But it was almost the worst! As we sat tied in the bottom of the ninth in Toronto, I knew one measly run would mean a shitty loss in a game where we led in the 8th, while Tampa was down one, but at home against a weak-ish Mariners club. Plus the Yanks were up big. We could have been talking about the East lead down to 2, and the Yanks 8.5 out but with a 3-game win streak, and us having lost 4 of our last 5....

But then awesomeness occurred! The Rays were unable to come back. At that point I knew we'd have a 3-game lead minimum. But still, we don't want the Yanks to start believing in themselves AND be somewhat within striking distance going into our series with them this weekend at Fenway.

In the 11th, with two outs and two strikes, Victorino came through with a two-run single. The second run was possible since the Jays had let Ellsbury take second. 4-2 lead. Uehara puts 'em down 1-2-3, and we win. Four game lead!

I was in mega-curse mode earlier in our game. Between all the stuff I mentioned above and the fact that we've just hit mid-August, I feel like the season just now turned down the home stretch. Suddenly every pitch is vital. And as we left the bases loaded down 1-0, I was super pissed. A racecar in the red. Finally we tied it and took the lead, and reDempTion got them out in the 7th, and I got my mind set on cloud nine. Then Taz gave up a game-tying dong in the 8th leading to the tense ending. But we lived through it, and now we've got the biggest cushion we've had in a while.

Meanwhile, the poor Orioles get the shaft, as I'm so focused on the second-place team, and also the Yanks wherever they are. Balty is stuck in the middle, but who knows, they might overtake Tampa soon, then I'll start having to keep better track of them.

GREAT job by Napoli tonight. Let me clarify. The fielder Napoli, not the hitter Napoli. FN made two very nice catches in foul territory late in the game. One he was going backwards for, and the other he had to slide for. Middlebrooks also came through with some key plays, and key hits, including one in each of our two run-scoring rallies.

Don "Burgundy Sox" Orsillo was on fire tonight. On a fly out to left, he said it was not caught, off the wall, and over the wall, before finally realizing it was caught. He did end up joking about it, admitting he didn't get it right till the third try, and then had Remy be his Waldman, acting like it's so hard to see balls in front of the scoreboards. What he didn't admit is how he jumped the gun anyway. Not only is he apparently blind, but he makes the call before the play happens, and it screws him time and time again. Later he thought a little soft bloop to the pitcher was a grounder. In fairness, the bat broke, and he thought he was seeing the ball. But I can assure you no one in the viewing audience confused it with anything. There was also a fly ball in the left field corner that was caught "out of our view." But if Don goes from looking at the field to looking at the monitor after the ball is hit, as he claims, why wasn't he watching the monitor, especially in a case where you know the play will be hidden by a wall? Had he been watching the monitor, he would have seen what we all saw, the outfielder catching the ball.


Standings:

Us --
Rays FOUR!
Orioles 5 or 6
Yanks 9.5
Jays SEVENTEEN