After looking like they were hitting
in a home-run derby, the Sox failed to produce and lost the second game
on a walk-off single in the 9th. These things happen, you know. All is
not lost, Sox fans. We were tied for the lead, now we’re one game back.
If we take the rubber match, we’ll be tied again. We’ll also have split
the series overall with the Rays.
I would rather lose a one-run game on
a bit of shakey pitching then my ace be clobbered by 6 home runs and
giving up 9 earned runs in just three innings (ehem, Kazmir). Becks had
a stellar game, the offense just couldn’t produce in the second one.
Also, congrats to Jason Bay, who welcomes a daughter, Evelyn Jane. Yay! Tonight, Wake takes the mound tonight. Go Sox!
Beckett
Out With A Bang
The Red Sox opened the last series they will ever play at the House That Ruth Built. And they opened it with style.
Wake did more than I expected him to after coming back to the lineup, if you manage to scatter 8 hits over five innings with only three runs scoring means you’re either Dice-K or you’re doing pretty good.
All in all, Wake was solid. Manny, not so much, J-Mas (as we are starting to call him) was the beast of the bull pen that he has become. Can we discuss how perfect it was that both Wake and Masterson got the great and powerful A-Rod to hit into a double play? Wow. Did I mention he was 5-0 tonight? Not good for the #4 spot. Sorry, I can’t resist the chance to poke a little bit of fun at the Yankees. I’m a Sox fan, its in my genes.
I will say this, if only to kharmically balance out poking fun at A-Rod. Damon clearly still has Wake’s number. I guess he’s seen the knuckler in action enough to be able to hit off him. That’s my theory, anyways.
DP getting a little DP action.
A couple of double-plays, a few good hits, and some good base-running later, we had a lead. Always good with the Sox, but with the Sox, doesn’t always mean much. The good news is this, in a game where we won 7-3, our big guys were having a little bit of an off night. We have no Mikey (who was struggling, but you can never count him out), we have no Drew, and Pedroia was a little off his game. That said, Papi had a Yankee-killing night, Bay and Bailey (yay new guy!) had a pair of RBIs each, Youk only had 1 hit, but it was an RBI. And Jacoby, back in the lead-off where he doesn’t do as well (lets face it, he has to grow into that spot) only had one hit, but it was a clutch 2-out RBI.
DP getting a little DP action. And finally, we have this gem given to us by the ‘stash himself:
I can hear the New York fans screaming “Don’t worry about him! Throw the runner out at HOME!” Of course, probably with a few more explitives thrown in. A-Rod fields the ball, throws, but Bailey is too fast, he’s safe, all the Umps are doing that motion that looks like they’re flattening a sheet, you know, really emphatically to get all the wrinkles out, and Giambi isn’t looking. He’s not sure if Bailey is out or not. Of course, it didn’t help that the Sox runners were their faster ones (I love him, but I’m glad it was Coco not Big Papi running those bases)
Finally, lets talk injuries (and no, I don’t mean Brady’s mysterious bone-bruising that will magically disappear in September)
Beckett will be back in the line-up Friday, Mikey is working his way back in, JD wants to be back by the 2nd. Needless to say, once September comes a-knocking, its amazing how many players come off the DL, especially if their team is in or close to being in the post-season. Now, I’m not knocking the players and saying they’re faking it, I’m saying that Lowell will play through hip pain if it can secure him another shot at the World Series, and JD Drew will do everything in his power to make his back feel better in time to get to October. They will push and work hard and get their way through rehab as fast as they can because, hey, its September, where one series can be the difference between going golfing in October or playing on for all the marbles.
I’m gonna say this now, baseball gods, do not be angered, it is not a prediction, merely an observation. If they Yankees do not win this series against the Wild Card Race leading Sox, then their chances at October are looking pretty slim. Merely for the fact that they only go head-to-head with the Sox once more this year, and a 7 or 8 game deficit is hard to make up in one month. Because then not only do you have to win pretty much every game, you have to pray that the Sox will lose games. They both have a similar (and tough) schedule coming up, but the Yanks have some serious road-tripping, while Boston stays mostly at home. All I know is that I hope and pray that the Sox win, the Yankees lose, and if Tampa Bay starts tanking, I wouldn’t mind that much either.
