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!!!!
Friday, May 8, 2009
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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