Sox: 4 Braves: 1
Sox: 1 Braves: 0
Sox: 1 Braves: 2
If the Atlanta Braves had any kind of offense, they'd be a serious threat for the NL East division race because their pitching is pretty dang good, and underrated too. The records of starters such as Jair Jurrjens and Javier Vazquez betray how dominant these two guys can be. Tommy Hanson is also impressive and, like Beckett on Friday night, he was pitching while under the weather. A young rookie who can shut down both the Red Sox and the Yankees has a good thing going. The Sox offense struggled to score runs this series, though they won it 2 games to 1, and you have to tip your hat to some fierce pitching.
Now, enough about the other team! The Red Sox pitchers didn't do too badly either, limiting the Braves to three runs over the entire series. Two of the three starters shut the Atlanta bats down. Granted, the lineup down south is nowhere near what the Sox face in their own division, but it was nice to see both Beckett and Wake throw so many goose eggs on the Turner Field scoreboard. Penny allowed two solo dingers, but otherwise pitched well himself even if he had to take the loss.
Wake and Beckett both deserve serious consideration for the All-Star Game. Beckett overcame a very tough April to return to his awesome '07 form in May and June (save for an aberration against the Phils two weeks ago). Wake's been the rock in these first three months of the season. He's gotten some nice run support for a change, but that doesn't take away from some clutch outings like the one in Oakland where he flirted with a no-no. His ERA is above 4, but so is the ERA of one of the other 10-game winners, Kevin Slowey, who will likely get All-Star consideration as well, given his record. To do what Wake does at almost 43 years old proves just how valuable this guy is to the team. When the rest of the starters were all over the place in the early going, Wake's been quietly keeping his opponents (as long as they're not the Angels) at bay.
Now that the Sox have left Hotlanta, the 100 degree temperatures, and interleague play behind, they head back up to Baltimore to take on the 0's. The O's pitching will be a nice change of pace from the stuff they faced in Atlanta. Tomorrow night, Lester (who seems to own the O's) faces a guy I've never heard of, Jason Berken, who is 1-4 with an ERA north of 6. Let's hope that means lots of runs for the Sox.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Trading Blow(out)s
Sox: 11 Nats: 3
Sox: 6 Nats: 4
Sox: 3 Nats: 9
This blog's a little late since the Sox have already played a game in their series against the Braves, but better late than never, right? Anyway, so the Sox did what their archrival Yanks couldn't: They won a series against the Nats. Not like the Nats are this huge baseball juggernaut--they're very much the opposite--but a little schadenfreude at the Yanks' expense is part of being a Red Sox fan;-)
The series started with the Sox playing a close game against the team from our nation's capital for seven innings and then going to town on the Nats' bullpen in the eighth to the tune of six runs. They added another one in the ninth for good measure. J-Bay and Jake had 4 hits and 3 RBI apiece, Bay with this 19th homer of the year and Jake with not one, but TWO triples. Penny went 5.2, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 3 and fanning 6. Not his best outing, but enough to keep the Sox in the game. The Sox turned 3 twin-killings, featuring some killer defense by Nick Green, to thwart the Nats' offense.
Game 2 was a much tighter game. Lester took the hill and got the W, throwing 6 innings, with 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 2 and whiffing 6. Papi belted another long ball, a 3-run blast in the fourth, for his seventh of the season and sixth in the month of June. Tek also went yard for a 2-run shot in the sixth. With the exception of the run allowed by Masterson in the seventh, the Sox 'pen finished the game off, with Paps having a refreshing 1-2-3 in the ninth.
The series finale marked John Smoltz's much-anticipated Red Sox debut. Smoltz, full of emotions and enough adrenaline to equal a six-pack of Red Bull, couldn't contain himself in the first inning, giving up four runs on four hits, a walk, and a hit batter (Nick Johnson, who had to leave the game with a baseball-sized welt on his shin). He bounced back with a 1-2-3 second inning, but ran into a little more trouble in the third, when Josh Willingham, who was a thorn in Smoltz's side all evening, doubled and Sox castoff Josh Bard singled him home. However, he coasted through the fourth and fifth innings, finishing strong by retiring the last six batters he faced. Jordan Zimmermann (not to be confused with Nats third baseman Ryan "one n" Zimmerman) dominated the Sox, holding them to one run. The Sox pen had about as shaky a night as Smoltz's first inning, with Bard giving up two runs in an inning where he made an error and a wild pitch and Saito giving up a two-run bomb to another Sox castoff, Willie Harris. Baldelli managed to go deep off the Nats pen, but it was too little, too late for the Sox on a night where the pitching wasn't sharp and the hitting was all but absent.
I'm not worried about John Smoltz. It was his first major league start in over a year and on a new team for the first time in twenty years. His first inning was brutal, but he recovered nicely and had three perfect innings and a strong finish. He had to get that first start out of his system. That's not to say he'll go out and dominate the next start, but it's not to say he won't either. The jury's still out and it will be for a few starts.
