Tavarez (1-2, 7.58 ) vs. Santana (3-2, 3.60) 7P EST
I don't have a whole lot of time to go over this one; I just got back from my son's LL game (we won, 16-0, and finished the season outscoring the opponents 34-0) and I am headed out to a wedding down on the beach.
Anyway, what else needs to be said about this game other than it will be a minor miracle if they pull this one off. Boston's worst starter squaring off against Minny's best, who also happens to be one of the best in the league, does not bode well for the boys from Beantown. It doesn't even matter that Santana is coming off a couple of poor starts and has lost two in a row at home, or that he hasn't fared well in his career against Boston (3-4, 3.55 ERA), or that Gascan Tavarez is coming off of his best start of the season, a win in Yankee Stadium on Sunday.
We all know that Cy-Tana is capable of tossing a no-hitter just as we know it's possible Tavarez might not be able to register one out.
All that matters is the way the Sox are playing right now, they feel like they can win every game they play in. And when you have that kind of feeling on a ballclub, anything is possible. In true Little League spirit, each player is picking up the other's slack and taking turns contributing to this hot streak (12-4) they are on. If it's not Manny or Papi knocking in the key run, it's Lowell or Cora. Drew has been slumping, now Coco is heating up. Willy Mo spells Cora and hits a monster grand slam and goes 4-4 the other night. And the pitching staff is doing the same thing.
So like I said, they way this team is (hate to say it cause of that obnoxious, overplayed ad) gellin', a win today isn't out of the question.
They just have to go out there, give it their best shot, and let the ball fall where it may.
At least that's what we tell 'em in Little League.
Go Sox!
5.05.2007
Game Preview: Sox @ Twins, GM2
5.04.2007
Sox shutout Twins to retake best record in MLB
Sox 2, Minnesota 0
WP: Wakefield (3-3)
LP: Silva (2-2)
SV: Papelbon (9)
HR: Big Papi (8)
Soxbox
Mirabelli getting tagged out at the plate by backup catcher Mark Redmond was one of several nice plays the Twins made tonight This game was a stark contrast to last night's wild & woolly 15-run, 21-run affair.
Tonight's game was a pitcher's duel all the way, with the lone run before the 9th coming on an upper deck blast by Big Papi, and thanks to crisp defense and quality pitching the game was completed in a tidy 2 1/2 hours. Nice.
HERO: Davis Ortiz 1-3, R, RBI BB, K, HR
The way both pitchers were dealin' a shutout through five innings you could sense that the first run was going to be a big one.
Leave it to Big Papi to make sure the first run was really, really big, as his triple deck moonshot simultaneously broke the baggie barrier and deflated the Twins fans' hearts in a mere 2.2 seconds.
GOAT: Julio Lugo 0-5, 5 LOB
Coming off his horror show of a fielding display last night and colder than dry ice at the plate, the $8 million dollar shortstop really needed to have a solid game tonight.
He didn't. He was 0-5, flied out twice, popped out twice and hit into two fielder's choice grounders; he's now in a 4-27 funk that has dropped his average to .231. Soon he may be dropped from the leadoff spot, too.
RECAP
That's because we had two pitchers that were just mowing down batters, and when they did allow a hit, there was either a nice defensive play or big out made to negate the damage.
RECORD: 19-9
AL EAST: Up 6 1/2 games on all 4 teams
UP NEXT: @ MIN 7P EST
Series Preview: Sox @ Twins
Minnesota Twins (15-13)
AL Central standing: 3.5 games back
Team Avg: .281 (1st in AL) Team ERA: 3.92 (4th)
Pitching matchups:
GM1 FRI, 8EST Wakefield (2-3, 2.59) vs. Silva (2-1, 3.10)
GM2 SAT 7EST Tavarez (1-2, 7.58)vs. Santana (3-2, 3.60)
GM3 SUN 2EST Schilling (3-1, 3.15) vs. Ponson (2-3, 6.67)
KEY PLAYERS:
- Justin Morneau- the reigning AL MVP is off to another good start, hitting .270 with a team-leading 6 homers and 17 RBI
- Torii Hunter- the superb centerfielder is blazing hot right now and has seemed to put his playoff gaffe behind him. Hunter leads the Twins with 6 homers, 14 doubles, 20 RBI, 20 runs and 6 steals, and he has hit in 18 straight games, raising his average from .250 to .330
- Joe Mauer- oh yeah, the reigning batting champ is also off to a torrid start, too. He's 5th in the league in batting at .354 and looks to be the heir apparent to Mike Piazza as the next great hitting catcher
- Johan Santana- the two-time Cy Young winner is not exactly tearing it up so far this season, but you know by the end of the year he'll be in the running for another Cy for the mantle
Although the Twins are leading the league in batting, overall they are not impressing anyone so far. But after what happened with them last season, nobody's counting them out of the race.
Minny languished for over half the season before it got hot and caught & passed the Detroit Tigers for the Central title on the final weekend of play, then came crashing down when it got swept by Oakland in the Division Series. But the team could boast of the league's best hitter (Mauer), pitcher (Cy-tana) and player (Morneau), although fans of David Ortiz think it's ludicrous that the guy won the award over Papi.
This season they seem to be following the same pattern-lay low for a half a year, then come on strong late. The team was really affected down the stretch in '06 by the loss of phenom Francisco Liriano, who jumped out to a 12-3 start, then had to shut it down and have Tommy John surgery.
That loss has also carried over to the staff this season, as Cy-tana has to shoulder the load of being the 1st, 2nd & 3rd best starters on the team. To make matters worse, normally solid closer Joe Nathan has had his troubles so far; he's blown 1 save and taken a bad loss, both versus the Rays, and he's given up 19 hits and 5 runs in 13.1 innings
Boston may have closer troubles of its own, though, as Jonathan Papelbon has been unavailable to pitch since his 35-pitch, blown save meltdown Wednesday night. Could just be precautionary, could be related to his shoulder woes from his phenomenal rookie campaign, when he and Liriano were running neck & neck for the Rookie of the Year until both had to shut it down. If he can't answer the bell tonight, then RSN should start worrying.
Luckily for Boston their offense has been able to compensate for any pitching problems- just ask Dice-K. With Lowell on fire, Manny heating up, and Papi providing the necessary key hit or RBI, this team is as loaded as any in the league, and ready to start this 6 game road trip off on a high note.
Especially with the Gascan facing Cy-tana in Game 2 tomorrow.
Go Sox!
Read More......5.03.2007
Sox win a wild one thanks to Manny's twin blasts
I'm not sure, but I think Manny knew it was gone
SUMMARY:
In another wild one at the Fens, the Sox survived a myriad of crazy plays, another rocky outing by Daisuke Matsuzaka, and the absence of its best two relievers to pull out a key victory in a rescheduled makeup game just before heading off on a 6-game roadie.
HERO: ManRam 2-5, 2R, 3RBI, 2HRs
The real Manny Ramirez has finally shown up.
GOAT: Dice-K 5IP, 5H, 7ER, 5BB, 1K
Forget the fact that Matsuzaka walked the first three batters he faced and gave up five runs in the first inning while only allowing 1 hit, but after the Sox hitters returned the favor by hanging 7 on the Ms, he allowed Seattle to tie the game again, and suddenly the $103 million dollar man is looking very Five & Dime.
RECAP:
To say last night's game was a bit on the wild & crazy side would be a massive understatement. There were so many bloopers, errors, miscues and gaffes I was waiting for Pauly Shore to jump on the field and scream "you got got" to all the fans of quality baseball.
What kind of Ripley's-type stuff was happening? Here's a small sample:
- Seattle scored 5 runs in the 1st courtesy of one hit, 3 walks, a HBP, an error and a fielder's choice
- Boston scored 5 runs in the 2nd on 4 singles, 2 BBs and a 2B, then scored the last 3 runs on Manny's 2 homers
- Julio Lugo committed one error, originally had two, should have had three, and could have had four on the game; not a good night for Julio
- Carlos Guillen knocked a WMP fly ball into the stands for a weird ground-rule double
- Guillen stopped in front of Lugo on a grounder that prevented him from getting to the ball in the 5th which allowed the tying run to score
- After being erased on a groundout to end the 6th inning, Papi embraced shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt as he applied the tag to him
Those are just a few of the strange goings-on at Fenway lasty night in a getaway makeup game that looked like something out of the Twilight Zone. It started out rough for Boston when once again Daisuke Matsuzaka looked clueless and control-less as he allowed the first three Mariners to reach via bases on balls. For a guy with such alleged great control, Dice has now walked 15 batters on the season in 38 innings, and 8 of those free riders have scored. Before the crowd had settled in, it was 5-0 Seattle and the seeds of doubt about Matsuzaka's abilities were starting to sprout.
But what's the best part about Dice-K giving up five in the first? The Sox batters had 9 innings to mount a patented comeback, although it would take all of one inning to catch them.
In the 2nd Boston rapped Seattle starter Horacio Ramirez (4IP, 11H, 7ER, 3BB, 4K) for five of their own, starting the rally with a Youk walk and Lowell single. Cap'n Tek singled in the first run, Pena (4-4) singled to re-load 'em, Pedroia walked with the bases loaded to force in another, and then Lugo hit a ball to deep center that Ichiro (0-3, R, SB) and Guillen kind of half-heartedly chased which bounced into the bully for a 2-run ground rule double. Papi then knocked in Pedroia for the tying run, and even though Manny grounded into a DP to end it, the game was tied and he would do his part later.
Handed a new game Dice settled down and started to pitch according to plan. He retired 9 out of the next 10 batters, and that allowed Boston to take its first lead of the night courtesy of Manny's first homer of the night. In the 5th Coco walked with 1 out, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, then walked home thanks to Manny's Monster blast, his 4th of the season, that put the Sox up 7-5.
Now staked to a lead and pitching well, no one had any reason to believe that Matsuzaka would blow the second chance he had been handed.
Alas things are not going to plan with Boston's $103 million man, and the rattled righty gave the lead up when he allowed another walk and three consecutive singles, 2 on misplays by Lugo. The first one wasn't really the shortstop's fault- Guillen (that asshole is always involved in these things) skied a ball into short center, and as Lugo, Coco and Pedroia raced to the spot Lugo nearly collided with Coco as the ball dropped in between the trio and the 6th run crossed the plate.
I guess the next misplay wasn't technically Lugo's fault either, but with the kind of night he was having he deserved the blame anyway. A Kenji Johjima (is anyone in the league not Japanese now?) groundout moved the runners to 2nd & 3rd, and then Dice induced Betancourt to ground into what should have been an inning-ending play. Except Guillen paused in front of Lugo as the ball was reaching him, hopped over the slow roller, and by the time Lugo threw high to first the runner was safe and the tying run had scored. That kinda night.
Luckily for Boston the phenomenon known as MannyBeingManny can trump all oddities of science & nature with just a mere flick of his powerful wrists. In the 8th inning the game was still knotted at 7, the starters were long gone, and with Papelbon & Okajima unavailable, the prospect of extra innings was looming like a dark cloud overhead.
Have no fear, ManRam is here, and when the no-longer slumping slugger got a hold of a Chris Reitsma pitch and launched it into the chilly Boston night over the Sox bullpen, all was right with the Nation again.
Well, except for the fact that Timlin is on the DL, Papelbon has had to sit two games in a row after blowing the save the other night, and Dice-K (5.45 ERA) is a shell of what we though he was going to be so far.
Either way the Sox got a win in what hopefully was one of the strangest games they will play all year.
Around the bottom of the 7th inning, I found out what was causing all the wackiness, and when NESN showed this shot...
...and I said to myself, "oh, that explains everything"
NOTES:
-Black Donnelly picked up the win two days after taking the loss and J.C. Romero got his first save as a Sox with a 1-2-3 9th
-J.D. Drew, still not fully recovered from his stomach virus, was scratched again
-I mentioned yesterday that Maddog Timlin's arm had to be ready to fall off, and sure enough he was placed on the DL with shoulder tendinitis just 2 weeks after coming off the DL; color his career done
-In Drew's place, Willy Mo Pena had a 4-4 game and raised his average 100 pts, .172-.273
-Manny is now in the midst of an 8-17 tear that has raised his average from .202 to .235; he's had 2 hits in each of the last 4 games, along with 3 homers and 6 RBI
-Boston rapped 15 hits and every batter had a hit except Coco, who walked & scored; 4 players had a least 2 hits, and two had at least 3 knocks
-Ichiro/Dice-K II was a dud. The Mariner's centerfielder walked twice and flied out in 3 ABs against his countryman
QUOTES:
-"He absolutely leaned on it. He hit that ball like a power left-hand hitter. I can see why he probably admired it."-Tito on Manny's reaction to his 8th inning homer
-"I definitely know that I need to change something."-Matsuzaka, who despite the language barrier has no trouble stating the obvious
-"This has been a very strange game tonight here at Fenway Park"-Rem Dog
RECORD: 18-9
AL EAST: Up by 5.5 gms on TOR, NYY, & TB
UP NEXT: @ MIN Fri 8P EST
Game Preview: Mariners @ Sox
Ramirez (2-1, 4.41) vs. Matsuzaka (3-2, 4.36)
Tonight's game is a makeup game from the rainout back on April 12th, the game after King Felix Hernandez nearly no-hit the Sox.
Since then the Sox have been on a 13-5 tear to take first place in the East, while Seattle lost the services of their young phenom to arm troubles and has gone 9-8 with a 6-game losing streak in that time.
Dice-K will take the mound again versus the Mariners (12-10), and I'm sure he's glad that he will not be facing Hernandez again. Matsuzaka was the unfortunate pitcher to be on the opposite site of the 3-0 Seattle win, and although he didn't pitch poorly, he has been less than spectacular in his first five MLB starts.
This is the second of three teams Boston will face in three days, a scheduling oddity that hopefully will not be duplicated any time soon. It's going to be tough to gear up for this 1-gamer following the emotional Oakland series and prior to boarding a plane to Minny to take on the Twins, but if anyone should be motivated to get back at the team from the Pacific Northwest, it's Dice-K and the Sox hitters after that embarrassing April outing.
Go Sox!
Sox Drawer: In Between the Linens
Oki has been the biggest surprise of the season for the Sox, and he was rewarded by being named April's AL Rookie of the Month-Okajima, not Dice-K, Gordon or Iwamura, named April ROM it's been creeping up on us for a couple of weeks now, but after yesterday's announcement, we can avoid it no longer: Oki Mania has replaced Dice-K fever as the hottest Japanese fad to sweep the states since the MP3 player
In being named the Rookie of the Month for his astounding April performance-0.71 ERA, 17 strikeouts 5 hits, 1 run in 12.2 in IP- Hideki Okajima has emerged from the shadows of his more heralded countrymen, Matsuzaka & Rays 3B Akinori Iwamura, and highly-touted Royals rookie 3B Alex Gordon, to become a big factor in Boston's success thus far
His whip-saw lefty motion combined with his impressive array of pitches, including a devastating, knee-buckling curve ball and a wicked changeup, have made him an instant celebrity on a team loaded with him, and like his buddy Dice-K, he takes it all in stride. Probably because he doesn't understand much of what is being said about him.
Speaking of that yakker, I had christened the pitch the Oki-Doke in a post over a week ago, and it seems that the filthy spies of the blogosphere picked up on that moniker and passed it along to the Sox staff. As reported in today's Globe, bullpen coach Gary Tuck had given the pitch the nickname "Oki Doki". I have a team of detectives digging up who used the name first & when.
-Lester return delayed the much-anticipated return of starting pitcher Jon Lester will be pushed back even further; the rehabbing righty had been sailing along in his attempt to come back from cancer, but had to leave a PawSox game last night after experiencing a cramp in his right forearm.
It had already been announced that Lester would be staying with Pawtucket for a few more weeks in order to slowly integrate him back into the lbig eagues, but this latest setback could push that date back even further. Which in turn means Julian Tavarez will be continue to start for the Sox while dispense pearls of pitching wisdom to Dice and Oki.
Be sure that RSN is pulling for Jon to make it back quickly.
-The CoCoCatch since a version of my catch phrase "Oki Doke" has been plaguerized, I came up with a new handy handle, this one for Coco Crisp's increasingly frequent hightlight-reel catches: The CoCoCatch
It's quick, it's clever, it's crazy fun to say, and it sums up the magnificinace that is Coco hurtling himself through the air parallel to the turf, extending with every inch of his 6' frame to snare a would-be extra base hit from an unsuspecting enemy batter.
With two spectacular grabs in the past two games, four or five on the season already to go with his tumble over the bully wall and last year's slew of show-stopping masterpieces, this is a sure-fire nickname that's guaranteed to catch on.
The trademark is pending, but please be sure to credit the source.
I can almost hear Rem Dog now..."wow, did you see that, Don, another great CoCoCatch to add to the NESN archives!"
-Beckett chasing the Babe it is almost ludacrious to mention Babe Ruth's name in the same breath as that of Josh Beckett. After all, the Babe allowed 10 homers in his entire 148-start pitching career, while Becks allowed a league high 36 last season alone.
Granted those were different times, but still, Beckett can enter the Bambino's hallowed company if he wins his next two starts.
The Babe won his first 8 starts with Boston in 1917, as did two other Sox, but something tells me Beckett won't tie the mark. He's on schedule to face the Jays in Toronto next Tuesday, a team he has historically had trouble with (1-2, 6,.10 ERA, 8 HRs allowed in 29 IP), and we know how Boston has played at SkyDome over the years. I'm just sayin'...
5.02.2007
Sox bounce back with impressive victory
Quick quiz: Who's the worse slider, Big Papi...
...or Mike Piazza?A- the one who ended up on the DL after this laughable attempt
SUMMARY:
Josh Beckett ran his record to a major-league best 6-0 with another quality start, and every member of the lineup had a least one hit as the Sox pounded out 13 base knocks and rebounded from last night's crushing extra-inning loss with a solid all-around performance
HERO: Beckett 7IP, 6H, 3ER, 2BB, 7K
The best part about Beckett's night wasn't that he retired the first 12 Oakland batters in a row, struck out seven A's, or that he became the first pitcher to win his first six starts for Boston since the Rocket in 1991.
No, the best part of Beckett's night was the fact that he escaped a couple of tough situations, kept the score close & kept his composure, and didn't try to overpower guys with his fastball, enabling him to control the flow of the game much better than he did last year.
GOAT(s): The A's
They left 15 men left on base, struck out 9 times, made 3 errors, hit a batter, committed a balk and numerous other misplays, and had a hideous slide into third base by Mike Piazza that put the lumbering DH on the DL for 4-6 weeks. Holy crappy play, Batman
Oh yeah, and outfielder Ryan Langerhans, whom they had just acquired on Sunday, is currently batting .060 and made an inexcusable error tonight, was traded to Washington after the game! Wow.
RECAP:
Boston really needed this game.
I know it sounds crazy to say a first place team needs to win a game this early in April, but listen to my logic: Coming off of last night's heartbreaking loss in which closer Jon Papelbon proved he was mortal by blowing his first save of the season, and with a chaotic week that sees the Sox facing three different teams in a span of three days, the team didn't need the added disappointment of the one starter who had been nearly flawless all year to suffer his first setback tonight.
Beckett certainly did his part to prevent that from happening as the hot handed righty came out of the gate and had a no-hitter through 4 innings while his teammates got him a 2-run lead to work with, although the margin could have been greater.
The Sox got on the board in the 3rd when Julio Lugo walked, stole second, moved to third on an infield single by Youk (1-2, R, 2BB), and scored on an RBI fielder's choice by Ortiz. But after Manny also reached on an infield single and Oakland starter Chad Gaudin (5IP, 8H, 3R, 2ER, 2BB, 2K) balked them over to 2nd & 3rd, slumping J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell both stuck out to end the threat.
Boston would get another run in the 4th, but again blew a golden opportunity to score more. Coco, who had a terrific game (2-4, 2R, another spectacular catch), reached second on the aforementioned error by Langerhans, who simply took his eye off a routine flyball and had the ball clang off his closed glove. After Cora flew out, Lugo knocked Coco in with a sharp single to center, and when Youk followed with a walk it looked like Papi would get a chance to do some 2-out damage.
Instead he grounded out and the lead remained 2-0 Boston.
Those missed opportunities would come back to haunt the Sox (briefly) the next inning when Oakland finally got to Beckett, breaking up the no hitter and the shutout in a matter of minutes. Piazza spoiled the no-no with a leadoff single and then Dan Johnson, who had the big game Tuesday, roped a double to left to put runners at 2nd & 3rd with no outs. Becks bore down and struck out Bobby Crosby and Dan Putnam, but Eric Chavez blooped a single to right that landed just in front of Drew, and just like that the game was tied at 2.
When the A's took the lead in the 5th on singles by Shannon Stewart, Piazza & Johnson, things were starting to look gloomy in Beantown for the second consecutive night. Luckily for Boston fans the offense wasn't done scoring, and it would respond to the deficit immediately by re-taking the lead for good in the bottom half of the frame.
A leadoff single by Cap'n Tek got Gaudin out of the game, and Coco greeted sidearming reliever Jay Marshall with a double to left to set up 2nd & 3rd with no outs. Ever-reliable hitter Cora got the tying run home with a groundout, and Lugo hit a sac fly that scored Coco to give Boston the lead back, 4-3.
Boston would tack on another couple of runs for good measure, which was a good thing because Maddog Mike Timlin gave up a run in the 9th (knocked in by Todd Walker, of course) and he was bailed out by another great diving catch by Coco on Jason Kendall that thwarted a rally, but the end result was a much-needed win for Boston that allowed Beckett to become the first 6-game winner in baseball.
NOTES:
-The bottom two and leadoff hitters, Coco, Cora, & Lugo, combined to go 4-11 with 3 runs, 4 RBI, a double, a walk , a stolen base, a sac fly and 1 great catch- let's hear it for the little guys!
-Manny had 2 hits for the third straight game to raise his average to .227, Cap'n Tek also contributed 2 hits and climbed back to .240
-Drew is sick. And I don't mean the virus that kept him out of Tuesday's game, I mean his game is sick. Although he did manage a late RBI single to drive in run #6, before that the rightfielder was in a 3-35 skid that has seen his average free fall over 100 points (.375- .274) in a week and a half. Yikes.
-Oki Mania sweeping Hub! New cult hero Hideki Okajima ( I had gotten in the habit of spelling it OKI-jima, due to his nickname), who was just named AL rookie of the month for April, pitched another scoreless frame to run his streak to 14 scoreless innings. And he had another K (20 Ks in 15.2 IP); Dice-who?
-Is it just me or does it look like the 5 consecutive years of averaging 74 appearances has finally taken a toll on rubber arm Timlin? He's got an ERA over six and has seemed shaky every time he's taken the mound. I know he was hurt early, but still, unless he's got a bionic wing, that thing has gotta be ready to fall off soon
QUOTES:
-"I liked the fact that we saw Schilling and Beckett and Papelbon and they are some of the better pitchers in the game, and we had a chance to win both games."- Oakland manager Bob Geren, sounding like he's auditioning for a job with the D-Rays
-"It's still a quality outing, but he wasn't at his best." -Cap'n Tek keeping Beckett in check
RECORD: 17-9
AL EAST: Up 4.5 on TOR
UP NEXT: THU vs. *SEA, 7P
*makeup game from April rainout
Game Preview
Oakland @ Boston 7P
Gaudin (1-1, 2.54) vs. Beckett (5-0, 2.58)
I don't have a lot of time to preview this one as I am headed out to my son's LL game, but I have enough time to say that I know the Sox want to erase the painful memories of last night's heartbreaking loss and get back on the winning track tonight.
And who better to get the train headed in the right direction again that Boston's best starter of 2007, Josh Beckett. Much like last season, when Becks catapulted to a 9-3 start and an All Star berth, this year the hard-throwing righty has been even better. That's because new pitching coach John Farrell has worked with him on varying his speeds and pitch assortment, and the result has been fewer strikeouts but a much better all-around performance so far.
The A's will counter will D-ray castoff Chad Gaudin, a former reliever thrust into the starting rotation due to injuries who is a mediocre major league pitcher at best. On paper this would appear to be a no-contest win for Boston, but on paper Jonathan Papelbon strikes out Travis Buck 99 times out of 100, too, and look how that actually turned out.
If J.D.Drew is still ailing, look for Tito to keep Hinske in right and keep Coco in the 2-hole. Hopefully Alex Cora will be in the starting lineup, because Pedroia's just not getting it done, even if they don't want to judge him after "40-50" at bats, as Tito said in the notes section of today's Globe.
Speaking of the Globe and Tito, there's a good piece by Carfado in there today about the way Tito has kept this team together, and I had been thinking the same thing just a week or so ago. Say what you will about Francona (and most of us have), but despite the fact that he acts goofy, mismanages the pitching staff & game situations at times, and comes off like a mouthpiece for the players, the bottom line is he gets this collection of egomaniacs, eccentrics and add-ons to play the game the right way.
Sometimes player's managers are a bad thing, because the players take advantage of the breaks they get (see:MannyBeingManny), but when guys have respect for their skipper and play hard for that person, well all that matters are the end results.
In other words let's wait until the end of the season before we start calling for Tito's head again.
Go Sox!
5.01.2007
Mayday, Mayday! Paps blows save, Sox lose in 10
WP: Duchscherer (2-1)
LP: Donnelly (0-1)
SV: Street (7)
BS: Papelbon (1)
HRs: OAK- Johnson (1), Buck (3)
Sox box
I didn't want to say this, but Boston got beat by a Buck-n-Johnson
SUMMARY:
Sox starter Curt Schilling pitched a brilliant game (7IP, 8H, 2ER, 0BB, 7K) and Boston apppeared well on its way to winning for the 5th time in the last 6 games.
But the normally reliable bullpen allowed the game-tying homer in the 9th and game-losing double in the 10th to send Boston to a heartbreaking May Day loss.
HERO: Travis Buck 3-5, 2R, 2RBI, 2B, HR
Let's say it together, shall we: who the f**k is Travis Buck?
The Sox found out that he is the 23-year-old rookie rightfielder for the Oakland A's who must be a pretty good hitter, despite his .221 average. How do I know this? Because he proved it by rapping three hits tonight and by taking the untouchable one, Jonathan Papelbon, deep to tie the game in the 9th inning, giving Paps his first runs allowed and blown save all season.
GOAT(s): Boston pen 3IP, 5H, 3ER, BB, 3K
There's no getting around it-the bully lost the game for the Sox tonight. Oki did fine in his inning of work, but Papelbon allowed the tying runs in his nightmare 9th (1IP, 3H, 2R, BB, HR), then Black Donnelly gave up back-to-back doubles to start the 10th, and that was all she wrote.
Hey, these guys have been great so far this season, they're allowed one screw up. Just one.
RECAP:
Because April ended on such a positive note Sunday, with RSN riding the high of taking 5 of 6 from the Stanks and the Sox finishing the month with the best record in the league, it made what happened tonight all the more difficult to digest.
Yeah there's nothing like a good swift kick in the head to make a native Bostonian forget about any good times he may have been having earlier in the day. And that's exactly what it felt like when Travis Bickle, errr Buck drilled a 0-2 fastball from Papelbon into the rightfield seats to tie a game that just a couple of innings earlier seemed to be a sure Boston victory.
That's because Schilling was pitching like the Schill of old, mowing down Oakland hitters while scattering 8 hits & a couple of runs and putting in the requisite 7-8 innings before handing the keys over to the night crew. The Sox hitters were doing their part as well, picking right up where they left off in the Bronx by posting a 3-spot before the box seats were even filled and pushing the lead to 4-0 with a single run in the 3rd off A's starter Joe Blanton (7IP, 6H, 4ER, 2BB, 4K).
The Sox struck quickly in the first thanks to three bloop hits, a sac fly and two stolen bases. Coco, back in the 2-hole tonight, beat out an infield single and stole second, then after Papi (2-5, R) blooped a bingle to left, Manny knocked him in with a sharply-hit opposite field sac fly. Youk, batting 5th in place of the ailing J.D. Drew, singled & stole second also, then Lowell hit a shot to short that Bobby Crosby knocked down but threw to the wrong base, allowing both runners to score.
In the third inning Coco led off with a walk, was singled to third by Manny then scored on a sac fly by Youk to give Boston a solid (with the way Schill was pitching) 4-0 lead.
Curt gave a run back in the 4th when first baseman Dan Johnson launched a solo shot to right to put the A's on the board, but after that Schilling retired 8 out of 10 batters before running into a spot of trouble in the 7th. That's when Buck led off with a double, Jason Kendall singled him over to third, and former Sox Todd Walker, batting for the recently acquired Ryan Langerhans, hit a slicing, sinking liner to center that Coco somehow caught but the run scored.
Still, Schilling escaped further damage that inning by getting Shannon Stewart to ground out and Mark Ellis to pop out to Youk, and with a 2-run lead and the best bully in the game rested & ready, it looked like the win was in the bag.
But something happened along the way to victory #17, and it came from the most unexpected source: that rock-solid bullpen. Hideki Okijima took over for Schilling in the 8th and make quick work of Chavez, Johnson & Piazza, and that left Mr. Reliable to close out the win in the 9th.
Only Mr. Reliable was a little off right from the start of the inning. He gave up a single to Crosby on his second pitch, then came the shot heard 'round Beantown, the one that ruined Paps' perfect season, not to mention win #17. Even after Buck's demoralizing homer, Papelbon still couldn't find his dominant form; he allowed another single and a walk before ending the inning with a foul out and groundout.
With both of its best relievers already used it was up to the rest of the pen to come through until the Sox could scratch out a run. But that plan lasted less than an inning as Brendan Donnelly gave up a double to Mike Piazza on the first pitch he threw, then a double to Johnson 5 pitches later, and the A's had their first lead of the game, 5-4. The run would hold up as Boston came up just short of tying it when Youk's soaring fly ball came to rest in Stewart's glove just in front of the Wall to end the game.
We can't harp on this one too much, though. It had to happen sometime (Paps blowing a save), and I'd rather it happened when the Sox hold a 3+ game lead in May than if they were down three games in September.
As long as this was an aberration, and not a trend.
NOTES:
- Drew got the night off due to a stomach virus, not the current 1-19 skid he is on (wink wink)
-Tito went with a revamped lineup, rewarding Coco for his play of late by moving him back to 2nd in the order, dropping Youk to the 5-hole, and starting Hinske in right for Drew. The moves seemed to work as Coco had a nice night (1-4, BB, 2R, SB), Youk contributed a hit, run & RBI, and Hinske doubled in the 9th to start a brief rally for Boston
-Manny continues to show signs of emerging from his season-long slump: he had two more hits and an RBI tonight to raise his average to .215 and his ribbie total to 14. He is batting .272 (6-22) with 2 homers & 6 RBI in his last 6 games
-Before tonight Oakland had only allowed one run in the first inning all year
-No one could have foreseen Johnson's big game (2-5, R, 2RBI, 2B, HR); coming into the night he had no extra base hits and only 2 RBI all season
-For some reason Dustin Pedroia remains locked into the starting lineup. The slumping second sacker went 0-3 and is in the midst of a hideous 5-48 (.104) stretch that has seen his average plummet to .172-yikes!
-Tek (0-4, 2Ks, .225) and Lugo (0-5, .242) also continue to take up residence in the team meat locker
-Oki ran his scoreless streak to 12 innings, dropped his ERA to 0.66, and struck out another batter to bring his season total to 18 in 13.2 innings of work
-Oakland skipper Bob Geren was ejected in the 5th for arguing a strikeout soon after a Sox ballboy touched a ball in play, preventing the A's from scoring a run from third. Papi also protested his strikout in the third.
QUOTES:
-"Our bullpen has been phenomenal. It doesn't always work out the way you want it to."-Schill, aptly summing up the situation
-"We all get used to (Papelbon) being almost perfect. At some point, you're going to give up runs."-Tito, ever the realist
-"I'll take that loss on my back and I'll pick up the team again when they need me."-Papelbon, exuding the confidence & grit that makes him a fan favorite in the Nation
RECORD: 16-9
AL EAST: Up 3.5 on TOR
UP NEXT: vs. OAK, Wed 7P
Series Preview: Oakland @ Sox
GM1 TUE 7P: Blanton (2-1, 3.55) vs. Schilling (3-2, 3.27)
GM2 WED 7P: Gaudin (1-1, 2.54) vs. Beckett (5-0, 2.48)
Oakland A's: 13-12, 3rd in AL West
Leaders:
AVG: Piazza, .274
HITS: Chavez, 27
HRs: Swisher, 4
RUNS: Sh. Stewart, 13
RBIs: Ellis, 16
WINS: Haren, 3
ERA: Harden, 1.42
Ks: Blanton, 27
SVs: Street, 6
Injured: P Rich Harden, OF Milton Bradley, OF Mark Kotsay
I just wanted to start out by saying thanks to Creme de la Blog for giving Curt's Bloody Sock a little love the other day.
The innovative blog review site directs readers to hidden gems on the WWW, ones that fall under the radar and between the cracks on the information superhighway. On top of leading you to intriguing little spots such as spaceants.com (an odd-yet-strangely riveting site), they are also Red Sox friendly.
Thanks again for the positive review, and keep up the great work.
----------------------------------------------------------
Now, on to the next series for our Sox. Tonight the boys begin another one of those shitty "Bud Selig Specials", a.k.a. a 2-gamer, against the A's. Oakland comes in just over .500 and 2 1/2 games behind the Angles in the West, but you know they will be right there in the thick of the division race after they rip off their patented second half hot streak.
The team that Boston seems to face every other year in the playoffs has got a little bit of a different look this season. Gone are any traces of the former "Big Three" rotation of Hudson-Zito-Mulder, and in is the new wave of young guns, Haren-Blanton-Harden.
Luckily for the Sox they won't have to face the Oakland ace, Haren, or Harden, and although Blanton can be a tricky pitcher to deal with because of his excellent curveball (I believe that is a prereq to pitch in the Bay Area), he isn't as scary as Haren or Harden. Closer Huston Street is one of the best in the game.
The lineup for Oakland has had some changes as well. Of course stalwarts like Eric Chavez is still occupying the hot corner, and guys like Mark Ellis, Nick Swisher, Marco Scutaro, Jason Kendall and Bobby Crosby still inhabit the Animal House-esque Oakland clubhouse.
But this season the A's have added Mike Piazza's bat to the fold, who is off to a slow start but still brings a veteran presence to the team. Speedy outfielder Shannon Stewart also joined the team after three seasons in Minny- I've always liked the way he played going back to his days in Toronto. Mad Milton Bradley is also back for another season by the Bay, and old friend Todd Walker returns to the AL after three seasons in the senior circuit.
Well that's enough about this one; by the time I get done writing about it the mini-series will be over.
Go Sox!
Monthly Recap: April
April Record: 16-8
Overall Record: 16-8
HOME: 7-3 ROAD: 9-5 DIV: 9-4 (thanks, Stanks!)
Division Standings: Up by 3.5 games on TOR, 5 on BAL, 5.5 on TB, 6.5 on NYY
Dice-K's Fenway debut was one of the many big moments in the month of April for Boston
TEAM STATS:
BATTING-
RUNS: 125 (5th in AL)
AVG: .262 (7th)
HRs: 27 (t4th)
2B: 40 (8th)
3B: 5 (2nd)
SLG%: .426 (3rd)
OBP%: .353 (1st)
BB: 111 (1st)
K: 142 (11th)
SB: 12 (9th)
E: 21 (2nd)
PITCHING-
IP: 211 (10th)
HITS: 183 (12th)
HRs: 18 (12th)
RUNS: 84 (14th)
ERs: 77 (14th)
BBs: 69 (12th)
Ks: 169 (5th)
SVs: 9 (12nd)
ERA: 3.28 (t2nd)
The first month of the 2007 baseball season is in the books, and what a month it was for Boston.
Besides owning the best record (percentage-wise) in baseball and a 3 1/2 game division lead, there were quite a few interesting things that happened with our beloved team in the opening month:
- Daisuke Matsuzaka made his MLB debut, as did fellow Japanese import Hideki Okijima, who may be outshining his countryman on the field right now
- Boston won 5-of-6 from the arch rival Stanks, and pushed them to the bottom of the AL East in the process
- J.D. Drew quieted the off-season boo birds who questioned his talent & durability by getting off to a blistering start before cooling off recently
- Jonathan Papelbon's decision to go back to the pen proved to be a godsend; the flamethrowing righty has allowed only 2 hits and no runs, going a perfect 9-9 in save opps.
- The offense got off to a slow start (April showers), but heated up late to average 5.2 runs/game while the pitching staff is giving up just 3.5/game
- Who knew that sure-handed Gold Glover Mike Lowell would lead the majors in errors with 8, raise your hands?
- Who didn't know that Big Papi would be leading the team in homers? Anyone, anyone, Bueller?
Yes it was some kind of month for the boys from Beantown, with everything going better than we could have hoped for (keep fingers & toes crossed.)
The lineup is looking like a formidable machine, because as soon as Manny heats up (which you know he will) and Cora takes Pedroia's spot (ditto) they could have one of the best top-to-bottom lineups in the game. Here's a link to what they've done so far, so I don't have to type all that shit out.
You've got a great mix of guys with speed (Lugo, Cora) and power (Manny, Papi, Lowell), who can hit for average (Drew, Youk) and can do the little things needed to win (Cora, Coco). Then you've got the Captain, who can always come through with a clutch hit, no matter what he's batting, and a solid bench with Hinske, Willy Mo, Mirabelli and (eventually) Pedroia.
The hitters may be holding their own but the pitching staff has been the big surprise thus far. Sure everyone knew that if the four horses lived up to their potential this could be a special starting rotation, but nobody expected Josh Beckett to be a ML-best 5-0, ageless knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to briefly lead the AL in ERA and the starters to have 14 of the team's 16 wins overall.
The fact that the rotation has been so good has allowed the bullpen to be that much better. Okijima, who was ostensibly brought to the team just to give Dice-K a familiar companion, has emerged to be one of the best setup men in the league, and that Jonathan Papelbon has recovered from his shoulder ailment to return to the untouchable Paps of last year. While the rest of the lot has been basically untested, with that kind of solid foundation you can afford a few cracks.
Put the starters and relievers together and what you've got is a top-notch staff, the kind that wins divisions and forces imposing matchups in October. Add a potent, versatile lineup and what you've got is a championship-caliber team.
So the first month is history and now they head into May facing a tough schedule (more games against NY, Toronto and B-More, plus dates with Atlanta, Minny and the 1st place Indians) and carrying a ginourmous bulls eye on their backs.
The Sox are sitting pretty in first place, back to being the hunted, while the Stanks languish in last, tripping all over themselves just to climb past the Rays.
And all seems right with the world.
Read More......4.30.2007
Series Recap: Sox/Stanks
Sox win series, 2 games-1
GM 1: BOS 11-4
GM2: NYY 3-1
GM 3: BOS 7-4
-STATS: BOS/NYY
RUNS: 19/ 11
AVG: .276/ .214
HITS: 29/ 21
HRs: 5/ 3
BP ERA: 0.93/ 5.51
The second Sox/Stanks series of 2007 was another productive one for the Boston offense and this time an excellent one for the Sox pitchers, unlike last weekend's sloppy slugfests.
Boston ended the month in style, taking 2-out-of-3 in New York to retain its comfy division lead while pushing the Stanks further down the AL East food chain, into the sub-hell that lurks below the D-Rays permanent residence.
A couple of players stayed hot (Cora, Lowell) or warmed up (Lugo, Youk) in this 3-gamer, while others remained icy-cold (Tek, Pedroia) or showed some signs of thawing out (Manny.) Here's a look at how the numbers shook out for the series.
Three-game Composite Box Score:
- Lugo: 5-13 (.385), 3R, 4RBI, 2B, HR, 2BB, 2SB
- Youk: 5-13 (.385), 3R, 3RBI, HR, 3BB
- Papi: 4-11 (.364), 3R, 3RBI, 3BB, K, HR
- Manny: 3-11 (.273), R, 2RBI, HR, 3BB, 3K
- Drew: 0-9, 4Ks
- Lowell: 3-10 (.300), R, 2B, 2RBI, 3BB, 2K, 2E
- Tek: 2-8 (.250), R, 2BB, 2K, E
- Coco: 4-12 (.333), 3R, RBI, 3B, 2K, SB
- Pedroia: 1-6 (.167) , 2R, 2B, BB, K
- Cora: 2-5 (.400), 2R, 3B, HR, 3RBI
- Hinske: 0-5
- Willy Mo: 0-0
- 'Belli: 0-2, BB, 2K
As you can see this team is so deep that not everybody has to be clicking on all cylinders to keep the machine humming along; when guys like Manny & Drew are scuffling, others like Cora, Youk and Lugo are there to pick them up.
The pitching in this series was much improved from the previous weekend in Fenway, where the Boston staff allowed almost as many runs (17) as the Sox scored (21). This time the Boston hurlers held the Stanks potent lineup in check, giving up only 11 runs in 3 games and shutting down some of the Stankees' more prolific hitters.
Let's take a look at the composite linescores of the pitchers, and also what they did to some of the New York batters:
- Dice-K: 6IP, 5H, 4ER, 4BB, 7K, W
- Wakefield: 5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 6BB, 3K
- Tavarez: 5IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HR, W
- Okijima: 3IP, 2H, 5K
- Timlin: 2IP, 3H, ER, 2K, HR
- Paps: 1IP, H, K, SV
- Romero: 1IP, BB, K
- Snyder: 1IP, H, K
- Pineiro: 1IP, BB, K
- Donnelly: 2/3IP, H, BB
Demon- 1-11 (.090); Jeter- 7-14 (.500), HR; Abreu-1-12 (.083); A-Rod-2-11 (.181); Giambi- 4-9 (.444); Posada- 2-9 (.222), HR; Cano- 0-11, 4K; Matsui- 1-10 (.100)
The numbers don't lie in this case. Boston pitching was exceptional, especially not-so-secret-weapon Hideki Okijima, who continues to baffle righties & lefties with his yakker, and Papelbon, who has yet to allow a run this season. That's in stark contrast to New York's closer Mariano Rivera, who looks like he's ready to take up residence in the Shady Acres retirement community, although he did get New York's first save of the season in Game 2.
Other interesting notes include Mike Lowell making 2 errors to take over the major league lead with eight, Mr. April cooling off to the point that he had no homers and no RBI in the series, and Alex Cora basically carrying a neon sign flashing "PLAY ME" after another weekend of heroics vs. the Stanks.
All in all an excellent way to end the first month of the season, by taking 5-6 from the hated Empire and sitting atop the AL East.
Five more months and 12 more games vs. NY to go before we can start popping that playoff bubbly again, though.
But at least they're off to a good start.
Read More......Off Day Notes: Time to talk Pats
"...the public perception of the Patriots is changed forever."-Dan Shaughnessy, today's Globe
Since Boston is enjoying some "much-deserved personal time", i.e. its first day off in nearly two weeks, I thought I would take some time & space here to discuss RSN's other obsession, the New England Patriots.
You may have heard that the NFL draft was this past weekend, or if like me if you happened to watch any ESPN during that time your brain may have been melted into an inorganic goo of combine numbers, 'best available' lists and 40 times, complete with a rolling crawl on the bottom and a side graphic box good for further clouding your already suspect judgement.
And I'm sure you heard the big news out of the draft- no, not that National Championship-winning quarterback and soon-to-be professional model Chris Leak went undrafted-but that the Pats made two moves that brought players of highly questionable moral character into the straitlaced Foxborough fold. (Well other than the staring QB fathering 2 children out of wedlock they're straitlaced.)
Brandon Meriweather and Randy Moss bring an immediate combination of speed, toughness, attitude and skill to two positions the Pats needed a lot of help at: the secondary and wide receiver. They also tote enough baggage to make a veteran skycap at Logan wince. The lists of incidents involving both players is both lengthy and well-documented, so I'm not going to pick at the scabs of those painful memories.
Let's just say that when things like gun possession, drug use, squirting water at an official, on-field brawling, running over a traffic cop, and quitting on your teammates are on such lists, well they're really no question about your character.
To quote Trick Daddy, maybe it's because you're a thug. Or a punk. Or at the very least an angry, selfish, malcontent capable of ripping apart a team's chemistry at any given moment, provoked or not.
In other words the exact type of player New England would never allow to grace the huddle, no matter how much talent or ability to win such a player would bring to the team.
Yet in their quest to get back to the promised land of NFL championships the New England brain trust, a.k.a. The Hooded Genius, capo Scott Pioli and the Kraft family, have decided to skip with past protocols and head in a different direction. They have opened up their team as a sort of rehab for players in need of some serious image counseling, achieved by holding the Rozelle Trophy high over one's head, thereby rendering all past transgressions null & void.
After all, it worked for Cory Dillon, didn't it?
But as the old saying goes, "what price victory?" Sure the Pats are mightily improved with these two additions, and many 'experts' are already proclaiming them as a lock for the Super Bowl next year.
I say so what. Didn't the team come within a Dominic"I peed myself" Rhodes last-minute touchdown of making it to the title game this year? And didn't that happen after the team stuck to its principals by not granting a certain wide receiver a contract extension, which led to his hasty departure for the Pacific Northwest just as the season got underway?
The point I'm trying to make is that the Patriot machine has been making boys into men and mediocre players into championship winners for almost a decade now by following a radical-but-effective approach: bring in high-quality guys with a desire to win and be part of a championship team and play the NFL game the right way...
...why scrap that plan now and subscribe to the Chucky Gruden "I don't care about their past just as long as they do it for me on the field tomorrow" method of building a contender?
It's ironic that just as the league heads towards a "zero tolerance" policy with troubled players, the league's model franchise sheds its image of being the original "zero tolerance" organization.
Because as a Patriot fan I know I just don't have a good feeling about adding Meriweather and Moss and even Donte Stallworth to the team to the team, even if they do help bring that 4th title to town. I know that I was a lot happier when New England drafted a diamond-in-the-rough nobody like Logan Mankins and molded him into a solid NFL player, rather than attempting to turn a turkey into a swan like they are with Meriweather.
And I was a lot more proud of a team that won titles with guys like Bruschi, Vinateri, Brown, Vrabel and Harrison than I would be with a with a me-first prima donna who jaked his way out of Oakland and is just gravy-training the Patriot experience in order to win that elusive ring.
So you tell me, which side is worse?
4.29.2007
No 'Sweep II', but 5 out of 6 ain't bad
Sox 7, New York 4
WP: Tavarez (1-2)
LP: Wang (0-2)
SV: Papelbon (8)
HRs: BOS: Papi (7), Cora (2), Manny (3); NYY- Ball Stealer (2), Jeter (2)
SUMMARY:
Another game, another come-from-behind Sox victory over the sinking ship known as the New York Stankees.
Boston trailed 3-2 after Doug Mientkiewicz hit a 3-run homer into the right field seats off Julian Tavarez in the 3rd inning. But just like they did in their 4 previous wins over New York, the Sox hitters pecked away at the Stankee starter, then hammered away at the fledgling bullpen, leading to another satisfying comeback win over the hated Stanks.
HEROES:
- Cora: 2-4, 2R, 3RBI, 3B, HR- his 2-run shot in the 5th game Boston the lead it wouldn't relinquish and his triple in the 7th off Scott Proctor unofficially brought an end to the Dustin Pedroia Experiment
- Manny: 2-4, 1R, 2RBI, HR- after being robbed of extra bases by Bobby Abreu in the 6th, ManRam teed off on Sean Henn for a 2-run blast in the 8th that put the game away, 7-3
- Tavarez: 5IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 2K, HR- not exactly Cy Young stats, but he held the dangerous Stankee lineup to 3 runs in 5 innings and held the fort until the offense could get to the NY pen
GOATS:
- Wang: 6IP, 6H, 4ER, 3BB, 1K, 2HRs- I know he just got off the DL last week, but when Doug Freaking Mientkiewicz hits a 3-run jack to give your team a lead, you don't blow that rare gift from the heavens
- Matsui: 0-4, K, 5 LOB- another recent DL member who is struggling to find a groove; his DP in the 4th, when NY had men on 1st & 2nd with no outs and a 1-run lead, really came back to haunt them
- Judas Demon: 0-4, K- the $13 million dollar man went 2-11 with 2R, 2BB, 3Ks and 2 RBI in the series; supposedly he's got back problems; I guess carrying around all that blood money takes its toll
SUMMARY:
After experiencing a mild blip in the aura surrounding the 2007 edition of Sox v. Stankees yesterday, things got back to normal today as Boston completed a stunning 5-out-of-6 blitzkrieg of the Stanks with yet another come-from-behind win.
From the Red Sox perspective you have to know things are going your way when your worst starter-who is headed back to the bullpen in a matter of days-shuts down New York's potent lineup, and on the flip side things couldn't be any worse for the Stanks when its best starter from a year ago can't keep little Alex Cora from going deep and crushing the spirit of an Empire.
The day started off looking like the Sox would have an easy time winning the last game of this split weekend, 6-game series. David Ortiz, who had been in a power drought, took care of that problem with a majestic, towering drive into the third deck in right off Chien-Ming Wang with two outs in the first for a quick 1-0 Boston lead. In the third Coco (1-3, 2R) led off with a triple and Cora got him home on a groundout to make it 2-0, and RSN had to start thinking maybe the Sox could take one game without having to stage a comeback.
Not so fast my friend. Any thoughts of a quick, painless win were wiped away with one swing of a Stankee bat in the bottom of the third, and wouldn't you know it was old friend Dougie the Ball Stealer Mientkiewiecz who did the damage to his old mates. Tavarez walked Posada & Cano to start the frame, then after a botched bunt led to a passed ball by Varitek, Ball Stealer swung at a 3-2 offering from Julie and parked it in the rightfield seats for a 3-2 New York lead.
Did I mention he was batting .142 with 1 homer? Friggin' ex-players will do it to ya every time.
Not to worry though, because this is Sox/Stanks '07, where the Boston comeback is all but guaranteed. And wouldn't you know it was that diminutive dynamic duo of Coco & Cora (they sound like a pair of mini-Shelties for cryin' out loud) would be the ones to get the game back into Boston's hands.
In the top of the 5th Crisp was hit as he was attempting to bunt, and with visions of another Coco injury dancing in our heads, Cora came up to face Wang. The little guy has hit 4 homers in the past 3 years and has 32 career longballs in 9+ years in the bigs. But for a Punch & Judy hitter he sure didn't waste any time jumping on a 2-0 offering from Wang, sending a drive into the stands for yet another back-breaking, lead-taking homer for Boston.
For all intents & purposes the game was over right there, but since they had to play a few more innings, why not tack on some more runs? Wang left after six innings as much from the humiliation as from a blister on his hand, and when Scott Proctor made his daily appearance out of the New York bully, the Sox batters eyes had to light up. And wouldn't you know it Cora was right in the middle of the next scoring play, too.
He sent a drive high off the rightfield wall, over an outstretched but out-of-position Bobby Abreu's glove, and raced into 3rd with a triple. Lugo hit a sac fly to score the all-important insurance run, 5-3, but Manny would then make like Aflac, providing all the insurance the team would need with a 2-run bomb off of Sean Henn in the 8th; it was his 50th career jack against the Stanks, putting him into some rare company (more later) and putting enough distance between the two teams to ensure there would be no come-from-behind win for NY.
That's because Boston now has two weapons in the pen- Papelbon & Okijima. The Japanese lefty with the devastating curveball is suddenly one of the best parts of this team, and if he's not careful he might begin to overshadow his more famous countrymen. Oki came on in the 6th and struck out Abreu & Giambi, then got Matsui to ground out with a man on to end the inning, and he retired Posada and pinch-hitter Josh Phelps on strikeouts in the 7th before exiting.
After Timlin allowed a homer to Jeter in the 8th, Paps came on in the 9th and despite allowing a leadoff double to Giambi, got three quick outs from there to complete the satisfying near-sweep.
So that's all we get to see of New York for a while, until a rare mid-week, 3-game set at the end of May.
By that time who knows where both teams will be.
All I do know is that there is a definite atmosphere change about this series this season. I think it's called the smell of success.
NOTES:
-Slumping J.D. Drew got the day off; Eric Hinske started in his place and went 0-4
-Papi's homer was his 23rd vs. New York, a great feat but still less than half of Manny's total against them. Oh, and the players ManRam joined in the 'Over 50 HRs vs. NY' club? Guys named Foxx, Williams, Greenberg & Yaz; ever heard of 'em?
-Oki has 17 Ks in 12.2 innings and a 0.71 ERA; Papelbon has 15 Ks in 9.1, an ERA of 0.00 and has allowed 2 hits all season; pretty nice 1-2 punch, huh?
-Mike Lowell's hit streak ended at 14 games, but Derek Jeter extended his to 17 games with the homer
-A-Rod did get 2 hits, but he grounded into a DP to kill a potential rally in the 8th and is in a 3-18 (.167) slide with no homers or RBI in his last 5 games; looks like Mr. April is about to turn nto Mr. May (day)
QUOTES:
-"I think today was one of the very, very important starts for me. I felt it was like the last start of my life."- Tavarez; we can only hope so, Julie.
RECORD: 16-8
AL EAST: Up 4 gms on TOR
UP NEXT: Off Mon; Tue vs. OAK
.jpg)
