Sox: 10 Twins: 1
Sox: 7 Twins 3
The Red Sox gave birthday boy Tito another reason to celebrate, with a sweep of the double-header against the Minnesota Twins. Since this double billing was the entirety of the series at Fenway against Minny, the Sox now have back-to-back sweeps and a seven-game winning streak. The man who started it all last week in Oakland, Tim Wakefield, was on the mound again today for the matinee and threw another complete game. A rain-shortened complete game, as he went 7 innings, giving up one run. For the stat geeks, Wake is now 2-0 in games pitched on a Wednesday afternoon in 2009.
The Red Sox' victim in the first game was Twins starter Scott Baker, who surrendered six Sox runs, in pairs, over the first three innings. Why pairs? Three two-run dingers, one per inning in the first third of the game. Youk went deep around the Pesky Pole in the first, Nick Green (who has a habit of using his bat to atone for the sins of his glove) hits his first homer as a Red Sox in the second, and Lowell puts one atop the Monster in the third. The rest of the runs were charged to the pen, who were in the midst of taking a beating reminiscent of Monday's throttling of the O's pen. Five hitters had multi-hit games: Jake, Papi, and Green with two apiece and Drew and Lowell with three apiece.
The nightcap had Jeff Bailey at first with Youk moving across the diamond to give Mikey the night off. Bails went deep in his first at-bat, knocking in three runs. Then, Papi added to the damage against Liriano with a 2-RBI double. The last two runs were scored by an RBI groundout by Jake and a sac fly by Pedey. Penny, who had a much improved outing over last Friday's 8-run debacle against the O's, was touched for three runs, including a Morneau homer. The bats have been there for Penny, bailing him out on Friday and giving him the victory tonight.
Friday night, the Yanks are coming to town. Jon Lester, who is flip-flopping his rotation spot with Beckett to allow for his teammate's suspension, will start for the Sox and the Yanks, electing to skip the banged-around Wang (darn it!) instead throw Joba out there. Will Youk have to duck and cover with his "nemesis" on the mound? And, if Joba should throw in the general direction of Youk's noggin, will MLB be evenhanded and hand him the same suspension they levied on Beckett? Without A-Rod around, will the boos for Sox-spurner Teixeira be loud enough for the both of them?
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Broomin' The Baltimore Birdies
Sweep Sox: 12 O's: 1
The first sweep of the season and it was a four-game stifling of the Baltimore Orioles, the last two games of which had the Birds limited to a single run per game. Masterson gave the Sox 5 1/3 very strong innings, surrendering one run and limiting the hits to singles. A scary moment for the O's happened in the third, when Masterson's pickoff throw to second struck third baseman Ryan Freel in the head, causing him to have to be helped off the field by the manager and trainer and leave the game. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary tests. Robert Andino took Freel's place at third.
O's starter Mark Hendrickson kept his team in the game for his five innings of work, allowing 3 Sox to cross the plate, including a right-handed dinger over the Monster by Tek. Their 'pen, however, imploded and allowed a total of 9 more runs. Radhames Liz, whom the Sox undoubtedly OWN only managed to record one out, while plating six and skyrocketing his ERA to an obscene 67.50. The Red Sox LOOOOVE to see Liz on the mound! The Sox 'pen, however, held the hapless O's scoreless while the offense piled it on. Masterson got the W and the Sox pulled off the sweep that got them one game over .500 after such a frustrating start.
The DL just got another member in Baldelli, whose hammy started barking when he legged out a three-base error. In other DL news, Lowrie will most likely need wrist surgery, but I'm hearing it may not cost him an entire season. He could be back by the all-star break if all goes well. Meanwhile, Lugo's headed to Pawtucket to get in some rehab starts as he makes his way back from his knee surgery.
The Twins come to town for two games tomorrow and Wednesday and this weekend, it's the first Sox-Yanks showdown of the 2009 season.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON THE SWEEP!!!
