The type of game that reminds me that everything's going to be okay. And, maybe, will relax some of of the pessimists. At least until the next time Embree comes into a game. Speaking of him, I kind of thought that Theo was getting ready to cut the Cheese, but tonight he said he was gonna give the guys with a track record "all the time in the world" to get back to pitching the way they should be. So maybe that means Cheese will stick around, and get his second ring.

Wakefield slid into home. Properly. Safely. How sweet was that? I bet as Wake was heading home, Sveum was thinking, "Oh shit, I just sent a starting pitcher barrelling toward a man wearing armor." But Wake, like the boy warrior Atreyu running through the gate of Sphinxes, used his speed and his thoughts to make it through to the Southern Oracle that is home plate. I knew we'd win tonight when I saw a guy outside the Indian place where I got dinner wearing a red Wakefield T-shirt right before the game started.

Wake also broke his bat, and it split down the middle, reminding me of how Pat always used to talk about how weird it would be if a snake got run over by a car--lenghthwise. And Wonder Boy kind of split like that, too, prompting the debut of Savoy Special.

I was really psyched for our two chances to see a cycle tonight. And then they go and walk Damon on four pitches. That's mean. And Youk didn't have much chance of a single anyway. And then Damon gets another chance and flies out.

One of my goals for a while has been to see Manny hit one onto Waveland Ave. Thank you, Manny.

As Morgan and Miller talked about the Reds coming to Fenway, I thought of something relating to the whole "revenge" thing I had been talking about. Months ago, when I got my tickets for Wednesday, I thought, Cool, Reds at Fenway, first time since '75. And that's all I thought. I didn't think, We can finally get revenge on those bastards! So I guess that's just how I am. Granted, none of the same players are around from then, and that was a "nobody lost"-type series, but still.

Just to clarify, while I despise interleague play, I do think that the sight of the Reds at Fenway, or the Sox at Wrigley, are very cool. But I think, rather than make teams change their entire strategy and lineup, in games that count, right as they're getting into a rythym, just so they can make a little extra money, they should just play them as exhibition games. Fortunately, there's only one more different-rules road series left until the World Series.

Ditka's "Take Me Out To The Ballgame": terrible.

We're three back, headed home. This time, we'll take over first. (Or at least by the All-Star break, fellas?)

I'll be at at least one game for the next four series, and seven of the next nine if I go to Baltimore, which I'm still thinking about. That series is sold out down there, now that the Oriole fans have bought up the remaining seats, since their team is actually in the race, after we bought most of them in February.