Southpaw Savior
Don Orsillo and Jerry Remy, as delicate as Jacoby Ellsbury’s ribs, are the only broadcasters who close their booth windows during games in Rangers Ballpark. But their flimsy exteriors hide the hearts of hardened criminals.
The NESN duo stole a car last night. “A lot of rental cars look the same,” blurted Remy under interrogation. His plea of ignorance rang false in light of his and Orsillo’s jocular boasting about their abhorrent deed.
Not only did participate in grand theft but committed the thievery against fellow broadcasters Joe Castiglione and Dave O’Brien. “At no point did we think about going back,” sneered Orsillo.
In the end, nothing came of Remy and Orsillo’s hijinks, just as Bill Hall’s and David Murphy’s stolen bases didn’t impact the game. The first run in the fifth inning was scored by Ryan Kalish, who starched a single to right.
The Red Sox rookie advanced to second on a passed ball to Marco Scutaro and then to third on Scutaro’s single to Michael Young. The Rangers third baseman did well to knock down the hit and save the run but the reprieve was short-lived. J.D. Drew lobbed a single to shallow right to plate Kalish.
Jon Lester summoned all his faculties to limit the Rangers to five base hits, and only one was an extra base hit. The southpaw was feeling ill due to the heat in the sixth but gutted it out for two more innings. Nelson Cruz’s triple to right with one out in the seventh threatened the visitors’ tenuous lead, but Lester buckled down and induced consecutive ground ball outs to strand Cruz 90 feet away from a tie.
Sensing that one-man wrecking crew Josh Hamilton would have a chance to take the box the Boston batters willed themselves to score two insurance runs in the first half of the ninth. As sure as the temperature in Texas is triple digits in August Hamilton lofted a home run in the ninth.
The inspiring win almost had me chanting along with knee-jerk WEEI listeners, “Felix Doubront for closer!”
| Game 118: August 14, 2010 | ||
 Red Sox67-51 | 3 | W: Jon Lester (13-7) H: Scott Atchison (4) S: Felix Doubront (1) |
| 2B: Mike Lowell (8) | ||
| Rangers 66-49 | 1 | L: Colby Lewis (9-9) |
| 3B: Nelson Cruz (3) HR: Josh Hamilton (26) | ||
