SOX SUSPENSIONS AND INJURIES

After Thursday evening's brawl with the (Devil) Rays, Major League Baseball has handed down some suspensions and undisclosed fines. Here they are:

Coco Crisp - 7 games
Jon Lester - 5 games
Sean Casey - 3 games

Crisp has appealed his, Lester has accepted his, Casey has yet to decide what to do.

Here are the suspensions given to Tampa Bay:

James Shields - 6 games
Jonny Gomes - 5 games
Edwin Jackson - 5 games
Carl Crawford - 4 games
Akinori Iwamura - 3 games

These suspensions seem fair to me. The way the Rays ganged up on Crisp when he was already was not only shameful, but unmanly. I'm also glad that Navarro didn't get suspended because he did his job in taking Crisp down, and nothing more.

The suspensions will be staggered, so it won't be as if Crisp, Lester, and Casey will all be absent at once. Just in case you don't know, suspensions aren't like the DL. The suspended player's spot on the roster cannot be filled by someone else until they come back. So when Crisp starts serving his, the Red Sox will have to play with 24 men.

Jacoby Ellsbury had an MRI on his wrist and it came out clean. No time on the DL is expected. He should return to the lineup fairly soon.

Curt Schilling threw 35 pitches off a mount on Friday. He'll soon start facing live hitters.

Daisuke Matsuzaka will begin throwing today.

Sources:
Associated Press via ESPN.com
Boston.com

JV SOX FALL TO MARINERS

Last night the Sox were without David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, and Jacoby Ellsbury. Not surprisingly, they didn't manage to score. Although, they did get 7 hits and work 3 walks, but they couldn't get that big hit.

Not that it mattered. Colon had his first ugly start of the season, going 5 innings, allowing 6 runs, 3 earned runs (although the unearned runs came after his own errors. I hate that rule), 8 hits, and a walk. The 2 runs David Aardsma allowed in the 7th erased any doubt as to which team would win.

But this is what we're going to get from Colon. A couple of good starts, a couple of bad starts. The lack of offense intensifies the harshness of this loss. But considering the absences in the lineup, it shouldn't be too much cause for concern.

Tim Wakefield goes against Miguel Batista this afternoon.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa