Sports Redux: Beckett, Bats In Motown Bash

This was the kind of Red Sox game we've been waiting for. Well, mostly.

On the strength of a no-hit bid by Josh Beckett (he got into the seventh untouched) and some powerful offense, the Sox dusted the Tigers 10-5. A two-run J.D. Drew homer in the first got things started, and it was a 4-0 lead when the wild and crazy eighth inning started. In the top half, the Sox sent ten men to the plate and scored six of them, with back-to-back RBI doubles by Ortiz(!) and Varitek putting the game out of reach.

Or so we thought. With two on and one out in the bottom of the eighth, a Pedroia throwing error led to the first Tiger run, and then errors by Green and Lowell helped load the bases, which Curtis Granderson (who had broken up the no-hitter in the 7th) tripled home. Suddenly, it was 10-5. Takashi Saito sweated out the ninth, walking two and hitting a batter, before finally inducing a game-ending fly ball from Josh Anderson. Whew.

Tim Wakefield goes for the sweep, today, before the Sox finally come home for what seems like the first time in forever, to spend the weekend hosting the Rangers.