Red Sox Get Another Extra Win in Extra Innings

This is the type of game the Sox would lose in 2012 and at the end of 2011. Someone would make a big error, or a reliever would give up 4 runs without getting an out. This year this team finds ways to win. Even when one reliever doesn't do well, the others step up and put the fire out. And the offense eventually does just enough to win the game.

The Sox are 8-4 in extra-inning games, 3-0 since the All-Star Break. Squeezing out these extra wins instead of blowing them has been the difference between 1st and 2nd place. A 6-6 record in extra-inning games and the Sox would be tied with the Rays in the loss column.

Ryan Dempster was better than solid last night. The Sox weren't hitting for him. He only allowed 1 run in his 7 innings. And if Tazawa hadn't allowed a homerun in the 8th, Dempster would have been in line for his 7th win of the season. Which would have been nice because his 6-8 record doesn't reflect how decently he's pitched this year. In 4 of those 8 losses he's thrown a Quality Start. He hasn't been amazing, but he has done what he was hired to do here.

It seems like it's different heroes every night with the Sox. Last night it was Shane Victorino with a 2-run single in the 11th. Victorino also threw out Jose Reyes at home plate to end the 6th.

The other hero was Craig Breslow who struck out Mark DeRosa with 2 on and 2 out in the 10th. It's funny how a relief appearance like that gets no decision. No win, no hold, no save. Maybe we can invent a new stat for relievers: Fires Extinguished (FE). Whenever a reliever enters a game mid-inning with the tying or go-ahead run in scoring position and doesn't give up that run, then it's an FE. I know it's not as advanced as those newfangled Sabermetrics, but I like it.

The Rays lost to the Mariners so the Sox now have a 4-game (2 in the loss column) lead in the division.

Jon Lester takes the mound tonight against Josh Johnson. Lester did well in his last start but didn't get any support. It would be nice for the Sox to make things easy and score 6 or 7 runs. And it'd be nice if Jon Lester made things easy and held Toronto to 4 or fewer. Johnson is 2-8 with a 6.60 ERA. This is a game to win.

Photo Credit:
Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly from the Patriots Preseason Opener

I'd like to extend a personal thanks to Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone for coming up with the title The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly for his 1966 Western starring Clint Eastwood and Eli Wallach. He has provided titles to sports stories (along with a format to break down games) for nearly 50 years. Molte grazie, Mr. Leone.

To the Patriots...

The Good:
The Patriots ran all over the Eagles. While LeGarrette Blount stole the show with 101 yards and 2 touchdowns, Steven Ridley's performance was more important for us to see. Ridley ended the 2012 season with a chilling concussion...

Before Gronk's surgeries, Welker's departure, and Hernandez's arrest, the status of Ridley's brain was a big off-season worry for the Pats.

Ridley ran the ball 8 times for 92 yards, most of that achieved in a 62-yard run on the first play from scrimmage. It was good to see Ridley running with confidence and running effectively.

This team will need to have a reliable running game. Not just consistent positive yardage and to keep defenses honest, but the ability to drive down field on the ground and occasionally run for 20+ yards. And having faith to run the ball on 3-4 yard short yardage situations. The Pats don't have a go-to receiver right now on those 3rd and 3 plays. They have to be able to convert some of those on the ground.

As a team the Pats ran for 248 yards. Not bad at all.

The new Patriots receivers also looked good when Brady was in the game. After an incomplete on his first pass, Brady threw 7 consecutive completions. Kenbrell Thompkins caught 4 of those passes, all shorter than 8 yards. Amendola caught a 6-yard pass, Aaron Dobson a 23 yarder. Shane Vereen's 13-yard TD catch was impressive. With a lack of quality WRs as well as no more Danny Woodhead, guys like Vereen will need to be a threat to catch passes.

Last year Vereen caught 8 passes for 149 yards and 6 first downs. Woodhead caught 40 passes for 446 yards and 22 first downs. Closing the gap between those statistical performances will help ease the pressure off the new receivers.

The Bad:
The secondary didn't look good when starters were in. However, Devin McCourty and Alfonzo Dennard did not play. That emphasizes how important they are to the secondary, and it also emphasizes how much of a drop off there is from the top 2 cornerbacks on this team and everyone else. Kyle Arrington can tread water as a #3 CB, but as a #1 or #2 he drowns. It's like taking a kid who can't swim from the shallow end of the pool to the deep end.

The Ugly:
Tim Tebow is not a quarterback on this team. He is a horrible thrower. He is woefully inaccurate. He takes too long to make a decision, and those decisions aren't good. His delivery is even slower than his progression. He can run (4 carries for 31 yards), but he is not a passer.

