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Saturday, June 13, 2009

Red Sox Win Slugfest in Philly

The Red Sox quickly put 5 on the board out of the gate but the rain then started to fall and the tarp was on the field before the 2nd inning. After the delay Dice-K took the mound and unfortunately the 2009 post WBC Dice-K showed up and got knocked around. Matsuzaka gave up 4 runs on 7 hits including 2 home runs in 4 innings so the tired bullpen had to step up. Delcarmen and Oki each gave up runs in relief but RR and Paps kept the Phils at bay.

The Red Sox offense provided plenty of fireworks let by Julio Lugo's 4 hits. Bay and Ells each had homers and Mike Lowell went 3-4 in the game. With the Yankees loss to the Mets today the Sox now have a 3 game lead in the A.L. East and have a 5 game winning streak going.

Red Sox Win 11-6 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Red Sox	5	0	0	0	3	0	2	0	1	11	13	0
Phillies	0	0	1	3	1	0	1	0	0	6	13	3

Red Sox May Delay Smoltz's Arrival

John Smoltz was not light's out in his last start with the PawSox so the team is not sure they want him to start Thursday's game vs. the Marlins. If Smoltz does not start at Fenway on Thursday he will start with the PawSox. It makes sense to have him go one more in Pawtuckett since the team has Penny pitching well. There are two factors that are influencing this decision; the first is what happens tonight. If Dice-K gets shelled and has to be pulled early then Wake will be the go to guy. This would open a spot in the rotation for Smoltz this week. The other factor is the trade market, the Sox are looking for the best possible deal for Penny and are not going to rush into a bad one just to make room for Smoltz. All things considered not a bad situation to be in.

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 6/13 vs. the Phillies

Dustin Pedroia, 2B

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

Kevin Youkilis, 1B

Jason Bay, LF

Mike Lowell, 3B

Rocco Baldelli, RF

Jason Varitek, C

Julio Lugo, SS

Daisuke Matsuzaka, P

Red Sox Need a Long Outing From Dice-K

Last night's game used up most of the Red Sox bullpen; Oki, RR, Masterson, Saito and Bard all pitched. That leaves just MDC and Paps with fresh arms. Dice-K has the well known problem of throwing a ton of pitches early and not going very deep into games. The Sox really need him to step up big tonight. With the Brad Penny trade rumors, Dice-K has flown under the radar with his 1 win and 7.33 ERA. If Matsuzaka struggles again tonight the Sox are going to find themselves in a difficult situation; trading Penny might be more risky and fans will be vocal about bringing up Buchholz for Dice-K's spot in the rotation. In the end if Dice-K can get into the 7th tonight with a solid outing all of the other speculation will not matter and Red Sox fans will sleep easy.

John Henry Gets in Teixeira's Head

As the Red Sox were sweeping the Yankees, Red Sox owner John Henry wrote, "the MT curse?" referring to Mark Teixeira on his twitter account. When Teixeira found out about the remark he told reporters the following:

"There's no reason to get into it with a 70-year-old man about baseball."

John Henry is 60 years old so Teixeira is obviously trying to get into it with him. When told of Henry's email to WEEI saying it was "purely entertainement Nothing more. I don't believe in curses." Teixeira responded with:

"You guys make the decision," Teixeira said to the reporters around his locker. "Whose reputation looks better right now?"

Guessing by the boos Teixeira gets in Baltimore, Boston, and Anaheim I am guessing that Henry's reputation looks better now. John Henry had one more thing for Tex:

After reading his heartfelt quotes I turned to Shakespeare for a response, but was worried he, too, might take offense.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Red Sox Win a Thriller in Philly

Jon Lester deserved a win tonight after going 7 innings and giving up just 1 run on 2 hits. The Red Sox took a 1 run lead into the 9th without the option of going to Papelbon who was given the night off because of all of his recent work. Tito went with RR to close out the game but for his second straight appearance he gave up a home run. The game stayed tied until the 13th when with one out, Bay and Lugo singled. Tek walked to load the bases and Ells broke up the tie with a single. Green brought in Lugo with a sac-fly and then Lowell brought in Tek with a hit. Bard came in for the bottom of the 13th and struck out the side after giving up a walk and hitting a batter.

The Sox were very lucky when two balls hit by the Phils in extra innings went foul and just missed being walk-offs. Boston used 6 pitchers in the game and Saito was credited with the win.

Red Sox Win 5-2 BOX SCORE

	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	R	H	E
Red Sox	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	11	0
Phillies	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	5	0

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 6/12 vs. the Phillies

Dustin Pedroia, 2B

J.D. Drew, RF

Kevin Youkilis, 3B

Jason Bay, LF

David Ortiz, 1B

Jason Varitek, C

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

Nick Green, SS

Jon Lester, P

Night Moves For Youk?

The Beard of Truth has spoken:

Kevin "Night Moves Youkilis: You have to admit it has a nice ring to. I've been trying to convince Youk to change his batter's music to match the ferocity of his bat, and me, his beard. But he wont listen to me. So I'm coming to you for help. We need to spread the word. Take it to the people. Just like Obama said "Yes We Can" get Youk a badass batter's song. I've put together a very persuasive presentation, that I'm including below. Thanks for your time. Have a great day, and stay furry.

Connecting Red Sox Fans!

SWEET SWEEP!
Looking forward to being at Fenway next week. Red Sox Nation Day is 6/16! I'm rsncagov on twitter if anyone cares to follow. For Southern California fans, I have appointed Mayors of both LA and SD, Hilary of Los Angeles can be contacted at rsnla.mayor@gmail.com and Laura of San Diego at rsnsd.mayor@gmail.com for events in those areas. RSN Facebook is another source of connection. San Francisco has a fun meetup group, with Joyce as the leader and the link is http://www.meetup.com/Bay Area-Boston-Sports-Fans/ . FYI, Youk's brother Scott has a great restaurant in SF, Maverick at 17th & Mission. Good Eats!
Go Sox!
Karen Doherty, Gov, RSN CA

Papelbon v. A-Rod: Classic Moment

A.J. Burnett: F-Bombs for the Kids

Things continue to go wrong for the Yankees and their overpriced pitcher A.J. Burnett. He had trouble with cellphone etiquette yesterday at a book store in Boston and got bounced:

“He was swearing and stuff and the security guard went over and told him to quiet down because there were kids around...
Well, A.J. didn’t. So the security guard - who was described to us as an “elderly gentleman” - told him to hit the road. Vacate the premises.

The Herald came up with the quote of the day with this line:

Apparently early exits are getting to be a habit for the Pinstripes’ alleged ace!

Red Sox and the YES Network Plays of the Game

So, most people know I am a member of Red Sox Nation living in New York. Some days it is harder than others, but not today! 8 games in a row and a come from behind victory at that.

I usually watch all the Red Sox games on NESN through mlb.tv (highly recommend it BTW), but when it is Red Sox/Yankees games, I get stuck watching the games on the YES network. I know, feel my pain.

However, one of the great things...is when the Sox beat the Yankees...you get to watch the post game coverage on the YES network. You get to watch the YES guys wonder what went so horrible wrong. You get to watch Girardi get grilled by the press. You get to watch Jeter pretend like the Red Sox are not in his head. You get to watch Nick Swisher explain that his base running just really isn't all that bad and that poor little Jason Bay just tricked him.

Last night, here were the YES Plays of the Game:

Player of the Game:

Brad Penny. Yes, you heard me right. It wasn't CC Sabathia or anyone else wearing pinstripes. It was B Penny who was the best we have seen him yet on the mound. I'm getting to the point that I really don't want to see Penny traded, even though it is probably inevitable. We ended up seeing a pitcher duel between Brad Penny and CC Sabathia, who would have predicted that?

Defensive Play of the Game:

Rocco Baldelli making a spectacular diving catch in center field in the 8th inning. It was all kinds of awesome. A picture cannot just convey how beautiful that catch was. It reminded me why I am so happy that Rocco decided to come and join us this season. Good job there Rico Baldy!!

Overall Play of the Game:

Dustin Pedroia's 10 pitch at-bat where he worked a walk and seemed to unravel CC Sabathia. I don't think Nick Green got enough credit for the hit he got in front of Pedey's at bat, but that doesn't take away from the spectacular at-bat that Pedey had. He kept CC working and obviously frustrated him. Plus, with CC's pitch count, he basically pushed him right to the limit and then over it. It was a sure thing of beauty and to see Pedey's firey response when he got Ball Four. All kinds of awesome. I agree. That at-bat was the game changer.

The YES Network got it right and yeah, it had to hurt.

*giggles*

Yankee Covers For Your Enjoyment

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Yankee Fan Comments

Just thought I would share some of the comments by Yankee fans on the LoHud Yankees Blog after tonight's game:

The whole “lots of games left” remark got us 3rd place last season.
George isin’t in good health and Hal doesn’t even want to own the Yankees. He’s just doing it out of respect for his father. Hank is probably on the horse farm somewhere, probably doesn’t even know the season has started.
“Wonder what Cashman was thinking as he was watching that 8th inning unfold.” He was thinking, if I would of spent even 1 minute on the bullpen in the off season we could of won this game.
theres no panic for me…just disappointment, frustration, sickness, illness and despair….hmmm panic might feel better
Not gonna panic. But wow, this blows. I feel numb. Time to find some vodka
I’m not going to work tomorrow.
What do you want from a team of millionaires who really only care about when their next paycheck is coming. I typically get over losses within a few hours, but this one is gonna mess with my weekend plans. I am so embarrassed.
WHATS THE NUMBER TO THE YANKEES SUICIDE HOT LINE?????????

