Sox win 19-16, my emotions hurt...

It was the best of times... it was the worst of times... and then it was the best of times all over again.

The Sox won a wild one last night, so wild in fact that we'll need the Lightning Round Recap to ge through it all before lunch:

The Red Sox scored 10 runs in the first inning. David Ortiz hit two 3-run home runs, grabbing 6 RBI in one inning, though instant reply proved later that the second ding-dong was not a ding-dong at all... Big Papi missed a third home run by inches, when a fan interfered in the 5th, but he finished the night going 3-4 with 2 HR, a double and 6 RBI... proving that his wrist is A-Okay.

As predicted yesterday, Pedroia went 5 for 6 on the night after getting blanked by the White Sox on Monday... that's what happens when you kick Bruce Banner in the shins.

Charlie Zink looked okay through 4 innings, but his knuckleball wasn't dancing like Wake's does and his secondary pitches weren't fooling any one. Five of the eleven hits he gave up came in the 5th, when the Rangers simply waited him out and tagged him for 8 runs. It was not the debut he was looking for, but he wasn't the only Sox pitcher to get beat up last night...

Remy invented a new reality show during the broadcast. It's called "My kid can clean the garage faster than your kid." It can't be any worse than Sox Appeal, right?

Okajima was the best pitcher of the game, pitching 1 2/3 innings with a walk and a strikeout... he deservingly earned the "W"... the rest of the pen was dreadful:

Lopez: 0.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 K
Aardsma: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Delcarmen: 1.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 K

But Kevin Youkilis was not about to let this game get away. After striking out twice to start the night, Youk hit two home runs, the second of which became the game winner. Strangely, Youk also made two errors on the night, capping a Two-Face-like evening: 2 homers, 2 K's, 2 errors.

Youk made his second error at third base, after making a web-gem catch down the line earlier in the game... he was there because Mike Lowell, left the game with an achey oblique after fouling off a pitch in the 7th.

Other Notables:

Jacoby Ellsbury is wicked fast... he scored from first on a wall ball from Pedroia, with a bruised tailbone... in the snow... uphill... both ways...

Jed Lowrie is pretty good. He grabbed two more hits and two more RBI last night. He's batting .317 in August and has a hit in every start this month.

Marlon Byrd went 5-6, with 3 RBI and 4 runs on the night... as we mentioned yesterday, the guy is locked in like no one else right now... if you play fantasy baseball, you might want to look him up.

JD Drew quietly (as always) went 2-4 with 2 walks and 3 runs as the lead off man.

Bottom Line: This was one of the craziest games I've ever seen. It went from a laugher, to an embarrassing loss, to a dramatic victory. These types of games can make or break a team, but I feel like the Rangers do this sort of thing once a week, so don't expect them to hang their heads tonight... the Sox however, sould still be on cloud nine... except for most of the bullpen.

"We needed it," David Ortiz said after the game. "We need that kind of game, the way everybody relaxed and loosened up. We've got two more months to decide where we're going to be at the end of the season. So that's the kind of game that puts you in the mood and gets you going."