Papi powers Sox to another victory over Stanks

Red Sox win, Red Sox win....daaaaaaaa....RED...SOX...WIN!!!!!
Sox 7, New York 5

WP: Beckett (4-0)
LP: Karstens (0-1)
SV: Papelbon (5)
HRs: BOS- Big Papi (6)
Sox box

Julio, Since we all couldn't be there please hug him for us, too- Red Sox Nation

SUMMARY:
Boston overcame a shaky start by Josh Beckett and used a huge game from Big Papi to overcome two early deficits and post its second-consecutive come-from-behind victory over the hated Stanks.

HEROES:
1.) Big Papi: 2-5, 2B, HR, 4 RBI- the weather is warming up and so is Big Papi; move over A-Rod, this is a 2-man MVP race-again
2.) Hideki Okijima: 2/3, 0H, 0R, 1K, H- his 3rd straight clutch performance has people saying "Dice who?"

3.) The Top Three: 6-13, 2BB, 4R, 7RBI-Lugo, Youk and Papi were able to do a lot of damage, thanks to...
4.) The Bottom Three: 5-10, BB, SB, 3R- Tek, Coco & Cora set the table all day long

GOATS:
1.) Karstens: 4 1/3, 9H, 7ER, 2BB, 1K- not that he wanted to come off the disabled list and into the fryer...
2.) Beckett: 6 2/3, 9H, 5R (4ER), 2BB, 7K- I know he got the win, but put it this way, he's buying Papi dinner tonight
3.) J.D. Drew: 0-4, 1BB, 4LOB- the only member of the lineup without a base hit

KEY MOMENT: Top 7, 7-5 BOS, 2 on, 2 out

After Josh Beckett had surrendered an RBI single to A-Rod to cut the Sox lead to 7-5, Tito called on his new stopper, Hideki Okijima, to face Giambi. With runners on 1st & 2nd and 2 outs, Oki fanned the Giambino to preserve the lead and earn the 'hold'

RECAP:

The question hung in the air like a cloud: how will Boston and New York follow up last night's comeback classic?

The answer was with a long, knock-down, drag-out slugfest as each team scored two early rounds before Boston prevailed on a TKO by David Ortiz in the 4th round. Even with that "Pesky" little shot from Papi, Boston still had to withstand a late-inning threat that left everyone on the edges of their seats, but the end result has left no doubt about which is the better team- right now.

Contrary to Friday night's game this one started out with both teams coming out swinging. Before Joe Buck had even finished his pregame soliloquy on the joys of A-Rod, New York plated two runs on 3 soft singles and a walk, which was disheartening because Beckett got A-Rod to strike out looking in the middle of all that. Not to be outdone, Boston answered with 2 of their own in the bottom half of the 1st when Lugo and Youk singled and Papi doubled them in with a rope into the rightfield corner.

The second inning was more of the same. New York parlayed a double, an error by Mike Lowell (his 5th), a single and a double play grounder by Jeter into 2 more runs, and just like that New York had re-taken the lead, 4-2, and Beckett was looking more like the Beckett of the second half of 2006, not the first 3 weeks of 2007.

But let's not forget who was on the hill for New York- the immortal Jeff Karstens, he of the 7 career starts, 2 career wins, and fresh off a stint on the DL for a shoulder injury. The Boston hitters sure didn't forget as they immediately scratched right back to even the score, keyed by back-to-back bunt singles by Coco Crisp and Alex Cora, who were then knocked in on a groundout by Julio Lugo and a single by Youk (2-4, R, 2RBI); tie ballgame again.

After an uneventful 3rd inning, the biggest play of the game came in the Red Sox half of the 4th. Coco started it again with a single to left, and he immediately stole 2nd base. Cora then sacrificed him over to third and once again Lugo drove him in on a groundout, and Boston had its first lead of the day at 5-4. But they weren't done yet.

The Greek God of Walks drew, well, a walk, and that set up Big Papi in a perfect situation- 2 outs, man on first and Manny up next so Karstens can't pitch around him, and those are the kind of situations Papi feasts on. And feast he did. Ortiz fouled off the first pitch, took the second for a ball, then took the third for a ride around Pesky's Pole for a demoralizing (for NY) 2-run homer and a 3-run Boston advantage, 7-4.

And my thought to this point was "it's only the freaking 4th inning!?"

Luckily things calmed down for a while as both teams traded scoreless frames in the 5th & 6th innings. In the 7th things got interesting again after New York mounted a 2-out rally.
Beckett had settled down at this point, retiring 13 out of the last 14 Stankee batters before allowing a single to Jeter and a walk to Abreu. With A-Rod coming up, Francona elected to let a tiring Beckett face the hottest hitter in the league, and Rodriguez came through with an RBI single that cut the Sox leads to two, 7-5.

That was the end of the day for Beckett, and though his numbers were not spectacular, he was in line for the win and got a standing "O" from the appreciative Fenway crowd. That one I couldn't figure out, because the guy got battered around like a buoy in the Bering Sea early and benefitted from Papi's big bat later. I could tell he wasn't pleased with his performance, either, because he slammed his water battle into the fence and then stomped & muttered like my 10-year-old when he gets grounded.

Anyway, Okijima came in to put out the fire, striking out Giambi on a nasty breaker, and Timlin came in to get the last 2 outs of the 8th. Then the only thing standing between another Boston victory and a heartbreaking loss was Jonathan Papelbon, and unlike New York's closer the night before, he did not disappoint. Pinch-hitter Judas Demon weakly grounded to shortstop, and even though Melky Cabrera drew a walk, Paps quickly dispatched with Jeter and Abreu, leaving a dejected A-Rod in the on-deck circle, pondering "what if"...

Just like that the Sox have turned the prospect of a bleak series into a potential feel-good sweep, and with Dice-K on the mound tomorrow night for his first taste of the NY/BOS rivalry, you can bet the fans at Fenway will be expecting that sweeping win tomorrow night.

As long as they score some runs for him.

NOTES:

-Demon (wussbag) and Georgie Posada (thumb) did not play; Cabrera and Will Nieves started in their place

-
Papi's homer was his 179th with the Sox, moving him into 10th on the team's all-time list

-Drew didn't get a hit but did draw a walk to extend his streak of reaching base in every game this season

-Jeter (2-5) has a 12-game hitting streak, while A-Rod's 4 game homer streak was snapped.

