Ortiz, Buchholz Pace 5-4 Sox Win

3 RBI for Big Papi on a night when Mike Napoli was a scratch. How dumb was Lloyd McClendon to pitch to Ortiz? If not for Ortiz, the Mariners would have swept. Clay Buchholz gave the Sox a better than anticipated performance with 7+ innings of work. Giving up 2 homers early in the game looked like Clay was in for a long night, but he rebounded thereafter. Daniel Nava 3 hits. Brock Holt 2 hits. I don't have the stats, but whenever the Sox offense scores 5 or more runs their winning percentage must be pretty high. Now off to Gotham for a weekend set against the Yankees. Both teams are performing subpar this year. As the halfway point approaches, it will be interesting to see what these 2 teams do at the trade deadline. The Red Sox have more flexibility due to shorter term contracts. The Yankees are committed for lots of money & lots of years to several aging players. Red Sox & Yankees may not have the old glitter & fire, but it is still a fun series to watch.