Game 3 tonight!

It's never ideal to have an off day after a loss, and the Red Sox just dopped three out of four games to the Orioles, and have today to brood about it. Luckily for us Boston sports fans, there is something to distract our attention: Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. I'm guessing that quite a few Red Sox players will also tune in, especially as many of them sport such fantastic Bruins playoff beards.

I'm twice as excited as I normally would be for this game. Beyond the normal adrenaline that comes from an overtime win and tying up the series, I get to watch the Bruins without ignoring the Red Sox. Yes, I'm aware that it's the Cup, while the Sox still have more than half of their season left to play, but I'm a baseball girl above all else, and I always feel a little guilty when the Red Sox are playing and I'm watching something else - anything else.

That won't be a problem tonight, since the Red Sox won't return to Fenway to take on the Rays until tomorrow, when they'll play a day-night double header and then a regular night game on Wednesday. Tonight is all about the Bruins, and I don't know about you, but if there's another overtime this evening I'm going to cry.

With more theatrics, Bruins even the series

After the exhausting debacle on Wednesday night, I have to admit that I was nervous and exasperated when the Bruins and Blackhawks ended regulation play last night, tied 1-1. I kept thinking how awful it would be to lose in sudden death for the second game in a row, and how annoyed I was going to be if I stayed up through three overtime periods AGAIN to watch the Blackhawks celebrate.

But thankfully, the Bruins came through, as Daniel Paille scored the winning goal with just over six minutes to go, tying the series at one game apiece heading back to Boston for Games 3 and 4. No matter what happens, there will be at least one more game in Chicago, and for what it's worth, I'm pretty confident that this series is going to go seven games.

In the first two games of this Stanley Cup Finals, these two teams could not be more evenly matched - we have yet to see a regulation length contest. For the first two periods of Game 1, it looked like the Bruins were going to take this thing easily, but it's become clear that it won't be that easy. I'm not sure I can handle this kind of excitement for five more games, but I know I'll miss it when it's all over - though if the Bruins bring home the Stanley Cup again, I'm sure I'll have an easier time dealing with that imminent hockey withdrawal.

Red Sox bats silenced in Baltimore

After the second extra-innings game of the week, the Red Sox bullpen could use some serious rest and relaxation. Alex Wilson was a lifesaver, as he was called up from AAA and was able to come in and pitch multiple innings, saving some of those worn-out bullpen arms. But what the Sox really need tonight was a nice long outing from starting pitcher Ryan Dempster, and he delivered.

Unfortunately for Dempster, the Red Sox run support was nonexistent  though I suppose you might call that karma, given the fact that recently he's had ridiculous offensive clout behind him. Dempster made it through seven and two-thirds innnings, and allowed just two runs. But with runners at the corners for Matt Wieters in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs, it was pretty clear that whatever the outcome, Wieters would be the last batter faced by Dempster tonight, and Dempster walked him to load the bases.

It wasn't the ending Dempster (or the Red Sox) hoped for after delivering a quality start (better, in fact, than the 6 IP and 3 ER required to qualify). Though Koji Uehara was able to come in and record the final out of the inning, striking out J.J. Hardy on three pitches, the Red Sox couldn't stage a comeback. Orioles closer Jim Johnson struck out Mike Carp for the first out the ninth inning, then hit Daniel Nava with a pitch before inducing Jose Iglesias to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to earn the save and clinch the win for the O's.

This is the first time in more than two weeks that the Red Sox have lost two in a row (the last time was when they dropped two to the Phillies), and while they're still atop the American League East, their lead is now at a scant 1.5 games. The Sox have John Lackey going for them tomorrow, and Jon Lester will be on the mound to close out the series on Sunday, but it doesn't matter if you have Cy Young on the mound if you can't score any runs.