Seattle 7, Sox 4
WP: Green (5-1)
LP: Timlin (1-1)
SV: Putz (32)
HRs: BOS-Papi (19); SEA-Betancourt (6), Johjima (12)
SUMMARY
For the second straight game a Sox starter blew a three-run lead, but this time the team couldn't salvage the win. Mike Timlin allowed 3 runs after Jon Lester with the game tied at 3, and Boston ran it's losing streak to 9 in a row at the House that Nintendo Built.
#1 STUNNER Yunieski Betancourt 2-4, 2R, 4BI, HR
The captain of the All Name team stung the Sox with four ribbies including a monster 3-run bomb off Lester that spelled the beginning of the end for Boston.
PAN's FAUN Timlin 1.1IP, 3H, 3R, 2ER, BB, K, HR
Returning to the scene of his near decapitation, Timlin had a horrendous outing, committing one psychical error, one mental error, and allowing a soul-crushing 2-run homer to seal the deal.
RECAP
Ah don't you just love staying up till 1:30 in the am just to see how the Sox can blow another game in the city that never sleeps (due to the high caffeine intake)?
The combination of the late hour plus the absurdity of how a team can amass 12 base hits, 6 in the first two innings, and lose the game makes for some...ah fuck it, I can't even type a coherent thought right now.
Bottom line is Boston had an inordinate amount of chances to not only win this game but blow it wide open early--like loading the bases twice in the first two innings yet scoring just 2 runs--but they managed to bungle away what seemed like a golden opportunity to break the Safeco Curse.
Shit, I'm so messed up I'm even using the dreaded 'C' word.
Thanks to an inopportune occurrence of MannyBeingManny, a couple of costly double plays, and a two-error 6th inning that allowed Seattle to take an undeserved 1-run lead, the Sox sent everyone to bed angry this evening. Morning. Whatever.
Speaking of going to bed, I'm heading there myself. I'll try to shed some light on this mess in the morning. Later this morning. Whatever. Goodnight.
8.04.2007
House of Blues: Sox lose 9th straight at Safeco
8.03.2007
Series preview: Sox @ Seattle
Red Sox (66-42) @ Mariners (59-47)
Probable Pitching Matchups:
GM1 Fri 10EST Lester (1-0, 4.26) vs. Ramirez (6-3, 6.52)
Lester makes his first start in his home state and will have plenty of friends & family on hand to watch. Horacio Ramirez blew a 5-0 lead against the Sox in May and then went on the DL for a over a month shortly thereafter. MY PICK: Sox do it for Jonny
GM2 Sat 10EST Matsuzaka (12-8) vs. Washburn (8-7)
Dice -K vs. Ichiro again, blah blah blah. Let's just hope the Sox finally score some friggin runs for the guy so he can bump that win total up to where it should be. Washburn? Washed up. MY PICK: Sox 2-1
GM3 Sun 4EST Beckett (13-5) vs. Batista (11-7)
Beckett needs a win after losing his last two starts, but he'll be facing Seattle's hottest pitcher, Miguel Batista, who has won 4 of his last 5 decisions and has hit a career high in wins. Still, Becks needs this game, and the Sox will make sure he gets it. MY PICK: Sox sweep
Season Series: Seattle leads, 4-2
Keep an eye on: OF Adam Jones .314/25/84(AAA)--The Mariners hottest minor league prospect was just called up to help recharge an offense that has been shut out three times in its last 12 games and give the team, which is just 10-11 since the break, a much needed lift.
Preview:
The Sox begin a 9-game roadie against the team that caused much heartache and distress for the club when it last visited the Pacific Northwest in late June in a stadium that has become its personal house of horrors.
In that three game set Boston dropped all three games, the last two in excruciating fashion when reliever Javier Lopez and Joel Pineiro blew late leads/ties and handed the Ms victories in games they should have lost. Boston has now dropped 8 in a row at SafeCo Field.
But this time around the Sox staff is rock solid, with its new, healthy five-man rotation set up and a new & improved bullpen that should be lights out 99% of the time when handed a lead in the late innings.
While the Sox have struggled recently to score runs, so have the Mariners, who have averaged just over four runs a game in July and recently dropped seven straight games before rebounding by winning four of its last five.
With the Ms just 3 1/2 back of the Angels and needing an offensive boost, AAA outfielder Adam Jones was called up to try and spark guys like Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson into catching fire in hopes of overtaking the Halos.
Boston will look to atone for that miserable showing last time out in the Rainy City, and with local boy Jon Lester throwing tonight followed by Matsuzaka & Beckett, anything less than a three-game sweep will not be tolerated.
Get ready for some late nights, folks, and in honor of Seattle, make get youself a triple mocha latte with a side of espresso and dig in for some more West Coast baseball. Yipee!
8.02.2007
Happy B-Day, Tim: Wake joins AL wins leaders
Sox 7, Baltimore 3
WP: Wakefield (13-9)
LP: R. Bell (3-2)
HRs: BOS-Hinske (5), Mirabelli (4)
SUMMARY
In a game that featured to a number of wacky plays Tim Wakefield earned his 13th victory on his 41st birthday, Doug Mirabelli nearly blew the game then won it, and Eric Gange made his Sox debut as Boston took 2-of-3 from the Birds.
#1 STUNNER Belli 3-3, 2R, 2BI, BB, HR
His base running gaffe nearly doomed the Sox in the sixth, but the veteran catcher made up for it with an RBI single in the seventh that gave him his first 3-hit game in nearly three years.
PAN's FAUN Rob Bell 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, BB
What do you expect from a former Devil Ray castoff with a career ERA of 5.61? The 30-year-old righty was plain awful in the 7th, turning a tie game into a Red Sox rout.
RECAP
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Timmy, happy birthday to you."
I'm sure that's the tune that Tim Wakefield's teammates serenaded him with in the locker room following this game, along with the mandatory beer shower of course.
On the day the knuckleballer turned a robust 41 years old the 15-year vet showed the rest of the league that he's still got what it takes to be a top pitcher in the major leagues, and he's got the record to prove it.
By tossing seven solid innings and lasting just long enough to benefit from another Sox uprising, Wake (7IP, 6H, 3ER, BB, 5K) joined teammate Josh Beckett as well as four other hurlers atop the AL leader board in wins, one behind ML leader Carlos Zambrano's 14.
Not bad for a guy who broke into the league when fellow starter John Lester was 8 years old.
But for a while it looked as if Wake would not join the 13-win club, and he had no one to blame but himself for the missed opportunity.
Well himself and his personal caddy, Doug Mirabelli.
After blowing a bases loaded situation in the second, the Sox jumped out to a lead in the third courtesy of a couple of strange plays by left fielder Jay Payton.
The disgruntled former Sox sub misplayed a high fly from David Ortiz (1-5, R) that landed on the warning track in front of the Monster for a sun-aided double, and three pitches later Manny lined a Jeremy Guthrie offering directly over Payton's head for a sharp single that scored Papi and put the Sox on the board first for the first time in the series.
Boston then put on a nice little power display in the 4th, and the wattage came from two unlikely sources.
Eric Hinske, starting in place of J.D. Drew who was still dealing with his son's illness, launched a 2-0 pitch from Guthrie (5.1IP, 9H, 3ER, 4BB, 3K) over the bullpens and into the bleachers for a quick 2-0 lead, then on the very next pitch Belli blasted a bomb into the first row of the Monster seats to give his buddy Wake a comfy 3-0 advantage.
But faster than you can say "where's my Geritol?" Wake blew the early b-day present, surrendering a three-spot to the Os in the 5th on a triple, a sac fly, two singles and a double and all of a sudden the game was back to square one.
Showing his age, I guess you could say.
Boston wasted a leadoff single by Manny (2-5, BI) in the bottom of the inning when Lowell grounded into a double play, then they really screwed the pooch when Belli had a major brain fart in the last half of the sixth.
The catcher culminated a 7-pitch at bat with a solid single to center to lead off the frame, then advanced to second on a sac bunt by Alex Cora. After Pedroia (2-3, 2BI, 2BB) walked on four pitches, Youk lofted a lazy fly ball to right that tricked Nick Markakis, who dropped the popup for an error that loaded the bases with one out.
Guthrie was replaced by Jamie Walker, and when he allowed a DEEP drive to center field by Big Papi, it looked like the Sox would regain the lead and hand the game over to its awesome bully.
Except Belli messed up the timing of his tag, and by the time he went back and re-touched third, the Orioles had enough time to get the ball in to infield and Doug was gunned down by a good 10 feet for a head-scratching inning ending double play.
Needless to say Papi wasn't happy, and neither was anyone watching the game who had no idea how a guy could get thrown out on a ball that traveled nearly 400 feet.
Luckily for Mirabelli, Wake and all of RSN, he would get a chance to redeem himself in the next inning.
Enter Rob Bell.
Bell got Manny to ground out to begin the 7th, then Lowell (1-4) followed with a single off the Wall, and after Coco forced Mike at second base and stole second, Bell walked Hinske to set up a double play with crappy feet coming to the plate.
After his horrendous miscue the inning before, Belli wasn't about to blow his best buddy's birthday, and he took the first pitch he saw from Bell and dropped it into center to score Coco and atone for his blunder and put the Sox back on top, 4-3.
Cora and Pedroia tacked on RBI hits after that, and all that was left was for the newest member of the Sox pen to make his Red Sox debut.
Hideki Okajima pitched a 1-2-DP 8th, and then it was time for one of the best closers in the history of the game to take the mound for the first time in a Boston uni.
After fanning Millar & Tejada to start the 9th, things didn't exactly follow the Disney script for Gagne when Lowell lost a wind-blown popup by Audrey Huff for a double and Payton followed with an RBI single to right, but he shrugged it off and retired Jay Gibbons on a lazy fly to left, and the birthday boy got his present, hand delivered by his batterymate.
The rate he's going, we might see Wake pitching when he's 50.
