Mike Napoli Drives Red Sox to First Victory

The Red Sox notched their first win of the season thanks to Mike Napoli's bat and John Lackey's arm. Napoli hit a 2 run homer in the 5th that broke a 2-2 tie, then in the 7th he knocked in 2 with a single. John Lackey had a solid season debut going 6 innings and allowing 2 runs on 3 hits. He retired the last 7 batters he faced. Lackey's only big mistake was allowing a Nelson Cruz homerun. I hope Cruz does not become a Sox killer and he's just having a hot start to his season.

David Ortiz also homered. Edward Mujica, Junichi Tazawa, and Koji Uehara each pitched 1 inning, allowed 1 hit, and struck out 1 in remarkable symmetry. Just look at how neat they made the box score look:

Mike Napoli's offense powered the Red Sox to this win. But maybe Jonny "Phonebooth" Gomes will find a way to take some credit for the win. Although Gomes was 0 for 4, he probably thinks that his hitting behind Napoli was why the Orioles gave Napoli pitches to hit.

I'm just kidding, I'm sure Gomes would never try to take credit for something that others did.

Despite whatever contributions Gomes might have made, I'm going to declare Mike Napoli the Man of the Game.

Rubber game tonight. Felix Doubront faces Wei-Yin Chen. The Red Sox magic number is 161.

Photo Credit:
Nick Wass/Associated Press

2013 BBS Awards: Tom Brady Award for Biggest Surprise Out of Nowhere

This award goes to the athlete who performed in an outstanding fashion in 2013, even though we barely knew who he was, or at least had no idea he could play so well. Previous winners include Brad Marchand, Danny Woodhead, and Hideki Okajima.

The winner this year is Koji Uehara of the Boston Red Sox.

Honorable mention to Torey Krug of the Bruins, Shane Vereen of the Patriots, Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino, and John Lackey.

Uehara came out of nowhere. The Red Sox were in need of a closer, and he took the job. And he did so with style. In 74.1 innings he struck out 101 batters. He only walked 9. He converted 21 saves, 13 holds, and only blew 3 saves. His WHIP was 0.57. He finished 7th in Cy Young voting and won the ALCS MVP.

My favorite stat is that 74% of his pitches were strikes. He faced 265 batters, and only threw 274 balls, or about 1 ball per plate appearance, and only 3.7 balls per inning pitched. He just threw strikes.

Strikes and high fives.

People to Thank for the Red Sox World Series

Time to go to Hallmark and get some thank-you cards for a lot of people who made this World Series Championship possible. Here are the people who you should send your cards to...

1. The Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers took all of the Red Sox' baggage. The Sox had a bad kidney (Gonzalez), infected tonsils (Crawford), and an appendix about to burst (Beckett), and the Dodgers accepted all of them. Then the Dodgers paid for most of the surgery. The Dodgers deserve their own duckboat in Saturday's parade for taking all of this payroll and malignant personality off of the Red Sox roster.

2. The Red Sox owners
The owners did the best thing that owners can do: delegate. Bob Kraft didn't become a good owner until he eased up and delegated. The Red Sox owners were good when they let Theo Epstein do his job, then they became overbearing, they then pulled back in response to the failures of the 2012 season. The best thing the Red Sox owners did in 2013 was what they didn't do.

3. Koji Uehara
Where would this team be if Uehara didn't emerge as one of the best closers in the game? Bailey and Hanrahan got hurt. Uehara filled a role that had been vacant since Papelbon was allowed to leave. And Uehara filled that role's brains out.

4. Ben Cherington
The Red Sox GM didn't go nuts, he didn't try to sign any "wow" free agents. He acquired guys who were hungry to win. Savvy ballplayers who knew how to do the little things. He didn't care that Stephen Drew was related to J.D. Drew. He signed Mike Napoli, who was starving for a ring. He made many small moves that combined to make a big difference.

The timing was right as there really weren't many big name free agents on the market anyway.

