Fenway West - The Boston Red Sox Western Home: 9/20/09 - 9/27/09

Saturday, September 26, 2009

C.C. Shuts Down the Red Sox

C.C. Sabathia dominated a resting Red Sox lineup today to make the rest of the regular season meaningless for both teams. The Red Sox managed just 1 hit off of Sabathia and 1 off of the Yankees pen. The good news is that V-Mart had one of the hits and extended his hitting streak.

Dice-K pitched very well again giving up just 1 run on a homer in 7 innings. Billy Wagner was wild in the 8th and ended up letting 2 more Yankee runs score.

In the end the game did not really matter but it did make a few things clear; the Yankees are a good team and C.C. is at the top of his game right now. The Red Sox were able to rest some players and Dice-K looks like he will be a good asset in the post-season.

Francona knows what he is doing and the team will be ready for October. It sucks to lose to the Yankees but look at the big picture. If these two teams meet in the ALCS nobody will remember today's game.

Red Sox Lose 3-0 BOX SCORE

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

Red Sox Lineup 9/26 vs NY

Jacoby Ellsbury-CF
Dustin Pedroia-2B
Victor Martinez-C
Kevin Youkili-1B
Mike Lowell-3B
David Ortiz-DH
Rocco Baldelli-RF
Jed Lowrie-SS
Brian Anderson-LF

Dice-K-SP

Lester, Oki. V-Mart, and Francona

There is a lot of news to report after last night's Red Sox/Yankees game as usual.

Jon Lester was not hit in the knee and should make his next start.

Hideki Okajima returned to Boston yesterday because he was experiencing soreness in his right side.

Victor Martinez will catch Dice-K today after Tek's offensive and defensive disaster last night.

Terry Francona wants a fun celebration when the Red Sox clinch a playoff spot even if it is the Wild-Card.

Guess who's going to Yankee Stadium today??

Yep, that's right...it's me! I kept trying to talk myself out of going to one of the games in NYC. I'd tell myself...it's too expensive...I've gone to enough games...I can watch it just as well at home on TV.

But....it better to watch it live and in person. I always knew I would get tickets. So, ebay is my friend...and I got two tickets to today's game. At 11 am EST...I will be heading on down to NYC to see our boys square off with evil once again. I am going with a friend from work...and she is a Yanks fan. We joke that one of us will be a happy camper on the drive home.

Let's Go Red Sox! Let's Go Daisuke!! I want that happy camper to BE ME!!!

Friday, September 25, 2009

Yanks Hit and Run the Red Sox

Jon Lester was not pitching in the third inning when he was drilled in the leg by a line drive. The injury ended his night but luckily did not end his season, X-Rays were negagitve and the early word is that he should be O.K. The Sox offense struggled against Joba and were kept scoreless until V-Mart went deep in the fourth. Hunter Jones, Bowden and Delcarmen all gave up runs in relief as the Yankees continued to pound Red Sox pitchers. Once they got on base they stole base after base to get into scoring position. Jason Varitek allowed 7 runners to steal on him tonight making it hard to see how he can slow down a team like the Angels in the playoffs.

Big Papi had a 2-run homer in the 6th and drove in another in the 8th bringing him to 94 RBI's on the season and making the 100 RBI mark seem like a sure thing this season.

The Rangers won tonigt so the magic number stays at 3.

Red Sox Lose 9-5 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	2	0	5	8	0
Yankees	1	0	4	1	0	2	1	0	0	9	14	1

Clinch This

The New York Post leads their sports coverage with a photo of Yankee players popping open a bottle of champers and a large headline reading "Yankees Ready to Clinch"

Their article reads: "Uncork the champagne and use red socks to mop up spills on the clubhouse carpet. That would be quite a Yankee Stadium party. Lights, camera, AL East title."

Have the Post sports writers been watching the Red Sox and the Yankees during the past two weeks?

Keep your Mumms off ice for this series.

Remember when our offense was a problem?

Hey, remember a while back when everyone was talking about how stagnant our offense was and how we couldn't score runs? I do. It was brutal. I remember the Red Sox putting a new record on the books for the most innings without scoring a run. Not good.

However...lately...that problem seems to have disappeared. Our bats seem to all come out of their slump together and we are once getting those timely hits...often with 2 outs.

Let's take a look at the last couple of weeks....let's start with that Tampa Bay series.

9/12 Red Sox 9, Rays 1 (W)
9/13 Red Sox 3, Rays 1 (W)
9/13 Red Sox 4, Rays 0 (W)
9/15 Red Sox 4, LAA 1 (W)
9/16 Red Sox 9, LAA 8 (W)
9/17 Red Sox 3, LAA 4 (L)
9/18 Red Sox 3, O's 1 (W)
9/19 Red Sox 11, O's 5 (W)
9/20 Red Sox 9, O's 3 (W)
9/21 Red Sox 9, KC 12 (L)
9/22 Red Sox 1, KC 5 (L)
9/23 Red Sox 9, KC 2 (W)
9/24 Red Sox 10, KC 3 (W)

So...7 times out of that stretch we scored 9 runs or more. There were numerous times we blew out the team we were playing and other than the Greinke game...there weren't any games which the team ran away with it against us. We just seem to be hitting on all cylinders.

What is the difference? For me. The answer is easy...and two fold. The answer is VICTOR MARTINEZ.

Photobucket

V MART obviously brings the bat. He's a stud. With him in our lineup as Catcher, JD Drew is the #8 hitter. That's a good lineup. With him in the lineup as Catcher, Mikey Lowell and Papi BOTH get to play the game. So, V MART has brought so much to this team. I hope we keep him. We better!

I said it was two fold. V MART has also seemed to have a real nice influence on one Mr. David Ortiz. Papi used to have Manny and we all know that something has been missing since he's been gone. It seems like Papi & V MART are a new Band of Brothers...in the lineup....in the dugout...in the club house. David Ortiz is a hitter and I never questioned he would get his swing working...but it also seems like the presence of V MART has really given him some extra Papi mojo.

Let's hope...and pray...that this hitting thing we have going on...keeps on right into Yankee Stadium.

Let's GO RED SOX!!! Clap Clap ClapClapClap!

Lester Will Start Game 1 of ALDS

Sean McAdam of the Boston Herald is reporting that the Red Sox will go with Jon Lester for game 1 of the ALDS which will most likely be in Anaheim.

The Red Sox have yet to make that declaration publicly, of course, since the team can’t clinch a postseason spot until tomorrow while playing the Yankees in New York at the earliest. But the team’s pitching rotation for the final week of the regular season sets up for just such a deployment and multiple clubhouse sources confirm that Lester is the team’s first choice to open the playoffs.

This is the rotation I had hoped the Red Sox would use since it allows Lester to have a start at Fenway if needed and has Beckett on the hill if there is a game 5.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Clay's Royal Performance

Clay Buchholz is becoming the pitcher that the Red Sox thought he would be right before our eyes. Tonight in Kansas City he put on a royal performance, shutting out the Royals for 6.2 innings, scattering 5 hits, walking none, and striking out 8. OK, he did hit one Royal, but otherwise he has become a solid candidate for starter #3 in the post-season. R2 came in the 7th to finish off that inning on 2 pitches, but fell apart in the 8th, and surrendered 3 runs before being lifted for Saito, who finished the game. Buchholz is now 7-3, with a 3.21 ERA.

On the other side of the plate, the Sox unleashed a barrage of 15 hits, including multi-hit games by 6 starters, and plated 10 of them. Alex Gonzalez went 2 for 5, scoring twice and raising his batting average to .241, which is 31 points higher than when he arrived in Boston. While the Sox were doing all that scoring, Zack Greinke was ejected for impersonating the home plate umpire. Manager Trey Hillman followed Greinke to the clubhouse a short while later.

Next stop for the Sox is da Bronx, with Jon Lester facing Joba Chamberlain. Chamberlain is in the middle of a serious slump, not unlike Beckett’s recent woes. Let’s hope Chamberlain doesn’t snap out of it just yet. Sabathia follows against Dice-K. Sabathia is due for a loss, as the Yanks have won the 10 games that he has started. Mystery man Paul Byrd goes up against Andy Pettitte in the 3rd match. Pettitte has been nursing a fatigued left shoulder.

Sox Win 10-3 BOX SCORE

MA Men

Thanks to Joyce from the Bay Area RSN Meet-up group for sending me the link to this video uploaded to funnyordie.com by former New Kid on the Block Joey McIntyre.

MA Men from Joey McIntyre

NOTE- Salty language alert! NSFW! (Not safe for workplace.)

Josh Beckett Talks About Last Night's Game

The Red Sox ace discusses win # 16 with reporters after last night's game. Watch below:

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

That’s more like it

Commander Kick Ass was tagged for 12 hits and a free pass in his 6 innings of work while striking out 7, but scattered them enough to allow only 2 Royals to plate. The bullpen dance card tonight included Okajima, Wagner, and Papelbon. Combined they pitched 3 scoreless innings surrendering 2 walks and striking out 3 of those pesky Royals.

Offensively, the Sox also had 12 hits as did the Royals, but managed 7 more runs. Papi went 2 for 4 including his 25th tater of the season. Pedroia, Drew, and Gonzalez all had 2 hit games.

Sox Win 9-2 BOX SCORE

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

Red Sox Lineup 9/23 vs K.C.

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

Answering to a Higher Authority

A Red Sox fan was temporarily released from a 10-day jail sentence so he could go to tonight's Red Sox game in Kansas City.

“These ball games are among the few pleasures the defendant has in life. He had been looking forward eagerly to attending this game with his family,” King said.

Judge Waggoner said Barker’s request was “reasonable under the circumstances” and granted the request.

I don't think this is going to give Tito much inspiration for a "Win one for the Gipper" type pre-game speech, but it is nice to see that the power of Red Sox Nation reaches into Van Buren County's justice system.

Schilling is Not Running for the Senate

Curt Schilling said he was going to announce his intentions known on "Joe Buck Live" last night. That should have been a big enough clue for you. If your Senate bid begins on "Joe Buck Live" you might as well higher Gary Coleman's campaign manager from when he ran for governor of California. As expected Schilling made the following announcement:

“Regardless of the amount of support and outreach that’s been given to me, it just did not make sense.”

Finally Schilling says something that almost everyone can agree with.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

It was happening

Paul Byrd pitched 5.2 scoreless innings tonight against the lowly Royals. Unfortunately, he pitched 6.2 innings total. The 5.2 scoreless came after the 1st inning that he pitched, in which he allowed 5 runs to plate. 5 friggin’ Royals ferkrinoutlowd! And what happened to the Sox bats?! Oh, Zack Greinke was pitching. He allowed only 2 hits, but he left after the 6th inning and the Sox managed no hits off the Royal bullpen.

NYY 6 LAA 5

Yeesh. Well, it was happening.

Sox Lose 1-5 BOX SCORE

Red Sox Lineup 9/22 vs K.C.

Jacoby Ellsbury-CF
Dustn 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

Paul Byrd Sucks at Gardening

During Paul Byrd's brief time away from baseball he experimented with gardening, but according to an interview with Rob Bradford at WEEI.com, his efforts did not pay off:

“It was ready to go, but I planted like 50 pumpkins and I’ve only got four,” Paul explained. “And all of my tomato bushes died. My corn died. My cucumbers grew but they’re crooked. So what I discovered was — soil is extremely important, so is following directions, and I’m a ballplayer, not a gardener. But I guess the positives are that I have four pumpkins.”

Insert you own Eckersley "salad" reference here. We can only hope his revived baseball career can make up for his limited gardening skills.

Yankees Keep the Door Open

If only the Red Sox could have held on to win last night. The Yankees lost again and have now lost 6 of their last 10 games. Joe Girardi is starting to worry about his team:

“We need to start winning series,” Girardi said. “We haven’t done it for a while, and that’s not who we’ve been this year. Now is a good time to try to get a game tomorrow and win a series. We need to play better.”

Monday, September 21, 2009

Disaster in K.C.

How do you blow a 6-0 lead to one of the worst teams in all of baseball? Simple, walk 11 batters and give up 11 hits in the game. Wake's struggles were understandable, MDC's were not. The rain, empty stadium and bad pitching in Kansas City all added up to one big shit sandwich and everyone in Red Sox Nation had to take a bite.

Red Sox Lose 12-9 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	0	0	6	0	2	1	0	0	0	9	12	1
Royals	0	0	1	1	3	6	1	0	0	12	11	0

Nick Green's dead leg

Nick Green had been experiencing problems with his leg for a couple of days when he was sent in to pinch hit against the Angels last week. He hadn't said anything to Tito or the trainers, as he hadn't been playing much with the arrival of Alex Gonzalez. He thought that the dead leg symptoms might go away, but you could see him struggling during the at bat in question. Fortunately he was able to draw a base on balls, which sent in the tying run in the game that the Sox battled back 3 times to beat the Angels.

The Boston Herald is reporting that the Sox have sent Green back to Boston to have his leg examined by the team physician. Chris Woodward has been called up to replace him as an infield reserve, but the Boston bullpen will remain short 1 pitcher during Green's abscence. Green is tied with Jonathan Van Every for having the lowest ERA of all of Boston's pitchers this season.

According to an unverified report, Green will also be getting a better haircut in Boston, too.

From Boston.com:

When Nick Green tried to give himself a haircut yesterday before the game, it led to one the season’s most ribald moments. Green inadvertently shaved his head in one spot and he asked Rocco Baldelli for help. Baldelli cracked up and invited the rest of the team over. Eventually, Ramirez completed a new haircut for Green. When Green joined the team for stretching, Varitek removed Green’s hat and revealed the final result, a short and choppy coif. Green laughed while the Sox applauded . . .

Book review: Theology

No post season for Tazawa

Junichi Tazawa was placed on the 60 day DL today by the Boston Red Sox. Boston.com reports that he has a mild groin strain and will be replaced on the roster by infielder Chris Woodward.

Does this make room for Paul Byrd on the post season roster? We'll see how Theo and Tito deal with the post season pitching plans.

Red Sox Lineup 9/21 vs K.C.

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 Tim Wakefield-SP

What if Wakefield Pitches Well?

Suppose Tim Wakefield pitches a gem tonight and he does not suffer any pain afterwards. Where does he fit in for the post-season? Wake was the best pitcher for the Red Sox in the first half; he made the All-Star game remember? If he can stay healthy and pitch well for the remainder of the season he needs to be considered for the #3 spot in the post-season rotation. A little competition is a good thing for Buchholz and Dice-K as we near October but one of them may be left out of the ALDS roster. Tim Wakefield will always do anything for the good of the team so he might be the odd man out, but he could be the 3rd best pitcher on the team once the ALDS begins. Wake, Dice-K, and Buchholz will most likely have 2 more starts apeice in the regular season, one bad outing could find anyone of them off the roster or in the pen for the first round of the playoffs.

Another Reason Why The Red Sox Shouldn't Have Traded Kotsay

You have to love a player that can have fun in the middle of a game. Watch below:

hat tip to The Dugout Doctors

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Meanwhile, in Seattle...

... the Mariners beat the Yankees again today, taking 2 out of 3 in their series. Joba 'Headhunter' Chamberlain couldn't make it past the 3rd inning, getting shellacked to the tune of 3 IP, 6 H's, 7 ER's, 3 BB's, only 2 K's, and 1 HR. Chamberlain is now 8-6, with a 4.72 ERA.

With Seattle's win over the Yankees and the Sox beating the Orioles again today, the Sox are now only 5 games behind the Yankees, but only 4 games behind in the loss column.

I'm tellin' ya, it could still happen!

Red Sox Make it Look Easy

Either the Red Sox are the 1927 Yankees or the Orioles are just that bad. It most likely falls somewhere in the middle. The Sox made quick work of Baltimore once again today at Camden Yards. Mike Lowell hit a liner with bases loaded in the first to drive in two runs and give the Red Sox a 3-0 lead. Dice-K was efficient and kept the O's scoreless until he gave up a 2-run homer in the 4th. The offense gave him plenty of support with 9 runs on 14 hits including a homer by Jason Bay on his birthday and one by Ellsbury.

RR looked a little wild in the game but got through an inning and 2/3 without giving up a run. Oki pitched a perfect 8th and Saito finished off the O's in the 9th.

The Rangers lost again today so the Red Sox are almost a lock to win the Wild-Card. If the Red Sox go 7-7 the rest of the way and the Rangers go undefeated, the Sox will still make the playoffs.

Red Sox Win 9-3 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	3	1	2	1	0	1	1	0	0	9	14	0
Orioles	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	9	0

Red Sox Lineup 9/20 vs. The Baltimore O's

The lineup is in....

Ellsbury- CF
Pedroia- 2B
Martinez- 1B
Youkilis- 3B
Bay- LF
Lowell- DH
Drew- RF
Varitek- C
Gonzalez- SS
Matsuzaka- P

Tek is in for catcher. I think that's the right call with Dice-K on the mound. Dice-K is most comfortable with him behind the plate. Papi is getting the afternoon off and Lowell is DHing. I like that as well. I think that Papi & Lowell should really share DH when V Mart is playing at first base. Bay is in the lineup...for now. Hopefully it stays that way and sickness doesn't scratch him last minute again.

Game is scheduled to start at 1:35 EST. Let's Go Red Sox!

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