Schill's arm and Papi's bat key big win over Angels

Sox 8, Los Angeles 0

WP: Schilling (2-1)
LP: Carrasco (0-1)
HRs: BOS-Papi (3)

Sox box

SUMMARY:
For the second consecutive game the Sox got excellent starting pitching- eight shutout innings from Curt Schilling- and a big night from Big Papi, who had 4 RBIs including a 3-run bomb in the 8th, to post its fourth win in the last 5 games.

HERO: Schilling 8IP, 4H, 0R, 1BB, 4Ks
The ace is determined to erase the memories of Opening Day from everyone's mind as he posted his second terrific outing in a row following that slip up in KC. Although he didn't dominate with his fastball like the days of old, the now-crafty vet worked every pitch and all corners of the plate and baffled the Angels batters all day long.

GOAT: Gary Matthews Jr.
From the "Greatest Catch Ever" to one of the worst errors in recent memory. With the bases loaded and two outs in a scoreless game in the bottom of the 3rd, Tek hit a sinking liner to center that Matthews appeared to have in his sights. But at the last second the ball "handcuffed" the (alleged) HGH user, who dropped the ball for a 2-run error that altered the course of the game.

KEY MOMENT:
See above.

REVIEW:
The first two games of this series have followed a very similar pattern for Boston: excellent starting pitching keeps 'em in the game early, the offense chips away at the L.A. starter after a few slow innings before dropping the hammer on its beleaguered bullpen late.

In winning the first two in the series by a combined 18-1, Boston has scored only 3 of those 18 runs in the first 4 innings of the games. Luckily for the slow-starting bats the pitching has been good enough to offset the delayed power surges. Yesterday Wakefield held the fort until the cavalry arrived, today it was Schill's turn to stave off the enemy until the big boppers could put the game away.

While Schill was setting the first six Angels down without allowing a baserunner, L.A. spot-starter Hector Carrasco was living on the edge with the Boston lineup. The 37-year-old veteran has had to fill in in the rotation due to injuries to Bartotlo Colon, Jered Weaver and Kelvim Escobar, and from the looks of it those guys better get well soon. Carrasco walked five of the first 16 batters he faced and also gave up a single and a triple as Boston had the bases loaded in both the 2nd & 3rd innings.

Yet for all that carnage Carrasco nearly escaped the 3rd unscathed; that is until Matth'roids Jr. couldn't handle Varitek's knuckling liner to straightaway center with two outs and the sacks full. The ball dipped at the last second and went off the heel of Matth'roid's glove, allowing Eric Hinske, who had led the inning off with a triple and was nearly stranded at third, and J.D. Drew (0-3) to score the only runs the Sox would need to secure the victory.

In case the late offensive burst didn't come today Schilling went ahead and stifled the Angels batters anyway, just for shits and giggles. The powerful righty breezed through the first 5 innings, parsing out three singles to frustrated Angels batters, and by the time he faced a bit of trouble in the later innings (a 1-out double in the sixth, a man on with 2nd with 2 outs in the 7th) Boston had already pushed the lead to 5-0.

Not wanting to see Schilling's monster effort go to waste, Big Papi decided to put an end to any potential drama by launching a massive 3-run homer to the tarp-covered seats in straightaway center with no outs in the 8th; it was the big man's first Fenway homer this season and his 3rd of the year, all coming with Curt on the mound.

But the blast also ensured Schill would not get the complete game; with an 8-run lead and not needing to take any chances, Tito brought on the Black Donnelly to finish it off.

Two complete 'team effort' wins like these are going a long way towards obliterating the memories of One-Hit Wonder Wednesday and the early season road struggles. The club is now starting to jell inside the cozy (yet chilly) confines of Fenway, and to no one's surprise it has been solid-to-spectacular starting pitching that has been leading the way.

But as the nasty weather moves into the area tonight and into Sunday, threatening the conclusion of this 4-game set, the question is how long will the team have to wait to keep the good times rolling?

-NOTES & QUOTES:

-Drew was held hitless for the first time this season, ending his streak at 9 games. He did draw a walk, though, so his consecutive games on-base streak is still intact

-After allowing 5 runs in his 4-inning stint in Kansas City, Schilling has now let only 1 runner reach home plate over his last 15 innings of work

-Ortiz is starting to swing a hot stick; he's 4-9 with 7 RBIs in the last two games, and after knocking in just 1 run in the first five games Big Papi has driven in 10 in the last five

-Manny is officially in a slump. Although he did drive in a run with a sharp single in the 6th, he was just 1-5 at the plate and is now batting .194 (7-36) on the season with 4 ribbies. Might as well throw Coco (.111) and Tek (.222) in that pile, too.

-Julio Lugo had another nice game; he reached base twice on a hit and a walk, plus scored a run and stole his 3rd base of the season, but he did swing at ball 4 and flied out to end the bases loaded threat in the 2nd

-Youk got a scheduled day off, and Hinske excelled in his place. The burly backup reached base 4 times (triple, single, 2 walks), scored 3 runs and was a catalyst for the Sox all day. He is now batting a hearty .800 (4-6) in his limited role. If Youk should stumble, don't be surprised to see Hinske take his job at first base.

