Sox: 8 Jays: 2
I don't have any illusions that the Sox or anyone connected to them reads this blog. That said, it was nice to have my wish for more Sox runs granted. On top of that, a great outing for Jon Lester, who threw six innings, allowing one run, and set a new personal best with 12 Ks. The one run came in the first inning and Lester blanked 'em the rest of the way. Next step for Lester is to follow today's performance up with another solid start the next time he toes the rubber. Stringing quality starts together is key to getting back on track. Masterson pitched the seventh and eighth in relief of Lester and allowed an Alex Rios homer in the eighth. Ramon Ramirez pitched a scoreless ninth, giving Lester his fourth win of the season.
Now for the offense, which seemed to rise like a phoenix from the ashes in this series finale. Youk started things off in the first inning with a long ball to center. The next three runs came after Papi (yes, Papi!) dusted off the ol' stick with a double to lead off the fourth. Tek walked and Jake, hitting out of the 8-hole today in a lineup shakeup, sac-bunted the runners along to second and third. Green whiffed and up to the plate strode Pedey and whaddaya know? He went yard for the first time since his very first at-bat of the season on Opening Day, when he sent one into the Monster seats off James Shields. This time, the victim of Pedey Power was Jays lefty Ricky Romero. In the fifth, Youk and Bay walked and Romero was lifted for Scott Richmond. Lowell promptly doubled to drive in Youk for the fifth Sox run. The Jays pen quiets the Sox down until the eighth, when Green led off with a double, Pedey bunted him over to third and Drew sac-flied Green home. Youk and Bay lined back-to-back homers into the Jays' bullpen to give the Sox an 8-1 lead. Nice to see the team alter their strategy a little to manufacture runs in this game. We don't see very many sac bunts by the Sox and today they both resulted in runs scored.
After tomorrow's off day, the Sox finish off this road trip with a three-gamer in Detroit. Dice-K takes the hill on Tuesday and I sure hope Tek is behind the dish for that one.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! WAY TO SCORE SOME RUNS!!!!!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
For Whatever It's Worth
On this road trip, with the single exception of game 1 of the Twins series, the Sox have been unable to score more than 3 runs in a game. They have a DH that doesn't H and his struggles at the plate are spreading to the entire team. Hitting may be contagious, but I think lack of hitting is even more so. When a pitcher surrenders a lead, the bats have already thrown in the towel, making the games excruciatingly depressing to watch. The Evil Empire has taken over first place and if the Sox bats don't crawl out of their hole tomorrow, the Jays will have caught up to them and third place may not be far behind. If the Rays heat up, the Sox could even be looking at fourth if they continue their woeful play on the road. The team's defense is scuffling just as badly as their offense with the Shortstop Horror Show, not to mention the Dice-Kottaras debacle this past week. Starting pitching is hit or miss and even some of the first-class bullpen is showing signs of wear. The only bright spots on the team right now are Tek's newfound power, Bard's five-strikeout performance, and the improved pitching of Beckett and Penny. Wake is starting to come back to earth, as are J-Bay and Youk. Big Papi's mega-slump is just heartbreaking. Something needs to be done if this team is to play after the beginning of October. A big bat is a must, but the whole team needs to step it up and play at least .500 ball away from Fenway. Dice-K and Lester need to give the team some quality starts without the meltdown innings. It's almost June and it's getting too late to say "it's early." So, please, boys, just play better ball, will ya?
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! SCORE SOME MORE DOGGONE RUNS!!!!!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! SCORE SOME MORE DOGGONE RUNS!!!!!
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Lester Zapped, Offense Sapped
Sox: 2 Twins: 5
What is it about Lester and the fifth inning? After shutting the Minny dome-dwellers out through the first four, the fifth is once again his Waterloo. That is, he flushed a Sox win down the loo with a five-run fifth on four hits and a walk. One of those hits happened to be a three-run dinger by Morneau. These nuclear innings are becoming all-too-frequent with Lester this season. Are all the innings he pitched last year catching up with him? Is he fatiguing by the fifth inning and, consequently, losing command? He had a great start last time out against Toronto, but I don't remember any time this season where he has put two good starts in a row. That's troublesome for a #2 starter.
The loss can't be pinned solely on Lester, however. The offense came up short and squandered too many scoring opportunities, putting up a paltry two runs and letting Twins starter Nick Blackburn off the hook inning after inning. They managed to score a run in the 7th, but they have to score runs more consistently on the road. It was good to see Papi get the double in his first at-bat out of the six-hole, though.
Tomorrow, Dice-K makes his second post-DL start. Let's hope the defense backs him up better this time around (no more botched double plays!).
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
What is it about Lester and the fifth inning? After shutting the Minny dome-dwellers out through the first four, the fifth is once again his Waterloo. That is, he flushed a Sox win down the loo with a five-run fifth on four hits and a walk. One of those hits happened to be a three-run dinger by Morneau. These nuclear innings are becoming all-too-frequent with Lester this season. Are all the innings he pitched last year catching up with him? Is he fatiguing by the fifth inning and, consequently, losing command? He had a great start last time out against Toronto, but I don't remember any time this season where he has put two good starts in a row. That's troublesome for a #2 starter.
The loss can't be pinned solely on Lester, however. The offense came up short and squandered too many scoring opportunities, putting up a paltry two runs and letting Twins starter Nick Blackburn off the hook inning after inning. They managed to score a run in the 7th, but they have to score runs more consistently on the road. It was good to see Papi get the double in his first at-bat out of the six-hole, though.
Tomorrow, Dice-K makes his second post-DL start. Let's hope the defense backs him up better this time around (no more botched double plays!).
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
Monday, May 25, 2009
DH-ing Up A Storm
Sox: 6 Twins: 5
As much as I wish I could say it was Papi I was referring to in the title of this blog, it was Mikey Lowell who was punishing the ball this afternoon in Minny. Lowell, in the DH spot to give him a "half day" of rest and to rest the still slumping Papi, did not rest at the plate, getting four knocks today out of the five hole. Penny, who was feeling a little under the weather, put together a decent outing, allowing three runs over five and a third innings, earning his fifth W as a Red Sox. He outlasted Liriano, who was chased after giving up five runs in just four innings, thanks to an offense that produced timely hits over a two inning span beginning in the third.
Jake extended his hitting streak to 20 games with an infield hit in the third, went 2 for 5 today and Pedey went 3 for 5. Youk and Bay each had two hits and two RBI. We know what Lowell did. Rocco Baldelli had two hits of his own, but had to leave the game because he, too, was feeling not quite right. Surprisingly, RightyTek, who has been tearing it up so far this season, went hitless this afternoon, as did Lugo. The sixth run of the game was a solo shot by Jeff Bailey, his third long ball of the season. Say what you want about Bailey's average (and it's all justified), but the guy can knock one out every now and then.
Tomorrow, Jon Lester looks to build off his strong start last week against Toronto when he faces Nick Blackburn. The question of where Papi will hit in the lineup will most likely be answered, but the issue of who should get the bulk of the starts at short until Lowrie (who played a little T-ball today) returns still remains. Lugo, while he did not make an error today, went 0 for 4 and I can't remember when his last hit was. Green, who is almost as scary in the field as Lugo, is at least getting some consistent hits. Lugo's got the big, gigantic salary, but Green is the better performer of the two overall, even considering the Seattle fiasco.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!!
As much as I wish I could say it was Papi I was referring to in the title of this blog, it was Mikey Lowell who was punishing the ball this afternoon in Minny. Lowell, in the DH spot to give him a "half day" of rest and to rest the still slumping Papi, did not rest at the plate, getting four knocks today out of the five hole. Penny, who was feeling a little under the weather, put together a decent outing, allowing three runs over five and a third innings, earning his fifth W as a Red Sox. He outlasted Liriano, who was chased after giving up five runs in just four innings, thanks to an offense that produced timely hits over a two inning span beginning in the third.
Jake extended his hitting streak to 20 games with an infield hit in the third, went 2 for 5 today and Pedey went 3 for 5. Youk and Bay each had two hits and two RBI. We know what Lowell did. Rocco Baldelli had two hits of his own, but had to leave the game because he, too, was feeling not quite right. Surprisingly, RightyTek, who has been tearing it up so far this season, went hitless this afternoon, as did Lugo. The sixth run of the game was a solo shot by Jeff Bailey, his third long ball of the season. Say what you want about Bailey's average (and it's all justified), but the guy can knock one out every now and then.
Tomorrow, Jon Lester looks to build off his strong start last week against Toronto when he faces Nick Blackburn. The question of where Papi will hit in the lineup will most likely be answered, but the issue of who should get the bulk of the starts at short until Lowrie (who played a little T-ball today) returns still remains. Lugo, while he did not make an error today, went 0 for 4 and I can't remember when his last hit was. Green, who is almost as scary in the field as Lugo, is at least getting some consistent hits. Lugo's got the big, gigantic salary, but Green is the better performer of the two overall, even considering the Seattle fiasco.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!!
Sunday, May 24, 2009
All's Well That Ends Well
Sox: 12 Mets: 5
In a series that had two home run calls reviewed (and neither going in favor of the home team), a pitcher throwing a phantom ball plateward, Eck's vocabulary venturing into the netherworld, and the Sox losing the first two games, they really needed a game like the one that took place today. With Dwight Evans pinch hitting for Eck, who's moonlighting for TBS, the Sox gave Wake his team-leading sixth win of the year in a 12-5 rout of the denizens of Citi Field. Yes, the same Citi Field where last week someone got their hand stuck in the toilet trying to retrieve a gold tooth. Oh, what the recession will make one do! Now, thanks to losses by the Yanks and the Jays, our Fenway friends are sitting in first place in the AL Beast!
Wake's outing was not one of his best, but, thanks to his stick-wielding teammates, it was enough to win. He gave up five runs in six innings. Due to a rain (or was it hail?) delay in the bottom of the first, he had a good 45 minutes between his first two innings of work. His most troublesome inning was the third, when he gave up three runs, erasing the lead the Sox had given him via Lowell's 3-run blast in the second. Added to the run the Mets scored in the second inning on a solo homer by Ramon Castro, this gave the visitors the lead. Wake gave up a fifth Mets run in the fifth inning, but came out to pitch a clean sixth after the Sox gave him back the lead in the bottom of the fifth.
The Sox bats, who had been dormant for the first two games of the series, broke out today, starting with the Lowell tater in the second. The fifth inning started with Youk knocking one out of the park just a hair away from the Fisk pole on the Monster. Youk thought he had himself a dong, but the umps ruled it foul. After Tito came out of the dugout and argued, the umps decided to go to the review room for the second time in 24 hours. The first time was last night, when an Omir Santos fly was ruled a dinger and not, as it was initially called, a double, after bouncing off the red rim of the Monster. That call meant a blown save for Pap and a stinging loss for the Sox. The call on Youk's questionable homer didn't go any better for the Boston squad. It was ruled a foul ball and Youk, after fouling off a few more pitches, ended the at-bat by flying out to right. To me, the replay they showed on NESN made it look like the ball was just a teeny tiny bit to the right of the pole and fair, but the umps had the final call.
Two batters after the home run that wasn't, JD Drew, he of the four-hit afternoon, and Mikey Lowell singled. George Kottaras, who hit a ground-rule double in his first at-bat, followed it up with another double, this time with a ribbie thrown in. Nick Green followed the backstop's feat up with a hit that I guess would be called a single: Lowell scored and Nick Green found himself in no man's land between first and second, staying in the run-down long enough to score Kottaras and give the lead back to the Sox. The ball changed hands so many times on that play that it was ruled a 9-3-6-4-5-3. Translation: Right field to first baseman to shortstop to second baseman to third baseman back to first.
The sixth inning saw Mets reliever Ken Takahashi (not to be confused with Sox reliever Takashi Saito) pitch a phantom ball to the plate when he lost his grip on the ball as he was getting ready to throw it. The "real" ball ended up a few feet away from the mound to the pitcher's right. It was ruled a balk and Pedey, who reached first on a walk, was awarded second. After Papi, who was at bat during this bizarre occurrence, struck out, Youk walked and Bay singled, briging Pedey home. JD followed up with a double that plated Youk and gave the Sox a three-run advantage. The following inning saw Green get his second hit, Jake draw a walk and Pedey singling Green home before Youk went deep again. For real this time and scoring three times as many runs as the fifth inning long foul would have had it stayed fair. It was his way of saying "Take that, umps!" The score after that big fly: 12-5 and that's where it stayed when Takashi Saito recorded the final out of the ninth.
Tomorrow night, back to the AL and back on the road. It feels like they just got to Fenway and now they have to leave again! Penny pitches against Liriano in Minnesota. Will Papi remain in the 3-hole after yet another quiet day at the plate? We shall see...
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
In a series that had two home run calls reviewed (and neither going in favor of the home team), a pitcher throwing a phantom ball plateward, Eck's vocabulary venturing into the netherworld, and the Sox losing the first two games, they really needed a game like the one that took place today. With Dwight Evans pinch hitting for Eck, who's moonlighting for TBS, the Sox gave Wake his team-leading sixth win of the year in a 12-5 rout of the denizens of Citi Field. Yes, the same Citi Field where last week someone got their hand stuck in the toilet trying to retrieve a gold tooth. Oh, what the recession will make one do! Now, thanks to losses by the Yanks and the Jays, our Fenway friends are sitting in first place in the AL Beast!
Wake's outing was not one of his best, but, thanks to his stick-wielding teammates, it was enough to win. He gave up five runs in six innings. Due to a rain (or was it hail?) delay in the bottom of the first, he had a good 45 minutes between his first two innings of work. His most troublesome inning was the third, when he gave up three runs, erasing the lead the Sox had given him via Lowell's 3-run blast in the second. Added to the run the Mets scored in the second inning on a solo homer by Ramon Castro, this gave the visitors the lead. Wake gave up a fifth Mets run in the fifth inning, but came out to pitch a clean sixth after the Sox gave him back the lead in the bottom of the fifth.
The Sox bats, who had been dormant for the first two games of the series, broke out today, starting with the Lowell tater in the second. The fifth inning started with Youk knocking one out of the park just a hair away from the Fisk pole on the Monster. Youk thought he had himself a dong, but the umps ruled it foul. After Tito came out of the dugout and argued, the umps decided to go to the review room for the second time in 24 hours. The first time was last night, when an Omir Santos fly was ruled a dinger and not, as it was initially called, a double, after bouncing off the red rim of the Monster. That call meant a blown save for Pap and a stinging loss for the Sox. The call on Youk's questionable homer didn't go any better for the Boston squad. It was ruled a foul ball and Youk, after fouling off a few more pitches, ended the at-bat by flying out to right. To me, the replay they showed on NESN made it look like the ball was just a teeny tiny bit to the right of the pole and fair, but the umps had the final call.
Two batters after the home run that wasn't, JD Drew, he of the four-hit afternoon, and Mikey Lowell singled. George Kottaras, who hit a ground-rule double in his first at-bat, followed it up with another double, this time with a ribbie thrown in. Nick Green followed the backstop's feat up with a hit that I guess would be called a single: Lowell scored and Nick Green found himself in no man's land between first and second, staying in the run-down long enough to score Kottaras and give the lead back to the Sox. The ball changed hands so many times on that play that it was ruled a 9-3-6-4-5-3. Translation: Right field to first baseman to shortstop to second baseman to third baseman back to first.
The sixth inning saw Mets reliever Ken Takahashi (not to be confused with Sox reliever Takashi Saito) pitch a phantom ball to the plate when he lost his grip on the ball as he was getting ready to throw it. The "real" ball ended up a few feet away from the mound to the pitcher's right. It was ruled a balk and Pedey, who reached first on a walk, was awarded second. After Papi, who was at bat during this bizarre occurrence, struck out, Youk walked and Bay singled, briging Pedey home. JD followed up with a double that plated Youk and gave the Sox a three-run advantage. The following inning saw Green get his second hit, Jake draw a walk and Pedey singling Green home before Youk went deep again. For real this time and scoring three times as many runs as the fifth inning long foul would have had it stayed fair. It was his way of saying "Take that, umps!" The score after that big fly: 12-5 and that's where it stayed when Takashi Saito recorded the final out of the ninth.
Tomorrow night, back to the AL and back on the road. It feels like they just got to Fenway and now they have to leave again! Penny pitches against Liriano in Minnesota. Will Papi remain in the 3-hole after yet another quiet day at the plate? We shall see...
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Sox Lose. Eck Swears.
Sox: 3 Mets: 5
If the Sox had to lose tonight, it might as well be to one of the best pitchers in the game. Hey, at least they scored some runs off of him. Granted, not all of them were earned, but it was great to see Tek take him deep in the second. Tek drove Santana and the Mets crazy the better part of the game, with the homer and then two liners that were mishandled by the Mets' second-string shortstop. One of those two errors caused two runs to score, but since it was ruled an error, Tek got credit for only one RBI.
Dice-K, while he took the loss, didn't do all that bad in his first post-DL start. He sailed through the first three, with the only blemish being a homer by Gary Sheffield in the second. In the fourth inning, after allowing a one-out double and then a walk and an RBI single to score the Mets' second run, his defense burned him when Lugo couldn't turn a double play on a ball hit to Pedey. Murphy's law of baseball says that when an inning-ending double play is botched, you will pay dearly and they paid to the tune of two more runs. Dice-K also got burned by the home plate ump when the 1-2 pitch he threw to Santos was ruled a ball, even though the pitch tracker showed it was clearly a strike. Santos went on to single and then Ramon Ramirez (no, not our ace reliever) also singled. Had that critical double play been turned, Dice would have been out of the fourth only having allowed one more Mets run instead of three. Had the ump correctly called that third strike on Santos, Dice-K would have also been out of that inning with only one run.
Now for the Eck swearing part. It's the bottom of the fifth with two outs and no one on, thanks to Papi grounding into a double play that was not flubbed. Santana drills Youk in the hand and words are exchanged between the pitcher and batter as Youk takes his base. Youk mouths something that Eck interprets out loud as "sh!t". Oops! Tsk tsk, Eck! The FCC's gonna slap ya for that one. Back to Youk and Santana: fortunately the umps intervened and no fracas took place.
Tomorrow night, Beckett faces Mike Pelfrey. The Sox need to win these next two games, as a road trip which includes two domes starts Monday. Domes, like the west coast, have not been kind to the Sox. First comes the "Homerdome" in Minnesota, then the Rogers Center in Toronto. The Sox would have to be very lucky to miss Halladay again. After Toronto, they head to Comerica in Detroit, which is, thankfully, not a dome.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
If the Sox had to lose tonight, it might as well be to one of the best pitchers in the game. Hey, at least they scored some runs off of him. Granted, not all of them were earned, but it was great to see Tek take him deep in the second. Tek drove Santana and the Mets crazy the better part of the game, with the homer and then two liners that were mishandled by the Mets' second-string shortstop. One of those two errors caused two runs to score, but since it was ruled an error, Tek got credit for only one RBI.
