SWEEP

The Sox absolutely dominated Toronto this week. We outscored the Jays 26-5. We outhit Toronto 38 to 19. We hit 9 homeruns, and 17 extra base hits.

The Man of the Game for Tuesday's 9-2 win was Josh Beckett, who earned his 7th straight victory with a 7 inning, 1 earned run performance. Beckett easily could have gone longer. He only threw 89 pitches, but we were up 8-1 so he was taken out after 7. If Schilling was at 89 pitches after 7, Francona would let him go the full 9.

Honorable Mentions:
Dustin Pedroia: 2/4, 3 run homer, 3 RBI, run
Jason Varitek: 4/4, homer, 3 runs
Kevin Youkilis: 3/3, solo homer

The Man of the Game for Wednesday's 9-3 victory is Daisuke Matsuzaka. Ortiz had a monster day, but his RBI were late when the game was already decided. Matsuzaka went 7 and struck out 8 while allowing only allowing one run. Good to see him getting back on track.

Honorable Mentions:
David Ortiz: 4/5, HR, 2B, 3 RBI
Lyle Overbay: 2/2, 2 HR
Mike Lowell: 3/4, HR, BB

The Man of the Game for Thursday's 8-0 triumph is Tim Wakefield. Wake continued to dazzle, as he went 7 scoreless innings, combining with Okajima and Romero for a shutout. Tim allowed 3 hits and a walk. All of the hits were singles. He only threw 93 pitches, and very well could have gone another inning. But we were up 8-0 so there was little reason to do so.

This was the purest victory of the season for the Sox. We were up 8-0 by the 4th, 7-0 by the 3rd, and Toronto never had a chance. Domination.

Honorable Mentions:
Kevin Youkilis: 3/5, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 2 runs
Mike Lowell: 1/4, 3 run HR
David Ortiz: 1/4, 2B, 2 RBI, run

Three Flawless Victories in a row.

SOX SQUEEZE ONE OUT

I love 4-3 wins. They're indicative of a good team. 4-3 wins mean good pitching, timely hitting, solid defense, and good relief.

The Man of the Game for Boston's 4-3 win over Minnesota is Dustin Pedroia who went 3 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Honorable Mentions:
Jonathan Papelbon - IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 BB, K
Alex Cora - 2/4, 2 runs
Curt Schilling - 6.2 IP, 3 ER, 7 K

MERCENARY

Of all the players in baseball, is there anyone you can hate more than Roger Clemens? Barry Bonds, perhaps, but that's about it.

The Scumbag from Texas signed a pro-rated "minor-league" deal with the Yankees, worth approximately $4.5 million a month. If he were pitching an entire season, the deal would be worth $28 million. He'll be allowed to skip road trips when he's not scheduled to pitch (imagine the uproar if Pedro Martinez asked for that in his contract) and should be ready to go by late May or early June.

With Clemens spending the past few seasons in the NL, it's difficult for some fans to remember why he should be hated and despised. Here's a few reasons off the top of my head:

He asked out of Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. We all remember Buckner, and Schiraldi, and Stanley, but people rarely talk about Clemens letting us down in the game.

He said he could never pitch against the Red Sox.

Before he left Boston, he seemed done. Everyone gets on Duquette for not re-signing him, pointing to his stats in Toronto, New York, and Houston as proof that it was a bad deal. However, it's strange that it was not until after he got snubbed by Duquette that he once again became an amazing pitcher.

He threw at Mike Piazza's forehead. I'm all for pitching inside, and I'm all for beaning hitters, especially if they've had success against you, but not in the head. You just don't do shit like that.

He threw a broken bat at Piazza.

He pussied out of a start at Shea Stadium where he'd have to bat against the Mets.

He claimed he was retiring, and accepted a Hummer from the City of New York as a retirement gift. He then came out of retirement with Houston and refused to give the Hummer back. I guess scraping by on MLB salary for 20 years has left him strapped for cash.

In the mid 1990s, he constantly came to Red Sox camp out of shape. It wasn't until he got snubbed that he got back to being a professional.

He spent his head-hunting days in the AL.

He was in negotiations with New York, Houston, and Boston about pitching this season, claiming a decision would be made by the 15th of May. Both the Red Sox and Astros were "surprised" by the speed of his decision.

This is a good pickup for the desperate Yankees. They need pitching. This is a good place for Clemens to go, he needs to have attention and be the hero. But this move doesn't put them over the top. They still need Pettitte and Wang to pitch well, and they need some contribution from their arsenal of mediocrity.

I wanted the Sox to get Clemens, but we didn't really need him, not as badly as the Yankees did. I don't feel like we've lost the bidding war to get Clemens, I simply feel like the Yankees wanted to win it more, understandably so.

He is supposed to return around late May or early June. The Sox and Yankees have a series in Fenway in the first week of June. I only hope that the Fenway Faithful remember how much of a scummer Clemens is and mercilessly boo The Mercenary.

TWINS OUTPITCHES TAVAREZ

Tavarez hasn't been the best pitcher in the rotation by any stretch of the imagination. But, he's had some tough opponents facing him. Roy Halladay twice and now Johan Santana and the Twins bullpen.

The Sox had 14 baserunners and only managed to plate 1 of them. Tavarez pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 runs. But Santana went 5 allowing 1, and the Twins' pen went 4 allowing nothing.

Offensively, the Sox did everything but score to win this one. They got guys on base, they worked Santana's pitch count and got him out of the game, they just couldn't finish.

Man of the Game was Manny Ramirez who went 2 for 4 with a double and a walk.

Honorable Mentions:
Julian Tavarez: 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 K
Joel Pineiro: 2 IP, perfect
Dustin Pedroia: 2/2, 2B, BB, RBI

Bitch-Goat:
Tavarez: 0.2 - 2 ER
Lugo: 0.3 - 0/5, 2 K, 5 LOB
Ortiz: 0.2 - 0/5, 2 K, 2 LOB
Lowell: 0.2 - 0/4, 3 K
Drew: 0.1 - 0/3, 2 K, 2 LOB

TWO RUNS IS ENOUGH SUPPORT FOR WAKEFIELD

A few weeks ago, one of my friend's had a friend visiting him, and he was bemoaning his struggles in his fantasy baseball league. I told him "Is Wakefield available? If so, pick him up."

"Why the hell would I want Tim Wakefield?"

Here's why:

Wakefield threw 7 innings, allowed 3 hits, and 3 walks. He didn't allow a run, he struck out 2. His ERA is at 2.11. That's 8th best in the Majors and 2nd best in the AL behind Haren. The 3-3- record is deceiving considering the lack of support he's gotten. If anything, the 3 wins are impressive.

The Sox didn't give Tim much help, but it was enough. The Sox were held scoreless until the 6th when Ortiz blasted one off Silva. That was enough. The Sox added an insurance run in the 9th when Drew tripled and Crisp knocked him in with a basehit.

Once again, great bullpen work. Romero pitched 0.2 innings, then Donnelly finished the 8th with 1 pitch. Papelbon was saved by a Coco Crisp grab (did you see it?), but wound up pitching a perfect 9th for his 9th Save.

Man of the Game was Tim Wakefield. Seven scoreless, AND he was sick!

Honorable Mentions:
Carlos Silva: 7 IP, 1 ER
David Ortiz: 1/3, HR, BB
Coco Crisp: 1/4, RBI, great catch

SOX WIN SLUGFEST AGAINST SEATTLE

Good teams are capable of winning all kinds of games. 12-10 offensive battles, 2-1 pitching duels, and 6-3 "middle" games. This game was an example of a good win, even though it's NEVER good to allow 7 runs to score. Matsuzaka had control issues (he's falling behind in counts too often, as feared in my season preview), but the bullpen pitched well and the Sox hitters gave him some good run support.

