VERY LONG WEEKEND ENDS WITH SOX EMBARRASSMENT

Saturday night's tough extra inning defeat, coupled with the Patriots' hardships in California were made bearable because Jon Lester was pitching on Monday. Jon Lester would make things good again for Boston sports fans. Jon Lester would shut down the Rays, and the Sox would be up 2-1 in the ALCS.

Jon Lester came, he saw, he got knocked around.



He dominated the first two innings. The Rays drew a cheap run in the 2nd thanks to a missed strike call, a passed ball, and a bloop single. But Lester fell apart in the 3rd, giving up a single, a double, and a pair of homeruns. He put himself together and pitched well after that, but sufficient damage had been done.

Why was 5 runs enough to end a game in the 3rd inning?

Because this offense has decided not to hit, or at least not to hit at the right times. Ortiz + Youkilis + Drew = 1 for 12 with a single and 5 Ks. Ellsbury is 0 for his last 20. Ortiz is 1 for his last 17. It's one thing to have Varitek and Cora struggling, it's something entirely different to have your leadoff hitter and middle of the lineup slugger unable to do anything at the plate.



The offensive woes have been frustrating. But the starting pitching has given two very shabby performances the last two games. Had Beckett made a solid start Saturday night, the Sox would be up 2-1, not down 1-2. Playoff baseball is won and lost by pitching, not hitting. And for the last 19 innings, that pitching has been dreadful.

The news doesn't get much better. Andy Sonnanstine takes on Tim Wakefield Tuesday night. Sonnansitine pitched 13 innings against the Sox this year without allowing an earned run. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, and Youkilis are a combined 10 for 55 (.182) against him. Wakefield, on the other hand, was 0-2 against Tampa, with a 5.87 ERA.

But anything can happen. And at the very least, we won't have to suffer through 4 Jason Varitek at-bats. And at least none of our pitchers worship Satan.



Finally, did you know that Rocco Baldelli is from Woonsocket, RI? You'd think the TBS guys might have mentioned it at least once.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
AP Photo/Winslow Townson

GAME MISMANAGEMENT

The Patriots and us fans have, for the most part, been patient with Matt Cassel. After the 38-13 thrashing by Miami, most of us blamed the defense and stood by Cassel, saying "he didn't do anything to lose the game." Those days are over.

Case in point...

First Patriot possession of the game: Moss gets a step on Quentin Jammer, has a clear path for the end zone, Cassel underthrows and Jammer breaks it up. The Pats wind up missing a field goal.

It took Cassel a while to get things together last Sunday against the 49ers. The start of the 2nd half seemed to be a repeat of the trend as he came out firing. But a 12 play, 76 yard drive resulted in 0 points. Cassel was 5 of 6 for 65 yards before the drive reached the red zone. But from the 1 yard line, he was 0 for 2 with a sack.

Matt Cassel choked. There's no other way to put it.

3rd & Goal, Sammy Morris open, Cassel fires a laser right at his ankles.

4th & Goal, Ben Watson wide open, Cassel doesn't see, then hesitates, starts to scramble, takes a step back, then scrambles again, right into the pile.



The game was, for all intents and purposes, over. The Chargers drove 98 yards for a score. Then Cassel hit Quentin Jammer right between the numbers. In a 5:00 stretch, a potential 17-10 game turns to a 27-3 blowout.

But the defense once again did their best to do their worst. The secondary was exposed and ripped apart like Madonna in the 1996 Chicago Bulls locker room. Everyone in the secondary, except Brandon Meriweather perhaps, had at least one embarrassing play. Vincent Jackson simply toyed with Deltha O'Neal. The front 7 also failed at pressuring Rivers with any consistency.



The best Patriot performer of the night was punter Chris Hanson. His open field tackle of Sproles was far and away the most impressive defensive play of the game for the Pats.

The Chargers are not the same premier team they've been the past two seasons. Without Michael Turner, LT loses a step. They have a much weaker pass rush. Their head coach is Norv Turner for Christ's sake! And they dominated the Pats. This is the second time the Pats have lost to a second-tier team.

A good team (Denver) comes to Foxborough next Monday night. Redemption can perhaps be attained with a victory over the Broncos. But a loss puts the Patriots somewhere they haven't been since week 9 of 2006... .500.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Denis Poroy
AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi

STINGING DEFEAT

You score 8 runs in a game, you'll probably win. You score 8 runs in a playoff game, it's almost a sure thing that you won't lose. But that's what the Sox did. 9-8.