-"I absolutely thought I was going to finish that game right up through the (28-pitch) seventh inning. Going back out for the ninth would have been me trying to get a shutout as opposed to me trying to make 33 or 34 starts and be as healthy as I can for every one."- a wise old Curt Schilling

RECORD: 6-4

A.L. EAST STANDINGS: Up by 1/2 game

UP NEXT: vs. LA of A, Sun @ 1:00PM

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Sox bounce back from near-no hitter

Sox 10, Los Angeles 1

WP: Wakefield (1-1)
LP: Lackey (2-1)
HRs: BOS-'Belli (1)

Sox box

That freaking police escort is finally starting to pay off

SUMMARY:
Tim Wakefield turned in another fine performance on the mound and this time he got some run support to boot. After starting out slow Boston's offense busted out late, scoring 6 runs in the 7th to turn a close game (4-1 Sox) into a rout.

HERO(s): Boston lineup
The Sox hitters scored double-digit runs on 14 base hits for the second time in three games. Throw in 5 walks and a hit batter and the Fenway basepaths looked like an extension of the Mass Pike. Six players had at least 2 hits, four had at least 2 RBIs and 8 different Sox scored a run. Nice.

GOAT: John Lackey 5.2IP, 9H, 3R, 1BB, 6K
The Angel hurler had jumped out to a 2-0 record this season and was cruising with a 1-0 lead in the 5th inning in this one. Then Mirabelli took him yard, Papi knocked in the go-ahead run and it was bye bye perfect record & microscopic ERA for Mr. Lackey.

KEY MOMENT: 8th inn, Sox lead 4-1, LA 1st & 3rd w/ 1 out
Believe it or not in a 9-run win there was a late, tense moment, and once again Papelbon nailed the door shut on any comeback thoughts for the opposing team.

The Angles were threatening to make a game of it when Paps came on in relief of Black Donnelly. All he did was get Vlad Guerrero, who had already driven in LA's run, to strike out on a filthy 97-mph heater, then got Anderson to fly out, needing just 6 pitches to squelch the rally,

REVIEW:
Tonight the Sox hitters showed plenty of resiliency and mental toughness by shaking off a bad performance in their last game, a postponement yesterday and a rough start in this one before finally busting the door down and seizing control of the game.

For the second consecutive start Tim Wakefield gave Boston a great chance to win, and for the second consecutive time Boston almost let it go to waste. Already a hard-luck loser when he allowed only 2 runs to Texas yet took the loss when the Sox were shut out by the immortal Robinson Tejada, the veteran knuckleballer had to be feeling a bit of deja vu for the first 4 innings tonight.

The Red Sox batters (with the exception of J.D. Drew) have been ineffective all season, failing to score runs, get on base or drive in runs with any regularity. Tonight was more of the same for the first 4 innings as Lackey held Boston scoreless on 4 singles, but in the 5th everything suddenly changed; all it took was a rare opposite field home run from backup catcher Doug Mirabelli to light the spark that would eventually ignite the blaze in the Boston bats.

Wakefield's personal catcher hadn't done much for Boston since returning to the Sox last June other than outrage the taxpayers who had to foot the bill for his Statie escort to Fenway. But the hard-working fan favorite came up big tonight when he touched Lackey up for a leadoff homerun into the Sox pen (nicely caught by Timlin, BTW) to begin the 5th. After Pedroia flied out, Lugo (3-5, 2R, SB) doubled to right, Youk flied out to left, and then Papi followed with a clutch single through the infield that scored Lugo and gave the Sox the lead it would not relinquish, 2-1.

As if to prove that his first big hit wasn't a fluke, 'Belli came up again in the 6th with Drew (2-3) on 3rd base and drove him home with a single to push the lead to 3-1 and chase Lackey from the game. After Lowell tacked on another run in the 7th with a sac fly, the Sox blew the game open in the 8th when they batted around and scored 6 runs on 2-run hits by Papi, Drew and Lowell, and all of a sudden it was a reprise of Opening Day Tuesday again. Plenty of hits, plenty of runs, plenty of smiles on everyone's faces.

A much better outcome than that depresser on Wednesday should have everyone geared up for the FOX national telecast Saturday afternoon. And they'd better make the most of it; with a possible snowstorm forecast for Sunday & Marathon Monday, it might be a while before the Sox get to put on their hitting shoes again.

NOTES & QUOTES:

-Drew had two more hits plus two walks and has now hit safely in all 9 games. He raised his average to .419 and also added a run and a pair of RBIs to his totals. His 2-run single in the 8th past OC really put the game away at 8-1. Oh, plus he had an outfield assist.

-Lugo had his best game as a Sox; on top of tallying 3 hits (2 singles and a double) he also scored twice, stole a base, and was the catalyst Boston has been craving at the top of the lineup since you-know-who left.

-Manny (0-3) continued his early season doldrums. The grill master is a meager 6-31 with 1 extra base hit, 3 RBIs and 6 Ks so far. Maybe he should've stayed away from the auctions in the offseason

-Wakefield's linescore for the season: 13IP, 8H, 3R, 4BB, 7Ks, 0-wild pitches, 1.38 ERA

-Mike Lowell had a big day at the plate (2-4, 2B, 3RBIs) but made another error in the field; the Gold Glover committed his 4th error of the season in the 8th after making just 6 miscues all last season

-Save king Paps got credit for a rare "Hold" for his brief 8th inning appearance; after the Sox scored 6th in the bottom half of the frame to erase the save situation, Tito brought Timlin in for the 9th (he pitched a perfect inning)

- More Paps: Of the 10 outs he has recorded this season, 6 have come by strikeout

-Due to Thursday's postponement, Tito had to tinker with the rotation. Schill will now go on Saturday, followed by Beckett on Sunday and Gascan, not Dice-K, on Patriot's day (yikes!)