Dice-K, while he took the loss, didn't do all that bad in his first post-DL start. He sailed through the first three, with the only blemish being a homer by Gary Sheffield in the second. In the fourth inning, after allowing a one-out double and then a walk and an RBI single to score the Mets' second run, his defense burned him when Lugo couldn't turn a double play on a ball hit to Pedey. Murphy's law of baseball says that when an inning-ending double play is botched, you will pay dearly and they paid to the tune of two more runs. Dice-K also got burned by the home plate ump when the 1-2 pitch he threw to Santos was ruled a ball, even though the pitch tracker showed it was clearly a strike. Santos went on to single and then Ramon Ramirez (no, not our ace reliever) also singled. Had that critical double play been turned, Dice would have been out of the fourth only having allowed one more Mets run instead of three. Had the ump correctly called that third strike on Santos, Dice-K would have also been out of that inning with only one run.
Now for the Eck swearing part. It's the bottom of the fifth with two outs and no one on, thanks to Papi grounding into a double play that was not flubbed. Santana drills Youk in the hand and words are exchanged between the pitcher and batter as Youk takes his base. Youk mouths something that Eck interprets out loud as "sh!t". Oops! Tsk tsk, Eck! The FCC's gonna slap ya for that one. Back to Youk and Santana: fortunately the umps intervened and no fracas took place.
Tomorrow night, Beckett faces Mike Pelfrey. The Sox need to win these next two games, as a road trip which includes two domes starts Monday. Domes, like the west coast, have not been kind to the Sox. First comes the "Homerdome" in Minnesota, then the Rogers Center in Toronto. The Sox would have to be very lucky to miss Halladay again. After Toronto, they head to Comerica in Detroit, which is, thankfully, not a dome.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Sweep Success!
Sox: 5 Broomed Jays: 1
There's nothing like sweeping the team you're looking up at in the standings and that's just what the Sox did tonight. The Jays came cruising into Fenway riding high with a 3 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox. Three days and three losses later, the lead has been whittled to 1/2 game as Sox pitching limited the first place team from up north to five runs over the entire series. It's a very good sign from a beleaguered rotation that they could stifle a hot, league-leading offense like Wake, Penny, and Lester were able to do this week.
Lester rebounded from his back-to-back implosions and held the Jays to just one run, that was surrendered by Ramon Ramirez after he [Lester] left the mound. He worked his way in and out of jams, the "out" part being key, with the help of timely pitches and excellent defense behind him. His first few innings were a trifle tentative, but he really got in a groove in the fifth and sixth, his pitch count in the single digits for those two frames. The next step for him is following this outing up with another solid performance in his next start.
At the dish, the Sox had some early success off Jays rookie Robert Ray, including a two-run Bay dinger that bounced off the top of the wall in right-center and into the pen. It's clear that Bay likes to save his biggest hits for when guys are on base; he just set a Red Sox team record for most consecutive multi-run homers. The Sox had better be prepared to shell out major dough for this guy, as his stock is skyrocketing with every big clutch hit he makes. At 30, he's in his prime and he's thriving in the high-intensity, pennant-chasing Boston baseball atmosphere. He has a highly professional work ethic and is an ideal player for this team.
Jake continued his hitting streak at his first at-bat with a double down the first base line. He scored on two straight ground-outs by Pedey and Papi. Speaking of Papi, no, he did not hit another one out tonight, but he got himself a single in the fifth and two of the outs he made were productive, moving runners along. Youk followed up his three-hit welcome back night last night with an RBI single in the third, plating Pedey, who doubled off the wall. Pedey also had a single in the fifth. Drew also had a single on the night. The 7-9 batters, Lowell, Tek and Lugo, went hitless.
Tomorrow, the Mets are in town for a little interleague play. The pitching match-up is an interesting one: a returning-from-the-DL Dice-K goes head to head with Mets ace Johan Santana. Keep rolling, Boston boys!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON THE SWEEP!!!
There's nothing like sweeping the team you're looking up at in the standings and that's just what the Sox did tonight. The Jays came cruising into Fenway riding high with a 3 1/2 game lead over the Red Sox. Three days and three losses later, the lead has been whittled to 1/2 game as Sox pitching limited the first place team from up north to five runs over the entire series. It's a very good sign from a beleaguered rotation that they could stifle a hot, league-leading offense like Wake, Penny, and Lester were able to do this week.
Lester rebounded from his back-to-back implosions and held the Jays to just one run, that was surrendered by Ramon Ramirez after he [Lester] left the mound. He worked his way in and out of jams, the "out" part being key, with the help of timely pitches and excellent defense behind him. His first few innings were a trifle tentative, but he really got in a groove in the fifth and sixth, his pitch count in the single digits for those two frames. The next step for him is following this outing up with another solid performance in his next start.
At the dish, the Sox had some early success off Jays rookie Robert Ray, including a two-run Bay dinger that bounced off the top of the wall in right-center and into the pen. It's clear that Bay likes to save his biggest hits for when guys are on base; he just set a Red Sox team record for most consecutive multi-run homers. The Sox had better be prepared to shell out major dough for this guy, as his stock is skyrocketing with every big clutch hit he makes. At 30, he's in his prime and he's thriving in the high-intensity, pennant-chasing Boston baseball atmosphere. He has a highly professional work ethic and is an ideal player for this team.
Jake continued his hitting streak at his first at-bat with a double down the first base line. He scored on two straight ground-outs by Pedey and Papi. Speaking of Papi, no, he did not hit another one out tonight, but he got himself a single in the fifth and two of the outs he made were productive, moving runners along. Youk followed up his three-hit welcome back night last night with an RBI single in the third, plating Pedey, who doubled off the wall. Pedey also had a single in the fifth. Drew also had a single on the night. The 7-9 batters, Lowell, Tek and Lugo, went hitless.
Tomorrow, the Mets are in town for a little interleague play. The pitching match-up is an interesting one: a returning-from-the-DL Dice-K goes head to head with Mets ace Johan Santana. Keep rolling, Boston boys!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON THE SWEEP!!!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Five Dong Night
Sox: 8 Jays: 3
PAPI GOES DEEP!!!!! Tonight's game was rich with storylines, but the biggest, and most heartwarming of them all was Papi's first long ball of 2009. It was the fifth inning and Tek had already hit his second dinger of the night in as many at-bats. Pedey had hit a double and made it to third on a throw home to the plate, where Jake was thrown out trying to score from first. Papi got a pitch to hit and he blasted it to straight away center, going the distance to land just to the left of the center field seats. Two batters later, J-Bay got in on the action, crushing his 12th jack of the season over the Monster seats and into the parking lot, bouncing off a few cars on its way down and scoring Youk. Lowell, who grounded into a double play earlier in the game, knocked another one out. Baldelli tripled, and Tek whiffed to end the inning, but what an inning it was! Papi got the 800 lb. gorilla off his back and Red Sox Nation rejoiced. Meanwhile, the poor rookie who entered with a 2-0 record and sparkling 1.80 ERA was lit up for 8 runs, five of them big flies. As great as I feel for Big Papi, I feel bad for young Brett Cecil, who probably wishes he never set foot in Fenway Park.
Storyline #2: Jake's record-setting night with the glove. He broke a team record and tied the major league record for most put-outs in a game with twelve grabs in center field. He also extended his hitting streak on a bunt single that Cecil face-planted trying to catch.
Storyline #3: Welcome Back Youk! The Sox first baseman, with his stellar glove and blazing bat went 3-for-5 tonight, making it seem as if he had never been gone for two weeks. Talk about not missing a beat!
Storyline #4: Turbo 'Tek homers in two consecutive at-bats, with #6 and 7 on the season. With the rumors about trading young pitching for Victor Martinez, the captain was out to prove he still has some left in the tank.
Storyline #5: Penny continues to trim down his ERA. He has another solid outing, going 6.2 and giving up two runs. Despite a rough beginning to the season, Penny is stringing some quality starts together and becoming a fine #5 starter (knock on wood).
Am I forgetting anything??? Great night for the Red Sox and a night David Ortiz can go to bed with a light and happy heart. Adding a double to his homer tonight sweetened the deal even more. Tomorrow, Lester hopes for a redemptive night of his own, as he takes the mound for the final game of the series. A year ago yesterday, he made Fenway magic with his no-hitter. While it's unrealistic and patently unfair to expect him to come anything close to repeating that feat tomorrow night, a 6-7 inning start with 3 or fewer runs and avoiding a big inning would be a nice turnaround from his Seattle start.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATULATIONS, BIG PAPI!!!!!!
PAPI GOES DEEP!!!!! Tonight's game was rich with storylines, but the biggest, and most heartwarming of them all was Papi's first long ball of 2009. It was the fifth inning and Tek had already hit his second dinger of the night in as many at-bats. Pedey had hit a double and made it to third on a throw home to the plate, where Jake was thrown out trying to score from first. Papi got a pitch to hit and he blasted it to straight away center, going the distance to land just to the left of the center field seats. Two batters later, J-Bay got in on the action, crushing his 12th jack of the season over the Monster seats and into the parking lot, bouncing off a few cars on its way down and scoring Youk. Lowell, who grounded into a double play earlier in the game, knocked another one out. Baldelli tripled, and Tek whiffed to end the inning, but what an inning it was! Papi got the 800 lb. gorilla off his back and Red Sox Nation rejoiced. Meanwhile, the poor rookie who entered with a 2-0 record and sparkling 1.80 ERA was lit up for 8 runs, five of them big flies. As great as I feel for Big Papi, I feel bad for young Brett Cecil, who probably wishes he never set foot in Fenway Park.
