Epic Fail by OC Register

Yesterday the Orange County Register posted a slideshow of 10 reasons the Angels will be World Champs. Included in the show was this:

Scot Shields entered Sunday's game having thrown 91 strikes and 90 balls. There are usually four possible reasons for loss of control: Brain problems, elbow problems, mechanical problems, or perhaps random fluctuation over a small sample. The Shields of old was back Sunday, throwing 18 strikes in 28 pitches over two innings, so I think we can eliminate reasons 1 and 2, and assume it was probably either No. 3 -- and it has been fixed -- or No. 4. All signs are good, and simply fixing him is worth about four wins more than the Shields we had last week.

Last night Shields gave up 2 hits and a run in his one inning of work earning a blown save and the loss...sounds like things are all fixed. Better get busy taking ring sizes.

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Sox Skweek By Angels

Although his numbers looked good, Masterson was having trouble with his location, but he did manage (lucky according to 'Tek in the post game interview) to make it through 6 innings allowing only 2 runs. He also threw one behind Hunter in the 3rd, drawing warnings from umpires to both sides. MDC gave up a rare run, but that was due in part to a fielding error.

The Sox were down 3-1 in the 7th and tied it on 2 singles, a BB, a HBP, and a FC. In the 9th, Drew singled and 'Tek doubled to send him home and gain the lead. Ramon Ramirez continues to be lights out, his record stands at 4-0, 0.52 ERA. (All Star Game for RR?) Papelbon walked Abreu, who then stole second. (Oh, here we go again.) Torii Hunter whiffed to end the game.

Mike Lowell is swinging the bat well so far this season (.310 BA), but his FA has dropped a bit this season. He has an unusually high number of errors so far (5), but hopefully his fielding groove will return from surgery to match his batting. Ol' Shoebox Lugo added another error tonight. Nick Green is hitting well too, (.289), but he's added another 6 errors so far this season. Let's hope for a speedy recovery for Jed Lowrie. Papi had an RBI, but was still 0/3. I'm wondering at what point does Tito move him down in the line up.

It wasn't a pretty win, but it was a win nonetheless. Toronto beat the Yankees tonight, leaving them 6.5 games out, while the Sox remain 1 GB. BAL beat TBY tonight.

Sox win 4-3 BOX SCORE

I participated in a live game chat on SawxHeads.com, tonight's host being none other than our esteemed Fenway West host, Matt O'Donnell. It was an interesting experience. I was not able to watch the game on the tube tonight, but I was chatting with other Sox fans on one tab, while checking the stats on 'Game Day' from RedSox.com as the game proceeded.

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The Red Sox are Back to Deliver More Pain to the Angels

Torii Hunter may have made a great play against the Royals this weekend but the Rally Monkey is worried about the new team coming to town:

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Angels Give Up Hope for Teixeira

The Angels have withdrawn their offer to Mark Teixeira according to the LA Times:

Boras is reportedly seeking an eight-year deal for at least $180 million, and a source familiar with the Angels' thinking maintained all last week that owner Arte Moreno had no plans to sweeten the deal.

"Arte is sticking to his guns on this one," the source said.

That leaves the Red Sox (no matter what John Henry said) the Nats, and the O's in the bidding. The O's don't look like they will offer as much as the Nats. The Red Sox may get a better price for Teixeira than Boras was looking for as the competition drops out.

UPDATE: Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports says the Red Sox have had no contact with Boras since John Henry's email saying they were out.

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Somebody Call A Waahmbulance for Lackey

He's startin' to sound like ol' dumbass Hank!

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This is sweet!

Despite pounding out 11 hits today at LA or Anaheim, the Yankees were only able to score 4 runs, while limiting the Halos to 11 (eleven) runs. Giese gave up 3 hits and 1 run in 6 innings, but the NY bullpen (Veras, Ramirez, Robertson) then imploded: 2 IP, 8 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 3 HR.

While I'm enjoying seeing the hankees on the south side of a score like this, it only means the Angels are for real. Although they lost 2 out of 3 to the yanks last week at NY, they have pounded them twice in 2 days: 10-5 yesterday, and 11-4 today.