-Although Manny (.193) went just 1-4 with a single he did draw a walk and crushed two balls to the track

-Lowell made his 5th error of the season on a boneheaded throw to second base; he made 6 errors all of last year

-Coco posted his third straight 2-hit game and 4th in the last 5 to raise his average from .136 to .214; he has 3 bunt singles, a double and a triple in that time

QUOTES:

-"A-Rod is off to the best start of his Hall of Fame career"- Buck; thank you for already enshrining an active player

-"There have been torrid paces in baseball, none more so than the one A-Rod is on right now"-Tim McCarver, getting in on the new craze that's sweeping the nation, Slurping A-Rod (yes, it has a double-meaning)

-"It's the Yankees vs. the Red Sox. We don't sit up at night to see who they're pitching."- Torre referring to Dice-K

RECORD: 11-5

AL EAST: Up 1 1/2 on BAL

UP NEXT: SUN vs. NYY 8P, ESPN

Wright (1-0) vs. Matsuzaka (1-2, 2.70)

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Game Preview: Stanks @ Sox, GM 2

Karstens (NR) vs. Beckett (3-0, 1.50)

The madness resumes this afternoon in Fenway as the teams try to forget about the emotional roller-coaster they rode last night and get back to focusing on playing another game.

Despite A-Rod's superhuman-like heroics, the Sox have to feel like they have the upper hand in the rest of the series.

Why?

Because while Boston will throw two of its best pitchers in the final two games, Beckett & Dice-K, New York counters with Jeff Karstens, fresh off the disabled list and yet to throw a pitch in a game this season, and rookie Chase Wright, who won his first start despite allowing 5 earned runs in 5 innings against Cleveland.

Beckett is one of the hottest pitchers in the majors, winning all three of his starts in convincing fashion by mixing up his pitches & not relying solely on the fastball. That has made him extremely difficult to figure out, and his confidence is growing with every start.

Not to mention the fact that closer Jonathan Papelbon will be available for this game, unlike last night, and you have to think embattled Stankee closer Mariano Rivera will not be available after his disastrous outing last night.

The big question today is "what's wrong with Rivera?" After he blew his second consecutive save for only the 7th time in his long & storied career, running his record to 1-2 with a shocking 8.44 ERA, the question lingers like a smog cloud over the Big Apple.

The answer is simple: the guy is about 57 years old, teams (especially the Sox) have faced him 4,796 times in his lengthy career, and he has one reliable pitch, the cutter.

You do the math.

Game 2 today at 3:30 on FOX.

Bring it on, Evil Empire.

The Jedi Knights await.

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Five-run 8th propels Sox to comeback win over NY

Red Sox win, Red Sox win, daaaaaaaaa Red...Sox...Win!
Sox 7, Stankees 6

WP: Snyder (1-0)
LP: Rivera (1-2)
SV: Okijima (1)
HRs: BOS-Tek (1); NYY- A-Rod, 2 (12)
Sox box

***Due to this being a Sox/Stankees series some elements of this post had to be supersized***

As predicted by yours truly, the Captain had a breakout game against the archenemies

SUMMARY:
What started out as a bleak and depressing evening at the ballyard turned into another Red Sox/Stankees classic, complete with record-setting homers, a huge late-inning comeback, 25 hits, 13 runs a hit batter and one centerfielder tumbling ass-over-tea kettle into the bullpen.

Boston spotted New York a 6-2 lead thanks to 2 more home runs from A-Rod, but after Joe Torre pulled Andy Pettitte in the 6th the Sox touched up three relievers, including Mariano Rivera, for 5 hits and 5 runs in 2 2/3 to turn the game upside down and send the sellout crowd home happy.

HEROES:
1.) Cap'n Tek: 3-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI- you can call him Captain Clutch again
2.) Coco Crisp: 2-4, 3B, R, 2 RBI- 2-run triple tied the game & kept hope alive
3.) A-Rod: 3-5, 2HR, 2B, 3R, 4 RBI- gotta give the guy some due for that perf
4.) Okijima: 1IP, 1BB, 1K, SV- retired the heart of the order to preserve the win
5.) Alex Cora: 1-1, 1 RBI- his pinch-hit single knocked in the game-winner

GOATS:
1.) Rivera: 2/3, 3H, 2R, BSV- 2nd consecutive blown save, 11th career vs. the Sox
2.) Schilling: 7IP, 8H, 5ER, 2HRs- it was Opening Day deja vu all over again
3.) Judas Demon: 0-5, RBI- the traitor was a no-show in this return trip to his old haunts

RECAP:
I'm not sure where to begin with this one.

This game was full of so many twists & turns, ups & downs, plots & subplots, great plays and poor pitching that you could fill an entire blogpost about it. So here I go.

With Curt Schilling squaring off against Andy Pettitte you figured this was going to be a pitcher's duel. And with the way the Boston bats have been struggling to produce runs against anyone other than the Angels, you also had to fiugure it was going to fall on Schill's shoulders to keep his team in the game until Boston could get to New York's shaky bullpen. All he had to do was keep Jeter & Abreu off the basepaths and cool off the hottest player on the planet, A-Rod. No prob.

The plan was working to a tee, at least for the first few innings. Schill set down the first six Stankee hitters on just 18 pitches, including Rodriguez leading off the 2nd on a deep flyout to center. But just when it looked like a scoreless duel was taking shape the bottom of the New York order produced a run in the third on 2 singles, a sacrifice and an RBI groundout by Judas Demon.

This single run wouldn't have seemed like a big deal except for the fact that the Sox were leaving men on base all over the place: in the 1st inning Manny grounded into a DP with 2 on and 1 out; in the 2nd J.D. Drew (3-4) led off with a single but it was Mike Lowell's turn to GIDP; and in the 3rd inning Big Papi grounded out after Lugo (walk) and Youk (single) reached with two outs. And on it went.

The next inning the Stanks appeared to have really blown the game open when A-Rod mashed his 11th home run of the season and 4th in the last 4 games to give New York a 2-0 lead. Schilling attempted to finesse Rodriguez in his first at bat, but this time he left his second pitch over the plate and A-Rod sent a scud missile into the Monstah seats for his 475th career longball.

At that point things were looking pretty grim; the announcers, especially Karl Ravich (put him back in the studio, will ya ESPN?), were busy falling over each other to wax poetic about A-Rod's amazing April efforts and even made mention of how eerilly silent the Fenway crowd had been up to that point. And the Human Hairpiece was right- the Sox fans sounded like a bunch of worried wimps, sitting on their hands and wondering when the next shoe was going to drop.

I guess that's what happens when your team loses 7 in a row at home to it's archenemy.

The atmosphere in the park would change in the bottom of the 4th when Jason Varitek finally got off the schneid and launched a 2-run homer to centerfield that tied the game at 2 and allowed everyone breath a sigh of relief, especially Schilling. But what happened in the 5th inning made it seem as if the baseball gods were not on Boston's side tonight, despite the fact that the Sox were going for green-induced karma by honoring Red Auerbach.

Having been handed a new ballgame courtesy of Tek, Schill went out and gave it right back. After two quick outs the Stanks got a single by Jeter, a single by Abreu followed by a 3-run bomb by Rodriguez to the opposite field that sailed toward the Sox bullpen. As Coco raced to the spot of reentry, he leaped at the wall and nearly made a spectacular catch. Problem was, he and the ball wound up in the bullpen, which is a homerun anyway you look at it, and just like that The Man New England Loves to Hate had crushed RSN's spirit again.

For the next two innings the Sox looked dead in the water; for a moment things brightened in the 7th, when Tek & Coco both reached on singles, but after Pettitte got pich hitter Willy Mo Pena to strike out, Scott Proctor came on and retired Lugo and Youk to end what looked like would be Boston's last threat with Rivera looming in the bullpen. When New York tacked on another run in the 8th off J.C. Romero, all hope looked lost.

And then came the bottom of the 8th.

Sinkerballer and former Sox pitcher Mike Myers was brought in to face Big Papi to open the frame, due to the fact that papi was a miserable 1-11 against Myers in his career. So what happened? Papi promptly doubled off the wall, nearly breaking his ankle sliding into second base in the process. Okay, since that didn't work Torre went to Luis Vizcaino to face a scuffling Manny, who had already grounded into a rally-killing DP and struck out looking earlier; after falling down 0-2 Manny drew a walk, and things were getting a bit interesting.

After Drew grounded out, Lowell hit an RBI single that forced Vizcaino out and made Torre bring in Rivera to get 5 outs. When Tek followed with a run-scoring single to pull the Sox to within 2 at 6-4, even Torre had to be feeling butterflies and serious deja vu. And they weren't done yet. Coco took the first pitch he saw from Rivera and sliced it down the 1st base line into the rightfield corner for a 2-run triple that tied the score at 6 and finally sent the Fenway faithful into a frenzy.

Alex Cora completed the miracle comback with a single over a drawn in infield which was oddly similar to Luis Gonzalez' game-winning hit vs. New York in the 2001 Series, and all the Sox had to do was bring in Paps to get three outs in the 9th and it was over. Problem was, Papelbon wasn't available after pitching the previous 2 days in Toronto, so Tito went to "rookie" Hideki Okijima to face Jeter, Abreu and A-Rod. Gulp.

I don't know how you say no problem in Japanese, but Oki got Jeter to weakly ground out, A-Rod to feebly line out, and then Kevin Thompson to strike out to save one of the biggest Sox wins vs. their rivals in a long time.

Whew! So there won't be any repeat of the Boston Massacre II, and no way the Stanks can leave town with sole possession of first in the East.

No we better get some rest; the next chapter in this epic saga tips off in just under 17 hours.

NOTES:

-Rodriguez continues to set new April power records every day; his 2 homeruns put him 2 shy of the April record held by Albert Pujols (14); he now has 30 RBIs for the month; his 12 homers are more than 9 teams have; he tied Mike Schmidt as the fastest to 12 homers in history; he leads the ML in homers, RBIs and total bases and has hit safely in all 125 games

-Drew's 3 hits raised his average to .375

-Posada had to leave the game in the 4th with a thumb injury; his replacement, Will Nieves, threw out 2 baserunners, including Drew immediately after entering the game

-Schilling's second awful outing of the year raised his ERA to 3.81

-Coco Crisp had his 2nd 2-hit game in a row, raising his average from .136 to .192

-Manny (0-3) Pedroia (0-2) and Lugo (0-4) were the onlty starters not to register a hit

QUOTES:

- "It hurts. We had good momentum going and it looked like we were beating a good pitcher tonight."- Torre on the pain of losing the way his club did

RECORD: 10-5

AL EAST: UP 2 GMS

UP NEXT: SAT, 3:30 FOX

Karstens (NR) vs. Beckett (3-0, 1.50)

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Series Preview: Sox/Stankees

GM1: FRI 7:00 Pettitte (1-0, 1.50) vs. Schilling (2-1, 2.84)
GM2: SAT 3:30 Karstens (NR) vs. Beckett (3-0, 1.50)
GM3: SUN 8:00 Wright (1-0, 5.40) vs. Matsuzaka (1-2, 2.70)

STATS: NYY/BOS
REC: 8-6/9-5
AVG: .283/.249
RUNS: 91/68
HRS: 20/12
ERA: 3.67/2.58

INJURIES:
NYY- LF Matsui (DL), P Pavano (DL), P Mussina (DL), P Wang (DL)

BOS- P Lester (DL)

WHO'S HOT:
NYY :

• A-Rod has 10 homers in the team's first 14 games, second fastest to 10 all time
• Georgie Posada is batting .353 and carrying an 11-game hitting streak into the series
• Bobby Abreu up to his old tricks, batting .345 and had produced multiple hit games in 3 of the last 5 contests

BOS:

• Big Papi has been on a mini-tear of his own; he's had 3 HRs and 6 RBIs in the last 4 games, and since his slow start (.158, 0HRs, 0RBIs after 5 games) he now has 5 HRs, 5-2Bs, 13 RBIs and is batting .288
• J.D.Drew started the season hot (9-game-hitting streak) and despite a 2-game "slump" has continued his torrid ways. His .341 avg. has him 10th in the AL, and having reached base in every game his OBP is an excellent .434, good for 7th in the league
• The entire Boston pitching staff has been above average to start the season, making up for the lack of offensive pop. It's 2.58 ERA is second best in the majors behind the Mets and their 10 quality starts is tied for first.

WHO's NOT:
NYY:

• The entire pitching staff has been less-than-mediocre to start the season even though half the staff has been felled by a variety of injuries already. Still, with an underwhelming 3.57 ERA, a pitiful 4 quality starts, and zero saves, it's obvious where this team is getting its strength from
• Melky Cabrera is defining the term "sophomore slump"; the LF is struggling with a .205 avg. and that's with 3 hits in his last 2 games
• 2B Robinson Cano is off to a slow start, hitting just .268 with no homers and 6 RBIs; last year he stunned the baseball world with a .342 avg. and .890 OPS% from the 8-spot

BOS:

• Cap'n Varitek has now gone beyond slumping and into full-fledged swan dive: he is batting just .189 and has at times looked lost and helpless at the plate. Maybe this will be the series that sparks his game
• The sub-.200 club has these two members lurking at the bottom: 2B Dustin Pedroia and CF Coco Crisp are both languishing at a lowly .167. Coco did have 2 (bunt) hits last night, so maybe he'll get a spark, but Pedroia couldn't even execute a bunt in the 9th inning-ugh!
• Manny is hovering right at .200, but hopefully his homer last night will wake him up in time for this series

All right, let's get this out of the way before we go any further: A-Rod is on a tear.

There, I said it. I don't particularly like to say or admit it, and I have yet to write about the explosive April exploits of Old Blue Lips, but it is what it is, and that is an undeniable fact. He has put up unbelievable numbers to prove that point...