Ehem…Aboot The Red Sox
Hello all. So, as I said in my blog last week, the Olympics have taken over my life. That, combined with the wedding I was in, moving my sister into school, getting ready for school myself, and actually attending a Red Sox game have made it difficult to find time to blog. I went to game 2 of the Sox-Os series, had great seats, and sat next to a kindred spirit. If you don’t know by now, I’m a HUGE Tek fan. I jump to his defense the minute someone says something bad about him. Well, what do you know but I was sitting next to another huge Tek fan who swears the reason for his slump was because she hadn’t seen him play this year. At first, I thought “yeah, right” but then the captain, in his first at-bat, ripped one to left center for a solo shot. He’s hit a home run in his last three games. Even when he flew out, it wasn’t a weak popper to the infield or right to the outfielder, no, it was a long, almost out of the park beauty that the O’s had to chase. Hopefully he’s working his way out of the slump.
Dustin got tossed from the game after having a few choice words with the Ump (mind you, the strike zone was TERRIBLE) and Tito must have come out to argue at least three or four times. But lets talk about Dustin, and if we talk about Dustin, we must mention Youk. The two of them are absolutely fierce. I mean, if Youk continues his performance he could be in talks for the MVP, which he totally deserves. (I think) They are having great at-bats now, they’re hard to get out (most of the time), they hit homers, doubles, triples, sac-flies, RBIs and lots of singles. They spark rallies. They are great fielders. And the best part is, they’ll be great for years to come because they’re not that old (crossing fingers, praying for no injuries and/or trades).
He is just too cute!
Mikey and Drew are still out (sad face!) but Byrd looked good last night. He got rocked a little, but he got good back-up from the bats (and the lower part of the order too!) So if we have Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Byrd and Wake (when he returns) then Colon, Masterson, Paps, Smith, Lopez, and Okajima, we’ll actually have a pretty good pitching staff. (bull pen is still a little scary, but if the starters can go six or seven without getting rocked too hard, we’ll manage) If we just keep that offense chugging, keep Lugo on the DL and get everybody healthy, we have a very good shot at the post-season.
A Rays collapse wouldn’t hurt either. And a Twins collapse. And if the Yankees start losing even more ground, I wouldn’t complain.
My boy is pitching today, so bring on the Jays!
A Long Road Home
It has now been five days since my last entry. Dang. I knew I was behind, but I didn’t know I was this behind. What’s my excuse? Between watching the Red Sox, preseason football, Michael Phelps and the Olympics, sleep has fallen by the wayside. Now fully rested and able to snag a few minutes, I will now talk what we are all here to discuss: baseball.
We split a series against the ChiSox, and quite a few things happened during this four-game series.
-my rock, my best hope (Lester) lost his first game in 2.5 months (that’s just a ridiculous stat, by the way)
-Pedroia stops his road hitting streak at 29. (also ridiculous, considering how bad the Sox can be on the road)
-Clay B. had a really bad (and somewhat unlucky) night, though I tell you what, he was throwing good, they were just hitting better. I have hope for him yet.
-the bullpen wasn’t too terrible. no, really, they were actually pretty decent (what we saw of them)
-the Sox come home with a winning record for a road trip! 4-3
-how ’bout Jason Bay being as solid as he can be? I mean, he’s no Manny, but that trade , which significantly lowered the level of stress for the Sox, added years to Tito’s life
–Jose Contreras came of the DL on August 9th, and promptly returned following an Achilles tear and is out for the rest of the season (his surgery yesterday was successful, however)
-Jed Lowrie. I want him at short, or Cora, but mostly Jed. Julio, take your time on the DL.
Other good/funny things that happened over the weekend:
-Evan Longoria was placed on the DL (no, I don’t wish people would be hurt, but this does help out the Sox) So now they Rays have two key players out for at least two weeks
-The Yanks are now 9 games behind Tampa, and 5 games behind the Red Sox. Please oh please oh please can they keep losing?
-The American’s crushed the World record (and the trash-talking French) in the 4X100m relay in what was one of the greatest Olympic moments ever.
And then the men’s gymnastics team, with ZERO Olympic experience, and not favored to medal at all, had a stellar night to take home the Bronze.
