Hold the Phone? (L6-4) Season 18-13 GB 2 1/2

As a colleague reminded me about business the other day, "some days you're gonna be the windshield and some days you're gonna be the bug."

The Sox entered Game 2 with free agent acquisition Wade Miller making his first start, a solid one with five innings pitched, two runs allowed, and six strikeouts. John Halama followed, and when he ran into some trouble in the seventh, Terry Francona opted to call for the rookie, Cla Meredith.

There are a couple of philosophies at work, first, throw the kid into the fire, and second, let him break in without maximum pressure. The 21 year-old sidearmer had trouble finding the zone with two walks, and then Richie Sexson took him into the right field grandstand to give Seattle a four-run lead.

The Sox rallied back with two in the eighth, spurred on by David Ortiz's third RBI of the game, sending reliever Ron Villone to the showers, or maybe to a psychiatric facility after he contested the call on Ortiz's chalk scraper to left.

Eddie Guardado closed out the Sox 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Sox Notes. Thirty-one games into the season, the combined homerun production of the Red Sox infield (1B, 2B, SS, and 3B) is two (Edgar Renteria). The 'Dead Ball Era' lives again. Manny Ramirez continues to struggle, with his average falling to .250.

John Henry will be a commencement speaker at the Boston University graduation in two weeks.

Just my opinion. If you need to play Mark Bellhorn at shortstop because of injuries, then you need to acquire a better defensive shortstop as a filler until Ramon Vasquez is well enough to play.

Farmhouse Talk. Portland won again, with Manny Delcarmen getting the win in relief. Uber-prospect Hanley Ramirez had two hits including a triple (6) and lefthanded hopeful Jon Lester worked 6 2/3 innings of one-run eight strikeout magic to spark the Sea Dogs.

The PawSox beat Syracuse 10-8 with five runs in the eighth inning and Denny Tomori got his first save. The PawSox are 13-16, tied for last, yet also are only three games out of first in the International League North.