NOTES
- Doug's day: this was Mirabelli's first three hit game since Aug. 25th, 2004
- Decision '07: Wake extended his incredible streak to 22 consecutive games with a decision
- Drew didn't make it for the start of the game, but he did pinch run for Hinske in the seventh and stayed in the game
- The Sox celebrated the career of legendary second baseman Bobby Doer before the game
- Markakis' error was his first this season and first in 148 games dating back to last Aug 15th
- The sun wreaked havoc on numerous plays in the outfield, but didn't affect Coco, who made a spectacular leaping catch against the wall to rob Gibbons of extra bases in the 7th
- Cora started in place of Lugo sporting a freshly shaved dome
- Big Hit Hinske strikes again: of Hinske's 24 hits this season, 14 have been for extra bases-- 6 doubles, 3 triples and 5 homers
- 7th heaven: Boston scored four runs in the seventh for the second consecutive game
QUOTES
"To go back and tag and try to come home like that was the second mistake and it's embarrassing."--Mirabelli
"It was awesome. I was a little nervous. But the adrenaline kicked in and the fans really got me going."--Gagne. Welcome to Beantown.
RECORD: 66-42
AL EAST: Up 8 on NYY
STREAK: W-2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Fri @ SEA, 10EST
Welcome to Beantown, Big Ticket!
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It's good to be a Bostonian when you get to see a 7' future Hall of Fame basketball player toss out the first pitch to a burly Boston baseball demigod on a picture-perfect midsummer night at Fenway.
Ah, good times, good times.
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Oh yeah, and this sight was pretty sweet, too.8.01.2007
Sox comeback to knock off plucky Birds
Sox 5, Baltimore 4 New setup man Eric Gagne's arrival in the pen brought a standing O from the Fenway Faithful SUMMARY
WP: Lopez (2-1)
LP: Parrish (2-2)
SV: Papelbon (24)
HRs: BAL-Markakis (11), Tejada (8).jpg)
On a night Boston fans were introduced to its two newest stars, the Sox appeared to be headed to its third consecutive defeat until a four-run uprising in the bottom of the 7th catapulted the Sox to another come-from-behind victory.
#1 STUNNER Youk 1-4, 2RBI, 2B
He hasn't had a lot of hits lately, but boy has he made them count. For the third time in five games the chrome-domed first baseman ripped a run-scoring extra base hit that played an important part in a Boston win.
PAN's FAUN Chad Bradford 1IP, 2H, BB
Although he wasn't charged with a run the ex-Sox sidearmer allowed Youk's 2-run double that turned the game around and gave the Sox their first lead of the series.
RECAP
Yooooooooooouuuukkk!
That familiar serenade that echoes down from stadiums all over the Nation never sounded sweeter than in the seventh inning tonight when Boston's latest Dirt Dog turned a game full of frustration and missed opps into a cause for jubilation and celebration.
For six innings Baltimore stymied the suddenly slumbering Boston bats, holding the Sox to just five hits and one run a day after limiting the fifth best offense in the majors to a mere four hits and three runs in a disappointing 5-3 defeat.
And it's not like the Birds had a top-flite starter like Eric Bedard on the hill tonight, either.
Aging veteran Steve Trachsel held Boston to one run on five hits and five walks in six innings of work, his best outing in over two months, and despite the Sox racking up baserunners like Lindsay Lohan racks up DUIs, it wasn't until the 67-year-old righty left the game that Boston could put together a multi-run inning.
For the second straight night things got off to a bad start when an Oriole homered in the first inning. And even though Nick Markakis' Monster shot wasn't hit on the first pitch of the game, the fact that spot-starter Julian Tavarez allowed a run right from the get-go sent the message that it was gonna be an uphill battle against these blasted Birds yet again.
Boston went right to work filling the LOB category of the stat sheet in the bottom of the inning when Dustin Pedroia (3-4, R, BI, SF, SB) hit a one-out single and Papi followed with a walk but Manny killed the rally when he grounded into a double play.
As has been the case for the past few weeks (or is it months now?) that blown chance immediately came back to haunt Boston when Baltimore plated a couple more runs in the second on a single by Jay Gibbons and back-to-back doubles by Chris Gomez (1-2, R, BI) and Brian Roberts to push the lead to 3-0 after two.
The Sox finally cracked Trachsel in the third thanks to a walk by Coco Crisp (0-0, R, 4BBs!), an infield single by Lugo combined with a throwing error by Miggy Tejada, his second in two nights, that got Coco to third and a sac fly from Pedroia.
But after Ortiz walked again, Manny (0-4, R)flied out to right and another potential scoring chance went by the boards.
The game followed this maddening pattern for the next three innings; Boston would get a couple of men on base, then find a way NOT to get them home. Against Steve friggin' Trachsel, a guy the Devil Rays gave up on years ago.
Tavarez (5IP, 7H, 3ER, BB, 0K) exited after giving the team a decent start in place of traded Kason Gabbard, and after Kyle Snyder tossed a 1-2-3 sixth, Boston had another golden opportunity to seize control of the contest when Lowell singled off the Monster and Coco walked in the bottom of the inning.
Except Wily Mo Pena was up next, and after he hit a weak grounder to short it was beginning to look like another miserable night for the frustrated & silent Faithful.
And then Trachsel came out of the game, and suddenly it was as if a great weight had been lifted off Boston's shoulders.
Paul Shuey came on to begin the 7th and Lugo (1-4, R) led off with a four pitch walk, then Pedroia rapped his third knock of the game up the middle, and quickly the energy returned to the ballpark as the Big Boppers waited to take their licks against the weak Baltimore pen.
Shuey was replaced by John Parrish, and three pitches later Papi roped an opposite field double off the Wall that scored Lugo easily to cut the lead to 3-2 and set up a 2nd & 3rd situation with no outs, and with Manny coming up it soon became bases loaded and no outs as Ramirez drew his 12th intentional free pass of the season.
That brought Bradford into the game and Youk to the plate, and after a typical lengthy Youkilis at bat the Mr. Clean doppelganger sliced a double to deep center field that scored Pedroia and Ortiz and gave Boston its first lead since the 12th inning of Saturday night's game at Tampa Bay.
Jason Varitek added an RBI single to center to run the score to 5-3, and it was up to the new & improved (?) Boston bullpen to bring the win home.
With newly acquired set up man Eric Gagne already in the pen (he trotted out there between the 5th & 6th innings, to a rousing ovation of course), All Star Hideki Okajima came in for the eighth and surrendered his third longball of the year, a massive shot by Tejada (1-3) that cleared the Monster and landed on Lansdowne, before handing the game over to JP in the 9th.
Coming off his second blown save of the year (of course it was the game I went to), you could tell Paps had that extra determination in his menacing glare, and the All Star closer quickly dispatched the pesky Birds on a groundout and two Ks, the last one punctuated by his patented fist pump that closed the door on what could have been another disheartening loss.
Instead it went in the books as another comeback win.
And Boston didn't even need to trot out its new toy to get it.
NOTES:
- Easy money: After relieving Snyder with two outs in the 7th, Javier Lopez came in and got Markakis to ground out to end the inning and earned the win for his two-pitch effort
- Manny's 12th intentional walk places him third in the AL, behind Bad Vlad (20) and Pronk Hafner (14)
- Coco's four-walk oddity was the first such game of his career, and the intentional pass was his first of the season
- 7th heaven: Baltimore used 3 pitchers who surrendered four hits, four runs and three walks (2 intentional) in the fateful 7th inning
- NESN reported that J.D. Drew was not at the park due to a family emergency with his son; thus Whiffy Mo (0-4) got his second straight start in right, and he didn't even strike out
- Heads up/heads down: when Ortiz walked in the first inning Pedroia was already in the process of stealing second, so when he saw the Papi Shift had left third base uncovered, Dusty raced all the way to the bag before anyone on Baltimore even knew what happened
- Oki okay? After not allowing a home run since Opening Day, Okajima has now surrendered two dingers in his last 7 appearances. The solo shot raised his ERA over 1.00 (1.03) as well
- After singling off the monster in the sixth Mike Lowell was nearly knocked off first base by an over-zealous Kevin Millar; Mike then playfully yet forcefully jabbed his former Marlins teammate in the ribcage
- New Celtic Kevin Garnett threw out the first pitch, then watched the game from a luxury box
RECORD: 65-42
AL EAST: Up 7 on NYY
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Thu vs. BAL 105
Game Preview: Orioles @ Sox GM2
Trachsel (5-7, 5.24) vs. Tavarez (6-8, 5.12)
Fenway Park 705
Rather than move Tim Wakefield up a day Tito has elected to tap Julian Tavarez to start tonight's contest in place of the dearly departed Kason Gabbard.
So after a couple of weeks relegated back to spot bullpen duty, Julie finds himself right back where he wants to be, and where every Sox fan cringes when they see him: in the starting rotation.
Wait a minute, that's not true--we hate to see him in any situation, starting or relieving (couldn't Theo have found a way to ship him back to St. Louie in the Pineiro giveaway, err deal?)
With his recent starting performances bordering on the obscene (28 hits, 16 earned runs in 13 1/3IP) maybe his recent solid stretch in the pen (3H, 0ER in 3 2/3IP) will help his confidence as a starter.
Or he could just shit the bed entirely.
Luckily for us he will be opposed by another mediocre mound man, Baltimore's Steve Trachsel.
After a couple of successful seasons in New York with the Mets, the 36-year-old vet is showing signs of wearing down as he has allowed at least four earned runs in 7 of his last 8 starts.
He's also allowed 9 homers in that time, covering a span of 36 1/3 innings.
Needless to say it doesn't take a Mensa member to figure out that this should be a high-scoring affair tonight, with a high probability of a bunch of balls exiting the Fens and a low probability of newly acquired set-up man Eric Gagne entering a close game in the 8th inning.
Unless the score is 12-11.
Go Sox!
Sox Drawer: Gagne, Garnett arrivals reinvigorate Boston
By bringing two legendary players to Boston, coupled with the impending Patriots debut of Randy Moss, the Hub is once again the center of the sports universe
Sights like this, plus the arrival of Eric Gagne, have made Boston the center of attention once again (AP/ESPN photo)
Ah it's times like these I almost wish I didn't leave the gridlocked & grimy confines of the World's Greatest City for the wide open, sunny spaces of fabulous South Florida.
As I type this there is enough rain falling outside to film "Evan Almighty II".
But really, I have to envy all my family and friends who still live in the city that never sleeps, sports-wise, for I can only imagine how giddy the locals are over this latest round of Beantown glory.
Sure, none of the three teams (unless the Bs trade for Sidney Crosby the team is dead to us) have actually won anything yet, but the prospect of a trio of titles in town within the next year is enough to turn the frown of a grizzled, weather-beaten Maine-iac upside down.
With the Celtics trade for Kevin Garnett and the Sox deadline deal that brought Eric Gagne to town coupled with the Pats off season signing of Moss, the three major teams have all brought marquee name players to clubs already rich in talent (well, in the Cs case not exactly rich, but...) which not only virtually assured each squad of a run at its respective championship but succeeded in focusing the national sports spotlight on a city with a trio of teams and owners who are not afraid to make a big deal.
Are you listening, New York, Chicago and Detroit?
Or, as Curt Schilling's buddy Dan Shaugnessy put it in his gloating Globe article today
"We are the town with Manny RamÃrez, Tom Brady, Kevin Garnett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Randy Moss, Ray Allen, Curt Schilling, Bill Belichick, Paul Pierce, David Ortiz, Adalius Thomas, Jonathan Papelbon, Tedy Bruschi, Josh Beckett, Rodney Harrison, Jason Varitek, Richard Seymour, and Eric Gagne. We have reasonable expectations of a World Series, a Super Bowl, and the NBA Finals. There never has been a better time to be a sports fan in Boston."
I'll just have to settle for being a Boston sports fan.
Oh look, the sun is starting to come out.
7.31.2007
Ex-Sox conspire to burn Boston, Beckett
Baltimore 5, Big Papi 3 QUOTES: "He might be the best pitcher in baseball right now." --Baltimore pitching coach Leo Mazzone on Bedard
WP: Bedard (11-4)
LP: Beckett (13-5)
SV: Walker (4)
HRs: BOS-Papi, 2 (18); BAL-Roberts (9)
SUMMARY
Josh Beckett was not sharp from the get-go, allowing a homer on his first pitch of the game, and a trio of former Sox players had big contributions as the Os knocked off the Sox for just the 5th time in the teams' last 24 meetings.
#1 STUNNER Brian Roberts 2-5, 2R, 2BI, 2B, HR
The solid second baseman got the Birds off to a good start by plopping Beckett's first pitch of the game off the top of the padded wall in right, then doubled to plate Baltimore's second run in the 3rd.
PAN's FAUN Beckett 8IP, 9H, 5ER, 2BB, 6K
The Cy Young is slowly slipping away for the All Star ace as he lost for the fourth time in his last six starts.
I wonder if it's just a coincidence that the two guys my son got autographs from on Sunday, Becks & Gabbard, had lousy days today?
RECAP
So this is how the Sox celebrate on of the biggest days in Boston sports history?
Following an afternoon filled with exciting announcements and arrivals as well as one bittersweet departure, Boston should have taken advantage of playing its first home game in a week and a sub-.500 squad and parlayed it into the start of another winning streak.
Instead all it got was a second consecutive disheartening loss and another shaky outing from onetime Cy Young shoo-in Josh Beckett, who has now dropped 5 of 9 decisions since opening the season 9-0.
The worst part of it all is that the loss unfolded slowly and deliberately, like a bad horror movie, and the carnage began in the very first scene.
Make that the very first line.
That's when Brian Roberts, who is quietly having another excellent season, ripped Beckett's first offering of the game down the right field line and off the top of the wall behind Pesky's Pole for a crowd-silencing solo shot mere minutes into the game.
Not that a one-run first inning deficit is anything to worry about, especially for an offensive juggernaut like Boston, but things only got worse after that.
In the bottom of the frame Julio Lugo (0-5) was robbed of a sure double on a diving catch by center fielder Corey Patterson, and even though the next two batters reached (Pedroia on an error by Miggy Tejada, Ortiz on a bloop single to center), the rally died when Manny popped out to second and Youk fanned to end the inning.
After both pitchers enjoyed 1-2-3 second innings, Baltimore commenced Act II of Beckett's fright night when it scored three runs in the third, an uprising sparked by former Boston player Jay Payton.
The disgruntled outfielder had a cup of coffee with the Sox in '05 but was quickly dealt when he groused over playing time, but he wasted no time jumping on Beckett's first pitch and ripped a one-out single to right.
Two pitches later Roberts laced a double off the base of the Wall to score Payton all the way from first, and after Roberts swiped third, Patterson walked and stole second, then old friend and longtime idiot Kevin Millar skidded a ball just past the sliding Lugo for a two-run single and a quick 4-0 Baltimore lead.
Told you it was a horror show.
At least Papi (3-4, 2R, 3RBI) provided some temporary relief when he launched a two-run bomb into the seats in right to cut the lead in half in the bottom of third, but the inning could have been even bigger if Lugo hadn't grounded into a double play immediately after Wily Mo led off the frame with a walk.
Bedard (6IP, 2H, 2ER, 5BB, 6K), who leads the majors in strikeouts and had won five consecutive starts coming in, worked his way out of another jam in the fourth.
Youk walked to lead off the inning, then after retiring Lowell on a fly out, Bedard hit Tek and then after wild pitching them both over a base, walked Coco to load the bases with one out.
But he buckled down and got Whiffy Mo to strike out, then after running the count full, froze Lugo on a pitch at the knees to escape the jame with the lead intact.
As usual that missed opp would come back to bite Boston in the nads when the Os tacked on another run in the sixth, this time without the aid of Roberts or an ex-Bosox.
Tejada got the rally started with an infield single that travelled roughly 20 feet, and after former D-Ray Audrey Huff singled him over to second, catcher Ramon Hernandez doubled Miggy home with a drive that landed just over the outstretched glove of Manny and ricocheted back towards the infield, and Baltimore's lead was now 5-2 with four more innings to go.
Bedard came out after the sixth in favor of another D-Ray castoff, Rob Bell, who after tossing a 1-2-3 seventh promptly surrendered a laser shot by Papi into the Boston bullpen to lead off the eighth and was immediately replaced by former Sox reliever Chad Bradford.
For the third time tonight Boston was done in by an ex-castmate when Bradford retired Manny (foul out), Youk (ground out) and Lowell (ground out) to escape the inning unscathed, and although he couldn't close the deal after he surrendered a one-out single to Coco in the 9th, temporary closer Jamie Walker got Lugo to ground into a fielder's choice and Pedroia to tap back to the mound to end it, and a day of celebrating in Beantown ended with a night of frustration and misery courtesy of a bunch of former friends.
Can't wait to see what happens when Gabbard comes back to town.
Luckily we won't have to worry about that till next year.
NOTES:
RECORD: 64-42
AL EAST: Up 7
STREAK: L-2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Wed vs. BAL 705
Series Preview: Orioles @ Sox
Baltimore Orioles (49-55) @ Red Sox (64-41)
AL EAST: Bos leads BAL by 14 1/2 games
Season Series: Bos leads, 4-2
Probable Pitching Matchups:
GM1 Tue 705 Bedard (10-4, 3.05) vs. Beckett (13-4)
Beckett is coming off that tough loss in Cleveland as the Tribe and Fausto Carmona blanked the Bososx in a 1-0 thriller last Wednesday. Bedard is B-More's best starter, so this one has all the makings of another pitcher's duel. MY PICK: Sox 1-0
GM2 Wed 705 Traschel (5-7, 5.26) vs. TBD
With the pitching matchups unsettled thanks to the trade of Kason Gabbard it's hard to say who will prevail in this one. No matter who pitches for Boston, though, they'll be going up against Steve Traschel, so...MY PICK: Sox
GM3 Thu 105 Guthrie (7-3, 2.89) vs. Wakefield
Wake will probably move up to pitch Game2, so who knows who'll start this one. Either way Guthrie has been pitching well, so look for the Birds to take this game out of the three. MY PICK: B-More
Player to watch: Brian Roberts .316/69R/64RBI--the diminutive second sacker leads the O's in average, runs, RBI and steals and he's also 8th in the AL in walks (60) and 7th in on-base percentage (.403)
Preview:
The Sox return to Fenway following a productive 5-2 road trip that culminated with that depressing loss at Tampa Bay but have to be buoyed by the deadline deal that will make former NL Cy Young winner Eric Gagne the setup man for Jonathan Papelbon, further strengthening an already formidable bullpen.
Unfortunately the homestand will be shorter than Billy Donovan's stint as the Magic coach as the team will play a quick three-game set before heading back to the west coast for another series in Seattle.
Weren't they just there?
Another unfortunate situation is the fact that Boston is catching the Birds at the wrong time--Baltimore has gone 11-5 since the break and its loss to the Stanks on Sunday snapped a six game winning streak for interim manager Dave Trembley's team; Trembley replaced fired skipper Sam Perlozzo on June 18th.
And while the Os are still nowhere near being a contending team, they still pose a lot of problems for Boston. I'm sure I don't need to remind anyone of the Mother's Day Miracle, when the Sox needed a 6-run ninth just to knock off the pesky Birds and take two of three in that series.
Someone may need to remind me of that game one day, since I infamously missed it.
Also the Sox rotation is in a little disarray thanks to the Gagne deal, which included tomorrow's starter Kason Gabbard being sent to Texas. Word is Wakefield will move up to pitch tomorrow, then who knows who'll go in Game 3.
I look for Boston to take two of three before heading out West with a revamped bully and with the team looking forward to the imminent return of Curt Schilling to the rotation, it's just a matter of time before Boston's pitching staff is unquestionably the best in baseball.
Go Sox!
Sox Drawer: Trades and deals abound in Beantown
As the MLB trade deadline comes and goes, the Celtics trump the Sox by bringing Kevin Garnett to Beantown; oh yeah, the Sox made some deals, too.
Sox Trade Deadline Tote Board:
Acquired: Eric Gagne
Lost: Kason Gabbard; Joel Pineiro
Failed to acquire: Dye; Teixeira;
Failed to deal: Wily Mo Pena
Sorry I haven't posted in a while but as you can see I have been busy trying to upgrade my site. Also, as you can see, I've still got a few kinks to work out, but I needed to post on the big Boston news, so bugs be damned.
While I was busy trying to improve the look of my blog, the Boston brass was busy upgrading the look of the bullpen as the team heads into the dog days of August with a comfortable yet not insurmountable division lead.
In a flurry of deadline activity the Sox sent starting pitcher Kason Gabbard along with Pawtucket outfield prospects David Murphy and Engel Beltre for Texas fomrer Cy Young winner Eric Gagne, and in a separate deal Boston shipped ineffective and recently demoted reliever Joel Pineiro to the Cardinals for cash and a future minor league prospect.
And just before those baseball deals went down, former Celtics teammates Danny Ainge and Kevin McHale brokered a blockbuster trade that will put 2004 NBA MVP and top 10 talent Kevin Garnett in Celtic green next season in what was the biggest deal for one player in league history.
Wow.
Shit, there's more wheeling & dealing going on in the Hub than at the friggin World Series of Poker.
Being a baseball blog I will just focus on the Sox, although the long-dormant Cs fan in me is ecstatic over the thought of the Big Ticket teaming with PP and Ray Ray next season at the New Garden.
Anyway, the biggest deal of the trade season after the Mark Teixeira to Atlanta deal was made just minutes before the 4PM deadline when the Sox sent promising young starter Gabbard to Texas for Gagne, the 2003 Cy Young winner who has undergone numerous operations since his sensation Cy campaign but has bounced back to become an effective reliever again.
Following his record-setting 84 consecutive save streak spanning 2002-04 Gagne underwent two elbow surgeries including Tommy John surgery plus a back operation in 2005 and 2006.
However when teams saw that the 31-year-old righty was probably healthy again this spring he began drawing interest from a few clubs, one of those being Boston, who courted him for a while when it was unclear who would close with Papelbon headed to the rotation.
But then Paps came to his senses and Gagne inked a 1-year pact worth $6 mil with the perennially pitching-starved Rangers, and now six months later after posting solid numbers this season (2-0, 2.16 ERA, 16 saves in 34 games), he has come full circle and made it to the club in the midst of a potential playoff season.
Funny how things work like that some time.
The price Boston had to pay to bring a veteran setup man to town was high but not astronomical. As I predicted in my post a couple of days ago, Gabbard was a near-lock to leave town with Schill coming back soon and Lester looking totally healed from his chemo treatments, and Murphy and Beltre were also expendable thanks to more coveted prospects like Jacoby Ellsbury and Brandon Moss waiting in the wings.
In smaller deal the Sox rid themselves of onetime potential closer turned horrific bullpen contributor Joel Pineiro for the proverbial bucket of balls.
After bringing him to Boston from Seattle in the offseason, the former starter was thought of as a possible replacement for Papelbon before his change of heart, but Pineiro never adapted to his new role and seemed to allow a run every time he came into a game.
His most memorable meltdown came when he went back to Seattle and allowed the game-losing hit in the 9th against his old mates.
So the Sox bullpen has a whole new look, and while the team didn't pick up the bat it wanted when Tex went to the Braves and the White Sox elected to hold on to Jermaine Dye, it still has a great offensive nucleus and now a bullpen that has been upgraded to the point that it looks like a case of the rich getting richer.
And with Garnett headed to Boston and Patriots training camp underway, the Hub is once again the center of the spoirts universe.
Read More......
7.29.2007
Pitchers duel turns into homerfest as Rays drop Sox
Tampa Bay 5, Sox 2
WP: Glover (4-3)
LP: Matsuzaka (12-8)
HRs: BOS-Manny (18), Youk (11); TB-Pena (25), Upton (13), Navarro (3)
SUMMARY
For 6 1/2 innings the teams engaged in a scoreless battle between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Kazmir, but in the bottom of the 7th Dice-K allowed a home run to Dioner Navarro, and when Manny Delcarmen allowed back-to-back homers in rlief of Dice, Boston's two longballs in the 8th were too little, too late.
#1 STUNNER Scott Kazmir 6IP, 6H, 0ER, 1BB, 8K
The young lefty lived up to his ace status with an impressive performance against one of the league's best offenses.
PAN's FAUN Manny D. 2/3IP, 3H, 3R, K, 2HR
The normally reliable Delcarmen came on in relief of Matsuzaka and turned a winnable game (1-0TB) into an improbable dream; the back-to-back jacks he allowed were the first two longballs the rookie has surrendered all year.
RECAP
The Devil Rays picked a grat time to snap their eigtht game losing streak--as Daisuke Matsuzaka was trying to tie the ML lead for victories, and my son and I were sitting 12 rows from the field to witness the carnage firsthand.
I had a feeling the game would not go according to plan when we received a series of disappointments before the game even started.
First, the tickets I received from my wife's contact at the Trop were not on the third base side but on the first base side, in other words smack dab in the middle of hostile territory. Then neither team took BP, a fact my glove-toting boy didn't take too well.
Anyway, after he got autographs from Gabbard and Josh Beckett things brightened a little, and even though our seats weren't in the heart of RSN territory, I'm not complaining about sitting 12 rows from Youk's station at first base.
Then the game began, and well were all treated to the pitching battle we had expected it would be. For the third time in less than a week the Sox and an opponent engaged in a lengthy scoreless duel, with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Kazmir tossing zeroes on the board like all the old timers tossing horshoes at the Sun City retirement center.
Though the lack of scoring was not for lack of baserunners. Both teams had numerous opportunities to push some runs across throughout the contest, but just when it looked like someone might break the seal, Dice & Kaz buckled down and got their team out of the jam.
The Sox had their first chache in the first inn ning when Julio Lugo led off the game with a walk, but he was quickly erased on the first of Papi's two double plays on the day.
Not to be outdone, Tampa Bay's leadoff hitter and fellow countryman of Dice-K, Akinori Iwamura, led off the bottom of the first with a solid single to right, but Matsuzaka escaped trouble thanks to a great diving catch of a Brendan Harris foul tip by Doug Mirabelli, a strikeout of B.J. Upton and Belli gunning down Iwamura trying to swipe second to end the inning.
In the second the Sox got two men on when Youk and Wily Mo both singled, but they couldn't capitalize, and wheh the Rays loaded the bases in the bottom half on a double, HBP and an infield single, it looked as if one team was going to grab an early lead.
But Dice escaped the messy situation when he got Josh Wilson to ground out to Pedroia, and after two innings despite seven baserunners neither team could take advantage of the other.
The next frame brought more of the same, as Lugo singled but was erased on Papi's second DP, and the Rays lost a golden chance to do some damage when Youk snagged Upton's hot shot to first and doubled off Harris after he had walked and Iwamura had led off the inning with a single.
On and on it went, both teams getting men on base and both pitchers living on the edge of allowing a run but climbing back thanks to a quality pitch or nice defensive play.
By the time both men tossed 1-2-3 sixths it looked as if this game was going to be decided by the pens, and with Boston posessing one of the best bullys in baseball and Tampa Bay owing one of the worst, the thousands of members of RSN knew it was just a matter of time before Boston broke through and wrapped up their second series of the Rays this month.
As you probably already know, things didn't exactly go according to plan.
Kazmir, who rarely pitches more than 5-6 innings due to high pitch counts and/or large deficits, was removed after the 6th having thrown just 97 pitches as the Rays manager, Joe milquetoast Maddon, must have had a sudden desire to tempt the fates and let his bullpen try and win a game for a change.
Who knew the mild mannered old fucker, who had actually been ejected for arguing the night before, would actually be right this time.
After Scott Doh!man allowed a one-out walk to Coco, who went to second on a ground out by Wily Mo and then stole third, and then walked Mirabelli, Gary Glover came in and retired Lugo on a grounder to Iwamura at third and the Rays pen had escaped its first jam in probably more than a month.
Tito wasn't as cautious with rubber-armed Dice-K, so with just 100 pitches on his scoresheet Matsuzaka trotted back out for the seventh as the Sox hoped to grab a run--and a win for him--in the next inning.
Unfortunately Matsuzaka and the Sox would come away with nothing but heartache thanks to a Tampa Bay upsrising that had been sorely lacking during their recent 5-25 skid.
The frame started out alright when Dice got Greg Norton to line out to Youk (with me and my son providing plenty of vocal support) to start the inning, but things went south quicker than a mid-summer thunder boomer after that.
Catcher Dioner Navarro, who has been a major disappoinment since the Rays acquired him last year from the Dodgers and is about to lose his job to recently activated Josh Paul, hit an 0-2 offering from Matsuzaka high and deep into the right field seats to score the game's first run, and after Wilson followed with a single to center, Tito pulled Matsuzaka, who received a warm ovation from the many Faithful fans in attnedance.
One run is no big deal when you think of the Sox hitters combined with the Rys pen, but what happnened next would make even us longtime diehards realize that a comeback was not going to be in the cards today.
Manny Delcarmen entered the contest with a 1.40 ERA and without allowing a home run all year.
He left with a 2.70 mark and not one but two longballs allowed as he surrendered a three-run jack to Upton following a single by harris, and then two pitches later a solo shot by former Sox first baseman Carlos Pena that made the score 5-0 and delighted the few Rays fans in attendance who had been treated to 2+ games of ridicule and humiliation courtesy of RSN South.
The Sox struck back when Manny, who owns the D-Rays, launched a shutout-busting bomb to left field and two pitches later Youk followed with a blast to deep left center off Glover, but with a 5-run cushion instead of just 1 or 2, even the Rays pen had to feel confident they could close this one out.
And after pinch hitter Jason Varitek walked with one out in the 9th, Glover got pinch hitter J.D. Boo! to strike out, then got Lugo to hit a fielder's choice grounder that forced Tek at second, and just like that a day of hope & promise turned into one of aggravation & disappointment.
But hey, at least we got Carl Crawford action figures.
With the off day Monday I'll do a follow-up post filled with picture highlights of my day at the Trop, but for now I'm just going to watch the game on the DVR to see if I made it on TV.
Hey I gotta get some enjoyment of that disaster, right?
RECORD: 64-41
AL EAST: Up 8 on NYY
STREAK: L-1
LAST 10: 8-2
UP NEXT: off Mon; Tue vs. BAL @ Fenway
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