Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home: 8/30/09 - 9/6/09

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Why couldn't he pitch like that for the Sox? (part 2)

By now, all Sox fans probably know how John Smoltz has been tearing it up for the St. Louis Cardinals. He's not the only reclamation project the Sox tried this year.

After a rocky April, Brad Penny seemed to get into a groove, and by the end of May had a 5-1 won-loss record. He got even better in June, allowing only 11 runs in 5 starts, giving him a 3.17 ERA for the month. Despite throwing 6 innings of shutout ball on July 24th, his ERA for July nearly doubled over the previous month. August was even worse, 8.31 ERA.

The experiment didn't work for this NL pitcher, either, so the Sox let him go. What does he go out and do? After signing with the SF Giants, he pitched 8.1 innings of shutout ball against Philadephia, allowing only 5 hits, 1 walk, and 2 strikeouts.

Did the Sox let him go too early? Or is he just another NL pitcher that can't handle AL lumber?

That one didn't go well, either

Wake pitched today after missing a start, and pitched well, just not well enough. He allowed 3 runs in the 1st inning, but settled down to throw 4 scoreless frames before allowing 1 more in the 6th. He struck out 4 and 3 walked. No WP's or PB's, either. Martinez seems to be handling the knuckleball. Not a bad performance given that he was just injured again, but the big news was Chicago's Gavin Floyd had not just a no-no, but a perfecto through 5 innings. Nick Green broke that up with a single in the 6th. None of this perfect game BS against the Red Sox. They've never suffered through a perfect game and weren't about to let one in the books today. Floyd struck out 11 and didn't walk a single batter. Jason Bay hit a home run for the lonesome Red Sox run, and second of only 3 hits they could manage.

The damn Yankees are on a roll, beating Toronto today (grrrrr...........) The only good news today is that the Rangers lost and remain 2 GB the Red Sox in the wild card race.

Red Sox lose 1-5 BOX SCORE

Today's Red Sox Lineup 9/5 vs Chicago

Jacoby Ellsbury-CF
Dustin Pedroia-2B
Victor Martinez-C
Kevin Youkilis-1B
David Ortiz-DH
Jason Bay-LF
Mike Lowell-3B
J.D. Drew-RF
Nick Green-SS

Tim Wakefield-SP

That Did Not Go Well

The revolving door at the end of the Red Sox rotation may need to turn some more. Paul Byrd did not look anything like the pitcher he was in his first game. In the middle of the third the White Sox kicked the extra point and had a 7 run lead on Byrd. I took that as a cue to leave the game and head out to celebrate my birthday because the Red Sox did not look like they were going to deliver much of a present. This choice spared me of witnessing the continued carnage as I enjoying some adult beverages and was blissfully unaware of what Byrd's replacement would do. Junichi Tazawa, the guy who was supposed to start today if Wake couldn't go, continued where he left off on the major league mound: watching line drives zing past him. Tazawa was tagged with 5 earn runs in 3 2/3 innings. Through 6 innings Byrd and Tazawa had given up 17 hits and 12 earned runs.

Dice-K could soon fill the spot in the rotation but he has not looked like an ace in his rehab starts. He pitched better for the PawSox last night but still gave up 2 homers in 4 1/3 innings.

Red Sox Lose 12-2 BOX SCORE

Friday, September 4, 2009

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/4 vs Chicago

Jacoby Ellsbury-CF
Dustin Pedroia-2B
Victor Martinez-1B
Kevin Youkilis-3B
David Ortiz-DH
Jason Bay-LF
J.D. Drew-RF
Jason Varitek-C
Alex Gonzalez-SS

Paul Byrd-SP

Fenway Workers Find a New Way to Go After Aramark

Fenway park workers in the Workers United Union, fresh off of a $1.5 million dollar settlement of a class action lawsuit involving the skimming of tips, are still going after Aramark. The union has released a new study that suggests teams that use Aramark as their food and beverage supplier are less lucky on the playing field:

According to a look at the numbers by Workers United, baseball teams with home stadiums that use Aramark to sell beer, hotdogs and other ballpark snacks, get caught stealing bases more, hit fewer home runs and have worse “luck”.
The experts at www.baseball-reference.com track a statistic called Pythagorean Win-Loss, the expected win-loss record based on the number of runs scored and allowed by the team. They also track Pythagorean Luck, the difference between the actual win-loss and the Pythagorean win-loss. A lucky team is a team with a Pythagorean Luck score higher than 0. That means the team wins more games than it should based on the number of runs it scores and gives up. An unlucky team is a team with a Pythagorean Luck score lower than 0. That, of course, means that the team wins fewer games than it should based on the number of runs it scores and gives up.

In a comparison between teams with home stadiums that use Aramark and teams with home stadiums that do not, Workers United found that non-Aramark teams’ average luck is .40 and Aramark teams’ average luck is -1.93.

So now we replace the curse of the Bambino with the curse of the Aramark $7 beer?

Wake to Start Saturday

Tim Wakefield is on track to start Saturday against the White Sox according to Rob Bradford from WEEI.com:

Tim Wakefield, who threw 25 pitches in a side session Thursday, has been told that he will be the Red Sox' scheduled starter Saturday in Chicago against the White Sox if he experiences no setbacks Friday. Junichi Tazawa was originally slated to start Saturday, but after Wakefield's bullpen session at Tropicana Field prior to the Red Sox' 6-3 win over the Rays, it was determined that, barring any worsening of his back or calf, he was fit to make the Saturday start.

Last time Wake faced Chicago he went 7 innings and gave up just 1 earned run. The game will be televised on Fox.

Happy Red Sox Birthday to Matt!

Happy Birthday to Fenway West's very own fearless leader...Matt!

I heard through the grapevine and by grapevine...I mean Twitter, that today is in fact Matt's Birthday. I also heard that his wife was nice enough to buy him a kick arse Red Sox hat with fenwaywest.com on the back of it.

Hopefully...Matt's birthday is chuck full of awesomesauce and celebration. And, I hope Paul Byrd can bring another great performance all in celebration of Matt.

Photobucket

Happy Birthday to you....
Happy Birthday to you....
Happy Birthday dear Matt....
Happy Birhtday to you....

Buchholz Talks About His Outing

Clay Buchholz talked to the media after his outing and explained how he was able to get through the Rays lineup after the first inning. Watch below:

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Oh, do you mean that yurt?

The Sox took two out of three from the Rays in the giant yurt called Tropicana Field, as they took the rubber game tonight and beat the Rays 6-3. Buchholz went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, striking out three and walking only one. Wagner, Bard, and Pap were the clean-up crew tonight, striking out 5 and walking only 2 in the final 3 scoreless innings. The Sox banged out 12 hits led by Youk, who had a 3/5 night. Martinez and Bay each had multi-hit games, while Baldelli smacked a solo shot in his old home.

Those damn Yankees just keep chuggin’ along, thumping the Jays 10-5 tonight and are still 7.5 games ahead of the Sox for the division title. Texas was idle today and are now 3 GB the Sox, and the Rays are now 6 GB.

Sox Win 6-3 BOX SCORE

Red Sox September West Coast TV Schedule

Sat 5th @ CWS 1:05 PM Fox
Sun 6th @ CWS 11:05 AM TBS
Fri 25th @ NYY 4:05 PM TBS
Sun 27th @ NYY 10:05 AM ESPN

All times PDT

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/3 vs the Rays

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Lowell, 3B
Rocco Baldelli, RF
Alex Gonzalez, SS Clay Buchholz, SP

Just Another Day in Red Sox Nation

I know the Red Sox have their hands full with the Rays right now but this should get you ready for a possible playoff match-up:

Decision Time For Wake

Tim Wakefield will try to throw off of the mound today and see what level of back pain he experiences. He had a cortisone shot on Monday and played catch yesterday. If he still has a high level of pain he could opt for surgery and be back in time for the playoffs:

"Medically speaking, there's more fluid in there now and it's pressing against the nerve, which is causing weakness and numbness."

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Beckett Still Has Issues in Red Sox Loss

It was not as bad as some of his recent outings, but Josh Beckett struggled early in tonight's game. He gave up a homer in the first and another in the second and at the end of the third inning the Red Sox were down 4-1. He then settled in and looked good; no walks in the game with 9 strikeouts. The additional homers are a reason for concern though and there is still no clear answer for why the homerun numbers are way up.

The Red Sox offense fought back and tied the game 5-5 in the 8th but RR gave up 2 runs in the bottom of the inning before being yanked for MDC. Delcamen did not fare much better; he gave up a home run to Longoria.

Red Sox Lose 8-5 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	0	1	0	2	0	0	1	1	0	5	6	1
Rays	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	3	0	8	12	0

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/2 vs the Rays

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Bay, LF
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Varitek, C
Alex Gonzalez, SS Josh Beckett, SP

Gut Check Time

It is not a playoff game tonight at the Trop but when the game enters the 6th inning Red Sox fans will be resting easy or reaching for the panic button. If Josh Beckett returns to being the dominant pitcher he was a month ago then the Nation will know that they will have a team that can travel far into the month of October with a solid rotation and and offense that can produce. If Beckett struggles again then the Red Sox will have a serious issue on their hands without much time to find an answer. A third bad outing in a row for Beckett would signal some sort of injury or problem similar to what happened last year.

A win by the Red Sox would, for the most part, take the Rays out of wild-card contention and make it a two team race with the Rangers. It should be fun.

Posada can't count

Not once, but twice tonight did Jorge Posada lose the count while standing at home plate. In the 2nd inning, Posada looked at ball 4, but remained standing in the batter's box until the home plate umpire told him he had just earned a free pass. In the 5th inning, he looked at strike 2 and started walking back to the dugout, thinking he had just struck out.

Yurt? What yurt?

The Tampa Bay Rays home field advantage that has gripped the Sox over the past two seasons would not prevail as the Sox finally won a game in the giant yurt called Tropicana Field. (Is it still a 'field' if it's indoors?) Lester struck out 9 Rays in 6 innings and only allowed 2 runs. Wagner came in the 7th and got the side out in order, fanning two. Oki not so doki tonight, he faced 5 batters and they all got on, two of them scoring, closing the gap to 8-4. Enter Papelbon in a bases loaded, nobody out 8th inning. As he as done most of this season, he managed to get the next three batters out, stranding the three Rays Oki left out there. Pap came back to finish the 9th inning, earning his 33rd save.

The Sox knocked Sonnanstine out in the 5th inning before they even made an out, as the Sox built a 5-2 lead. Drew, Bay, and Youk all had home runs tonight. Four Sox had multi-hit games. They remain 6.5 GB the Yankees, but are 3.5 games ahead of Texas, and 6 games ahead of Tampa Bay in the wild card race.

Sox Win 8-4 BOX SCORE

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/1 vs the Rays

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Alex Gonzalez, SS

Jon Lester, SP

September Call-ups

Brian Anderson, Kottaras, Woodward, Tazawa and Joey Gathright were called up to the Red Sox as rosters expand. Anderson was the player the Red Sox recieved for Mark Kotsay and has already seen time on the big club. The Red Sox obtained Gathright from the O's. You may remember him as the guy Julian Tavarez fought a few years back. He also has a unique skill that may be of some use for the Red Sox. Watch below:

Please Do Not Let the Rays Back in This

The Trop has been one nightmare after another for the Red Sox. Another collapse could let the Rays back in the wild-card race. The Rays players know how important this series is:

"I don't see how we can get to the playoffs without winning this series," Carl Crawford acknowledged. "Hopefully we can win the series — at least — and stay alive."
"We definitely have to get two from them," B.J. Upton said. "Three would be great. We definitely have to win the series."

On paper the pitching matchups favor the Red Sox who have Lester, Beckett, and Buchholz throwing in the series. But Lester is 0-2 with an ERA over 8 in three starts against the Rays this year and Beckett is 1-1 with a 5.50 ERA against them.

This series should tell us if the Red Sox are a team that can win pressure games and it will tell us if Beckett is OK. The Red Sox can have sweet dreams if they win the series, if not the Trop nightmare will only become scarier.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Where Are They Now: Brad Penny

Brad Penny has cleared waivers and is about to be signed with the San Francisco Giants, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.

Wagner Talks About His First Outing

Billy Wagner spoke with reporters about his first outing on the mound for the Red Sox after yesterday's game. Watch below:

Dice-K: 1 Step Up, 2 Steps Back

After coming off a good start in Florida, Dice-K looked much like he did earlier in the season for the Red Sox during his start for the Sea Dogs yesterday. His first pitch missed everything and sailed by the catcher. Unfortunately, things would only get worse. He gave up a lead-off home run, then a walk, then a base hit, then another base hit and by the time he finnished the inning he had thrown 49 pitches and given up 5 earned runs.

He looked much better in the second and retired them in order on 9 pitches before he was done for the day.

“In the first inning, I think I got into the game sort of at about 60-70 percent of maximum output for me,” Matsuzaka said. “That’s how I was approaching it. There were a few things that I wanted to work on, and that’s why I wanted to get into the game gradually. Mind you, I didn’t think that I would get hit up quite that badly, but I think in the second inning, I just applied a few of those things that I was working on in the first.”

You can listen to the press conference on the Central Maine Sports Blog.

It is very late in the season for him to have outings like this. If he struggles again in his next rehab start it will be a major indiactor that he will not be in the rotation again this season. Luckily Paul Byrd looked like he can be a good replacement.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Paul Byrd: a Theo Experiment That Worked

When Tazawa imploded and Wakefield's back acted up the Red Sox needed a quick fix so they went into Theo's back of tricks and pulled out the semi-retired Paul Byrd. The 38 year old made his first start of the seaon today against the Jay's ace Roy Halladay and looked like he was at the top of his game. Byrd pitched 6 shutout innings giving up just 3 hits and picked up his first win of the season.

The Sox bullpen continued where Byrd left off when MDC, Wagner, and Saito went the rest of the way giving up just 2 more hits while preseving the shutout. Wagner gave up a double in his first inning of work for the Red Sox but did strike out the side.

The Red Sox offense was powered by Youk who drove in 3 runs on a pair of hits and by Baldelli who took Halladay deep in the 2nd.

The Yankees won today but the Rangers and Rays lost so the Red Sox improved their lead in the wild-card race.

Red Sox win 7-0 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Blue Jays	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Red Sox	1	1	1	1	0	0	3	0	0	7	10	0

Today's Red Sox Lineup 8/30 vs the Jays

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, 1B
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Rocco Baldelli, LF
Jason Varitek, C
Alex Gonzalez, SS

Paul Byrd, SP

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