THE MANNY BEING MANNY TRILOGY

THE GOOD

THE BAD

THE UGLY

Manny Ramirez was everywhere in this game. His baserunning error crushed a rally early, his homerun gave the Sox a lead, and he scored thanks to a dropped ball at the plate.

This game was a lot like Manny's night. Sometimes players made great plays, sometimes they made bad plays, and sometimes they made ugly plays.

Schilling was good, bad, and ugly. He had a season high in strikeouts with 8, but he also had a season high in earned runs with 5. He should have been pulled before the 7th as he was 110 pitches deep and didn't look that sharp. The bullpen was fresh after an off day, so bringing in Foulke, Timlin, and Papelbon would have made sense. But Francona decided not to do it.

Foulke and Timlin had similar good, bad, and ugly pitching performances. Foulke got win #1 of the season, and Timlin got his 6th Hold. Papelbon was flat out good in the 9th with a perfect 1-2-3 inning and keeping the ball in the infield the entire time. Papelbon seems to excel when the game is close. He tied a Major League rookie record for Saves in a month with 9.

Manny had a huge night and will take down his 2nd Man of the Game of 2006. Yes, he screwed up on the bases, but he made up for it at the plate with a huge 3 run homer, his 10th, 11th and 12th RBI of the year, and 3 hits. He also walked.

Tomorrow night, Wakefield faces off against 1-1 Cliff Lee.

CRISP TO RETURN IN THE MIDDLE OF MAY

It's going to be about 3 more weeks of watching Willie Harris and Dustin Mohr strike out before Crisp returns to the Red Sox, according to Francona and the Globe. Francona said in Toronto that he expects Crisp to return somewhere in the middle of May.

So far, Crisp's replacements are batting a combined .164 with a .220 OBP, and striking out more than once every three times at-bat. Compare that to Crisp who was batting .333, with an OBP of .385 and striking out once every four at-bats before he got injured.

The offense has struggled this season, scoring only 90 runs in 19 games (4.7 runs per game) compared to last season when we scored 910 runs (5.6 per game). Part of it is the lack of production from center-field.

Lately, the production from Crisp's replacements has been practically nothing. Harris and Mohr combined for an 0 for 12 in the Toronto series, with 6 strikeouts. Crisp's replacements are 3 for their last 35. With Loretta and Varitek slumping, Gonzalez a non-factor on offense, and the center-field spot giving us nothing, we have 4 holes in our lineup. Our pitching has been able to carry us, but we're starting to see some chinks in that armor with Beckett collapsing on Friday, Clement not giving us a Quality Start, and DiNardo looking terrible on Saturday.

SOX GET BACK ON TRACK

The Sox bats woke up today, as did the bullpen. The Sox took the lead in the 1st inning and never relinquished it. Ortiz knocked out his 8th homerun of the season, collecting his 15th and 16th RBI. Mike Lowell added another run with an RBI single, his 7th run knocked in of the year.

The Sox played a little small ball in the 4th to get an insurance run. Harris reached on a HBP, stole second, and scored on a Youkilis single. Kevin is 10th in RBI among 1st basemen this season.

The Blue Jays made it a 1 run game after a throwing error, a walk, and a Greg Zaun homerun. Clement got past it, though, pitching into the 6th inning. Foulke took over and threw 1.2 perfect innings, striking out 3.

In the 8th, the Sox got to Vinnie Chulk for a run. Gonzalez walked, Youkilis had a single, and Loretta, who has been slumping mightily, knocked in Gonzalez with a basehit. After a scoreless 8th from Timlin, the Sox added another insurance run in the 9th. Varitek, also in a big slump, singled and was knocked in by a Mike Lowell double. Lowell has the 2nd most doubles in MLB in 2006 thus far.

Papelbon came in, and actually struggled a bit letting the first two men he faced reach. He struck out Vernon Wells on 6 pitches then induced a game ending double play from Troy Glaus.

The Red Sox actually hit decently in this game. They had 20 baserunners in total and were able to bring 6 of them home, which typically is sufficient for a win. Clement wasn't lights out, but he was solid. The bullpen was magnificent with 3.2 innings of scoreless relief from Foulke, Timlin, and Papelbon.

The Man of the Game is a tough one. Neither starter pitched all that well, and no hitter really stuck out. Mike Lowell had a solid game with a pair of RBI hits, he did make an error that allowed a man to reach who eventually scored. But, he did rob a hit earlier in the game from the Jays. However, Keith Foulke looked really good. He came into the game with 2 on and 1 out and was able to escape the inning unscathed (it was also a 1 run game at that point). He then pitched a perfect 7th inning. He faced 5 batters and retired them all, 3 by way of the K, and the other 2 with infield pop ups. He only needed 20 pitches to retire the 5 batters he faced. Foulke will get Man of the Game honors.