5. John Lackey
This guy pitched his ass off. He got no run support all season long. We all hated him. Many wanted him to be traded. He's a 35-year-old recovering from surgery, he pitched 189.1 innings in the regular season then 26 more in the postseason (including 1 in relief). And he still argued with Farrell to get just one more out in Game 6. He went from slacker to gamer. Lackey's hunger in 2013 (for doing well, not for beer and chicken) was a key part to the hunger this team had.

And again, give thanks to the Dodgers for not wanting to take this guy from us.

6. John Farrell
His in-game decisions weren't always correct. But trading for John Farrell was an important part to this team's success. He didn't try to discipline the players, he tried to make them more self-disciplined. He got the pitching staff to refocus, and he brought with him an attitude geared toward winning. Most importantly, he didn't put his own ego ahead of anything. If he made a mistake, he learned from it and made different moves. Pride is not one of John Farrell's faults.

7. J.J. Hardy, Jason Kipnis, Jose Bautista
I can't say I remember the All-Star Game. But these three guys all knocked in runs for the AL team. And that's why the Sox had homefield advantage in the World Series. Thanks, guys!

8. Pedroia, Lester, Ellsbury, all the rest of the players
The players who were here in 2011 and 2012 became reinvigorated. And the guys who weren't here brought a fresh energy. All the players, from Pedroia to Lester to Victorino to Bogaerts to Workman to Tazawa. They all gave 100%. Which you sadly could not say about the 2011 or 2012 Sox.

8. The Fans
Yes you. Your outrage over this team's failure in 2012 caused so much to change. In 2011, we weren't as angry as we should have been. And the owners thought they could use Francona as a scapegoat and we'd be happy with his dismissal. We were complacent for a time, until the team failed again in 2012. And the horrible managing of Bobby Valentine became evident.

We as fans actually accepted Bobby V. That's kind of sad. He was shit. Once the fans demanded that he be banished, along with all the other cancerous players and contracts, that's when things turned around. We threatened a revolution in Red Sox Nation and the front office responded.

So pat yourself on the back for being pissed about the 2012 season, then also ask yourself why you didn't start that season with the same skepticism.

Hopefully in 2014 Ben Cherington can continue to do his job, and the front office won't inflate attendance figures. Marketing people can market the team, and baseball people can assemble it, and baseball players can play baseball.

Jon Lester Officially an Ace

Monday night Jon Lester was promoted from being a very good pitcher, to being an Ace. What's the difference? Ace is frequently capitalized. It's the most powerful card in the deck. It's an honor bestowed to fighter pilots who shoot down 5+ enemy planes. And it's a designation reserved for starting pitchers who are the rarest of the rare. It's for pitchers who make winning easy for their team. And that's what Lester has done in this World Series.

Lester was ruthlessly efficient. He only needed 91 pitches to go 7.2 innings, or 3.96 pitches per out, 11.9 pitches per inning. He struck out 7. He allowed a solo homerun. He didn't walk anybody.

In the 2013 playoffs Lester is 4-1 with a 1.56 ERA. He's struck out 29 in 34.2 innings, and allowed 8 walks and 25 hits for a WHIP of 0.952 WHIP. Which is ridiculously low for a starter.

David Ortiz might steal World Series MVP away from Lester. Although co-MVPs have been awarded before (2001: Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson), and we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. However, Ortiz was 3 for 4 Monday night with a double and an RBI. He's hitting .733 in the World Series, with 6 RBI, 5 runs scored, 2 doubles, 2 homeruns, an OBP of .789, SLG of 1.267, OPS of 2.056. He hasn't struck out since Game 2 of the ALCS against Detroit.

David Ross was inserted into the lineup for his defense. His bat made the difference in this game. The ground rule double he hit in the 7th knocked in the game-winning run. And he nearly scored himself on a Jacoby Ellsbury single. It took a great throw from Shane Robinson to eliminate Ross at the plate.