-"He don't impress me no more."- Big Papi, jokingly referring to the brilliance of Papelbon

RECORD: 5-4
GB: -1/2

UP NEXT: vs. LAof A , SAT 3:30 PM FOX

Carrassco (0-1, 1.80) vs. Schilling (1-1, 4.91)

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Series Preview: Angles @ Red Sox

Gm 1, Tonight 7PM Lackey (2-0, 0.75) vs. Wakefield (0-1, 1.50)
Gm 2 SAT, 3:30 Carrassco vs. Schilling
Gm 3 Sun, 1:05 Santana vs. Beckett
Gm 4 Mon 10:05 Weaver vs. Tavarez

Tonight's lineups:

*ANA* *BOS*

1.Matthews* Lugo
2.Cabrera* Youk
3.Guerrero* Papi
4.Anderson*Manny
5.Hillenbrand*Drew
6.Kotchman*Lowell
7.Kendrick*Coco
8.Napoli*Belli
9.Izturis*Pedroia

According to my perusal of the local forecast the rainstorms that have plagued the Greater New England area the past few days should have subsided enough to get this series underway tonight. But who knows what kind of condition the playing field will be in after 48 hours of bad weather.

From my perch down here in cloudless FLA it looks as if the rain has stopped up there and the temp is a balmy 48 degrees with a 14 mph wind. In other words ideal conditions/

The Sox will look to rebound after that tough loss Wednesday night and will have to do so against one of the hottest pitchers in the American League. John Lackey has stated out like a house on fire, allowing just 1 earned run in his 12 innings of work this year, scattering 11 hits and striking out 11 while walking 4 batters. It won't get any easier from there as Earvin Santana and Jered Weaver are two of the brightest young pitching prospects in the league today.

But in Boston's favor is the fact that Manny has torn Lackey a new one in previous meetings against the righty; ManRam is an astounding 9-18 with 4 homers, 2 doubles and 11 RBIs against the Angel's ace in his career.

The Angles have tinkered with their roster this year but as usual they posess a devastating offense, starting with the always-deadly Vladimir Guerrero. This guy is like the Kevin Garnett of MLB- lean, mean and full of caffeine. His swing is so powerful it looks like he is going to wrench his back at the plate and he gets to more balls than a net boy at Wimbledon.

Bad Vlad has a lot of help in the lineup this season, one of the reasons the Angels are favored by many to get to the Series. The offensive talent is led by new acquisition/'roid head Gary Matthews, aging superstar Garrett Anderson, and old friends Orlando Cabrera and Shea Hillenbrand. Well, one old friend and one despised clubhouse mate.

Anyway, Boston will have to brave the elements in order to get back on the winning track tonight, but those elements should favor a knuckleballer like Wake rather than a control pitcher like Lackey.

At least RSN hopes so.

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Red Sox Recap: 8 games in and not much to show for it

With yesterday's washout I have had some time to delve into the stats the Sox have compiled after the first week and 1/2 of the season, and I must say they are not too impressive.

If you remember after the home opener I marveled at how the team's runs per game average had climbed more than a run, from 3.1 to 4.7 after that 14-run barrage. Well guess what? Following King Felix' lock down of the Boston batters Wednesday that number dipped back down to 4.1 RPG, but more disturbing is the fact that in eight games the potent Boston lineup has already been shut out twice and held to 2 runs or less in half of their games. Plus the team batting average has submarined down to .231 (18th in MLB), thanks to Hernandez' 1-hit masterpiece.

Other stats Boston hitters should be embarrassed by:
-Runs: 33 (17th in ML)
-Total Bases: 92 (27th)
-HRs: 4 (23rd)
-Hits: 62 (26th)
-RBIs: 20 (20th)

Either way you slice it those numbers are not good for Nation members, especially considering the team has faced hurlers who are, let's just say, less than Cy Young quality, such as Gil $55 mil Meche, Robinson Don't call me Miguel Tejada and Kevin Run of the Millwood.

Granted it's extremely early and the team has played in weather more conducive to the gridiron gangs than the boys of summer, but hey, who hasn't? That hasn't stopped clubs like Cleveland (.275), the Stanks (.277) and even the Rays (.285), all of whom have played a number of games in arctic-like conditions, from tearing up opposing pitching.

There has been one good thing about the offense, and wouldn't ya know it's been that "fragile & expensive" investment, J.D. Drew. Coming over from the Dodgers in a heavily-scrutinized deal, Drew has been the team's most consistent and most productive hitter during this time of little offense. Vilified and crucified by jaded members of the Nation (yes, there are some out there) before he ever even pulled on Trot's old jersey, Drew has proven to be everything the Sox brass had hoped for and more after inking him to the controversial 5-year, $70 million contract in the off season.

Besides batting .393, which is good for 4th in the AL, he is also leading the team in hits (11), tRBIs (5), total bases (16), OBP (.419), SLG% (.571), and strikeouts (7, but we'll let him slide on that one.) He has made a couple of blunders, 1 in the field and 1 on the bases, but has also played excellent defense, been a stand-up player with teammates & the media, and broke up the no hitter on Wednesday.

Maybe that'll shut up the speak first, think later boo-birds for a while.