Mike Lowell, on the other hand, I am a little worried about. He's showing signs of his surgically repaired hip barking really loudly. Due to injuries and slumps in the earlier months of the season, he was forced into playing more games than he should have because they needed his bat in the lineup. Now, he's paying the price. Mark DeRosa's name is being floated around in trade rumors and he's a possibility at third, should Lowell's hip get worse and he need extended downtime, but Lowrie is also returning soon and he can play third, with Nick Green remaining at short. Of course, it remains to be seen how Lowrie's wrist holds up and whether or not that will seriously impact his bat. Youk can also play third with Kotsay or even Papi at first.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Sox: 6 Nats: 4
Sox: 3 Nats: 9
This blog's a little late since the Sox have already played a game in their series against the Braves, but better late than never, right? Anyway, so the Sox did what their archrival Yanks couldn't: They won a series against the Nats. Not like the Nats are this huge baseball juggernaut--they're very much the opposite--but a little schadenfreude at the Yanks' expense is part of being a Red Sox fan;-)
The series started with the Sox playing a close game against the team from our nation's capital for seven innings and then going to town on the Nats' bullpen in the eighth to the tune of six runs. They added another one in the ninth for good measure. J-Bay and Jake had 4 hits and 3 RBI apiece, Bay with this 19th homer of the year and Jake with not one, but TWO triples. Penny went 5.2, giving up 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 3 and fanning 6. Not his best outing, but enough to keep the Sox in the game. The Sox turned 3 twin-killings, featuring some killer defense by Nick Green, to thwart the Nats' offense.
Game 2 was a much tighter game. Lester took the hill and got the W, throwing 6 innings, with 3 runs on 6 hits, walking 2 and whiffing 6. Papi belted another long ball, a 3-run blast in the fourth, for his seventh of the season and sixth in the month of June. Tek also went yard for a 2-run shot in the sixth. With the exception of the run allowed by Masterson in the seventh, the Sox 'pen finished the game off, with Paps having a refreshing 1-2-3 in the ninth.
The series finale marked John Smoltz's much-anticipated Red Sox debut. Smoltz, full of emotions and enough adrenaline to equal a six-pack of Red Bull, couldn't contain himself in the first inning, giving up four runs on four hits, a walk, and a hit batter (Nick Johnson, who had to leave the game with a baseball-sized welt on his shin). He bounced back with a 1-2-3 second inning, but ran into a little more trouble in the third, when Josh Willingham, who was a thorn in Smoltz's side all evening, doubled and Sox castoff Josh Bard singled him home. However, he coasted through the fourth and fifth innings, finishing strong by retiring the last six batters he faced. Jordan Zimmermann (not to be confused with Nats third baseman Ryan "one n" Zimmerman) dominated the Sox, holding them to one run. The Sox pen had about as shaky a night as Smoltz's first inning, with Bard giving up two runs in an inning where he made an error and a wild pitch and Saito giving up a two-run bomb to another Sox castoff, Willie Harris. Baldelli managed to go deep off the Nats pen, but it was too little, too late for the Sox on a night where the pitching wasn't sharp and the hitting was all but absent.
I'm not worried about John Smoltz. It was his first major league start in over a year and on a new team for the first time in twenty years. His first inning was brutal, but he recovered nicely and had three perfect innings and a strong finish. He had to get that first start out of his system. That's not to say he'll go out and dominate the next start, but it's not to say he won't either. The jury's still out and it will be for a few starts.
Mike Lowell, on the other hand, I am a little worried about. He's showing signs of his surgically repaired hip barking really loudly. Due to injuries and slumps in the earlier months of the season, he was forced into playing more games than he should have because they needed his bat in the lineup. Now, he's paying the price. Mark DeRosa's name is being floated around in trade rumors and he's a possibility at third, should Lowell's hip get worse and he need extended downtime, but Lowrie is also returning soon and he can play third, with Nick Green remaining at short. Of course, it remains to be seen how Lowrie's wrist holds up and whether or not that will seriously impact his bat. Youk can also play third with Kotsay or even Papi at first.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
A Shutout, A Walk-Off, and Let's Forget Friday's Game Happened
Sox: 2 Braves: 8
Sox: 3: Braves: 0
Sox: 6 Braves: 5
It started out on a sour note with Friday's trainwreck of a game, but ended up with walk-off dinger by a guy I had never even heard of before Spring Training of this year. Yes, Nick Green, he with the "bazooka for an arm" (per Mike Lowell) took the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning by Braves reliever Jeff Bennett around the Pesky pole in right to break a 5-all tie after another oh-so-adventurous top of the ninth from Paps.
