I forget when exactly the exchange took place but Jeff and I went back and forth in the comments section here about the job Theo did in this past off-season. I was largely complimentary, noting that Foulke and Schilling were major scores and that the Red Sox mediocrity to that point (I think it was about mid-June or so) could largely be attributed to injury and general misfortune. Jeff disagreed, noting that anybody could have known that Keith Foulke and Curt Schilling would be major contributors. Acquiring them were no-brainers. Jeff contended that the mark of a good GM was his ability to get the little things done - fill out the roster. See at that point, defense at first base and right field were a joke, Kevin Millar wasn’t hitting, Dave McCarty was playing a prominent role, Gabe Kapler was playing WAY too much and it even appeared for a time as though Andy Dominique may have to be heavily relied upon. But as the trade deadline approached and the injuries started to heal, Theo knew he was a deal or two away from being a better club. Theo pulled off the Nomar deal, a move that I contended made little baseball sense but did so without considering two factors. First, I think the Sox brass made the determination that Cabrera had a real shot at reverting to 2003 offensive form. After all, he had hit in 9 of his last 10 games as an Expo in late July. Second, the Sox obviously had more insight into the severity of Nomar’s injury and figured Cabrera’s defense would far exceed the offensive downgrade from Nomar that he represented. Furthermore, Theo patched up the first base defense problem by netting Doug Mientkiewicz in the deal as well. And finally, the Sox also acquired speedster Dave Roberts from the Los Angeles Dodgers. I note this today because the Red Sox, throughout this postseason, have received contributions up and down the roster. Boston’s six runs last night were driven in by Jason Varitek, Mark Bellhorn and Orlando Cabrera. The Red Sox won the ALCS without a win from Pedro Martinez or an RBI from Manny Ramirez. This is relevant today because of how much dead weight even the very best teams have been carrying. But there is no room on the Red Sox roster for Ruben Sierra. Nor was there in fact room for Tony Womack. There is no room for a Tony Clark, or Mike Matheny, or Bubba Crosby, or So Taguchi, or Roger Cedeno. If you are on this roster, you offer something.

So there’s the macro story of these playoffs if you ask me. As far as last night’s game went, what can you say? It was another fantastic effort from Curt Schilling that highlighted the evening. Now, he might be done and that’s just fine. The suture procedure simply cannot be replicated over and over again. And you know what? Whether the Sox win or lose, he’s done his job. A part of me would almost encourage him to call it a 2004. I don’t really know why I feel this way but I just sorta think his work here is done for this season. Go on and fix yourself up so we can do this again next year.

As I said, the woodwork was taken care of by Varitek, Bellhorn and Cabrera. Varitek jumped all over a 1-2 Matt Morris offering in the first, tripling to the deepest portion of Fenway’s outfield, plating both Manny and David Ortiz who had both earned two-out walks. The Red Sox would score two more in the 4th on a Mark Bellhorn double to straight-away centerfield and two in the sixth as well when Orlando Cabrera hit a two-out wall-ball single to notch the last two runs the Sox would tally.

I think the Red Sox are just a brutal matchup for St. Louis’ pitching. Their four starters in this series are all guys with average stuff that rely on good control and getting guys to swing at pitches outside of the strike zone. The Red Sox just will not budge. They have seen 356 pitches in two games, or 22.25 an inning.

Meanwhile, the Sox have been able to contain St. Louis’ batters, or at least inasmuch as the Sox hurlers have scattered their hits allowed and not let the Cards get them in bunches. It’s a light lineup outside of 2-5 and when Rolen and Edmonds are contributing nothing as they have in Games 1 and 2, it’s tough for that lineup to do much of anything.

Tomorrow night, another good-but-not-great-by-any-stretch righthander takes the hill for the Cardinals in Jeff Suppan. Pedro Martinez will oppose him. There is still a long way to go at this point and we all know that more than anybody. But the Sox are half way there with six shots to win two games. What a weekend.