Lackey 1, Verlander 0

Another nail biter! Another most impressive win for John Lackey, Mike Napoli & the rest of the Boston Red Sox! John Lackey stood & delivered when his team needed him the most. And the "fear the beard" tactics of Mike Napoli's 7th inning homer on a 3-2 pitch was all the Red Sox would need. Props also to Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa & Koji of course. Game 3 was a sweet payback for a 1-0 loss in game 1. In 3 games the Red Sox have outscored the Tigers 7-6. That's how close this series is between 2 comparable teams, 2 heavyweights to be sure. Gaff, Steve & I all thought that Farrell should have had Middlebrooks bunt Drew to 3rd with no outs, but Big John must have wanted 3 shots at getting Drew home. Too bad none of the 3 worked out & Drew was left stranded. I don't think you will see Farrell make that mistake again. The Sox win on Tuesday means that the series will head back to Boston if a game 6 is needed. Don't sell Peavy & Lester short on closing this series out in Detroit. The Tigers starting pitchers can strike out all the Boston batters they want, but it's runs that win games. And we are 1 run & 1 game better than Detroit right now.