The game started with Wake making a bid for his tenth win, but missing out on the decision when Ramon Ramirez allowed one of Wake's inherited runners to score, tying the game. Big Papi knocked his sixth long ball of the season in the bottom of the first, after the Braves had touched Wake for two runs in the top of the inning. Bay's sac fly, scoring Pedey, who led off with a double and moved over to third when Youk reached on an error accounted for the first Sox run and Papi's homer gave the Sox a 3-2 lead at the time. A fourth run was added on a Kottaras sac fly in the fourth inning. The game is tied in the seventh, when Wake allows one run and Ramirez paints another one on him. Then, JD Drew knocks in the go-ahead run after a heavily contested third strike gets called as a ball. This missed call (Amica pitch zone did have it as a strike) gets feathers ruffled both on the mound and in the dugout and the pitcher, lefty reliever Eric O'Flaherty, along with manager Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones get the old heave-ho from the home plate ump. In the eighth, however, the Braves tie it up again when Oki gets a little less dokey than usual and allows a couple of hits.
Last night's game was a real treat for Sox fans, both for the return of '04 postseason hero Derek Lowe, and a complete game shutout for ace Josh Beckett, who put last Sunday's clunker in Philly behind him and picked up right where he left off. D-Lowe was strong in his return to Fenway, but he was out-dueled by Beckett for the fifth complete game for Sox pitchers this season and his third career regular season shutout (first in a Sox uni). The offense, who had been in screensaver mode on Thursday and Friday, started to wake up in this game and that continued into today.
Next stop: Washington, DC, where the Sox play the Nats on Tuesday through Thursday. Smoltz makes his Red Sox debut in the final game of the series and that should be interesting to see. Dice has been DL-ed with shoulder weakness, so there's room in the rotation for "Smoltzy" if he can be effective. He is a future Hall of Famer and has been remarkably consistent over the years, but he is getting "up there" in baseball years and coming back from major shoulder surgery, so the jury's still out and if it doesn't work out, Buchholz is just itching to come back to the big club. Pitching depth is our friend, folks!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Sox: 3: Braves: 0
Sox: 6 Braves: 5
It started out on a sour note with Friday's trainwreck of a game, but ended up with walk-off dinger by a guy I had never even heard of before Spring Training of this year. Yes, Nick Green, he with the "bazooka for an arm" (per Mike Lowell) took the first pitch of the bottom of the ninth inning by Braves reliever Jeff Bennett around the Pesky pole in right to break a 5-all tie after another oh-so-adventurous top of the ninth from Paps.
The game started with Wake making a bid for his tenth win, but missing out on the decision when Ramon Ramirez allowed one of Wake's inherited runners to score, tying the game. Big Papi knocked his sixth long ball of the season in the bottom of the first, after the Braves had touched Wake for two runs in the top of the inning. Bay's sac fly, scoring Pedey, who led off with a double and moved over to third when Youk reached on an error accounted for the first Sox run and Papi's homer gave the Sox a 3-2 lead at the time. A fourth run was added on a Kottaras sac fly in the fourth inning. The game is tied in the seventh, when Wake allows one run and Ramirez paints another one on him. Then, JD Drew knocks in the go-ahead run after a heavily contested third strike gets called as a ball. This missed call (Amica pitch zone did have it as a strike) gets feathers ruffled both on the mound and in the dugout and the pitcher, lefty reliever Eric O'Flaherty, along with manager Bobby Cox and Chipper Jones get the old heave-ho from the home plate ump. In the eighth, however, the Braves tie it up again when Oki gets a little less dokey than usual and allows a couple of hits.
Last night's game was a real treat for Sox fans, both for the return of '04 postseason hero Derek Lowe, and a complete game shutout for ace Josh Beckett, who put last Sunday's clunker in Philly behind him and picked up right where he left off. D-Lowe was strong in his return to Fenway, but he was out-dueled by Beckett for the fifth complete game for Sox pitchers this season and his third career regular season shutout (first in a Sox uni). The offense, who had been in screensaver mode on Thursday and Friday, started to wake up in this game and that continued into today.
