FOtF Game 86: Ricky Rockets Leads the Way

Rick Porcello showed OUT tonight. He threw six innings of two run ball. A standard outing for him this season, but here's the catch: he roped a bases clearing double off of Scherzer in the second. I have a buddy who throws real hard, and we play a wiffle ball-like game at his house called Front Yard Ball (the name of this blog). Now I've never really played baseball in my life, but I love the game and enjoy our competitive play. I gotta say there is nothing more enjoyable then crushing a ball of your friend when you feel under-matched. And that's exactly what happened tonight. I'm sure you've already seen the video of Porcello's double, so I'm not going to explain it, but I know that feeling. That grin that Ricky had after crushing that ball and standing on second looking at his longtime friend Scherzer was comprised of pure joy. At the end of the day, you're still gonna kick back and shoot the shit with your buddy, as Scherzer and Porcello will, but in that moment, the feeling of accomplishment is unmatched.

What made that double even more enjoyable for me were the reactions of the commentators. I hear Joe Castiglione call it, and he fucking knew right off the bat and lost his shit. Dave O'Brien showed little emotion, as he always does, using bland commentary to call the play. But ESPN, Ye Ole ESPN, you never fail to excite. The cast of commentators in the booth tonight were having a FIELD DAY with Porcello at the plate hitting against his buddy. Giggling about how he stood no chance, and how Scherzer was wasting his time throwing three pitches. Then BAM. Ball was hit on a rope and the three of them had to recover like they hadn't just been TRASHING Rick's prowess at the plate on what ended up being the most decisive play of the game. You know what ESPN? You SUCK. Not that I can stream every game online, your channel is going to go to shit because you guys are bad at what you do. Thank you, though, for producing the ultimate cold take and giving me something to watch on repeat over the next few days.

As for the rest of the Sox, it wasn't pretty, but enough to get the job done. The key coming into the game was making Scherzer throw lots of pitches, and they did just that. That's the way to beat the best pitchers in the league. You make them work until they get tired, and then hit em around a bit. Brock Holt helped out the cause with three knocks and Mookie hit a DONG to left-center, the game winning hit in the end. Barnes, Kelly and Kimbrel all looked a lil shaky, but ended up stranding four baserunners in the last three innings. That home run to Bryce? Not a big deal. How about you just don't throw a fastball down the pipe to one of the deadliest hitters in the game. If you do that, it's gonna go a long way every time.

All around, hell of a night to be a Sox fan. Judge practically dropping the go-ahead home run in the top of the 11th on a ball hit maybe 260 feet by Acuña. I forget, Sox fans, what happened last night?

Sox win 4-3 and RETAKE 1st place at 28 games over .500.