-finally, Manny is already stirring up controversy at his new post in La-La-Land. Many great player’s locks have fallen to the will of Joe Torre. Damon, for example, lost his Jesus-do after acting like Judas and jumping over to the Dark Side. Now Torre is in the land of image-is-everything, did you really think he’d stop the whole hair cut thing? 11 days ago he asked Manny to trim his hair (wherever he goes, the Manny must be appeased). Manny, who thought he was finished early last night and could not be found for a few minutes (classic), has yet to get the requested “trim”. Here’s some more on the “Dreadlock Deadlock“
Oh Manny, how I miss you, yet how glad I am that you are gone …(hey, I’m a Red Sox fan, it’s my nature to be contradictory)
Becks pitched a gem last night, racking up the Ks. Problem was, John Danks was almost perfect. Then he whacked Wheels (Ellsbury) on the butt with a pitch and it all went downhill from there. Beckett looked like the Ace we all know and love last night (good timing with that, by the way) in what will be a very important month for the Sox, Beckett’s return to a higher standard is welcome news. Wake is on the DL, Buchholz, though he is actually pitching OK, can’t seem to fool batters, and Dice is heart-attack inducing (though he rarely loses). This makes watching the Sox pitch so much more stressful, especially when Beckett is so close but just a little off. But this resurgence is great, because the means now (hopefully) we have the stellar 1-2-3 punch of Dice, Beckett and Lester, plus Zink, who should be pretty good, and Clay has a lot of potential, he just needs a little work. We still have one of the best (and certainly the most interesting) closers in Paps.
So here’s to Beckett (may he be as dominant in Aug-Sept-Oct 2008 as he was in 2007) and a good road trip. Now, lets hope that the temporary set-backs can stall the Rays out a bit to get the Sox back in contention. (What, I still am, and will always be, worried that the Yankees are going to go on a run at the end and take it all away from us)
Back at home tonight with the high-scoring Texas Rangers (yee-haw!) Good news: Zink is pitching in his MLB debut (13-4, 2.89 ERA, .228 opponents batting average in the minors). That means most of these batters have never seen him before. Hopefully Tito and Cash and all the guys can allay his nerves and he’ll be the heir-apparent to Wake (the guy is 42, he’ll retire eventually)
I leave you with a question. There have been (not counting war years and a few lost to injury) five major players spanning the years to play in Left Field at Fenway: Lewis (whose cliff is now gone), Williams, Yaz, Rice, Greenwell, and Manny. Will Bay be like the few, the proud, the Sox Left Fielders? Or will he be like the names we don’t mention here, a handful of starters scattered over the near 100 years of Fenway and the Monster? Who knows, he’s a young guy, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
Stress and the Sox
Okay, I know, we’re reining world champions, but I am not at the point where I can take a loss or a slump without the inevitable question of whether or not we’re done. It is still as stressful as ever, I think had we been no hit tonight, I might have given up on them for longer than 24 hours. I might have even gone a whole week. But in comes Pedroia on his shining white horse and his hot bad, come to chase to no-hitter away. And just so we weren’t shut-out, Youk knocks one into the monster seats. Do I feel bad about the Angel losing his no-hitter with one out in the ninth? Heck no. The only no-hitters I want to see in Fenway are the ones the home-team throws.
Tonight highlighted all the reasons I hate it when Clay Buchholz pitches. He’s like the schizo pitcher. He’ll be lights out, then suddenly, its like he’s a whole different pitcher. Then he gets back to business. Tek, if you can hear me, can you figure out a way to fix that please?
One good sign in this game that maybe we’re about to turn things around is the fact that Lackey only struck out four and gave out 2 free passes (one on a hit batter to Drew). So that means 21 of 27 outs came from fielding the ball, either with a ground-out or a pop-out or a line-out. We;re making contact, and as my coach would always say, that’s the first step. Its always better to make contact or walk than strike out. Okajima was on tonight, but the rest of the bull pen…shaky as ever. I was so glad Tito put Paps in during the 9th. I mean, if he could just be our designated 9th-inning guy (winning or not) At least until the bull pen pulls it together on a consistent basis.
Speaking of Paps, I think 20 years from now, when we look back on it, we’ll be remembering a lot of greats from this team. We’ll look back on Paps, Nomar, Pedro, Schilling, Tito, Wake and all of those guys and talk about them like we talk about Tony C, Fisk, and Bobby D. We’ll always remember Damon as a traitor (sorry, but that’s life), so long as Manny doesn’t do anything stupid and retires in Boston or goes out quietly somewhere other than the Yankees or another AL east rival, we’ll always remember Manny, but what happens after this year determines how fondly we’ll remember him. Lester? Give him a few years and we could be calling him one of the best ever. Youk? Um, its Youk. That’s it. We don’t even need to say any more. He’s a beast. If Ellsbury continues to develop (and I think he will) he could become one of the greatest base runners ever. We just have to get him on base. Mike Lowell is one of the most remarkable and likable guys to play the game, of course we’ll be telling our kids about how, at the end of the 2007 world series, hundreds of fans stayed behind to throw their support at Mike Lowell and let management know what they wanted.
