Who wouldn't be after back-to-back nights of double-digit Sox runs (10 on Tuesday, a dozen last night), 16 hits each night, and an additional 14 fly balls that were run down last night by Jose Guillen, Garret Anderson, and Vladi Guerrero, the moving targets among a steady stream of Sox rockets launched to every nook and cranny of Fenway Park.
"Playoff baseball -- 90 runs a night," cracked Sox broadcaster Jerry Remy on his way out of the ballpark, one that was jumping with as much energy on the first night of September -- the traditional start of the stretch drive to the playoffs -- as it was during a robust August in which the Sox matched the Cardinals for the majors' best record (21-7) and showed no signs last night of letting up.
Playoff baseball? "I hope we do it the rest of the year," Leskanic said. "We're just mashing the ball."
This mash unit was led last night by Johnny Damon, who had four hits, was on base five times, and for the second straight game touched off a four-run salvo in the first, and Kevin Millar, who bashed a three-run home run in the sixth, but had hits from everyone in the starting lineup, duplicating the top-to-bottom contributions from the night before. Mark Bellhorn doubled home two runs and scored twice and Orlando Cabrera (.379 in his last 16 games) tripled and doubled as the Sox faltered briefly, allowing the Angels to forge a 5-all tie in the third, before scoring seven runs in the middle innings.
"This is it, 1-9, man," Millar said after the Sox made it 14 wins in their last 15 games, 17 in their last 20, and 20 in their last 24. "That's the pressure this lineup puts on people. There's no letup. Bellhorn had big hits, Cabrera had big hits, and Johnny Damon has set the tone this series, leading off and getting on base."