Kyle Snyder had a solid outing from the pen, he's become a solid middle relief guy (probably because he pitches once a week). He got into a jam but Donnelly rescued him. Then JC Romero got the Save. Where was Papelbon? That's a question that has remained unanswered. Nevertheless, good to see that someone besides Paps can get a tough save. Romero was the 4th different Sox pitcher to record a Save, Papelbon, Okajima, and Timlin being the others. Is this Bullpen By Committee Redux?

When Manny Ramirez starts to hit consistently, this ball club will go from scary to fierce. He had a big night and is the Man of the Game. He went 2 for 5 with a pair of homers, including the 8th inning game winner. All 3 of Manny's RBI came with 2 outs. It's May and this is Manny's first Man of the Game for the season. Tells you how slow he's started.

Honorable Mentions:
Jose Guillen: 3/4, double, 3 RBI, run
Wily Mo Pena: 4/4, double, run scored
Brendan Donnely: 1.1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 0 ER, 2 inherited runners stranded

THE NEW ACE

Josh Beckett became Major League Baseball's first 6 win pitcher as the Sox beat Oakland 6-4. With a 6-0 record, a 2.72 ERA and 33 Ks, Beckett is the new Ace of the staff so far this season.

He's allowed 1 homer, and walked 9 batters this year. Last year he allowed 36 homers and walked 74 men. Right now he's on pace to allow 6 homers and walk 56 batters. It's still only early May, but the start that he's had is very impressive.

One thing that impresses me a lot about Becks is that he is keeping his pitch count down. He only threw 103 pitches tonight. If we had needed him to, he could have easily started the 8th inning. But, we have Okajima, who got his 7th Hold of the season with a hitless inning. What a find he's been. What makes Okajima even more enjoyable to watch is the fact that the Yankees could have had bought him from Yomiuri before us, but didn't. By the way, Okajima won AL Rookie of the Month for April.

Solid offensive performance by the Sox tonight. Every player had a hit, and the team had 13. No really big innings, but the Sox kept piling on runs. Ortiz with an RBI groundout in the 3rd, RBI single by Lugo in the 4th, Cora with an RBI groundout in the 6th, then Lugo with a Sac-Fly to follow, Cora with an RBI single in the 7th, and JD Drew with an RBI single in the 8th.

It was good to see Cora back in the lineup. Yesterday, the Sox said that second base would not be a platooned position. Honestly, I think Pedroia should either be platooned and play against lefties, or go back down to AAA for at least a month to get his swing/confidence back. Cora's doing well, and Pedroia is struggling. As important as keeping Pedroia in the lineup so he gets at-bats is to his development, it's also important that his confidence doesn't melt away. Maybe he could use some time in Pawtucket to hit some minor league pitching and get back into a groove.

I'm glad Timlin was used for the 3 run save in the 9th. It might have been good for Papelbon to come back right away after blowing a save, but in the long run, the fewer times he pitches on consecutive days, the better.

Man of the Game was Josh Beckett. Normally, a 7 IP, 3 ER start isn't enough to earn MOTG honors, but nobody else on either team really stuck out more than him. Becks also struck out 7.

Honorable Mentions:
Julio Lugo: 1/3, 2 RBI, Sac-Fly, SB
Hideki Okajima: IP, 0 R, 0 H, BB, K
Kevin Youkilis: 1/2, 2 BB, run

Daisuke against Horacio Ramirez and the Mariners in a makeup game tomorrow.

In other baseball news, the Yankees fired their training staff. Good move. I'm not being sarcastic, either. They hired a new group of training/conditioning people this season. I guess they ran a different kind of program that was supposed to prevent soft tissue injuries. The program failed.