Then we have Papi. I mean, he’s Papi. We love Papi. Of course we’ll be telling our kids about the slugger. Drew? Maybe. If he sticks around long enough and plays well. We’ll certainly remember his grand slam forever.
The guys I think we may be mentioning up there with Cy Young, Ted Williams, and Yaz someday are Pedroia and Varitek. (Note, Papi will be here too, but we already covered him) Tek could probably be in a hitting slump the rest of this year, and we’ll still be talking HOF. (In my book, anyway) Anyone who is named the Captain of his team, and then is their captain for TWO world series (and hopefully more!) wins and is one of the main reasons they didn’t get discouraged when they were down games in the ALCS (both times) is a Captain to be respected and proud of. He had one of the worst batting averages in the league and the players STILL wanted to honor him as an All-Star. That tells you something right there. And as for Pedroia, he has all the makings of a phenomenal player. Low on the errors, gets on base, a lot, fast, smart at the plate, and plays with a lot of heart. I’m not saying he’s playing at a HOF level now, I just see a lot of potential (do not let him go, Theo). Who else would have broken up the first possible no-hitter at Fenway since 1953? My money was on him or Papi.
So now we’ve lost two series at Fenway. Can this be our home losing slump for the season and then we can be done with it? Please? We haven’t had a real good hot streak all year. We’re starting the hottest month of the year, maybe we could develop a streak to match the weather? (watch, as I say this, God is going to make it the mildest August ever)
We are now back to two games behind Tampa Bay, but another Yankee loss puts them further in our rear-view mirror. (Thank goodness). I almost expected this, because if you compare the teams we’re playing to the teams the Rays are playing…they’re playing Toronto, who are just barely above .500, we played the Angels, who currently have the best record in baseball. But, as I say that, I have to say this: look at their division. Their only competition is Oakland, who are 12 games back. The last place team in the whole AL East is only 11.5 games back. The AL East is the only division in baseball where four teams are above .500. So right now, I don’t mind losing to the Angels. As long as we win when it counts, like when we fell out of shouting distance of first place and won five out of six (helped by a Rays 7-game losing streak) to get back into right before the break, I’m happy. And here’s a good thought to end this not-so-happy blog on: the Yankees, who were surging, have now lost three straight, two to the worst team in the AL East. How nice would it be to have the 9-2 loss on Sunday be the catalyst for the Yankee’s undoing? (I was raised to hate them, for better or worse, richer or poorer, ’til death do I stop)
Next up, Beckett. He only allowed one run to the Yanks last time, but since no one felt like swinging the bat against the platypus (Joba C.), we lost. Maybe Becks will only give up one run this time and we can actually do a little work on offense. Who knows. Here’s hoping for some good mojo. We certainly need it.
Wheels, Deals and Happy Meals
In the course of one weekend, I went from hating the game of baseball, deciding the fat lady had sung on the Sox season, and giving up on baseball all together for about 24 hours to being impressed with the team and hoping for another championship. There is only one team in baseball that can do that with all of their fans so effectively: the Boston Red Sox. Its like one of those movies where you are so angry at the characters that you get up to leave, but once your out, you can’t stand to leave in the middle, so you just go to the bathroom and head back in, only to see the characters completely turn things around.
Lets not talk about the first two games, where the Yankees hot streak clearly got the better of the issues Boston has with leaving men on base, the bullpen, and the lineup. I’m sorry, when Josh Beckett pitches out of his mind and you can’t get him any runs to help out? That is not good. But that’s all I’m going to say about Friday and Saturday. On to Sunday.
Once again, the Sox lean on Jon Lester when they are spiraling into a losing streak. Once again, Jonny pulls out a great game and saves the Sox. I had a lot of confidence going into Sunday, because lets face it, Sidney Ponson? Despite the surprising streak he’s been on, his low inning count and high walk rate had to eventually catch up with him. I’m hoping that this loss sparks a whole new Yankees collapse, though I doubt it because yet again, the big money boys have made some big money deals to bring in a bit of help. Sure enough, the combination of the-pillar-of-the-pitching-staff Lester (note, he may not have the most wins, but he always goes deep, and I always feel a little bit safer when he’s on the hill.) He’s the only one I really trust to pull the team out of a losing streak, he’s really good at that, and like Tek said, he’s only going to get better. Coming from Tek, who is probably one of the best pitching judges out there (he should really become a pitching coach when he retires, with all the good he does behind the plate, I think he’d be great as a coach.) that’s high praise.