Storyline #2: Jake's record-setting night with the glove. He broke a team record and tied the major league record for most put-outs in a game with twelve grabs in center field. He also extended his hitting streak on a bunt single that Cecil face-planted trying to catch.
Storyline #3: Welcome Back Youk! The Sox first baseman, with his stellar glove and blazing bat went 3-for-5 tonight, making it seem as if he had never been gone for two weeks. Talk about not missing a beat!
Storyline #4: Turbo 'Tek homers in two consecutive at-bats, with #6 and 7 on the season. With the rumors about trading young pitching for Victor Martinez, the captain was out to prove he still has some left in the tank.
Storyline #5: Penny continues to trim down his ERA. He has another solid outing, going 6.2 and giving up two runs. Despite a rough beginning to the season, Penny is stringing some quality starts together and becoming a fine #5 starter (knock on wood).
Am I forgetting anything??? Great night for the Red Sox and a night David Ortiz can go to bed with a light and happy heart. Adding a double to his homer tonight sweetened the deal even more. Tomorrow, Lester hopes for a redemptive night of his own, as he takes the mound for the final game of the series. A year ago yesterday, he made Fenway magic with his no-hitter. While it's unrealistic and patently unfair to expect him to come anything close to repeating that feat tomorrow night, a 6-7 inning start with 3 or fewer runs and avoiding a big inning would be a nice turnaround from his Seattle start.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATULATIONS, BIG PAPI!!!!!!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wake is Toaster, Jays are Toast
Sox: 2 Jays: 1
Now why, you might ask, am I comparing our knuckleballer to a kitchen appliance? Because, the AL East-leading Blue Jays were popping up like it was going out of style, taking a very aggressive, swing-early approach to Wake's knuckler. As a result, Wake goes eight innings, surrendering just one run, on a big fly hit by old friend Kevin "Cowboy Up" Millar. Millar seems to be working his way around the division, playing for the Sox from '03-'05, the O's from '06-'08 and now north of the border with the Jays. Knowing the jovial Millar, I bet he wanted to say "Hey, Wakey, ol buddy, remember me?" before he sent one over the Monster. It was a nice bounce-back outing for The Wakester, whose evil twin Shaky Wakey took the mound in Anaheim last week. Everyone on the team has an evil twin, when you think about it: Mike Lowell has Bad Mikey, who grounds into those rally-killing double plays. Beckett and Lester's nefarious dopplegangers are Wreckett and Jester. I could go on, but that would detract from the game recap.
The offense continued phoning it in after the early innings. Papi, who returned after his three-day sabbatical, sadly, picked up right where he left off and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout, but he did draw a walk in the first inning. I really don't think he should be batting third until he shows he can still produce. I was hoping against hope that he'd be dropped down in the order when he returned, if only to take the pressure off of him. Fortunately for the dormant bats, the two runs they scored (via a Bailey RBI single and a Kottaras sac fly) were all they needed, thanks to Wake and the Blue Jays' pop-up parade. Youk comes back tomorrow and hopefully he'll bring his hot bat with him and energize this ephemeral offense.
Tomorrow night, Penny tries to add another quality start to his Sox resume and his teammates face Jays rookie Brett Cecil.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Now why, you might ask, am I comparing our knuckleballer to a kitchen appliance? Because, the AL East-leading Blue Jays were popping up like it was going out of style, taking a very aggressive, swing-early approach to Wake's knuckler. As a result, Wake goes eight innings, surrendering just one run, on a big fly hit by old friend Kevin "Cowboy Up" Millar. Millar seems to be working his way around the division, playing for the Sox from '03-'05, the O's from '06-'08 and now north of the border with the Jays. Knowing the jovial Millar, I bet he wanted to say "Hey, Wakey, ol buddy, remember me?" before he sent one over the Monster. It was a nice bounce-back outing for The Wakester, whose evil twin Shaky Wakey took the mound in Anaheim last week. Everyone on the team has an evil twin, when you think about it: Mike Lowell has Bad Mikey, who grounds into those rally-killing double plays. Beckett and Lester's nefarious dopplegangers are Wreckett and Jester. I could go on, but that would detract from the game recap.
The offense continued phoning it in after the early innings. Papi, who returned after his three-day sabbatical, sadly, picked up right where he left off and went 0 for 3 with a strikeout, but he did draw a walk in the first inning. I really don't think he should be batting third until he shows he can still produce. I was hoping against hope that he'd be dropped down in the order when he returned, if only to take the pressure off of him. Fortunately for the dormant bats, the two runs they scored (via a Bailey RBI single and a Kottaras sac fly) were all they needed, thanks to Wake and the Blue Jays' pop-up parade. Youk comes back tomorrow and hopefully he'll bring his hot bat with him and energize this ephemeral offense.
Tomorrow night, Penny tries to add another quality start to his Sox resume and his teammates face Jays rookie Brett Cecil.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Road Trip of Mass Frustration
West Coast Victims: 2 M's: 3
The Sox can't get on that plane and away from the west coast soon enough. It was 2008 road futility all over again this trip, where the Sox went 2-4 and choked in the later innings in those four losses. Today, the Sox had a chance to win the series with a 6.1 inning 2-run start by Masterson, but once again they disengaged their bats early in the game and let an egregious two-base error by Nick Green do them in. The most maddening instance of opportunities squandered by the Sox came in the fourth inning, when M's starter Jason Vargas loaded the bases with no outs. Bay comes up the plate, but can't deliver the big hit, instead fouling out to Sox nemesis Russell Branyan. Then comes a slumping Mikey Lowell, who grounds into his second twin killer in as many at-bats, squelching the rally and making the Nation wonder why he was put in the cleanup spot. Drew would have been much better hitting fourth behind Bay. His patience at the plate might have walked in the go-ahead run. Alas, hindsight is 20/20.
Youk can't get back fast enough for this team's scuffling offense. Even J-Bay was, with the exception of his dinger yesterday, stymied in this series. Lowell's exhibiting signs of fatigue at the plate, the DH's aren't doing any H-ing, and there's nothing doing after about the fourth inning. Hopefully coming home to Fenway (and the Eastern time zone) will help wake the Sox bats, especially since the hot-as-a-pistol Blue Jays will be there to welcome them home. Good outings this series by Beckett and Masterson and a decent outing by Penny were the silver lining to this trip, but it would have been nice to come out of it with a better record than 2-4.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
The Sox can't get on that plane and away from the west coast soon enough. It was 2008 road futility all over again this trip, where the Sox went 2-4 and choked in the later innings in those four losses. Today, the Sox had a chance to win the series with a 6.1 inning 2-run start by Masterson, but once again they disengaged their bats early in the game and let an egregious two-base error by Nick Green do them in. The most maddening instance of opportunities squandered by the Sox came in the fourth inning, when M's starter Jason Vargas loaded the bases with no outs. Bay comes up the plate, but can't deliver the big hit, instead fouling out to Sox nemesis Russell Branyan. Then comes a slumping Mikey Lowell, who grounds into his second twin killer in as many at-bats, squelching the rally and making the Nation wonder why he was put in the cleanup spot. Drew would have been much better hitting fourth behind Bay. His patience at the plate might have walked in the go-ahead run. Alas, hindsight is 20/20.
Youk can't get back fast enough for this team's scuffling offense. Even J-Bay was, with the exception of his dinger yesterday, stymied in this series. Lowell's exhibiting signs of fatigue at the plate, the DH's aren't doing any H-ing, and there's nothing doing after about the fourth inning. Hopefully coming home to Fenway (and the Eastern time zone) will help wake the Sox bats, especially since the hot-as-a-pistol Blue Jays will be there to welcome them home. Good outings this series by Beckett and Masterson and a decent outing by Penny were the silver lining to this trip, but it would have been nice to come out of it with a better record than 2-4.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
Friday, May 15, 2009
Past Their Bedtime
Jet-lagged Sox: o West Coast: 3 (This is a score of the past three games, not the runs from tonight's game)
Okay, yesterday was an afternoon game, but in Wednesday's game and tonight's, the Sox bats called it a day at around 11 pm EDT (or 8 pm out there). Put up a 4-spot in the first few innings, then hit the hay for the night as the other team erases the lead and slides right past them. Yesterday's game was a 12-inning heartbreaker, surrounded by two nearly identical games in which the starter is given a lead, then coughs it up as the bats clock out for the night. Tonight, the role of Torii Hunter was played by Ichiro Suzuki.
Three very frustrating games to watch as a Red Sox fan. They point to a larger problem for the Sox, besides their historic west-coast woes: The continued inconsistency and, at times, outright ineptitude, of the starting rotation. For awhile, the team was able to compensate offensively, but it puts enormous pressure on the bats when they feel they must score at least six runs to have a chance to win the game. Wake gets a pass for his rough outing because he had been the most consistent starter until then. Lester, however, is very troubling to watch. Again, he gives the other guys extra outs and again they make him pay. He could have been out of that sixth inning with a double play, but his brain took a holiday once he had caught the grounder back to the mound. He doesn't see that Pedey's covering second and holds on to the ball, finally firing to first to get one out. Ichiro takes him deep for the second time and wham! bam! The lead is gone. Last year, Lester would have been able to recover from that gaffe, but so far this year, that's not happening.
