Sox hang on for another comeback win

Sox 4, Arizona 3 (10)
WP: Okajima (2-0)
LP: Cruz (2-1)
SV: Papelbon (14)
HRs: BOS-Tek (7); ARI- Drew (3)

SUMMARY:
Boston swiped a victory from the jaws of defeat when it turned a 3-0 deficit after five innings into a one-run extra inning win.

Stephen Drew gave his team the 3-run lead with a 2-run homer in the 4th, but Tek tallied three ribbies to tie it, and Mike Lowell hit a sac fly with the bases loaded in the 10th to secure the win.

HERO: Tek 2-5, 2B, HR, R, 3RBIs
The Captain came through in the clutch-again. He got the Sox on the board with his homer in the 6th, then tied the game with a double in the 8th.

There is a reason he wears that 'C' on his chest.

GOAT: Brandon Lyon 2IP, H, R, BB, 3Ks
All the former Red Sox hurler had to do was retire the Sox in the 8th and then hand the ball over to closer Jose Valverde in the 9th.

Except Lyon choked against his former mates, allowing a leadoff walk to Youk and then a one-out double to Tek that tied the score and put Boston in a position to steal a win.

RECAP:
At least this one was worth staying up for.

The doldrums of a four-game slide have turned into thoughts of a weekend sweep in the desert as the Comeback Kids pulled one of their patented "think you've won it, no you don't" wins over the dumbfounded Diamondbacks.

'Zona came into this series having won 14 of 18 contests with a starting rotation that was a blistering 10-1 during that stretch, while Boston limped into Phoenix having lost 6 of 7 before Schilling's slump busting gem on getaway day in Oakland Thursday.

One blowout and one come-from-behind win later and the tables have turned, with the D-Backs looking like hapless wannabes and the Sox regaining that championship form it had displayed all season before the mini-slump.

It didn't appear that would be the case early in the game though, because even though Julian Tavarez provided a chance for Boston to win, he was in trouble early & often, and the Sox hitters couldn't crack Arizona's young phenom Micah Owings (6IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 4K, HR).

After escaping a 2-on, 2-out jam in the first inning, Julie allowed a run on an RBI double in the second. Following a 1-2-3 third, Tavarez gave up a double to Mark Reynolds leading off the fourth, then three pitches later Stephen Drew said "anything you can do, I can do better" to J.D. as he sailed a ball over his brother's head and into the stands in right field for a 2-run homer and 3-0 D-Backs lead.

He only had one more homer and five ribbies to go to match his elder sibling's output from last night.

Things stayed that way thru five innings as the Sox either blew scoring opportunities (bases loaded in the second, leadoff walk in the fifth) or were getting blown away by an impressive Owings. The big kid from Gainesville had his full repertoire of pitches working, including a 97-mph heater and drop-off-the-table slider that kept foiling Boston's eager bats.

But the Sox finally broke through in the sixth when J.D. Drew (3-5) stated a two-out rally with a bloop single to right. Jeez, this guy really does slaughter Diamondback pitching! Five pitches later Varitek took an Owings offering deep to right center for Boston's first two runs of the game, and now you could sense that there was a chance to pull this one out.

By the 8th Owings was already out of the game and ex-Sox Brandon Lyon was in. Lyon had a brief stint with Boston in 2003, appearing in 49 games and posting a 4-6 record with a 4.12 ERA.

Perhaps he was just trying to repay an old debt when he walked Youk to start the frame. After Drew forced him out at second base, Varitek stepped in and went to battle for his team like a good captain always does. After running the count to 2-1, Tek laced a Lyon slider to the left center, scoring Drew all the way from first with the tying run, and suddenly the many raucous members of the Nation in the house had reason to celebrate.

Hideki Okajima worked around a Julio Lugo error in the bottom of the inning and would contribute two big scoreless inning to allow Boston a chance to pull off the win. And when Boston loaded the bases with no outs in the 10th off fireballing Juan Cruz, it was time to do just that.

Papi started the winning rally with a walk, and then Youk and Drew followed with singles to pack the sacks full of Sox. After Tek struck out (hey, he can't do it all), Lowell pinch hit for Okajima and quickly got behind in the count.

But just like Rem Dog predicted he would do when he fell behind 0-2, Lowell patiently waited for the right pitch to take the opposite way,and when he launched a sac fly to right, Ortiz scooted home with the go-ahead run, and the comeback was nearly complete.

All that was left was for Jonathan Papelbon to make his first appearance since the A-Rod debacle and shut the door on the win. Firing off 97 mph blazers, Paps looked healthy & rested- until he hit Chris Young and allowed a single to Conor Jackson.

Have no fear, because Paps then reared back, dug deep and got Reynolds to softly line out to second base, and just like that a losing streak has turned into a winning streak, and a sweep is a possibility if the Sox can knock off Randy Johnson tomorrow.


NOTES:

• Due to interleague play: Lowell, Manny and Pedroia didn't start the game, although Lowell and Pedroia did bat later. Youk moved to third while Papi manned first, and Eric Hinske filled ManRam's sizable shoes in left field
• As part of Tito's new sliding lineup, Coco moved back to the 2-hole and went 1-5, while Youk took Manny's four spot and went 1-4 with a walk
• Tek (2) & Drew (3) had half of Boston's 10 hits
• Fashion police: will someone please explain why the D-Backs wore white with red unis last night, then hideous all-black spring training rejects tonight? And what's with the retarded block lettering? Fucking expansion teams!
• Eric Byrnes had his 15-game hitting streak snapped as well as a 30-game on base mark
• Drew's six hits in this series match the amount he's had in the past three weeks
• RSN represents: the announced attendance of 49,826 was apparently a new D-backs record; wait a minute, didn't these guys play in a World Series?
• Pedroia pinch hit for Tavarez in the 7th and struck out but reached base on a wild pitch by Tony Pena; another odd play for the season archives
• Ex-Sox sighting: Tony Clark is still alive! The veteran of the 2002 Sox team has evidently been playing out here in the desert for three years now; I seriously thought the dude had retired-and should have after that heinous '02 campaign
• Tavarez, who played in the NL for years, reached base twice, on a hilarious bunt single and a walk

QUOTES:

"He had good stuff, but he made one mistake to me and we capitalized on it."--Tek. Brilliant!

"It's a great club we're playing, arguably the best in baseball."--Owings. Ah, son, there is no arguement there

"He didn't sit around all night. He stretched, hit, was in the cage. That's the type of guy he is."--Tito on the ever-ready, always professional Lowell

RECORD: 40-21
STREAK: W-3
LAST 10: 4-6
AL EAST: Up 10.5
UP NEXT: Sun @ ARI 4:30p