win with a save, his first of the spring, though - as per Kolb's reputation - it was a rocky one. Just look at his line: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. That's a lot going on in an inning.

Luckily for Kolb, it ended well, which keeps his chance of earning a spot in the pen alive. And luckily for the Sox, the win keeps the team from internalizing more of the malignant malaise of spring training losses. They may not have much to say about the teams emotional composition during the stretch run, but they certainly don't help set a progressive tone heading into a start of the season that is pockmarked with brutal - and brutally important - matchups.

The brightest point of the one-day turnaround has to be the team's resurgent offense. After falling behind in the earlier innings again, this time Boston bounced back, putting behind the early lead gained from a Mike Lowell homer (Dr. Double's second of the spring) in the second to rack up three in the third with a Joe Thurston double (Yeah, WMYM doesn't really know much about him either), J.D. Drew walk, Manny Ramirez single, Dr. Double walk and a two-run, two-bagger from Mayor Sean Casey.

That was it, but behind the dominant pitching of Paps and Lil' Manny, that was more than enough. In fact, when things have gone well, that's been the most striking development: the continued dominance of the BoSox bullpen. Not only is Papelbon excelling as always, Lil' Manny seems to have kicked his fastball into a new gear. Hideki Okajima still seems to be virtually unhittable (still defying all logic in the process) and even the likes of Javier Lopez have had good outings of late.

So, maybe you can actually see some bright signs when you're losing after all. Not that any Boston fans will hope for another seven game skid anytime soon. One of those a year is more than enough, preferably kept right where this one was: in the preseason, where it doesn't count.

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