Whew… a lot to talk about, and I only saw the first and last inning! (Blasted lab…) Let”s get right to it.

• The thing everyone is buzzing about is the choice of Papelbon to close out the game, but first let’s talk about Beckett. At the start the of the game, he really struggled. He basically didn’t have his curveball at all, and had to rely on his heater. While I was away, he did what good pitchers do and figured out how to win without his full arsenal. Watching the post-game show, it was clear that even with just his fastball, he can be deadly. Got some really nice K’s and was clearly pumped. (Also pumped was an amusingly animated Curt Schilling in the dugout. ;-)) If he can get his blisters down and his innings up, he could win 20+ games and contend for a Cy. If we’re at the end of the season and both Schilling and Beckett are sitting on 20 wins, I for one won’t be too surprised.
• So Paps. First off, he was on fire out there. He looked much better than his outing on Monday, and the results showed: he got 3 batters out on 11 pitches (8 for strikes) with two strikeouts. You could tell from the look on his face that he was out there to kill some batters and get Beckett his first win, and that’s exactly what he did. As for the “closer controversy,” I think it won’t even be one. It was fairly clear on Monday that Foulke still doesn’t have his best stuff–or stuff as good as Paps–right now, and throwing him in a one-run game was probably not best for him or the game. I think he knows that, and clearly Francona knows that, and I think he’ll bust his butt and be a rock-solid closer again by June. In the meantime he’ll get some lower-leverage innings, maybe a few 3-run saves, and Paps will deal with the high-lev situations, until it’s clear that he’s ready to go in all situations. And everyone wins! Especially the Sox. ;-)
• Good to see Trot getting a big hit in. I expect him to have a good year.
• Manny needs to start hitting. Pronto.

Just for good measure, the Yankees lost the final game of their series with Oakland. Putting them at 1-2. Welcome back, baseball! (Hopefully I can get some work done on tomorrow’s off-day…)