THE REST OF THE PATRIOTS DRAFT

Maybe it was the buzz surrounding the trade for Randy Moss. Maybe it was the fact that the Patriots only made 1 pick on the first day. Maybe it was the fact that about 100 players were selected in between Meriweather and Kareem Brown. Whatever the reason, the rest of the Patriots draft went relatively unnoticed.

The Patriots added a great deal of depth with their draft, after filling in major missing pieces via free agency. The Patriots also acquired picks in the 2008 draft.

In the 4th round, the Pats got Kareem Brown, DT out of Miami (FL). This was the first time in team history that the first two players selected went to the same school.



Brown is 6' 4", 290 pounds, was Miami's defensive player of the year, and was 2nd in the ACC with 11.5 sacks. He is versatile. He can play at tackle or at end on the D-Line. He played with Meriweather, obviously, and spent 2 years as Vince Wilfork's teammate. The two already have somewhat of a mentor-protege relationship.

We needed some depth on the line, especially at defensive tackle. When Wilfork was hurting, or needed a breather, Mike wright was called in. Wright did a decent job, but I think Brown will be an improvement.

As we saw in the playoff loss to Indianapolis, defensive depth is vital. Our defense was worn to the turf as Indy kept driving on us. The front 3 were particularly exhausted. Brown adds another option for the line.

In the 5th round, the Patriots selected OL Clint Oldenburg out of Colorado State.



Clint is 6' 5", 298 lbs. He played tackle as an upperclassman, but also played guard and even tight end when he first played for the CSU Rams. Having a versatile O-Lineman like Oldenburg can really help. The Patriots have had very good depth at O-Line these past few seasons, and drafting capable players like this guy is one of the reasons for that.

In the 6th round, the Patriots selected DE Justin Rogers of Southern Methodist.



He's on the left. This was the best "action" shot I could find of Rogers. He wasn't even expected to be drafted by many people. Rogers had 9.5 sacks last year for 13th in D-IA. He led Conference USA in sacks as a junior with 7. He's 6' 4", 250 lbs. rogers suffered a neck injury last year, but only missed one game.

Funny side-story regarding Rogers:

"I was a little low on money and a little low on ideas and I had just killed a coyote. I was flipping through a catalogue and I saw a coyote rug and I thought, 'I can do that,' so I skinned it out and gave it to her [his step-mother]. She still has it. It's in our living room."

I just think it's funny that he was like "And I had just killed a coyote."

Rogers might have some trouble making this team. From this point on, the Patriots are pretty much drafting practice squad players. But who knows where one of these guys might one day end up.

The Patriots then drafted CB Mike Richardson, Notre Dame.



Mike is 5' 11", 188. This pick kept alive the tradition of Bellichick drafting players from "affiliate" college teams. By this, I mean college teams coached by guys associated with Bill in the past. Fresno State, LSU when Saban was there, and now Notre Dame. Richardson might make the team as the bottom CB of the depth chart.

With their next pick, the Pats selected RB Justise Hairston, Central Connecticut State.



Justise is 6' 10", 210 lbs. He's a native of New Britain, CT. He transferred to CCSU from Rutgers. He rushed for 1,847 yards on 277 carries his senior year at CCSU, including a 332 yard performance. He also ran for 20 TDs. With Maroney, Morris, Faulk, and Evans, Justise will have difficulty making the team.

The Pats drafted OT Corey Hilliard out of THE Oklahoma State University.



Hilliard is 6' 5", 308. He started 34 games straight for the Cowboys to end his college career.

In the 7th round, the Pats got ILB Oscar Lua out of USC. Lua lost his starting job this season to an underclassman.



To end their draft, the Patriots selected OL Mike Elgin of Iowa. Elgin can play both guard and center. He has little to no chance of making the team. But I'd feel bad if I didn't put a picture of him up.



So, we added some depth on defense, and maybe a little on the offensive line. Meriweather has a good chance of playing. Brown should see some time, too. The others might have trouble making the first team. That's not a bad thing, though. It's important to have a team that is very difficult to make it onto.