Quick Notes:
The Rocket looked as good as he has all year. He hit 94 mph on the gun and was consistently at 92 mph. Clearly the time off helped his elbow and blister problems but the added velocity was surprising. The line was 6 IP's, 2 Hits, 4K's, 3BB's and 87 IP's. It took an inning for him to get comfortable, but he pitched a big, big game.
Jeter proves again why he's one of the best clutch all around players in baseball history. He cracked a three run HR off of Schilling in the eighth to break a 1-1 tie and drive Curt from the game. His leg is definitely barking at him, but he coolly deposited a fastball over the Green Monster to keep the Yanks three games up in the loss column against the Tigers and drove the Red Sox Nation to buy more Jeter sucks t-shirts...
Joba Rules! He's fearless. I love the fact that he throws 98 mph fastballs high and tight to own the plate. And then he threw his third pitch in the arsenal, a slow breaking curve ball to freeze Pedroia for a called strike three with a runner on third to end the seventh. I don't think I've seen him pull that one out of his bag of tricks yet. He gave up a HR to Lowell in the eight which I think is a good thing.
Mariano made it interesting in the ninth by losing his control, (his stuff was good) but got Big Papi to pop up using his standard unhittable...inside cutter with the bases juiced for the final out of the game. Whew...
Manky's defense might have been the difference after all is said and done. He made an incredible diving stab on a Varitek scorcher down the line to rob him of a two run double and save the Rocket of putting them in a big hole after one inning. He also made two other magnificent plays in the "Defense of Roger." I never thought he would have been a factor in any game this year, let alone a classic Red Sox duel even before he suffered that terrible injury.