After going 0-for-7 yesterday, Big Papi sat last night and Rocco Baldelli DH'ed. He didn't fare much better than Papi, racking up 3 Ks, one with the bases loaded. Of course, Rocco, being a bench player, doesn't get consistent at-bats and it's unfair to expect him to come in and rake the first time he's asked to DH. Pedey and Lugo, who were all over the place yesterday, suffered Post Multi-Hit Game Syndrome, and both 0-fered tonight. Drew performed well out of the 3-hole, knocking three hits, and Jake was a homer shy of the cycle, so let's hope PMHGS only applies to guys who hit four or more hits in a game.
Tomorrow night is another late one. Beckett's on the mound and I hope he can do what he did his last two outings, or possibly improve on that. The Sox need their starters to start building some consistency or it's gonna be a long, long summer.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
Okay, yesterday was an afternoon game, but in Wednesday's game and tonight's, the Sox bats called it a day at around 11 pm EDT (or 8 pm out there). Put up a 4-spot in the first few innings, then hit the hay for the night as the other team erases the lead and slides right past them. Yesterday's game was a 12-inning heartbreaker, surrounded by two nearly identical games in which the starter is given a lead, then coughs it up as the bats clock out for the night. Tonight, the role of Torii Hunter was played by Ichiro Suzuki.
Three very frustrating games to watch as a Red Sox fan. They point to a larger problem for the Sox, besides their historic west-coast woes: The continued inconsistency and, at times, outright ineptitude, of the starting rotation. For awhile, the team was able to compensate offensively, but it puts enormous pressure on the bats when they feel they must score at least six runs to have a chance to win the game. Wake gets a pass for his rough outing because he had been the most consistent starter until then. Lester, however, is very troubling to watch. Again, he gives the other guys extra outs and again they make him pay. He could have been out of that sixth inning with a double play, but his brain took a holiday once he had caught the grounder back to the mound. He doesn't see that Pedey's covering second and holds on to the ball, finally firing to first to get one out. Ichiro takes him deep for the second time and wham! bam! The lead is gone. Last year, Lester would have been able to recover from that gaffe, but so far this year, that's not happening.
After going 0-for-7 yesterday, Big Papi sat last night and Rocco Baldelli DH'ed. He didn't fare much better than Papi, racking up 3 Ks, one with the bases loaded. Of course, Rocco, being a bench player, doesn't get consistent at-bats and it's unfair to expect him to come in and rake the first time he's asked to DH. Pedey and Lugo, who were all over the place yesterday, suffered Post Multi-Hit Game Syndrome, and both 0-fered tonight. Drew performed well out of the 3-hole, knocking three hits, and Jake was a homer shy of the cycle, so let's hope PMHGS only applies to guys who hit four or more hits in a game.
Tomorrow night is another late one. Beckett's on the mound and I hope he can do what he did his last two outings, or possibly improve on that. The Sox need their starters to start building some consistency or it's gonna be a long, long summer.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Bounce-Back Bunch
Unsinkable Sox: 4 Halos: 3
You've gotta hand it to the 2009 Red Sox, they are a resilient bunch. While competing with their archrival Yanks in the injury department, they still find ways to win games. Last night, they learned that their league-leading .393 hitter will indeed be DLed and they would be without their Gold Glove AL MVP second baseman either. They would be facing Jered Weaver with a lightweight lineup. Green would be playing second, Lugo at short, and Bailey at first. Weaver held them to a just one run through seven, that run courtesy of a JD Drew long ball in the second. Meanwhile, Masterson was doing his best Dice-K throughout his 6 inning start. He'd load 'em up twice, but would only allow the Halos two runs, one in the first and one in the fourth. Effectively wild, just like the Diceman. Delcarmen allowed an unearned run in the seventh to make the score 3-1 Angels.
The eighth inning brought some relief for the Sox bats with Weaver off the mound and the Angels' wild 'n' wacky bullpen giving them plenty of chances to come from behind. The Sox capitalized on a not-so-effectively wild Arredondo, who loaded the bases with one out for Big Papi. That brought in journeyman Darren Oliver, who plunked Papi in the wrist to bring the Sox within a run and reload the bases. Fortunately, Papi was okay and stayed in the game. J-Bay came up and brought home the tying run via a ground-out. Mikey Lowell also grounded out and the inning was over.
After a scoreless eighth by Ramon Ramirez, JD Drew, who started the Sox scoring back in the 2nd with his solo dinger to center, singled to right. Two batters and one out later, Tek became Captain Clutch as he lined a double, also to center, which plated Drew all the way from first. The Sox were now up 4-3. Paps nailed down his 9th save of the season, with considerably less drama than Sunday night's bases loaded, striking out the side affair, and the Sox took the first game of the series. Their road record now stands at an even .500.
Tonight, Wake takes the mound against a guy I'm not all that familiar with, Matt Palmer. Wake's been the rock of the rotation so far. Let's hope he keeps that up tonight and the Sox take the series. Pedey should be back in the lineup tonight.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
With the score tied, Dice-K Masterson was off the hook.
You've gotta hand it to the 2009 Red Sox, they are a resilient bunch. While competing with their archrival Yanks in the injury department, they still find ways to win games. Last night, they learned that their league-leading .393 hitter will indeed be DLed and they would be without their Gold Glove AL MVP second baseman either. They would be facing Jered Weaver with a lightweight lineup. Green would be playing second, Lugo at short, and Bailey at first. Weaver held them to a just one run through seven, that run courtesy of a JD Drew long ball in the second. Meanwhile, Masterson was doing his best Dice-K throughout his 6 inning start. He'd load 'em up twice, but would only allow the Halos two runs, one in the first and one in the fourth. Effectively wild, just like the Diceman. Delcarmen allowed an unearned run in the seventh to make the score 3-1 Angels.
The eighth inning brought some relief for the Sox bats with Weaver off the mound and the Angels' wild 'n' wacky bullpen giving them plenty of chances to come from behind. The Sox capitalized on a not-so-effectively wild Arredondo, who loaded the bases with one out for Big Papi. That brought in journeyman Darren Oliver, who plunked Papi in the wrist to bring the Sox within a run and reload the bases. Fortunately, Papi was okay and stayed in the game. J-Bay came up and brought home the tying run via a ground-out. Mikey Lowell also grounded out and the inning was over.
After a scoreless eighth by Ramon Ramirez, JD Drew, who started the Sox scoring back in the 2nd with his solo dinger to center, singled to right. Two batters and one out later, Tek became Captain Clutch as he lined a double, also to center, which plated Drew all the way from first. The Sox were now up 4-3. Paps nailed down his 9th save of the season, with considerably less drama than Sunday night's bases loaded, striking out the side affair, and the Sox took the first game of the series. Their road record now stands at an even .500.
Tonight, Wake takes the mound against a guy I'm not all that familiar with, Matt Palmer. Wake's been the rock of the rotation so far. Let's hope he keeps that up tonight and the Sox take the series. Pedey should be back in the lineup tonight.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
With the score tied, Dice-K Masterson was off the hook.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
A Win for Mom
Sox: 4 K'ed Rays: 3
Happy Mother's Day, Red Sox Nation! The Sox gave their mommas reason to smile today with a 3-4 squeaker win over their latest nemesis, the Tampa Bay Rays. The man on the mound, Darth Vader himself, Matt Garza, was still a tough nut to crack, but not untouchable. He gave up three runs over seven innings. Beckett turned in his second quality outing in a row, touched for three runs over six innings. Nothing spectacular, but an improvement over the last time he faced the Rays, at their home dome where he had his third-inning meltdown reminiscent of Lester's fifth inning debacle yesterday.
Winning a series against the Rays has been a challenging feat since the middle of last season. Beginning last July, they had lost every season series they played against this pesky young team until tonight. The Sox worked their at-bats against Garza, made him throw more pitches, and the results showed up on the scoreboard. Timely hits by Drew, Tek, Green, and King of Clutch J-Bay are all that's needed to push the Sox ahead of the young upstarts. Green, however, ran into outs not once, but twice trying to stretch a single into a double. Perhaps he needs first base coach Tim Bogar to hold up a stop sign to keep him from attempting ill-advised non-stop flights to second. If the ball bounces hard off the wall or goes into the shallow part of the outfield, you may want to pull in to first for a layover.
The only bad thing to come out of tonight's victory is the groin injury to Pedey. With Youk already out for five games and his status for the road trip in question, losing Pedey for anything more than a game or two is gonna hurt, both defensively and offensively. Let's hope it's short-term because we need our Pedey!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON BEATING THE RAYS!!
Happy Mother's Day, Red Sox Nation! The Sox gave their mommas reason to smile today with a 3-4 squeaker win over their latest nemesis, the Tampa Bay Rays. The man on the mound, Darth Vader himself, Matt Garza, was still a tough nut to crack, but not untouchable. He gave up three runs over seven innings. Beckett turned in his second quality outing in a row, touched for three runs over six innings. Nothing spectacular, but an improvement over the last time he faced the Rays, at their home dome where he had his third-inning meltdown reminiscent of Lester's fifth inning debacle yesterday.
Winning a series against the Rays has been a challenging feat since the middle of last season. Beginning last July, they had lost every season series they played against this pesky young team until tonight. The Sox worked their at-bats against Garza, made him throw more pitches, and the results showed up on the scoreboard. Timely hits by Drew, Tek, Green, and King of Clutch J-Bay are all that's needed to push the Sox ahead of the young upstarts. Green, however, ran into outs not once, but twice trying to stretch a single into a double. Perhaps he needs first base coach Tim Bogar to hold up a stop sign to keep him from attempting ill-advised non-stop flights to second. If the ball bounces hard off the wall or goes into the shallow part of the outfield, you may want to pull in to first for a layover.
