Lowell

Out With A Bang

/ Sara / Leave a comment

The Red Sox opened the last series they will ever play at the House That Ruth Built. And they opened it with style.

wakey.jpg
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.

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. 

pedey.jpgDP getting a little DP action.
And finally, we have this gem given to us by the ‘stash himself:

bay safe.jpgI 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

/ Sara / Leave a comment

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).

p1_pedroia.jpg

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 Brand New “Bay”

/ Sara / Leave a comment

We squeaked by again, but we’re getting on base. Which is better than we did in the Angels series. Maybe next game we’ll start scoring more?

Welcome to Boston, Jason Bay. While I will miss Manny’s antics, I’m okay with moving on. Here’s the conclusion of the game: Jed Lowrie hits a sac fly to score Jason Bay. Jed Lowrie hits a single to shortstop, Jason Bay scores. Sounds like a broken record. And I liked how all the guys mobbed them at the end. I finally felt like they were a team again.

bay.jpgYeah. I think he’ll be okay. He’s glad to be here, too.

“I had a Red Sox onesie when I was growing up,” the British Columbia
native told reporters, noting that his father was a diehard Sox fan.

In his bedroom as a kid? Posters of Jim Rice and Carl Yastrzemski.

(see video here.)

Bad news: Mikey hurt himself running out a single in the 10th. Not good. Good news? It doesn’t seem too serious. Papi was a little out of it tonight, but I think he’ll adjust. JD looked fierce, so did Pedroia and our bullpen. (Thank goodness!) More good news is that New York lost again. Bad news? The Rays won.

You know what I heard on the radio today? John Seibel (or his guest host, I don’t remember) said that by trading away Manny, the Sox had traded themselves out of the playoffs. Are you serious? These are the same guys who said before the break that the Yankees wouldn’t be a force this year, only to see the Yanks go on a hot streak. Now they’re saying we won’t get into the playoffs? We have as good a shot now as we had before the deadline. I don’t think one player can make that much of a difference. Not on this team. Take away Manny and we still have the best captain around, JD Drew, red-hot Pedroia, speedy Coco and Ellsbury, beastly Youk, lights-out Lester, Big Papi, and World Series MVP Mikey. Those guys, especially the experienced, veteran players, will not let that happen.

Hey, I think my faith has been renewed…weird.

Justin Masterson, the Savior of the Bull Pen?

/ Sara / Leave a comment

The righty with energy and a demonic sinker joins the pen today, and hopefully, will help turn around what has been a big struggle for the Red Sox, especially on the road.  Our pen masters, who used to be lights-out, have been struggling this year. But lets not put the blame entirely on their shoulders (though they make a solid contribution to every loss) but we have got to get some bats going. JD Drew, Mikey, Youk, and especially Dustin have been hitting consistently in almost every game. At times, I feel like JD and Dustin are carrying the team, because they get a hit, they get on base, and then…three strikes your out or a infielder fly…we have got to leave more men on base than any other team in the league.

Maybe that will be solved when Papi returns, which even if he doesn’t hit consistantly (which I think he will) he adds that threat. Because then you have Manny,Youk, Mikey, Papi, JD and Dustin. That’s a scary offense. I think they miss the big man on the road more than they do at home.

So maybe Papi will be the savior of the bats on the road, and Masterson will be the catalyst to get the bullpen back to the level it should be: lights out.

Either way, bring on the Mariners. Lester’s got the start and hopefully, the win.

Closing thoughts:

don’t forget, I’m running for Governor of Red Sox Nation for VA, so log on to RedSox.com and vote for me, Sara Hannon, email hannonse@gmail.com, today!

And The Hits Go On

/ Sara / Leave a comment

After a few games one-hit wonder one run squeaks, the Sox let it all go for Wednesday’s game against the Twins. Final score? 18-5. Score in the first inning? 0-3. Yeah. We all got worried, and then, it was like someone flipped a switch.

Tek got some great hits. Maybe he’s coming out of his slump to go on a hot streak. (Being a catcher myself, it is really hard to concentrate on anything but catching, so working out of a batting slump along with being a game manager…its really, really hard. So I’ve been rooting for him) The best part? His hits were RBI singles.

tek.jpgAnd if that weren’t enough, Jacoby got 4 hits, Manny, Youk and Casey got three (including Youk hitting a homer) The Sox had 23 hits, 10 for extra bases. Jeez.

g1a9134e8adaeadda8b31649aad6cb2d5bc28568ab23d95.jpg

And this wasn’t the Mariners we were beating here, its the Twins. The Twins who came to Fenway winning 19 of their last 25 games. Why can’t we play like this against Tampa Bay? Maybe we can now. Maybe it won’t matter, if the Rays continue the slump they are on. The Sox are 1.5 games back on the Rays, hanging around and making things difficult for the young team.

