RED SOX GET AN "F" FOR THEIR EFFORT AGAINST THE A'S

This is just becoming more and more painful to watch. Is it time to get worried yet? Because nothing on this team seems to be working. The offense stumbles across two or three runs a night. The starting pitchers - who were supposed to be the strength of the team - struggle through 5 innings. And the relievers seem to have opposing hitters on their fantasy teams or something.

Kevin Youkilis did good, 2 for 4 with a homer and a double. That's pretty much it for positives from this game. Jon Lester now has 11 earned runs in 11 innings pitched. I guess he doesn't want people to have to use calculators to figure out his ERA.

All of his pitches were up in the zone. It was a miracle he put 6 innings in and only got tagged for 6 runs.

Man of the Game:
Matt Holliday, he went 3 for 4 with 2 RBI and a triple.

Bitch-Goat:
Lester: 0.8
Lowell: 0.1
Varitek: 0.1

Daisuke Matsuzaka faces Dana Eveland Tuesday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Ben Margot

BRUINS/HABS SCHEDULE

Here's the schedule for the Bruins' Eastern Conference Quarterfinal matchup against the Canadiens.

Thu 4/16 7:00PM - Montreal @ Boston
Sat 4/18 8:00PM - Montreal @ Boston
Mon 4/20 7:00PM - Boston @ Montreal
Wed 4/22 7:00PM - Boston @ Montreal
Sat 4/25 7:00PM - Montreal @ Boston*
Mon 4/27 TBA - Boston @ Montreal*
Wed 4/29 TBA - Montreal @ Boston*

*if necessary

I can't wait.

MORE FRUSTRATION FOR SOX

More mediocre starting pitching, more shabby bullpen work making comebacks more difficult, more runners left on base, more stupid mistakes, more misery.

Just a few words about the bench-clearing incident in the 1st. The umpire granted time-out too late. There's little that gets me angrier then when that happens. Other sports have timeout limits, why doesn't baseball implement something similar? At the very least, it will speed the game up.

Bobby Abreu, shut the fuck up and get back in the batter's box. The ball didn't hit you, didn't even come close. Grow up, do your job, and stop making mountains out of molehills. Hitters go nuts when somebody throws inside on them, and I'm sick of it.

Josh Beckett, stay on the goddamned pitcher's mound. You're lucky you didn't get ejected for that. A bit of tension turned into something much more volatile because you too acted like a child.

Back to the game, I don't think the Sox offense will continue to struggle as badly as they have to collect key hits. HOWEVER, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell clearly do not have the same kind of power they once possessed. Pedroia's going to come around and be productive, same with Drew. The runs will come, but not like they came in 2007 or 2006. There won't be many crooked numbers or big innings.

In other words, the pitching is going to have to be much tighter than they've been.

And stupid mistakes need to vanish NOW. JD Drew throws home instead of to the cutoff, Beckett gives up a 2 run single instead of a 1 run single to the next hitter. David Ortiz's caught-stealing, I don't know what happened there, but somebody messed up.

Kevin Youkilis is the Man of the Game. He was 2 for 4 with a homerun and a walk.

Here's the Bitch-Goat:
Beckett: 0.4
Okajima: 0.2
Pedroia: 0.3
Lowell: 0.1

The 2-4 Sox go to Oakland for 3 games to face the 2-4 Athletics. More good news: after this series, the Sox won't have another 10 PM start time until May.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Lori Shepler

KESSEL, BRUINS PUT EXCLAMATION POINT ON THEIR SEASON

After bombing 6-1 in Buffalo the night before, the Bruins turned things around and finished the regular season the right way. Phil Kessel's 2nd career hat-trick sent waves of fear throughout the top 8 Eastern Conference teams as the playoffs loom on the horizon. Michael Ryder scored his 27th of the season, Marc Savard his 25th, and Chuck Kobasew his 21st. David Krejci had an assist, giving him 100 career points. Savard's two assists give him 200 total since joining the Bruins.

The Bruins finished the season with a record of 53-19-10. The 53 wins are tied for the League lead with San Jose. The 116 points are only 1 shy of San Jose's total. The 53 wins and 116 points are the most for a Bruins team since 1972, and we know what happened in 1972...



The Bruins were 2nd in the NHL with 274 goals scored (3.34 per game and most since 1993), and 1st in the NHL with only 196 goals allowed (2.39 goals per game). Their +78 goal differential is their highest since 1984.

The Bruins had the 2nd best home record (29-6-6), and the 2nd best road record (24-12-5).

And now the Bruins have a date with the Montreal Canadiens. By the way, the French word for turtle is la tortue. Komisarek, O'Byrne, they're turtles.



And let's not forget the divers, either. Plekanec, Hamrlik, Komisarek again, Lapierre, Koivu, Kostitsyn, Kostitsyn, Latendresse, et cetera.



No word yet on when the series will start, but the playoffs begin April 15th. A series preview will be coming very shortly.

Source:
ESPN.com

APPARENTLY IT DOESN'T SUCK TO B.U.

5th Championship for BU, 3rd under Jack Parker, 9th title for a Boston school.

I was pretty drunk near the end of this game so I'll just let ESPN's highlights do the heavy lifting:



BU's season was, in a word: magical. Down by 2 late in the finals, and they come from behind to beat Miami. Down 4-3 in the 3rd period against Vermont in the semifinals, and they comeback to win it 5-4. With 15 seconds left in regulation, they score the game winner against UNH in the quarterfinals. In the Hockey East Championship game, they beat UMass-Lowell 1-0 thanks to a UML goal that was wrongly disallowed. Down 1-0 to BC in the 3rd period of the Hockey East semis, BU scores 3 times in 45 seconds and wins 3-2. On the last day of the regular season, BU needs Northeastern to lose to 6th place BC in order to claim the regular season title. Northeastern goes down 4-1.

A fortunate season? Yes. But that late-game magic wasn't luck. It was talent, heart, and skill. It was a team that won 35 times, and only lost 5 times. They went 9-2-2 against NCAA tournament teams during the regular season. In January, they won the Denver Cup. In February, they won the Beanpot. In March, they won Hockey East. And in April, they've won the National Championship.

Source:
Hockey East

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