Sports Redux: Sox Keep It Going

Well. This is fun, isn't it?

Left for dead, the Red Sox are now in the enviable position of needing one game to move on to the World Series, and Jon Lester on the hill. There were moments of drama last night - would TBS get its act together? Was B.J. Upton's 74th home run of the postseason a sign that Beckett was cooked? Will all the umpires survive? - but they were erased, and erased quickly.

Upton's first inning home run, which bounced off the catwalk (off the catwalk, yeah) was quickly countered when Youkilis went deep in the second. Youk grounded into another run, Beckett gave up another solo home run, and we were tied at 2 apiece before the remains of Jason Varitek shocked the world, homered and gave the Sox the lead for good. ""He wears a 'C' on that jersey for a lot of different reasons, but none more important than how much respect everybody in that clubhouse, including players, coaches, upper management, has for him," said Beckett about 'Tek. If Ortiz can homer in this series, and Varitek can homer in this series...can Julio Lugo be far behind?

So it comes down to tonight. Lester got battered at Fenway, but how confident can Tampa Bay be that they can get to him twice? (Florida seems to be in full panic mode, according to the Internet.) The '04 Yankees and '07 Indians are scooching down to make room on the bench; let's put it that way. Our crystal ball says Bay gets the big hit tonight.

The Bruins played their best game of the young season, riding three Marc Savard assists to a 4-2 win in Ottawa. Two of his assists went through Phil Kessel for scores (Marco Sturm and Milan Lucic also lit it up), and Manny Fernandez made 21 saves, not many, thanks to a dedicated and efficient Bruin defense.