Manny Ditches Evil Twin, Delivers on Consecutive Nights
The Boston Police Department has announced that they have apprehended one Esteban Ramirez (a.k.a. Manny’s Evil Twin) early Monday morning. Esteban was taken into custody at a local nursing home, where he was found terrorizing residents and having alcoholic beverages with Phil Rizzuto. Esteban, known for his hot-temper, love of the New York Yankees, and lack of baseball playing ability, has admitted to kidnapping his twin during the last road trip in Houston, and impersonating the slugger while the team played in Tampa and The Bronx. Esteban will be arraigned today at the Suffolk County courthouse.
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Alright, let’s move on to real-life events. If last night’s dramatic win wasn’t the best of the season, it was undoubtedly in the Top 3. There were just too many things to love about the game. Let’s list them out, starting with the most obvious:
Manny’s heroic hit (again) – It couldn’t have come at a better time, as Manny hasn’t had much positive press lately. Not only was there the McCromick issue which we beat to the ground, but there were also some troubling rumors about a particular pinch-hit at-bat against Mariano Rivera in The Bronx. While Mariano can make any hitter look silly, a reasonable person could watch the at-bat and infer that Manny did not intend to swing at any pitches. After the 8th inning shot over the green monster, that all seems like ancient history.
Lester’s K on Pitch #117 - ‘Twas a gutsy performance for Jon Lester last night. That seems like such a canned piece of analysis, doesn’t it? “Gutsy” is typically a lazy term used to describe a pitcher who just gave up a bunch of runs in 6+ innings while his team won the game. In this case, however, I feel justified in using the adjective. At a time when he arguably should have been in the clubhouse shower, Lester had his most critical strikeout of the game in the 8th inning with two men on, on a beautiful two-seamer below the knees.
Brandon Moss developing into a “clutch” hitter – We’ve seen it happen half a world away back in March. All evidence is pointing to Moss being the type of hitter who remains steady and focused in intense scenarios (call it whatever you wish). His .400/.438/.667 averages in a small sample of close and late situations doesn’t hurt the case.
Jacoby Ellsbury heating up - He spoiled us with his torrid play late last season and early this year, so it should be no surprise that Jacoby’s first major slump caused a huge stir around these parts. It was great to see him having a big night, scoring 2 runs on a single and a double. Ellsbury is hitting .333/.364/.381 in his last 5 games.
