SOX WIN WITH SMALL BALL AND LONG BALL

This was a total team victory. I love total team victories. Beckett got knocked around early on in the game, but settled down nicely and gave us a really good start. Okajima came in for 2 batters and got them both, leaving two inherited runners on base and picking up his first Hold. Timlin came in after that and pitched 0.2 perfect, giving the ball to Papelbon who pitched a hitless 9th for his 15th Save in 15 attempts in his career in April. Lugo went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBI, Youk went 2 for 4, Ortiz went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI, Manny, Lowell, and Drew didn't contribute a whole lot, Tek went 2 for 4, Crisp went 2 for 4, Cora went 1 for 2 with a sacrifice bunt.

All in all, a very well played game by the Sox. We manufactured a run in the 2nd. Crisp bunted for a single with 1 out, then Cora bunted for a single. A wild pitch moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Lugo grounded out, knocking in Crisp. Youkilis singled to left to knock in Cora and tie the game.

The 4th inning was an interesting dichotomy of seemingly opposing baseball philosophies. In other words, we played small ball and long ball in the same inning. Crisp had a soft line drive single, stole second base, Cora sacrifice bunted him to 3rd, then Lugo grounded out, driving in Coco. That was how we took the lead. Then Youkilis walked and Ortiz hit a homerun around Pesky's Pole. That was how we kept the lead.

There's been a lot of debate among baseball nerds like myself about offensive strategies. Some people argue for the small ball tactics like stolen bases, hit and runs, sacrifices, moving runners over, basically trying to score runs 1 or 2 at a time. Then there's people who argue for what has been dubbed "Money Ball" tactics (even though Money Ball was more about finding undervalued players that provide cheaper production). This philosophy is more numbers crazy and involves things like OBP, OPS, and other alphabet soup stats. Essentially, you get a few guys on with walks and hits, then hit homeruns and extra basehits. You don't risk things like stealing bases, you don't give up outs with sacrifices. The goal is to score runs in bunches.

I think both strategies are good, but also need to be used in tandem with the other. What I mean is, a team should be able to do BOTH effectively. It has to be able to manufacture a run, and it has to be able to frequently score multiple runs in an inning. We've got a bottom of the order than can manufacture some runs for us. These individual add-on runs are huge over the course of 162 games. And in the playoffs, they're monumental, because it's a lot tougher to score any runs in the playoffs.

When the hell is Manny Ramirez going to get some luck? The poor guy has peppered the warning tracks of the AL with fly outs these past few weeks and has a .193 average to show for it. When he gets hot, the dynamics of our lineup dramatically change.

Coco Crisp finally got his average up over the Mendoza Line. YAY!

Is it time to consider using Cora frequently? He's contributed each of the last 3 games, he's hitting well, and he plays good defense. I still think we give Pedroia a chance, but maybe sprinkle in some Cora every 4th or 5th game.

But anyway, the Man of the Game is David Ortiz. Papi went 2 for 5 with a double, a homerun, and a warning track fly out. He had 4 RBI and a run scored.

Honorable Mentions:
Hideki Okajima: 0.2 IP, K, 2 inherited runners left
Julio Lugo: 2/4, 2 RBI, run, BB
Kevin Youkilis: 2/4, RBI, 2 runs, BB

Daisuke vs. Chase Wright tonight for the sweep.

VICTORY EARNED

WOW! What a win! I watched this game amongst a bunch of moronic upstate New York Yankee fans. These are people who claim A-Rod is clutch. These are people who claim Ortiz is NOT an MVP. These are people who claim that the pitching problems of the Yankees are "not a big deal." These are people who made fun of the green Red Sox jerseys worn by the Sox to honor Red Aurbach. These people are scum, in a sports sense. And watching this win surrounded by dejected Yankee fans made it even sweeter for me.

Going into last night's game, I felt like it was the one the Yankees had the best chance to win.. Pettitte vs. Schilling as opposed to no-name minor leaguer vs. Beckett or Matsuzaka. Pettitte's always been good against us, and that continued last night. He allowed a lot of baserunners, and a 2 run homer by Varitek, but we were never able to put up a crooked number on the board against him. I guess a 2 is crooked, but you know what I mean.

Schilling, on the other hand, was not very good. He usually isn't if his previous start was more than a 7 inning outing. I'm not blaming that, though. The Yankees have some good hitters and they were hitting Schilling. He "only" allowed 5 runs, but New York was hitting a lot of fly balls to the warning track, and you knew it was only a matter of time before they left the yard.



The game appeared to be over in the top of the 8th. Romero had a rough outing, allowing a run and leaving a jam for Kyle Snyder. Surprisingly, Snyder pitched very well to get out of it. Still, we were down 6-2 with 6 outs left, and we had yet to show much offensive proficiency.

Then the bottom of the 8th inning came. It was a team rally, and it was a memorable one. Mike Myers came in to face Ortiz, and possibly Drew if Papi didn't reach. But Papi did reach with a double.

Luis Vizcaino came in to face Manny. Manny walked. JD Drew grounded out, but managed to move the runners over to 2nd and 3rd. Lowell hit a single to left which scored Ortiz. 6-3 Yankees.

Then Torre brought in Rivera. At this point, I figured the rally would probably be stopped. Manny would probably score from 3rd with 1 out, but we'd still be down by 2 runs. But I know Rivera hasn't pitched since Sunday, and he blew a Save against Oakland. Plus, we've had a few memorable comebacks against Mariano in the past.

Varitek had a very nice at-bat against Rivera. He fell behind 1-2, but fouled some tough pitches off, staying alive. He then lined a pitch into right for a single which made it 6-4.

I moaned when Crisp stepped to the plate, but he redeemed himself for having a pitcher's batting average by hitting the first pitch he saw straight down the left field line, past the diving Mientkiewicz, and into the corner. Lowell and Varitek scored, tying the game, and Crisp rolled into 3rd with a triple.



The Yankees pulled the infield in with a man on 3rd, 1 out, and a 6-6 score. Cora took advantage of this and lifted a soft line drive over Jeter's head and into the outfield for a broken bat single. 7-6 Red Sox.

Cora was caught stealing and Lugo struck out, but the damage was done. Nevertheless, I still had a great deal of doubt about this game. During the rally, there were shots of Okajima warming up in the bullpen, not Papelbon. After getting 5 days off in between Saves to start the year, Papelbon had worked the past two days in a row, so he was unavailable.

But Okajima wasn't a bad choice. He was fresh, and even though he is a lefty and came in to face guys like Jeter and A-Rod, none of the Yankees had seen any of his stuff.

Hideki got Jeter to ground out to second. Abreau fell behind 1-2, got a very generous ball called on 2-2, and took the 3-2 pitch for a walk. Then came A-Rod, who already had two homers and a double in the game. Mister April got ahead in the count 3-1. Okajima made a great pitcher's pitch that skimmed the bottom of the strike zone to make the count 3-2. He then made another great pitch that jammed Rodriguez and was hit softly on a line to Cora. Kevin Thompson had pinch run for Giambi, and he came up with the game on the line. Okajima got ahead in the count and put him away with a strikeout to end the game.



A few thoughts on Okajima's Save. This was a guy we got and most people felt like he was just there for Matsuzaka to have a friend. But when you look at the state of our bullpen, this guy seems to belong here. I'll take him over Romero. Hideki is making $1,225,000 this season. He retired Jeter, and A-Rod. Jeter is making $21,600,000. Rodriguez is making $27,708,525. That's $49.3 million worth of offense sent down by Okajima. Hideki also should have gotten a called strikeout against Abreu, who makes a mere $15.6 million. The Red Sox are spend-crazy, but the Yankees spend money like it was going out of style.

Best picture of the game:


Man of the Game was, unfortunately, Alex Rodriguez. It's still April, so he had a good game. But he's still A-Rod, so he didn't do it against us in the 9th. Nevertheless, he had a great performance: 3/5, 2 homers, a double, 4 RBI, 3 runs scored.

Honorable Mentions:
Jason Varitek: 3/4, HR, 3 RBI, 2 runs
Hideki Okajima: IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, K
Kyle Snyder: 0.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, K, 2 inherited runners left on base

Beckett vs. Jeff Karstens this afternoon. Karstens last pitched for Tampa Bay. Not the Devil Rays, the Yankees single A team down there. It was a rehab start.

The Sox also came from behind against the Blue Jays on Thursday night to win the series in Toronto. Tavarez pitched decently, allowing 3 in 5.1 innings. The Sox were behind 3-1, but scored 2 in the 8th to tie it, and 2 more in the 9th to win it. Manny had his first homer of the year, Timlin got the win, and Papelbon struck out 2 in the 9th for his 4th Save in as many opportunities.

Man of the Game for Thursday's 5-3 win was Roy Halladay who went 7.1 innings, allowing 2 runs.

Honorable Mentions:
Alex Cora: 2/4, triple, RBI, run
Vernon Wells: 2/4, 2 doubles, RBI, run, walk
Manny Ramirez: 1/3, 2 run homer, 2 RBI, 2 runs, walk

OFFENSE WAKES UP, WAKE MOWS DOWN

Three solo homers, a Mirabelli RBI single, another GREAT start from Wakefield, and solid bullpen work. That's what I like to see, baby!

That's not entirely true, I like seeing 2 and 3 run homers a bit more, but I'll take the three solo shots. And I'll take some offensive production out of Mirabelli. And I'll take a 1.35 ERA from our 4th starter through three starts.

Lowell, Mirabelli, and Ortiz were the offense for us last night. Drew was the only other Sox player to get a hit.

The real story was Wakefield who went 7 very strong innings, allowing only 1 run off 4 hits and 3 walks. He had a walk-crazy 4th just like Daisuke in the first game of the series, but he pitched around it nicely.

I know the sample is small, but maybe Mirabelli could be looked at as an option to catch on days hat Wakefield isn't pitching. Day game after night game, against pitchers Tek struggles with, that sort of thing. He seems to be hitting well in the few at-bats he's had, and Varitek seems to be struggling just a bit at the plate.

In my incessant Coco Crisp watch, his average dropped to .136 with an 0 for 4 performance. Jason Schmidt hit .136 for the Giants last year. When will he get a day off? Who knows.

Jonathan Papelbon allowed his first hit of the season. I know he hasn't pitched that often, but I love that Papelbon giving up a hit is news.

The Man of the Game is Tim Wakefield who went 7 innings, 1 ER, and so on.

Honorable Mentions:
Doug Mirabelli: 2/3, HR, 2 RBI, R
Mike Lowell: 2/4, HR, RBI
David Ortiz: 2/4, HR, RBI

Tavarez against Halladay tomorrow afternoon in the rubber game. The game will also determine which team will be in first place in the division.

HOT BATS OF SOX COOLED DOWN UP NORTH

Gustavo Chacin has our number, as do the Toronto Blue Jays.

Just a few questions about the lineup. Crisp batting second? When I first saw this, I was confused. He did go 2 for 4, so I guess it worked out, but I still question the logic demonstrated by Francona. I know Youkilis was hitting 5th with Drew out of the lineup against Chacin, but couldn't Lowell or Pena have hit 5th?

Coco raised his average to an impressive .150. That's over the Wakefield Line of .125. However, it's still under the Orlando Hernandez Line of .160.

The shame of this game is that it was a waste of some good pitching performances against a good lineup. Matsuzaka had a shaky 4th when he walked 3 and allowed 2 runs. But this was aided by Lugo's defensive miscue which was scored a hit, should have been an error, and could have been a double play. Okajima struck out the side in his inning of work, Dice-K sent down 10 with the Sanshin, and Pineiro pitched a scoreless 8. But it was all for not.

Ortiz, Manny, and Youkilis went a combined 1 for 12 in the 3-4-5 spots of the lineup. We're not going to score runs with that kind of production from the heart of the order.

The good news was that Matsuzaka did a good job of settling down after a shaky 4th inning. This will be pivotal to him being a successful Major League pitcher, and I think he showed good character.

I think the Angels series might have gotten Sox fans hopes up a bit too much. We were up against a warm weather team playing in wet, 45 degree conditions. The Angels spent the spring in Arizona, then their first week of play in Orange County, CA. But Toronto is a good team, in any weather. Particularly dome weather.

Believe it or not, this is an important series. I think this is our first real test to see how good the team truly is. Toronto is a potential playoff team. Wakefield against our old friend Tomo Ohka tonight, then in the mismatch of the year: Tavarez against Halladay tomorrow. If we don't win tonight, we'll probably get swept.

Man of the Game was Gustavo Chacin. He went 6.2 innings, allowing only 1 run of 6 hits and no walks. He struck out 3.

Honorable Mentions:
Daisuke Matsuzaka: 6 IP, 2 ER, 10 K
Hideki Okajima: IP, 3 K
Jason Frasor: 1.1 IP, perfect Save

Bitch-Goat:
Matsuzaka: 0.3 - 3 BB, 2 ER
Lugo: 0.5 - 0 for 4, should have gotten an error
Ortiz: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 2 LOB
Youkilis: 0.1 - 0 for 4, 2 K

CLEAN SWEEP

The Red Sox outscored the Angels 25-3 in three games. Angels starters went a total of 13 innings. Maybe it as the cold weather. They went 5-2 in Anaheim, then lost 2 of 3 to Cleveland in Milwaukee, and 3 of 3 to us in Boston. Nevertheless, we'll take the wins.

The Sox got started early in this game, and Beckett had his 3rd quality tart of the season, a 6 inning, 1 earned run performance. If the game had been closer he probably could have gone 7, but we were up 7-1. No sense pushing things too far. Then again, if Beckett were Curt Schilling, he might have gotten the extra inning.

Speaking of Curt, interesting remark from him:

"I absolutely thought I was going to finish that game right up through the (28-pitch) seventh inning. Going back out for the ninth would have been me trying to get a shutout as opposed to me trying to make 33 or 34 starts and be as healthy as I can for every one."

It almost seems like Curt's saying that it was HIS decision to not go 9 innings, and only go 8. I'm sure it was also his call to go the 8 instead of just 7. Gee, Curt, thanks for making the right decisions.

The Man of the Game is David Ortiz. He went 2 for 3 with a homer, a double, an RBI, 2 runs, and a walk. He appears to have broken out of his slump, and he's lifted his average to .293.

Honorable Mentions:
Josh Beckett: 6 IP, ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 5 K
Julio Lugo: 2/4, 2B, Run

The Sox go up to Toronto to face the Blue Jays. Maybe this year we can beat them.

JACKIE ROBINSON DAY RAINOUT

Second rainout of the year for the Sox, both at Fenway. Where is the retractable roof talk? Kidding, only kidding, but somewhere, Ted Sarandas is outraged.

I'm pretty bummed about this game getting rained out, for two reasons. Firs of all, our bullpen was fresh off Schilling's 8 inning performance, and the Angels bullpen was worn after Carrasco's debacle yesterday afternoon. It also would have been cool to see players wearing 42. Great idea by Griffey, by the way.

Jackie Robinson and the Red Sox have an interesting little history. One of the most celebrated men in Red Sox history is Tom Yawkey. Yawkey, from South Carolina, bought the team in 1933, and did a lot for the franchise in his 44 year tenure as owner. He put money back into the team. He did things like rebuild the left field grandstand, which had been burnt down in a 1926 fire and hadn't been rebuilt. He took a team that finished 8th in the AL in 1932 with a record of 43-111, and turned it into a .500 team by 1934. He acquired great players like Lefty Grove, and Jimmie Foxx. By 1938, the team was finishing in the 1st division (that means the top 4 of the AL). By 1946, the team won the pennant for the first time in 28 years, won 100 games for the first time in 31 years, and went to the World Series, losing to St. Louis.

Yawkey's been honored by baseball as a member of the Hall of Fame, honored by the Red Sox and the city of Boston with a street named after him, and a Commuter Rail station named after him. The little dots and dashes on the Green Monster scoreboard spell out the initials of Yawkey in his wife in Morse Code.

But the man, and the team under him, were racists. The Sox had an opportunity to sign Jackie Robinson before the Dodgers did. Passed up on it. OK, maybe they didn't want to risk being the first team with black players. Then the Indians got Larry Doby, who also tried out for the Sox and was denied. Then Cleveland got Satchel Paige. In 1948, the Indians and Red Sox tied for 1st in the AL and played a single game playoff to determine the pennant winner. Cleveland won. Now, imagine if we had gotten Paige. In 1948, he went 6-1 in 7 starts for Cleveland. Doby hit .301 for the Indians that year. We could have had those players, ANYONE could have, and we had an owner willing to shell out money for good players, BUT ONLY IF THEY WERE GOOD WHITE PLAYERS. And he has a street named after him.

The Sox were one of the best teams in the 1940s, finishing 1st in the AL in '46, 3rd in '47, 2nd by a game in '48, 2nd by a game in '49. Then in the 50s, we started to drop a bit. 3rd, 3rd. 6th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 5th. The rest of baseball had black players. We didn't. We were back where we started when Yawkey bought the team, finishing 7th in 1960, with Bumpsie Green being our token black player.

Did you know that Willie Mays was on a Negro League affiliate of a Sox minor league team? Did you know the Sox could have bought his contract for a song? Did you know that Willie Mays hit 660 homeruns? Did you know he was one of, if not the, best player of the 1950s, the decade that saw us struggle to finish in the top 4 of the AL?

People talk about the Curse of the Bambino, or maybe just bad luck being responsible for the Red Sox's many failures from 1919 to 2003. They're wrong, at least for part of the time. In the late 1940s, and the 1950s, it was the Curse of Tom Yawkey that was to blame for the Sox failures.

FLAWLESS VICTORY

Nice win by the Sox today, but the pessimist in me is thinking, we had Curt Schilling on the mound against Hector Carrasco, we're supposed to win. But there's a lot of pessimist in me. I'd say I'm 90% full of pessimism. But the pessimist in me would say I'm 10% empty.

I think I just set a record for the most times anyone has used "pessimist" or a form of the word in a single paragraph.

Great pitching from Schilling today. And great hitting from most of the lineup. We had a few breaks with the Matthews error, and the Wild Pitch resulting in our first 3 runs, but Carrasco wasn't throwing strikes, and Schilling was plowing through the Angels' lineup, so we were going to win anyway. We squandered a few early opportunities, but kept plugging away and put up 8 runs.

It seems like Ortiz might be breaking out of his slump, which is good because it was close to becoming a funk, not just a slump. He went 2 for 4 with an RBI single and a 3 run homer. He also walked.

Eric Hinske had a fine day, too. He was 2 for 3 with 2 walks, a triple, and 3 runs scored. You know, Hinske can play the outfield, and he can hit. Coco Crisp can play the outfield, but can't hit. Maybe it's time to try Hinske in right-field a bit, move Drew to center, and give Coco a rest. Trotting back to the dugout after all those pop outs and strikeouts must be wearing down Coco's legs.

Speaking of Crisp, he went 0 for 3, dropping his average to .111. Pedro Martinez hit .111 for the Expos in 1995, let's hope Coco can top that.

I know I seem to be getting on Crisp a lot, even after we've scored 18 runs in 2 games, but I'm not getting on him. I'm getting on Francona for keeping him in the lineup. The guy's just not hitting right now.

Back to positivity. Varitek had a good day, even though the numbers don't show it. He only went 1 for 4, but had two very hard hit line drives that weren't hits. One was the Matthews error, and one was an outright robbery by Izturis on a sharp liner down the left field line.

Why did Curt go 8 innings? I know he was cruising, and his pitch count was low, and we were only up by 5, and our bullpen sucks, but it seemed like this was a great opportunity to give him the rest of the afternoon off. He's 40 years old, and there aren't very many innings left in that right arm. Why not save him, just a little bit?

How sad is it that one of our set-up pitchers is also our mop up guy to come in and pitch the 9th with an 8 run lead?

I love when Sox games are on TV in New York, but it's always bittersweet, because I either have to listen to the Yankee propagandists on YES!, Joe Morgan's ineptitude on ESPN, or Tim McCarver's idiocy on Fox.

Fox is by far the worst of them all. Not only do you get McCarver saying things like "This is a quiet croud, and even if they're playing the Angels, they want to see the Sox ahead in the game." Wow, remarkable. Or how about "A lot of pitchers worry about first pitch hits, but I'd be more worried about hits on 1-0, 2-0, and 3-1 counts, because that's when the pitches are predictable." I think what he meant to say was "I'd be more concerned with throwing first pitch strikes and getting ahead in the count." Another classic moment was when he said David Ortiz hit two homers off "Juan Padilla" last Sunday. Juan Padilla is a reliever for the Mets who is on the DL and is about to undergo elbow surgery. Ortiz is 0 for 1 against Juan Padilla, lifetime. I'm pretty sure Timmy meant to say Vicente Padilla. Another great moment in broadcasting was when he called Julio Lugo "Cabrera." Must be Julio's new nickname.

But anyway, the worst part of watching games on Fox is the quick cuts to different shots around the ballpark. I'm a film student, and I've taken a few film theory classes, so I've been trained to notice this stuff. In between pitches, Fox goes crazy with the camera angles. We'll have a close-up on the pitcher, close-up on the batter, shot of the guy on base, shot of the entire field from behind home plate, shot of the manager, shot of the on deck hitter, close-up of the hitter, close-up of the pitcher, split screen shot of the pitcher and baserunner, shot of some fan in the stands, close-up of the pitcher in his wind up, then shot from center field of the pitch. This is no exaggeration. Just watch a game on Fox and you'll see sequences like this repeated over and over and over.

Fox is trying to create tension and conflict. But the tension and conflict is already there. If you have an interest in the game, you'll feel the tension as you wait for the pitch. In fact, keeping the camera angle in one place, like the camera in center-field, can create even more tension. Just watch a spaghetti western like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, or Once Upon a Time in the West. In the big showdown scenes, there are few cuts and the camera rarely moves. It creates a lot of tension.

Tim Timmons had one of the worst umpiring performances behind the plate I've seen in quite a while. How is it that Hector Carrasco, who threw 41 balls and 38 strikes, was getting borderline calls at the knees, at the belt, and on the corners; but Curt Schilling, who was throwing strikes, couldn't get a call on the corner all afternoon?

OK, did anybody else see this? JD Drew catches a fly ball to end the 8th inning, then gives the ball to a fan. Fox shows a shot of Schilling trotting to the dugout, then goes back to the fan who got the ball from Drew. The fan is in the middle of flipping off some kid sitting two seats to his right. Classic moment right there. I can just imagine the conversation going on out there. "[expletive] off, kid, this is my [expletive] ball."

Man of the Game is Curt Schilling. He went 8 very strong innings, scattering 4 hits and a walk. He allowed 0 runs, threw 106 pitches, 68 of which were strikes. He's looking good, folks. Only one of those hits was for extra bases.

Curt allowed 5 total base-runners. Kendrick in the 3rd reached on a single and was left at 1st. Cabrera singled in the 4th and moved to 2nd on a ground out, but was stranded there. Kendrick singled in the 5th and was stranded on 1st. Cabrera doubled in the 6th and was stranded there. Kendrick walked in the 7th and was left on 1st.

No Angel ever reached 3rd base in this game. I guess that's why they're Angels.

Honorable Mentions:
David Ortiz: 2/4, HR, 4 RBI, R, BB
Eric Hinske: 2/3, 3B, 3 R, 2 BB
Howie Kendrick: 2/2, BB, SB

Ervin Santana against Josh Beckett tomorrow afternoon IF the weather allows.

SOX POUND THE ANGELS, EVENTUALLY

Crazy game. At one point, the Sox were down 1-0. Then up 2-1. Then up 4-1, but with two runners on and 1 out, then up 10-1.

Good pitching from Wakefield, and a good (and rare) Hold from Papelbon. Of course, had the Sox not scored 6 runs in the 8th, one can assume Papelbon would have stayed in the game to pitch the 9th and gotten another 5 out Save. Once again, this was due to some trouble with the set-up pitching.

I really am not sure why Wakefield started the 8th inning. I know his pitch count was still very low, but pitch counts aren't everything. In the 7th, he allowed a single, and a double. I guess it wasn't too bad since the 9th hitter was due to lead off. But I think when you have a 7 inning start by Wakefield, you take it. Then again, with our crappy middle relief and set-up situation, I guess Francona was forced into trying to extend Wakefield as much as he could.

Having good middle-relief makes a manager's job so much easier. And it makes a closer's job easier, as well. But we don't have that.

Thankfully the offense exploded in the 8th so Papelbon could sit in the 9th, and Timlin could get another stress free inning of work.

The 8th was just a good old-fashioned crooked number rally, compliments of Darren Oliver.

Mirabelli leads off with a fly out. 1 out
Pedroia works a walk. Man on 1st, 1 out
Lugo lines a single to center, 1st and 2nd, 1 out
Youkilis singles to left, bases loaded, 1 out (classic Red Sox station-to-station baseball)
Ortiz with a nice 8 pitch at-bat and a ground rule double, 2 runs score, men on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out
Manny walks on 4 pitches, bases loaded, 1 out (Pena pinch runs for him)
Drew singles to left, 2 runs score, 1st and 2nd, 1 out (Hinske pinch runs for Drew, I wonder how many times in his life Hinske has been used as a pinch runner)
Lowell doubles to left, 2 runs score, man on 2nd, 1 out
Crisp and Mirabelli strike out, inning over

5 HITS, 6 RUNS, NO ERRORS, 1 LEFT ON BASE

Nice inning.

And Mirabelli actually contributed offensively. He was 2 for 5 with a solo homer, and an RBI single. I think he'll have 7 or 8 hits this year, and 5 of them will be homeruns.

Coco Crisp did not contribute offensively. Hitter usually find their jobs in jeopardy if they're having trouble staying above the Mendoza Line (.200 batting average), but Crisp is below the Wakefield Line (Wake has a career average of .125, Crisp is batting .121)

Here are Crisp's at-bats:
Bottom 2nd, runner on 1st, 1 out, Crisp strikes out on 4 pitches
Bottom 4th, runner on 1st, 2 outs, Crisp pops out to short on 1 pitch
Bottom 6th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, Crisp grounds out 4-3, advances runner to 3rd, 2 pitch at-bat, this was his most productive at-bat.
Bottom 7th, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, Crisp grounds out 6-3, 6 pitches
Bottom 8th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, Crisp strikes out on 4 pitches

Total: 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 6 left-on-base, and for some reason, he was hitting 7th instead of Pedroia, who is actually hitting with some decency.

When the hell is Francona going to wake up and put Pena in for a few games? I know Pena is a horrible defensive center-fielder, and he strikes out a lot, but he can actually hit the ball, and hit it hard. And he can hit for a good average if given sufficient playing time.

Man of the Game is Tim Wakefield who went 7+ innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and only 1 earned run.

Honorable Mentions:
Jonathan Papelbon: perfect 0.2 IP, including striking out Guerrero with 2 on and 1 out, Vladimir is not very easy to strike out.
David Ortiz: 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and a big ground rule double in the 8th which sealed the game
Julio Lugo: 3 for 5, with a double and two runs scored

Schilling vs. Carrasco this afternoon, the game will be on Fox nationally.

This is odd, every game in this 4 game series has a different start time. 7:05 PM last night, 3:55 PM today, 1:05 PM tomorrow, 10:05 AM on Monday.

Just imagine being an Angels fan in LA, and the Monday game starts at 7:05 AM Pacific. Weird.