Saturday, May 26, 2007

TEXAS TEN STEP


The Red Sox put up 10 runs in support of Matsuzaka. Daisuke pitched well until the 4th, when he allowed 5 runs to score, giving up the lead. But the Sox came back in the 5th to retake it, they then added 4 more in the 6th on their way to a 10-6 victory in Texas last night.

Daisuke was experiencing nausea before and during the game, apparently a symptom of some sort of stomach flu. After his 5 innings, he received IV treatment in the clubhouse for fluid replenishment.

Terry Francona said:

"When he was throwing up, that was a pretty good indication he wasn't feeling too well. But he kind of gathered himself and went after it."

Apparently Daisuke had to puke a few times in between innings. There was no bloody sock, but this was a semi-heroic performance. Hell, I can't even play wiffle ball with a stuffy nose.

The offense picked up Daisuke. Eight of the nine starters had hits, and the only one who didn't was Mike Lowell. Lowell, however, worked three walks. Everyone but JD Drew knocked in a run. Everyone except Pedroia scored a run. The Sox had 17 baserunner, but only left 5 on base. And only 2 of those 5 were left in scoring position.

Meanwhile, the bullpen performed adequately, only allowing 1 run in 4 innings of relief. In the 9th we had to use Papelbon for the 3rd straight time in a non-Save situation. Innings like that, with a 4 run lead, are when you miss a healthy and effective Mike Timlin who can go in and get the last 3 outs.

The Man of the Game is David Ortiz who went 2 for 4 with a double, a run, an RBI, and a walk.

Honorable Mentions go to:
Julio Lugo: 1/5, 2 RBI, run, 2 SBs (Lugo leads the league in RBI for a leadoff hitter)
Manny Ramirez: 2/4, 2B, RBI, run, BB

The win assures that the Red Sox will not be swept. The only time the Sox have been swept this year was a 2 game series in Fenway against Toronto.

The Yankees lost 10-6 to the Angels, the Orioles fell 3-2 against Oakland, and Toronto lost 4-3 to the Twins. The Sox are 10.5 games up in the East

Wakefield against Padilla tonight.

This was my 500th post on this blog. Yay!

Sunday, May 13, 2007

SWEEP


The Sox absolutely dominated Toronto this week. We outscored the Jays 26-5. We outhit Toronto 38 to 19. We hit 9 homeruns, and 17 extra base hits.

The Man of the Game for Tuesday's 9-2 win was Josh Beckett, who earned his 7th straight victory with a 7 inning, 1 earned run performance. Beckett easily could have gone longer. He only threw 89 pitches, but we were up 8-1 so he was taken out after 7. If Schilling was at 89 pitches after 7, Francona would let him go the full 9.

Honorable Mentions:
Dustin Pedroia: 2/4, 3 run homer, 3 RBI, run
Jason Varitek: 4/4, homer, 3 runs
Kevin Youkilis: 3/3, solo homer

The Man of the Game for Wednesday's 9-3 victory is Daisuke Matsuzaka. Ortiz had a monster day, but his RBI were late when the game was already decided. Matsuzaka went 7 and struck out 8 while allowing only allowing one run. Good to see him getting back on track.

Honorable Mentions:
David Ortiz: 4/5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI
Lyle Overbay: 2/2, 2 HR
Mike Lowell: 3/4, HR, BB

The Man of the Game for Thursday's 8-0 triumph is Tim Wakefield. Wake continued to dazzle, as he went 7 scoreless innings, combining with Okajima and Romero for a shutout. Tim allowed 3 hits and a walk. All of the hits were singles. He only threw 93 pitches, and very well could have gone another inning. But we were up 8-0 so there was little reason to do so.

This was the purest victory of the season for the Sox. We were up 8-0 by the 4th, 7-0 by the 3rd, and Toronto never had a chance. Domination.

Honorable Mentions:
Kevin Youkilis: 3/5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Mike Lowell: 1/4, 3 run HR
David Ortiz: 1/4, 2B, 2 RBI, run

Three Flawless Victories in a row.

SOX SQUEEZE ONE OUT


I love 4-3 wins. They're indicative of a good team. 4-3 wins mean good pitching, timely hitting, solid defense, and good relief.

The Man of the Game for Boston's 4-3 win over Minnesota is Dustin Pedroia who went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Honorable Mentions:
Jonathan Papelbon - IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, K
Alex Cora - 2/4, 2 runs
Curt Schilling - 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 K

Monday, May 07, 2007

MERCENARY


Of all the players in baseball, is there anyone you can hate more than Roger Clemens? Barry Bonds, perhaps, but that's about it.

