Jon Lester pitched well, giving up 8 hits and 2 earned runs while striking out 9 in 7 1/3 innings against the Orioles. Daniel Bard and RR kept the O's off of the board to preserve Lester's victory.
Ortiz drove in 3 and LaRoche and Ells each drove in 2 runs to fuel the Red Sox new offensive surge of 7 runs.
Red Sox win 7-2 BOX SCORE
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Orioles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
| Red Sox | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 1 |
“Sometimes the time off helps," said Timlin, who stayed in shape by playing catch with former teammate Mike Myers and throwing batting practice for his son’s youth team. “God has given me the strength to do this. I believe I can still pitch at this level."
| Jacoby Ellsbury, CF |
| Dustin Pedroia, 2B |
| J.D. Drew, RF |
| Jason Bay, LF |
| David Ortiz, DH |
| Mike Lowell, 3B |
| Adam LaRoche, 1B |
| Jason Varitek, C |
| Nick Green, SS Jon Lester, SP |
Some news coming out of Pawtucket of note:
Michael Bowden pitched another gem last night, is he trade bait or will he find his way to Boston?
Jonathan Van Every has left the Red Sox Organization.
New comer Chris Duncan had an RBI single in his first AB with the PawSox - video
Red Sox Sonoma will be doing some interviews at McCoy on Monday so stay tuned for his post.
Lou Merloni interviewed Jonathan Papelbon for CSNNE before last night's game and asked him about roster moves for the Red Sox. Watch below:
The Red Sox wives are sponsoring a canned food drive for the Greater Boston Food Bank today:
You can also purchase tickets to win Tek's autographed July 4th catcher's equipment. Read more...Outside the gates to Fenway Park
Come and meet the players' wives and take home an autographed photo of your favorite Boston Red Sox player* when you make a donation of $10 or 10 non-perishable food items.
The Red Sox had a scout at tonight's Indians-Mariners game to get another look at Victor Martinez. If the Red Sox are going to make a big deal before the deadline it will be for V-Mart.
Read more...Adam LaRoche answers questions about what it is like to join the greatest franchise is sports. Watch below:
Brad Penny pitched very well going 6 1/3 innings and giving up just 5 hits and 1 run (unearned) to pick up his first win in over a month. Delcarmen and Oki got it to the 9th without giving up another hit and handed a 3-1 lead over to Paps. Papelbon gave up 2 hits an a walk in the 9th but struck out the last 2 batters he faced to earn his 25th save of the season. Paps has now faced 8 batters with bases loaded and is perfect with 7 K's.
J.D. Drew finally broke out of his slump with a hit and an RBI in the game. Youk and Lowrie were the only ones that did not get a hit in the game.
The Yankees won again so the Red Sox remain 2.5 games back in the A.L. East.
Red Sox Win 3-1 BOX SCORE
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Orioles | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 1 |
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Bay, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jason Varitek, C
Jed Lowrie, SS
Brad Penny, SP
To Make room for Adam LaRoche the Boston Red Sox have placed Mark Kotsay on waivers. If nobody picks him up in 48 hours he will most likely be sent to Pawtucket.
Read more...
The Red Sox are back at the Fens to take on the last place Orioles but a victory is far from guaranteed. Boston will face Brad Bergesen who held them to 4 hits in 8 innings on July 1. Brad Penny will pitch for the Sox and he has been less than stellar lately. His last win came over a month ago and with Lugo gone he may become the new target of Red Sox Nation if he doesn't get it going tonight. The offense needs to get it going if Penny is going to get a W, check out these awful numbers courtesy of Hacks With Haggs:
Jason Varitek 6 (2-for-17) 2 walks, 5 strikeouts .118/ .211/ .176/ .387
Jason Bay 6 games (2-for-19) 5 walks, 7 strikeouts .105/ .292/ .158/ .450
Nick Green 3 games (1-for-10) no walks, 6 strikeouts .100/ .100/ .400/ .500
J. Ellsbury 4 games (1-for-16) no walks, 4 strikeouts .063/ .063/ .063/ .125
J.D. Drew 6 games (0-for-21) 3 walks, 7 strikeouts .000/ .125/ .000/ .125
All this and they will be wearing the FAILHATS; not really what the Sox need right now.
Five years ago today was the game that changed everything in the 2004 championship season.
Big Papi speaks with NECN on the opening of his new restaurant and answers questions about the team's recent struggles. Watch below:
Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox threw a perfect game today against the Tampa Bay Rays. The perfect game was saved when White Sox outfielder Dewayne Wise robbed Gabe Kapler of a home run in the 9th with an amazing catch. Wise entered the game in the 9th as a defensive substitution. It was the 18th perfect game in MLB history and the first since Randy Johnson's in 2004. Buehrle has one previous no-hitter in his career.
BOX SCORE
Victor Martinez could be the big bat the Red Sox are going to trade for before the deadline. Yesterday Peter Gammons said the Sox rejected the offer to trade Buchholz for Martinez but SI's Jon Heyman points out that there are plenty more players in the Red Sox organization that might satisfy Cleveland and the Tribe is looking to move V-Mart. Ken Rosenthal says the Sox won't go after Martinez but don't listen to him, they can easily flip LaRoche.
Martinez is hitting .291 with an OPS of .846. The Red Sox need a catcher for the future and Tek's bat has cooled off. Martinez fits the Red Sox mold as he is seeing more pitches this year and getting more walks.
The children's book A Glove of Their Own tells the story of kids joining together in a park to play baseball. It captures the essence of what goes on across America as children gather to enjoy the grand old game. The book also highlights the fact that some kids do not have their own glove and the simple act of donating equipment can brings out the best in everyone. The book is filled with great baseball lingo that will bring back childhood memories for adults and entertain children. My young son loves the illustrations and is a big fan of the book.
Baseball coach Bob Salomon has joined with the authors of the book to create a "Play it Forward" movement where they get individuals and companies to dontate equipment to those that are in need. $3 of every book sale has been donated to non-profits (Good Sports, Pitch in for Baseball, Sports Gift) that provide sports equipment to the needy.
The movement has gained momentum and has the support of many professional athletes including former Red Sox players Luis Tiant and Sean Casey. Please take a moment to visit the book's website to purchase a copy and learn more about how you can help get baseball equipment to those in need in your area.
Jim Rice's number 14 will be retired on Tuesday night in a pregame ceremony before the Red Sox take on the A's. Red Sox owner John Henry made this announcement:
"As a fan of the game and a steward of this great franchise, it is an honor to be a part of the Red Sox during this special moment in the team's history. On behalf of our partners and the entire organization, we want to congratulate Jim Rice on his upcoming induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and finally taking his rightful place among the greatest players in the game.Read more...The retirement of his number will be a fitting way to honor one of the most dominant hitters to ever wear a Red Sox uniform."
The bats stayed asleep and Buchholz did not provide any answers on the mound as the Red Sox lost their fifth straight game falling 2 games behind the Yankees.
Clay Buchholz was inconsistant on the mound tonight giving up 6 hits and all 3 of the Ranger runs in 4 innings to take the loss.
The Red Sox only had 6 total hits in the game, Ells, Youk, Drew, Bay, and Kotsay all had 0-fers on the night. J.D. Drew has not had a hit in forvever and his OBP is .100 since the All-Star break.
Red Sox Lose 3-1 BOX SCORE
The Red Sox have made another deal today; Julio Lugo has been traded for Cardinals outfielder Chris Duncan. That's way more than the six pack of Schaefer beer that most people thought Lugo could possibly fetch. The Red Sox will pick up Lugo's salary and Duncan will head to the PawSox.
We asked our friends from the Pirates blog: Raise the Jolly Roger to give us a scouting report on the newly acquired Adam LaRoche. Here's the report:
Adam LaRoche: Bats L / Throws L / Age 29 / 6-3 / 203 lbs/ stats
Bat:
Until this season, Adam would routinely start off the season in a miserable slump, then turn things on in the second half so much that his numbers would make him appear like a league-average first baseman. That never helped the Pirates, though, because for the Bucs pretty much every game after Memorial Day is irrelevant. This year, although he wasn't as awful in April and May, LaRoche hasn't gotten hot yet. He's a streaky hitter with a big long, loopy swing that will drive you Red Sox fans nuts at times--and other times he makes it look remarkably easy to drive the ball out of the park. His pitch selection and approach often make no sense at all (the other day, with the Bucs down 1 in the 8th, he hit into an inning ending DP on a 3-0 pitch), but he usually still takes his fair share of walks.
Glove:
I've seen some talk today about Adam playing poor defense--ignore it. He's a very good defensive first baseman. LaRoche is certainly not fleet of foot, but he makes picks with ease, is very reliable on routine plays, and can still dazzle you with the occasional diving stop.
Other:
LaRoche can be a strange character. He rarely shows any emotion, leading some to believe he may not be hustling or may not care about the game. All accounts from within the team (obviously) are that it's false, but I figured I'd throw it out there. He does have a history with ADD for what it's worth. Oh, and he's ridiculously obsessed with hunting.
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Bay, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Mark Kotsay, 1B
Jason Varitek, C
Nick Green, SS
Clay Buchholz, SP
The Red Sox have acquired Adam LaRoche from the Pirates. More from WEEI.com:
the Pirates will receive shortstop Argenis Diaz and pitcher Hunter Strickland when the deal is finalized. Diaz is known as a gifted defensive player, but there are questions about his bat. The 22-year-old Diaz is hitting .253/.309/.310 with Double-A Portland this year. Strickland, an 18th round pick in 2007, is 5-4 with a 3.35 ERA for the Greenville Drive of the Single-A South Atlantic League this year. The 6-foot-5 20-year-old has shown excellent command for the Drive, with a 51-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 83.1 innings this year.
The petty Yankees are going after a guy for making a shirt that says, "The House that Juice Built." Obviously referring to the large number of Yankees that have been implicated in the steroid mess. I guess I will be their next target for my "The House that Hank Built" post."
Josh Beckett pitched a complete game giving up 4 runs on 7 hits but it was not enough to wake up the Red Sox slumbering bats. Ells, Drew, Bay, and Tek went a combined 0-13 in the game. Drew is now batting .127 in July. The 4 game losing streak along with the Yankees win streak has dropped Boston into 2nd place in the A.L. East.
The Red Sox had their top scout watching the tribe tonight; could they be interested in Cliff Lee? or possibly Martinez? Either way, the Red Sox need something to wake the team up.
Red Sox Lose 4-2 BOX SCORE
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Red Sox | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Rangers | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 0 |
Tim Wakefield has a "lower back strain" and is said to have suffered the injury during a side session Saturday. He is going on the DL retroactive to July 18 and Buchholz will take his spot on the roster. Seems like Wake is taking one for the team here so the Red Sox can get one more start out of Penny, Smoltz, and Buchholz before the deadline to see what they should do for the second half.
Read more...| Jacoby Ellsbury, CF |
| Dustin Pedroia,. 2B |
| Kevin Youkilis, 1B |
| David Ortiz, DH |
| Jason Bay, LF |
| J.D. Drew, RF |
| Mike Lowell, 3B |
| Jason Varitek, C |
| Jed Lowrie, SS Josh Beckett, SP |
Dustin Pedroia was on WEEI today to promote his new book Born to Play. In the interview he responded to Tito's swipe at him:
On Tito saying he’ll read Pedroia’s new book when he’s in the bathroom: (Laughing) “I have to put up with him everyday, and it just gets worse and worse everyday. I don’t know how he does it.”
On what his teammates have said to him about his new book and the 2009 Red Sox in general: “Well first off, I don’t even know if half of our team can read. We don’t have the sharpest guys here.
Smoltz's collapse last night was reason for concern among Red Sox Nation, as is the offense at this point. Drew is not hitting, Bay is in a slump, Tek has cooled off, and as Rob Bradford points out the team has the lowest batting average in the A.L. for July. Oh yeah, the Yankees have also caught Boston in the division. All of these things might send fans scurrying for the panic button but Josh Beckett has a way of settling things down. Another great night on the mound for the Red Sox ace will put fans at ease for the time being.
The Red Sox have so many chips that they can trade for an upgrade at almost any position but do they really need to? The biggest problem right now is the rotation; Smoltz and Penny don't look like guys that you can depend on down the stretch. Dice-K, Buchholz, and Bowden can all contribute to that problem. As for the offense, mulitple players slumping at the same time is something that will work itself out. Bay will start hitting again and if Drew does not then the Sox can go with Baldelli or Kotsay.
Things may not look as rosy as they did at the break, but the Red Sox have the depth and experience to overcome this hurdle.
In Theo we trust.
Decision time on the rotation is quickly approaching for Theo; if Penny is going to be traded then Smoltz or Dice-K need to be reliable starters. Tonight was a test for Smoltz to see if he really belongs in the rotation. He looked good through the first 5 but then gave up 3 home runs in the 6th inning. The last time he gave up 3 home runs in a game (not and inning) was in 1997, this just shows that he is not the pitcher he was before his surgery and may not be able to compete in the majors consistantly.
Some of the Red Sox bats looked like they were still on the All-Star break; Drew, Lowrie, and Pedroia were a combined 0-9. The Yankees won on a walk-off homer by Matsui to enter into a tie with the Red Sox for first place in the A.L. East.
Red Sox Lose 6-3 BOX SCORE
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Red Sox | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| Rangers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
I was asked some questions about the Red Sox for the Texas Rangers Blog on the Dallas Morning News to preview the series. You can check out my answers along with Neil Keefe's from NESN.com. It is always nice to see what opposing fans think by reading the comment section, especially this gem:
Read more...
O'Donnell reminds me of those obnoxious Red Sox fans that invariably show up to all Red Sox games. They make up only about 10% of the fans, but they make up about 90% of the impression that other fans have of the Red Sox fans.
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia,. 2B
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Bay, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jason Varitek, C
Jed Lowrie, SS
John Smoltz, SP
Once again we are lucky enough to have Richard Durrett from the Texas Rangers Blog of the Dallas Morning News answer a few questions about the team he covers:
FW: Can the Rangers hang with the Angels if they continue to stay hot?
Richard Durrett: You would think will all of the Angels’ injuries that the Rangers could hang with them. But that will depend on this offense. For once, the pitching and defense has not been the Rangers’ problem. It’s been the offense’s inability to score runs on a consistent basis. They are too dependent on the homer right now and must do a better job of situational hitting and small ball, something the Angels do well. If the bats start swinging, they can hang with the Angels. But the schedule is getting tougher the next few weeks. We’ll see.
FW: How will Cruz's injury impact the Rangers?
Richard Durrett: I don’t think he’ll be out of the lineup for an extended period. They have plenty of depth in the OF, so I think they’ll try to play him when they can, but can work in Marlon Byrd, David Murphy, Andruw Jones and Josh Hamilton without much problem.
FW: Why aren't the Rangers in the Halladay rumor mill?
Richard Durrett: Money. The club’s financial situation makes is tough to get a guy like Halladay and pay for him the rest of this season, next season and even after that. Nolan Ryan, in a chat on the DMN Rangers blog, discussed that a bit today. The Rangers have the prospects to make a deal and I do think they’ll do their homework to look into it, but it seems like a long shot.
FW: How has Hamilton looked since returning from the DL?
Richard Durrett: He’s a more disciplined hitter, but his timing is still not quite there. He should get better and better, but I expect him to have a solid second half.
FW: Should Millwood have been on the All-Star team?
Richard Durrett: I think so. The guy led this rotation, had a good ERA and pitched deep into games in the first half.
FW: Will Teagarden be traded before the deadline?
Richard Durrett: My bet is no. But he’s an up-and-coming catcher still learning the ropes. He could be a good one. And I’m sure the Rangers would listen to offers because they have good depth at catcher.
FW: What is your prediction for this series with Boston?
Richard Durrett: I think the Red Sox take 2 of 3. The Rangers’ bats just aren’t awake right now.
Brad Penny, John Smoltz, Dice-K, Clay Buchholz, or a deal for Halladay? Who will be in the Red Sox rotation by the end of the month? After yesterday's game in Pawtuckett, Michael Bowden showed he should be a consideration as well. After 12 days off Bowden pitched 5 innings of no-hit ball against the Indianapolis Indians.
The Red Sox have a lot of chips as we approach the trade deadline but they also have a first place team and a system that has them ready for the future. A big trade may not be in order but the team can go either way; not a bad situation to be in.
Red Sox Lose 3-1 BOX SCORE
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Red Sox | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| Blue Jays | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| J.D. Drew, RF | |
| Dustin Pedroia, 2B | |
| Kevin Youkilis, 3B | |
| David Ortiz, DH | |
| Jason Bay, LF | |
| Jacoby Ellsbury, CF | |
| Jason Varitek, C | |
| Mark Kotsay, 1B | |
| Nick Green SS Jon Lester, SP |
So this year's All-Star game was not called a tie by Bud but he still found a way to get too involved and screw things up.
On Monday, Brian Fuentes said he was told he would pitch the sixth inning of the All-Star game. On Tuesday, he was told he would not, which Fuentes blamed on the commissioner's office.
"That bumped me from my inning," Fuentes said. "It's kind of crazy they would have their hand in making up the lineup." On Tuesday, two hours before game time, Fuentes said AL pitching coach Jim Hickey told him that there had been a "misunderstanding" and that AL Manager Joe Maddon had not been aware that the commissioner's office wanted the starting pitchers to work two innings.
That left one fewer inning for the relievers and that left Fuentes out.
"That soured me a little bit," Fuentes said.
"To think that someone in MLB would dictate who pitches when and where, that is not the way the game is supposed to be played."
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