The second half of the season started with a bang.
I’ll be honest — I missed the top of the first in this one while finishing up my rental of Inception. When I finally clicked over and saw that Rick Porcello had given up four runs, it was like a bad, half-remembered dream. But then, as if the idea was planted in my deep, deep subconscious, a I had a thought: Maybe they could come back?
Turns out, if you will it, it is no dream. The Sox came storming back to win 12-5 — or at least I presume they did, and that I’m not stuck in limbo, dreaming it all up.
Top Play (WPA): \o/. If this was a dream, it was a good one. Brock Holt — the Brock Holt — put the Sox ahead for good in the bottom of the third inning with a homer into the far end of the Sox’ bullpen off the Rangers’s scuffling Nick Martinez. With one swing, the nightmare of the first inning — and maybe the entire month of June — were wiped out. God Bless America? God bless Brock. \o/.
Bottom Play (WPA): Right around the time Leo DiCaprio’s gang was finishing up the quadruple dream dive at the heart of Inception, Rougned Odor punched one to right field with the bases loaded, scoring two runs. In typical Odor style, he had knocked us around without knocking us out, even when he came around to score to give Texas its early 4-0 lead.
Key Moment: I don’t think any of us dared to dream that after the first inning Porcello would calm down and pitch five more scoreless frames; it wasn’t a moment, per se, but it was the most important part of the comeback. It was also the only part of the game I saw, which means I saw a 12-1 schlonging of a Texas team that beat the stuffing out of us in Arlington a couple weeks ago. It was great.
Trend to Watch: Sandy Leon went 4-5 with three doubles, two of which would have been home runs in just about any other park. He is now batting .500 for the season with a .775 slugging percentage, and he has done this while being Sandy Leon. If there’s a sign that I’m stuck in a dream within a dream within a dream, this might be it.
Coming next: David Price is set to continue his frustrating season tonight against Rangers starter A.J. Griffin, though judging by the Boston-bound rain in the lower Hudson Valley, I wouldn’t bet my life on it happening tonight. You might say the game’s in limbo… and if your dream is that I stop making Inception puns, you’re in luck: I’m done spinning my top over here.