The only bad thing to come out of tonight's victory is the groin injury to Pedey. With Youk already out for five games and his status for the road trip in question, losing Pedey for anything more than a game or two is gonna hurt, both defensively and offensively. Let's hope it's short-term because we need our Pedey!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON BEATING THE RAYS!!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Well, THAT was ugly...
Massacred Boston Red Sox: 5 Harmful Ultraviolet Rays: 14
Where do I begin???? The Sox had a chance to gain a leg up on their achilles heel, the Tampa Bay Rays with a win this afternoon. "Had" being the key word here. A combination of a nuclear fifth inning by Lester and sloppy defense behind him (Lugo, Bailey), combined with the not-so-stellar components of the Sox bullpen, Hunter Jones and Javier Lopez, toasted the Sox big-time. The offense wasn't too terribly bad; scoring five runs in a game should be enough to win if pitching and defense don't bite the big one, as they did today. How ironic it is that a team that, before the season started, was touted as being built around pitching and defense, can credit their offense for the bulk of their wins. Who would have thought Wake would be the staff's ace, with a 4-1 record and ERA under 3?
Lester, after his last start against the Yankees when he fanned 10 and allowed three runs over seven innings, looked like he was turning a corner. Today, he couldn't make it out of the fifth, after surrendering eight runs, six coming in that inning from hell. After giving up a two-run homer to (who else?) Evan Longoria in the first inning, Lester started to settle down until the fateful fifth. This guy's on my fantasy team and he's really starting to make me nervous. Maybe all the innings he pitched last year, when he was the ace of the staff, are coming back to bite him this year. Whatever it is, he is capable of pitching much better than he has so far this season.
Lugo, oh Lugo, your best game this season was the one where you DH'ed. Lugo went deep today for the first time this season (along with Rocco Baldelli, who ate up a gopher ball from Kazmir in the second), but he's still shaky at short. Bailey is obviously no Youk at first either. The infield really needs to sharpen their game against the Rays. Those dome-dwellers from the Sunshine State are capitalizing on every mistake the Sox make. There's no getting away with anything when playing this team!
Tomorrow night, the Sox have an uphill battle in the rubber game and his name is Matt Garza. Garza remains a frustrating enigma to the Sox batters and he nearly no-hit them last week. One would think that the Sox have seen him enough to begin to figure him out. Just as Longoria, Crawford, and Pena pulverize Sox pitchers with their bats (and, in Crawford's case, legs), Garza has this bizarre deep-freeze effect on the Sox offense. They have to get to him eventually, don't they???
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! SHAKE TODAY OFF AND GO GET 'EM TOMORROW!
Where do I begin???? The Sox had a chance to gain a leg up on their achilles heel, the Tampa Bay Rays with a win this afternoon. "Had" being the key word here. A combination of a nuclear fifth inning by Lester and sloppy defense behind him (Lugo, Bailey), combined with the not-so-stellar components of the Sox bullpen, Hunter Jones and Javier Lopez, toasted the Sox big-time. The offense wasn't too terribly bad; scoring five runs in a game should be enough to win if pitching and defense don't bite the big one, as they did today. How ironic it is that a team that, before the season started, was touted as being built around pitching and defense, can credit their offense for the bulk of their wins. Who would have thought Wake would be the staff's ace, with a 4-1 record and ERA under 3?
Lester, after his last start against the Yankees when he fanned 10 and allowed three runs over seven innings, looked like he was turning a corner. Today, he couldn't make it out of the fifth, after surrendering eight runs, six coming in that inning from hell. After giving up a two-run homer to (who else?) Evan Longoria in the first inning, Lester started to settle down until the fateful fifth. This guy's on my fantasy team and he's really starting to make me nervous. Maybe all the innings he pitched last year, when he was the ace of the staff, are coming back to bite him this year. Whatever it is, he is capable of pitching much better than he has so far this season.
Lugo, oh Lugo, your best game this season was the one where you DH'ed. Lugo went deep today for the first time this season (along with Rocco Baldelli, who ate up a gopher ball from Kazmir in the second), but he's still shaky at short. Bailey is obviously no Youk at first either. The infield really needs to sharpen their game against the Rays. Those dome-dwellers from the Sunshine State are capitalizing on every mistake the Sox make. There's no getting away with anything when playing this team!
Tomorrow night, the Sox have an uphill battle in the rubber game and his name is Matt Garza. Garza remains a frustrating enigma to the Sox batters and he nearly no-hit them last week. One would think that the Sox have seen him enough to begin to figure him out. Just as Longoria, Crawford, and Pena pulverize Sox pitchers with their bats (and, in Crawford's case, legs), Garza has this bizarre deep-freeze effect on the Sox offense. They have to get to him eventually, don't they???
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! SHAKE TODAY OFF AND GO GET 'EM TOMORROW!
Friday, May 8, 2009
This One's For Dom
Sox: 7 Rays: 3
As he was watching a replay of last night's game, when the Sox scored 12 runs before the first out of the sixth, Red Sox legend Dom DiMaggio passed on to the great baseball diamond in the sky. DiMaggio's playing days were way before my time, but from what I had read about him in David Halberstam's "The Teammates" he was a talented and underrated centerfielder and one of the Splendid Splinter's dearest friends. He played for the Sox from 1940 - 1953, his entire baseball career, and missed three seasons serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was 92.
The Sox put on another sixth-inning show tonight, albeit not to the same epic proportions as last night. Pedey beat out an infield hit to start the inning, then Papi walked. That's two men on for Jason Bay, who did what he does best in those situations and went deep to tie the score at 3. Lowell, who found himself in a pickle in his previous at-bat by trying to stretch a single into a double, this time made it to second on time. Drew, who was mired in a three-week homer drought, snapped his dry spell with a two-run dong to right. The Sox had now overtaken the lead and Shields was mad as hell at himself for coughing it up. By virtue of some more stellar bullpen work, they held onto the lead and added two more runs off Grant Balfour in the eighth, where Lugo picked up his first hit of the night, Jake his second, and Pedey his fourth.
Brad Penny picked up the win, a well-deserved one after his second consecutive quality start. He kept the Rays to three runs over six and a third innings. This is a good sign for Penny, who has struggled to get his footing so far this season. This win is also good for the Red Sox, starting the series off on a high note after dropping three of four to the Rays last weekend at that place. Lugo is starting to get back into the swing of things (no pun intended) at the plate and in the field. Having him start at DH last night, I think, really helped him ease back into starting at short tonight. Let's hope he carries the momentum through as his playing time increases.
Tomorrow afternoon, it's a battle of the lefties, as Jon Lester faces Scott Kazmir. Kaz has struggled lately as Lester is starting to settle in. It will be interesting to see who has the upper hand tomorrow. I'm giving my vote of confidence to Lester. Two out of three (at least) against the Rays would go a long way in giving the Sox confidence that they can beat this team that has been a thorn in their side since last season.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
As he was watching a replay of last night's game, when the Sox scored 12 runs before the first out of the sixth, Red Sox legend Dom DiMaggio passed on to the great baseball diamond in the sky. DiMaggio's playing days were way before my time, but from what I had read about him in David Halberstam's "The Teammates" he was a talented and underrated centerfielder and one of the Splendid Splinter's dearest friends. He played for the Sox from 1940 - 1953, his entire baseball career, and missed three seasons serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II. He was 92.
The Sox put on another sixth-inning show tonight, albeit not to the same epic proportions as last night. Pedey beat out an infield hit to start the inning, then Papi walked. That's two men on for Jason Bay, who did what he does best in those situations and went deep to tie the score at 3. Lowell, who found himself in a pickle in his previous at-bat by trying to stretch a single into a double, this time made it to second on time. Drew, who was mired in a three-week homer drought, snapped his dry spell with a two-run dong to right. The Sox had now overtaken the lead and Shields was mad as hell at himself for coughing it up. By virtue of some more stellar bullpen work, they held onto the lead and added two more runs off Grant Balfour in the eighth, where Lugo picked up his first hit of the night, Jake his second, and Pedey his fourth.
Brad Penny picked up the win, a well-deserved one after his second consecutive quality start. He kept the Rays to three runs over six and a third innings. This is a good sign for Penny, who has struggled to get his footing so far this season. This win is also good for the Red Sox, starting the series off on a high note after dropping three of four to the Rays last weekend at that place. Lugo is starting to get back into the swing of things (no pun intended) at the plate and in the field. Having him start at DH last night, I think, really helped him ease back into starting at short tonight. Let's hope he carries the momentum through as his playing time increases.
Tomorrow afternoon, it's a battle of the lefties, as Jon Lester faces Scott Kazmir. Kaz has struggled lately as Lester is starting to settle in. It will be interesting to see who has the upper hand tomorrow. I'm giving my vote of confidence to Lester. Two out of three (at least) against the Rays would go a long way in giving the Sox confidence that they can beat this team that has been a thorn in their side since last season.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
By The Dozen
6th Inning Sox: 13 Victims of Said Inning: 3
When Wake walked off the mound as the last out was recorded in the top of the sixth inning, the Sox were trailing the Tribe in a 2-1 ballgame. The Sox were being mowed down by Cleveland callup Jeremy Sowers after scoring one run in the first inning. It was looking like redux of last night's game. Sowers was back on the mound for the bottom of the sixth and Lugo, who was DH-ing after Papi was scratched from the lineup with neck stiffness, stroked a single to left, his second hit of the night after a leadoff triple in the first. Pedey drew a walk, then J-Bay comes to the plate and ropes an RBI double up the middle, scoring Lugo. Lowell is given the four-finger salute to load the bases for fresh-off-the-DL Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli makes the Tribe pay for that move with a two-run single that plates Pedey and Bay. Drew walks to load the bases again. Sowers is pulled for Masa Kobayashi, having failed to record an out in the inning.
Bailey, who came into the game with an average below .100, doubles to left and Lowell and Baldelli score. Nick Green, who was not originally in the lineup, but inserted at short so Lugo could DH in place of Papi, legged out an infield hit. George Kottaras made up for his passed ball earlier in the game by hitting one up the middle to score Drew and Bailey. Lugo hit an infield single to third for his second hit of the inning. Pedey singled to left, allowing Green and Kottaras to cross the plate.
Kobayashi gets the hook, also failing to retire anyone, and Matt Herges comes on. Up to the plate strides J-Bay and, whaddaya know, he knocks a three-run tater into the bullpen, scoring Lugo, Pedey, and himself. That's twelve, count 'em, TWELVE runs scored before a single out is recorded. An American League record is broken! And, oh yeah, Wake gets a TON of run support and picks up his team-leading fourth W. Herges eventually puts out the conflagration by retiring Lowell, Baldelli, and Drew in order. No, I didn't remember all of the goings-on of the mega-inning for the ages on my own! I read the recap at redsox.com and it had the hits and runs scored laid out in a neat li'l table.
A total of 15 batters came to the plate in the inning, with the first dozen coming before the first out. Ironically, this inning reminds us of what those very same Cleveland Indians wreaked on the Yanks in the second inning of a game earlier this season. Fourteen runs scored in that inning, but it didn't take 13 batters to record the first out.
Wake's six-inning start, allowing two runs, seems like an afterthought in light of the offensive explosion. He had periods where the strike zone eluded him and the flighty, unpredictable knuckler, but he escaped jams in a way that would make his teammate Dice-K proud. Baldelli made a fantastic diving catch in the top of the sixth kept the Tribe to those two runs and Wake's season ERA under 3.
The Sox wouldn't score any more after the sixth, but they certainly didn't need to. It was one of those games where you wish they could bottle some of those runs and save them for when they really need them, like when they play against the Rays this weekend. Beleaguered lefty Javier Lopez allowed one more Indians run in the eighth. When was the last time this guy's had a clean inning? Saito came in and took care of business in the ninth.
Another weekend of Sox-Rays coming up. Let's hope it goes better than last weekend!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! THAT WAS ONE HELLUVA INNING!!!
When Wake walked off the mound as the last out was recorded in the top of the sixth inning, the Sox were trailing the Tribe in a 2-1 ballgame. The Sox were being mowed down by Cleveland callup Jeremy Sowers after scoring one run in the first inning. It was looking like redux of last night's game. Sowers was back on the mound for the bottom of the sixth and Lugo, who was DH-ing after Papi was scratched from the lineup with neck stiffness, stroked a single to left, his second hit of the night after a leadoff triple in the first. Pedey drew a walk, then J-Bay comes to the plate and ropes an RBI double up the middle, scoring Lugo. Lowell is given the four-finger salute to load the bases for fresh-off-the-DL Rocco Baldelli. Baldelli makes the Tribe pay for that move with a two-run single that plates Pedey and Bay. Drew walks to load the bases again. Sowers is pulled for Masa Kobayashi, having failed to record an out in the inning.
Bailey, who came into the game with an average below .100, doubles to left and Lowell and Baldelli score. Nick Green, who was not originally in the lineup, but inserted at short so Lugo could DH in place of Papi, legged out an infield hit. George Kottaras made up for his passed ball earlier in the game by hitting one up the middle to score Drew and Bailey. Lugo hit an infield single to third for his second hit of the inning. Pedey singled to left, allowing Green and Kottaras to cross the plate.
Kobayashi gets the hook, also failing to retire anyone, and Matt Herges comes on. Up to the plate strides J-Bay and, whaddaya know, he knocks a three-run tater into the bullpen, scoring Lugo, Pedey, and himself. That's twelve, count 'em, TWELVE runs scored before a single out is recorded. An American League record is broken! And, oh yeah, Wake gets a TON of run support and picks up his team-leading fourth W. Herges eventually puts out the conflagration by retiring Lowell, Baldelli, and Drew in order. No, I didn't remember all of the goings-on of the mega-inning for the ages on my own! I read the recap at redsox.com and it had the hits and runs scored laid out in a neat li'l table.
A total of 15 batters came to the plate in the inning, with the first dozen coming before the first out. Ironically, this inning reminds us of what those very same Cleveland Indians wreaked on the Yanks in the second inning of a game earlier this season. Fourteen runs scored in that inning, but it didn't take 13 batters to record the first out.
Wake's six-inning start, allowing two runs, seems like an afterthought in light of the offensive explosion. He had periods where the strike zone eluded him and the flighty, unpredictable knuckler, but he escaped jams in a way that would make his teammate Dice-K proud. Baldelli made a fantastic diving catch in the top of the sixth kept the Tribe to those two runs and Wake's season ERA under 3.
The Sox wouldn't score any more after the sixth, but they certainly didn't need to. It was one of those games where you wish they could bottle some of those runs and save them for when they really need them, like when they play against the Rays this weekend. Beleaguered lefty Javier Lopez allowed one more Indians run in the eighth. When was the last time this guy's had a clean inning? Saito came in and took care of business in the ninth.
Another weekend of Sox-Rays coming up. Let's hope it goes better than last weekend!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! THAT WAS ONE HELLUVA INNING!!!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Get Well, Jerry Remy!
I meant to add this to the end of my game blog, but I wanted to send my best wishes to the RemDawg for a speedy and complete recovery from his lung cancer surgery. Having Eck in the booth has been great and I'm digging his cheese and cookie talk, but I do miss me some RemDawg. That said, Remy's doing the right thing by taking time off to rest and fully recover. Relax and enjoy the Sox, RemDawg and remember, we love you and are thinking of you whenever we watch our beloved team play!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Red Sox Lite
Diet Sox: 2 Big Bad Fifth in AL Central Tribe: 9
Youk, Jake, please heal fast! Your bats were missed at the plate and your gloves were missed even more in the field. The rest of the team apparently either forgot they were home at Fenway, or had too many Cinco De Mayo margaritas on the flight home from the Big Apple, or both. The Tribe took advantage of the hybrid Red Sox/Paw Sox lineup and exposed the subpar defense behind Masterson (who has recently caught a case of whatever was at one time ailing Beckett, Lester, and Penny). Bailey's now batting under .100 and missing the plays Youk makes look so easy. Van Every can hit, but his inexperience playing center at the Fens cost the Sox two runs. Even the regulars had some fielding gaffes that were costly, but couldn't really be called errors, such as a blown relay throw from Bay which missed Green and allowed Asdrubal Cabrera to reach third on what should have easily been a put-out.
Sloppy defense from his teammates and some lapses in command were Masterson's undoing in the second straight outing where he has allowed 6 earned runs. Again, the fifth inning is when the wheels came off. He pitched a clean sixth, but got into more trouble in the seventh and was lifted for Hunter Jones with Victor Martinez on first. Jones is promptly taken out of the park by Cleveland's resident Sox-killer Mark DeRosa. The game just kept getting uglier for the Boston boys. Jones finished the seventh and labored through the eighth, then Lopez hands out some more runs in the ninth. Pavano breezed through the reduced-strength Sox lineup, allowing only two runs and effectively curing his Fenway-phobia. Take the guy with the second best average in the AL out of the lineup and the guy who makes a pitcher nervous every time he reaches base and it makes the mighty struggle of Papi look that much mightier. Plus, having J-Bay up with nobody on base is no fun!
Tomorrow night, Wake tries to stymie the Tribe like he did a week ago Monday in Cleveland when he went toe-to-toe with Cliff Lee. Let's hope at least one of our walking wounded is feeling a whole lot better tomorrow, or Friday at the very latest. The defensive follies aren't going to go over too well when playing the Rays.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Youk, Jake, please heal fast! Your bats were missed at the plate and your gloves were missed even more in the field. The rest of the team apparently either forgot they were home at Fenway, or had too many Cinco De Mayo margaritas on the flight home from the Big Apple, or both. The Tribe took advantage of the hybrid Red Sox/Paw Sox lineup and exposed the subpar defense behind Masterson (who has recently caught a case of whatever was at one time ailing Beckett, Lester, and Penny). Bailey's now batting under .100 and missing the plays Youk makes look so easy. Van Every can hit, but his inexperience playing center at the Fens cost the Sox two runs. Even the regulars had some fielding gaffes that were costly, but couldn't really be called errors, such as a blown relay throw from Bay which missed Green and allowed Asdrubal Cabrera to reach third on what should have easily been a put-out.
Sloppy defense from his teammates and some lapses in command were Masterson's undoing in the second straight outing where he has allowed 6 earned runs. Again, the fifth inning is when the wheels came off. He pitched a clean sixth, but got into more trouble in the seventh and was lifted for Hunter Jones with Victor Martinez on first. Jones is promptly taken out of the park by Cleveland's resident Sox-killer Mark DeRosa. The game just kept getting uglier for the Boston boys. Jones finished the seventh and labored through the eighth, then Lopez hands out some more runs in the ninth. Pavano breezed through the reduced-strength Sox lineup, allowing only two runs and effectively curing his Fenway-phobia. Take the guy with the second best average in the AL out of the lineup and the guy who makes a pitcher nervous every time he reaches base and it makes the mighty struggle of Papi look that much mightier. Plus, having J-Bay up with nobody on base is no fun!