The Scumbag from Texas signed a pro-rated "minor-league" deal with the Yankees, worth approximately $4.5 million a month. If he were pitching an entire season, the deal would be worth $28 million. He'll be allowed to skip road trips when he's not scheduled to pitch (imagine the uproar if Pedro Martinez asked for that in his contract) and should be ready to go by late May or early June.

With Clemens spending the past few seasons in the NL, it's difficult for some fans to remember why he should be hated and despised. Here's a few reasons off the top of my head:

He asked out of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. We all remember Buckner, and Schiraldi, and Stanley, but people rarely talk about Clemens letting us down in the game.

He said he could never pitch against the Red Sox.

Before he left Boston, he seemed done. Everyone gets on Duquette for not re-signing him, pointing to his stats in Toronto, New York, and Houston as proof that it was a bad deal. However, it's strange that it was not until after he got snubbed by Duquette that he once again became an amazing pitcher.

He threw at Mike Piazza's forehead. I'm all for pitching inside, and I'm all for beaning hitters, especially if they've had success against you, but not in the head. You just don't do shit like that.

He threw a broken bat at Piazza.

He pussied out of a start at Shea Stadium where he'd have to bat against the Mets.

He claimed he was retiring, and accepted a Hummer from the City of New York as a retirement gift. He then came out of retirement with Houston and refused to give the Hummer back. I guess scraping by on MLB salary for 20 years has left him strapped for cash.

In the mid 1990s, he constantly came to Red Sox camp out of shape. It wasn't until he got snubbed that he got back to being a professional.

He spent his head-hunting days in the AL.

He was in negotiations with New York, Houston, and Boston about pitching this season, claiming a decision would be made by the 15th of May. Both the Red Sox and Astros were "surprised" by the speed of his decision.

This is a good pickup for the desperate Yankees. They need pitching. This is a good place for Clemens to go, he needs to have attention and be the hero. But this move doesn't put them over the top. They still need Pettitte and Wang to pitch well, and they need some contribution from their arsenal of mediocrity.

I wanted the Sox to get Clemens, but we didn't really need him, not as badly as the Yankees did. I don't feel like we've lost the bidding war to get Clemens, I simply feel like the Yankees wanted to win it more, understandably so.

He is supposed to return around late May or early June. The Sox and Yankees have a series in Fenway in the first week of June. I only hope that the Fenway Faithful remember how much of a scummer Clemens is and mercilessly boo The Mercenary.

TWINS OUTPITCHES TAVAREZ


Tavarez hasn't been the best pitcher in the rotation by any stretch of the imagination. But, he's had some tough opponents facing him. Roy Halladay twice and now Johan Santana and the Twins bullpen.

The Sox had 14 baserunners and only managed to plate 1 of them. Tavarez pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs. But Santana went 5 allowing 1, and the Twins' pen went 4 allowing nothing.

Offensively, the Sox did everything but score to win this one. They got guys on base, they worked Santana's pitch count and got him out of the game, they just couldn't finish.

Man of the Game was Manny Ramirez who went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk.

Honorable Mentions:
Julian Tavarez: 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 K
Joel Pineiro: 2 IP, perfect
Dustin Pedroia: 2/2, 2B, BB, RBI

Bitch-Goat:
Tavarez: 0.2 - 2 ER
Lugo: 0.3 - 0/5, 2 K, 5 LOB
Ortiz: 0.2 - 0/5, 2 K, 2 LOB
Lowell: 0.2 - 0/4, 3 K
Drew: 0.1 - 0/3, 2 K, 2 LOB

Sunday, May 06, 2007

TWO RUNS IS ENOUGH SUPPORT FOR WAKEFIELD


A few weeks ago, one of my friend's had a friend visiting him, and he was bemoaning his struggles in his fantasy baseball league. I told him "Is Wakefield available? If so, pick him up."

"Why the hell would I want Tim Wakefield?"

Here's why:

Wakefield threw 7 innings, allowed 3 hits, and 3 walks. He didn't allow a run, he struck out 2. His ERA is at 2.11. That's 8th best in the Majors and 2nd best in the AL behind Haren. The 3-3- record is deceiving considering the lack of support he's gotten. If anything, the 3 wins are impressive.

The Sox didn't give Tim much help, but it was enough. The Sox were held scoreless until the 6th when Ortiz blasted one off Silva. That was enough. The Sox added an insurance run in the 9th when Drew tripled and Crisp knocked him in with a basehit.