I do think Tebow will make this team, but be used as an element in trick plays, gimmick formations, and as a short yardage runningback. Then again, if Blount continues to do well, do you need another big runningback like Tebow taking up a roster spot?

So what we learned Friday night we kind of knew already: Brady is great. Ridley can run the ball. The secondary lacks depth. Tim Tebow can't throw.

Patriots host the Buccaneers Friday night, which should see more Brady and less Tebow. Or maybe more Tebow running and trying other things, and less Tebow passing.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Matt Rourke

Wes Welker Left Because He's a Wuss

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, Wes Welker has attributed his leaving New England to a frosty relationship with Bill Belichick. Welker claims that Belichick had begun to call him out in front of teammates, which he hadn't done before.

"It was just kind of hard, one of those deals where you have to endure him, put up with him... But he does it to everybody. It's the way he is."

Welker also still feels Belichick's influence when he speaks to the Denver media.

"When I'm answering questions from the Denver media, I'm not worried about what the Broncos' people are going to think, I'm worried about what Belichick will think. Isn't that crazy?"

Poor baby Welker. Was Coach Belichick mean to you? And you didn't want to play here anymore?

I wasn't happy about Welker leaving. But I got past it pretty quickly. There was contract confusion, Welker's agent seemed a bit amateurish, and the relationship between he and the team had grown sour. It was a rough breakup, but the Patriots moved on, and so did I.

However Welker is still going on and on about his feelings. Get over it, dude. You're a Bronco now. You're fortunate enough to go from catching passes from Brady (except those two you dropped in the Super Bowl and AFC Championship game) to catching balls from Peyton Manning. You're learning a new offense with new teammates in a new city with new people. Time to move on.

Yet your mind is still in Foxborough, still feeling unloved by Coach Belichick, still talking about how you couldn't talk in New England.

Stop the Taylor Swift routine and toughen up, Welker. Move on and shut up.

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

Patriots 15, Texans 10

The 9th inning was the only scoreless frame in this game. And this game was a good example of the Red Sox being good enough offensively to win a regular season game against lackluster opposition. It was also a good example of why the Sox needed to trade for Peavy. They needed depth at starting pitcher. Badly.

Steven Wright lasted an inning, then Brandon Workman labored through 4.2 innings. The Sox scored runs off Houston's horrible pitchers. Ellsbury hit a pair of homers, and Jonny Gomes hit a 3-run shot in the 6th. Ryan Lavarnway hit a 2-run double in the 5th to put the Sox ahead 8-7. In other words, he scored the 2-point conversion that put the Sox ahead.

This was a horrible 4 hour game. It was an abomination. Nobody should be all that proud of it, not even David Ortiz, who went 4 for 4.

The important thing is the Sox won. They got bad pitching but their opponent's bad pitching was worse. The Sox were the least worst team on the field. And that works in August, but it won't in October.

That's why the Sox got Peavy. That's why they need Buchholz to grow a pair and show up. That's why they should have acquired a mediocre reliever to pitch 3 non-consequential innings a week. Just to give the overtaxed and undertalented bullpen a breather.

Dempster faces Jarred Cosart tonight. Cosart is a 23-year old righty with 4 career starts to his name. He's done well in those starts, but he does tend to walk batters. A patient Sox lineup should exploit him.

And all Dempster has to do is keep Houston to a touchdown or less.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Pat Sullivan

Riley Cooper Might Be a Racist, He Might Not Be, But He's Definitely a Douchebag

Dan Wetzel at Yahoo! wrote a very good piece about Riley Cooper, suggesting that the Eagles WR should apologize to the black security guard he said the N-word to, and that the man who was the target of the slur has been lost in the conversation.

Cooper didn't just use the word in a joke, or in a general way, he said it to a person. And in a threatening way. This 6' 3" 222 pound pro athlete felt the need to try to intimidate some security guard, and used the slur to do it. And he was quite comfortable using it in conversation.

I don't know if Cooper is a racist or not. His teammates might have forgiven him. And he'll undergo some sort of bogus "anger management" or "racial sensitivity" training after this incident. And these classes will mean as much to him as his classes at Florida meant. He'll show up, pass without trying, and move on with his life.

He'll learn to not use that word. He'll learn to behave himself in public, especially when someone is holding their phone up and obviously recording. He will not, however, learn how to avoid be a douchebag.

He was pissed off at the security guard because he couldn't get backstage. As if Riley Cooper is a recognizable face (especially in a sea of fake-hicks wearing plaid cutoff shirts) and should be granted limitless access wherever he goes. Cooper probably could have gone through his team in order to get backstage, it happens when concerts are held at sporting venues. I'm sure the team would have found a way to accommodate him. Instead, Cooper wanted to skip all that and be recognized as better than everyone else. The security guard did his job, and he got called a nigger for it.