.351 avg, 10 HRs, 20 RBIs, 20 hits, 17 runs, .965 SLG%, .418 OBP% in 14 games played

...but the numbers just begin to tell the story. He has as many homers as his teammates, he is the 2nd fastest to hit 10 HRs, and he is the first player to hit a walk-off grand slam and a walk-off 3-run homer in a month, the latter coming yesterday in a 6-run ninth inning comeback win over Cleveland.

But there are a few simple explanations as to why the pouty prima donna is having such a successful start to this 2007 season.

1.) He is in a contract year. Sort of. At the end of this season Rodriguez can exercise an out clause in his massive, record-setting pact that would allow him to become a "free" agent, and obviously I use that term very loosely. There have already been rampant rumors that he would like to reunite with former manager/mentor Lou Pinella in Chitown, so this could be his swan song in the Bronx

2.) He is so sick of the negative press he gets in New York, and the boos he hears from opening day til the last game of the playoffs that he is having this kind of season knowing he is going to leave at the end of the year, and then he can have the last laugh on the fickle Stankee fans

3.) He's good

That being said, he is single-handedly carrying this squad while the pitching staff is on life support. Three starters are on the DL for New York, and the steady, productive bat of Hideki Matsui has also been missed since he went on the DL earlier this month. Rodriguez has as many homers as the rest of the team combined, and you know what they say about one-man teams.

Not that the loaded Stanks will ever be considered a one-man gang, but right now it is the bat of one man that is holding this team above water until the injured players can return.

Boston, meanwhile, has been winning the exact opposite way- all pitching and a little bit of hitting. The Sox starters have been nails, with the trio of Schilling, Beckett and Wakefield combining for 7 of the team's 9 victories. Matsuzaka has been the victim of poor run support, so his 1-2 record is deceptive. And the bullpen has been solid, anchored by the return of Jon Papelbon (4 saves, 0.00 ERA, 2BB, 11 Ks) and solidified with the return from the DL of Mike Timlin last week.

I'm not even going to dredge up old memories of last August when the Stanks came to town and crushed the Sox in a 5-game sweep that ended their playoff hopes and brought back old memories & hatreds that had been buried following the Sox World Series season. To say that a series in mid-April can carry as much weight as one in the thick of the dog days may be overstating the importance of one series, but this one means more than just who will be atop the AL East in April.

This series is about pride, respect and cleansing recent bad memories from the hearts and minds of RSN.

Oh yeah, and hoping that Judas Demon snaps a stick while crashing into the centerfield wall.

Let the games begin.

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How many times do we have to hear about...

...this?!
Let it go already, New York...this is a whole new team and year.

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Thanks a lot, Captain Buzzkill!

Will someone back in Boston please find Bob the walrus Ryan and bitchslap him?!

Maybe the guy to the left of him will smash that glass over his head.

Thank you.

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Bring on the Evil Empire!

Fuck you, George! You and your over-paid, broken down mercenaries of misery are no match for Tito's merry men from Mass.

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Sox salvage series thanks to Manny & Cora

Sox 5, Toronto 3

WP: Timlin (1-0)
LP: Marcum (1-1)
SV: Papelbon (4)
HRs: BOS-Manny (1); TOR-Rios (3), F. Thomas (2)
Sox box

This is the brand of MannyBeingManny Red Sox Nation likes to see

SUMMARY:
The Sox caught a break on getwaway day in Toronto when Blue Jay skipper John Gibbons mysteriously pulled Roy Halladay, who was cruising with a 3-1 lead, with one on & one out in the 8th inning.

One out and two pitchers later Manny Ramirez blasted his first home run of 2007 to tie the game, and the next inning Alex Cora tripled in pinch runner Julio Lugo to give Boston a 4-3 lead. The Sox would tack on an insurance run and hang on for the win.

HERO: Alex Cora 2-4, 3B, 1R, 1 huge RBI
Not only did the seldom-used utility player knock in the winning run in the 9th inning on an opposite-field triple, he made the defensive play of the game an inning earlier as well.

With men at 1st & 3rd and one out in the bottom of the 8th, Cora snagged a wild toss to second base from Mike Timlin, vaulted over a sliding Lyle Overbay and threw a dart to first base to complete the double play and help the Sox escape from a potential game-losing situation.

GOAT: Jays mgr. John Gibbons
Prepare to be 2nd, 3rd, & 4th guessed for days, Gibby; why would you take out your ace pitcher, who had been dominating the Sox hitters all day long, with one out and one on in the 8th inning when he had only thrown 95 pitches? I mean Halladay had just thrown a 10-inning complete game in his last start, in which he only threw 107 pitches.

Is it any wonder that last year this bozo had one player write inflammatory sayings on a chalk board in order to get traded away from this team and another whom he attempted to fight in the dugout tunnel during a game? What a classless, clueless clown.

KEY MOMENT: 1 on, 2 out, top of the 8th
With Gibbons pulling more switches than a gangbanger in a lowrider and slumping Manny at the plate it looked like the Sox were going to go down without a whimper in this one.

But Gibbons made one move too many, and as soon as he brought in Shaun Marcum to face ManRam, the GrillMaster deposited the ball in the rightfield stands for a game-tying, monkey-lifting homerun that made John Gibbons look like the dumbest man in Canada.

RECAP:
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: Julian Tavarez is NEVER going to win a pitcher's duel with Roy Halladay. Got me?

That being said, the guy can get some fortuitous breaks, a couple or three clutch plays and one boneheaded managerial move and worm his way out of losing to the former Cy Young winner.

How do I know this? Because that's exactly what I saw happen today at Rogers Centre. For 5 1/2 innings Tavarez & Halladay played a game of hardball chicken, with both of them blinking just once each: Doc when he allowed a run on a walk, single & sac fly in the 2nd, and Julie when he returned the favor and gave up a leadoff homerun to Frank Thomas in the bottom of the inning.

And it stayed that way for the next few frames; the aged, veteran journeyman who never met a lead he didn't want to blow squaring off against the in-his-prime, lifelong Jay who makes his hay defeating scrubs like Tavarez in close games like these.

It was just a question of when Julie would blink again, it didn't take long to find out. RSN's fears were confirmed in the bottom of the 6th when the Jays touched Tavarez (5IP, 6H, 3ER, 0BB, 4Ks, 2HRs) for a pair of runs, the first on a blast by nemesis Alex Rios and the next on a Vernon Wells double that followed Adam Lind's single.

Just like that a tight, tied contest was "blown open" with the way Halladay was pitching, and it didn't look good for the Bosox to head into the New York series on a winning streak. But quicker than you can say "how do I manage a pitching staff?", Gibbons decided to send the Sox an early Christmas present, lifting Halladay in the 8th inning despite the low pitch total and his absolute domination up to that point.

