Buchholz looks to continue his quest for a spot in the rotation with a good outing tonight against Cincinnati.
1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Brad Wilkerson, CF
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. J.D. Drew, RF
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. Jason Varitek, C
7. Chris Carter, 1B
8. Nick Green, 3B
9. Gil Velazquez, 2B
Clay Buchholz, SP
Ellsbury, cf
Pedroia, 2b
Youkilis, 1b
Anderson, dh
Lowrie, ss
Chavez, 3b
Bard, c
Daeges, lf
Reddick, rf
Johnson, sp
Before today's game the grounds crew had trouble trying to remove a raccoon from the stands. Amalie Benjamin has the story:
Around 11 a.m., as the Rays were taking batting practice, a couple of grounds crew members were creeping through the stands with a ball bucket and a net. The reason became apparent soon enough. There was a raccoon racing around the stands, including the luxury boxes right behind home plate under the press box. He (or she) managed to elude the pursuers, and eventually leaped off a section of the stands onto a pad that was beneath it, and scampered off. But it was quite a spectacle, with the Rays coaching staff (including Don Zimmer and Joe Maddon) just about doubled over with laughter watching, and the Red Sox enthralled as well.
The raccoon was smart to leave before the Sox pitchers got shelled. Here's the video from Big League Stew:
The Red Sox were roughed up today in Grapefruit League action by the defending American League champs. Bowden struggled giving up 4 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, but the damage was not done yet. Enrique Gonzalez came in and gave up 6 hits and 5 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings. By the end of the third inning the Rays were up 10-0. The Sox bats came alive in the 5th scoring 4 runs with the top of the order (Ellsbury and Lowrie) getting 3 RBI's. Boston is now 0-3 in spring training but nothing really to worry about yet...unless your name is Michael Bowden or Enrique Gonzalez.
Red Sox Lose 12-4 BOX SCORE
Ellsbury, cf
Lowrie, ss
Youkilis, 1b
Baldelli, dh
Bay, lf
Wilkerson, rf
Brown, c
Green, 2b
Chavez, 3b
Bowden, sp
The Red Sox dropped their second Grapefruit League game yesterday but things mostly went well. Lester looked good on the mound and Bailey looked good at the plate.
Read more...
J.D. Drew caught a 5-pound bass behind Big Papi's house giving us this great picture via Rob Bradford.
If you look closely you may be able to find me in the crowd. Notice Robert Earl Keen is wearing a baseball Hall of Fame hat.
1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. J.D. Drew, RF
5. Jason Varitek, C
6. Jeff Bailey, 1B
7. Paul McAnulty, LF
8. Nick Green, 3B
9. Chip Ambres, CF
Jon Lester, SP
Forget the police escort and the dramatic entrance; the Red Sox no longer need to replace Bard when Wake is pitching. Josh Bard did well catching the knuckler last night against the Twins.
Read more...The Twins offense fared better than BC against Red Sox pitching, especially against Wake in the second game of the day for Boston. Wakefield gave up 3 runs (2 earned) 5 hits, 2 BB in two innings. Ouch. Masterson pitched much better giving up just 1 hit and a BB in 2 innings. Pedroia and Bailey each had 2 hits but Ellsbury went 0-3 on the night. Lester will be on the mound tomorrow as the Sox host the Bucs.
Red Sox lose 5-2 BOX SCORE
The Red Sox trailed BC 1-0 into the 5th before putting up 6 runs in the bottom of the inning. Navarro had a homer and Chris Carter had 3 RBI's. The pitching staff looked good in the game; Beckett went 2 innings without giving up a hit. He threw 22 pitches, 15 for strikes. Here is the breakdown from Rob Bradford:
first inning (9 pitches, 6 fastballs, 2 curveballs, 1 changeup)
second inning (13 pitches, 11 fastballs, 1 changeup, 1 curveball/22 pitches total)
Dice-K did not perform a Houdini act for Team Japan in a tuneup game against Australia. He only lasted 1 2/3 innings and gave up 5 hits and 2 runs.
"There were good points and bad points," the Boston Red Sox right-hander said. "I'll work hard to get ready for the actual games."
