"Graffanino is on his way to becoming a Fenway folk hero."
"Must keep Graffanino"
"Graffanino got teh smarts!"
"Ok, I really like him...."
"Tony Graffanino = Denny Doyle '75"
"I love Bellhorn. Seems like a great guy and Ill always defend him. But c'mon, its Graffanino time"
"Tony Graffanino is the best player in the history of baseball"
So said the diehards on last night's Sons of Sam Horn
game thread. And they spoke the truth.
Tony Graffanino: You cannot stop him. You can only hope to contain him.
As his five-year-old son
lay in a hospital bed, Graff went 3 for 3 with four RBIs, including a three-run homer over the Monster, powering us on to a win.
Why just three at-bats? Because he was intentionally walked (with two outs) in the seventh -- something that's happened to him only three times before in a nine-year career.
He also dashed home on a wild pitch thanks to some heads-up base running in the fourth.
And he turned couple sweet defensive plays. But that's par for the course with a guy with just
one error on the year at second base. (And that was in Kansas City.)
He's batting .333 in a Red Sox uniform, with six RBIs and 12 runs in 14 games.
Mark Bellhorn, we hardly knew ye.
Sorry, buddy.
But facts is facts. And unless you can start hitting above the Mendoza Line in Triple-A, there's no way you're gonna be the starting second baseman for the Boston Red Sox.
The AL's two leading
offensive juggernauts met last night (at Fenway, a place where the Rangers have played terribly) and the results were predictable: many hits and mediocre pitching.
But contributions in this
team win came from unlikely quarters. Alex Cora and
Roberto Petagine each got two hits. So did Kevin Millar. (Did my little pep talk yesterday work? Maybe so, but he's still just slapping singles.)
Johnny Damon and Ortiz also notched a hit and two RBIs each, Big Papi's two-run homer setting us on the way to immediately reclaiming the three-spot the Rangers had put up in the first.
Yes, predictably,
Wade Miller had to
battle hard once again, his first-inning woes only continuing. He got it together, a little, but ended up lasting just four and a third innings surrendering five runs (four earned) on 10 hits and three walks, striking out just two.
Luckily,
Jeremi Gonzalez was able to bounce back from his last disastrous appearance (six hits, five runs in an inning and a third) to help bail him out, pitching two and two third scoreless innings and getting the W for his troubles. Mike Timlin pitched one (letting his own runner score for a change) and Chad Bradford pitched another (giving up only a hit) and that was that.
Some shout-outs:
Welcome back
Youk. (Yes, again.)
Nice knowing you,
Jose.
Feel better,
Billy.
You too,
Trot.
And you,
Keith.
RIP,
Gene Mauch.
And this just in:
Terry Francona loves Boston.
We love him back. But we reserve the right to change our minds. We're Red Sox fans.