The first sweep of the season and it was a four-game stifling of the Baltimore Orioles, the last two games of which had the Birds limited to a single run per game. Masterson gave the Sox 5 1/3 very strong innings, surrendering one run and limiting the hits to singles. A scary moment for the O's happened in the third, when Masterson's pickoff throw to second struck third baseman Ryan Freel in the head, causing him to have to be helped off the field by the manager and trainer and leave the game. He was taken to the hospital for precautionary tests. Robert Andino took Freel's place at third.
O's starter Mark Hendrickson kept his team in the game for his five innings of work, allowing 3 Sox to cross the plate, including a right-handed dinger over the Monster by Tek. Their 'pen, however, imploded and allowed a total of 9 more runs. Radhames Liz, whom the Sox undoubtedly OWN only managed to record one out, while plating six and skyrocketing his ERA to an obscene 67.50. The Red Sox LOOOOVE to see Liz on the mound! The Sox 'pen, however, held the hapless O's scoreless while the offense piled it on. Masterson got the W and the Sox pulled off the sweep that got them one game over .500 after such a frustrating start.
The DL just got another member in Baldelli, whose hammy started barking when he legged out a three-base error. In other DL news, Lowrie will most likely need wrist surgery, but I'm hearing it may not cost him an entire season. He could be back by the all-star break if all goes well. Meanwhile, Lugo's headed to Pawtucket to get in some rehab starts as he makes his way back from his knee surgery.
The Twins come to town for two games tomorrow and Wednesday and this weekend, it's the first Sox-Yanks showdown of the 2009 season.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! CONGRATS ON THE SWEEP!!!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
He's Back and He Still Owns the O's.
Sox: 2 Birds: 1
The Real Jon Lester emerged in today's win against the O's. The guy who pitched Lester's two previous starts (and the exhibition game against the Mets) and had an ERA of 9, we don't really know who he is, but the genuine article came to Fenway today and blanked the birdies over seven innings, walking two and allowing four hits. He fanned nine and reminded Red Sox Nation and the rest of the baseball world who the ace of the staff was last year. The game was a tight one, as O's hurler from the Far East, Koji Uehara, did a fine job of quieting the Sox bats and limiting Youk to one hit.
Papi, after getting two hits last night, was back to over-swinging and looking lost at the plate this afternoon. It might be beneficial to the team to switch Papi and JD in the lineup, as JD is a high OBP guy and batting him third would give the current offensive force that is Youk a chance to do more damage when he comes to the plate. If Youk has a year like he did last year, he's an excellent clean-up hitter and right now, he needs something to clean up, if you get my drift. Jake and Pedey are coming around, but Papi really isn't helping much out of the 3-hole right now. I understand Tito's loyalty to Papi and, based on all he has done for the team since he arrived six years ago, it's not undeserved. However, right now we're not sure what we'll get out of Papi and the offense might benefit more from putting an on-base guy like Drew (who thrived in the 3-hole last June in Papi's absence) there and move Papi to fifth. That would preserve the lefty-righty sequence in the lineup also.
Tomorrow, Masterson gets the nod in place of the DL-ed Dice-K in the Early Bird Special Patriot's Day game. Can the Sox continue their winning streak and pull off a sweep of the O's? They're playing a lot better ball lately and they've reached .500 with today's win. Let's hope they can keep it going.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!!
The Real Jon Lester emerged in today's win against the O's. The guy who pitched Lester's two previous starts (and the exhibition game against the Mets) and had an ERA of 9, we don't really know who he is, but the genuine article came to Fenway today and blanked the birdies over seven innings, walking two and allowing four hits. He fanned nine and reminded Red Sox Nation and the rest of the baseball world who the ace of the staff was last year. The game was a tight one, as O's hurler from the Far East, Koji Uehara, did a fine job of quieting the Sox bats and limiting Youk to one hit.