To say Boston took advantage of the opportunity handed to them would be a major understatement. You could almost feel the weight being lifted of the Sox shoulders and small smiles creeping onto the Boston batter's faces knowing they would get a chance to mount a comeback against somebody other than one of the best pitchers in the major leagues.

The beginning of the end started innocently enough, with Coco Crisp (2-4, R, RBI) beating out his second bunt single of the game to lead off the 8th. Youk (1-5) quickly popped out to short, and it looked as if it would be up to Boston's best batters to get the better of Toronto's best pitcher if the Sox were going to pull this one out. Halladay (7.1IP, 6H, 2ER, 3BB, 2Ks) was able to induce Papi (1-3) into striking out, but that's when Gibbons made the move to the pen and 33,000+ at SkyDome stared, moths agape.

The rest, as they say, is history. Manny crushed a 2-1 offering from Marcum into the stale, Molson-scented dome air to tie the game, and after Cora's circus play saved a run in the bottom of the 8th, he tripled in the winning run in the top of the 9th to cap a terrific afternoon for himself and the Sox. Papelbon sealed the deal when he struck out two of the three batters he faced in the 9th, and the Sox packed up and headed home, ready to take on the Evil Empire for the first time this season.

NOTES:

-Tito tinkered with the lineup again, expected with a day game after a night game, and once again he saw mixed results:

• Lugo got the day off so Coco moved to back to the leadoff spot and responded with 2 bunt hits, a run and a run batted in.
• Youk played 3rd base and moved back up to the two-hole; he had 1 hit in 5 trips and left 3 runners on base
• Hinske got the start at first base and despite going 0-2 he knocked in the first run with a sac fly and also drew a walk
• We know what Cora did

- Cap'n Tek had another terrible day at the plate, going 0-4 and leaving 5 men on base to drop his average to a minuscule .189

-Not to be outdone at the bottom of the stats sheet, Dustin Pedroia pulled an o-fer-4 as well to see his average plummet to .167, same as Coco's

-Papelbon appeared on consecutive days for the first time this season and showed no ill effects; although he did allow a walk and struggled a bit with his control, he still fanned two batters, didn't allow a hit and has not allowed a run yet this season (shades of 2006)

-J.D. Drew had a single and two walks and has reached base in all 14 games this season

-The three relievers who followed Tavarez, Pineiro, Romero and Timlin, didn't exactly post stellar numbers- 3 2/3, 2 hits, 3 walks, 1 K -but managed to come through the fires without allowing a run

-Manny's homer was # 471 of his career, and if it gets him cranked up for the season we can expect to see #500 by late August

-Alex Rios absolutely owns Julian Tavarez; after his 2-3 showing against Gascan today, Rios is a stunning 7-9 with a double, triple, homer, walk, run, and rbi against him. Yikes!

QUOTES:

-"The location was terrible. I think my little sister probably could have hit it just as far, if not further."-Marcum on the gopherball he served up to Manny

RECORD: 9-5

AL EAST: Up 1 on NY

UP NEXT: Fri. vs. Stankees, 7PM ESPN

Pettitte vs. Schilling

Let's get it ON!

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Game Preview: Sox @ Jays 12:30P

Tavarez (0-1, 9.00) vs. Halladay (2-0, 2.35)

In the rubber game of this eventful-yet-low-scoring series Boston will trot out the worst member of its starting staff, Julian Gascan Tavarez, while Toronto rolls out one of the 5 best pitchers in the American League over the last 5 years, Roy Doc Halladay.

Tavarez was thrust into the 5th starter's role after Jonathan Papelbon had a change of heart about the closer's role and moved back to the 'pen just before the start of the season. Well, what's good for the bully is bad for the rotation as the always-wild Tavarez was ineffective in his first-and only-start this season; he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks, lasting only 4 innings in an 8-4 loss to the Rangers on April 7th.

The one good note regarding Julie getting the start is that he had one of his best outings, well ever, here last September, when he threw a complete game 7-hitter in defeating Toronto 7-1.
So he's got that going for him.

Meanwhile 2003 Cy Young winner Halladay is coming off a monster performance against Detroit: a 10-inning, complete game 2-1 win. Although the ace only fanned 2 and scattered 6 hits, he had all of his pitches working and only threw 107 of them in 10 innings- incredible.

The sporadic and erratic Boston batters will have their work cut out for them today, especially since you gotta believe they'll have to score 5-6 runs to offset Tavarez' potential wildness. In Boston's 8 wins the Sox are averaging 7.1 runs/game; in its 5 losses it manages a measly 1.2 runs/contest. Yikes.

After the game the Sox will head back home to prepare for the first series this season with the Evil Empire.

Hopefully they will be able to head into that pressure cooker with a 2nd-consecutive series win
under their belts.

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Three homeruns and a wicked knuckler spark Sox to victory

Sox 4, Toronto 1

WP: Wakefield (2-1)
LP: Ohka (0-2)
SV: Papelbon (3)
HRs: BOS- Papi (5), 'Belli (2), Lowell (1)
Sox box

SUMMARY:
This one's real simple to summarize: Wakefield shut down the red-hot Blue Jay batters for 7 innings, as Tomo Okha did to the Sox for 5 innings. But after not registering a hit through 4 2/3, Boston exploded with three home runs in 3 consecutive innings, then Donnelly & Paps closed the door on a nice bounceback win for the Bosox.

HERO(s): Wake & 'Belli
Boston's new Dynamic Duo had their second consecutive great joint outing together. Wake has only allowed 1 run in 7 innings in each of his last two starts, and in those games Mirabelli is 4-8 with 2 big HRs and 3 RBIs.

Not bad for a 40-year old knuckleballer and a guy who only plays once a week

GOAT: Tomo Ohka 6.1IP, 4H, 4ER, 1BB, 3K, 3HRs
Glancing at his linescore it appears the Japanese journeyman righthander (include Boston in one of his journeys) had a decent, if not great, game. Then you get to the end, and those three longballs stick out like Avril Lavigne at a debutante ball.

RECAP:
For nearly 5 innings Tomo Ohka looked like the second coming of Felix Hernandez. Then the Sox batters realized they were being no hit by a guy who has played for 6 teams in 8 years, including his 1st three with Boston, and whose career record is 48-59.

Mike Lowell finally got the team going, hitting a solo shot with two out in the 5th to give the Sox a 1-0 lead on its first hit of the game. It must have been contagious because Doug Mirabelli matched him to open the 6th, and then Big Papi followed suit leading off the 7th, nailing an opposite-field blast to push the lead to 3-0; it was the big fella's 2nd hit the opposite way on the night.

For good measure Mirabelli knocked in another run in the 7th, singling home J.D.Drew who had reached on a single and moved to third on a fielder's choice. That made the score 4-0, and it would be plenty for the veteran Wakefield, who had his knuckler dancing all over SkyDome.