UPDATE: Tek will play Thursday:
The Red Sox catcher is slated to play on Thursday. Red Sox manager Terry Francona explained he didn't want his captain to catch back-to-back games the first two days of the exhibition season.
Pitchers: Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Kris Johnson, Junichi Tazawa, Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard
Night Game vs. Twins
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
4. Jason Bay, LF
5. Brad Wilkerson, RF
6. Jed Lowrie, SS
7. Jeff Bailey, DH
8. Josh Bard, C
9. Gil Velazquez, 3B
This could be a breakout year for Jacoby Ellsbury, Johnny Pesky is even comparing him to Ted Williams:
"I have a lot of faith in Jacoby Ellsbury," said Pesky. "I think he could be a real good one. If he was 10 pounds bigger he could be, I keep saying it and people tell me I'm full of bull, he could be the next Ted Williams. He has that kind of ability. He's not as big as Ted. He doesn't run as good as Ted. But he's a much better fielder and a much better thrower than Ted. Ellsbury is the complete package and that's what you have to have."
Every Red Sox fan is wondering how the team will find a way to get Lars Anderson into the mix in the future with Youk signing a long term deal. Anderson has only played first base for the Sox organization but that could change soon according to Alex Speier of WEEI.com: In all likelihood, the Sox will have him acquire an outfielder’s glove when he reaches Triple-A Pawtucket, something that could happen as soon as this season. The practice of moving a player for a trial at a new position is a common one that the team undertakes with players who are knocking on the door of the majors.
Too bad the Sox can't put him behind the dish when Tek retires.
J.D. Drew had another injury on Saturday but was back in there on Sunday practicing with the team. The guy finds a way to miss 1/3 of his playing time with various injuries.
"He looked good," said manager Terry Francona. "In February it doesn't hurt to give a guy a day off when he needs it. There's no reason to push."
Yes, that is Bobby Kielty, and no, that is not a wig!
Read more...Good thing it's only spring training because some of the Red Sox pitchers are looking wild:
The drill can tend to get a little dangerous from time to time, too. Brad Wilkerson was drilled in the arm by Jon Lester. Nick Green was hit in the rib cage by Daniel Bard the other day and Julio Lugo was grazed by a Clay Buchholz fastball.Read more...
Big Papi trained with one of the people that supplied A-Rod* with PED's. Does that make him a user? Absolutely not but it does bring up some red flags. According to Big Papi, he only trained with this guy in the Domincian Republic in group workouts to get ready for the season and he did not have a one on one relationship like A-Rod* did.
Ortiz is in a tough situation here. Fans want to and should believe that he is clean but they have been burned too many times before. When Mark McGuire was going after Aaron's record, some friends and I picked a game on the calander where it looked like he could hit the magical home run. We picked Milwaukee and planned a weekend trip around the games. Big Mac had already broken the record by the time our trip came around but we did get to see him hit 3 homers over the weekend, each one a new record. We even drove down to Chicago that weekend to see Sammy Sosa play as he was having an amazing season of his own. I had such great memories of that weekend and I even took a great picture of the moment McGuire was connecting with a record breaking homer. Now those memories are tarnished by steriods.
I moved to the Bay Area in 2000 just in time to see Barry Bonds start to hit crazy amounts of home runs. I was in the bleachers when he hit his 600th career home run and I was at 10 games of his record breaking season. Now those memories are tarnished by steroids.
In 2006 I was at Fenway to see Big Papi hit home runs #51 and #52 to pass Jimmie Foxx for the most homers in a season by a member of the Red Sox. Is that memory going to be tarnished? Ortiz is the face of the Red Sox and I don't know what I would do if I found out he was among the cheaters in baseball. I believe that he is clean and I hope I don't get burned again but I have been burned enough in the past to place too much trust in baseball players.
I'm back in California after a week long family trip to Florida. I did not get to Fort Myers but did attend the Daytona 500 and saw John Henry enjoy his time in victory lane. Usually Wakefield comes to the race but he was not there this year, I did get to meet Tom Cruise and Gene Hackman at the driver's meeting before the race. Now that I'm back you will see more frequent posts on Fenway West as the 2009 season gears up.
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