As far as the pitching goes there have been some ups and downs the first 8 games, with numbers ranging from decent (3.39 ERA, 13th in ML) to phenomenal (.219 BA allowed, 3rd lowest in ML.)

Of the 4 victories all have come from the starters (Beckett-2, Dice-K & Schill, 1 each) and it's no surprise that these guys have pitched well, save for Schill's opening day effort and Gascan's start in Texas. The major question regarding this staff was the bullpen, which so far has run the gamut from lights out (Papelbon, 5Ks, 0 hits or runs in 2.2 IP) to get out (Pineiro & Romero.) But Mike Timlin just returned from the DL on Tuesday and so far there have been no major meltdowns, perhaps because Craig Hanson is in Pawtucket and Tavarez is in the rotation. Stay tuned.

Defensively the Sox have been sound, although its fielding percentage (.975, 24th) and error total (7, 7th) belie that fact. But those numbers are skewed thanks to Mike Lowell's 3-error game in Texas. Other than that aberration there have been only 4 errors committed in 8 games, which projects to a pretty decent percentage over the course of a season.

So what do you get when you take a .500 record and middle-of-the-pack stats? A mediocre team, which after 8 games is exactly what the Red Sox are. Things don't figure to get much easier in the next couple of weeks as Boston will have to face the Angels' John Lackey (2-0, 0,75) & nasty youngsters Earvin Santana & Jered Weaver, then have a date with Roy Halladay next week before the first series with the Evil Empire on the 20th.

Let's hope the Boston hitters get their groove back by then, or this season of promise could turn into a replay of 2006 in a hurry.

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Rain rain, go away...but don't come back as snow!

This isn't as live shot, but you get the idea

It doesn't look like there will be any baseball played at Fenway this afternoon. Although I am not a meteorologist, nor do I play one on this blog, with persistent rain, temps in the 30's and blustery winds plaguing the Hub all day, you don't have to be Al Roker to figure the field will be unplayable even if the conditions let up.

Which they're not supposed to. In fact as the temps go down the chances that precip will turn into snow flurries increases, and the Mariners have already had their share of snow-outs this season.

What that means is that there will be no rubber match in this intriguing three game set. The first game saw an offensive explosion as the Sox took advantage of a rusty Mariners team, and in last night's game the Sox couldn't buy a hit off Felix Hernandez (luckily they're paying J.D. Drew $70 million to get hits for them) in what was an old fashioned pitcher's duel.

Seattle isn't scheduled to return to Fenway again this season, but Boston does play 6 games against them out West, so perhaps the game will be rescheduled for Safeco Field.

It's too bad that we probably will have to wait a while to see Act III of this baseball diamond drama.

BTW, it's 80 degrees and sunny here in the Tampa Bay area today. Just thought I'd throw that in.

***UPDATE: At around 4:10 Major League Baseball officially postponed today's game. No makeup date has been announced yet****

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No Dice: Seattle phenom bests Boston & Matsuzaka

Mariners 3, Sox 0

WP: Hernandez (2-0)
LP: Matsuzaka (1-1)

Sox box
SUMMARY:
The eyes of the world fell upon Fenway Park last night as two nations eagerly awaited the home debut of one of the most talked-about pitchers on the planet, Daisuke Matsuzaka. But when it was all over a 21-year-old Venezuelan named Felix Hernandez stole the show by tossing a 1-hit, complete game shutout against the Sox; "King" Felix allowed only 3 baserunners all night and silenced the raucous Boston crown in a game that took an NL-like 2:20 to complete.

HERO: Hernandez 9IP, 1H, 0R, 2BB, 6Ks
The kid who just turned 21 April 8th tossed his second straight gem, following his Opening Day 12-K shutout masterpiece over Oakland. For an encore all he did was take a no-hitter into the 8th at Fenway and walk away with a complete game shutout against a lineup that had scored 14 runs the day before.

GOAT(s): Boston lineup
The same 9 guys who slammed Seattle for 14 runs on 14 hits on Tuesday afternoon was completely shut down, and shut out, the next day. I know Hernandez was lights out, but almost being no-hit in your own crib on such a huge night was embarrassing.

REVIEW:

The most anticipated home debut in recent Red Sox history began amid international fanfare and a flurry of blinding flashbulbs, but ultimately ended in disappointment and defeat for Boston.

The much-ballyhooed first Fenway performance of Dice-K had a playoff feel to it despite the fact that it was just the 8th game of the season, but it was a young hurler for the Mariners who ended up stealing the spotlight from his heavily-hyped counterpart. Felix Hernandez, who had been an unremarkable 16-18 with an ERA of 4.50 coming into this year in two seasons with the Mariners, turned the talk away from Dice-K for now after his second consecutive dominant outing.

It wasn't as if Dice pitched poorly- 7IP, 8H, 3ER, 1BB, 4Ks- but he was not his usual super-sharp self. Howeva, when your teammates get no hits or runs for you while you're pitching, it doesn't really matter what the pitcher does.

The game started out well enough for Matsuzaka and Boston. With enough cameras and Japanese people in the park to make Fenway feel like Little Kyoto, Dice-K came out and squared off against his countryman and fellow Japanese League alum Ichiro. As the flashbulbs flickered with an almost surreal intensity, Matsuzaka's first pitch to the Seattle centerfielder was a curveball for a strike (evidently in Japanese culture it's not very gentlemanly to throw anything but a fastball in that situation, yet evidently Dice-K didn't care.)