Oh, How Sweet It Is!

Hey NY! How does it feel now? Your umpteen bazillion dollar man that you 'stole' from the Sox just went 0-5, including the final out of the game! BWAAHAAHAA!!! I can't wait for the NY covers tomorrow!

The Sox have now won all 8 games played against the Yankees this year, besting the previous mark of 7 set back in 1912, a year coincidentally that the Sox won the World Series.

Brad Penny turned in 6 strong innings, allowing 6 hits and 1 BB while notching 5 K's. Unfortunately for him, Sabfathia was just a bit stronger. He had a 4 hitter going into the 8th inning. Joe Girardi pulled a GL and left him in there 1 pitch too many, though, as the Sox put up 3 more runs that inning. Those 3 runs and the Papi tater in the 2nd were just enough. Yes, Papi hit another HR, so he's not quite dead yet! This is why slump or no, David Ortiz is Big Papi!

Manny Delcarmen had a rare blown save, his 1st of this season, but Saito came in and did his job and got the win while setting up for Papelbon in the 9th who had a 1-2-3 inning notching his 16th save.

Oh this feels so good right now!

Sox Win 4-3 BOX SCORE

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
NY Yankees	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	10	1
Boston	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	X	4	8	0

2009 Red Sox Draft Picks: A Family Affair

This week seems like it is all about the Red Sox and the Yankees...and in many ways, it is. However, in other news....the 2009 MLB Draft was also this week.

Here is an article that gives a basic play by play of those who were drafted. Here are a few highlights though of names that perked my interest:

The first round draft pick for the Sox was Reymond Fuentes. He plays out in Center Field. He is also cousin of the Mets' Carlos Beltran. He also looks like a speedy little devil.

Let's jump to the 16th Round of the Draft. The Sox selected Luke Bard. He is of course the little brother of our own Daniel Bard. In the family tradition, Luke is a fastball pitcher. He doesn't have the velocity that his big bro does, but he can hit the mid 90s. He is only 18 and has signed a letter of intent to play college baseball with Georgia Tech, but the Sox are trying to keep it within the family.

So...let's jump again to the 36th round. The Sox drafted outfielder Michael Yastrzemski. You heard me right, Yastrzemski. Michael is the grandson of our very own Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz says that he his grandson definitely has the skills and the stuff to make the major leagues. Michael has said that he plans on going to college, but will being drafted by the Sox change his mind? The idea of having another Yastrzemski in the outfield at Fenway Park...I think it makes us all just a little excited.

Tonight's Red Sox Lineup 6/11 vs the Yankees

Dustin Pedroia, 2B
J.D. Drew, RF
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
David Ortiz, DH
Jason Varitek, C
Rocco Baldelli, CF
Nick Green, SS

Brad Penny, SP

Another Reason Why the Sox Will Stay With Papi

Just take a look at these statistics for a sample of Sox players vs. the Yankees so far this season, and see where Papi ranks:

Jason Bay, 11 for 21 with 2 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs -- .524 batting average, .655 on-base percentage, and 1.143 slugging percentage.

Kevin Youkilis, 7 for 17 with a double and a game-winning home run -- .412 batting average, .565 on-base and .647 slugging.

Dustin Pedroia, 8 for 23 with 2 doubles -- .348 batting average, .500 on-base and .435 slugging.

Mike Lowell, 9 for 26 with 2 doubles and 2 home runs -- .346 batting average, .414 on-base and .654 slugging.

David Ortiz, 7 for 23 with 4 doubles and a home run -- .304 batting average, .379 on-base and .609 slugging.

Papelbon on Oki's Gambling Problem

Jonathan Papelbon joked that Hideki Okajima needed to call 1-800-GAMBLER after he showed him how to play craps. Watch below:

Wake Starting to Get Some All-Star Buzz

Should Tim Wakefield be on the A.L. All-Star team? Haggs thinks so and others in the blogosphere are starting to debate the issue. Wake carried the team for the first month and half of the season and he is still coming up with solid outings but he is on the bubble when it comes to numbers. For further reading on the issue check out the following links:

NESN - Tim Wakefield: All-Star?

NY TIMES BATS BLOG - Wakefield Takes Aim at All-Sar Game

BOSTON GLOBE - Dancing with a Sox Star

ONE IF BY LAND - Let's Calm Down With Wakefield All-Star Talk

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