Papi, after getting two hits last night, was back to over-swinging and looking lost at the plate this afternoon. It might be beneficial to the team to switch Papi and JD in the lineup, as JD is a high OBP guy and batting him third would give the current offensive force that is Youk a chance to do more damage when he comes to the plate. If Youk has a year like he did last year, he's an excellent clean-up hitter and right now, he needs something to clean up, if you get my drift. Jake and Pedey are coming around, but Papi really isn't helping much out of the 3-hole right now. I understand Tito's loyalty to Papi and, based on all he has done for the team since he arrived six years ago, it's not undeserved. However, right now we're not sure what we'll get out of Papi and the offense might benefit more from putting an on-base guy like Drew (who thrived in the 3-hole last June in Papi's absence) there and move Papi to fifth. That would preserve the lefty-righty sequence in the lineup also.
Tomorrow, Masterson gets the nod in place of the DL-ed Dice-K in the Early Bird Special Patriot's Day game. Can the Sox continue their winning streak and pull off a sweep of the O's? They're playing a lot better ball lately and they've reached .500 with today's win. Let's hope they can keep it going.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!!
Saturday, April 18, 2009
The Long and Short of It
Sox: 6 Birdies: 4
The long: Beckett's fifth inning, where he gave up 4 runs to the Baltimore boys on a RWI (is there a stat for runs walked in, or did I just make it up?) and a bases-clearing double by a first baseman referred to by the O's radio announcers as--I kid you not--"Huff Daddy." The short: Youk coming a triple short of the cycle on a night that netted him 4 ribbies, or two thirds of the Sox run tally for the night. The other two RBI belong to Tek and Lowell, the latter of whom is tied with Bay for the lead in the Red Sox Ribbie Race with 10 apiece.
Beckett had a somewhat lopsided outing, being effective in every inning but the laborious fifth, where he was channeling Brad Penny from last night's second inning, but with less damage. He bounced back nicely in the sixth with a 1-2-3. The Sox chased O's starter Adam Eaton after four innings and six runs.
In other news around the division, the Yanks got knocked into next week by the Tribe at the brand spankin' new Yankee Stadium II: The Steinbrenner Edition. 22-4, my friends, 22-4! And if we thought last night's 7-run attack by the O's in the second inning was bad, try doubling that number and you get the Tribe's second inning against the Yanks. Holy one-sided slugfest, Batman!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!
The long: Beckett's fifth inning, where he gave up 4 runs to the Baltimore boys on a RWI (is there a stat for runs walked in, or did I just make it up?) and a bases-clearing double by a first baseman referred to by the O's radio announcers as--I kid you not--"Huff Daddy." The short: Youk coming a triple short of the cycle on a night that netted him 4 ribbies, or two thirds of the Sox run tally for the night. The other two RBI belong to Tek and Lowell, the latter of whom is tied with Bay for the lead in the Red Sox Ribbie Race with 10 apiece.
Beckett had a somewhat lopsided outing, being effective in every inning but the laborious fifth, where he was channeling Brad Penny from last night's second inning, but with less damage. He bounced back nicely in the sixth with a 1-2-3. The Sox chased O's starter Adam Eaton after four innings and six runs.
In other news around the division, the Yanks got knocked into next week by the Tribe at the brand spankin' new Yankee Stadium II: The Steinbrenner Edition. 22-4, my friends, 22-4! And if we thought last night's 7-run attack by the O's in the second inning was bad, try doubling that number and you get the Tribe's second inning against the Yanks. Holy one-sided slugfest, Batman!
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!
7 Runs Down in 2nd? No Problem!
Sox: 10 O's: 8
The top of the second inning was brutal, and that's putting it mildly. Penny was on the mound and in need of a GPS to find the strike zone. The O's were filling the bases like it was going out of style and Penny had walked in not only one, but two runs, with an RBI single sandwiched in between. Then, Nick Markakis dealt what at the the time seemed like the death blow, a grand salami to make the score 7-0. 7-0...sound familiar? 2008 ALCS Game 5 anyone? Apparently to the Red Sox, 7-0 is a call to arms. Or, shall we say, a call to bats! In the bottom of that very same inning, the Sox began giving it back to O's starter Jeremy Guthrie. To the tune of 4 runs. The O's scored one more run after Penny's leadoff baserunner in the fourth was plated by a hit surrendered by reliever Manny Delcarmen. MDC allowed no earned runs of his own, however, and kept the O's tally at 8 while the Sox chipped away at the deficit and, on a 2 RBI double by Nick Green, tied the score. Guthrie was history and the game was left to the bullpens. The Sox tacked on two more runs off the O's pen and the Sox pen held the O's in check.
The big bats tonight were JD and J-Bay. Each had a homer. Bay had 3 RBI, with a 2-run blast in the second and a sac fly in the sixth. JD was on base all night, going 2 for 2 with 3 walks, his second hit being a triple. His one blemish on the night was running into an out in the eighth when he was caught trying to steal second. Green pitched in with 2 hits and the aforementioned RBI double. Pedey went 3 for 4, with one of his hits resulting in him sliding into first. Balls were bouncing off of O's infielders (and second base!) like they were made of rubber. The Sox offense, after starting to show some life in Wednesday's Waketacular, went to town on O's pitching and we can only hope this will continue all weekend.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
The top of the second inning was brutal, and that's putting it mildly. Penny was on the mound and in need of a GPS to find the strike zone. The O's were filling the bases like it was going out of style and Penny had walked in not only one, but two runs, with an RBI single sandwiched in between. Then, Nick Markakis dealt what at the the time seemed like the death blow, a grand salami to make the score 7-0. 7-0...sound familiar? 2008 ALCS Game 5 anyone? Apparently to the Red Sox, 7-0 is a call to arms. Or, shall we say, a call to bats! In the bottom of that very same inning, the Sox began giving it back to O's starter Jeremy Guthrie. To the tune of 4 runs. The O's scored one more run after Penny's leadoff baserunner in the fourth was plated by a hit surrendered by reliever Manny Delcarmen. MDC allowed no earned runs of his own, however, and kept the O's tally at 8 while the Sox chipped away at the deficit and, on a 2 RBI double by Nick Green, tied the score. Guthrie was history and the game was left to the bullpens. The Sox tacked on two more runs off the O's pen and the Sox pen held the O's in check.
The big bats tonight were JD and J-Bay. Each had a homer. Bay had 3 RBI, with a 2-run blast in the second and a sac fly in the sixth. JD was on base all night, going 2 for 2 with 3 walks, his second hit being a triple. His one blemish on the night was running into an out in the eighth when he was caught trying to steal second. Green pitched in with 2 hits and the aforementioned RBI double. Pedey went 3 for 4, with one of his hits resulting in him sliding into first. Balls were bouncing off of O's infielders (and second base!) like they were made of rubber. The Sox offense, after starting to show some life in Wednesday's Waketacular, went to town on O's pitching and we can only hope this will continue all weekend.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The Whole Nine Innings: Starring Tim Wakefield
Sox: 8 A's: 2
Sorry for lack of blogs the past few days. With the way the games were going, I felt I didn't have much new to say. Just a broken record about the scuffling offense. However, today's game was a different story. After a four and a half hour late night marathon/debacle last night resulting in a 6-5 loss for the Sox, the 'pen was taxed and a long, quality start was an absolute must for today's game. Wake was the pitcher charged with making that happen and make it happen he did. He had a no-no going for 7 1/3 innings, throwing fewer pitches in the first five innings than the recently DL-ed Dice-K threw in the first inning last night. The knuckleball was knuckling and Wake was locked in. The free-swinging A's hit into outs quickly and Wake had several innings with less than 10 pitches. Why, those A's were looking a little like...the Red Sox so far this season before the Sox' 6-run outburst in the eighth. Six runs, folks! That's more runs in one inning than the Sox had scored in an ENTIRE GAME this season before today!
While the Sox were giving Wake a healthy dose of run support, starting with Papi's first extra base hit of the season, Wake was waiting and having time to think about what he had done so far. Youk was put on intentionally and Drew made 'em pay for that move (and being buzzed by the pitcher) by going yard for a 3-run dinger! Add that to Mikey Lowell's 2-run shot in the second and that's 5 runs. Then, Bay walks, Lowell singles, Green singles home Bay, Kottaras (who hit a double earlier in the game) walks and Jake connects for his first two RBI of the season. Pedey, the only one without a hit today, ends the inning, but six runs scored and the Sox took an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th.
