SOX FIND MORE LATE INNING MAGIC

You never know what the Sox are gonna give you this year. Last night, it was a solid Wakefield start, a kid making a big debut, some shoddy middle-relief, some good relief of the middle-relief, someone not named Papelbon getting a save, and one of the most frustrating Sox hitters to watch getting the big hit.

One thing that has been too consistent with the Sox is Tim Wakefield's drop in performance once he's pitched two times through a lineup. Like clockwork, that's when Cleveland's rally against Wakefield began. Thankfully, a double play ball ended the threat without too much damage being done.

Jed Lowrie made his Major League debut and racked up 3 RBI. His first came in the 5th and gave the Sox a 1-0 lead. His second and third came in the 7th with a bases loaded single to put the Sox ahead 3-2. That clicking sound you hear is Julio Lugo typing up his resume to get another job once 2008 is over.



Kevin Youkilis stayed red hot with a 2 for 4 night with a double, an RBI, and a run. His average is up to .385. Youk and Manny have 41.3% of the team's total RBI.

Hideki Okajima has still yet to allow an earned run.

Jason Varitek came up with the go ahead hit, a line drive, pinch hit homer in the top of the 9th. Although The Captain isn't hitting all that well so far, he's got 3 homeruns. Last year it took him until May 8th to reach 3 homers.

The Sox go to New York for an abbreviated series against the Yankees. Buchholz faces Wang tonight.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Mark Duncan

BRUINS ON SHORT END OF 1-0 CLASSIC

This was the type of game you'd see in black and white on ESPN Classic at 3 in the morning. Lots of hitting, checking, scuffles, and very few goals. It was such a close game that even the 1-0 score is deceptive.



The first period was full of your typical soft penalty calls for Montreal. Peterri Nokalainen was called for interference and negated a Bruins power play. Zdeno Chara was called for one of the weakest hooks in NHL history at 10:15, which gave Montreal an abbreviated 5 on 3. But both teams went into the room without a goal.

The Bruins had their chances, though. Marco Sturm and David Krejci broke away on a short-handed bid, but a perfect pass from Sturm was fanned on by Krejci as he crashed the net.



Later, Sturm broke away once more, but goalie Carey Price greeted Marco at the faceoff circle with a stick check that did just enough to misguide Sturm's shot wide of the net.

A bogus tripping call on Andrew Ference gave the Canadiens a power-play at the end of the 2nd. After a short-handed bid was broken up, the Canadiens worked the puck into the highly trafficked slot, where Patrice Briesbois almost accidentally tipped the puck in to give Montreal a lead.

The Bruins put up a good effort in the 3rd, but the goaltending of Price coupled with a lack of calls against Montreal and the puck seemingly afraid to go in the net for the B's allowed Montreal to escape Boston with a 3-1 series lead.

The series resumes Thursday night in Montreal.

Source:
ESPN.com

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

2008 PATRIOTS SCHEDULE

The 2008 schedule has been released, and boy does it look weird. Here it is:

Sun 9/7 - 1:00 PM - vs KC Chiefs
Sun 9/14 - 4:15 PM - @ NY Jets
Sun 9/21 - 1:00 PM - vs Miami Dolphins
BYE WEEK
Sun 10/5 - 4:15 PM - @ SF 49ers
Sun 10/12 - 8:15 PM - @ SD Chargers
Mon 10/20 - 8:30 PM - vs Denver Broncos
Sun 10/26 - 1:00 PM - vs St. Louis Rams
Sun 11/2 - 8:15 PM - @ Indy Colts
Sun 11/9 - 1:00 PM - vs Buffalo Bills
Thu 11/13 - 8:15 PM - vs NY Jets
Sun 11/23 - 1:00 PM - @ Miami Dolphins
Sun 11/30 - 4:15 PM - vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Sun 12/7 - 8:15 PM - @ Seattle Seahawks
Sun 12/14 - 4:15 PM - @ Oakland Raiders
Sun 12/21 - 1:00 PM - vs Arizona Cardinals
Sun 12/28 - 1:00 PM - @ Buffalo Bills

Four trips to the West Coast, week 4 as a bye, only 1 home game in December, 5 night games, and a frigging Thursday night game against the Jets. Anyone who thinks the NFL is biased toward the Patriots is retarded.

Source:
Patriots.com

SOX FIND ANOTHER WAY TO WIN

Another below average starting pitching performance bailed out by some timely hitting and surprisingly effective middle-relief work. Another ugly win, but most importantly: another win.

The Sox spent the first six innings squandering offensive opportunities. But Jon Lester was cruising until the 4th inning, when he allowed 2 runs. He gave up two more in the 6th before being replaced by Julian Tavarez. Tavarez pulled a rabbit out of a hat, stranded all three inherited runners and going 2.2 scoreless innings.

The Sox chipped away at the 4-1 Indians lead in the 7th when Pedroia knocked in Crisp with a single. Youkilis chipped away a little more with a solo shot in the 8th, his first of the year. Then in the 9th, a Lugo double, a Crisp sacrifice bunt, and a Pedroia sacrifice fly tied the game at 4-4. A few batters later, Ortiz singled, and Manny homered (#493, tied with Fred McGriff and Lou Gehrig).



Papelbon pitched a perfect 2 strikeout 9th for his 5th save. Paps is second on the team in strikeouts. Timlin got the win thanks to a perfect 8th inning. Ortiz also appeared to bust out of his lengthy slump with a couple of basehits.

Wakefield against Byrd Tuesday night.

Source:
MLB.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Mark Duncan

ANOTHER UGLY WIN FOR THE SOX

Of the Red Sox 7 wins this season, very few have been pretty. Either the offense was stagnant, or the bullpen ineffective, or the starter didn't last long. Sunday's 8-5 victory over New York was one of those games.

From a positive perspective, these ugly wins feature a few bad performances, but those are countered by some great play by others.

Daisuke had the ugly performance. It wasn't hideous, but it was still thoroughly unattractive. He went 5 innings, threw 116 pitches (only 62 for strikes), walked 6, allowed 5 hits, 4 runs, and only struck out 2. It was the Daisuke we saw a lot of last year: nibbling on the edge of the plate, not challenging hitters, not getting guys out.

But Matsuzaka was bailed out by some good hitting, and great bullpen work. The Sox got to Phil Hughes for 7 runs, and chased him out of the game with no outs in the 3rd. The 4-5-6 combination of Manny, Youkilis, and Casey went 6 for 9 with 4 RBI and 4 runs scored. Every Sox starter except Varitek got on base at least once.



The much maigned middle-relievers were the savior of the game, though. Daisuke left it a 7-4 contest, still very much in doubt. Aardsma came in and threw 2 hitless innings. Timlin came in to pitch the 8th, but he looked dreadful, allowing a solo homer to Giambi, then two singles before being pulled. Out of nowhere, Javier Lopez comes in and records 4 straight outs before giving Delcarmen the ball.

This should tell you how bogus the Save stat is. Delcarmen pitched 0.2 innings to end the game, a 3 run game, but won't be credited with a Save. If he had gotten 3 outs, he gets a Save. Had a runner been on first base when he came in, he would have gotten a Save. Silliness.

The Red Sox are already in Cleveland for tonight's ALCS rematch. Jon Lester goes against Jake Westbrook.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer
AP Photo/Winslow Townson

WE BEAT LE SCUM 2-1!!!

Finally, after over a year of waiting, the Bruins have beaten the Canadiens! With the Sox winning multiple World Series, the C's dominating, and the Patriots nearly being perfect, we have forgotten the simple satisfaction of being an underdog and coming out on top. But the Bruins reminded us of that feeling last night with a 2-1 over-time victory.

Milan Lucic got the Bruins on the board first, and also got the first Boston lead over Montreal of the ENTIRE SEASON.

The first period ended with a scuffle, as Guillaume Iwearadress tried "fighting" Shane Hnidy. It looked more like Guillaume was trying to get lucky more than a fight. But what do you expect from the Canadiens?



Tom Kostopoulos tied it up in the second, and some missed opportunities by the Bruins kept it a 1-1 game through the 3rd. Then came the OT. I was in "The Greatest Bar" in Boston, just a couple of yards from the Garden, and I predicted a Bruins win about halfway through the over-time period. And I was right.

9:25 into over-time, a delayed penalty on Montreal allowed the Bruins to put 6 skaters on the ice. Amidst the confusion, Marc Savard slowly creeped in from the right-wing, across the face-off circle, received a cross-wing pass from Dennis Wideman, and beat Price to win the game.

Tim Thomas had a spectacular effort and made some huge saves down the stretch to keep the game alive.



Milan Lucic had one of his best games of the season, not only with the goal, but also leveling big hits, and forechecking brutally and efficiently.



The series continues Tuesday night in Boston.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

BRUINS FALL TO HABS IN OT

This is what the Montreal Canadiens do. They "get their knees dirty" for their teammates, and thousands of voyeuristic Quebecois perverts cheer them on.

Over-time playoff losses are always heart-breaking, but I'm taking a lot of positivity from last night's 3-2 loss to the Canadiens. Ever since the first few minutes of Game 1, this has been a relatively even series. Some might argue that the Canadiens are simply turning "it" on when they have to, but they didn't do much of that in the regular season. During the year, when they got up 3-0 against the Bruins, they poured it on and would get 5, 6, 7, 8 goals.

The Bruins are not out of this series. They got to Montreal last night. They scored a couple of goals in the 3rd, and nearly pulled a win out of the Bell Centre, which is tougher than stealing steak from a bear.

The Bruins have a good chance of winning tonight. It's pretty stupid that in the playoffs they have to play back-to-back nights with travelling in the middle. Actually, it's beyond stupid, it's retarded.

It will be interesting to see who gets the start in net for both teams. Alex Auld is a very good backup, and could come up with a huge game. The Canadiens might stay with Carey Price (who may be tired after an OT game), or go with backup Jaroslav Halak, who had good numbers in extremely limited playing time.

With the back-to-back games, and the Bruins confident after forcing overtime last night, the Bruins win this game, and win it with relative ease.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
Dave Sandford/Getty Images

BC WINS NATIONAL TITLE!!!

After being snubbed for the Hobey Baker award (college hockey's Heisman), Nathan Gerbe went out and proved why he is the best player in college hockey, as BC rolled over Cinderella Notre Dame 4-1. Gerbe had two goals and two assists.

Gerbe scored at least one goal in all four of BC's tournament victories, compiling a total of 7 goals and 4 assists. Added to his Hockey East Tournament numbers, he had 11 post-season goals and 9 assists.

After two years of failure in the NCAA finals, the BC Eagles finally returned to the promised land, winning their third national title. This is also coach Jerry York's second national title at BC as a coach, and his third overall.

I worked at every BC home game this season, and it was nice to see one of the teams I work for actually win a championship.

Source:
ESPN.com
USCHO.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Jack Dempsey