Next stop: Washington, DC, where the Sox play the Nats on Tuesday through Thursday. Smoltz makes his Red Sox debut in the final game of the series and that should be interesting to see. Dice has been DL-ed with shoulder weakness, so there's room in the rotation for "Smoltzy" if he can be effective. He is a future Hall of Famer and has been remarkably consistent over the years, but he is getting "up there" in baseball years and coming back from major shoulder surgery, so the jury's still out and if it doesn't work out, Buchholz is just itching to come back to the big club. Pitching depth is our friend, folks!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Fishing For a Series Win
Sox: 8 Fish: 2
Sox: 6: Fish 1
Sox 1 Fish: 2 (in 5 innings due to rain)
Had a busy weekend, so, sorry for no blog on the Phils series. As for the home series against those Florida Marlins, Mother Nature pulled a fast one on the Red Sox tonight, with the help of Ricky Nolasco (he of the 7.62 ERA coming into this start), and a Lester who wasn't at his bester. On paper, this game looked like a nice and easy way to pick up a sweep. Lester had been mowing them down his past three starts and K-ing up a storm. Nolasco had an ERA worse than Dice-K's. What happened in the five innings the teams got in before the sky fell out goes to show that baseball is not played on paper. While Lester labored through the first four of his innings as the Marlins proved more patient than usual, Nolasco ate the Sox for dinner. The only hit he allowed was a solo dinger by Youk in the first inning. Lester got taken yard twice in the second, once by Dan Uggla and once by Ronny Paulino. During his dominant trilogy of starts, he didn't allow any long balls. As far as runs allowed, he didn't do too badly at all tonight. Having no offensive support by his teammates is really what did him in. That and the rain delay that went on for over two hours before the game was called. Had the game continued, who knows what might have happened? The Sox could have come alive against the Florida pen or they might have kept on playing dead. We can't complain too much, because, after all, the Sox did, you know, win the series, and THE YANKEES LOST A SERIES AGAINST THE NATS!!!!! Let me repeat for the sake of Schadenfreude: THE YANKEES LOST A SERIES AGAINST THE NATS, A.K.A. THE. WORST. TEAM. IN. THE. MAJORS!!!!
One thing the Red Sox will never have to fish for is fans to fill the seats at Fenway. Yesterday marked the 500th consecutive sellout at the ol' ballpark. It was also the game in which Jacoby Ellsbury made his first major league error, that led to the only run the Fish scored. The Jakester gave that run back later in the game, however, when he knocked his third dinger of the season. Papi hit his fifth long ball of the season on Tuesday night and Wake got his team-leading 9th win.
The Atlanta Braves, who, many moons ago, were Boston's National League team, come to town for the weekend. Tomorrow night, Dice-K tries once again to salvage his season. If he does well, then it's a step in the right direction for him and the team. If he's ineffective again, Smoltzy does need a spot in the rotation. The WBC may not have affected him as much in '06 when he was still pitching in Japan, but it sure is doing a number on him this year.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! 3-GAME LEAD IN THE A.L. EAST!!!!
Sox: 6: Fish 1
Sox 1 Fish: 2 (in 5 innings due to rain)
Had a busy weekend, so, sorry for no blog on the Phils series. As for the home series against those Florida Marlins, Mother Nature pulled a fast one on the Red Sox tonight, with the help of Ricky Nolasco (he of the 7.62 ERA coming into this start), and a Lester who wasn't at his bester. On paper, this game looked like a nice and easy way to pick up a sweep. Lester had been mowing them down his past three starts and K-ing up a storm. Nolasco had an ERA worse than Dice-K's. What happened in the five innings the teams got in before the sky fell out goes to show that baseball is not played on paper. While Lester labored through the first four of his innings as the Marlins proved more patient than usual, Nolasco ate the Sox for dinner. The only hit he allowed was a solo dinger by Youk in the first inning. Lester got taken yard twice in the second, once by Dan Uggla and once by Ronny Paulino. During his dominant trilogy of starts, he didn't allow any long balls. As far as runs allowed, he didn't do too badly at all tonight. Having no offensive support by his teammates is really what did him in. That and the rain delay that went on for over two hours before the game was called. Had the game continued, who knows what might have happened? The Sox could have come alive against the Florida pen or they might have kept on playing dead. We can't complain too much, because, after all, the Sox did, you know, win the series, and THE YANKEES LOST A SERIES AGAINST THE NATS!!!!! Let me repeat for the sake of Schadenfreude: THE YANKEES LOST A SERIES AGAINST THE NATS, A.K.A. THE. WORST. TEAM. IN. THE. MAJORS!!!!
One thing the Red Sox will never have to fish for is fans to fill the seats at Fenway. Yesterday marked the 500th consecutive sellout at the ol' ballpark. It was also the game in which Jacoby Ellsbury made his first major league error, that led to the only run the Fish scored. The Jakester gave that run back later in the game, however, when he knocked his third dinger of the season. Papi hit his fifth long ball of the season on Tuesday night and Wake got his team-leading 9th win.
The Atlanta Braves, who, many moons ago, were Boston's National League team, come to town for the weekend. Tomorrow night, Dice-K tries once again to salvage his season. If he does well, then it's a step in the right direction for him and the team. If he's ineffective again, Smoltzy does need a spot in the rotation. The WBC may not have affected him as much in '06 when he was still pitching in Japan, but it sure is doing a number on him this year.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! 3-GAME LEAD IN THE A.L. EAST!!!!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Broom Job Well Done
Sox: 7 Yanks: 0
Sox: 6 Yanks: 5
Sox: 4 Yanks: 3
The New York Post is going to have a field day with this! Their American League representatives have been swept by their archrivals from up north for the third straight time this season and are now 0-8 against the Sox and two games back in the division they were leading in going into this series. Like all Sox-Yankees series, this one had its memorable moments, both good and bad, but mostly good. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Beckett, Delcarmen, Ramirez, and Bard combine for a two-hit shutout of the Yanks. Beckett goes six innings, giving up one hit, two walks, and strikes out eight. Another dominant start for the Sox ace.