Five pitches later Ichiro grounded out, appropriately to Matsuzaka, and the hype was over and the game underway.

Unfortunately that would be about as good as it would get for Boston. After escaping the 1st inning unscathed, Dice was touched up for 2 hits and a run in the 2nd, but he gave the hitters a chance to catch up by holding it at 1-0 until the 5th. That's when Seattle "blew the game open" by scoring two runs courtesy of 2 singles, a double and a Boston error. With Boston batters doing nothing but giving the Mariners infield practice, those three runs might as well have been 13.

As Dice-K was struggling a bit with his control Hernandez was quietly putting together another awe-inducing performance. Not only were the Sox hitters struggling to get on base, Youk's flyout to left leading off the 7th was the first ball Boston hit out of the infield all night!

The only positive for the Sox came in the 8th inning, when new fan favorite J.D.Drew led off the frame with a bounding single up the middle to break up the no-hit bid. The game and atmosphere at that time was eerily reminiscent of the last near no-hitter thrown in Fenway, Sept 2, 2001, when the Stank's Mike Mooseina's attempt was broken up by Jurassic Carl Everett leading off the 9th.

Matsuzaka was lifted after the 7th and had nothing to be ashamed of. He threw 103 pitches, 68 for strikes, and on any other night would have probably picked up a victory. But it was that kind of night for the hometown team as they just happened to run into a buzzsaw on the mound. In two starts this season Hernandez' linescore reads like this: 17IP, 4H, 0R, 4BB, 18K. That's what you call impressive my friends, and Hernandez made sure that although the word-wide stage was set up for Dice-K, he was going to make sure some people noticed him, too. And when you've got a 100mph fastball and an 87mph slider, people are going to notice.

In the end the home debut of Dice-K will go down as an extremely memorable one.

But for all the wrong reasons.

NOTES & QUOTES:

-Seattle catcher Kenji Johjima had faced Dice extensively in japan and came in with a career .271 average (32-118, 5HRs) against him; he doubled twice in 4 at bats tonight

-there were 179 press credentials issued to members of the Asian media

-Ichiro finished 0-4 against his old nemesis with one strikeout and is now 0-8 with 4 Ks in the series

-Drew is the only player to hit safely in all 8 games, and needless to say he is leading the team in batting at .393 (11-28)

"...because of how well the opposing pitcher pitched today, I felt I had to hold them to as few runs as possible, and I wasn’t able to do that today."- Matsuzaka after the game

Read more about the big night at Fenway here, here and some brash comments by Jose Guillen here.
RECORD: 4-4

GB: -1

UP NEXT: Seattle, WED 4PM

Wakefield (0-1, 1.50) vs. Washburn (0-0, 3.00)

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Game Preview: Matsuzaka's Fenway debut

Mariners (2-2) at Red Sox (4-3)

7PM, Fenway Park

ESPN 2 & ESPN 2 HD

Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-0) vs. Felix Hernandez (1-0)

The day has finally come. After an intense off-season filled with record-setting rights fees, rancorous negotiations, trans-continental meetings and a whole lot of wooing the Japanese/ American phenomenon known as Dice-K will make his Fenway Park debut tonight against the Mariners.

He already got his feet wet in the major leagues last week when he tossed a 6-hit, 10-strikeout gem against the Royals, but his home debut, of which two nations have been waiting for since he agreed to his Red Sox deal in December, should contain enough hype to make the World Series seem like an exhibition.

The game will be televised nationally by ESPN and internationally by every television station in Dice-K's homeland, as he is the biggest local here to hit the states since Ichiro became the first Japanese position player to play in Major League Baseball in 2001. Ironically his former Japanese League nemesis will be the first batter Dice-K faces in his Boston premiere, further adding to the aura of intrigue and curiosity surrounding the hurler's much-anticipated debut.

The two foreign superstars have met on the ball field before as their career paths crossed for two seasons in 1999-200 in Japan, and the Diceman came away with a significant advantage in those meetings. Ichiro, one of the best hitters of all-time, could manage only 8 hits in 34 at bats (.235)against the crafty righty, and he has already been quoted as greatly looking forward to this long-awaited rematch with his respected foe & countryman.

Today might not be a good time to catch Ichiro napping after he took the collar last night, striking out against Josh Beckett three times for only the 6th time in his illustrious career. Combine that humiliation with going up against his old nemesis and the chances of him earning the Silver Sombrero again tonight are slim to none, but Dice-K and Red Sox Nation will settle for just keeping the lanky & dangerous outfielder off the base paths tonight.

Although the 200+ media members on hand will mostly be focused on the Dice/Ichiro angle, the Sox better pay attention to the kid opposing Matsuzaka on the mound; 21-year-old Felix Hernandez won the Mariner's opener last week in grand fashion, allowing 3 hits and no runs while striking out a dozen A's in the first opening day start of his young career, and looks like he could be another strong young fireballer to come from the West Coast.

It should be a great time at the old ballyard tonight. The Sox are coming off a splendid 14-3 beatdown of the M's, they have one of their best pitchers going for them, and the game is going to be seen by millions of viewers around the globe.

No pressure, Dice, no pressure.

