I'll keep this short, as I don't know if Cheat is going to want to post a recap of his own.
- Jose Contreras was nothing short of brilliant tonight. Again, he didn't have his plus-plus forkball working, but his fastball was dominant. When he dropped down, he was getting great movement down-and-in to righties. This was one of the few performances this year where a starting pitcher put the team on his back for the whole game. Bravo, Jose!
- The offense also put forth a strong effort. Early on the Sox were getting a couple of soft singles. However, a four run fifth -- an inning that included two two-run homers from AJ Pierzynski and Jim Thome -- effectively put the game away for the Sox.
- So, if there are any lurking Tiger fans, are you guys worried about Verlander? In the first couple innings, his fastball was at 95-97 MPH. Getting into the fifth inning, however, there was a noticeable dropoff in the velocity on his fastball; I'd say he was mostly 92-94 in his last inning. Even sitting in the "lower" 90s, his stuff is still nasty and the good movement is there, but he's already five innings above his career high coming into this year, and there's still the stretch-run and potential playoff-run left to go.