Once again, great bullpen work. Romero pitched 0.2 innings, then Donnelly finished the 8th with 1 pitch. Papelbon was saved by a Coco Crisp grab (did you see it?), but wound up pitching a perfect 9th for his 9th Save.

Man of the Game was Tim Wakefield. Seven scoreless, AND he was sick!

Honorable Mentions:
Carlos Silva: 7 IP, 1 ER
David Ortiz: 1/3, HR, BB
Coco Crisp: 1/4, RBI, great catch

SOX WIN SLUGFEST AGAINST SEATTLE


Good teams are capable of winning all kinds of games. 12-10 offensive battles, 2-1 pitching duels, and 6-3 "middle" games. This game was an example of a good win, even though it's NEVER good to allow 7 runs to score. Matsuzaka had control issues (he's falling behind in counts too often, as feared in my season preview), but the bullpen pitched well and the Sox hitters gave him some good run support.

Kyle Snyder had a solid outing from the pen, he's become a solid middle relief guy (probably because he pitches once a week). He got into a jam but Donnelly rescued him. Then JC Romero got the Save. Where was Papelbon? That's a question that has remained unanswered. Nevertheless, good to see that someone besides Paps can get a tough save. Romero was the 4th different Sox pitcher to record a Save, Papelbon, Okajima, and Timlin being the others. Is this Bullpen By Committee Redux?

When Manny Ramirez starts to hit consistently, this ball club will go from scary to fierce. He had a big night and is the Man of the Game. He went 2 for 5 with a pair of homers, including the 8th inning game winner. All 3 of Manny's RBI came with 2 outs. It's May and this is Manny's first Man of the Game for the season. Tells you how slow he's started.

Honorable Mentions:
Jose Guillen: 3/4, double, 3 RBI, run
Wily Mo Pena: 4/4, double, run scored
Brendan Donnely: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 2 inherited runners stranded

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

THE NEW ACE


Josh Beckett became Major League Baseball's first 6 win pitcher as the Sox beat Oakland 6-4. With a 6-0 record, a 2.72 ERA and 33 Ks, Beckett is the new Ace of the staff so far this season.

He's allowed 1 homer, and walked 9 batters this year. Last year he allowed 36 homers and walked 74 men. Right now he's on pace to allow 6 homers and walk 56 batters. It's still only early May, but the start that he's had is very impressive.

One thing that impresses me a lot about Becks is that he is keeping his pitch count down. He only threw 103 pitches tonight. If we had needed him to, he could have easily started the 8th inning. But, we have Okajima, who got his 7th Hold of the season with a hitless inning. What a find he's been. What makes Okajima even more enjoyable to watch is the fact that the Yankees could have had bought him from Yomiuri before us, but didn't. By the way, Okajima won AL Rookie of the Month for April.

Solid offensive performance by the Sox tonight. Every player had a hit, and the team had 13. No really big innings, but the Sox kept piling on runs. Ortiz with an RBI groundout in the 3rd, RBI single by Lugo in the 4th, Cora with an RBI groundout in the 6th, then Lugo with a Sac-Fly to follow, Cora with an RBI single in the 7th, and JD Drew with an RBI single in the 8th.

It was good to see Cora back in the lineup. Yesterday, the Sox said that second base would not be a platooned position. Honestly, I think Pedroia should either be platooned and play against lefties, or go back down to AAA for at least a month to get his swing/confidence back. Cora's doing well, and Pedroia is struggling. As important as keeping Pedroia in the lineup so he gets at-bats is to his development, it's also important that his confidence doesn't melt away. Maybe he could use some time in Pawtucket to hit some minor league pitching and get back into a groove.

I'm glad Timlin was used for the 3 run save in the 9th. It might have been good for Papelbon to come back right away after blowing a save, but in the long run, the fewer times he pitches on consecutive days, the better.

Man of the Game was Josh Beckett. Normally, a 7 IP, 3 ER start isn't enough to earn MOTG honors, but nobody else on either team really stuck out more than him. Becks also struck out 7.

Honorable Mentions:
Julio Lugo: 1/3, 2 RBI, Sac-Fly, SB
Hideki Okajima: IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, K
Kevin Youkilis: 1/2, 2 BB, run

Daisuke against Horacio Ramirez and the Mariners in a makeup game tomorrow.

In other baseball news, the Yankees fired their training staff. Good move. I'm not being sarcastic, either. They hired a new group of training/conditioning people this season. I guess they ran a different kind of program that was supposed to prevent soft tissue injuries. The program failed.