SOX FIND ANOTHER WAY TO LOSE

Just a look at the batting averages of the Red Sox not named Kevin after last night's 6-3 loss to the Angels:

George Kottaras - .333
Jason Bay - .250
Rocco Baldelli - .250
Jacoby Ellsbury - .235
Dustin Pedroia - .200
Mike Lowell - .200
Jason Varitek - .167
David Ortiz - .167
JD Drew - .091
Jed Lowrie - .067

I expect most of those averages to increase. Dustin Pedroia is not a .200 hitter, and has been snake-bitten these last 4 games. David Ortiz may have lost a bit of power, but he is no .167 hitter. JD Drew might only play in 91 games, but he'll hit higher than .091. Varitek could very well stay at .167.

Wakefield pitched good enough to win last night. But the offense, and Justin Masterson let him down. At the same time, the game was closer than it seemed. David Ortiz's sac-fly in the 3rd would be a 2 run double against any other center-fielder besides Torii Hunter. Then there was a potential ground ball double play in the 7th that turned into a 2 run single as it snuck through Lowell and Lowrie.

It's not panic time... yet. There really is only room for improvement.

Man of the Game:
Jared Weaver - 6.2 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 8 K

Bitch-Goat:
Wakefield: 0.3
Masterson: 0.4
Drew: 0.2
Lowrie: 0.1

Brad Penny makes his debut against 1-0 Joe Saunders this afternoon.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

BRUINS PREVAIL IN POSSIBLE PLAYOFF PREVIEW

The Montreal Canadiens came into Boston with a chance to secure a playoff spot. The Bruins, on the other hand, didn't have much to play for, at least officially. Except their pride. And the Bruins have pride in abundance.

Montreal's strategy was clear from the outset. Try to get under the Bruins' collective skin, get some penalties, get the Bruins angry enough to make some mistakes. And to be fair, this is Montreal's only strategy against the much tougher Bruins. They tried to play the B's in a physical contest back in January, and it didn't work out too well for them.

Also to be fair to Montreal, their strategy of provoke-then-hide worked very well for them in the 2nd period. Milan Lucic clearly lost his cool, and forfeited a Bruin power play, giving Montreal a 4 minute man advantage, in which they scored the tying goal.

There were 63 total penalty minutes in the 2nd period.

The game was tamer in the 3rd, but still aggressively physical and hard fought. The Bruins saw the puck slide across Carey Price's crease two or three times before Chara finally put the puck in the net to tie it.

In Overtime, Mark Recchi finished off a brilliant play keyed by Patrice Bergeron's hit at the blue line that forced a turnover. Recchi's introduction to the Boston-Montreal rivalry saw him score 2 goals, and pick up 2 assists.



As the standings are right now, the Canadiens are in 8th place. So these two teams could very well end up clashing in the playoffs. Personally, I want the B's to play Montreal. Not only for the chance to knock them out and atone for years of being eliminated by them, but because the Bruins match-up very well against the Canadiens. The B's were 5-0-1 against them this year, as opposed to 2-2 against the Rangers.

So bring on Montreal.



Bruins vs. Sabres Saturday night in Buffalo.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

BU ADVANCES TO NCAA HOCKEY FINALS

For the 9th time in school history, the BU Terriers are in the NCAA Championship Game. The Beanpot and Hockey East Champs beat Vermont 5-4 in a dramatic back-and-forth struggle last night in Washington. This is the 4th straight year that a team from Boston has made the Finals, but it's BU's first appearance since 1997.

They face 4 seed Miami (Ohio), and are the heavy favorites. If BU wins, it will be their 5th national title. The game is Saturday night at 7.

Even though BU is the top-seeded team in the tournament, and has only lost twice since November, don't count Miami out. The RedHawks beat Denver, Minnesota-Duluth, and Bemidji State to get to the finals. In the regular season, they beat Michigan twice, Notre Dame twice, and did something BU failed to do in two attempts: beat Vermont in Vermont.

It should be a good, physical hockey game. But I think BU prevails 5-2.

Sources:
ESPN.com
Hockey East

Photo Credit:
Josh Gibney

DICE-HR AND SOX LOSE RUBBER GAME

Was Daisuke Matsuzaka's first start of the '09 campaign good or bad? I really have no idea. He gave up 3 homeruns, and only pitched 5.1 innings. But 4 earned runs isn't horrible. It's not very good for 16 outs of work, but it did give the Sox a chance to win. Which they almost did.

It seems like against the Rays, the Sox tend to hit the ball hard, but right at someone. And when Tampa Bay's at-bat, they get these soft hits, and eventually the guy comes around to score. But I think they're more of an opportunistic team. We also have some big holes in the lineup.

Jason Varitek hasn't been one of those holes. His solo shot dramatically increased the Sox' chances of winning. Jed Lowrie is a hole, though. JD Drew was also a hole, though he hit a ball hard. Same story for Pedroia.

The Sox left 5 men in scoring position, 3 by Lowrie, 2 by Drew.

Hideki "CitiGroup" Okajima once again had to be bailed out by Justin "The TARP" Masterson. What a bizarre inning from Okajima. Starts off with 2 strikeouts, then walks 2, falls behind 3-0, and gives up a hit. He nearly blew the game, all with 2 outs.

Razor Ramon Ramirez looked good, getting 5 straight outs. He's eliminated all 8 men he's faced in a Red Sox uniform.

I'm going to be blunt here, the Sox need to fuck with the Rays' hitters. Did you notice how Dustin Pedroia got knocked on his ass by Matt Garza this afternoon? Did you notice how often Garza pitched inside, then went outside? The Sox used to do it back in the Pedro Martinez epoch, but in the last two years, they haven't pitched hard and inside. Daisuke might be able to challenge hitters over the plate if he makes them duck to avoid the pitch before.

I'm not saying the Sox should intentionally bean Evan Longoria. But he and all the other Rays have turned the batting box into a country club. Next time these teams face, that MUST change.

The Man of the Game is Matt Garza, who pitched around trouble in the 1st, then cruised through 7 innings of work, allowing 1 run, and striking out 5.

Here's the Bitch-Goat:
Daisuke: 0.4
Lowrie: 0.3
Drew: 0.2
Pedroia: 0.1

Tim Wakefield goes for the Sox tomorrow night, as the Sox play the Angels at 10 PM.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN

Last night's 7-2 loss to the Rays reminded me so much of 2008, and of 2007 as well. Jon Lester throwing dozens of pitches to get a single out. The Sox making inexcusable defensive mistakes against the Rays, a poor bullpen performance that turned a manageable deficit into a big lead for the opponent, and an inconsistent offense that couldn't get the big hit.

Is Jason Varitek recovering from cancer or something? Why are Red Sox fans treating his 0 for 4 "with some good swings in there" as some sort of accomplishment. I'm sorry, but the bullshit he pulled this offseason means no-holds-barred criticism of Captain LOB. He went 0 for 4. Yeah, he looks better this year than he did last year. But he had a good start to the 2008 season, didn't he? If he looks this good in mid-May, I'll give him credit for being a Major League hitter again. Until then, 0 for 4 is 0 for 4 is 0 for 4.

Oh, and Bob Davidson, the home plate umpire, SUCKED. I like big strike zones, but calling the outside strike as he was is ridiculous. He was calling pitches strikes that Zdeno Chara couldn't reach with a hockey stick. But Varitek, Lester, and the Sox should have adjusted and tried to hit the outside corner a bit more.

The Man of the Game is Scott Kazmir. He took full advantage of the Buick sized strike zone and went 6 innings, bending but not breaking.

The Bitch-Goat. In case you don't know, the Bitch-Goat (BG) is distributed after every loss based on who I think deserves the blame for the defeat.

Jon Lester gets 0.6 of a Bitch-Goat point. He struggled through 5, finally cracking in the 5th. Jed Lowrie and Mike Lowell each get 0.1 for their 0 for 3 nights. Rocco Baldelli gets 0.2 for leaving 4 men on base. Hopefully, he won't be hitting 5th again for awhile.

Daisuke vs. Garza next, which is in the 3rd as I finish this post.

Source:
ESPN.com

BRUINS LOSE TO SENATORS

I'm going to put the same effort into this post as the Bruins put into their 1st period last night in Ottawa.

The Senators scored 3 times, the Bruins scored twice.

The end.

BECKETT'S BACK!

Bad news for the AL East. Bad news for the AL. Bad news for everyone outside of Boston really. Josh Beckett is on his game. 7 innings, 10 strikeouts, 2 hits. The 3 walks were unfortunate, but he pitched around them brilliantly.

The only not-so-bright spot for the Sox this afternoon was the disappointing Hideki Okajimna outing. HBP, walk, strikeout, pulled. After a double steal and a single, Hideki's charged with 2 earned runs (inherited runner karma catching up to him?), and a 5-1 cruise control goes to a 5-3 nail-biter.

Well, it was a nail-biter in the 8th, but Masterson got out of it. Then was there any doubt with Papelbon in the 9th? 15 pitches, 2 strikeouts, game over.



Pedroia started where he left off. It amazes me how many people outside of Boston consider his 2008 season to be a fluke. He's been hitting and hitting well for 1.9 seasons now. Youkilis also looked good, going 2 for 4 with a double and a run.

Varitek's homerun was bigger than just the run. After wearing down Shields, the Sox failed to deliver the knockout punch until Tek hit that shot to right. It's good to get him going on the right foot, and even though I doubt he'll hit many more of them, this particular homer was pivotal.



I was wrong up above, there was another not-so-bright spot apart from Okajima. Jacoby Ellsbury does not belong in the leadoff spot. He was 0 for 4. His speed is irrelevant if he doesn't get on base. I'd prefer to see him hitting 8th or 9th, instead of giving Pedroia 0 on and 1 out all the time.

I'm brining back the Man of the Game (MOTG) this season after a 1 year hiatus from the site. I'm also bringing back the Bitch-Goat (BG) when the Sox lose, but that's for another day and not today.

This afternoon's Man of the Game:

Josh Beckett. 7 innings, 2 hits, 1 run, 10 strikeouts, win #49 for Beckett in a Red Sox uniform.

Scott Kazmir faces Jon Lester Wednesday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

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

WHY I HATE THE TAMPA BAY RAYS AND WHY YOU SHOULD TOO

Why did this team become likeable? Last year, they were the George Mason's of the baseball world, the underdogs who made it all the way to the World Series, the Davids who beat the Goliath Red Sox and Jabba the Hut Yankees.

I've always hated the Rays. Ever since Gerald Williams attacked Pedro Martinez and Brian Daubach kidney punched him. Ever since Trot Nixon chucked his bat at the pitcher's mound. Ever since the city of St. Petersburg was given a team.

The Rays might be good on the field, but their hometown is still a colony of the Yankees' Evil Empire. The Yanks have had spring training there for decades. So Major League Baseball, taking a cue from the NHL, decides to put a team there. Smart move.

Last year, a friend of mine who goes to the University of Tampa got ALCS Game 7 tickets at FACE FUCKING VALUE, $40!!!!!!!! Good fans down there in St. Pete.

And what's with the fucking name? Devil Rays wasn't bad. But just Rays? Ray is a person's name. Rays are multiple people with that first name. Ray Charles, Ray Allen, Ray Jay Johnson, Ray LaMontagne, Rachel Ray, Raymond Stantz (Ghostbusters), Ray Romano, X-Ray, Gamma Ray, Cosmic Ray, Ray's Pizza, Famous Ray's Pizza.

Their mascot should be Rae Carruth.

The national sports media portrayed them as a plucky bunch of scrappers. But they were a gang of cocky little twerps. I never thought I'd be so thrilled to see a Philadelphia team win a championship.

There's just no reason for me to like, or even respect this team from Tampa Bay. I hope they lose 100 games again and get contracted.