YOUKILIS AND PORCELLO SUSPENDED 5 GAMES

It's always tricky with baseball suspensions. A position player gets suspended 5 games, and it means he'll miss 5 games. A starting pitcher gets suspended 5 games, and it means he'll have a start pushed back a day.

Youkilis is getting the harsher of the two suspensions. But I think he hurt his case by throwing his helmet at Porcello. That just doesn't look good.

But I'm not too upset. It that means Martinez stays at 1st, Lowell at 3rd, Ortiz at DH, and VariteK behind the plate. It will suck to have TeK in the lineup for 4 games, but the Sox can probably get through it.

Source:
NewsDay

TAZ MORE LIKE IT

I must admit that Junichi Tazawa impressed the hell out of me last night. In the 1st inning of his 1st Major League start, Nick Green's errant throw spoils a potential inning ending double play. Tazawa kept the damage to a minimum, and cruised once he got out of the inning. He was cool as a cucumber, going 5 innings, and truly earning his first MLB win.

In a game that had multiple ejections, Mike Lowell made perhaps the biggest statement of all. He replaced the ejected Youkilis, and went 2 for 3 with a pair of homers. He hasn't been playing much lately. He's had 7 of the last 22 games off. And I don't think he's too happy about it. Honestly, I think he should be sat in order to keep him fresh, but not as often as he's been benched. His bat is so much better than Varitek's.

The whole beanball thing? Well, that was just one of those baseball kind of things. I'll give credit to Rick Porcello for the nice takedown on Youkilis. And I can't blame Youk for charging the mound after getting hit yesterday, and already seeing Victor Martinez thrown at.



Hopefully, it's all settled now.

The Yankees came behind to beat the Jays 7-5. The Indians shutdown the Rangers 5-0. The Rays were shutout 6-0 by the Angels. So the Sox now have a 1.5 game cushion in the Wild Card.

The Tigers send Amando Galarraga to the hill to face Josh Beckett Wednesday night. Beckett hasn't allowed a run in 14 innings.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elise Amendola

PENNY SAVER

I did not expect the Sox to win this game. Brad Penny had looked awful recently, and Edwin Jackson is perhaps the most underrated pitcher in the AL. But Penny's first Quality Start since July 24th, and homeruns from Pedroia, Green, and Bay propelled the Sox to their first win in over a week.

It wasn't too pretty. Manny Delcarmen blew a save, which seems to be a nasty habit the bullpen's picked up. But thankfully Papelbon hasn't succumbed to peer pressure. He came in and got a 4 out Save, needing only 11 pitches to do so.

The Sox got contributions from everywhere in the lineup. Only Victor Martinez was held hitless.

Jacoby Ellsbury was 2 for 5, scoring twice. He also stole his 51st base, surpassing his total from last season.

Dustin Pedroia hit his 9th homerun in the 1st, scoring Ellsbury and giving the Sox an early 2 run lead. In 1 inning, they matched their run total from the final 3 games of the Yankees series.

Youkilis was 2 for 4, Ortiz had an RBI, Drew was 2 for 3 with a walk, J-Bay hit his 22nd homerun, Kotchman was 2 for 3 and made a nifty play at first base, and Nick Green knocked in his first RBIs of August.

And making this win even sweeter was Tampa Bay losing 8-7 to the Angels, and the Yankees falling 5-4 at the hands of the Blue Jays.

Junichi Tazawa makes his first Major League start Tuesday night against Rick Porcello.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

TAZ TAKES SMOLTZ'S SPOT

The Sox signed then 22 year old Junichi Tazawa, thinking it would take him a few years to adjust from dominating the Japanese corporate league to America's minors and eventually the Majors.

After going 9-5 in AA Portland with a 2.57 ERA, he was promoted to AAA Pawtucket on July 27. That's right, he has about two weeks experience at the AAA level. He only made 2 starts for the PawSox, going 0-2 with a 2.55 ERA.

He made his Major League debut in that 15 inning torture Friday night in New York, giving up a homerun to Alex Rodriguez, and taking the loss.

The fact that he's now in the rotation, scheduled to start Tuesday against the Tigers, speaks volumes about the Red Sox' desperation. Remember when people were suggesting a 6 man rotation? Well now the Sox have reached armpit deep into the well to produce Tazawa as a savior.

Nothing against Tazawa, but his insertion to the rotation really depresses me. This team can't hit, has a trio of #5 pitchers who can't go further than 6 inning, and a bullpen that seems to be betting on the other team.

What happens with Smoltz? It seems as though teams like Houston and Texas are considering him. He could go down to AAA Pawtucket and convert to a reliever for the Sox. He could retire. It's pretty much up to him. I think he can be valuable as a reliever, considering how well he went through lineups the first time they saw him.

And the Sox need bullpen help, almost as bad as they need help with everything else.

A BRONX FAIL

It was such a pristine and magical moment. Victor Martinez ending the Sox' scoreless streak with a 2 run bomb that gave his new team a 2-1 lead with only 6 outs to record. Even though the trip as a whole could be written off as a failure, it would have ended with some brightness.

But Daniel Bard can't stop giving up homeruns in 1 run games. And to all those overly optimistic Sox fans out there who've only watched this team since 2003, and who are already projecting Bard as Papelbon's replacement, the kid has to come through in a close game for such a theory to be even remotely believable. And to the even more extreme fuckos out there who called into WEEI and didn't want to trade Bard straight-up for Roy Halladay, get a shotgun, learn how to pull the trigger with your toe, and put us all out of your misery.

Then there's Jason Varitek. The one good thing about Varitek is that when he comes to the plate with 2 outs and runners in scoring position, it's a good time to go to the bathroom, or maybe take a trip to the kitchen and fix yourself a sandwich.

Why is Jason Varitek in the lineup more than once or twice a week? That batting average of his has regressed to his norm, a poultry .221. He made that one good play in front of home plate, but it's easy to have the energy to make those plays when you never run the bases, and get to sit on the dugout after striking out so often.

Here's another thing that annoys me about Varitek. He's an easy out, in terms of a pitch count. It took Pettitte and the Yanks 18 pitches to retire him 4 times. That's 4.5 pitches per at-bat.

Fun fact, Mariano Rivera has converted 101 of his last 105 save opportunities.

The future doesn't look much brighter. Although the Sox come home, they face the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers. Edwin Jackson, with his 8-5 record and 2.62 ERA face against Brad Penny.

The Sox are tied with the Rangers for the Wild Card lead. The Sox go down to Arlington next weekend.

Oh yeah, Teixeira, put your fucking bat down. He should get beaned for carrying his Louisville Slugger around the basepath with him. He and A-Rod both had purple lips. What's up with that?



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Kathy Willens

HOW HAPPY MUST DERRICK BURGESS BE RIGHT NOW?

You go from the Black Hole of Oakland to the sunshine of Foxborough. The Pats won 11 games last year. The Raiders have won 11 games in the last 3 years.

The Patriots traded a 3rd round pick in the 2010 draft, as well as a 5th rounder in the 2011 draft, for 2 time Pro Bowler Derrick Burgess. Burgess played at defensive end for the Raiders, but the Pats will most definitely use him as an OLB (he only weighs 260 lbs).

He won't start, but he can provide a nice pass rush off the edge on certain downs. He'll relieve Pierre Woods, with Adalius on the opposite side. I'm not a big Pierre Woods fan, so I love this deal. The less time Woods has on the field to mishandle potential fumbles, the better.

With an inexperienced secondary, the Pats needed more of a pass rushing threat, and Burgess is it. He only had 3.5 sacks in 10 games last year, but from '05 to '07 he amassed 35 sacks.

In more good news, Brady practiced without a knee brace on Thursday.

SLAUGHTERHOUSE

I don't gamble, at least not on sports. But Wednesday night, I seriously contemplated emptying my bank account, finding a bookie, and betting everything on the Yankees to win. John Smoltz vs. Joba Chamberlain. A struggling and injured Sox team against a soaring and healthy Yankees squad. I would've cleaned up.

It's a good thing the Red Sox acquired Paul Byrd, because John Smoltz' tenure as a starter looks to be nearing an end. He can still be an asset in the bullpen (the Sox could use some help out there, as well). He's failed at one of the fundamental things ALL starting pitchers must do: retire batters more than once.

And remember when people thought the Sox had enough pitching for a 6 man rotation?

And all the amateur sports psychologists who are attributing the last two losses to that 13 inning debacle Tuesday night, get a clue. The Sox put Brad Penny, then John Smoltz on the mound against good lineups and they were lit up. End of story.

The good news is that Josh Beckett pitches Friday night, against AJ Burnett.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

THREE FIVES AND TWO ACES

It's a pretty damn good poker hand. It's not so good for a pitching rotation. Brad Penny went 6 innings, allowed 5 runs, and that was enough of a hole to bury the once again struggling Red Sox offense. He's made 21 starts for the Sox, and has yet to go 7 innings.

But what's the alternative to Penny? John Smoltz, who gives the team 4 good innings and 2 wretched innings? Clay Buchholz, who suffers from the same symptoms as Smoltz?

The good news is that Jason Bay hit a homerun in his return. The bad news is that he reaggravated his hamstring, and will miss at least the beginning of the Yankee series. It was nice seeing you for a bit, J-Bay.

And Victor Martinez homered, but with nobody on base, just like Bay's solo shot. The Sox hit homers with nobody on, and did nothing when they had baserunners. 0 for 11 with runners in scoring position.

And if you want some more bad news, John Smoltz is on the mound Thursday night against 7-2 Joba Chamberlain.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Chris O'Meara