Tomorrow night, Wake tries to stymie the Tribe like he did a week ago Monday in Cleveland when he went toe-to-toe with Cliff Lee. Let's hope at least one of our walking wounded is feeling a whole lot better tomorrow, or Friday at the very latest. The defensive follies aren't going to go over too well when playing the Rays.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Jason Bay is THE MAN!!!
Sox: 7 Bronx Broomed: 3
First order of business when the 2009 season comes to a close: Re-sign Jason Bay! The guy's a gamer and wields a sweet stick to boot. Oh, and he's emerging as quite the Yankee killer too, going yard in the new Yankee Stadium on back-to-back days, and is (for now) leading the team in four-baggers with seven. In contrast to his prodigious but peculiar predecessor, you won't find J-Bay hiding out in the Green Monster during a coaching visit to the mound or jogging nonchalantly to first base on a ground-out. Bay gives his all in every game and Mr. Clutch is becoming an increasingly more apt nickname. An All-Star this year for sure.
Beckett, following Lester's example, had a much improved outing tonight. He pitched six innings, allowing three runs (all in the third inning), walking one and fanning five. While not quite as dominating as Lester, Beckett had a quality start and only one bad inning, where Johnny "Turncoat" Damon dinged him for three runs. He bounced back and kept the Yanks off the board for three more innings. Oki followed for two more scoreless frames and Saito closed it out in the ninth. The Sox have now won five, count 'em, FIVE straight against the Yanks and swept back-to-back series. They're 5-4 on this road trip, bringing them within one game of .500 on the road.
Tomorrow night, it's back home to Fenway and another encounter with the Tribe. Masterson toes the rubber for the Sox and Carl Pavano hurls for Cleveland. Can the team continue their dominance at the Fens, where they are 10-2 on the season? Can Masterson bounce back from a rough outing at the Trop?
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON SWEEPING THE YANKS AGAIN!!
First order of business when the 2009 season comes to a close: Re-sign Jason Bay! The guy's a gamer and wields a sweet stick to boot. Oh, and he's emerging as quite the Yankee killer too, going yard in the new Yankee Stadium on back-to-back days, and is (for now) leading the team in four-baggers with seven. In contrast to his prodigious but peculiar predecessor, you won't find J-Bay hiding out in the Green Monster during a coaching visit to the mound or jogging nonchalantly to first base on a ground-out. Bay gives his all in every game and Mr. Clutch is becoming an increasingly more apt nickname. An All-Star this year for sure.
Beckett, following Lester's example, had a much improved outing tonight. He pitched six innings, allowing three runs (all in the third inning), walking one and fanning five. While not quite as dominating as Lester, Beckett had a quality start and only one bad inning, where Johnny "Turncoat" Damon dinged him for three runs. He bounced back and kept the Yanks off the board for three more innings. Oki followed for two more scoreless frames and Saito closed it out in the ninth. The Sox have now won five, count 'em, FIVE straight against the Yanks and swept back-to-back series. They're 5-4 on this road trip, bringing them within one game of .500 on the road.
Tomorrow night, it's back home to Fenway and another encounter with the Tribe. Masterson toes the rubber for the Sox and Carl Pavano hurls for Cleveland. Can the team continue their dominance at the Fens, where they are 10-2 on the season? Can Masterson bounce back from a rough outing at the Trop?
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON SWEEPING THE YANKS AGAIN!!
Since when is Yankee Stadium a refreshing change of scenery?
Sox: 6 Yanks: 4
The answer to the question in the title: Since the Trop became the Red Sox' new house of horrors. After dropping three of four this past weekend to the team that has made the Sox their favorite punching bag, our Boston boys were glad to beat a hasty retreat from that place. It didn't matter that they were headed to the brand spankin' new home of their age-old rival. Anywhere is better than the Dome of Doom!
The Sox needed a quality start out of Lester and he delivered, going seven innings and allowing three runs in a hiccup of a fifth, where he allowed two dingers in a row. He whiffed ten Yankees, tying his career high, and in the other six innings he pitched, he was the dominant ace on whom the Sox heavily relied last season. It marked the second quality outing by a Sox starter after a string of wanton over-generosity by the beleaguered rotation. Unlike Sunday, however, the bats were there to back up the solid start. Lowell and Bay each went deep and joined Youk in the 6-homer club. Papi showed promise by roping two doubles down the right field line and Jake had another multi-hit game with a stolen base. Ramirez was tagged for his first earned run when Tex took him yard in the eighth for his second long ball of the game. Paps walked the tightrope in the ninth (after getting the last two outs of the eighth) , but earned his seventh save as the Sox went to 4-0 on the Yanks so far this season. Weather permitting, tonight they will try for another sweep.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
The answer to the question in the title: Since the Trop became the Red Sox' new house of horrors. After dropping three of four this past weekend to the team that has made the Sox their favorite punching bag, our Boston boys were glad to beat a hasty retreat from that place. It didn't matter that they were headed to the brand spankin' new home of their age-old rival. Anywhere is better than the Dome of Doom!
The Sox needed a quality start out of Lester and he delivered, going seven innings and allowing three runs in a hiccup of a fifth, where he allowed two dingers in a row. He whiffed ten Yankees, tying his career high, and in the other six innings he pitched, he was the dominant ace on whom the Sox heavily relied last season. It marked the second quality outing by a Sox starter after a string of wanton over-generosity by the beleaguered rotation. Unlike Sunday, however, the bats were there to back up the solid start. Lowell and Bay each went deep and joined Youk in the 6-homer club. Papi showed promise by roping two doubles down the right field line and Jake had another multi-hit game with a stolen base. Ramirez was tagged for his first earned run when Tex took him yard in the eighth for his second long ball of the game. Paps walked the tightrope in the ninth (after getting the last two outs of the eighth) , but earned his seventh save as the Sox went to 4-0 on the Yanks so far this season. Weather permitting, tonight they will try for another sweep.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Penny Flips The Coin
Sox: 3 Rays: 5
A pitcher's win-loss record can be very deceiving. Brad Penny has had a few outings this year where he's given up a slew of runs, but took the win because the offense lifted him up. Today, he tries the flip side: pitching a quality outing, giving up 3 runs, but the offense didn't give him enough support for the W and he ends up with a tough-luck loss. His tough luck was compounded by a Lugo error (sound familiar?) which would have gotten him out of an inning before giving up the third run. I bet he's crossing his fingers that Nick Green gets the start the next time he takes the mound.
Penny's much improved work in this game is the silver lining on an afternoon when Shields limited the Sox to one run, that run coming in a rough first inning for him. He buzzsawed them the rest of the way, through his remaining 6 1/3 innings. They managed to break even with the number of runs Penny allowed courtesy of Youk's sixth dong of the season in the eighth. MDC had a rare meltdown in the 7th that cost the Sox another Rays run. Ramon Ramirez let an inherited runner cross the plate in the bottom of the 8th, his first run allowed of the season. Sounds like the 'pen needs a little vaykay. Memo to Lester: Go deep into tomorrow night's game.
Papi's struggles continue. Having him in the 3-hole is not the best thing for the team right now. Moving him down in the lineup to sixth or seventh might better serve them. Plug JD in the 3, where he thrived last June while Papi was DL-ing it. JD's another lefty with a high OBP due to his patience at the plate. He can also hit for power, although it's been over a fortnight since he's hit his last long ball. Having guys on base for the hottest hitter in baseball right now is key. Let Papi work out his struggles further down in the lineup, away from the pressure of the 3-hole.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! GLAD TO LEAVE THE TROP!
A pitcher's win-loss record can be very deceiving. Brad Penny has had a few outings this year where he's given up a slew of runs, but took the win because the offense lifted him up. Today, he tries the flip side: pitching a quality outing, giving up 3 runs, but the offense didn't give him enough support for the W and he ends up with a tough-luck loss. His tough luck was compounded by a Lugo error (sound familiar?) which would have gotten him out of an inning before giving up the third run. I bet he's crossing his fingers that Nick Green gets the start the next time he takes the mound.
Penny's much improved work in this game is the silver lining on an afternoon when Shields limited the Sox to one run, that run coming in a rough first inning for him. He buzzsawed them the rest of the way, through his remaining 6 1/3 innings. They managed to break even with the number of runs Penny allowed courtesy of Youk's sixth dong of the season in the eighth. MDC had a rare meltdown in the 7th that cost the Sox another Rays run. Ramon Ramirez let an inherited runner cross the plate in the bottom of the 8th, his first run allowed of the season. Sounds like the 'pen needs a little vaykay. Memo to Lester: Go deep into tomorrow night's game.
Papi's struggles continue. Having him in the 3-hole is not the best thing for the team right now. Moving him down in the lineup to sixth or seventh might better serve them. Plug JD in the 3, where he thrived last June while Papi was DL-ing it. JD's another lefty with a high OBP due to his patience at the plate. He can also hit for power, although it's been over a fortnight since he's hit his last long ball. Having guys on base for the hottest hitter in baseball right now is key. Let Papi work out his struggles further down in the lineup, away from the pressure of the 3-hole.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! GLAD TO LEAVE THE TROP!
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