All in all, it was a night of huge, opportunistic moments for the Sox, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win for the 15th time in their last 21 outings. To wit:
Manny Ramirez drilled an opposite-field single in the fifth inning, good for a pair of runs that cut the Jays' lead to 3-2. It also brought Ramirez his 99th and 100th RBIs, and he now has reached the 30 HR/100 RBI plateau for seven straight seasons.
Everyday catcher Doug Mirabelli, making his second straight start in place of the suspended Jason Varitek, hammered a three-run homer in the sixth that put the Sox ahead, 5-3. The mammoth clout, estimated at 421 feet, clanged off the scoreboard high above the left-field wall. Had he hit it in the Back Bay's emerald bandbox, it would have cleared the Monster seats, the Charles River, and rolled through Canadian customs on no more than one or two hops. "You get into a ball like that," mused Mirabelli, "and you know it."
Timlin, ushered in from the bullpen earlier than usual, entered with the bases juiced only so many blinks of an eye after the Mirabelli moonshot. Ten Gallon Timlin, born in Midland, Texas, fired 1-and-2 fastballs past Reed Johnson and Orlando Hudson for strikeouts and then coaxed a forceout of Alex Rios. Three hitters, 13 pitches, 10 for strikes, and a nostalgic dash of Dick Radatz as Timlin left the mound with arms pumping.
"I wouldn't say it was adrenaline overflow," said Timlin. "But as a middle reliever, there are some things you want to do, and one of them is to not let runs score. And there were three of them out there. That doesn't happen very often."
What's happening with greater frequency these days is Red Sox success in one-run games. They've won three one-run contests in a row now, and four of their last five. There is no sure path to winning the World Series (anyone in the Nation picked that up by now?), but one-run wins inch clubs closer to the title. More nights like last night from Timlin no doubt would post a few more one-run wins.