Koji Uehara ended the game, of course. That's 7 saves in the playoffs for Uehara. His emergence as closer after injuries to Hanrahan and Bailey might be the most important development of a very special season for the Boston Red Sox.

Game 6 Wednesday night at Fenway. The Sox have a chance to clinch a World Series in their home ballpark for the first time since 1918. John Lackey faces Michael Wacha.

Photo Credit:
Jeff Curry-USA Today Sports

Red Sox Win Game 4 Unobstructed

This series just gets weirder and weirder. Saturday night gives us the first ever walk-off obstruction call in World Series history. Sunday night gives us the first ever game-ending pickoff in World Series history.

The 2013 Red Sox find a way to to support each other. When one player struggles or makes a mistake, the others make up for their teammate's failures. John Lackey, normally a starter, pitched a scoreless 8th inning, bridging the gap between Junichi Tazwawa and Koji Uehara when Craig Breslow couldn't get an out. That's how the Sox have done it all season. Even when your starter is hurt and only manages to pitch 4 innings, a guy like Felix Doubront enters the game and pitches 2.2 innings of quality relief. He was charged with a run, but that was Breslow's fault.

While some members of the Red Sox picked up their teammates, others stepped up and made the big plays that decided the game. None more than David Ortiz and Jonny Gomes Sunday night.

Ortiz is red hot in the World Series. He's 8 for 11 with 2 homeruns and a double. That double came Sunday night, leading off the 5th. After Ortiz reached second base, he looked into the Red Sox dugout and screamed words of encouragement to his teammates in English and Spanish. ¡Vámonos! He eventually scored on a Stephen Drew sac-fly.

Before the 6th inning Ortiz gave a motivational speech to his teammates in the dugout. And then Jonny Gomes hit the 3-run homerun that pushed the Sox to victory. How much did the pep-talk affect Gomes? There's no way to accurately measure that. Although in the postgame press conference Sunday night, Gomes beamed as he talked about Ortiz and his leadership.

Jonny Gomes hasn't gotten a lot of hits this year. But the hits he gets mean a lot.

In 2013 David Ortiz has taken on more of a leadership role. He isn't just everyone's friend in the clubhouse. He's expecting more from his teammates and pushing them to push themselves. After the game he spoke about what he told his teammates before the 6th:

"Let's loosen up... What got us to this level is doing what we normally do. If you run, run. If you play defense, play defense. If you hit, hit. If you pitch, you pitch. That's all it takes to win games. And it clicked."

I'm not looking forward to Craig Breslow's next appearance. He's looked dreadful in this series. Without him the bullpen gets stretched very thin. That means the starters must go deeper into games.

Hopefully that's exactly what Jon Lester does Monday night. He faces Adam Wainwright in a rematch of Game 1.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Chris Lee

RED SOX GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!!!

I love the smell of Grand Slams in the morning. Smells like... Victorino.

This is crazy. I'd say that I don't believe it, but with this team I can believe anything. The Red Sox are back in the World Series, a year after being a shambolic travesty.

This team finds different ways to win. They're like a Swiss Army knife, employing the necessary tools to get the job done. Clay Buchholz didn't go deep into the game, so the bullpen stepped up for him. Brandon Workman got 5 outs. Junichi Tazawa only got 1 out but it was Miguel Cabrera.

Sidebar: Tazawa totally owned Cabrera in this series. Cabrera had several big at-bats with runners on in the late innings, and Tazawa neutralized him. Tazawa deserves an honorable mention for ALCS MVP.

After Taz, Breslow pitched a scoreless 8th, and Koji Uehara threw 11 straight strikes for his third save of the series. That's what Koji Ueharas do.

Shane Victorino has not had a good series. He was 2 for 23 in the ALCS when he stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the 7th. He was down 0-2 in the count. Then he smacked a hanging curveball into the Monster seats.

In the top of that same inning Stephen Drew, who has struggled at the plate in these playoffs, got to a Cabrera grounder up the middle and prevented Detroit from adding to their lead. He was 1 for 20 in this series, but he did his job defensively.

