Twice as Nice For Dice

As the Red Sox climb their way out of the dungeon, the starting pitchers are leading the way. They've gone from looking absolutely abysmal to lights-out spectacular as the Sox win 7 of their last 8 games with a 1.01 ERA. This 180 degree turnaround has been key to the Sox fighting their way back to respectability and continuing their climb to .500. They still have two more wins to go without a loss before they get there, but they are heading in the right direction.

Dice-K has pitched back-to-back gems and a total of 15 scoreless innings, allowing only 3 hits and striking out 13. Watching him pitch like this, we know his potential and we wish he could pitch more like he did tonight and on Monday at Fenway against the Jays. It's unrealistic to expect him to continue to pitch scoreless one-hitters, but attacking the strike zone and keeping walks to a minimum is not too much to ask. I tip my Red Sox cap to Dice-K for stepping up and giving the team the kind of pitching they need to put their atrocious start behind them.

A few other good things came out of tonight's game:

1. Improved hitting with RISP.

2. Ells and Crawford with 2-hit games

3. Tek remembers how to hit and almost hits one out, but settles for a double.

4. Youk made it back into the lineup and went yard, tying him with Ells for the team home run lead. That kinda makes up for him whiffing 3 times.

Tomorrow they go for a sweep of the Halos. Lackey is on the mound for the Sox in a bid to make back-to-back quality starts, pitching to his former team. Fortunately, it's an afternoon game. I've had enough of the late-nighters.

Here We Go Again

Yesterday (with apologies to The Beatles)

Yesterday, Red Sox' troubles seemed so far away
Now it seems as though they're here to stay
Oh how I long for yesterday

On the road, they're not half the team they are at home
5 and 11 makes us moan and groan
They need to win some on the road

Why they cannot hit worth a lick no one can say
There is something wrong when they're not at old Fenway

Yesterday, Lowrie hit all balls that came his way
But he couldn't buy a hit today
In Oakland they don't like to play.

Lackey pitched a great game, but had to take a loss
Boston lost their chance to show Oakland who is boss

Yesterday, Red Sox' troubles seemed so far away
Now it seems as though they're here to stay
Oh how I long for yesterday.

Let's Take This Show On The Road

To say it was an awesome weekend for the Red Sox would be an understatement. Going into Saturday's game, the team was 2-10 and completely woebegone. Nothing was working for them, neither on the mound, at the plate, or in the field. This weekend, we started to see the team we were hoping to see from Opening Day. On Saturday, Beckett continued on his way back to ace-dom with another Commander Kick-Ass outing, going 8 innings and giving up one run. On Sunday, Lester also kept the Jays to a single run. Today, it looked like either Beckett or Lester were pitching in a Dice-K suit--since he's a righty, I'll go with Beckett. Dice-K was the Dr. Jekyll version (Peter Abraham of the Globe called Matsuzaka "Trick or Treat"), commanding the strike zone and leaving the Jays stymied. He wasn't throwing them right down the middle like his 100% Pure Mr. Hyde start last Monday against the Rays, but painting the corners. When he has outings like these, we all wonder why he can't pitch like this more often.

Meanwhile, the offense, which put up 8 runs yesterday, continued to put its collective funk in the past and put up a 9-spot. Jed Lowrie, who is raking up a storm, lead the pack with 4 RBIs, the first 2 coming on a bases-loaded single in the 1st inning and the second 2 on a dinger in the 5th. Youk, who came within an inch or two of a homer in the 3rd, didn't miss the second time he hit the ball to right field. The ball landed in the Jays' pen for a 2-run shot. Then, in the 7th, Ells went yard for the second game in a row. He now leads the team in homers with 4. Papi's single plated Youk in the 3rd. Even he of the epic slump, Carl Crawford, plated a run when his wall-ball double scored Lowrie from first. It's clear Lowrie needs to remain in the game while his bat is scorching hot. With two lefties on the mound in Oakland, it's an absolute necessity, as Lowrie batting from the right side is a bona-fide lefty-killer. For Lowrie, being healthy and able to contribute at a high level is great to see. The wrist injury and the mono are behind him now and the real Jed Lowrie has emerged. He won't keep hitting over .500, that's for sure, but he'll be one of the better bats at shortstop.

