A Great Weekend

Almost perfect in fact.

I'll start with baseball.  After dropping the series opener on Friday, the Rays came back strongly on Saturday against the Red Sox.  An 8-5 win for the Rays was in a large part down to another fine start by Casey Fossum.  He pitched 6 innings, and for the second straight start allowed just a single, unearned run, on 3 hits, whilst striking out five.  Hitting-wise, it was a great day for the 'old-guard' in the AL's youngest team.  Damon Hollins, hitting lead-off again in Rocco's absence, went 3-5, and Greg Norton and Josh Paul both starred.  Norton went 3-4 with a home run, 3 runs scored and 2 rbi.  Paul also went 3-4, driving in 3.  Both also stole their first base of the year.

And then yesterday, some of the youngsters stepped up.  The Rays got on the board in the bottom of the third, thanks to a first-ever big league homer by Ben Zobrist.  Zobrist later added a 2-run double, putting the Rays right back in the  game after Boston had put together a couple of strong innings off of JP Howell and Edwin Jackson.

The big bats came out in the eighth, as both Travis Lee and Dioner Navarro homered, tying the score.  Ruddy Lugo, Seth McClung, Brian Meadows and Shaun Camp pitched superbly in relief, shutting down Boston for 4 2/3 innings, taking the game into the tenth.  And in the bottom of the tenth, there was another chance for the oldies to shine.  Greg Norton stepped up, and belted a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left - the first walk-off home run of his career.

I've got to say, things haven't exactly been going the Rays' way since the break, but this can only be considered a very successful homestand.  Splitting a 4-game series with Detroit, and taking 2 of 3 from the Red Sox is an excellent return, and a great boost for the young team as they head out on the road.

Elsewhere this weekend, things were going just as well.  Brit Jenson Button won the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix - his first win ever, in his 113th start.  I honestly can't remember the last time I was that excited about a race result - I think the whole of the country is just delighted for him.

The weekend would have been perfect if it weren't for one small thing.  The English football season got underway this weekend, with Southampton playing yesterday.  And all was going well, away at Derby, with the Saints coming from behind to take a 2-1 lead approaching the end of the game.  But then, typical Southampton, they conceded a last minute goal, and we had to be satisfied with a 2-2 draw.  Not a bad start to the season by any means, but a slighty disappointing finish in what was otherwise a great weekend of sport.