The maturity of Xander Bogaerts staggers me. He started the season in AA Portland, last year he was in High-A Salem, now he's in the ALCS and having quality at-bats like a veteran. I'm so happy he is the short-stop of the future and not Jose Iglesias. Iglesias had a chip on his shoulder as if he were already an established Major Leaguer. Bogaerts just plays like an established Major Leaguer. Brandon Workman remarked to Bogaerts post-game about being a "Long way from Portland." He certainly looks like he's a long way from AA.

John Farrell has managed superbly in the playoffs. He's been patient with guys like Victorino, and that's paid off. He's been willing to acknowledge his mistakes and adjust his tactics. He's been selectively aggressive. And you can tell from the general attitude of the team that he instills confidence in his players. If the Sox are a Swiss Army knife, he is the one who decides which tools to utilize in different situations.

This team makes you proud. The way they fight and claw for every base and every out. The way they're able to win in different ways. The way they don't quit. A year ago we were ashamed of our baseball team in Boston. Now we beam with pride when thinking about them.

Game 1 of the World Series is Wednesday night in Boston.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo - Matt Slocum

Red Sox Escape Detroit in Drivers' Seat

The Red Sox have adjusted to Anibal Sanchez since Game 1. They got their first hit of the series off him in the 1st inning. Then scored the first run off him in the 2nd. The Sox came out swinging in this game. They were not on the backfoot, not on the defensive. As we've seen all season with this team, losing only makes them more aggressive and ferocious in their next game. They don't fall back and regroup. They instantly counterattack. Like a cornered animal.

Mike Napoli spearheaded the Red Sox offense. He went 3 for 4 with a double and a homerun. He's hitting .375 in the series. His solo homerun in Game 3 was what gave the Sox a 1-0 lead (and eventual win). His solo homerun in Game 5 turned out to be the difference in Game 5. In a series of three one-run games, Napoli's two solo homeruns have won two games.

Jon Lester was not Ace-like in this game. He didn't have to be. He played with fire throughout his 5.1 innings, giving up 7 hits and walking 3. Though he never got burnt. Only 2 runs scored on his watch but his inability to go deep into the game made the Sox vulnerable. Lester did his job, but he also made the jobs of others harder.

I like Junichi Tazawa, but I don't trust him. Not in a 1-run game. I have partial trust in Craig Breslow, barely enough for a 1-run game. I trust Koji Uehara implicitly, any game, any situation. Red Sox starters need to pitch into the 7th inning in order to avoid exposing the soft underbelly of the bullpen. Breslow and Uehara are the only bullpen arms Sox fans should want to see in the late innings.

The series returns to Boston Saturday evening at 4:30pm. Clay Buchholz faces Max Scherzer. I honestly have no idea what to expect in that game. And that's what has made this series such a thrill to watch.

Photo Credit:
USA Today

John Lackey Outduels Justin Bieber... I Mean Verlander

Justin Verlander (not Justin Bieber, as Erin Andrews almost called him during a post-game interview) entered this game with all the momentum and all the hype. And he lived up to that with a fantastic performance. However it wasn't quite as fantastic as the effort John Lackey put in. Verlander went deeper into the game and struck out more batters, but Lackey didn't allow a run at all. He also didn't walk anybody. The few times he was close to being in trouble, he pitched his way out of it. He needed to be absolutely magnificent for the Sox to win, and he delivered.

Mike Napoli also delivered. His 7th inning homerun was only his third hit of the playoffs. In postseason baseball you only need 1 hit to have a good series.

The bullpen continues to roll. The Tigers' starting pitchers have overall done better than their Red Sox counterparts in this series. The reason the Tigers aren't up 2-1 or 3-0 is because the Sox bullpen has significantly outperformed Detroit's. Detroit's bullpen has pitched 5 innings in this series, and allowed 5 runs, all in Game 2. The Red Sox bullpen has been asked to pitch 8.1 innings and has yet to allow a run.