With his money pitch working its magic Wake had no trouble dispensing with what had been a torrid Toronto lineup. Coming into the game the Jays were batting .280 as a team, but after allowing a one-out single to Matt Methuselah Stairs in the 1st he set down 10 in a row before running into trouble in the 4th.

That's when Wake got into his only real trouble of the game; he allowed all three of his free passes in the frame to load the bases with two outs, but after a visit from pitching coach John Farrell, Wake got catcher Jason Philips to strike out swinging on a nasty knuckler and the Sox escaped the inning unscathed.

The Jays did get to Wakefield for a run on back-to-back doubles by the artist formerly known as Royce Clayton and John McDonald in the bottom of the 7th, but for all intents & purposes the game was already over, so the effect was minimal. Wakefield's night was done after that, and Black Donnely pitched a quick, perfect 8th to get the ball in the hands of Papelbon for the 9th.

Things got a bit interesting when Paps allowed a 1-out single to Aaron Hill and then a walk to pinch-walker Greg Zaun, but pinch-hitters Jason Smith and Adam Lind both fanned on Papelbon fastballs, and the Sox had a sweet victory to offset the sour taste of last night's bitter defeat.

NOTES:

-Wakefield has only allowed 3 earned runs in his 20 innings of work over three starts this season; he lowered his ERA to 1.35, good for 3rd in the American League

-Drew finally got back on the hitting track after consecutive hitless games halted his 9-game streak

-Papi is hotter than that little blonde on Dancing with the Stars; he has hit all five of his homeruns and had 12 RBIs in the last 8 games while batting .367 (11-30) in that span

-On the other hand Manny (0-3, .191), Coco (0-4, .136) and Pedroia (0-3, .188) are icier than a Simon Cowell putdown. Fellow sub-Mendoza member Cap'n Tek (mercifully) had the night off with Wake on the mound, and the way 'Belli's hitting you have to wonder if he shouldn't get a chance to play more, at least in late-inning pinch-hitting situations

-Although he ran into a spot of trouble in the 9th, Papelbon recovered to strike out the side and he continues to post some staggering early numbers: 4.1IP, 1H, 0R, 1BB, 9Ks. (All I can say is thank you tiny baby Jesus for allowing Mr. Papelbon to have the sense to return to the 'pen)

QUOTES:

-"I'm not going to lie to you, I tried to hit that way before and it never worked."-Papi on going to the opposite field

-"I've always loved pitching here. The mound is probably the best mound in the American League, and pitching inside is always a big plus for me."- Wake explaining his success at SkyDome

-"I don't care about Matsuzaka. So what?"-a testy Ohka bristling at a reporter's suggestion that he was trying to match fellow countryman Dice-K's performance

RECORD: 8-5

AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm

UP NEXT: Thu @ TOR, 12:35

Tavarez (0-1, 9.00) vs. Halladay (2-0, 2.35)

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Don't panic, RSN: Dice-K falls to 1-2

Blue Jays 2, Sox 1

WP: Chacin (2-0)
LP: Matsuzaka (1-2)
SV: Frasor (1)
HRs: BOS- Pena (1)

Sox box

It was this close play at first that caused the Diceman to unravel in the fourth

SUMMARY:
For the second straight outing Dice-K got little run support and took a loss despite pitching well. He allowed just 2 runs in one rough inning, only 3 hits and struck out 10 Blue Jay batters, yet with the blazing Boston bats suddenly silenced, the Diceman fell to sub-.500 on the season.

HERO: Dice-K
Sure he took the loss, but c'mon he allowed 2 runs and 3 hits in 6 innings, which certainly qualifies as 'giving his team a chance to win the game'. He also became the first rookie since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 to have a pair of double-digit strikeout games in his first three starts.

GOAT: Dice-K
Proving he is indeed human, the calm & cool hurler got rattled for the first time during a rough 2nd inning. After allowing two singles and a walk to tie the game, he then walked two batters in a row to force in the go-ahead/game-winning run.

KEY MOMENT: Top 2nd, 2 on 1 out
With Manny & Lowell, who both singled, on board and just one out it looked as if the Sox were just a hit or two away from breaking the game open like they had done all weekend.

Wrong. Struggling Captain Varitek grounded into a soul-crushing double play, and that was the last of Boston's scoring threats.

RECAP:
Before anyone goes jumping off the Bunker Hill Bridge I just want to say relax, take a deep breath & a swig of Guinness and chill out.

Sure Boston's new $103 million dollar investment, Daisuke Matsuzaka, is sitting on the south side of .500 and has already had to tread into unfamiliar territory like icing his arm and getting rattled under pressure, but it's all part of his adjustment to his new job & surroundings.

At least that's what we have to tell ourselves.

The Red Sox Express ran off the tracks in Canada again as Dice-K was both dominant and erratic, a combination that ended up costing Boston the chance at a win. But in all fairness to Daisuke, when your team has only scored 1 run for you in your last 14 innings pitched you're kinda screwed from there.

Everything started out hunky-dory for Boston as Dice-K retired the first 8 batters he faced, 4 on strikeouts. Jason Smith broke that string with a single in the 3rd, but Matsuzaka quickly dispatched with Alex Rios and appeared to be in command of all his pitches. When Willy Mo Pena, starting in place of J.D.Drew, clubbed a mammoth homerun on top of the centerfield windows to lead off the third, it looked like Boston might be on its way to its fourth straight win.

But then came the ill-fated fourth inning, when everyone saw a glimpse of what it would be like for Dice-K under pressure. The frame began with a strikeout of Adam Lind and it looked as though Matsuzaka was in the midst of a potentially special performance. Quicker than you can say "not so fast my Fenway friend" a missed strike-3 call by home plate umpire Ed Montague to Vernon Wells got Dice off his game a bit, as he looked skyward in digust.

To add insult to injury, after receiving the fortuitous home call, Wells then legged out a close play at first base that really got Matsuzaka pissed- he bowed his head and shook his arm angrily. Next thing you know he walked Frank Thomas, Lyle Overbay tied the game on a single over Lugo's glove, and then Matsuzaka uncharacteristically walked two batters in a row including catcher Gregg Zaun on a 3-1 breaking ball to force in the go-ahead run.

He escaped further damage when Coco caught Smith's deep flyout to end the inning, but with Sox killer Gustavo Chacin (6.2IP, 6H, 1R, 0BB, 3Ks- he's now 6-0 vs. Boston) and relievers Casey Janssen & Jason Frasor shutting the Sox down, it was basically over after that.