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Sox maul Mariners in home opener

Sox 14 Seattle 3

WP: Beckett (2-0)
LP: Jeff Weaver (0-1)
HRs: BOS-Drew (1)

Sox box

SUMMARY:
Despite blustery conditions and facing a 2006 postseason hero, the dormant Sox bats awoke from their slumber in the first game played at Fenway Park this season. Boston batters knocked Jeff Weaver out of the game after 2 innings and 7 runs and scored in 6 of the first 7 innings, and Josh Beckett pitched a gem to run his record to 2-0.

Oh, and there was a near-brawl between Brendan Donnelly and Jose Guillen that could hang over the season series like a dark Seattle raincloud.

HERO: Boston lineup

I highlighted the team's offensive deficiencies in my earlier post and hoped that the return to Fenway would help the team get on track; Does 14 runs, 14 hits, 7 walks, 1 homer and 7 doubles constitute "getting on track"?

GOAT: Weaver 2IP, 7H, 7ER, 70 pitches (38 strikes-yikes!)

There is no doubt that this clown was the goat and I'm not just talking abbout his irritatingly passe facial hair. The guy who started last season being released in favor of his younger brother and ended it by walking off the field as a World Series-winning pitcher reverted back to early '06 form today, much to the Sox' delight.

REVIEW:
It was a chilly & overcast day- in other words typical Boston in early April- but the Sox hitters couldn't have been more happy to see gray skies and blustery winds. Why? Because the blanketing cloudcover and perfect kite weather was happening over their beloved old yard, not some cavernous ballpark in the Heartland or cookie-cutter McStadium in the Southwest.

No, these were the friendly skies around Fenway Park, and nobody takes advantage of a home park like the Bosox do.

Just to prove my made-up adage correct the team that came in mired in a week-long slump tuned on the Seattle pitchers like a bunch of Townies on a metrosexual. Boston hitters came in batting just .237 in six games, but after the 14-run, 14-hit offensive outburst that figure jumped to a solid .261, and their runs/game shot up a full run, from 3.1 to 4.1. That's what you call a good-old fashioned ass-kicking my friend, and it didn't take 'em long to start applying the boot.

Julio Lugo got the party started just minutes into the first when he drew a leadoff walk on four pitches. Youk dropped a single into right, Papi followed with a sharp single to right and just like that the bases were loaded with no outs and Grand SlamManny was at the plate. The active slam leader didn't take Weaver out of the park, but he did lace a single to center in front of Ichiro to score Lugo and break the seal on what would turn into a tidal wave of runs.

It didn't help matters for Seattle that it was playing only its fourth game in 8 days due to that nasty weather in Cleveland, and also that Weaver was having a bad case of de-ja vu of last season, when he went 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA for the Angels in the first half and they unloaded him to St. Louis in favor of his younger, better brother Jered. Jeff would go on to win 3 postseason games for the Cards, including a dominating performance (2hits, 9Ks) in the series-clincher against Detroit, but he has always been considered an average, journeyman hurler.

He certainly proved that evaluation to be correct today; not only could he not find the plate in his brief outing- 10 of his first 13 pitches were balls and he went to a 3-ball count on 7 of the first 9 batters- but when he did throw a strike it was usually hammered by a Boston batter. The Sox batted around and scored 4 runs in the 28-minute bottom of the first, when Weaver threw an astounding 47 pitches and Boston batted around for the first time this season.

The second inning was more of the same as Lugo and Youk hit back-to-back doubles and J.D. Drew flailed at a Weaver changeup that ended up sailing over the centerfield wall for a 2-run homer and 7- Boston lead, and just like that the thoughts of calling him "Nancy"was the furthest thing from the ecstatic Nation's minds. Boston would knock Weaver out after 2, but his replacements would fare no better. The Sox tacked on 6 runs in the next 3 innings to blow the game open, and by the time Mikle Timlin made his first appearance of the season in the 9th, most of the starters were already in the clubhouse enjoying the post-game spread.

I liked Black Donnelly before today; after taking on world-class A-hole Jose Guillen, I freakin' love him now!

Before Seattle scored a couple in the 9th off Timlin there was a dustup between former teammates Brendan Donnelly and Jose Guillen. Donnellly came on in the 8th to relieve Beckett and quickly fanned former Angel teammate Guillen. As Guillen walked away the Black Donnelly apparently said something that the notoriously hotheaded Guillen didn't appreciated. He motioned as if to charge the mound and preened for a few minutes as the benches cleared, but cooler heads prevailed and nothing came of it.

Don Orsillo reported that the bad blood dates back to an incident in 2005 when Guillen, then with the Nationals, had Donnelly busted for using an illegal substance on his glove during a game.

Figures that little punk Guillen is a tattletale, too. Ironically Donnelly hit the next batter unintentionally and was ejected, and this incident could follow this team as they must play each other 8 more times this season.

Oh, not to be forgotten amongst all the offensive fireworks was the great performance from Josh Beckett (8IP, 2H, 1R, 0BB, 8Ks.) Sometimes pitching with a big lead can be tougher than in a close game, but other than one rocky patch in the third Beckett was lights-out all day. The hard-throwing righty mixed up his pitches (which everyone & his brother knew he needed to do to be successful), but when he needed the extra "oomph", he went to the gas; 7 of his 8 strikeout victims suffered death by fastball, including contact king Ichiro 3 times.

Combine plenty of hitting with excellent pitching and an honest-to-goodness blood feud and what you end up with is a terrific way to kick of the 2007 home season.

It was a great day at Fenway all around, except for the lousy weather.

