A Long Day's Journey Into Night

Maybe the tub of coffee I guzzled today made me a little excitable, but I don't know that I've ever been more impressed with the Pawtucket Red Sox.

They had every reason to roll over and play dead in the opening game of a 4-game series in Durham.  Consider the following:

1. They were on the losing end of a perfect game on Thursday night at McCoy Stadium - the first time that's happened in PawSox history.
2. A brutal travel day on Friday began with a bus ride to the airport at 6:45 am.
3. When the PawSox arrived in Durham, the bus that was scheduled to take them to the team hotel showed up an hour late.
4. They were greeted in North Carolina by oppressive 95 degree heat that added to the fatigue factor.
5. In the first inning, the Bulls scored 6 runs off of Michael Bowden to take a 6-0 lead.  The outburst included a grand slam by Justin Ruggiano - the 2^nd grand slam in as many nights against the PawSox.

After all of that, would you have been surprised if the final score was something like Durham 9 Pawtucket 2?

Me either.

But instead, the PawSox pulled off their biggest come-from-behind win of the year, scoring 8 straight runs to beat the Bulls 8-6.

In my mind, the MVP was Marcus McBeth.  After Bowden's rare rough outing, McBeth reversed the momentum by tossing 3 perfect innings with 5 strikeouts.  Relievers McBeth, Rocky Cherry, Randor Bierd, and Fernando Cabrera combined to toss 8 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts.

Offensively, Paul McAnulty had a single, double, and home run to lead the attack.  Gil Velazquez ripped a 2-out, 2-run double that tied the game in the 8^th inning, and Angel Chavez followed with a 2-run single that won the game.

It you start with the morning bus ride, it took about 13 ½ hours to get the win.

And for some reason I'm no longer tired.

And coffee has nothing to do with it.

I'd love to hear from you.  The address is dhoard@pawsox.com.