Bowden, Snyder, Masterson Photo by Kelly O'Connor
The Red Sox weren’t the only ones to lose a heart-breaker last night as the Lowell Spinners watched their bullpen implode and blow a 6-2 lead after six innings and ended up losing 13-9. The good news is that David Aardsma pitched a 1-2-3 inning of rehab for the Spinners, so maybe he’ll be back in Boston soon? The Spinners have a do or die game tonight at 7:05…a win gets them into the Championship Series against the Jamestown Jammers…a loss sends them home for the season.
And, hell since we’re on the minor leagues and playoffs, the Lancaster JetHawks staved off ending their season early with a win yesterday, tying their series with the Lake Elsinore Storm. Tonight they play the decisive game. So one out of the four affiliated teams are still in the playoffs. Kick ass in Lancaster, fellas!
In case you missed it, Adam Kilgore had a great piece on Michael Bowden in yesterday’s “Extra Innings” at boston.com. Apparently, sweet little Michael has a cranky side. It’s really good reading, you should check it out. (Holy cow, I just pimped someone else at the Globe…is that a sign of the Apocalypse?) My only criticism is that Kilgore has such good stuff, this should have been in a full-blown story for the paper, not just on their blog.
I’ve been totally remiss on my updating about Cliff Lee and/or Brandon Webb. Webb still can’t get his 0th win, but Lee is already up to 21! The Cleveland Indians have 70 wins this season, so as much as we like to say that wins isn’t a great stat to judge a pitcher, in this case I think it says a lot.  Lee also has a 2.28 ERA and opponents are averaging .245 against him.  He’s had 154 strikeouts and only given up 8 home runs in a little over 200 innings. The guy can flat-out pitch and if he doesn’t get the Cy Young this year, it’ll be ridiculous.
Don Orsillo signed a four-year deal with NESN to keep on calling the Sox games. Now, cranky folks might scoff at this, but I can tell you as someone who watches a lot of NON-Red Sox broadcasts, that Remy and Orsillo bring something to the telecasts that many others don’t – enjoyment. They both love what they’re doing and they have fun doing it. I feel like Orsillo plays the role of the “average” fan against Remy’s “veteran player” very well. Their broadcasts are fun and informative (Remy sure knows his baseball) and are NEVER boring. Congratulations, Announcer Boy!
I’m back at Fenway tonight to watch Beckett help secure a series win…and that’s exactly what I plan to see!