2. Papi goes yard not once in this series but TWICE!!! Little by little, he's starting to look like himself again. Tonight's game had him 2 for 3 with a walk.
3. Penny throws up zeros through six frames against one helluva tough lineup. In a one-run game, he did what he needed to do to keep the Sox on top.
4. Wake picks up his 8th win of the season. His outing wasn't his best, but he kept his team in the game, like he has been so good at doing in almost every start he's made this season.
5. Green shows why he should get the bulk of (if not all of) the playing time until Lowrie comes back, with some clutch hits and, yes, some great glove work was well.
The Sox have been playing some great baseball against the Yanks this season, giving them the kinds of fits the Rays have been giving the Sox. I'll admit I wasn't sure the Sox would come back after Delcarmen's struggles in the 7th cost them the lead and put them in a two-run hole with CC still on the mound. However, the Sox had other ideas. A single by Green and a long at-bat by Pedey (that resulted in a walk) drove up CC's pitch count. Drew singled to plate Green and brought the Sox within a run. Youk singled to load the bases and Bay drove in the tying run with another single. Bases re-loaded, Mike Lowell sac-flied in Pedey to put the Sox back on top. Pap nailed down the save with a drama-free ninth, thanks to an awesome play by Green, snaring a liner that had base-hit written all over it and firing to Youk for the first out of the inning.
Tomorrow night, the Sox are in Philly to take on the reigning World Series champs. It will be interesting to see "who's on first" for this series. With Papi's bat finally heating up, do they really want to sit him for the series and risk him losing his momentum? On the other hand, having a .350 guy riding the pine doesn't sound all that great either. Maybe they will rotate, having Papi at first and Lowell at third for one game, then Youk at first and Lowell at third for one, then Papi at first and Youk at third for one. That way, each player gets some rest and no one has to sit the entire series. That said, I'm glad Papi has recently made this a harder decision than it might have otherwise been. Do I see a Papi Visine ad in the near future?
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! WAY TO SQUASH THE YANKS!!!!
Sox: 6 Yanks: 5
Sox: 4 Yanks: 3
The New York Post is going to have a field day with this! Their American League representatives have been swept by their archrivals from up north for the third straight time this season and are now 0-8 against the Sox and two games back in the division they were leading in going into this series. Like all Sox-Yankees series, this one had its memorable moments, both good and bad, but mostly good. Here are some of the highlights:
1. Beckett, Delcarmen, Ramirez, and Bard combine for a two-hit shutout of the Yanks. Beckett goes six innings, giving up one hit, two walks, and strikes out eight. Another dominant start for the Sox ace.
2. Papi goes yard not once in this series but TWICE!!! Little by little, he's starting to look like himself again. Tonight's game had him 2 for 3 with a walk.
3. Penny throws up zeros through six frames against one helluva tough lineup. In a one-run game, he did what he needed to do to keep the Sox on top.
4. Wake picks up his 8th win of the season. His outing wasn't his best, but he kept his team in the game, like he has been so good at doing in almost every start he's made this season.
5. Green shows why he should get the bulk of (if not all of) the playing time until Lowrie comes back, with some clutch hits and, yes, some great glove work was well.
The Sox have been playing some great baseball against the Yanks this season, giving them the kinds of fits the Rays have been giving the Sox. I'll admit I wasn't sure the Sox would come back after Delcarmen's struggles in the 7th cost them the lead and put them in a two-run hole with CC still on the mound. However, the Sox had other ideas. A single by Green and a long at-bat by Pedey (that resulted in a walk) drove up CC's pitch count. Drew singled to plate Green and brought the Sox within a run. Youk singled to load the bases and Bay drove in the tying run with another single. Bases re-loaded, Mike Lowell sac-flied in Pedey to put the Sox back on top. Pap nailed down the save with a drama-free ninth, thanks to an awesome play by Green, snaring a liner that had base-hit written all over it and firing to Youk for the first out of the inning.
Tomorrow night, the Sox are in Philly to take on the reigning World Series champs. It will be interesting to see "who's on first" for this series. With Papi's bat finally heating up, do they really want to sit him for the series and risk him losing his momentum? On the other hand, having a .350 guy riding the pine doesn't sound all that great either. Maybe they will rotate, having Papi at first and Lowell at third for one game, then Youk at first and Lowell at third for one, then Papi at first and Youk at third for one. That way, each player gets some rest and no one has to sit the entire series. That said, I'm glad Papi has recently made this a harder decision than it might have otherwise been. Do I see a Papi Visine ad in the near future?
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! WAY TO SQUASH THE YANKS!!!!
