Saturday, September 12, 2009

Red Sox Win Rain Shortened Game

The Red Sox batted around in the third inning and ended up putting 8 runs on the board.  Youk added to the lead with a homer in the fourth.  Josh Beckett looked very good on the night and only gave up 4 hits and 1 run in 5 innings.  The Rangers are losing by 5 in a rain delayed game in the 9th with 2 on and nobody out. If they lose the Red Sox will increase their wild-card lead to 3 games.  Both teams have doubleheaders tomorrow.

Red Sox Win 9-1 BOX SCORE

Rays 
Red Sox 

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Ranger's Money Woes May Aid Red Sox

The Texas Rangers are a financial mess and their money problems may cause them to lose the wild-card race.  The already lost out on signing their number one pick and now they may have to shut down Kevin Millwood for the remainder of the season so he does not hit 180 innings pitched which would guarantee him $12 million next season.

However, owner Tom Hicks contradicted the report and said Millwood would keep on pitching:

"As far as Kevin Millwood is concerned, we never gave any consideration to that," Hicks said. "We need him to be one of our leaders down the stretch. There have not been any thoughts or discussions with MLB about Kevin's contract for next year -- nor will there be. We expect Kevin to be in the rotation next year and have a strong finish to his contract." 

It would be a real shame if the Red Sox win the wild-card because of Texas' money problems and not because they were the better team, it would be yet  another failure on the part of commisioner Bud Selig.  We can only hope that Hicks is right and that the better team wins with their best players on the field.

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Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/12 vs the Rays

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

Josh Beckett-SP

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5:15 is Really Early

Yesterday around 4 pm I was lucky enough to be given two great seats to the Giants/Dodgers game so my afternoon plans quickly changed.  I went with a friend to The Bus Stop Bar in San Francisco for some pregame beverages.  The bar has been around since 1900 and has 4 flatscreens within view and luckily one of them was tuned to NESN.  The bartender was from Worcester, Mass. and the guy sitting next to me was wearing a Japanese Dice-K shirt, Dirty Water was even playing on the jukebox.  The rain started falling at the Fens so we, like most of you, were watching wiffleball highlights and wondering how Lester was going to get out of the bases loaded jam when the game resumed.

We left the Bus Stop and headed to Red's Java House near AT&T Park for some more beverages and greasy food before heading into the game.

While people out here like to compare the Giants-Dodgers rivalry to that of the Red Sox-Yankees, it isn't really the same.  25% of the fans at the game last night were in Dodger blue and both sides were pretty vocal but not near the intensity you get when the Yankees are at Fenway.  It was a must win game for the Giants who were trying to catch the Rockies in the wild-card or the Dodgers in the division to get into the playoffs.  Those dreams however disappeared into the San Francisco night when Casey Blake crushed a pitch from Matt Cain in the 6th.  It was strange seeing Manny in a different uniform but he wasn't much of a factor in the game and he is still was not running out ground balls.

I headed home to Sonoma County after the game but realized I had to set my alarm early to call into The Baseball Show at 5:15 am, which is way too early for any sane person to be up on a Saturday morning, especially after a night on the town.

You can watch the clip from "Web Sox Nation" below:

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Friday, September 11, 2009

Rain Out

The Rays-Sox game has been postponed and will be made up as part of a double-header on Sunday. The game had actually gotten underway, Lester had thrown 23 pitches and had loaded the bases with only 1 out. Since this was the Ray’s last trip up north, it was decided to try and get the game in, but when the skies opened up, the umpires halted play. After a 2 & ½ hour rain delay, the umpires, Red Sox, and MLB decided to restart the game on Sunday. Both starting pitchers will start the 2nd game on Sunday.

The rain skirted NYC long enough for the Orioles-Yankees game to count- with the O’s on top 10-4 over the Yankees in the top of the 7th. In that game, Derek Jeter overtook Lou Gehrig in the 3rd inning for the franchise record of most hits.

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Matt Damon: Yanks Will Fold Like a Cheap Suit


Avid Red Sox fan Matt Damon spoke for the rest of Red Sox Nation on  SIRIUS XM’s Mad Dog Radio channel today.




Williams: “Meanwhile, your Red Sox, they’re only about 19 games back of the Yankees.  Do they have anything for them in October?”

Damon: “Yeah, of course, man.  October comes and everybody is 0-0.  All we need to do is back into the wild card and we’re fine.  We’re fine.  Listen, New York, they’re going to collapse.  They’re still, I mean, nobody on that team has won a World Series in...  I mean, Jeter has but the rest of them…”

Williams: “Posada has, Pettitte has…”

Damon: “Nine years ago these guys won the World Series.  They got so smoked by the Red Sox in ’04, I mean, I’m telling you, man.  They’ve got the yips.  They’re going to fold like a cheap suit.  You watch, man.  You watch.  If we make it into the playoffs, man, we’re taking them down.”

You can listen to the clip below:

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Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/11 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

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The Baseball Show-Web Sox Nation

I'll be on The Baseball Show on Comcast Sportsnet New England tomorrow at 9:55 am, so tune in if you are in the viewing area.

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A Team Dedicated to Giving Back

On this anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks please think about giving back to your community in some way. Below is a list of some of the Red Sox players and the charities they support:

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Two Year Old to Throw Out First Pitch Tonight

A two year old boy whose aunt died in the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001 will throw out the first pitch at Fenway tonight. The boy, Cooper Harrington, was born on Sept. 11, 2007.  His dad says he can throw the ball about 6 feet so it should be fun to watch.  Happy Birthday Cooper!

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Bad Bowling for a Good Cause

Tonight was the 3rd annual Beckett Bowl and judging by the highlights, there aren't too many good bowlers on the Red Sox.  Watch below:

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They Didn't Break

A few weeks back I wrote this post:

Make or Break Time
After yesterday's off day the Red Sox are now ready to begin a tough stretch that will determine if they will be playing golf or baseball when the regular season ends. They will play 22 games in a row against the Jays, Yankees, White Sox, Rays and O's before the next off day. 12 of those games will be at home. With V-Mart and Alex Gonzalez, Tito will use a variety of lineups to get players some rest and we should see Wake at some time during this stretch. Hold on because it's gonna be a bumpy ride but hopefully the Red Sox will be in the playoff hunt when it is over.

So, how did they do?  The Red Sox went 15-7 over that stretch.  Before this 22 game stretch started the Red Sox were 1/2 game behind the Rangers in the Wild Card race and are now 2 games up.  The team released Brad Penny and saw the debuts of Junichi Tazawa and Paul Byrd.  The Red Sox did not win the Wild Card during this stretch but they put themselves in a good position to make the playoffs; something that was not a given 22 games ago.

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Dice-K Looks Ready, Wake on Hold

Daisuke Matsuzaka looked like a pitcher ready to return to the majors after last night's rehab game with the Salem Red Sox. He pitched 6 2/3 innings allowing just 1 run on 3 hits and a walk, he struck out 7 batters; giving him a victory in the Carolina League playoff game. Look for Dice-K's next start to be with the big club in place of Paul Byrd or Tim Wakefield.

Wake is having another cortisone shot today to try to pitch against Baltimore late next week if all goes well. If he still experiences discomfort in a side session he may opt for surgery which would keep him out for the rest of the regular season and most likely the post-season.

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Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Byrd flies again, Sox send O's to Road Kill Cafe

Paul Byrd regained the form he displayed in his 1st start again in tonight’s contest against the AL birds, the Orioles. He went 5 innings, scattering 6 hits, and allowing only 2 runs. He left the game with a 3-2 lead. Manny Delcarmen enters the game and promptly but uncharacteristically earned his 3rd blown save of the season: 1/3 IP, 2 H’s, 1 BB, and 2 runs. Tonight’s road crew of Ramirez, Wagner, Bard, and Papelbon followed and scraped the Orioles off the road to October. Wagner earned his 1st victory in a Sox uni, Bard earned hold #10, and Papelbon scored save #35.

Offensively the Sox were hot again, spanking 15 hits. Every Sox starter, save 1, had a hit today; 5 had multi-hit games, including 3/5 by Jason Bay. Mike Lowell stole a base, his 1st of the season. The Birds of Baltimore managed to climb back into the game after Paul Byrd left, going 1 up on the Sox in the top of the 6th inning. Pedroia knocked in a run in the bottom of that inning to even it back up at 4 each. In the bottom of the 7th, V-Mart came off the bench to hit a double to clear 3 Sox off the field and across home plate, effectively leaving the Orioles as road kill this season, as they have won only 1 game at Fenway since July 12, 2008.

Sox Win 7-4 BOX SCORE

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Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/9 vs Baltimore

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


Paul Byrd-SP

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A Little Added Pressure for Dice-K

When Daisuke Matsuzaka takes the mound tonight for the Salem Red Sox he will be pitching in game 1 of a best of 5 playoff series against Winston-Salem. This is the inaugural season for the Salem Red Sox so Dice-K will have the added pressure of starting thier first ever playoff game. Even though it is a single A game, the added pressure should give us some indication as to Dice-K's ability to rejoin the rotation as a dependable pitcher for the remainder of the season.

"This is a great way to kick off the 2009 post season for the Salem Sox," said Salem General Manager John Katz. "It's always exciting to have a major-leaguer on the field, and to have a pitcher the caliber of Daisuke Matsuzaka on the bump in game one is really something special."

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Big Papi Set To Make History

With one more home run David Ortiz will set the record for the most home runs by a designated hitter. When he went deep last night he tied Frank Thomas for the record with 269 homers while being a designated hitter. Ortiz did not know about it until he was told after the game. Watch below:

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Chicks Dig The Long Ball

Back home at the Fens the offense was able to pepper the fans with souvenir home run balls. Pedroia got it started with a homer in the first then Youk hit one of his own. Alex Gonzales hit one in the second and Pedey went yard again in the third. J.D. Drew kept the homer parade going with with a home run in the third and Big Papi hit one in the seventh. That is a total of 6 home runs in the game folks, it doesn't get much better than that. But wait...there's more...

The pitching was outstanding with Clay Buchholz earning his 5th win by going 7 shutout innings and just allowing 3 hits. Bowden finished off the game with 2 scoreless innings of his own.

Red Sox Win 10-0 BOX SCORE


1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Orioles 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Red Sox 3 1 4 0 0 1 1 0 0 10 11 0


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Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 9/8 vs the O's

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


Clay Buchholz-SP

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Lowrie Back With the Red Sox

Jed Lowrie is back on the Red Sox after rehabbing with the PawSox but he may not be able to contribute much to the team. The wrist injury that sidelined him in the first place continues to impact his swing and limit his production. He finished his time in Pawtucket by going 0-3 and was just 3 for his last 37. With Alex Gonzales hitting well and Nick Green still on the bench it is unlikely that Lowrie's return will have much of an impact on the team. He told the ProJo that he is still having issues with the wrist:


"At this point, it's just about managing it and doing what I can to help (Boston) win,'' he said. "It's something I have to deal with. It's fine. It's not 100 percent.''

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Haggs Discusses the Rotation

Joe Haggerty was on NECN's Sports Late Night to discuss Josh Beckett's start and the state of the rotation. Good stuff as always from a great reporter. Make sure to follow him on twitter for great in-game info.


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Monday, September 7, 2009

Can The Red Sox Get There Without Wake?

If the Red Sox are going to the promised land again in '09 they may have to do it without Tim Wakefield. He will miss his next start and possibly more according to Terry Francona:

"We have him penciled in down in Baltimore but having said that we’re going to talk to Tom (Dr. Tom Gill) and figure out whether he can pitch every 10 days or whether that’s doing him a disservice. We’re kind of stuck in the middle, and he is, too. There’s a lot of gray area here and we really don’t know.”

If Dice-K makes another rehab start then the rotation would be Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Byrd, and Tazawa or possibly Bowden. With an off day this week they can skip the 5th spot and go back to Lester but after that it means Dice-K and Byrd will need to be in the rotation; not something that sits well with this corner of Red Sox Nation.

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Beckett Pitches Well in Red Sox Loss

It is safe to say that most Red Sox fans are not taking today's loss in Chicago too hard since Josh Beckett showed he can still pitch well. He went 7 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and more importantly ZERO home runs. He did have one bad inning but rebounded nicely. Unfortunately the Red Sox could not get a timely hit and had a combined 16 runners LOB. Hopefully the Tribe can beat Texas again and the loss won't matter much. The Red Sox now head back to Boston to take on the O's.

Red Sox lose 5-1 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 8 0
White Sox
0 0 3 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 8 0

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Today's Red Sox Lineup 9/7 vs Chicago

Jacoby Ellsbury-CF
Dustin Pedroia-2B
Victor Martinez-1B
Kevin Youkilis-3B
Jason Bay-LF
Mike Lowell-DH
Rocco Baldelli-RF
Jason Varitek-C
Alex Gonzalez-SS


Josh Beckett-SP

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Should The Red Sox Keep Shifting the Lineup?

When the Red Sox obtained Victor Matinez they brought a solid bat to the team, they also made Tito's job much harder. To keep V-Mart's bat in the lineup the team needs to rotate Tek, Lowell, and Ortiz out of their usual spots. Red Sox pitchers have long benefited with Varitek calling the game behind the plate and Martinez is not a defensive upgrade, but offensively the team is much better with V-Mart's bat replacing Tek's. When V-Mart goes to first and Youk shifts to third, you get the benefit of allowing Mike Lowell to rest his hip, but his hot bat is on the bench. With Big Papi struggling at the plate, the DH spot has looked like a better spot to play Lowell or V-Mart and keep Tek behind the dish, but that hasn't happened much. Lowell has definitely been the odd man you since V-Mart arrived while Big Papi is usually the DH. Tito can't get away with saying he is just going to start Ortiz against righties because his numbers are very similar against lefties.

There is no question that right now the team is better offensively when Tek and Ortiz are on the bench, letting V-Mart catch and Lowell DH. Big Papi and Tek have been the heart and soul of the Red Sox for years and have a huge fan support but their numbers are starting to hurt the team. It might be time to have them sit out even more. Theo will have to make some big choices in the offseason with those two.

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Sunday, September 6, 2009

It Still Could Happen

The Red Sox are 79-57 and the Yankees are 87-50 after today’s games. If the Sox go 19-7 and the Yankees go 10-15, that would leave the Sox at 98-64 and the Yankees at 97-65. It could happen, not bloody likely, but it still could happen. Just sayin’, ykwim?

(Must be the eternal optimist in me, or when I’m drinking beer- hoptimist.)

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Lester Helps Red Sox Increase WC Lead

Jon Lester looked like the ace of the staff on the south side of Chicago this afternoon. The Red Sox starter pitched seven shutout innings and gave up just 4 hits while he struck out 8 including his 200th K of the season. He was aided in the bottom of the 1st when Pedey made a spectacular over the shoulder catch on a flair in shallow right and doubled up the runner on second.

Mike Lowell got the offense started with a 2-run homer in the 4th and Youk drove in another run in the 5th to pad the lead. Ells had 3 hits in the game with a stolen base. David Ortiz could not get out of the slump and put up another 0-fer.

Wagner came in to pitch the 8th and gave up his first run as a member of the Red Sox; a long home run before recording 2 outs and being replaced by Bard. Daniel Bard threw a slider for a ball and then 3 straight fastballs to get a strikeout and end the inning.

V-Mart hit a 3-run homer in the top of the 9th to give the Red Sox a 5 run lead and take some pressure off of the bullpen. Papelbon still came in to pitch the 9th to get some work, he gave up 1 hit in the non save situation.

The Rangers and Yankees both lost so the Red Sox picked up a game in the division and added to their wild-card lead.

Red Sox Win 6-1 BOX SCORE


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

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Today's Red Sox Lineup 9/6 vs Chicago

Jacoby Ellsbury-CF



Dustin Pedroia-2B



Victor Martinez-C



Kevin Youkilis-3B



Jason Bay-LF




David Ortiz-DH




Mike Lowell-3B




J.D. Drew-RF




Alex Gonzalez-SS


Jon Lester-SP

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