Now, it's time to take this winning streak and better baseball on the road. The Sox have yet to win away from Fenway and West Coast trips have been tough on them in the past, but I'm hoping they can carry some momentum with them to Oakland. If good pitching is as contagious as bad pitching, let's hope Lackey caught the bug!

Streaking?

Don't look now but the Red Sox just won two games in a row. That constitutes a win streak. A small one, but still a streak. It did my heart good--in more ways than one--to see the pitching staff limit the Jays to just one run in back-to-back games. Beckett followed up his awesome performance against the Yanks with another one against the Jays and Lester turned in his third quality start of the season, finally getting the run support he deserved.

Another key to these two wins was clutch hitting, most notably from Jed Lowrie (1 HR, 3 RBI over the two games), Ells (a 3-run tater in today's game) and Salty (3 RBI today). Lowrie, despite his defensive gaffe on a would-be double-play ball this afternoon, has been making his case for staying in the lineup, batting over .500, albeit in a very small sample size. He's the hot bat the Red Sox have to ride until they get the rest of the guys going.

Poor Carl Crawford. Hitting leadoff in Boston is just not agreeing with him, at least not yet. It looks like he just doesn't know what to do to get his bat going. Perhaps a visit with the sports shrink is in order. He's got the talent, but maybe the pressure of the contract and playing in Boston, where baseball reigns supreme, is in his head. He was a Tampa Bay Ray for so long that playing for another team has to take some getting used to. I think he'll get it together and start hitting and getting on base like he usually does (remember Pedey in April 2007?) but I think it will take moving him out of leadoff for that to happen. Ells is showing signs of coming out of his slump and if he doesn't fall too much in love with his home run stroke, he can be moved back up to leadoff soon.

As for Adrian "Kaching!" Gonzalez (the big payday came on Friday: 7 years and $154 mil), he's been getting his hits, but the power has yet to show up. He has one dinger that came on the road in Cleveland, but hasn't gone yard yet at Fenway. He has a triple and 3 doubles, including one to the opposite field today and the rest have been singles. Of course, it took Beltre a little while to get his home run stroke going last season and when he did, he really took off.

The next few games will be a real test for the Sox, with Dice-K pitching tomorrow (who said the marathon is just for runners?) and a West Coast trip starting Tuesday. Lackey and Buchholz, as well as Dice-K, need to step up and start putting up quality starts. It's unfair to expect Beckett and Lester to carry the entire rotation. In order for the Red Sox to keep climbing out of that hole, they need improvement from the underperforming 60% of the starting rotation. Those two wins were great to see and they were two steps in the right direction, but the Sox aren't out of the woods yet. A strong showing on the West Coast is a necessity.

WTF????

This team is certifiably insane. Either that or it needs to give all of its fans some of the drugs it's taking so watching this season can be somewhat bearable. Last night, Beckett dominates the Yankees and the Sox manage to score some runs to win the game. Tonight, Dice-K spontaneously combusts in the 2nd inning and so does every one else not named Alfredo Aceves. They gave up 16 runs to the one team coming into tonight's game with a worse record then themselves. If that doesn't make them the laughingstock of baseball, what does? Honestly, if this keeps up much longer, it's going to take some heavy duty self-medication to get through this season. Just bring the Pawtucket team up and send the Boston team down. The AAA guys can't do much worse.

A Thing Of Beauty

If only I DVRed last night's game! I had some family business to attend to last night, so I couldn't watch it as it aired, but last night's game was a reminder that, sometimes, when we least expect it, in a game we were sure would have gone the other way given recent history, something amazing happens. That amazing something was Josh Beckett's 8-shutout-inning gem against a team that completely pinata'd him last year. It was a game reminiscent of 2007 and of the 2003 World Series when Beckett was a 23-year-old Florida Marlin pitching the game that propelled his team to victory over the Yankees. Last night's game was also against the Yankees.