Sunday, June 7, 2009
No Dice
Red Sox: 1 Rangers: 5
Red Sox: 8 Rangers: 1
Red Sox: 3 Rangers: 6
After a brilliant performance last night by a Jon Lester who seems to have recently found his '08 form, today's clunker by Dice-K cost the team both today's game and the series. While he didn't walk anyone, the Rangers ate up his pitches like ravenous grizzly bears and the Red Sox bats, alas, could not answer. Dice was knocked around to the tune of five runs and the Sox were facing a deficit even before they came up to bat for the first time. While the rest of the staff is getting it together, it seems Mr. Matsuzaka is still suffering from WBC-itis. Smoltz is on the horizon and Buchholz is still throwing up zeroes in Pawtucket. Who's the odd man out when Smoltz's first start comes around on June 16? Is it Brad Penny, who has had his struggles, but has, for the most part, been a pretty good #5 starter who more often than not has kept his team in the game? Penny has gotten burned by some bad defense (*cough* Lugo *cough*) and, like most pitchers, has a tough time when the guys playing behind him make him record extra outs. Dice-K, even though he won last time out in Detroit, has been all over the place and hasn't gotten into any kind of groove yet. He chose in the offseason to prioritize training for the WBC over training for the upcoming season with the team who is paying him a king's ransom. While I'm not sure he's tradeable at this point (whether it be due to a no-trade cause or his poor performance so far this year or both) but maybe he needs another DL stint in order to make room for Smoltz. I know the Red Sox have a boatload of money invested in Dice-K and a whole lot less stock in Penny, but right now, Penny's the more effective pitcher of the two.
The Evil Empire's coming to town this week and they don't show any signs of fading. This will be a lot tougher series, I think, than the ones the Sox played against them in April. A-Rod's back, Teixeira's starting to mash now, and things are clicking for the Yanks. The Sox will need to bring their A+ game, which means no holidays from RISP hitting for the offense and stellar pitching from Beckett, Wake, and Penny (oh, how I wish Lester was pitching this series. I love what he does to those Yankee hitters!)
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! SHOW THE YANKS WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN THIS DIVISION!!!!
Red Sox: 8 Rangers: 1
Red Sox: 3 Rangers: 6
After a brilliant performance last night by a Jon Lester who seems to have recently found his '08 form, today's clunker by Dice-K cost the team both today's game and the series. While he didn't walk anyone, the Rangers ate up his pitches like ravenous grizzly bears and the Red Sox bats, alas, could not answer. Dice was knocked around to the tune of five runs and the Sox were facing a deficit even before they came up to bat for the first time. While the rest of the staff is getting it together, it seems Mr. Matsuzaka is still suffering from WBC-itis. Smoltz is on the horizon and Buchholz is still throwing up zeroes in Pawtucket. Who's the odd man out when Smoltz's first start comes around on June 16? Is it Brad Penny, who has had his struggles, but has, for the most part, been a pretty good #5 starter who more often than not has kept his team in the game? Penny has gotten burned by some bad defense (*cough* Lugo *cough*) and, like most pitchers, has a tough time when the guys playing behind him make him record extra outs. Dice-K, even though he won last time out in Detroit, has been all over the place and hasn't gotten into any kind of groove yet. He chose in the offseason to prioritize training for the WBC over training for the upcoming season with the team who is paying him a king's ransom. While I'm not sure he's tradeable at this point (whether it be due to a no-trade cause or his poor performance so far this year or both) but maybe he needs another DL stint in order to make room for Smoltz. I know the Red Sox have a boatload of money invested in Dice-K and a whole lot less stock in Penny, but right now, Penny's the more effective pitcher of the two.
The Evil Empire's coming to town this week and they don't show any signs of fading. This will be a lot tougher series, I think, than the ones the Sox played against them in April. A-Rod's back, Teixeira's starting to mash now, and things are clicking for the Yanks. The Sox will need to bring their A+ game, which means no holidays from RISP hitting for the offense and stellar pitching from Beckett, Wake, and Penny (oh, how I wish Lester was pitching this series. I love what he does to those Yankee hitters!)
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! SHOW THE YANKS WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN THIS DIVISION!!!!
Friday, June 5, 2009
The Good Stuff
I've done my share of kvetching about the team's trouble spots lately, but, let's not forget, there is a lot of things right with the team this year:
1. The Bullpen! You gotta love the Red Sox relief corps this year. From a matured Manny Delcarmen to an Oki who resembles the '07 version of himself to offseason pickups Ramon Ramirez and Takashi Saito, the 'pen has been the Rock of Gibraltar for the Sox in '09. There's also the roll-with-the-punches sinkerballer Justin Masterson, the flamethrowing young phenom Daniel Bard, and the jig-dancing closer Jon Papelbon, who may throw a lot more pitches and make the 9th inning an adventure, but he's still tied for the league lead in saves.
2. Beckett being '07 Beckett. He had a rough April, but in May he began returning to form, with his last three starts resembling the awesome '07 Beckett we came to rely on as the ace. If he continues on this path of pitching excellence, it will take the team a long way.
3. Jason "we must re-sign him" Bay. J-Bay has thrived as a member of the Red Sox. He's come through with some clutch hits so far this season and is tied for second in the league in home runs and RBI.
4. Tek's newfound power. After an epic struggle at the plate last season, Tek put in some off-season work on his hitting and it has paid off with 10 dingers so far this season.
5. Jacoby "hitting streak" Ellsbury. Jake's swinging a hot stick this season, batting over .300 and having a 22-game hitting streak that came to an end last week. His OBP could be a little higher, but he had a point when he remarked that it's hard to draw a walk when pitchers are throwing him strikes. After all, no one wants to give this speed demon a free ride to first base.
6. Kevin "working on a batting title" Youkilis. Youk's second in the league and in the majors in batting average, hitting .362. Can he catch up to first place Jason Bartlett while Bartlett's on the DL?
7. Wake's solid contribution. The knuckler's had a nice start to the season and leads the Sox rotation with 7 wins. He was a rock in April when the rest of the starters were just starting the offensive attack of the opposing teams.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY!
1. The Bullpen! You gotta love the Red Sox relief corps this year. From a matured Manny Delcarmen to an Oki who resembles the '07 version of himself to offseason pickups Ramon Ramirez and Takashi Saito, the 'pen has been the Rock of Gibraltar for the Sox in '09. There's also the roll-with-the-punches sinkerballer Justin Masterson, the flamethrowing young phenom Daniel Bard, and the jig-dancing closer Jon Papelbon, who may throw a lot more pitches and make the 9th inning an adventure, but he's still tied for the league lead in saves.
2. Beckett being '07 Beckett. He had a rough April, but in May he began returning to form, with his last three starts resembling the awesome '07 Beckett we came to rely on as the ace. If he continues on this path of pitching excellence, it will take the team a long way.
3. Jason "we must re-sign him" Bay. J-Bay has thrived as a member of the Red Sox. He's come through with some clutch hits so far this season and is tied for second in the league in home runs and RBI.
4. Tek's newfound power. After an epic struggle at the plate last season, Tek put in some off-season work on his hitting and it has paid off with 10 dingers so far this season.
5. Jacoby "hitting streak" Ellsbury. Jake's swinging a hot stick this season, batting over .300 and having a 22-game hitting streak that came to an end last week. His OBP could be a little higher, but he had a point when he remarked that it's hard to draw a walk when pitchers are throwing him strikes. After all, no one wants to give this speed demon a free ride to first base.
6. Kevin "working on a batting title" Youkilis. Youk's second in the league and in the majors in batting average, hitting .362. Can he catch up to first place Jason Bartlett while Bartlett's on the DL?
7. Wake's solid contribution. The knuckler's had a nice start to the season and leads the Sox rotation with 7 wins. He was a rock in April when the rest of the starters were just starting the offensive attack of the opposing teams.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! RAIN, RAIN GO AWAY!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
A Wild 'n' Crazy Tiger Caging
Game 1- Sox: 5 Tigers: 1
Game 2- Sox 10 Tigers: 5
Game 3- Sox 6 Tigers: 3
The AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers have been successfully caged by the Red Sox in a rather interesting mid-week series that was filled with both individual milestones and some bizarre baseball. The individual milestones: Tito's 500th win as the Sox skipper, JD Drew's 200th tater, Rocco Baldelli's 500th career hit and Mike Lowell's 1,500th career hit.
The bizarre baseball? Well, Tuesday we had Dice-K, whose outings are always, well, a little loony. High pitch counts, lots of baserunners, five or six different pitches, you know the drill. He held the Detroit nine to a mere run, however, and picked up his first W of the season. J-Bay went yard for the 16th time in '09 and the Sox chased the very young Rick Porcello after 4 1/3.
Last night, Beckett was on his game, and had a no-no going through 6 2/3, but Detroit CF Curtis Granderson said no to the no-no with a single to right. Beckett ended up going 7 2/3, allowing two hits and no earned runs. Here's where the wacky part comes: In the bottom of the 8th, after the Sox doubled their run total in the top of the inning, defense took a holiday. Three quarters of the infield made errors that eventually led to matching five-spot by the Stripes. Bard pitched the last third of the inning and allowed no-no spoiler Granderson to rip a bases-clearing double after the infield failed to turn a double-play. Then, Green bobbled a ball hit by Josh Anderson (and was charged with one of the three errors) and his late throw caused Anderson to kick Youk in the ankle as he hopped into first base. Youk tripped and had to leave the field angry and in pain. Pedey got dinged with a throwing error when Green couldn't get a glove on a ball Pedey hastily flipped to him (hence the botched double play attempt). Lowell made an error on a bobble. The entire inning lasted almost an hour! Saito closed the game out and preserved the 10-5 lead, and not a single pitcher was charged with any runs.