NOTES & QUOTES:

-This was only the 6th time in Ichiro's career that he fanned three times in one game and 2nd time the trifecta came against the same pitcher

-The 11-run margin of victory was the Sox largest on home opening day and the 14 runs scored were second highest for a home opener

-The old 9-8-7 triple play: 9 different Sox had hits, 8 scored runs and 7 knocked in at least 1 run

-Youk and Tek both had 3 hits, Tek and Drew both had 3 RBIs and 5 players scored 2 runs each

-Early Starters: Boston's streak of scoring in the 1st inning continued; they have now done so in 6 of their 7 games

-"We pulled out the whupping sticks today. They've been off for a while. It maybe affected their pitchers being able to throw strikes. You can't go through our order and walk guys. You're going to get burned." - Beckett, perfectly summing up the day

Record: 4-3
A.L. East Standing: Tied for 1st

UP NEXT: Tomorrow, 7PM Seattle

THE HOME DEBUT OF DICE-K!

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Sox get set to kick off 2007 home opener

Seattle (2-1) at Boston (3-3)
2:00PM, Fenway Park

Josh Beckett (1-0, 1.80) vs. Jeff Weaver (0-0)

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park"...

Our beleaguered Bosox head back to the friendly confines of Fenway after Sunday night's uplifting win in Texas with just as many questions about this year's club as answers.

Granted, IT'S EARLY, so none of this shit really matters, but if we don't post about it what the hell else are us bloggers going to blog about?!

Boston travelled to Kansas City and Arlington this opening week and to say the new-look team came away from the 6-game trip with mediocre results would be an understatement. The Sox are batting a measly .237, have hit only 3 home runs (2 courtesy of Papi on Sunday) and scored an underwhelming 19 runs for an average of just over three runs per game. This stat is atrocious for a team filled with mashers (Papi, Manny), .300 hitters (Lowell, JD Drew) and on-base speedsters (Coco, Lugo.)

After 6 games here are the mostly-brutal numbers for the starting nine:

Lugo- .261 (6-23), 1-2B, 2R, 1SB, 5Ks

Youk- .217 (5-23), 1HR, 2RBI

Papi- .217 (5-23), 3HRs, 2-2B, 4RBI, 4R, 6Ks

Manny-.217 (5-23), 0-HRs, 2RBIs

Drew- .391 (9-23), 2-2B, 2RBI, 2R, 6Ks

Lowell- .261 (6-23), 3-2B, 2RBI

Tek- .125 (2-16), 2RBI

Coco- .150 (3-20), 2R, 1SB, 4Ks

Pedroia- .313 (5-16), 2BB, 3Ks

As you can see we're not exactly talking about Murderer's Row here, although I'm confident most of these guys will hit by the time the weather reaches "normal" springtime temps. But the longer guys like Coco, Tek and Pedroia, already coming off poor seasons, struggle, the harder it will be for them to turn it around, which will render the bottom third of the lineup a hitters wasteland/pitcher's dream.

The encouraging signs for Boston have mainly come from the pitching staff. Schilling proved on Sunday that his opening day disaster was probably just an aberration, Beckett pitched well in his first start against KC, Dice-K is Dice-K-riffic, and Wakefield pitched well despite picking up a loss in Texas. In the pen Paps is there to save the day again (whew), and by proving Sunday he can do a 5-out save it should alleviate the pressure on the rest of the mediocre relievers.

Boston will take on a Seattle team that comes to Fenway having played only 3 games in 8 days thanks to the horrendous weather in Cleveland this past weekend. The Mariners' series with the Indians was snowed out for the entire weekend, and Seattle should be happy just to be playing ball anywhere, even though a trip to Fenway after sitting in a hotel room for 4 straight days won't be easy.

Postseason hero Jeff Weaver will make his Mariners debut after leaving the Cardinals via free agency after he walked off the mound a winner in the series-clinching game. The guy had quite a topsy- turvy season, going from staring 1-7 with the Angels and being dumped for his younger brother Jered to a World Series winner. Yet for all of his postseason success last year (3-2, 2.40 ERA) Weaver is still 15 games under .500 for his career (86-101), so let's not crown him the next Whitey Ford just yet.

Seattle's lineup boasts of some powerful-yet-puzzling sluggers such as Richie Sexon (whom the Sox were rumored to have courted this offseason), free agent bust Adrian Beltre and notorious miscreant/malcontent Jose Guillen. Of course the backbone of the Mariners offense is still Ichiro, and even though he has showed signs of slowing down of late, he is still a patient hitter, excellent baserunner, and terrific outfielder despite having moved to center from right to make room for Guillen; tomorrow's matchup of Ichiro vs. Dice-K will be one of the most anticipated and talked about moments in baseball in a long time.

There should be plenty of pomp, pageantry and Papi as baseball returns to Fenway Park for another season.

As we like to say at these times, hope springs eternal.

Let's just hope the Sox bats spring to life as well.

Play ball!

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Sox beat Rangers the old fashioned way- they eeeeaaaarnned it.

Sox 3, Rangers 2

WP: Schilling (1-1)
LP: V. Padilla (0-2)
SV: Papelbon (2)
HRs: BOS- Big Papi, 2 (2); TEX- Catalanotto (1)
Sox box
SUMMARY:
It was the ideal recipe for Sox success: take 7 innings of vintage Curt Schilling, mix in two large doses of David Ortiz longballs and top off with a 5-out, door-slamming save from Jonathan Papelbon and you end up with a classic Boston victory.

