Dethrone
| Game 151: September 23, 2009 | |||
 Red Sox | 9 | W: Josh Beckett (16-6) | 90-61, 1 game winning streak |
| Royals | 2 | L: Luke Hochevar (7-11) | 63-89, 1 game losing streak |
| Highlights: Beckett has all but recovered from his August abatement. He twirled six innings of two-run ball despite allowing 12 hits. Yuniesky Betancourt drove in the first run of the game in the fourth with a gapper to the wall in left-center in the fourth. David DeJesus followed with a bloop single to center to plate Betancourt. | |||
David DeJesus ran into the second out of the fourth trying to swipe second, so the next two singles by Mitch Maier and Billy Butler were harmless. Designated hitter Brayan Pena tapped out to second, staunching a big inning by the home team.
My computer was plugged into a Cox Communications internet connection in a Laughlin, Nevada hotel room. It could barely keep up with all the Red Sox runs in the fifth inning. All I saw of Jacoby Ellsbury’s two-run triple was his figure frozen between second and third.
MLB.tv Premium video will seize up but the audio continues apace, so I didn’t see Victor Martinez extend his hitting streak to 23 games but did hear Don Orsillo and Sean Casey talk about it.
For some reason the entirety of Jason Bay’s two-run single streamed clearly. The Baseball Gods, Internet Synod, conferred upon me the opportunity to watch the left fielder, perhaps in anticipation of impending departure.
Images would freeze at the oddest times: David Ortiz’s line drive single to right chased in Kevin Youkilis and NESN followed the corner infielder into the dugout. For a few seconds my browser lingered on Youkilis’s sweaty visage with his eyes half-closed. Apparently the Internet Synod has the sense of timing of a photographer assigned to snap school portraits.
Trey Hillman’s on-field management is a refreshing departure from the Joe Maddons and Dave Trembleys of the league. Hillman allowed two rookies, Victor Marte and Carlos Rosa, two innings apiece to experience pitching in the majors. Rosa allowed a two-out, three-run shot to Ortiz in the ninth but he also had a hitless eighth. He experienced the ups and downs of life on a major league mound over six outs rather than getting whiplashed on and off the rubber at his skipper’s whim.
