Shiai [試合]
| Game 127: August 22, 2007 | |||
| Red Sox | 1 | L: Daisuke Matsuzaka (13-10) | 76-51, 1 game losing streak 26-11-5 series record |
 Devil Rays |
2 | W: Edwin Jackson (4-13) H: Dan Wheeler (10) H: Gary Glover (7) S: Al Reyes (19) |
48-78, 1 game winning streak 10-26-5 series record |
| Highlights: Matsuzaka dropped his tenth game but it wasn’t due to lack of effort on his part. He went six strong with eight strikeouts; he gave up only two hits and four walks, but one of the hits was a homer off the bat of B.J. Upton with Carlos Peña at first thanks to a free pass. Meanwhile, Boston batters left 14 batters on base in this shiai [試合, the Japanese word for game]. The first symbol means test, try, attempt, experiment, or ordeal; the second stands for join and meeting and is also a counter suffix for covered containers and battles. It certainly was an ordeal requiring the imbibing of the contents of several covered containers. | |||
Raymond zooming a remote control car about the field with a plush replica of himself taking a Jerry Remy bobble head hostage. The entire game should have been played with remote control cars.
The infielders would have little baskets on the front fender that could move from side to side while the outfielders could have maneuverable nets on the top.
The pitcher RC car would have a spring loaded widget on the top to deliver pitches and the batter car could have a similar mechanism but with bat device to make contact.
RC Raceball™, coming soon to Tropicana! This would be the only way RC enthusiast Craig Hansen could currently contribute to the Red Sox.
Proxies for real players would have been preferable, especially with Dustin Pedroia getting drilled in the left elbow and Eric Hinske due to a muscle cramp in his right leg.
Boston had a poor showing at the dish and Jason Varitek in particular highlighted the team’s futility. He grounded to first the end the third with a runner on and struck out to kill potential rallies in the fifth and seventh innings with two runners on.
B.J. Upton not only logged the winning runs but also hosed David Ortiz at home in the fifth. DeMarlo Hale was perhaps a bit too hale in his estimation of Ortiz’s speed, but it’s easy to be deceived given that the designated hitter proved his velocity the night before with his first triple of the season.
A scrap of solace could be found in the performance of two of the more questionable bullpen arms. Mike Timlin and Eric Gagne held the home team scoreless in their respective innings. Timlin worked out of a bases loaded jam in the seventh and punched out Upton to end the frame with a flourish.