HERO: Schilling 7IP, 4H, 1ER, 1 BB, 7 Ks

There could have been a 3-way tie for this honor, with Schill, Papi & Paps all deserving, but one man's performance meant a little more than the others, if only for the performance that had preceded this one.

To say Schill rebounded from his opening day disaster would be an understatement on par with "that chick Sanjaya is one terrible singer." The Sox' aging ace redeemed himself after that initial start in Kansas City in which he was roughed up for 8 hits and 5 runs in just 4 innings by consistently getting ahead of Rangers hitters, throwing all of his pitches with control and accuracy (except for the one that Frank Catalanotto hit for a 1st innning home run) and holding the lead after Papi's 2nd homer of the game gave Boston its final lead.

GOAT: The Sox lineup other than Papi & JD Drew

While those two sluggers went a combined 4-8 with 3 RBIs and 2 runs the rest of the lineup went 2-22 with 1 run, 3 Ks and 6 LOB; Boston is now hitting .237 with 3 HRs and 19 RS in 6 games.

GAME REVIEW:

This is a pretty simple one to breakdown because the game was as straightforward and frill-free as a ballgame can be. As I posted yesterday, everybody knew Schill would be desperate to atone for his poor showing in KC, it was just a question of whether the 40-year-old horse could bring his "A Game" out of the barn any more.

The Nation was unsure of that after Schill coughed up a solo shot to nemesis Frankie the Cat Catalanotto with one out in the bottom of the first, erasing the 1-0 lead Boston briefly enjoyed courtesy of Big Papi's 1st homer of the season in the top of the inning. But it was evident early on that this was going to be the hard-throwing, strikeout king Schill we had all come to know and worship, not the blowhard blogger some fans love to disparage and see fail.

Since the first lead didn't stick Papi was generous enough to try again, launching a majestic, towering blast just over the rightfield fence off of Texas starter Vincente Padilla in the 3rd with Alex Cora (HBP) aboard that quickly gave Boston and Schill another lead, 3-1. That wound up being the end of Boston's offensive production for the evening, so it would be up to Sccill to make sure the lead stuck.

By combining 94-mph heaters, killer breaking balls and a nasty attitude Schilling kept the Rangers at bay following Papi's 2nd round tripper; 14 of the last 15 batters he faced went down and none made it to 2nd base. But when he was pulled after seven strong innings the lead nearly disappeared with him.

Former closer candidate Joel Pineiro came on in the 8th and promptly made us all realize how grateful we are that he is not by getting into a bases loaded, no-out jam, courtesy of two walks and a bunt single by Kenny Methuselah Lofton. Tito decided he'd seen enough (ya think-can you say hello, Pawsox, Joel?) and brought in lefty specialist Javier Lopez to face pinch hitter Nelson Cruz. Cruz hit a wicked liner to Youk at first, who knocked it down and got the force at second as the Ranger's 2nd run scored, but with runners on 1st & 3rd, one out and Boston clinging to a 1-run lead everyone in the building knew what, or who, was coming next.

For all of the jaw-dropping feats Jonathan Papelbon performed in his brilliant 35 save rookie campaign he had never been called on to get a 5-out save. This being a new year and the Sox in need of a win heading to Fenway for Tuesday's home opener, Tito thought now might be a good time for the kid to get his first one. A risky move, perhaps, since there is still a question mark over Paps' right shoulder, but a move that had to be made nonetheless. If it backfired Tito would be hung out to dry, but it's a place he's accustomed to being in.

Francona would have no reason to fear the second-guessers as Papelbon confirmed that his decision to return to the pen and bypass the rotation was a brilliant one. With a closer's steely glare and a fastball to match Papelbon went through the Texas hitters like Taco Bell through the intestinal track, striking out Michael Young with a wicked 97-mph heater and then inducing Mark Teixeira to pop out on the first pitch he saw to end the threat.

After a baserunning blunder by J.D. Drew killed a 2-out rally in the 9th that could have padded the lead, Paps made the gaffe moot by mowing down the Rangers in the bottom of the inning quicker than you can say "watch out for a Sammy longball." Sosa led off but would pop out on the second pitch he ever saw from Papelbon, quickly followed by Hank Blalock's feeble attempt to catch up to Paps' 96-mph high cheese and then Brad Wilkerson looking at another 96er to end the game.

It was an awesome display of power, pinpoint accuracy and determination that Boston will need to win the division this year.

And they got it from their starter and closer.

NOTES & QUOTES:

-Catalanotto has owned Schilling in his career; the diminutive dynamo is 11-20 against Schill and currently owns the best average (.550) by any active hitter off the ace

-Drew had another Jekyll/Hyde-type game (is this gonna be a trend?)- he had 2 more hits to extend his streak to all 6 games and up his average to .391, but he also struck out twice and was gunned down trying to take third on a ball that barely got by the catcher with 2 outs in the ninth

-Papi had been in a 2-18 slump with zero homers on the season before unloading for his 27th career multi-homer game

"You just can't understand how unbelievable that is. You just can't. Until you're on the mound, you cannot understand that there aren't very many guys in the history of the game that can do that."- Schilling on Papelbon's masterful performance

RECORD: 3-3

GB: 1/2 gm

UP Next: Off day Monday;

Tuesday, 2PM SEA at BOS Beckett (1-0) vs. Jeff Weaver (0-0)

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