Darren Oliver is in to pitch.

Three outs. Who cares?

sorry, this has been singularly unrewarding. So sad. We’ll return for the 9th. And tomorrow, of course…

Saito on now.

Gorgeous double play got the runners at home and third–both were out by miles.  Nice, professional play by the Sox.

Two out double scores two more runs.  In case you’re wondering, we’re too dispirited to care what time it is right now.  Or who hit the double.  Or about bananas fos–mmmm…bananas foster.

Meanwhile, another out at the plate happened.  We were busy drooling.

10:42 A perfect bunt on the first pitch Mathis sees, as the Angels switch to small ball, which of course is their traditional strength.

10:44 Aybar grounds out and Youk and Lowell put it away this time. 2 down.

10:45 This is Lester’s last time through the lineup, right? …Right?

10:46 Ellsbury makes SportsCenter recording out #3. On we go. But no more bananas.  Cause now we’re sleepy.

10:29 Abreu puts away out #1.  This might not be the Sox night.

10:30 Two quick outs.

10:31 Only the third hit of the night for the Sox–off the bat of Pedroia.  DON ORSILLO IS ON TBS!!!! Ahem. Scuse us.  THAT was homerism.

10:34 VMart takes a walk “patiently” on 4 pitches? That’s the quickest walk you can get, last we checked….

10:36 Suddenly, Lackey is looking vulnerable.  3-1 to Youk.  This is the batter you want right now, for sure, but now it’s a full count.

10:37 Sox strand two, though the play by Figgins was pretty interesting at third.

10:06 Ask, and you shall receive, TBS. Double play, as ordered.

10:07 Halfway through.  Can you even call it a pitchers’ duel? Meh. You call it a meh.

Probably.

9:47 Oh, is there a baseball game occuring?  V-Mart grounds out.

9:49 Youkilis Ks. He is unhappy.  The strikezone in this game is inonsistent at best….He’s the Greek God of Walks.  He knows from strike zone, Joe West!

9:51 Ortiz struck out. On a real strike.

Has anyone else noticed these Verizon commercials feature a snappily orchestrated version of the “Inspector Gadget” themesong?

9:28 He flies through the air with the greatest of ease, the daring young man on the flying tra–oh, that’s just Alex Gonzalez, making a relatively routine play.  Wow.

9:29 THANKS TBS.  Now I know what RISP are.  Now explain what “scoring position” means.  Or better yet, “runners!”

9:31 Lester has adorable elf ears.  That is all the news that’s fit to print.

9:32 Figgins is the third K.  Told you they were coming.

9:35 Abreu draws his second walk.  Crowd goes nuts.  Everyone else is clearly as bored as we are.

9:38 Roommate asks if liveblog has mentioned the bananas foster we are about to make.  Crowd goes nuts.  Everyone is less bored now.

9:40 Second roommate, who just walked in, admits this is, in fact, kinda boring.  And he’s from the Midwest, so he knows from boring.

9:41 The bases are loaded.  With two outs.  Are we excited yet? We actually can’t tell.  John Farrell, aka Future Indians Manager, is chatting with him.

9:42 No grand slams this year?  “Well, who on the Angels hits homeruns?  Just Guerrero.  Oh. There’s Guerrero.”  (We have really attentive friends, clearly.)

9:43 That was, perhaps, a bit of a high swing. Moving on now.

9:11 First of what might be many Lester Ks if the Angels keep swinging at balls just off the plate.  Lester’s ability to throw almost whatever he wants in any count (sort of the way Dice-K was one supposed to), is what makes him great.

9:12 A Kendry Morales-announcer lovefest is interrupted only briefly by the fact the he flies out with little fanfare.

9:14 Sloppy swing, miss, throw to first play, but Kendrick’s out, and we soldier on.

9:02 Youk flies out.  This game is slow even without any baserunners.

9:05 Ortiz hits one right into the shift.  Nick Adenhart is dead, and its really sad, and we wish TBS wouldn’t milk it quite so hard.  The image on the outfield wall is nice, though.

9:06 “Transcend” is apparently now a verb.  (Oh and J-Baygounded to third.  Transcendentally.)

OK, Angels, we’re ready.  As Kristen Dunst once said, “bring it.”  (By the way, we’d think we were going to lose this series, except that, as the montage that just played showed, it’s the Angels.  The Sox dominate the Angels, like, bad. If it were any other team, Sox would lose their shirts–they’ve been playing TERRIBLY.)

We’d say we wanna do the Sox lineup, but we wouldn’t really mean it, at least that’s the story we’re sticking to.  But seriously, top to bottom baseball goodness, right back to Gonzalez in the 9 spot. (Nothin’ like a little former World Series karma for you…)

8:39 Jacoby Ellsbury is already working the count.  This Angel team is “more Dodger like than this edition of the Dodgers.”  Oh, TBS.  Full count to Ellsbury–he has a serious eye.  He grounds out, but he makes it fun…boy is QUICK.

8:40 Pedroia is 6-16 against Lackey.  (Apparently, Lackey doesn’t throw the high and inside.)  And…ok, then Lackey threw one. Pedroia swung through.  A grounder to first, two down.  Lackey has clearly seen that commercial.  (And if you haven’t, do yourself a favor and click that link.)

8:42 First comparison to 2004 team. (Drink!)  Both teams made key acquisitions.  This one, clearly, is V-Mart.

8:45 What exactly is the ump wearing? Is it a blazer? REALLY?  PS Baseball is the only sport with intensive crotch shots….are catchers ever embarassed?  (V-Mart flew (flied?) out uneventfully. )

Lackey needed 21 pitches to go one two three, and hasn’t even faced Youk yet.  This could be good…