It's Patriots Day! And It Was Fantastic

First, Sunday stuff:

Beckett had the best ERA in the league going into this game, and Schilling had the 5th best. Beckett had another great day, pitching 7 innings and allowing 3 hits, 2 runs (only one of which was earned), and 1 walk. Timlin came in in the 8th to try to maintain an ERA of 0.00, and he did. And Papelbon continued his 9th inning dominance, getting his 3 outs easily.

WEEI quote of the day:
"Think our ratings will be higher than Regis and Kelly tomorrow morning?"
"They're on before us. Besides, Regis is a Yankees fan."
"Oh, we'll take care of him."

Monday morning:

Trot is back! I missed his bat very much. He singled his first AB and then Alex Cora doubled to bring him in. He was a swell 3-for-4 today. David Ortiz hit a solo HR today, his 5th of the year.

Lenny DiNardo, filling in for the man-who-should-have-been-traded David Wells, gave us 5 good innings. He only gave up 2 runs, which is a lot less than I expected. Rudy Seanez came in to pitch the 6th, and he certainly has been lackluster so far. He got 2 strikeouts, then gave up a single and a HR to put us behind.

But wait! David Ortiz hit his second homerun of the day to tie the game again. Then Manny came super close to hitting a HR right after Ortiz, but missed by about 2 feet. And then Nixon hit one hard for a ground-rule double. Right about now, you kind of felt something good starting. Gil Meche intentionally walked Varitek to get to Lowell. And then that good feeling I had was brutally murdered as Mike Lowell grounded into a double play. So many squandered bases loaded opportunities lately.

Error: Alex Cora. Off his glove. No surprises there. And yes, the error was costly. How many times is Cora going to contribute to my dislike of him?

Foulke pitched the 8th and 9th, had a 1-2-3 8th and had trouble in the 9th. I'm thinking Foulke is like a one-inning wonder at this point. Timlin came in to fix a 1st and 3rd/one out situation, but couldn't get out of it without a run scoring. With Cora, Mohr, and Youkilis due up, it wasn't looking good. Pena PHed for Cora and (guess!) struck out. Mohr struck out. Youkilis was safe on a single with a Very close call. And then...

MARK LORETTA HIT A WALK-OFF HOMERUN! His first HR of the season and I LOVE WALK-OFF HOMERUNS and what a way to end it!! LOVE IT!