Seriously though, I know part of the Nation is going to be up in arms over the fact that the guy who Boston went to great lengths to bring here to be a rotation savoir has a worse record than scrubs like Wilfredo Ledezma and former 21-game loser Mike Maroth, but let's look at the big picture here, folks:

-He's only allowed 12 hits and 5 walks in 21 innings for a staggering 0.86 WHIP

-His strikeout-to-walk ratio is a spectacular 5-1 (24 Ks, 5BBs)

-In his 3 starts the Red Sox have scored a grand total of 5 runs, or 1.6 runs/game; by comparison, 3-0 Josh Beckett has received 9.3 runs/game

-He tied Oakland's Tim Hudson for the most strikeouts in the first 3 starts of a career with 24

The bottom line is the guy got a little upset over a coule of tough calls, but he only allowed 2 runs and 3 hits while mowing down 10 Jays batters. If Papi or Manny had been able to get to Frasor in the 8th & 9th to tie the game, the incident would be a blip on the season's radar. But the Sox were shut down and tonight, for the first time, Matsuzaka got out of his usual comfort zone and it cost him and the Sox.

That doesn't mean he won't win 15-18 games.

But if the Sox don't give him any run support, he might not win 10.

NOTES:

-Tito tinkered with the lineup for the first time this season tonight, and for the most part the moves worked. Coco moved up to the two-hole and had 2 hits including a double and WMP, batting in Coco's 8th slot, had 2 hits including that monster bomb. Alas Youk, who moved to Drew's 5th spot, went 0-4 with 2 Ks.

-Varitek's season-long slump (is it a slump, or he just can't hit anymore?) continues. Although he did notch a single, his rally-killing DP was where we needed the artist formerly known as Captain Clutch to step up. Other members of the near-.200 club include Manny (.205), Pedroia (.207), and Coco, who despite his 2 knocks is still batting only .150

QUOTES:

-"If he recognizes pitches and swings at strikes, he's going to do some damage." -Captain Obvious, errr Francona, on Pena's titanic homer.

-"Even if I pitch well and the team does not win, I'm definitely not happy with that result."- the ever self-effacing Daisuke Matsuzaka

RECORD: 7-5

AL EAST: - 1/2

UP NEXT: Wed @ Tor, 7:05

Wakefield vs. Ohka

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Series Preview: Sox at Blue Jays

Red Sox (7-4) at Toronto (7-5)

GM1 Tonight @ 7:05
Matsuzaka vs. Chacin
ADVANTAGE: Boston
GM2. Wed 7:05
Wakefield vs. Okha
ADVANTAGE: Boston
GM3. Thu, 12:35
Tavarez vs. Halladay
ADVANTAGE: Duh! The Human Gascan vs. a Cy Young winner?

-WHO'S HOT:

Toronto:

-Alex Rios has gotten off to a fast start for the second year in row; the young rightfielder is batting .308 with 2 homers and 9 RBIs and will be counted on to pick up the slack with Troy Glaus on the DL

-Aaron Hill has been a pleasant surprise for the Jays. The second baseman is hitting a hearty .370 with 2 homers and a team-leading 11 runs batted in

Boston:

-Although he has gone hitless in the last two games, J.D. Drew is still swinging the hottest stick on the club; his .342 average is good for 9th in the AL

-Big Papi is on a tear. He went 6-12 with 2 doubles & 2 homers in the Angels series and has had 11 ribbies in his last 6 games

WHO's NOT:

Toronto:
-Frank Thomas is really hurtin': the big man is batting only .200 with a homer and 4 RBIs, and those came over a week ago on a grand slam against the D-Rays.

-BJ Ryan: see below

-Lyle Overbay a .250 average wasn't what the Jays envisioned when they brought the lifetime .300 hitter (okay, .297) over from Milwaukee two season ago

Boston:

-Manny the mercurial Sox slugger has yet to get on track this season; he hasn't hit a homer and is batting just .200 with 6 RBI. Must be the hair

-Coco Crisp a .111 average and 2 runs scored isn't gonna cut it, and if he doesn't pick it up soon he will be riding the bench and/or on the next trade outta town

-Captain Tek looks like his slump of 2006 has crept into this season,too. With a .200 batting average and just 6 hits, we might just have to face the fact that Tek's days of being a dangerous hitter may be long gone
--------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sox travel north of the border for their first series of the year with fellow AL East contender Blue Jays, and the teams, though separated by just one half game, appear headed in opposite directions.

Toronto jumped out to a 4-2 start but has alternated wins and losses for the past week and now sit at 7-5. But that's not the bad news.

The bad news for Toronto fans (all 1,200 of them) is that a number of major cogs in their pennant-contending team are currently out of action with various injuries, many of them serious. Here's a rundown of the Blue Jay injury report:

-3B Troy Glaus: bone spurs and a bad hammy have landed the oft-injured big man on the DL again; he'll be out until at least the end of the month. The Brothers Jason, McDonald & Smith, will attempt to replace Glaus in the lineup & on the field

-Closer B.J. Ryan: after blowing 2 of his first 5 save chances, touting a 12.46 ERA and getting lit up like a Skid Row drunk his last outing, Ryan immediately was placed on the DL with an elbow sprain. Sounds minor, right? The Jays predict he could be out for 4-6 weeks. Another Jason, Frasor, will assume the closing duties in Ryan's absence.

-LF Reed Johnson: the sparkplug player has decided to have surgery on a herniated disc in his back and will be out until mid-July, meaning rookie Adam Lind will take his place in the lineup

Gee, that's not so bad, huh? Just in case you didn't think it was, take into account that three of the best hitters on the team aren't hitting their weight (Frank Thomas-.200, Lyle Overbay-.250, Vernon Wells-.245) and after ace Roy Halladay (2-0, 2.45) the rotation is weaker than day-old coffee and what you've got is a time to panic for baseball fans up in the great white north.

On the Sox side Dice-K will try to brush off the disappointment of that heartbreaking loss to Felix Hernandez last week and he'll get to do it in a road game in climate-controlled conditions. No wind, rain or unruly fans to deal with tonight, just a battered team looking to get up off the mat against the team they are chasing in the race for the AL East.

Good luck, Jays. You guys could use some.
(Just kidding; hope the Sox crush you worse than they did the Angels. No mercy, baby!)

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Sox/Angels: Inside the Series

Sox take the series, 3 games to none

Winning pitchers: Beckett, Schilling, Wakefield
Home runs: Papi (2) , Youk
Saves: no need

"Hell no, Angels don't go!"

"Four more games! Four more games!"

"Let's play two dozen"

Those are a few twists on famous phrases that the Sox and their Nation could be singing after the departure of the Angles from the Hub following yesterday's Patriots Day creaming.

Boston put a stamp on its ownership of the team from Los Angeles via Anaheim with that 7-2 victory. The win gave the Sox a series sweep, 3-0, and it is a shame that Sunday's contest was rained out, denying Boston a solid chance at the rare 4-game blanking.

Let's atke a look at the numbers:

STAT: LAofA-----BOS
Runs: 3----25
Hits: 18----30
2Bs: 4----7
3Bs: 0----1
HRs: 2----3
Avg.: .186---.297
BBs: 4----18

The series featured quite a few interesting occurrences including: two 6-run innings for Boston; three brilliant pitching performances by Sox starters; an injury to Angels star slugger Vlad Guerrero on a Beckett pitch; terrific defense by Lugo, Lowell and others; 30 Boston hits including 7 doubles, a triple and 3 home runs; and a costly gaffe by $55 million dollar HGH user and supposed defensive whiz Gary Matth'roids Jr. on a routine flyball.

In between we had rainouts and rain delays, a monster series by Big Papi, snow flurries in the area, a pizza thrown at a patron's face and a marathon going on behind the ballpark.

No, it wasn't just another ordinary series for Boston, which has now won 18 of its last 21 against the Halos at the Fens. Like I said, too bad we couldn't play these guys all the time.

Unfortunately it's off to Toronto for a 3-gamer with the banged-up Jays, where the Sox often have trouble in that house of horrors formerly known as SkyDome.

Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

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Sox sorry to see Angels leave town

Sox 7, Los Angeles 2

WP: Beckett (3-0)
LP: Santana (1-2)
HRs: BOS- Big Papi (4); L.A.- Cabrera (1), Kendrick (2)

Sox box

This sliding catch was one of three great defensive plays by Julio Lugo on the day

SUMMARY:
On Patriot's Day in Boston Josh Beckett posted his 3rd straight impressive victory to open the season and the Sox hitters battered Angels pitcher Ervin Santana for 7 runs (5 ER) in 4 innings; for the second time in the series Boston had a 6-run inning and thanks to some terrible Angels pitching outscored L.A. 25-3 in the three games.

HERO: Beckett 6IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 5Ks, 1HR
In his first two starts of '07, Josh Beckett limited the opposition to just 1 earned run, kept the ball in the yard, and enjoyed the benefit of some gratuitous run support. All I can say about start No. 3 is "two out of three ain't bad." Although he gave up a home run to Orlando Cabrera, that was the only run Beckett allowed in a workmanlike, winning performance.

GOAT: Howie Kendrick
The Angels' promising young second sacker made a huge, possibly game-altering blunder in the Sox 6-run 1st inning. With Boston already leading 3-1, J.D.Drew hit a textbook double play grounder that would have kept the damage to a minimum; instead Kendrick's toss wound up all the way at the leftfield wall, leading to 3 more runs and ensuring the Angels would lose their 3rd straight game in the series.

RECAP:
The horrible new England storm that had forced the cancellation of yesterday's game, made the running of the Boston Marathon look like a swim meet, and pushed back the start of today's game from 10:00 am to noon dissipated just minutes before the scheduled 12:05 start time.

Shortly thereafter, when power-deficient former Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera took Josh Beckett deep with one out in the first, every member of RSN gulped deeply and thought to themselves "oh great, Gopherball Beckett has made his first appearance of 2007." When he hit the next batter, Vlad Guerrero, with a pitch that forced the Angels slugger out of the game, the bad thoughts continued (although if you're gonna have control problems Vlad's the guy you want to be the victim).

But a funny thing happened to the new & improved Josh Beckett after those two surprising hits- he didn't allow another run the rest of the day en route to coasting to his third win on the power of the Sox offense and his new found ability to mix up his pitches.

While Beckett was recovering beautifully from his shaky start (might have had something to do with his start being delayed for 23 hours) the Boston offense went to work on another Angels hurler. This time the victim was Ervin not to be confused with Johan Santana, who by the end of the first inning looked like he had been through his own Heartbreak Hill. The inning went like this: Lugo doubled, Youk singled him in (1-1), Papi doubled, Manny singled Youk & Papi in (3-1), Drew hit the potential DP ball than Kendrick threw away, scoring Manny (4-1) and when Lowell doubled in Drew (5-1) the Sox had scored five runs before a single out was recorded.

It got so bad that after two outs were made, lightweight Alex Cora nearly put a ball into the rightfield seats, although he ended up settling for Boston's 4th double of the first inning that pushed across its 6th run, and just like that a dubious, dreary beginning for Boston turned into another impressive team victory.

By the time David Ortiz hit his second homer in as many days to centerfield to give Boston a 7-1 lead in the 4th, the winners of the marathon were already counting their prize money and the Angles were counting the minutes until their charter could get them out of Boston and on to Oakland.

It was a wet & wild series with the banged-up Angels, one that we wish could have lasted about 7 more games. Boston hitters thrived on the home cooking and the pitching staff has been better than expected so far. Now it's off to Toronto for a 3-game set with the Jays before the team returns to Fenway for the first meeting of 2007 with the Evil Empire.

Let's just savor this series sweep for now, shall we?

NOTES & QUOTES:

-Willy Mo Pena got his first start of the season, replacing the struggling Coco Crisp; WMP had been slated to start last Thursday against Seattle in the game that was rained out

-After hitting safely in Boston's first 9 games, Drew has now gone hitless in two straight games (0-7), although he did reach on an error which extended his on-base streak to all 11 games

-Following Beckett's beaning of Guerrero, umpire Rick Reed warned both benches against retaliation, drawing the ire of Angels manager Mike Maddog Scioscia, whose pitcher hadn't even taken the mound yet

-X-rays on Guerrero's right wrist were negative, showing he suffered only a bone bruise (I'm no expert, but for a guy who swings as hard as Vlad does, I would think a bone bruise isn't so great); Reggie Willits took over for Guerrero

-"It's definitely different. It feels like the loser's bracket of an AAU tournament or something. Getting ready for a 10 o'clock game last night, do you go to bed at 8 or 9? It's easy to get out of sorts."- Beckett on the crazy Patriots Day start time

-"It seems like when it rains it pours, figuratively and literally."- Gary Matth'roids Jr.; it doesn't help when you're a high-dollar free agent who's hitting .229 and making costly errors on routine fly balls

RECORD: 7-4

AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm over TOR

UP NEXT: TUE @ TOR, 7PM

Dice-K (1-1, 2.57) vs. Chacin (1-0, 4.91)

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Play Ball!

Angels @ Red Sox
Ervin Santana (1-1, 6.35) vs. Josh Beckett (2-0, 1.50)

The rain is gone and the game is on.

Sure it's frigid, windy and wetter than a two-year old's diaper, but the skies have cleared enough to get the game underway on Patriots Day.

Josh Beckett will try to pick up his 3rd win of the young season against struggling second-year starter Ervin Santana. Beckett is off to a great start and hopes to keep the good times rolling despite the blustery conditions and extra wait this morning.

Hopefully the awful weather will hold off for a few hours so Boston can get this game in. After that they're off to Toronto for a three game set before coming back home to take on the Stanks this weekend.

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