Beware the Angels come October.

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Here Come the Angels

Even with a good win last night the Sox will still have their hands full when the Angels come to Fenway tonight. Last week the Sox were swept in Anaheim by the team with the best record in baseball. Even though they dropped one last night to the O's, the Angels have a chip on their shoulder entering the series. From the LA Times:

"Another good series against the Red Sox would obviously boost our confidence, but our confidence is very high right now," said Joe Saunders, who will pitch in Boston on Wednesday. "We're playing well. I believe we're the team to beat right now...I think they should worry about us a little too. Obviously, the Red Sox and Yankees are good clubs, but I think we can play with anybody and beat anybody."

With a tight 3 way race the Sox need to do well in this series and hope the Manny distractions are gone. However, the game is on ESPN so the national media will keep the story going at least for one more day.

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Today's Lineup 4/24 vs. Angels

Still no Tek but Coco is back and in center, Jacoby will give J.D. a day off and play right. Sean Casey also has the day off so Lowrie will be at 3rd, Youk is back in the lineup at first. Game time 1:30 Eastern, make sure to watch Masterson's first major league start.

Jacoby Ellsbury RF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Manny Ramirez LF
Kevin Youkilis 1B
Jed Lowrie 3B
Julio Lugo SS
Coco Crisp CF
Kevin Cash C

Justin Masterson SP

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Tonight's Lineup 4/22 vs. Angels

Coco is still hurt, Tek still has the flu.

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, LF
Kevin Youkilis, 3B
J.D. Drew, RF
Sean Casey, 1B
Kevin Cash, C
Julio Lugo, SS

Josh Beckett, P

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Now We Get To Play A Real Team

The Red Sox have finished their sweep of the last place Texas Rangers and now have a much better team to face. Boston will play a three game series against the Angels of Anaheim/California/Los Angeles/Bakersfield or wherever they are from this year. This will be the first meeting with the Angels since the Sox swept an injured and depleted team in the ALDS, they should be much healthier now. The Angels have Jared Weaver going tonight against Josh Beckett: advantage Sox. Weaver has lost 3 of his 4 starts. Manny will be back in the lineup but Coco is still hurt and Tek may still be out with the flu (Beckett had the flu over the weekend). Okajima and Papelbon are rested and ready to go. All signs point to a continued winning streak. No word if the Rem Dog will be back in the booth tonight,(back problems) but the Sox have proven the can win with the backups.

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Sox and Twins Are Meeting Now

Representatives from the Twins and Red Sox are meeting now in Nashville to discuss the details of a trade for Santana. The latest reports have the Twins possibly throwing in another player to get the Red Sox to give a little more. Also the Angels are reportedly getting back into the mix with a Jered Weaver offer. Things are moving fast and the Red Sox executives are not talking which usually means a deal is close. The bad news for Sox fans is Jacoby may be gone but Buchholz will stay. Ellsbury agreed to have Scott Boras represent him yesterday making him more expensive in the long run; this may make Jacoby's departure a little easier if the deal gets done. If Boston gets Santana they will have the best rotation in baseball with Beckett, Santana, Schilling, Dice-K, and Buchholz. The good times could keep coming in Boston. By the way, the Pats are still undefeated.

UPDATE: Peter Gammons is reporting that a 5th player has been added to the Sox offer: Ryan Kalish. That would put the offer at Lester, Coco, Masterson, Lowrie and Kalish for Santana.

UPDATE 2: The Boston Herald is reporting the Twins want the Santana deal done by the end of today.

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Lowell Deal is Not Coming Soon

The Herald reported that Theo and Mike Lowell's agents talked over the weekend without making progress. It looks like the Red Sox are not going to add a 4th year to the deal. The two other main options for Lowell are the Dodgers and Angels however both teams are also interested in Cabrera at third. The Marlins are asking a pretty steep price for Miguel Cabrera which took the Sox out of the running and might have also scared the Dodgers away from the a potential deal. This is not likely to be resolved until the Winter Meetings. Once Cabrera is traded, Mike will have his best offers from other teams so he is likely to hold of taking any deal for a while. Looks like were just going to have to wait until December to know if he is coming back.

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