No Brooms Tonight

Josh Beckett went 8 full tonight, allowing 7 hits and 3 runs while striking out 7 Halos. That and 2 home runs, 1 each by Ellsbury and Bay, were not enough to sweep the Angels out of Boston. Tied 3-3 going into the top of the 9th, Billy Wagner suffered his 1st loss in a Sox uni by a combination of Angel's small ball (sac bunt in the 9th) and Howie Kendrick going 3/4, including a HR, 2 RBI's, and 2 runs scored. Victor Martinez was back in the line up and connected for another hit.

I don't know much about the Angel's 2nd baseman, except that he's 26 yo, has a .304 average spanning his 4 season in the bigs so far, and has played 1st base for Ellay before moving over 1 base.

Sox Lose 3-4 BOX SCORE

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So...walk off goodness and all that jazz!

So, last night walk off by Alex Gonzalez happened. It did. I am smiling from ear to ear as a result. After the game, I had some Red Sox induced adrenaline so I had a hard time falling asleep. I spent way too much time blathering about the awesomeness of the Red Sox on the twitter. Then, I read this article at 1:35 AM EST by Adam Kilgore over at the Globe. Let's just highlight a few things.

Green revealed after the game that he has been battling a "dead leg" and he thought he was going to collapse during the at-bat and had no chance to get a hit.

So, looks like Greenie has been experiencing a "dead leg" since Monday and did not mention it to anyone. Nick's at bat looked bizarre before we knew what was going on...and hearing his "dead leg" story explained a lot of things. But, umm..I have a bone to pick with you Nick Green. How could you NOT mention it to anyone? You could have been getting treatment for the past 2 days. You allowed Tito to put you into a game to pinch hit with the GAME ON THE LINE when you could not put any weight on your freakin' leg. Not cool. At all. It worked out...since you worked a walk...kind of, but seriously. Next time...you have trainers for a reason...clue them in when your leg is umm...shall we say...dead.

And the controversy continues with Nick Green. Mainly...did he or did he not actually strike out. Umm, let's be honest...he did. I will accept the "it could go either way" of the check swing. The umps could justify that call, no doubt. However, Ball 4...umm, complete strike. We know it. The umps now know it. The Amica Strike Zone surely made sure that Jerry Remy knew it last night. That pitch was dead center in the strike zone. However...the umps called it a ball. It happens sometimes. I am sure that Fuentes is unhappy that he gets a blown save because of a bad call. I can get him being mad as hell about it. However...this is what he had to say after the game about the umpiring.

Afterward, closer Brian Fuentes claimed the Red Sox get calls from umpires at Fenway because the umps are afraid, and that players on his team and on others agreed with him. "It seems like some times, especially here and some other places, some guys are timid to make a call," Fuentes said. "It just seems like that’s the way it is. At Fenway. You hear it time and time again from other guys. The same thing happens when they come through. It’s something you have to live with. It’s either human mistake, or they’re scared. It’s one of the two."

Umm. Really? The umps don't make the right calls because they are scared at Fenway? Seriously? Even if that is true....and well, it's utter malarkey...why would you say that? Next time Fuentes is up in a do and die situation....and the umps see a call that could "go either way"....no chance in hell that the umps are giving the call Fuentes way. I guess our closer isn't the only one with a need to STFU.

Great game. It may have made it so I was up at 3am and still unable to sleep. Ah, good times. Reminded me of October and that's a very good thing.

P.S. Tek. You're grounded. Just sayin....

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Red Sox Win! Red Sox Win! Red Sox Win!

You're once, twice, three times...
No, that one won't work.

Three times a charm?
Naah, been done before.

Three's company?
No, not that one, either.

I'm wrackin' the ol' noggin tryin' to come up with some snappy title to this post about the Red Sox coming back 3 (three) times tonight, but not having much luck, so I'm going to type away and see if any lightbulbs flash on along the way.

Paul Byrd was adequate tonight. (I promise no aviary humor tonight.) He went 5+ innings allowing only 3 runs to score by the Angels. Well, there is the matter of the 9 hits he allowed, but as the final score would indicate, it's not how many hits you make, it's how many runs you score. Despite holding the Halos to 3 runs, he left the game on the short end of 3-0 deficit. Not to worry as the Sox scored 5 times in the bottom of the 6th (comeback #1) After Byrd handed over the ball to the bullpen, Saito came in and pitched 1 inning and allowed another run in. Next up was Ramirez who had nothin', nada, zippo, zilch tonight as he allowed 3 more Angels around the diamond while registering only 1 out. So now the Sox are down 7-5. (Around about that time the Bums from da Bronx tallied a comeback of their own, as they were down 2-4 and came back to beat Toronto 5-4.) The Sox scored twice in the 8th for comeback #2, tying the game, but not for long, as the Angels put another run up in the top of the 9th. (Are you following all this?) Down by 1 run in the bottom of the 9th, Ortiz draws a 2 out walk. Joey Gathright enters to run for Papi. J.D. Drew singles. Reddick had pinch hit earlier for 'Tek and scored one of the 8th inning runs, so now enter Dusty Brown at catcher. Enter Jed Lowrie to pinch hit for Brown before he even had a chance to step up to the plate. Lowrie singles. Nick Green coaxed a walk to load the bases. Next up, A-Gonz who singled to drive in Drew and win the game.

Earlier I said it's not how many hits, but how many runs that counts (Baseball 101.) The Sox had 13 of 'em tonight, but the Halos had 17. Thankfully, the Sox pitchers scattered them just barely enough to offset that lopsided statistic.

Now, about this shortstop dilemma. I commented on an earlier post about the possibility of a long term future for Alex Gonzalez in a Sox uni. The usually light hitting (yet vacuum like sweeping of just about any ball hit in between 2nd and 3rd bases) Gonzalez was hitting at a fugly .210 clip when he arrived for his 2nd tour of duty in Boston. He has lifted his batting average by a full 25 points in the past month. Since August 16th, he has 29 hits in 93 at-bats for a nice .312 average. He's only 32 years old. Both Lowell and Jeter are 35 years old, and are doing just fine, thank you very much. Theo would do well to lock him up for the next 3 years.

Despite winning 7 in a row, the Sox remain 6.5 games behind the Yanks, but only 5 behind in the loss column. Texas has lost 4 in a row, distancing themselves from the Red Sox in the Wild Card race by 6.5 games.

Sox Win 9-8 BOX SCORE

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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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This is What You Write When Your Team Can't Win in the Playoffs

The Red Sox own the Angels in the post-season. Angels bloggers can't refute that so they continue to focus on Beckett's pitch near Abreu or write silly things like this:

Jacoby Ellsbury is a bust.

Nick Green is not the pitcher we waived who ended up a Brewer, he is a weak excuse for a shortstop.

FANS: Only Angel fans are Angel fans. Idiot trendoid fratboys and couch-potato ESPN conformists comprise a majority of Red Sox Nation.

Here is my simple response these statements by halosheaven.com: Your team has a rally monkey and your fans use thunderstixs; 'nuf ced.

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One Picture Says A Thousand Words

K-Rod, post JD Drew dinger.

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