Playoff baseball has arrived

Last night felt like playoff baseball - hoping not only for a win, but for an ending so I could go to sleep.

Somehow I was able to fall asleep even after all the craziness and excitement of the 9th inning in which the Red Sox stole a 9-8 walkoff win from the Angels.

Despite the playoff feel, the game never seemed comfortable other than the five-run 6th inning in which the Red Sox took a 5-3 lead. They coughed it right up and entered the bottom of the 9th facing Brian Fuentes trailing 8-7.

The Red Sox had a 23 percent chance of winning at that point, which dropped to 5 percent after two quick flyouts. Then things got crazy. David Ortiz worked a walk. J.D. Drew hit an infield single. Jed Lowrie, making his first plate appearance in more than a month, pinch hit and got another infield single. Actually, this could have been a game-tying double if Chone Figgins didn't knock it down.

Then, a nine-pitch walk by pinch-hitter Nick Green swung the odds in the Red Sox favor. I admit, Green, who looked awful and later said he had a dead leg, should have been punched out at least twice. Once on a checked swing on which he clearly swung and on the final pitch, which looked to be a perfect strike.

I'll let Mike Scioscia and Fuentes do the griping. I don't want to be fined by the commissioner's office.

Nonetheless, in baseball, spit happens, like Alex Gonzalez's little duck snort to left to win it and put the Red Sox comfortably ahead of the Rangers by 6.5 games and still within hope (6.5 games) of catching the Yankees.

Tonight's games: Both games were on TV again tonight, but we decided to rely on the channel return button instead of watching in separate rooms - especially the breath-taking 9th innings that ended without a Red Sox comeback, but a Brad Lidge save in a blemished outing.

Both our teams' aces went eight innings tonight. Josh Beckett gave up three runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts in the 4-3 loss to the Angels. Billy Wagner blew it for him in the 8th.

Cole Hamels was better than Beckett. He took a perfect game into the 6th. Christine blames me for getting up from the computer for breaking the streak. Hey, I finished prewriting the blog all I could and I was going to have to use the facilities. Jeez, it's not like I needed a substitution like Shane Victorino.

Cole finished with a run on five hits and a walk with 10 strikeouts. Brad Lidge gave up a run in the 9th, but he held on to preserve the 4-2 win over the Nationals.

Thus ended a successful 13-2 homestand for the SoxandPhils. They're cruising toward their October/November showdown.