The Sox have an off day before going to Cleveland for the only time in the regular season to play the Indians on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Schilling looks for win #5 as he faces off against 2-2 Jake Westbrook. The Indians are 10-0 this season.

Red Sox Nation fans outside of New England will be pleased to know that the Wednesday night game against Cleveland will be on ESPN, and the Thursday game will be on ESPN 2.

VAN BUREN DOWN, DELCARMEN UP
Before today's game, the Red Sox optioned Jermaine Van Buren back to Pawtucket and recalled Hyde Park's Manny Delcarmen. Delcarmen was with the team briefly last year, pitching in 10 games with an ERA of 3.00. His big drawback last year with us was his walks. In 9 innings, he walked 7 batters. In Pawtucket this year, he's pitched 10 innings of scoreless baseball, all in relief. He's only allowed 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 10. He'll probably be used sparingly as a mid-reliever in not so close games until Wells comes off the DL or the Sox get another starter.

SOX LOSE HUGE MISMATCH

The Sox did not have a hit until 1 out in the 4th inning. The Blue Jays had a hit with 0 outs in the 1st. The Sox did not score until the 4th. The Jays scored 4 times in the 1st. The game was over before it began.

The only way the Sox could win this game was if DiNardo pulled out a great start AND Halladay didn't have his good stuff for some reason. DiNardo did not pull out a great start AND Halladay had his good stuff.

The Sox offense was abysmal against Halladay and the Jays bullpen. Just look at these terrible individual numbers:

Youkilis: 1/4, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 K, 3 LOB
Loretta: 0/4, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 4 LOB
Ortiz: 0/4, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 2 LOB
Snow: 0/4, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 1 K, 1 LOB
Mohr: 0/4, 0 R, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 2 K, 1 LOB
Cora: 0/2, 0 R, 0 RBI, 1 BB, 0 K, 0 LOB

As a team the Sox went 6/34 (.176), got on base 8 out of 36 appearances (.222 OBP) and had 8 total bases (.235 slugging and .458 OPS).

The pitching was not much better. DiNardo went 3+ allowing 10 hits, 7 earned runs, with a walk, a K, and a homer. Van Buren came in and allowed 2 inherited runners to score. He also allowed an earned run of his own.

The Jays hit .406 as a team yesterday, they slugged .625 with 4 extra-basehits.

The Man of the Game is Vernon Wells again who went 3 for 4 with a 2 run triple, and a pair of infield singles. He also scored a run.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
DiNardo: 0.5 - 3 IP, 7 ER
Van Buren: 0.1 - 3 IP, ER
Loretta: 0.1 - 0/4, 4 LOB
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0/4, 2 LOB
Snow: 0.1 - 0/4
Mohr: 0.1 - 0/4, 2 Ks

Clement looks to stop this skid (3 straight losses, 5-6 over the last 11) as he faces former Oriole Josh Towers. No matter what happens, this is the 2nd series the Sox have lost this season, both to Toronto. Going back to 2005, this is the 3rd time the Sox have failed to win a series against Toronto.

THE BLUE JAYS ARE A THREAT, FOLKS

We were up 6-2 in the 8th, Beckett's pitch count was low, the back end of our bullpen has been great. It seemed as though the game was all but over. Then Beckett threw a retaliation pitch because Gonzalez got hit in the previous inning. Then he gave up 2 homers. Timlin came in and gave up another homer. Papelbon pitched a good 2.1 innings in a no save situation. Then Foulke came in and threw 1.2 innings of pretty solid relief. He gave up a walk to Glaus, then was taken out for some reason and replaced by Rudy Seanez of all people. One pitch, game over.

This loss is really unfortunate considering that we practically had this game locked up. Then consider that Roy Halladay is going against Lenny DiNardo tomorrow in a huge mismatch, it hurts even more.

The Man of the Game is Vernon Wells who went 2 for 6 with a pair of homers, and 3 RBI.

Here is the B*tch-Goat:
Beckett: 0.5 - 7.1 IP, 5 ER
Timlin: 0.2 - 0.1 IP, ER
Seanez: 0.2 - 0.0 IP, unearned run allowed
Youkilis: 0.1 - 0 for 5, 2 K, 3 LOB

The Blue Jays are going to be a factor this season, particularly against us. Had we finished .500 against them last year, we would have won the division. This year, we're 1-3 against them. It doesn't look to improve tomorrow as DiNardo faces Halladay.

AGAIN, WAKEFIELD LEFT WITHOUT SUPPORT

The Red Sox went 6 for 34. That's .176. The Red Sox reached base 7 times out of 35 appearances. That's a .200 OBP. Combined slugging was .294. The Red Sox had no offense at all. Tip your cap to Scott Kazmier, and Travis Harper. But seriously, 1 run against the Devil Rays?

The Red Sox had an opportunity to go up early. Youkilis had a leadoff double, was moved to 3rd by a Loretta groundout, but was left there after Ortiz struck out and Ramirez grounded out.

The Sox got their lone run in the 2nd when Mohr knocked out his 2nd homer of the season over The Monster.

Bottom of the 3rd, Alex Gonzalez led off with a basehit, three straight outs. Nonproductive outs at that. Then 10 straight Red Sox hitters were retired.

The Sox had 2 on in the 6th, nothing happened. In the 9th, the Sox threatened but couldn't bring home a run. Manny had an infield single, Lowell reached on an error, Willie Harris got his first hit in a Red Sox uniform to load the bases with 1 out. Nixon struck out, then Tek pinch hit and flew out.

Just no offense at all.

The shame is, Wakefield actually pitched pretty well. Two earned runs in 8 innings. 4 hits, 2 walks. You don't get too many starts like that out of pitchers, and Wakefield isn't going to do that for us more than a few times this year.

The Man of the Game is Tim Wakefield. For the second straight time, he wins it despite getting an L. He was the best player out there. Kazmir pitched well, but fell apart after 5.2.

Now for the B*tch-Goat:
Wakefield: 0.2 - 8 IP, 2 ER, 3 R
Bard: 0.1 - Passed Ball, 0 for 3, K
Tavarez: 0.3 - 0 IP, 2 ER
Ortiz: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 3 LOB
Lowell: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 3 LOB

The Red Sox end their 10 game homestand with a 6-4 record. Not bad, but not great. Now it is back on the road where we struggled so much last year.

Beckett against Burnett tomorrow night in Toronto in a battle of former Marlins pitchers.

SOX AND D-RAYS GANG UP TO BEAT D-RAYS

Curt Schilling was the first starter to 4 wins last night as he pitched 6 innings against Tampa allowing 1 earned run. Schilling was given a 1 run lead in the 1st thanks to a Youkilis leadoff homerun. Then the Sox gave Curt 7 more runs in the 3rd with some good opportunistic hitting off of bad Tampa pitching and bad Tampa defense.

The inning summary for the 3rd inning says ALOT:

0 on, 0 outs
Gonzalez strikes out.

0 on, 1 out
Youkilis singles to center.

runner on 1st, 1 out
Loretta singles to center, Youkilis to 3rd
Throwing error by Gathright, Youkilis scores, Loretta to 3rd

runner on 3rd, 1 out
Ortiz intentionally walks

runners on 1st and 3rd, 1 out
Ramirez walks, Ortiz to 2nd

bases loaded, 1 out
Nixon singles to right, Loretta scores, Ortiz to 3rd, Ramirez to 2nd

bases loaded, 1 out
Varitek sac-flies to center, Ortiz scores, Ramirez to 3rd

runners on 1st and 3rd, 2 out
Lowell doubles to right, Ramirez scores, Nixon scores

runner on 2nd, 2 out
Stern reaches on catching error by Childers, Lowell scores

runner on 1st, 2 out
Stern advances to 2nd on Wild Pitch

runner on 2nd, 2 out
Gonzalez walks

runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out
Youkilis singles to left, Stern scores, Gonzalez to 3rd

runner on 3rd, 2 out
Loretta flies out to left

7 RUNS, 5 HITS, 2 WALKS, 2 ERRORS, 1 LEFT ON BASE

Productive nights all around. Loretta went 2 for 5, Ortiz walked twice, Manny walked thrice, Trot went 2 for 4, Tek had a SAC fly, Lowell went 2 for 4, Stern reached on that error and scored, Gonzalez had an RBI SAC fly.

Seanez pitched a scoreless 1 hit inning, Tavarez and Foulke were perfect in the 8th and 9th, respectively.

The Man of the Game is Kevin Youkilis. Youk went 3 for 4 with a pair of singles and a leadoff homerun. He knocked in 2 runs and scored twice. He also went 2 for 2 in the 3rd inning rally with a 1 out single to get things started, and a 2 out single that was the end of the Red Sox scoring in the inning.

Wakefield goes against Kazmir tonight as the Sox look for the sweep.

CRISP TO MISS ROAD TRIP

According to Extra Bases, Coco Crisp will remain out of action for at least the Toronto series and most likely the entire upcoming 9 game toad trip. This would mean Crisp would be out until May 1st at least when guess who comes to town...

JohnNY Damon and the Yankees.

Crisp has been working out to stay in baseball shape. Hopefully this injury will heal all by itself, but if it doesn't and he needs surgery, then the Sox are in rough shape.