Today's game had some craziness in the third, when Dontrelle (D-Train) Willis appeared to be pitching blindfolded, as he couldn't find the strike zone to save his life. He walked in two runs and Zach Miner added three more to D-Train's total damage, thanks to a Jason Bay two-run double and a Mike Lowell RBI single. Rocco Baldelli, playing RF with JD DH-ing (or, as today had it, he was the Designated Walker, reaching base four times via the BB), knocked in the sixth run. Wake allowed three Tigers runs, all coming in the bottom of the second. He went 6 2/3 and was touched for 8 hits, but didn't hand out any free passes.
So, the tag line for this road trip might as well be "It's not how you start, it's how you finish". After hitting the skids for two games apiece in Minny and Toronto, going for a stretch where scoring runs was like pulling teeth, Tito tinkered with the lineup and the bats responded. Pedey was moved to leadoff, with JD second, Youk, Bay and Lowell in the heart of the order, Papi in his new six-hole, with Tek, Jake, and Green rounding out the bottom. Although today's game meant another alteration of the order, with Papi resting, Kottaras in to catch Wake, Rocco in right, and Lugo at short, the top of the lineup remained the same. With the revised lineup, the Sox scored 29 runs in the last four games, after scoring 21 in their first six.
Tomorrow night, it's back to Fenway. The Texas Rangers, another first-place team, are in town. Like everything in the Lone Star State, the Rangers' bats are big, but, at the Fens, so are the Sox sticks.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! GREAT WAY TO END THE ROAD TRIP!!!!!
Game 2- Sox 10 Tigers: 5
Game 3- Sox 6 Tigers: 3
The AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers have been successfully caged by the Red Sox in a rather interesting mid-week series that was filled with both individual milestones and some bizarre baseball. The individual milestones: Tito's 500th win as the Sox skipper, JD Drew's 200th tater, Rocco Baldelli's 500th career hit and Mike Lowell's 1,500th career hit.
The bizarre baseball? Well, Tuesday we had Dice-K, whose outings are always, well, a little loony. High pitch counts, lots of baserunners, five or six different pitches, you know the drill. He held the Detroit nine to a mere run, however, and picked up his first W of the season. J-Bay went yard for the 16th time in '09 and the Sox chased the very young Rick Porcello after 4 1/3.
Last night, Beckett was on his game, and had a no-no going through 6 2/3, but Detroit CF Curtis Granderson said no to the no-no with a single to right. Beckett ended up going 7 2/3, allowing two hits and no earned runs. Here's where the wacky part comes: In the bottom of the 8th, after the Sox doubled their run total in the top of the inning, defense took a holiday. Three quarters of the infield made errors that eventually led to matching five-spot by the Stripes. Bard pitched the last third of the inning and allowed no-no spoiler Granderson to rip a bases-clearing double after the infield failed to turn a double-play. Then, Green bobbled a ball hit by Josh Anderson (and was charged with one of the three errors) and his late throw caused Anderson to kick Youk in the ankle as he hopped into first base. Youk tripped and had to leave the field angry and in pain. Pedey got dinged with a throwing error when Green couldn't get a glove on a ball Pedey hastily flipped to him (hence the botched double play attempt). Lowell made an error on a bobble. The entire inning lasted almost an hour! Saito closed the game out and preserved the 10-5 lead, and not a single pitcher was charged with any runs.
Today's game had some craziness in the third, when Dontrelle (D-Train) Willis appeared to be pitching blindfolded, as he couldn't find the strike zone to save his life. He walked in two runs and Zach Miner added three more to D-Train's total damage, thanks to a Jason Bay two-run double and a Mike Lowell RBI single. Rocco Baldelli, playing RF with JD DH-ing (or, as today had it, he was the Designated Walker, reaching base four times via the BB), knocked in the sixth run. Wake allowed three Tigers runs, all coming in the bottom of the second. He went 6 2/3 and was touched for 8 hits, but didn't hand out any free passes.
So, the tag line for this road trip might as well be "It's not how you start, it's how you finish". After hitting the skids for two games apiece in Minny and Toronto, going for a stretch where scoring runs was like pulling teeth, Tito tinkered with the lineup and the bats responded. Pedey was moved to leadoff, with JD second, Youk, Bay and Lowell in the heart of the order, Papi in his new six-hole, with Tek, Jake, and Green rounding out the bottom. Although today's game meant another alteration of the order, with Papi resting, Kottaras in to catch Wake, Rocco in right, and Lugo at short, the top of the lineup remained the same. With the revised lineup, the Sox scored 29 runs in the last four games, after scoring 21 in their first six.
Tomorrow night, it's back to Fenway. The Texas Rangers, another first-place team, are in town. Like everything in the Lone Star State, the Rangers' bats are big, but, at the Fens, so are the Sox sticks.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!! GREAT WAY TO END THE ROAD TRIP!!!!!
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