Empyreal Environs

Daisuke Matsuzaka replaced his first-inning yips with a third-inning meltdown. After the offense had carved out a comfy 4-1 lead the pitcher walked the nine-hole and leadoff hitters back-to-back and then conceded a game-tying bomb to Travis Snider.

Just as the Blue Jays were swinging from their heels so were the Red Sox. J.D. Drew crushed Ricky Romero’s 3-1 offering to the second deck. It landed into the waiting hands of a Toronto fan, a young man who was so excited by his snare he fist-pumped his own catch rather than booed his team falling behind in the score.

Felix Doubront took over in the sixth with two men on and two out, even surviving a misplay by Jed Lowrie at second base to load the bases. Doubront could evade the bases-loaded jam but not the beguiling Jose Bautista, the inexplicable leader in homers in the American League. The outfielder re-knotted the game in the seventh with a leadoff shot off Doubront to left field.

There might be something to the trading deadline mantra that players returning from injury would provide the boost the Red Sox needed, not a deal. It took Kevin Youkilis’s freak thumb injury to do it, but since his return Mike Lowell has mashed two pivotal homers. His eighth-inning blast eluded the grasp of fans in center field and disappeared into the void behind the incandescent scoreboards.

Ryan Kalish pinch hit for Bill Hall and roped a single to center. Jed Lowrie, another returnee, doubled to a spot that the speedy Fred Lewis couldn’t reach, plating Kalish for an insurance run.

I was writing this season’s eulogy when Youkilis was placed on the disabled list. With the impending return of the Laser Show and the Rays’ recent swoon, the Patriots just might not be the only show going on in October.

Bring your glasses.

Game 114: August 10, 2010
Red Sox 65-49	7	BS, W: Felix Doubront (1, 2-2) H: Manny Delcarmen (8) S: Jonathan Papelbon (29)
		2B: David Ortiz – 2 (24), Adrian Beltre (35), Jed Lowrie – 2 (6) HR: J.D. Drew (13), Mike Lowell (4)
Blue Jays 59-53	5	L: Shawn Camp (3-2)
		2B: Lyle Overbay (25), Adam Lind (18), Travis Snider (13) HR: Adam Lind (16), Travis Snider (8), Jose Bautista (35)