The bullpen is the reason the Red Sox lead the series 2-1.

It's crazy to think that despite three brilliant outings by Tigers starters, and despite Red Sox hitters going 12 for 90 at the plate (.133), the Sox have the edge in the series.

Jake Peavy starts Game 4 for the Red Sox Wednesday night. This type of situation is the reason why the Sox traded for him. His purpose is to add depth to the rotation for moments like this one. Doug Fister will start for Detroit. Peavy has a good track record against the Tigers' lineup, except Miguel Cabrera who has 3 homeruns off him and Torii Hunter who is 7 for 14 against him. The Red Sox faced Fister twice this season. They were shut down on September 2nd, but knocked him around for 6 runs in 3.1 innings in June. Daniel Nava has crushed Fister in the past, going 5 for 12 off him with 3 doubles. Jarrod Saltalamacchia is 5 for 11 against him.

All three games have been incredibly entertaining. And close. If this series goes the full 7, it will be Lackey facing Verlander again.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Carlos Asorio

Red Sox Coming Back to Boston, Rays Staying in Tampa Bay

This was why the Red Sox got Jake Peavy. They wanted a good pitcher to anchor the bottom of the rotation. And Peavy came through for the Sox last night. So did Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa, and of course Koji Uehara. Those 4 pitchers combined for 9 innings, allowing just 1 run, 6 hits (only 1 for extra-bases), 0 walks, and struck out 10.

By the way, Jose Iglesias is 1 for 12 in the other ALDS. That trade's looking better and better.

The Rays played with fire for most of this game. Their pitchers enjoyed some fortunate double plays to get out of jams. Manager Joe Maddon went with an unorthodox strategy that seemed to work for a time. But how many different pitchers can you bring into a game before one of them just doesn't get the job done?

Joe Maddon has a bit of Bobby Valentine in him. He tries too hard to influence the outcome of the game through his managerial decisions. Sometimes the best thing a manager can do is step back and let his players play, choosing the right time to make one or two smart moves, instead of trying to make a dozen good moves every night.

John Farrell will get credit for pinch-hitting Xander Bogaerts in the 7th, but give the credit to Bogaerts for working a walk. He didn't look like someone who just turned 21 on October 1st and started the season in AA Portland. That was a mature plate appearance for such a young player.

Then the Rays made mistakes. Which they've done all series long. And the Red Sox capitalized on those mistakes. Which they've done all series long. The Sox used their speed to exploit Tampa Bay's miscues. Bogaerts scored on a wild pitch, Ellsbury advanced to third after stealing second on the play, then Victorino legged out an infield single. The Sox scored the tying and winning runs without a ball leaving the infield.

That's how they've won all season long. Whatever it takes, they'll find some way to win. The pitching was great, the offense struggled at first then took advantage of one mistake to score 2 runs. This team seems to will itself to victory.

Now they have a few days off, waiting for the Athletics/Tigers series to resolve itself. Jon Lester gets to rest while those two teams hopefully wear each other out.

Game 1 of the ALCS is Saturday at Fenway Park.

In conclusion, here's Jonny Gomes doing a crazy sprinkler dance...

Photo Credit:
Steve Mitchell - USA Today Sports

Koji Uehara's High-Five Tour

Thanks to MLB Fan Cave for the video.

More Late Heroics for Sox

If you want the division, you can't go down to Houston and lose 2 of 3 to the last place Astros. You have to win that series. Even if it's ugly. Even if it's more dramatic and difficult than it should be, it is crucial to leave Houston with more Ws than Ls. And the Red Sox managed to do that. Ugly Ws count as much as immaculate Ws.

Stephen Drew and Jonny Gomes each had big hits, which is becoming a trend. Drew's 3-run homer in the 9th put the Sox ahead, whiles Gomes hit a 2-run shot in the 7th put the Sox within striking distance.

However, the hero of the game was Junichi Tazawa, who pitched 2 perfect innings in relief of Dempster. Tazawa only needed 17 pitches and struck out 2. He prevented the Astros from padding their lead and put Gomes and Drew in position to be the heroes. Tazawa earned his 5th win of the season.

Tazawa and Koji Uehara have saved this bullpen, and also saved this team. Speaking of saves, Uehara recorded his 11th by striking out the side in the 9th. I love how many strikes he throws. In 19 pitches, he threw 16 strikes. Tazawa and Uehara have each made over 50 appearances and each thrown over 50 innings.

The Sox head north to Kansas City, where the Royals are over .500 (58-53) and only 4.5 games out of a playoff spot. The Royals have a better record than the Yankees. Just thought I'd mention that. And even though it's August, it won't be 1,000 degrees in Kansas City. Highs in the 80s.

Jon Lester faces Bruce Chen tonight. Chen has mostly been used as a reliever this season, although he is 4-0, and he is a lefty, and the Sox have struggled against lefties. Jon Lester needs to do his job. He doesn't need to dazzle, just do his job.

Photo Credit:
Bob Levey/Getty Images

Red Sox Walk Off With 60th Win

It wasn't pretty (3 errors committed by the Sox), and it wasn't quick (4 hours and 46 minutes), but it was entertaining. And that's a good description of the Red Sox season so far. A season in which they're the first team in baseball to 60 wins. A season in which they're an even .600. A season after they only managed 69 wins in total and had a .426 winning percentage.

The team has character. That's important in games like Sunday night's. Ryan Dempster labored through 5.1 innings. Craig Breslow was awful. Thankfully the rest of the bullpen picked up the slack. That's what teams with character do. Matt Thornton and Koji Uehara each struck out 2 in their single innings of work. Uehara only needed 13 pitches in his inning, 10 of which were strikes. Good God I love relievers who throw strikes.

The non-pitching aspects of the game were equally non-immaculate. Three errors. The bats cooled off for 5 innings against the Yankee bullpen. But the Sox stole 4 bases. Shane Victorino had 2 of those steals, he also had 2 RBI. Mike Napoli was the big hero with his 2 homeruns and 4 RBI.

Napoli's timing was perfect. Both his homeruns put the Red Sox ahead of the Yankees.

Getting contributions from different guys every night is how this team has won 60 games. Not getting such contributions is why they lost 93 games last year. There's a completely different aura around this team. They care. They want to win. So far so good.

Here's a list of goals for the Red Sox this season, each increasing in difficulty:

#1: Do better than last year
At the absolute bare minimum, this team had to win 70 games and be better than last year. They're 10 wins away with 62 to play.

#2: Be a .500 team
21 wins away with 62 games left, so they could play .339 baseball and still reach this goal.

#3: Be in the playoff picture down the stretch
This looks promising. The Sox have the best record in the AL. Although they're only 3.5 games ahead of Baltimore, the 2nd Wild Card team.

#4: Make the playoffs
Something they haven't done since 2009.

#5: Advance in the playoffs
Something they haven't done since 2008.

#6: Get to the World Series
You'd have been committed to an insane asylum if you predicted this before the season.

#7: Win it all
Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves, but this is a possibility.

As the Sox approach and achieve these goals, I do have one concern. Although "concern" is probably too strong of a word. There's one thing to keep an eye on: pressure.

To this point, this team hasn't had any pressure on them. They're loose. They make mistakes but don't compound them by pushing too hard to make up for them. They're relaxed. They blew a big lead last night, but it didn't faze them. Their best two starting pitchers have massive question marks around them. Their closer is done. They haven't collapsed, in part because there has been no pressure on them.

That pressure will build. Pressure from the outside as fans and media build up their hopes for this team. And internal pressure as the team has opportunities to reach goals few predicted in Spring Training. It's easy to relax against Sabathia and the Yankees in July. In September in a multi-team playoff race, scoreboard watching the Rays and the O's, that's pressure.

This team's biggest strength is its character. We'll see the true mettle of their character as the pressure increases.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer