Red Sox 3
Orioles 6

Part of me was happy for old friend Kevin Millar as he launched a game winning home run to give Baltimore the series. But, that part of me is very, very small; I think it might actually be a mitochondrion in my left thumb.

For all the grief that Kevin received while in Boston, and for all the talk of the whole “cheerleader” label, when he finally decides to hang up the cleats, he will be leaving behind a very productive Major League career. In over 4,000 plate appearances, Kevin now has a career OPS+ of 117. For some perspective, here are some other semi-related players, and their career OPS+ totals:

(I’m really picking cherries here, and this is just for laughs, so bear with me)

Kevin Millar: 117
Trot Nixon: 115
Miguel Tejada: 113
Kevin Youkilis: 113
Cal Ripken: 112
Mike Lowell: 110
Jay Gibbons: 102

Back to yesterday: Curt Schilling once again pitched a decent game in an eventual losing effort, which is a good sign. And, believe it or not, J.D. Drew is riding a hot streak, hitting .433/.500/.600 for the month of August.

Gagne? He gets a mulligan here. Yes, another one. He’s riding a poetically horrible streak in his Red Sox debut, but most of it is simply good hitting. Alas, the drunken mouthbreathers in the bleachers tend to be far less forgiving than I am, so he might hear it in the bullpen this week.

Tonight, the Red Sox take on the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at home, and anything less than a sweep will cause a bottleneck at the Tobin Bridge.  Jamie Shields (9-7, 4.43) takes on Timmy (13-10, 4.81).

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