The offense didn't exactly explode last night, but they didn't need to. All they needed in the end was a single run, which they got in the 3rd inning in a rather interesting way: With the bases loaded and no one out, Papi grounded into a double play and Pedey came home from third. The run was negated when it was determined that Youk went out of the baseline to slide into Jeter in an effort to break up the double play. Fortunately, Cam dropped a slow roller in the hole between short and third and Pedey was able to score. Scoots provided a little insurance in the 7th with double with the bases loaded to bring in 2 more runs. Papi added another one with an RBI double in the 8th.

With Beckett just over 100 pitches after 8 innings, Tito elected to send Pap out for the ninth. Pap delivered, fanning Gardner and Teixeira while getting Jeter to ground out. The Sox had blanked the Yanks and took 2 of 3 in a game that has the potential to be a turning point in the season. Beckett showed the Red Sox that he could still bring it and maybe, just maybe, he will pitch like he has in other odd-numbered years in his career. After Buch took a tumble in Saturday afternoon's game, seeing Beckett step up against a team that lit him up last year was a very encouraging sign. We can't get too carried away, however--the offense is still stranding baserunners like there's no tomorrow--and we can't take the Rays for granted, even though they, as of last night, are off to an even worse start than the Sox (1-8 vs. 2-7). The Rays tend to play their best against the Red Sox and the Sox are sending Dice-K to the mound to set the tone for the series. It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. I hope the Sox can take at least 2 of 3 and keep climbing out of the hole, but we'll need more pitching performances like last night's and last Thursday's to get on that much-needed winning streak.

Home Sweet Fenway

It had to turn around sometime. The brutal losing streak that found the Red Sox spinning their wheels and shaking their heads at the combination of poor play and outrageous misfortune had them tumbling to the AL East dungeon. All they needed was a friendly crowd and their beloved home ballpark. They needed the support of the crowd, the cheers and reassurances that they are at home now and things will get better. Most of all, they desperately needed to get that first win.

In order to get the comatose offense to snap out of their stupor, they needed a spark. A spark to ignite a long-awaited laser show. Who else but Pedey? After all, he had homered in last 2 home openers. In the first inning, back in his familiar 2-hole, he launched a Phil Hughes offering into the monster seats to cut a 2-run Lackey-created deficit in half. Make that his last 3 home openers! The Sox weren't able to put anymore runs up in the first, but after Lackey gave up another run in the second, the Sox answered with 5--count'em, 5--runs in the second: Three straight hits, by Drew, Salty, and Ells, loaded the sacks. Scoots came up and grounded to short. Salty was forced out at third as Drew crossed the plate. Crawford grounded out, moving Ells and Scoots to second and third. Then came the instigator, a.k.a. Pedey. He singled up the middle and drove in Ells and Scoots. Gonzalez singled home Pedey, who took second on a wild throw by Granderson, then Youk walked. Papi went up the middle for a single and, as Youk got himself caught in a rundown, Gonzalez scored.

Unfortunately, that 5-run inning wouldn't be enough, as John "Givembackey" Lackey would allow three more runs, including an A-Rod shot into the Monster seats, in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. In the meantime, former Sox castoff Bartolo Colon--he who landed on the DL after swinging the bat during interleague play in 2008--kept the Sox at bay until the bottom of the fifth, when the much beleaguered Salty hit a wall-ball double to score Youk, who walked and advanced to third on a Teixeira error on Papi's grounder. Sox up 7-6. Lackey is pitcher of record and could get the win if the Sox stay ahead.

Stay ahead they did, as newly-recalled Alfredo Aceves kept his former teammates off the board, followed by Jenks, Bard, and Pap, the latter two pitching perfect innings. JD Drew added a little insurance when he knocked in Gonzalez and Papi (off a lefty to boot!). Fenway erupted in elation and relief as the Sox notched their long-awaited first win. Defeating the Yankees made it all the sweeter.

Now that they've gotten the first one out of the way, they still have a steep climb out of that hole, but momentum is on their side. Tomorrow afternoon, Buchholz looks to give the Sox win #2. In the post-game press conference, Tito quipped something along the lines of "This is the happiest 1-6 team I've ever seen" Good job, boys! Now let's do it again tomorrow (and the next day, and the next day...etc.)