Speaking of Tek, guess who is still hitting. Yay! And the Papi-Manny Double-Whammy is back in business as of last night. I think Manny is starting to realize that he needs to be on his best behavior if he wants to get a better deal at the end of the season, which I’m sure his agent has been telling him. But that’s all I’m going to say about the Manny Saga. Anyway, Boston’s bats were a’swinging last night with a bunch of doubles and a two-run dinger from none other than Big Papi. I think he needed that.
Man, its good to have the big guy back. And with him back, Dustin can be the lead-off man (I know Tito still wants Jacoby in that spot, but I think he’s not ready yet) followed by Youk (anyone else think Joba should have been ejected from the game for that ball he threw at him? I don’t care how stupid the timing was, there is just no way that wasn’t intentional) then the Papi-Manny duo that hopefully will again start to terrify opposing pitchers. I like the batting order now. I like having Jacoby at the bottom, I think he needs some more time in the bigs before he really is an effective lead-off man. I think this visit to the 9th spot will be good for him. Speaking of Jacoby…
What a catch. I tell you what, with his speed and defensive ability, I don’t care that his arm strength isn’t that good. That boy has wheels. He’ll be stealing bases again in no time, and with him on, a single can turn into a double or triple. We like to call him wheels.
The trade deadline approaches, and no word yet from Theo about anything. Do we make a quick trade to shore up the bull pen or do we work from within, like with Masterson? (who I still think is going to be a solid reliever). Do we trade Coco or keep him? (keep, sorry Coco) Can we please trade Lugo? I mean…come on, won’t anyone take him? What kind of dealing will be done? Will the Pirates continue to let other teams raid their cookie jar? Who knows. Will the Yankees continue to make ridiculous deals to make sure they are contenders? Of course. They’re the Yankees. They must be in the playoff hunt every year. Its a conspiracy, I tell you, the Steinbrenners are paying off the baseball gods…but thats another story for another day.
So, that’s the wheels, the deals…what about the Happy Meal? After deciding the fat lady had sung on the 2008 season, I went and got myself a Happy Meal to bury my sorrow in a little pack of fries, a burger, and a very small diet coke. It was partially the Happy Meal I had for lunch on Sunday and the Sox performance that night that renewed my faith in the boys. (Not that I had ever actually lost it, but in true Sox fan form, I let it go temporarily) What did I have for lunch today? What do you think. Superstition rules all, and the toy I got today was way better than yesterday.
Next up, Dice takes on the Halos. God help us and not them. (Seriously, I know they’re the Angels, but we could use a little help, and if that help comes in the form of a Rays and Yankees collapse or Sox mega-hot streak, I’ll leave that up to You, Big Man.)
Batter up!
They’re Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!
Man, does it feel good to have the west-coast swing over with or what? I know I needed some sleep.
And the rivalry is renewed, and it matters, again. Despite pesky little Tampa Bay making this a ménage à trois, the Sox are in first place (tied with said Rays) and the Yankees are breathing down everyone’s necks, coming in on a hot streak. We all knew this would happen. I remember listening to ESPN Radio, the show Sportsnation. They asked who would be in the AL Wild Card Race, and I said the Yankees. The guys on the show disagreed and said that the Yankees just didn’t have the pitching to make it. Of course, the moment someone says that, the entire pitching staff in NY goes on a tear and plays out of their collective minds.
Its fate. The Rays are in the mix this year, and probably for a couple more years, but it always comes back to the Yankees and the Red Sox. Always. Its like God is sitting up there, laughing at us, because just when you think one team is out, they come roaring back in. Its why I have faith, that, at the end of the day, though Tampa Bay will continue to be a presence, it will always come back to the Yankees and the Red Sox. Its like, the Yankees and the Sox have been preforming this great dance, year after year, and one of them eventually falls, leaving the winner. The Rays have come in, and they look good, but it remains to be seen if maybe they will be standing towards the end there.
Was that a weird analogy? Moving on. Back in the lineup tonight will be the big man, Big Papi, or as Paps calls him “The Large Father”. Do I think he’ll hit a homer? Not likely, it would be great, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Do I think he’ll be a force in the lineup to terrify platypus man Joba Chamberlain? Oh yes.
So here’s to a good outing by Papi, and a great outing by Beckett, who has looked better since the break.
Lets go Sox!
(Transplanted) Nation 