Wake took the mound in the bottom of the 8th after waiting through eleven batters and a pitching change. The wait took its toll, as Wake allowed the leadoff hitter a walk and then Kurt Suzuki, who has some sort of Red Sox hitting streak going, just had to keep that streak alive and break up Wake's no-hitter by knocking a single to left with one out. Rookie Landon Powell added another hit to the mix and scored Mark Ellis, who walked. Saito began warming in the pen, but sat down after Wake retired two more hitters and came out again for the ninth, having thrown less than 100 pitches. He made it through the ninth, allowing two more hits and his line for this clutch effort is 9 IP, 4 H 2 R 2 BB 4 K While it's tough to lose a no-hitter when coming so close, Wake did exactly what his team needed today and pitched one of the best games of his career. It was definitely one of the best games I've seen him pitch. Today's performance is a reminder that Wake is still valuable to this team. His maturity and experience helped right the ship and the offense responded to his effort by giving him 8 runs. This game ended a frustrating road trip on a high note and hopefully this will carry over to their homestand, which begins on Friday against the O's.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!! CONGRATS TO WAKE FOR A COMPLETE GAME!
Sorry for lack of blogs the past few days. With the way the games were going, I felt I didn't have much new to say. Just a broken record about the scuffling offense. However, today's game was a different story. After a four and a half hour late night marathon/debacle last night resulting in a 6-5 loss for the Sox, the 'pen was taxed and a long, quality start was an absolute must for today's game. Wake was the pitcher charged with making that happen and make it happen he did. He had a no-no going for 7 1/3 innings, throwing fewer pitches in the first five innings than the recently DL-ed Dice-K threw in the first inning last night. The knuckleball was knuckling and Wake was locked in. The free-swinging A's hit into outs quickly and Wake had several innings with less than 10 pitches. Why, those A's were looking a little like...the Red Sox so far this season before the Sox' 6-run outburst in the eighth. Six runs, folks! That's more runs in one inning than the Sox had scored in an ENTIRE GAME this season before today!
While the Sox were giving Wake a healthy dose of run support, starting with Papi's first extra base hit of the season, Wake was waiting and having time to think about what he had done so far. Youk was put on intentionally and Drew made 'em pay for that move (and being buzzed by the pitcher) by going yard for a 3-run dinger! Add that to Mikey Lowell's 2-run shot in the second and that's 5 runs. Then, Bay walks, Lowell singles, Green singles home Bay, Kottaras (who hit a double earlier in the game) walks and Jake connects for his first two RBI of the season. Pedey, the only one without a hit today, ends the inning, but six runs scored and the Sox took an 8-0 lead into the bottom of the 8th.
Wake took the mound in the bottom of the 8th after waiting through eleven batters and a pitching change. The wait took its toll, as Wake allowed the leadoff hitter a walk and then Kurt Suzuki, who has some sort of Red Sox hitting streak going, just had to keep that streak alive and break up Wake's no-hitter by knocking a single to left with one out. Rookie Landon Powell added another hit to the mix and scored Mark Ellis, who walked. Saito began warming in the pen, but sat down after Wake retired two more hitters and came out again for the ninth, having thrown less than 100 pitches. He made it through the ninth, allowing two more hits and his line for this clutch effort is 9 IP, 4 H 2 R 2 BB 4 K While it's tough to lose a no-hitter when coming so close, Wake did exactly what his team needed today and pitched one of the best games of his career. It was definitely one of the best games I've seen him pitch. Today's performance is a reminder that Wake is still valuable to this team. His maturity and experience helped right the ship and the offense responded to his effort by giving him 8 runs. This game ended a frustrating road trip on a high note and hopefully this will carry over to their homestand, which begins on Friday against the O's.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!! CONGRATS TO WAKE FOR A COMPLETE GAME!