Yes I typed it. I typed it because Cooper said it. And he said it in a threat. What Cooper did was absurd, and his absurdity needs to be reinforced by actually using the word Cooper used.

To reiterate, Cooper is 6 foot, 3 inches tall. He weighs 222 pounds, almost all muscle. He's a pro athlete in a physical sport. And he was threatening someone. Cooper has to be the big, tough man. He had to threaten the guy who didn't bow down before him. He had to find a way to insult and belittle the security guy. Because how dare that NOBODY get in the way of Riley fucking Cooper?

I don't care about the Eagles fining him (What was the point of that, by the way? How token of a gesture is that?). I don't care about his apologizing. I don't care about his teammates forgiving him. I don't care about his sensitivity training. Racist or not, sorry or not, he's proven himself to be a massive tool.

By the way the Patriots and Eagles are practicing together next week. The practices will be closed sessions. I hope Adrian Wilson jacks this douche-nozzle up. Then Cooper will be asking security guards at concerts where he can keep his crutches.

Also, kudos to the security guy for not flipping his shit and going after Cooper.

Magic Sox

I officially have a boner for this team. I am excited, eager, a little sweaty, and generally pumped about this team.

They weren't supposed to win this game. Ryan Dempster vs. Felix Hernandez. Down 5 runs in the 9th. And I was fine with that. The Sox won the 15 inning game the night/morning before, and losing to Hernandez is completely excusable. We had all printed a pass for the Sox when and if they lost this game.

The Sox were not fine with accepting that pass. They took advantage of a bizarre 9th inning which saw an opposing manager use the wrong arm to signal a pitcher, and a very hitter-friendly strike zone from home plate umpire David Rackley. Perhaps that was karma from the blown call at home plate against Tampa Bay on Monday.

And not only did the Sox win, they won in 9. They didn't get involved in another draining extra inning game. They finished it in 9 and preserved their energy for Arizona this weekend.

Once Hernandez left the game, with a comfortable 6 run lead, Shane Victorino hit a homerun. It didn't seem to mean much at the time. It would wind up meaning quite a bit.

Daniel Nava started off the 9th with a walk. Lavarnway singled, Holt doubled, Nava scored. Then Ellsbury walked. Mariners interim manager Robby Thompson wanted a righty to face Victorino and Pedroia. But on his way to the mound he tapped his left hand. The umpires caught this and forced the Mariners to put a lefty in. Victorino singled to knock in 2, Pedroia singled to make it a 7-6 game. Ortiz struck out against the lefty, then Thompson finally got to put in the righty he initially wanted. Gomes singled to tie the game, Drew walked, and Nava finished the inning he started with a fly-ball to deep center. Once it left his bat there was no doubt the game was over.

From 7-2 down to 8-7 up in 1 inning. Simply magical.

The Sox continue to do well at home. They're 22 games above .500 overall, 17 of those games are at Fenway (37-20 record).

The Sox start a 3-game series with Arizona tonight. Lester faces 23-year old righty Randall Delgado. This is a chance for Lester to be Ace-like, or semi-Ace-like, and continue the momentum the Sox have built this week. Or it's his chancy to be Lester the mope, and ruin everything.

Photo Credit:
Jim Rogash/Getty Images

Red Sox Won This Morning

I have a feeling that the playoff races in the AL will come down to a very small number of games. So it's vital that the Red Sox are able to win games like last night's/this morning's. Especially with Felix Hernandez starting for Seattle tonight.

You can't say enough about the Red Sox bullpen in this one. After Tazawa blew the lead in the 8th, the pen combined for 7 shutout innings and worked its way out of jams. After the pen worked so hard, I think tonight I'd leave Ryan Dempster in as long as possible, even if he's struggling, just to give those relievers a break.

The Sox offense was shut down for 7 innings last night. Between Dustin Pedroia's 2-run homer in the 7th and Brandon Snyder's double in the 14th, the Sox made 20 outs between hits.

But as this team has done all season long, when one group struggles, another group picks up the slack. The offense wasn't scoring, but the bullpen wasn't letting Seattle score. And finally the Sox worked some walks in the 15th and with 2 outs Stephen Drew knocked in the game-winning run.

And let's not forget John Lackey's night. It was a solid 7 inning, 3 run performance, scattering 8 hits, striking out 6. Last year had he allowed 8 hits, he probably would have let up 5 runs in 3 innings. This year he's able to work through outings and come out with a result. He's a completely different person on the mound.

With Tampa Bay losing 7-0 to Arizona, the Sox are back in first place by half a game.

As I mentioned earlier, King Felix goes for the Mariners tonight. Maybe the Sox can get him out of the game and get to Seattle's depleted bullpen.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola