Thank you, Pedro. You’ve given us real Sox fans another four day hiatus from the doom-and-gloomers. Four glorious days without hearing the “he’s lost his fastball” and the “what’s Pedro whining about today” pearls of wisdom. I must admit, it didn’t look good in the first two innings. Possibly one of the most bizarre line-scores you’ll see: 2 innings pitched, 5 hits, 2 walks, 2 earned runs and 6 strikeouts. Huh? Follow that up with 5 perfect innings, solid defense behind Pedro and timely hitting (most notably a 2-run, pinch-hit triple by McCarty in the 8th) and you’ve got a Red Sox victory. Pedro didn’t get the win, but I doubt you’ll hear anybody complain.

Notes: Manny is 0 for 3 as an American citizen…Foulke struck out 2 in a perfect ninth…Ortiz and Kapler each homered and had 3 hits…Yankees are down 4-2 to injury-ridden Anaheim but delayed by rain in the 4th