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Clawing Their Way Back
Sox: 5 Halos: 4
So how long was the line to get on this roller coaster? It was a game full of ups and downs for the Sox as they squeaked out a win, with Paps managing to Dice-K his way out of a bases loaded jam in an agonizing bottom of the ninth. The game started with the Sox continuing their frustrating pattern of squandering opportunities at the plate. Jake led off with a hit, then snatched second, but got a little overzealous trying for third and got caught in a rundown. Running into an out is never a good thing, especially when the team's in a run-scoring slump. Grounding into double-plays is another fine way to ensure more offensive futility and there were two of those today, courtesy of Jake and Mikey. But, Mikey redeemed himself in the 5th by taking a Saunders pitch yard for a two-run shot. The hero of the game has to be J-Bay, who saw Mike Napoli go deep twice and thought it might be a good idea to do the same thing. Bay also made a highly unusual catch in left, robbing Torii Hunter of extra bases. The ball snow-coned into his glove, fell out, and then fell back into his glove. Whether or not it touched the wall in between we'll never know, but the second base ump ruled it an out.
Penny had a quality outing, throwing six innings and giving up 3 runs. His nemesis on the Angels' squad has to be Napoli, who homered off of him twice. His velocity was good, which bodes well for the Red Sox. How he feels after this start will be another indication of what they might be able to expect out of him this season. Ramon Ramirez was sharp again in relief, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Pap got an easy third out in the eighth, but made the ninth inning all kinds of interesting (and maddening!) by letting Torii Hunter knock one out and Kendry Morales double before recording his first out on Juan Rivera. He handed out a freebie to Napoli, whiffed Erick Aybar, another freebie to Chone Figgins (thank goodness Figgy couldn't steal with the bases loaded) before Howie Kendrick came to the plate. Kendrick gave Papelbon fits as he fouled off something like nine pitches in a row before finally flying out to right and giving the Sox their first win since Opening Day.
Tomorrow, Beckett's back on the mound and we hope he's the same Beckett we saw on Tuesday. If so, the Sox have a very good chance of climbing back to .500.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
So how long was the line to get on this roller coaster? It was a game full of ups and downs for the Sox as they squeaked out a win, with Paps managing to Dice-K his way out of a bases loaded jam in an agonizing bottom of the ninth. The game started with the Sox continuing their frustrating pattern of squandering opportunities at the plate. Jake led off with a hit, then snatched second, but got a little overzealous trying for third and got caught in a rundown. Running into an out is never a good thing, especially when the team's in a run-scoring slump. Grounding into double-plays is another fine way to ensure more offensive futility and there were two of those today, courtesy of Jake and Mikey. But, Mikey redeemed himself in the 5th by taking a Saunders pitch yard for a two-run shot. The hero of the game has to be J-Bay, who saw Mike Napoli go deep twice and thought it might be a good idea to do the same thing. Bay also made a highly unusual catch in left, robbing Torii Hunter of extra bases. The ball snow-coned into his glove, fell out, and then fell back into his glove. Whether or not it touched the wall in between we'll never know, but the second base ump ruled it an out.
Penny had a quality outing, throwing six innings and giving up 3 runs. His nemesis on the Angels' squad has to be Napoli, who homered off of him twice. His velocity was good, which bodes well for the Red Sox. How he feels after this start will be another indication of what they might be able to expect out of him this season. Ramon Ramirez was sharp again in relief, pitching 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Pap got an easy third out in the eighth, but made the ninth inning all kinds of interesting (and maddening!) by letting Torii Hunter knock one out and Kendry Morales double before recording his first out on Juan Rivera. He handed out a freebie to Napoli, whiffed Erick Aybar, another freebie to Chone Figgins (thank goodness Figgy couldn't steal with the bases loaded) before Howie Kendrick came to the plate. Kendrick gave Papelbon fits as he fouled off something like nine pitches in a row before finally flying out to right and giving the Sox their first win since Opening Day.
Tomorrow, Beckett's back on the mound and we hope he's the same Beckett we saw on Tuesday. If so, the Sox have a very good chance of climbing back to .500.
LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!!
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