It's time to face a harsh reality: The two best postseason performers the Sox have - David Ortiz and Josh Beckett - are not performing. Ortiz did walk 3 times last night, but he was 0 for 3, 0 for 6 in the series, and 4 for 23 in the postseason. He's knocked in 1 run. 1 run. Before the 2008 playoffs, Ortiz had 42 RBI in 52 postseason games.

The two playoff games the Red Sox have lost were both Josh Beckett starts. 9.1 innings in 2 starts, 12 earned runs, 5 walks, 5 homeruns, FIVE HOMERUNS, 18 hits. During the regular season, he allowed a homer once every 9.7 innings. Now it's a homer every 1.8 innings. Coming into this postseason, Beckett had allowed 4 homers in 72.2 playoff innings.



The Sox can win without Ortiz and Beckett at their best. They nearly won last night. But it becomes so much harder, and requires so much more from everyone else. The Sox needed amazing nights from Pedroia and Bay, and 4.2 innings of scoreless relief just to force extra innings.



It was a stinging loss because of how many runs the Sox scored, how many opportunities for more they didn't capitalize on, and how well the bullpen pitched.

But what really stings is that Ortiz has become a hole in the middle of the lineup. And if the series goes to 6 games, how much faith can we place in Josh Beckett?

Game 3 Monday afternoon, Jon Lester vs. Matt Garza.

Sources:
ESPN.com
Baseball-Reference.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara

MANNY BEING MANNY

The Bruins are having a little intrasquad competition between goaltenders. Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez will split time until a clear #1 goalie emerges. I contend, however, that a clear #1 emerged last season.

Thomas was selected for the All-Star Game last year. He was 4th in the NHL in save percentage at .921, with a solid 2.44 Goals Against Average. The Bruins already have their #1 goalie. I know it's a shame to waste Fernandez's cap number on a backup, but Thomas is clearly the superior goalie.

Fernandez showed signs of rust last night in Minnesota. He said himself:

"The first and second goal was a good example of what's missing in my game, the sharpness. Those are two goals that shouldn't go. There's no reason for that, regardless if I get a good look or not."

He has only played in 5 games the last year, so maybe he'll settle down. And perhaps the Bruins want to showcase him in order to trade him (or Thomas) and get some help somewhere else.

One place the Bruins don't seem to need much help with is the offense. Down 4-1, they turned this one into a game, getting within one goal with 1:38 still on the clock. Marc Savard had two goals. The last time the Assist Machine had two goals in a game was January 6th, 2006.

Winger Chuck Kobasew is out for an unknown amount of time due to a fractured ankle. He injured it on a dump-in play in Thursday night's season opener.

The Bruins have a few days off before going up to Montreal and playing the Canadiens Wednesday night.



Sources:
ESPN.com
NHL.com
Boston.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Jim Mone

SOX STEAL GAME 1 ON THE ROAD

Daisuke Matsuzaka proved all his critics wrong last night. He's been called a "5 inning starter" and his playoff record has come under some heat. He also justified Francona's decision to start him in Game 1.



Daisuke went 7+ innings, allowing 4 hits. All 4 hits came in the 7th and 8th. He matched his season high in strikeouts with 9. He had to be pulled after allowing a few hits in the 8th, but he went deep enough to give the Sox bullpen a legit chance of holding a lead. Matsuzaka wins the Man of the Game for ALCS Game 1.



The Sox offense wasn't overly impressive, but was able to capitalize on some of the opportunities they were presented, unlike Tampa Bay. Kotsay had a fortunate double that set up a Lowrie sac-fly in the 5th. Youkilis hit a double off Carl Crawford's glove in the 8th and knocked in an insurance run.



Ortiz (0 for 3) needs to start hitting, and Ellsbury needs to be more consistent (0 for 5), for this lineup to function properly.

Jonathan Papelbon's perfect 9th added to his scoreless postseason inning streak. He's pitched 20.2 playoff innings without allowing a run. That is a new record, breaking Phil Neikro's streak of 20.

Winning Game 1 on the road is huge. To win this series, the Sox had to win at least one road game, and now they've already done that. They have Beckett on Saturday then Lester on Monday. The series is nowhere near over, but this is a tremendous start.

Beckett takes the mound tonight against Scott Kazmir. Both Aces had "down" seasons, each only winning 12 games. Dustin Pedroia is 14 for 25 (.560) off Kazmir with two doubles, a triple, and a homer. But the rest of the Sox haven't hit him very well in the past.

Kazmir was 0-2 against the Sox in 4 starts this season, with a 9.00 ERA in 18 innings pitched. So the Sox can hit this guy.

Beckett was 2-1 against Tampa this year, going 35 innings in 5 starts with a 2.06 ERA.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara
AP Photo/Doug Persinger, Pool

BRUINS DO SOMETHING THEY HAVEN'T DONE IN 15 YEARS

Win a season opening game on the road. The last time was 1993 against the Rangers. And the last time the Bruins won any opening game was 2001 against the Ducks. This is only the 35th time in franchise history (which spans back to 1924), that the Bruins have won their opening game.



And in a complete surprise, they won it thanks to an explosive offense. They only got 20 shots on Colorado's net, but 5 went in. Defensively, they were porous, allowing 39 shots to reach Tim Thomas, who had a good night despite the 4 goals allowed.



Newcomers Blake Wheeler and Michael Ryder each scored in their Bruins debut. Wheeler's score was a product of some nifty passing as the puck was brought up ice. Kobasew, Krejci, and Wheeler knocked it around as they took the zone, then Wheeler drove it in for his first career goal.

I don't know much about Michael Ryder's personal life, but his new best friend is Marc Savard. Savard hit him in front with a behind the back pass just as he passed the net. Ryder hit the top shelf for his first Bruins goal, and the 100th of his career.



Patrice Bergeron had two assists in his first NHL game since last October. He would have had a goal or two if not for some outstanding saves by Peter Budaj, robbing Bergeron of several one-on-one opportunities.

A win on the road against a solid team like Colorado is a good way to start a season. But there were some problems that need immediate fixing. The Bruins took a few boneheaded and soft penalties. Chara inadvertently boarded a guy, Bergeron tripping a guy with less than 2 minutes left in the game in neutral ice, Aaron Ward flipping the puck over the glass when the Bruins were already shorthanded. The Bruins also gave up 3 leads in this game, let Colorado get deep into their zone and rattle off too many shots at Thomas.

The Bruins go to Minneapolis next and face the Wild on Saturday night... the same time as the Sox game. I wonder who will win that ratings battle?

Sources:
BostonBruins.com
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/David Zalubowski

ALCS GAME 1 PREVIEW

Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. James Shields.

There's a slight bit of controversy with the way Francona has set up the Sox rotation for their 4th ALCS in 6 years. Matsuzaka in Game 1, Beckett in 2, Lester in 3, Wakefield in 4. This means that for Jon Lester - the hottest pitcher on the planet - to have two starts, the series would have to go 7 games. My ideal rotation would have been Beckett-Lester-Matsuzaka-Byrd. But maybe Tito wanted to give Beckett an extra day of rest, didn't want to sit Matsuzaka for 9 days, and the reasoning that Byrd would be better out of the bullpen makes some sense.

Daisuke was a liability in the ALDS, going 5 innings and allowing 3 runs. In the regular season against Kansas City or Oakland, that kind of start was good enough to win. Not in October, and not against the Rays.



Daisuke has a good track record against Tampa Bay hitters. However, two have hit him very well.

Dioner Navarro - 3/18 (.167)
BJ Upton - 1/13 (.077)
Carl Crawford - 3/11 (.273)
Jason Bartlett - 1/11 (.091)
Akinori Iwamura - 9/24 (.375)
Carlos Pena - 5/16 (.313), 2 doubles, homerun, 7 walks

Daisuke made 3 starts against Tampa Bay. He went 1-0, pitched 15 innings, allowed 13 hits, 5 earned runs, walked 11, and struck out 17. The number that really bugs me is that 15 innings pitched, or 5 innings a start. All three of his starts lasted 5 innings. In two of those starts, he threw 101 pitches. In the other one, it was 102 pitches.

Matsuzaka's allowable pitch count will be high for Friday's start. Think 120 and possibly more, if he's effective. The Red Sox need him to go at least 6, and preferably 7. The Rays took advantage of the Sox bullpen throughout the season, and those opportunities need to be limited.

Against James Shields, the Red Sox have been either feast or famine.

Feast:
JD Drew - 5/15 (.333), 2 doubles, homerun
Dustin Pedroia - 5/10 (.500)
David Ortiz - 7/14 (.500), 4 doubles, 2 homeruns, 1.214 slugging, PWN3D!!!1

Famine:
Kevin Youkilis - 0/17 (.000)
Jason Varitek - 1/10 (.100)
Coco Crisp - 2/10 (.200)
Jacoby Ellsbury - 1/10 (.100)

David Ortiz is more important in this series than he was against Anaheim. The Sox need some power from him. Maybe facing Shields will help get him back on track.



Shields was 9-2 in Tropicana Field, with a 2.59 ERA. But he was 2-2 against the Sox with a 5.85 ERA. He threw a 2 hit shutout against the Sox in April. HOWEVER, since that complete game, he's pitched 11 innings in 3 starts against the Sox, allowing 18 hits, 4 walks (2.00 WHIP), and 13 earned runs (10.64 ERA).

The Sox have a very good chance to win this game. Shields can be touched for a few runs, and forced to leave early. I think Daisuke will go 6 innings, scattering some hits and walks, but not giving in. The bullpen will rattle some nerves, and let Tampa get close. But Papelbon will close the door. 5-3 Red Sox.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa
AP Photo/Steve Nesius, Pool

SICK AND TIRED OF MANNY RAMIREZ REGRET

It's been a little over two months since Manny Ramirez was traded to the Dodgers. Most fans in Boston, LA, and fans of the game in general, would agree that both teams seemed to benefit. The Dodgers went on to win the NL West, the Red Sox took the AL Wild Card. Both teams advanced to their League Championship Series.

However, some refuse to accept the fact that Manny Ramirez had to go. Most of these people are stupid, heavy drinking, know-nothing know-it-alls that simply can't admit that they're wrong about anything. If you listen to WEEI, Bill from New Hampshire is a perfect example of this miserable lower class of fan.

Maybe we should start calling ESPN's Page 2 columnist Bill Simmons, Bill from Connecticut. His recent 10,000 word rant about Manny being an innocent pawn in a game of chess between Theo Epstein and Scott Boras came out right as the postseason got underway.



I can imagine Bill Simmons gritting his teeth every time the Red Sox failed to deliver with runners on in the ALDS. I can imagine him proclaiming "That's where we miss Manny." And I can imagine a small part of him wanting the Red Sox to lose so that the departure of his flaky idol would be blamed for the failure.

Just to put a few facts out there: Manny Ramirez is a grown man. He's a goofy bastard, but he's no child. He hired Scott Boras, not the other way around. And as much influence as Boras may have wielded, it was still Manny who gave the green light in the end. It was still Manny who took three strikes in Yankee Stadium. It was still Manny who shoved a Red Sox employee to the ground, slapped Kevin Youkilis in public, demanded a trade, and faked injury in the middle of a pennant race.



Simmons repeatedly argues that the Sox could have suspended Manny if they wanted to get him in line. In other words, punish the player who doesn't want to play by not letting him play. That makes tons of sense, Bill.

The Red Sox front office has a history of tarnishing the reputation of departing superstars. They use leaks in the media all too wisely. Simmons thinks these leaks are a form of propaganda, and that the club has a stranglehold on the Boston sports media. But maybe, just maybe, the front office spins exiting stars negatively because of overly attached fans like Simmons.

Then again, how much bad stuff came out about Johnny Damon? Or Derek Lowe?



The most irritating part of Simmons' rant is that he tries to come off as the voice of all Sox fans. He thinks himself Tribunus Plebis (tribune of the people) of Red Sox Nation. But it's difficult to have the pulse of a New England fanbase from Los Angeles.

Simmons and a few other Sox fans suffer from the pie-in-the-sky desire to have a productive Manny Ramirez still here. This is understandable, but also silly. Perhaps the Ramirez fiasco could have been avoided had the Sox agreed not to exercise their options at the end of the season. Then again, why should the team do that just to appease one player? A contract's a contract.

Either way, Manny Ramirez forced the issue to a point of no return, not Theo Epstein, not Scott Boras. It wasn't Epstein or Boras who lost the respect of the Red Sox clubhouse, it was Manny. The Red Sox didn't vote 23 to 1 to oust Boras, or fire Theo; they voted to trade Manny.

Simmons can belittle the success the Sox enjoyed with Manny by pointing out their weak schedule. But the Sox just took 3 of 4 from the Angels... the only 100 win team in baseball... and 2 of those wins were in Anaheim... and Jason "No Playoff Experience" Bay was one of the heroes.

I can envision a few weeks from now, if the Sox win it all, a Bill Simmons blurb about how much more fun the Red Sox rolling rally would have been if Manny Ramirez had been there.




Scott Boras Drawing From:
Partmule.com