Congrats to the All-Stars. I think Mikey should be at third, but that’s a rant for another day…and Cheers to the Nation for giving J.D. Drew one of the biggest voting boosts in the history of the All-Star game. Nice. We’ve got seven, eight if you count the skipper, I think that’s a fitting way to end the days of Yankee Stadium – filling it with Red Sox players. 🙂

This may sound terrible, but I need Evan Longoria to suck it up from now on and I need Jacoby to have the season of his life from now on. I want him to win Rookie of the Year, but as long as everyone is in love with Longoria, that’s not going to happen. I’m not saying this out of spite for the Rays, I want Jacoby to be the Rookie of the Year, and anyone who stands in the way of that goal is the enemy.

Clay Buchholz is back after his stint in the minors, and since he had such a strong few games in Pawtucket, spending that time to work on his mechanics, we’ll be getting a really good pitcher back who can take out the O’s.

Final thoughts: Manny is always going to be Manny. It’s how life is. But this? I feel like we could have a highlight reel of Manny’s antics and never mention how good a slugger he is. I mean, you have the catch, give a fan a high five, and still get the double play highlight, his often confused base-running, or this:

499w.jpg

Manny has climbed into the Monster before. But the cell phone? Oh well, its just Manny being Manny.

Dice-K Goes Deep, Manny Delivers

/ Sara / 1 Comment

Two things I didn’t think I’d see for a while. Manny’s been slumping, whether the hamstring, or lack of chemistry w/out Papi is the culprit, I don’t know. Fact is, he’s been in a slump. Dice-K usually goes 5 innings. Maybe. And then we have to bring on the middle relief, which is zero relief for the fans. How glad am I that they’re turning Masterson into a middle reliever? I mean, the kid is great. He’s got a lot of poise and grit to be so young, so I think him as middle relief is going to be lights out. (fingers crossed)

But last night, Dice-K went into the 8th. No, that is not a typo, he went into the EIGHTH inning. Yay! That’s almost as great as the Rays losing to the Royals last night. Always good. Okajima settled down and didn’t disappoint, and Paps was Paps. Solid. If they can figure out a way to make him lights out against lefties…wow. I mean, he would go from a great closer to an almost unbelievable closer. And how ’bout Youk’s diving catch? Is he an All-Star or what?

Speaking of All-Stars, we gotta start gearing up for the Red Sox vs. Cubbies Midsummer Classic. Some people are saying the only reason that there are so many Red Sox on the roster is because of how many fans there are. I tend to disagree. Youk? Gold Glove, wherever you play him, batting over .300, and totally gritty and full of heart. Pedroia? Not only has he been a great defender, and he’s been on a tear hitting for almost a month. Jeter. Okay, as much as I hate the fact that he’s a Yankee, he’s JETER. He’s a great player, and I have to respect him for it. Third base I have a problem. Womanizing, ice-cold A-Rod gets third base and the World Series MVP, Golden Glove Third Baseman Mike Lowell gets the snub. Of course, Tito wanted to put him on the final ballot, but Mikey declined. Then we have Manny, even slumping, he’s a threat, and Paps and Drew and Tek – all great. Tek may be having a hard time with the hitting but can you ask for a better game manager? I don’t think so.

Papi took BP and was at the game, which I think helped, even ig he’s not playing, he’s a presence. A necessary presence.

Tonight is Lester v. Blackburn.  Here’s to more Sox wins and more Rays and Yankees losses! 

Keep Rocking The All-Star Vote!

/ Sara / Leave a comment

We lost. I know. Our bullpen is killing us right now. Guys who have been good, who have been consistent are suddenly losing it. We’ll shape up. We’ll turn it around, and I’m predicting the young, inexperienced-in-the-post-season Rays will fall into place behind Boston.

    I gotta respect what Tampa is doing, but like most people, I’m dubious. Not because they’re the Rays and they’re historically bad, but because they’re young. While young does mean they’re fast, more athletic, and yes, right now, they’re batting smart, but how is this team going to be later in the year? I think they’ll be around, and they’ll trade first place back and forth for a while, but I just think that once they’re on the big stage, where they’ve never been as a team before, I don’t trust the grit of the second-youngest team in baseball when compared to the Phillies, Cubs, and Red Sox. I mean, these teams have been there, They’ve been in the post-season and they’ve been on the big stage and they understand the differences between regular season and post season games. So yes, I think the Rays are contenders, but I don’t think they’ll make it to the top this year.

On another note, we have ONE day left in the All-Star voting, and Tek may get bumped from the list! Here’s the All Star roster if we started right now:
1. Youk
2. Pedroia
3. Satan’s overpaid spawn (A-Rod)
        *Lowell is in a distant 2nd place by over 1,000,000,000 votes
S. Just-as-overpaid Jeter
C. Mauer
DH. Papi
O. Manny
O. Hamilton
O. Suzuki

Note: J.D. Drew moved up two spots last week, meaning he earned almost 400,000 votes in a week. Get voting people! We don’t have much more time! Tek is about 100,000 votes behind Mauer. We are Red Sox Nation! We can do this. Seriously!