WAKEFIELD LIT UP

The Rangers welcomed themselves to Fenway Park with a 6 run 1st inning. After that, Tommy Hunter turned on the cruise control, and that was that. Not a fun way to begin the 2nd half of the season. And while Wakefield had been tolerable the last few weeks before this (4.92 ERA in his last 7 starts), he had a major setback last night.

JD Drew and Bill Hall provided the Sox with a solo homerun each. The 1-4 hitters in the lineup were a combined 0 for 17, and none managed to reach base.

Felix Doubrant faces Colby Lewis tonight. Doubront is the one on our team.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

ORTIZ WINS HOMERUN DERBY

David Ortiz became the first Red Sox player to win the Homerun Derby. He did so convincingly, belting a total of 32 homeruns over 3 rounds. He seemed to revel in the spotlight. It was sort of a re-introduction for him to the rest of the baseball world. Just two and a half months ago, he had a .143 average with only 1 homerun to his credit.

Hopefully this event didn't mess with his swing. And hopefully he has a few more homeruns left in him.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images

SOX END "FIRST HALF" ON POSITIVE NOTE

The Sox ended their "first half" (they've played 88 games and have 74 to go, so it's more like the 11/20 mark of the season) with a 3-2 win over the Blue Jays. Daisuke was stellar until the 7th. Thankfully, Bard logged a 2 inning hold, and Papelbon got his 20th Save by pitching a scoreless 9th. It was a Quality Start for Daisuke, his 6th in 12 starts this season. But as usual, his box score features an anomoly. 6 innings, 2 earned runs (fine so far), 6 hits, 0 walks (not bad), 5 strikeouts, 1 homerun (okie dokie), and 88 pitches. 88 pitches? Why didn't he get at least another inning? Because he's Daisuke, and nothing can ever be standard or typical.

The Sox go into The Break with a 51-37 record. Certainly laudable considering their overcrowded disabled list. And when you remember that the Sox started 19-20, and are 32-17 since then, it's hard to be dissatisfied. The problem is, the Sox play in one hell of a division, and are 5 games behind the Yankees, and 3 behind the Rays. The Sox are 3rd in the AL East, but also 3rd in the entire AL. They have the 4th best record in baseball.

But if the Sox can tread water while their talent convalesces, then maybe they can make a surge for the Wild Card.

Speaking of which, Josh Beckett pitched 4 innings of rehab for AAA Pawtucket against Syracuse. He allowed a solo homerun, but that was only one of two hits he surrendered. He struck out 4 and walked 0. He threw 68 pitches, 42 for strikes. His fastball was in the 92-94 range most of the day. (Source: Boston Herald)



Red Sox resume their schedule on Thursday when they host the Rangers.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

SPAIN WINS WORLD CUP*

Spain has always been renowned for the quality of their club football. Real Madrid and Barcelona have won 12 European Cups between them (Madrid have won the most all time with 9). But up until recently, the Spanish National Team had been a joke. They'd never advanced past the quarterfinals of a World Cup until this year. And now they're the best team in the world.









They beat the Netherlands by controlling the game. Spain only scored 8 goals this World Cup, in 7 games. Compare this to Germany who scored 16 goals. The Netherlands scored 12, Uruguay scored 11, Argentina scored 10 (in 5 games), and Brazil scored 9 (also in 5 games).

That's kind of lame. Spain didn't play a defensive game, they just know how to pass. And pass. And pass. And apart from David Villa, they don't know how to shoot. And their big goals in big games didn't directly result from their adept passing. They beat Germany 1-0 off a set-piece. And they beat the Dutch 1-0 thanks to a fortuitous bounce that found Andres Iniesta's feet.

Don't get me wrong, Spain were the best team in the tournament, but I'd say that Germany, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, the Netherlands, Ghana, the USA, and Chile were all more exciting.

Germany beat Uruguay 3-2 in the always more wide-open 3rd place game. Both Diego Forlan and Thomas Müller scored a goal. Miroslav Klose did not play, so he's still tied for 2nd all-time with 14 World Cup goals.

The awards:
Golden Boot (most goals, there was a tie so the tie-breaker of assists was used): Thomas Müller (Germany) - 5 goals (3 assists)

Golden Gloves (best goalie): Iker Casillas (Spain)

Golden Ball (best player): Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

World Cup 2014 will be in Brazil.

WE'VE CREATED A MONSTER

Everybody seems to hate LeBron James today. Everyone in New York, everyone in Chicago, in Boston, and especially in Ohio. And we all dislike ESPN. ESPN have been called "enablers" for their non-stop Favresque LeBron James coverage.

Miami was the right choice for LeBron. Sorry, Cleveland, but it's true. Here's why.

#1: Best chance to win a title

#2: Minimal pressure from fanbase (compared with NY, for example). If you lose in Miami, the fans just go to the beach.

#3: Would you rather spend your winters in northern Ohio or southern Florida? Seriously, this could matter.

#4: Did he seem that happy with the Cleveland organization? I'm just going to venture a guess that he wasn't.

He's an absolute toolbox for announcing his decision on an inane one hour special on ESPN. But you watched it, didn't you? So did I. Not the whole thing, but the important parts. It seems kind of weird to criticize a TV network for programming something millions of people watched. And to be fair to LeBron, it's not like he's the first narcissist athlete who thought the world revolved around him. Athletes are obsessed with themselves, just like all of us. Only their obsession is reciprocated. Athletes have reality TV shows, and their tweets are studied by millions.

People knew LeBron would pick Miami because somebody went out of their way to discover that he'd rented a place in south Florida to celebrate. Then millions of people read that. We can be disgusted at how much LeBron James loves LeBron James, but we're the ones who have enabled that.

ESPN doesn't put things on TV if people won't watch (see: NHL). And we all watched. And LeBron Heat jerseys will sell like crack, and not just in Florida. All the schmucks outside Ohio who have worn LeBron jerseys will now switch colors.

I do indeed hate LeBron James. I've always disliked him. But I also watched that first nationally televised game he played in high school. I watched part of his show last night. I have helped make him the egomaniac monster that he is today. And so have you.

WORLD CUP: FINALS PREVIEW*

Clockwork Orange versus La Furia Roja (the red fury). Spain vs. Holland. In the 1500s, the Netherlands was a part of Spain, until some guy named William of Orange started a revolt, which eventually resulted in the formation of the Dutch Republic. Hence the orange uniforms.

Speaking of history, these teams have met 9 times, each winning 4 times, with 1 tie. But when they've met in competitive games, the Netherlands typically wins. Then again, before Euro 2008, everybody beat the Spanish in big games.

Neither team has dazzled, and that's partially why they're here. They're steady, consistent, reliable, intelligent. They don't make big mistakes.

The Spanish are the favorites, but I'm picking against them. I have a 13-1 record picking games in the elimination round, so I'd take me seriously. The Spanish offense has been patient, but I don't think they can take their time and handcraft (footcraft) more than 1 goal against the Netherlands. Maybe 2. Meanwhile, the Dutch can get quick goals, can score on set-pieces, and can press the Spanish defenders.

I say the Netherlands wins 2-1.



And Germany wins the 3rd place game 3-2.

WORLD CUP ROUNDUP: DAY 26*

Spain are not the most exhilarating team to watch. That's because they're patient. But they may very well be the best team in the world right now.

Spain 1, Germany 0

Spain have lost twice in their last 54 games. That's absurd, especially playing in European Championships and competing against European teams to qualify for the World Cup. And they don't thrash their opponents, either. They're the masters of the 1-0 and 2-1 wins. And this domination was on display against Germany.

You can't counterattck if the other team keeps the ball. And that's basically what Spain did. In the few times they did lose possession in dangerous areas, their defense aggressively clamped down, not on the guy with the ball, but on the 2nd and 3rd guys with the ball. Guys like Schweinsteiger and Özil had no time or space to matriculate the ball forward to Podolski or Klose.

The Spaniards inflicted their game on Germany. And ironically, it was a set-piece that decided the matter. The Germans are historically the masters of set-piece chess soccer. But maybe so much focus on mobility and speed has reduced their adeptness at corner-kicks.

Whatever. Germany will win the World Cup in 2014. But for the 2010 World Cup, we are guaranteed to have a first time winner. We'll have a preview of the Finals on Friday.

THE PRICE WAS RIGHT

At least this loss didn't hurt as much. With David Price facing Wakefield, even the most irrationally exuberant Sox fan could conceptualize losing this game. It was an easy night for catchers giving signals as Price threw almost exclusively fastballs, and Wakefield, of course, was 99% knucklers. But Price's fastball is better than Wakefield's knuckleball, and the Rays offense is better than the JV Sox lineup.

Walks killed Wakefield, and so did some second-rate fielding. It was a sloppy game for the Sox, who seemed resigned to defeat until Price left the game. But by then it was too little too late.

Then there's Youkilis, who did play, but did not look comfortable. If he does wind up getting the nod for the All-Star Game, he probably won't play. After the game, Francona said that the turf was bothering. Hopefully the turf in Toronto doesn't bother him either.

Part of me feels like with all these injuries, the Sox need to play Youkilis until he's clearly injured, especially as the gap with the Yankees widens. But the rest of me thinks that the Sox should be extra-careful with Youkilis. I'd rather bench Youk for 3 days than lose him for 6 weeks.

Sox at Blue Jays starting Friday. Lester vs. Ricky Romero.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo