David Ortiz has made two rehab starts with the PawSox in his recovery from a wrist tendon sheath injury, and he has walked and mashed a home run in each of his two games.
So it appears that the most important cog in the Sox championship machine is well on his way to rejoining the club in the very near future, provided Papi experiences no setbacks in the next week or so.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that after months of toeing the line, acting like a team player, and singing Kumbaya about his tenure with the Sox, Manny Ramirez has suddenly turned back into the team-altering spectacle that seems to infect the club around this time of the year the past 3-4 years.
With Ramirez in the middle of a pivotal option year, and the Boston management apparently tiring of his antics, the question now is, how long will the dynamic duo remain together after Papi's return?
At first Manny had us all fooled into thinking this year would be different. He showed up to spring training on time (a first), singing the praises of his team and expressing his desire to stay with the ball club after his contract is up at the end this year.
I took this as a not so veiled attempt to get the Boston brass to pick up his 20 million dollar option for next season, so much so that I predicted he would win the AL MVP by putting up 'contract year' numbers, as players in these situations so often do.
The first 2+ months of the season went exactly according to this theory. Manny started off crushing the ball, blasted his 500th career home run at the end of May, and had another memorable MBM moment when he high fived a fan while in the process of turning a rare 7-6-3 double play.
It was all good times and no worries on the Manny front. He wanted to be here. The team and fans wanted him to stay with Boston, and the club appeared to be headed towards another long post season run, especially with Papi's return on the horizon.
But then things stared to change. For the worse.
Two well documented run-ins, one with teammate Kevin Youkilis in a game against the Rays on June 3rd, and the other with traveling secretary Jack McCormick in Houston on June 28th, painted a far different picture of the fun loving, happy-go-lucky left fielder, one that suggests he might have hidden anger issues, or at the very least an over-inflated sense of entitlement.
Who knew those two unfortunate incidents would only be the tip of the iceberg?
Since the McCormick incident, in which Manny shoved the 60+-year-old retired former cop and berated him over a request for 16 extra tickets to the game, the relationship between Manny and management, and even the ever-forgiving fans, has spiraled out of control at a rapid rate.
Before the All Star break, Ramirez pinch hit in a game against the Yankees and watched three straight pitches from Mariano Rivera go by him for a crucial strikeout in the 9th inning of a game the Sox would eventually lose, 5-4 in the tenth.
During the break, Manny had a curious interview in the Boston Herald that rankled Sox owner John Henry, so much so that he issued a response stating how offended he was that Ramirez would insinuate the Boston management has been anything but fair and straightforward with him through all the years of Man-sanity.
And then, on the heels of all this madness, came the play in the outfield in last night's game vs. the Angels.
In the 6th inning of the 11-3 Boston loss, Anaheim's Maicer Izturis blooped a fly ball to shallow left field that looked like a harmless single.
But Ramirez, ever the clown, decided to try and dive for the ball, even though it appeared he had no chance of catching it.
Sure enough, the ball landed in front of him, but instead of responding quickly and professionally to his miscue, Manny rolled backwards, flopped around like a fish out of water, and ended up laying on the ball as Izturis raced around the bases with an RBI triple.
Ramirez got up and laughed the incident off, but Terry Francona and Theo Epstein, who was seated behind home plate, were not laughing, and to everyone watching the fiasco, you got the distinct feeling that the play could have been the straw that broke the ManRam's back in Boston.
Whether or not the Sox deal Manny in the next few weeks, decline to pick up his option at then end of the season, or do end up retaining the unstable slugger, one thing's for sure:
when the circus act known as Manny Being Manny starts to include bodily harm and total disregard for the integrity of the game, it might be time to ship that sideshow off to the next town.
7.19.2008
Sox Drawer: While Papi progresses, Manny regresses
6.02.2008
Double dose of doom: Sox blow game, lose Ortiz indefinitely
Orioles 6, Sox 3
WP: Johnson (1-2)
LP: Okajima (1-1)
SV: Sherrill (18)
HRs: BOS-Ramirez (12); BAL-None
SUMMARY:
As if losing the game after they had just taken a 3-2 lead when Hideki Okajima suffered an atomic implosion wasn't bad enough, the Sox got worse news when it was learned David Ortiz will be placed on the DL and miss a minimum of a month and possibly the rest of the season due to his wrist injury.
All together now: "Ay, Papi!"
SUPERSTAR: Adam Jones 1-4, 3BI, 2B
The rookie was having a horrible series at the plate (3-17) until he came to bat with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th and blasted a double off the wall off Oki to win the game for his team.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Okajima 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, 1BB, 0K, 24P
How do you say "fuckinggodawfuldogshitstanknasty-performance" in Japanese?
All together now: "Oh-ka-gee-mah!"
RECAP:
Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean that really got out of hand fast.
I realize quoting Anchorman on a blog is akin to wrapping up a complex story with "and they lived happily ever after", but in this case that quote was actually the first thing that came to my mind as Hideki Okajima turned what looked like a satisfying come-from-behind victory into a horrific, soul-sucking loss in a matter of minutes.
To make matters worse shortly after absorbing that low blow I'm watching ESPN and I happen to catch on that annoying, omnipresent bottom crawl that Big Papi might have to miss the season if his wrist injury doesn't heal IN A MONTH!
In a month? Before this game started we were led to believe that this could be one of those pesky little injuries that might get better in a few days. Now we learn it's a torn tendon sheath which will require a minimum month's rehab, and if that doesn't work it's sayonara 2008 season for the team's most clutch slugger.
You talk about a devastating 1-2 punch. My gut felt like the ear of that guy who fought Kimbo Slice the other night.
Normally on the heels of such a devastating announcement the result of one game out of 162 would be a minor footnote. Except this wasn't an ordinary game.
Boston blew scoring opportunities in each of the first four innings off Orioles starter Jeremy Guthrie (6.1IP, 8H, 2ER, 1BB, 5K, 1HR), a theme that would come back to haunt them later in the game.
In the first inning Julio Lugo, batting second with Pedroia getting the night off, singled with one out and Kevin Youkilis (1-3, R, 2BB) followed with a single to right, but Guthrie retired Manny and Lowell to escape the jam.
After Tim Wakefield (7IP, 5H, 2ER, 4BB, 3K) escaped a two-on, one-out situation in the bottom of the inning thanks to a strike 'em out/throw 'em out double play, Boston botched another scoring chance in the second when JD Drew led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice, but once again Guthrie got the last two outs to end the threat.
Jacoby Ellsbury led off the third with a single, but Lugo quickly killed that potential rally when he grounded into a double play, and in the fourth inning Lowell (2-4, RBI) singled with one out and following a strikeout by Drew Coco Crisp broke an 0-22 skid with a single, but Alex Cora lined out to once again squelch the opportunity.
The missed chances would come back to bite Boston in the ass in the bottom of the fourth when Baltimore scored a pair of runs off Wakefield on a walk, and RBI double by Audrey Huff and a run-scoring single by The Original Idiot to give the O's a 2-0 lead.
The red hot Ramirez (2-5, R, BI) got half that lead back when he slammed his third homer in as many days, another opposite field blast, for his 502nd home run, and the Sox would tie the game in the next inning when Kevin Cash doubled in Cora, who had walked, and suddenly it was a new ballgame at 2-2.
Boston grabbed its first lead of the game off reliever Jim Johnson in the 8th when Youk led off with a walk, Manny followed with a single, and after a wild pitch moved them over Lowell singled past the second baseman to score Youk and give the Sox a 3-2 lead.
But a golden chance to get more runs went by the wayside when Manny inexplicably broke for home on a grounder to the shortstop, who was playing in to prevent the run, by Drew, and when Coco walked to load the bases all we needed was a single to break the game open.
Unfortunately Cora grounded into a rally-killing double play, and minutes later the failure to put more runs on the board would come back to cost the Sox a chance to win this game.
That's because the minute Hideki Okajima entered the game it was like a black cloud enveloped the stadium.
Toting a deceiving 0.72 ERA into the game, which belied the fact that Oki has been allowing inherited runners to score at an alarming rate this season, the lefty immediately proceeded to load the bases with no outs on three consecutive singles to right field, and everyone in the nation knew there was no where to go but down from here.
Sure enough Millah (1-3, 2BI) hit a booming sac fly that nearly left the yard to tie the game at three, but after a grounder by Luke Scott got Melvin Mora nailed at the plate thanks to a heads-up play by Youk, it looked as if Oki might escape the inning with the game tied.
Ah, not quite.
Okajima, who couldn't find the plate at all (13 of his 24 pitches were balls and he was behind every batter), then walked .218 hitting catcher Ramon Hernandez to load the bases, and then on a 3-1 count Adam Jones, still yet to prove his worth after coming over in the Erik Bedard trade, made himself a Camden hero by booming a ball high off the centerfield wall to clear the bases, ending Oki's night and the game as well.
Boston actually had a chance to tie the game off closer George Sherrill, who walked Lugo and Youk with two outs, giving Manny a chance at capping a truly memorable weekend with a game-tying home run, but although Ramirez gave the ball a ride to right field once again the ball fell short of the seats and Baltimore had salvaged one game of the series.
But like I said a game is not as important in the grand scheme of things when one of the key pieces to the championship contender is on the shelf indefinitely. Combine that somber fact with the loss of number one starter Dice K and the first place Rays coming to Fenway tomorrow, and what was a bright and sunny weekend took a dark turn on a Monday night in Baltimore.
Like Ron Burgundy said, things really got out of hand fast.
RECORD: 35-25
AL EAST: 1 1/2 GB
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Tue vs. TB @ Fenway 7:05 Masterson vs. Garza
6.01.2008
Game Preview: Sox @ Orioles GM3
Colon (2-0, 2.25) vs. Burres (4-4, 4.15)
Game 3 of 4 1:35 @ Camden Yards
Just as the excitement of Manny Ramirez joining the 500 home run club starts to subside the Sox are hit with more depressing injury news as David Ortiz will miss today's game and possibly more due to a wrist injury he incurred while swinging the bat in the 9th inning last night.
An X-ray after the game proved negative but the wrist is sore and Papi says he will need to have an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
So we can add his name to those of Daisuke Matsuzaka and Clay Buchholz as key members of the club who are currently injured.
On the bright side Boston goes for its third win in a row today when Bart Colon goes for his third consecutive win since being called up a couple of weeks ago from Pawtucket.
In his first two starts with the Sox he has gone from decent (5IP, 6H, 2ER, 2BB, 4K) in his first start to superb in his last one (7IP, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K), flashing a 95 mph fastball while hitting his spots and limiting any potential damaging innings.
Which means he's about due for a letdown.
His mound opponent on the afternoon is the struggling lefthander Brian Burres. In his last outing Burres was tagged for 8 runs and 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings against the Stanks in a game Baltimore came back to win, 10-9 in extra innings.
Before that start Burres had been pitching well, allowing 3 runs and 10 hits over 14 1/3 innings in his previous two starts, and in 8 appearances against Boston he has surrendered 14 hits and 5 runs with 9 walks and 9 Ks in 14 2/3 innings.
Hopefully the euphoria over Ramirez' milestone will carry over to today's contest and the Sox can overcome the loss of Ortiz and the probable letdown of Colon to take Game 3 of this series.
Maybe they'll steal six more bases and Baltimore will make six more errors.
NOTES:
-Bailey to start: with Ortiz sitting out and Manny most likely spent from celebrating #500 last night Jeff Bailey will get the nod and make his first ML start since last July this afternoon. Bailey will play left while Manny slides to DH
-Tito out again: Terry Francona will miss another game as he attends his daughter's high school graduation today. Brad Mills will take the helm for the third time against the O's and 5th time this season.
-Bradford bitter about 500: Baltimore reliever Chad Bradford wasn't too concerned with his historic homer he allowed to Ramirez, basically blowing it off as another bad pitch that got hit out of the park and not something that will consume him. Yeah, right. Not until he hears "the man who surrendered Manny Ramirez' 500th homer" for about the 5,000th time
5.26.2008
Pitching and defense highlights solid win for Sox
Sox 5, Mariners 3
WP: Colon (2-0)
LP: Hernandez (2-5)
HRs: BOS-Ortiz (12); SEA-None
SUMMARY:
The Red Sox got back on the winning track in a game that featured numerous terrific defensive plays and stellar starting pitching. Boston broke open a 1-1 tie in the 8th when it plated 4 runs off Felix Hernandez, and Jonathan Papelbon closed out the game after a tumultuous 9th inning.
SUPERSTAR: Bartolo Colon 7IP, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 4K, 84P
As good as the former Cy Young winner was in his debut last week, tonight he was even better as Colon was hitting his spots all night and worked his way out of several jams thanks to his composure and defense.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Hernandez 7IP, 7H, 5ER, 5BB, 5K, HR, 112P
Hard to believe this was the same guy who tossed a one-hit masterpiece against the Sox last year in Fenway. This time he was just okay, at least for seven innings, until Boston broke it open in the 8th off the tiring former phenom.
RECAP:
"Did you see that catch by Ichiro? "
Be prepared to hear that a lot because the Mariner centerfielder's incredible, Mays-esque wall-crashing catch to rob Jason Varitek of extra bases in the 5th inning will be replayed on highlight reels and between innings for years to come.
Fortunately for the Sox this game was more than a great catch as Boston got a few nice defensive plays of its own and a quality start from Bartolo Colon to snap its three game losing streak and send Seattle to its 7th straight defeat.
But man was that catch awesome or what?!
See we in the Nation can appreciate it now that our team got the win. But at the time it occurred it was one of those "oh my god, they're gonna use that great grab as a springboard to break the skid they're on and win this game" type of moments.
After all the score was just 1-0 Boston, courtesy of a David Ortiz moonshot off Hernandez in the 4th inning, and Colon had got himself into a couple of mini-jams the two innings prior to "The Catch", giving the Mariners hope that they could mount a comeback and win the game.
But alas Colon, who did allow the game tying run in the 6th inning, buckled down and kept the Ms in check, and the slumbering Boston offense did the rest as they finally awoke in the 8th inning to put this game - and the Nation - to bed.
But not before some tense moments supplied by closer Jonathan Papelbon, who apparently has definitely been hanging with the rest of the bullpen crew too much.
The game started out as a pitcher's duel right from the get-go, with both Colon and Hernandez setting the sides down in order through the first 2 1/2 innings before Bartolo ran into his first spot of trouble in the bottom of the third.
Kenji Johjima started the rally with a one-out double down the left field line and Yunieski Betancourt moved him to third when he followed that hit with a solid single to right. The only thing that kept Johjima from scoring was the threat of Drew's strong arm, a play that would prove fortunate for the Sox.
Colon got Ichiro (2-5, R, BI) to fly out to shallow center to hold the runner at third, and then Dustin Pedroia turned in the game's first defensive gem when he snagged a skidding grounder by Jose Lopez that seemed headed to right field, did one of his patented bounce-ups, and threw to Sean Casey at first to get the final out of the inning.
Ortiz made the M's immediately regret the missed opportunity when he turned on a Hernandez fastball and drove it approximately 420 feet to deep, straightaway center field for his 12th homer of the season and second in two days, and Boston had a tenuous 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 4th the Mariners staged another mini-threat when after a leadoff walk to Jose Vidro, Colon's only free pass of the night, JD Drew made a nice running catch of a ball that appeared headed for the corner to rob Jeremy Reed of a possible game-tying extra base hit.
The Sox missed a chance to add to their lead when JD Drew singled with one out in the 5th, but that's when Ichiro pulled his wall-crashing stunt that electrified the crowd and crushed the Sox chance to put another run on the board.
Seattle finally broke through Colon's armor in the 6th when Ichiro led off with a single, Lopez was hit by a pitch, and after Vidro sacrificed both runners over Raul Ibanez grounded out to Pedroia to plate Ichiro with the game tying run.
Both starters escaped trouble in the 7th, Hernandez sandwiching a pair of walks between a double play by Lowell and Colon working around a pair of singles to retire Inchiro on a fly out, and then Boston broke it open as King Feliz tired in the 8th.
Hernandez hasn't been the same pitcher since that game at Fenway last April when he took a no hitter into the 8th before Drew spoiled his bid at history, and after bursting onto the scene in that game he has spent a lot of time on the DL and trying to find his lost mojo.
In the 8th his mojo took another beating as Boston batted around, scoring 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk, and why Mariners manager John McLaren left his tiring starter in there to absorb the beating is a question that I'm sure will be debated in the Pacific Northwest for the next 24 hours.
Sean Casey, playing for Youk, started the rally with a sharp single to right, but Julio Lugo's sac bunt attempt failed miserably as Richie Sexson pounced on the ball and nailed Casey at second.
When Jacoby Ellsbury (1-4, BB) grounded out to second it looked like the rally was dead before it started, although it did move Lugo over to scoring position.
But Dustin Pedroia launched the next pitch from Hernandez to deep left center for a ground rule double that broke the tie, and after McLaren decided to intentionally walk Ortiz (1-4, 2R, BI, BB, 2K), Manny Ramirez made him pay with a booming single to deep right that scored Pedroia and set up runners at second and third for Mike Lowell.
Only a sterling defensive play by third baseman Adrian Beltre prevented the inning from becoming a catastrophe as Beltre snared Lowell's hot shot down the line to keep the ball in the infield as Papi scored Boston's fourth run, but an infield single by Drew (2-3, BB) and a bases loaded walk to Tek sealed the fate of Hernandez and the Ms.
Staked to a 5-1 lead Okajima did his job in the 8th before handing the game over to Papelbon in the 9th, but the closer made the game a lot closer than it should have been as he nearly broke down on the mound.
Paps allowed 2 runs on 2 hits and a throwing error of his own before finally getting Vidro to ground out to end the game, and with that the losing skid was snapped and Boston climbed back to 1/2 game out of first place behind the surging Rays.
All in all it was an excellent effort after the debacle in Oakland, one that was filled with many positives for Boston, not the least of which is the apparent addition of another quality starter to the rotation in the form of the rejuvenated Colon.
But did you see that catch by Ichiro?
RECORD: 32-22
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Tue @ SEA 10:10 Matsuzaka vs. Bautista
5.25.2008
A's broom Boston out of Oakland
Oakland 6, Sox 3
WP: Blanton (3-6)
LP: Lester (3-3)
SV: Street (11)
HRs: BOS-Ortiz (11); OAK-Cust (8)
RECAP:
Gotta confession to make here - I didn't catch a minute of this game.
Instead the fam and I went to see Iron Man at the multiplex before it gets booted out in favor of the myriad other summer blockbusters.
And after seeing the end result of both the film and the game, I'm sure as hell glad we did.
I DVRd the game and planned on watching it when we got back, but after seeing the final score (damn ESPN crawl) I decided against it. Why ruin a perfectly good holiday weekend?
From what I did see on the highlights and recaps Jon Lester of course did not come close to matching his masterful performance from last Monday, surrendering a base hit to the first batter he faced en route to a decent (5IP, 7H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 3K) but not quality start, and the Boston offense was once again held in check, this time by mediocre Joe Blanton.
The good things to come from the contest, which was Boston's 7th straight road defeat, were David Ortiz' 11th homer of the season in the first inning and Manny Ramirez' first 3-hit game in three weeks. Ramirez, who improved to 13-21 off Blanton lifetime, also drove in a pair of runs, matching his total from the last 10 games combined.
The bad, aside from Lester's letdown, include Boston batters striking out 10 times, 3 by Jason Varitek and 2 each by Lowell, Youk and JD Drew, and Craig Hansen (1.2IP, 2H, 1ER, 1K) getting shelled again, raising his ERA to a Gagne-esque 7.20.
All in all it was a wasted trip to the Bay area, and the trio of losses combined with Tampa Bay's three game winning streak propelled the rays back into first place as the Sox head to Seattle to take on the sliding Mariners.
And if things start going poorly in that series I might have to go check out Indiana Jones.
RECORD: 31-22
AL EAST: 1/2 GB
STREAK: L3
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Mon @ SEA 10:10 Colon vs. Hernandez Read More......
5.17.2008
Dice goes to 7-0 thanks to Big Papi's big blast
Sox 5, Milwaukee 3
WP: Matsuzaka (7-0)
LP: Suppan (2-3)
SV: Papelbon (12)
HRs: BOS-Ortiz (8); MIL-Cameron (4), Braun (11)
SUMMARY:
Daisuke Matsuzaka had one of his best outings of the year, limiting the Brewers to 7 hits and a pair of runs in 6 2/3 innings of work, and David Ortiz provided all the run support Boston would need when he slammed a 3-run, opposite field homer over the Monster in the second inning to propel the Sox to the win.
SUPERSTAR: Ortiz 2-2, 2R, 3BI, 2BB, HR
Ortiz' early blast set the tempo for the day and got the team off on the right foot following 2 1/2 days of inactivity. Papi was on base four times, raising his average to .244 and OBP to .353, and knocked in his 30th, 31st and 32nd runs of the year.
In other words, Here. Comes. Papi.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Jeff Suppan 6IP, 9H, 4ER, 2BB, 1K, HR
The former Sox draft pick settled down after a rocky first couple of innings, but unfortunately it was the runs he gave up in those couple of innings that cost his team the game.
RECAP:
Game 1 is done and thankfully the boys started the day out in style.
Because the last thing you want is a lousy loss in the opener of a doubleheader, especially when the team has to turn right back around and play the next game in an hour and a half.
Actually the last thing you would want is extra innings in the opener, but thankfully the baseball gods decided not to subject us to that.
We in the Nation can also be thankful for the combo of Daisuke Matsuzaka and David Ortiz, as it was those two studs who led the team out of the doldrums of a 4-game losing skid and back to the promised land of a potential winning streak.
After the Sox handed him a 4-0 lead after two innings, the first run scoring on a bases loaded walk to JD Drew in the 1st and the next three on Papi's Monster shot in the 2nd, Matsuzaka made it hold up despite facing a couple of game-changing situations in the next few innings.
In the 5th inning the Brewers loaded the bases with two outs on a single, hit batter and a walk, but Dice got Mike Cameron to fly out to center to end the threat. And in the 6th inning Ryan Braun (3-5, 1R, 1BI) led off with a single and then Prince Fielder moved him to third with a double before Matsuzaka retired the next three hitters, two by strikeout, to nip that bid in the bud.
But in the 7th Dice-K finally cracked and allowed a pair of runs, both scoring after two were out when Ricky Weeks reached on an error by Kevin Youkilis at third (yes, you read that right) and then Cameron belted a two-run bomb to cut the Sox lead to 4-2.
It was Youk's first error at any position since last July 25th, but his errorless streak at first base still stands at 222 games.
That would be all for Dice-K, but luckily the Boston bully made the lead hold up, and when Jacoby Ellsbury (2-5, R, BI) doubled in Jason Varitek, who had also doubled, in the 8th inning to push the lead to 5-2 it gave Papelbon one more run to work with for the save.
Good thing, too, because Paps gave the run right back when with two outs Braun turned on a fastball and launched it into the Monster seats to give the Brewers hope for a comeback, but Paps got some help when Alex Cora made a nice over the shoulder catch of a popper by Fielder to end the game, and Boston came away with a much-needed win.
Now it's time to catch a bite to eat, maybe a quick catnap, do a few stretches and get right back out there for game number two.
It's the kind of day that can only make Ernie Banks happy.
And maybe Little Leaguers.
RECORD: 25-19
AL EAST: 1GB
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Tonight vs. MIL 8:30 Bush vs. Wakefield
4.23.2008
No comeback tonight - Sox finally lose
Los Angeles of Anaheim 6, Sox 4
WP: Garland (3-2)
LP: Hansen (0-1)
SV: Rodriguez (8)
HRs: BOS- Ortiz (3); LAA- Kotchman (6), Matthroids Jr., 2 (4)
SUMMARY:
Ravaged by illness and injury, the undermanned Sox tried to stage another come-from-behind win, but Boston couldn't stave off the relentless Angels, who scored runs in six separate innings to hand the Sox their first loss in seven games.
Superstar: Casey Kotchman 2-3, R, RBI, BB, HR
He's had big homers in each of the last two games, but unlike last night, when his solo shot merely tied the game, tonight's 6th inning blast off Craig Hansen wound up being the game winner.
The Biggest Loser: Hansen 1.2IP, 2H, 1ER, 0BB, 3K, HR
The youngster was called up earlier in the day to do one thing - get batters out. Allowing game-winning homers after your team has scratched & clawed to tie the game up is not part of that equation.
RECAP:
Once again the Comeback Kings tried to swipe a victory from the jaws of defeat.
But after going to that well about a dozen times this season, they finally found the spring had dried up.
Facing deficits of 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 3-2 and 4-2 thanks to a shoddy start by Jon Lester, Boston fought back to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th inning on a 2-run homer by David Ortiz, only to see the fruits of their labor washed down the drain when Kotchman's homer off Hansen gave Anaheim the final lead they would need to salt this one away.
I know, I know, they say all good things must come to an end.
But that stupid saying doesn't make the end hurt any less.
The worst part about this game isn't the fact that Boston lost - I mean with the clubhouse resembling the #4077th and the grounds crew installing a revolving door on the mound, a defeat in the near future was inevitable - but it was how they lost that was so frustrating.
I would rather they suffered a good old-fashioned woodshed beatdown than lose the game, and the six game win streak, in the manner they did tonight.
As I mentioned, Lester (5IP, 9H, 4ER,2BB, 1K, 2HR), who was forced to start on 3 days rest for the first time in his career when Daisuke Matsuzaka came down with the flu, was magnificently mediocre in his 5th start of the season. He was hit early (1 run in each of the first 3 innings), he was hit hard (2 homers by Gary Matthroids Jr exited the ballpark - please check his urine), and he was hit often (at least 1 hit allowed in each of his 5 innings of work), yet he was off the hook for the loss when Papi's homer landed in the first row of seats in right field.
At that point I think every member of the Nation assumed okay, they came all the way back to tie it, this win's in the bag now.
You know the old saying about assuming, I, ah, assume?
With the game tied at four and Lester having gone the requisite five, Francona called on callup Hansen, the fireballing righty who along with Delcarmen, Lester and Buchholz is projected as a key future piece of the staff. Although he was making his first appearance in the bigs since 2006, all he had to do was set the Angels down for an inning or two and let the Boston batters do the rest.
And he did just that - except for one big hit allowed.
After retiring the first two batters in the 6th, Kotchman, the former Seminole High standout whose father owns a baseball academy down here, deposited a 1-0 offering from Hansen into the right field seats to give the Halos a 5-4 lead, and even though Hanson went on to get a few more big outs, the damage, as they say, was done.
To make any chance of a comeback that much harder, Mike Timlin, who continues to look every bit of a 42-year-old reliever with 1000+ games under his belt, gave up a huge insurance run in the 9th, and when Frankie K-Rod Rodriguez trotted out for the bottom of the 9th with a 2-run lead, it was okay for the fans who made up the 400th consecutive sellout at Fenway to head for the exits.
Yes it was a disappointing way to end the streak, but considering how many players are hurt or sick, the loss wasn't all bad. In fact there were quite a few positives to take away from this one, such as: every member of the team except JD Drew registering at least 1 hit; Julio Lugo (9 gms) and Dustin Pedroia (12 gms) extending their hitting streaks; Ortiz racking up his 15th RBI in the last 8 games; and Sean Casey recording 2 more hits and yet another double.
Plus the game was played in under 3 hours!
But as I said before, just because the good times had to end doesn't mean we have to like it.
I guess you could say we've been spoiled, but a team that finds a different way and a different player every day will do that to a fanbase.
At least we don't have much time to dwell on it - day baseball tomorrow, time to start a new streak. If only we could figure out who's going to start...
RECORD: 15-8
STREAK: L1
LST 10: 8-2
AL EAST: Up 2 1/2 gms
UP NEXT: Thu vs. LAA 135 Saunders vs. ?????
4.18.2008
Sox crush Rangers behind Papi's grand slam
WP: Matsuzaka (4-0)
LP: Mendoza (0-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Ortiz (2), Pedroia (1); TEX-Blalock (3)
The score didn't remain 1-0 for long as Papi watches his shot clear the bases in the 3rd
SUMMARY
David Ortiz broke out of his season-long slump in a big way tonight, blasting a 3rd inning grand slam to the opposite field and driving in another run with a single in the 8th, and Daisuke Matsuzaka became the AL's first 4-game winner as Boston rolled the Rangers at Fenway.
Superstar: Ortiz 2-4, R, 5BI, GS
Not only did Papi hit his first homer since April 2nd in Oakland, but he knocked in more runs in this game than he had all year, and he raised his average 23 points. He's still only batting .134, but he's been swinging the bat much better this past week.
The Biggest Loser(s): Rangers pitchers 8IP, 11R, 11H, 5BB, 4K, 2HR, HBP
Starter and former Red Sox farmhand Luis Mendoza (7ER in 3 innings) was awful, but relievers Josh Rupe and Dustin Nippert weren't much better as each got hammered like chopped meat, turning this game into glorified BP for Boston.
RECAP:
Finally, RSN has a reason to thank the MLB schedule makers.
After beginning the year thousands of miles from home in three different countries, then playing a brief homestand and another road trip that had them facing the Stankees 5 times in the last week, the road warriors were rewarded when they returned home tonight to open a stretch of 15 out of 18 games at Fenway:
the pitching-challenged, perennially disappointing Texas Rangers.
In the words of Ricky Bobby, thank you sweet baby Jesus.
The Sox treated the break from the pressure-packed, media-centric Stankees series' like a CPA treats April 16th - like an unofficial vacation day, as they clobbered the Rangers pitchers early and often en route to a ho-hum 11-3 victory.
Although Daisuke Matsuzaka (5.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, 4K, HR) wasn't sharp again, especially early on when he surrendered a pair of hits and a couple of walks, plus a stolen base and a sac fly in the first three innings, his offense remained hot enough to bail him out and allow him to win his 4th consecutive start, making him the first four game winner in the American League this year.
And it didn't take long for the offense to get him out of that 1-0 hole, thanks to the resurgent bat of David Ortiz.
Following the Ranger's sac fly in the 3rd that gave them the lead, Boston immediately loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the inning against former prospect Mendoza on a double by Jed Lowrie (2-3, R, BI) and consecutive walks to Ellsbury and Pedroia.
Up stepped Papi, whose bat came alive a bit in the series in New York and had shown signs of coming out of his season-long funk. What a perfect opportunity to silence some of the growing critics who have been whispering that he is either too hurt or getting too old to continue putting up Ortiz-like numbers.
All it took was one pitch for Papi to dispel those rumors as he launched a Mendoza offering high and deep over the Monster for a crowd-pleasing, critic-silencing grand slam, the 8th of his career and first since last August 18th against the Angels' Jered Weaver.
Hilarity ensued as his teammates gave him the silent treatment at first when he entered the dugout, only to jump up and mob the affable giant moments later as he strolled down the bench looking slightly bemused.
The good times continued to roll in the next inning as Boston drove Mendoza from the game when they scored 5 more runs to blow the game wide open. A leadoff walk by JD Drew, the only starter not to record a hit, was followed by a booming double off the top of the Monster by Cap'n Tek to push the lead to 5-1, and when Mayor Casey (2-4, 2R) followed that hit with a single, Mendoza was yanked in favor of Josh Rupe.
Unfortunately for Texas manager Ron Washington, the Sox treated Rupe like a rube, greeting his arrival with a sac fly by Lowrie, a triple over the center fielder's head by Jacoby Ellsbury, and a 2-run homer by Pedroia that ran the score to 9-1 and essentially turned the remainder of the game into garbage time.
When Hank Blalock blasted a 2-run shot off Dice-K in the 6th, Tito pulled the tiring starter (101 pitches thru 5 1/2) and saw his bullpen turn in 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. In the "insult to injury" department, Boston got those two runs back on a single by Ortiz in the 8th that scored Casey, and when the cutoff got away from everyone, Ellsbury scampered home to finish the scoring and send the crowd home happy to see a blowout in the team's return to home turf.
There were a lot of good things to build off of in this one, and with three more games coming against Texas, including the Patriot's Day brunch game on Monday, the team could be in excellent position to enlarge its division lead before the tough Anaheim Angels come to Fenway on Tuesday.
As long as Papi keeps hitting like he's capable, and the rest of the team stays hot, the sky's the limit for this club as it finally shakes off the jet lag from the early travels.
No thanks to the schedule makers for that, though.
RECORD: 11-7
STREAK: W2
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
UP NEXT: Sat vs Tex 7pm Jennings vs. Lester
4.02.2008
Papi powers Sox to series win vs. Oakland
Sox 5, Oakland 0
WP: Lester (1-1)
LP: Embree (0-1)
SV: None
HRs: Bos- Papi (1), Tek (1)
Superstar: Big Papi 2-4, R, BB, 2BI, HR
Ortiz finally broke out of his 0-11 slump, first with a single in the 5th and then in a more Papi-like way with a 2-run bomb in the top of the 7th. His shot gave the Sox all the runs they would need to win the game and the series and put to rest any doubts that despite several injuries and surgeries Papi will still be Papi.
At last he's back where he belongs - in this category and not the next one.
The Biggest Loser: Manny 0-4, BB, 2K, GIDP, 6LOB
He left 2 men on base in the 1st and 5th innings when he whiffed both times, then grounded into a double play with the bases loaded to end the 8th. In between he failed to budge from home plate when he smashed a deep drive to center following Papi's homer, proving that despite several signs to the contrary, Manny will still be Manny.
Just a flat out awful game for ManRam.
RECAP:
Jet lag, what jet lag?
Boston continues to stifle any talk that the opening trip to the Far East and the West Coast will diminish its ability to successfully defend its title as the Sox swept the two games in Oakland thanks to a quality start by Jon Lester and another big, timely hit from David Ortiz.
Coming off a dreary performance in Japan Lester (6.2IP, 3H, 3BB, 3K) pitched a solid game, allowing just a pair of singles and a double in 6+ innings of work. Although he walked three batters he was bailed out when his teammates turned 3 double plays, including a catch & throw to first by J.D. Drew to nail Mike Sweeney to end the fifth.
Unfortunately I didn't get to see most of the first six innings since the start time for this one didn't coincide with my work schedule, but by following it on ESPN GameCast it seemed as if this one was shaping up to be a heartbreaking loss due to a number of missed opportunities by the Boston offense.
Oakland starter Rich Harden (5IP, 4H, 4BB, 6K) wasn't nearly as effective as he was in Japan in Game 2 of the series, but he still kept the game scoreless before giving way to the pen to start the 6th. The Sox loaded the bases in the first with no outs before Harden fanned Manny & Lowell and got J.D. Drew to--what else--ground out to first in his first at bat of the 2008 season to squelch the threat, then Harden worked out of a 2-on, 2-out jam in the 5th when he caught ManRam looking at strike three.
Boston would load the bases again in the 6th against Andrew Brown and had four men reach base in the inning, two on HBPs, yet still couldn't score thanks to a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play and fielder's choice grounder by Pedroia, but in the 7th Boston and Papi would finally break through and score all the runs they would need to take this series.
Lucky for me that's right when I got home from work and turned on the trusty Extra Innings feed.
Youk (2-4, R, BI) got the party started with a hustle double to left center, then stood and watched as Ortiz launched Alan Embree's second pitch high and deep over the wall in right center for his first homer and RBIs of the season, and just like that Papi's early season slump was over and the so was the game.
The Sox would tack on a few insurance runs to take the pressure off the pen, two in the 8th on five consecutive base hits, including RBI singles by Pedroia (2-5, BI) and Youk, and a single run in the 9th on a solo shot by Cap'n Tek, runs that allowed Tito to rest his closer and get Manny Delcarmen his 2nd appearance of the season.
Now the team will head toward home to play a game in the Eastern time zone for the first time this season when they open a 3-game set against the Jays in Toronto Friday night. After two games at 6:00 am , one at 10:00 pm and one at 3:30 in the afternoon, it will be nice to sit in front of the set and see the Sox playing meaningful baseball games at a normal hour of the day.
What a quaint idea.
NOTES:
Youk's the man at 1st base: When he fielded Jack Cust's grounder with two outs in the 9th and beat him to the bag it was an appropriate way for Youk to end this game; he became the all-time record holder in consecutive error less games played at the position, besting Steve Garvey's mark of 193 games in a row. In honor of the achievement the As gave him the first base bag as well as the ball, which should both be headed to Cooperstown. Throw in the fact that he got two more hits and is now batting a robust .400 on the season and it appears the legend of Youk, along with his goatee, is only going to continue to grow.
Drew's back is back: After sitting out the first three games of the season with back spasms, J.D. Drew returned to the lineup and played right field, and as usual he had an interesting game. He was 1-5 with a single, struck out twice including once leading to a double play, and nailed a runner at first for an outfield assist. Fitting his first at bat of the season resulted in a ground out to the left side of the infield. Some things will never change, playoff grand slam or no.
Hit Show: for the second time in the series the Sox reached double digits in hits (13), with every starter except Manny & Lowell notching at least one and 6 players (Pedroia, Youk, Papi, Tek, Coco, Cora) racking up a pair of hits apiece.
Altered states: With the day game today and an off day tomorrow, Francona mixed up the lineup today, sitting Jacoby Ellsbury and Julio Lugo in favor of Coco Crisp and Alex Cora. The moves paid off as the two replacements combined to get on base 6 times with 4 hits, a walk and a HBP.
Beckett set for Sunday: more good news for the club came when Josh Beckett pitched in a minor league game and was declared ready to start his season Sunday against Roy Halladay and the Jays in Toronto. It just so happens that game will be the first on TBS' new slate of Sunday afternoon games, and it should help the upstart net garner nice ratings for a game this early in the season.
UP Next: Friday @ Toronto 715EST (yay!)
10.12.2007
ALCS GM 1: Sox crush Tribe behind Beckett and boppers
WP: Beckett (2-0)
LP: Sabathia (1-1)
HRs: BOS-None; CLE-Hafner (1)
Perfect 10: As Manny & Papi reach base all 10 times, we are left to wonder, is there no limit to what these two can do?
RECAP
Josh Beckett came one step closer to entering the pantheon of legendary postseason performers with yet another masterful victory, although this time he proved he was human by allowing a couple of runs, and the dynamic duo of David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez reached base in all ten of their plate appearances as Boston throttled the Tribe in the opening game of the ALCS.
#1 STUNNER Beckett 6IP, 4H, 2ER, 0BB, 7K
Boston's All Star ace and 20-game winner once again put his team on his back and carried them to another huge victory. He wasn't as electric as the opener of the ALDS, but he was plenty good enough to get the win tonight.
Let's face it, it's come to the point when he's on the mound, everybody expects him to win.
GAGME C.C. Sabathia 4.1IP, 7H, 8ER, 5BB, 3K
Cleveland's All Star ace failed to get out of the fifth inning as the 19-game winner was got hammered by the relentless Boston attack. The Sox scored one in the first, four in the third and then three more in the fifth against the supposed Cy Young contender, and by the time he left the game Boston was well on its way to its first ALCS win since Game 7 in 2004.
RECAP
On a night when Boston batters bludgeoned a potential Cy Young candidate like he was a rotting pinata, the talk of the town has to be the continued excellence of starter Josh Beckett.
The moody Texan, who saw his postseason shutout streak come to an end at two games, was far from the near-unhittable maestro that he was against the Angels in Game 1 of the ALDS, but there are plenty of hurlers who would think a game like this in an ALCS game was a career achievement.
For Beckett it was just another night at the office.
But besides the brilliance that is Beckett, the other big story to come out of this game is the power surge the offense is experiencing, especially the twin towers of power, Ortiz and Ramirez.
The two amigos reached base 10 times this evening, a miraculous feat for any pair of players to achieve in a playoff game against a stellar starting pitcher, but with both of these guys hurting a bit due to some persistent, nagging injuries, the accomplishment becomes all the more sweeter.
The linescores for the duo went like this:
-Ortiz 2-2, 2R, 2BI, 2BB, HBP, 2B
-Ramirez 2-2, 2R, 3BI, 3BB
As if that kind of damage wasn't bad enough, the rest of the offense would chip in eight more hits and five more walks off five Cleveland pitchers.
Professional Hitter/RBI machine Mike Lowell contributed a trio of ribbies, Kevin Youkilis notched a pair of hits and scored three runs, and late lineup insertion Bobby Kielty made sure Francona looked like a genius again when his two-run single broke the game open and drove Sabathia from the game in the bottom of the fifth.
But that's the kinda shit that happens when your team is rolling at just the right time, an occurrence that isn't experienced too often in the Nation, but one that is certainly savored (and shared) when it does.
Ironically the night that ended so splendidly began on an ominous note as Travis Hafner deposited a 1-0 pitch from Beckett into the seats beyond the Cleveland bullpen for a solo home run with two outs in the first that silenced the rowdy-yet-frosty Fenway Faithful.
But Boston tied it up in the bottom of the inning on three consecutive singles to center field by Youk, Papi and Manny, and even though Lowell grounded into a double play to squelch that rally, the early advantage disappeared from the Indians' side and the Sox soon made sure they would not get it back again.
Julio Lugo led off the third with a ground-rule double into the right field seats, was sacrificed to third by Dustin Pedroia, then stood there while Youk (4-4, 3R) drew a walk and Ortiz was hit on the jersey by a Sabathia fastball, loading the bases with one out for Ramirez.
Instead of living up to the 'GrandSlamManny' nickname my son has coined for him, the second all-time leading slammer added a new wrinkle to his sacks-packed stats: the bases-loaded walk.
Ramirez climbed out of an 0-2 hole to work the free pass from C.C., which forced Lugo in with the go-ahead run, and like the proverbial seal opening after the first piss on a night of drinking, Boston's offensive onslaught would gush forth like an undamed wall of water from there on out.
Three pitches later Lowell (1-3, 3BI, BB) squirted a shot down the right field line and that bounced just out of the reach of Franklin Gutierrez and into the stands for a two-run ground-rule double to make the score 4-1, and after Kielty was intentionally walked to load the bases for Varitek, the Captain grounded sharply to third to score Ramirez with Boston's fifth run.
And the rout was on.
Following a 1-2-3 fourth, Beckett danced into and out of trouble in the fifth when he hit Ryan Garko with a pitch and allowed a double to Kenny Lofton, but a double play and a strikeout of Gutierrez ended any hopes of an Indians rally.
Then in the bottom of the fifth, Boston busted the game wide open when they loaded the bases on a walk by Ortiz, a single to center past the diving second baseman by Manny and a walk to Lowell, setting the stage for Kielty's money shot.
Francona made the decision a day earlier to sit starting rightfielder J.D. Drew in favor of the seldom-used Kielty due to the redhead's moderate success (9-29, 2HRs) against Sabathia from his days with the Twins.
But to the delighted Nation it felt more like a deserved snub of the man who has been the biggest disappointment of the season for the Sox, well aside from Gagne of course.
Except once again Francona proved to be a budding LaRussa, a master strategist whose moves pay off time and time again, when Kielty stepped in against the Indians starter and dropped a solid single into right field to push the score to 7-1 Boston, and even though Lowell got trapped coming around second and was tagged out for the second out of the inning, with Sabathia knocked out of the game and Beckett on the mound, it was all over but the celebrating.
Tek greeted reliever Jensen Lewis with a lined double to right center to make the score 8-1, and when Cleveland got one back off Beckett in the sixth, Boston made sure there would be no comeback thoughts for the Tribe when they turned the game into an official blowout with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame.
For the fourth time on the night Boston loaded the bases, this time on singles by Pedroia and Youk and a walk to Big Papi, and for the second time on the night Manny practiced patience and drew the bases-loaded walk, and then Lowell launched a sac fly to deep center to get the Sox to the double-digit mark in runs for the first time since--you guessed it--Game 7 of the 04 ALCS.
Which reminds me, I wonder what Judas Demon is doing about now?
Anyway, the 10-2 lead combined with the chilly temp was enough to get Beckett out of the game, and although Cleveland scratched a run off Javier Lopez in the seventh and then loaded the bases against piece of shit reliever Eric Gagne in the ninth to give us a little scare, anyone who was watching could only come away with one conclusion:
the best team in baseball is playing its best baseball at the perfect time of the season.
The sign in the stands late in the game said it all- "7 more wins."
10.03.2007
ALDS Game 1: Beckett decimates helpless Halos
Sox 4, Angels 0
WP: Beckett (1-0)
LP: Lackey (0-1)
HRs: Papi (1), Youk (1)
SUMMARY
The Red Sox only needed Kevin Youkilis' solo shot in the first inning to take game one of this opening round playoff series because Josh Beckett pitched what can only be described as a masterpiece. Beckett, using a bevy of baffling pitches, surrendered just three singles in nine innings, retired 19 straight batters at one point, and threw first pitch strkies to 25 of the 31 hitters he faced.
Oh, and his closest competitor for the Cy Young, LA's John Lackey, got shellacked again at Fenway, making Beckett's performance all the more impressive.
#1 STUNNER "Cy" Beckett 9IP, 3H, 0R, 0BB, 8K
As good as this 20-game winner has been all year, this was far and away the best performance of his season and possibly his career. I know all about Game 7 at New York in 2003, but he was just a fireballing kid then; this was a virtuoso effort.
BTW, this was his third postseason shutout, tying a major league record, and his second in a row, following that Game 7 gem. Nice.
GAGME Lackey 6IP, 9H, 4ER, 2BB, 4K
Granted this outing wasn't as bad as his 11-hit, 7-run meltdown back on August 17th, but with one out in the third Boston had already amassed 8 hits and a walk, and if not for a couple of fortuitous calls and a trio of double plays, this beating would have been a lot worse.
RECAP
Boston kicked off the 2007 playoffs with the best pitching performance we've seen all year from their All Star ace Josh Beckett, the kind of shut-down statement start that propels teams to series wins and sets the tone for the rest of the postseason run.
Beckett surrendered a fluke single to Chone Figgins off Dustin Pedroia's glove six pitches into the game, then didn't allow another baserunner until Vlad Guerrero lined a single to left with one out in the seventh, a string of 19 batters in a row that left the Angles players shaking their heads in disbelief and the Fenway Faithful giddy with relief.
After weeks filled with shaky play and injuries to key players followed by a late surge that netted them their first division title since '95, no one was real sure which Sox team would show up in this series.
Would it be the club that got tooled by the Angles in the first two games of a three game set in Anaheim in early August, or would it be the team that averaged more than 8 1/2 run in its six wins vs. Anaheim this season and treats John Lackey like its own personal chew toy?
Thankfully for the psyche of the Nation the answer was the latter, as Lackey's troubles against Boston (1-6, 6.27 ERA lifetime), especially at Fenway Park, where he was 1-4 with a 7.46 ERA in 7 career starts coming in, continued to bite him in the ass.
Following Figgins' leadoff single Beckett retired Orlando Cabrera, Vlad, and Garrett Anderson on a grounder with Figgins at third to escape the inning unscathed, and Youk wasted no time in getting him the only run support he would need on the night when he launched a 2-1 offering from Lackey into the Monster seats with one out in the bottom of the inning to give the Sox an early 1-0 lead.; it was Youk's first career postseason hit.
One of the major contributors to the late-season struggles reared its fugly face afterwards thought when consecutive singles by Papi (2-3, R, 2BI) and Manny were wasted when Lowell grounded out and Drew flied out, leaving both big men stranded.
Ortiz would more than make up for that missed opportunity and provide Beckett with what turned out to be a comfy cushion when he turned on a hanging Lackey curveball and crushed it into the right field seats with one out in the third, scoring Youk, who had reached on a double, and sending the crowd into a typical Fenway playoff frenzy.
One thing we know for sure: screw the knee injury, if it's the playoffs, it's time for Papi to shine.
Boston tacked on what wound up being the final run scored in the game when Manny (1-3, R) followed Papi's blast with a walk, alertly moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored on yet another clutch RBI single by Mike Lowell, and even Drew grounding into a double play two pitches later couldn't get the record Fenway crowd in a foul mood.
That's because the game was actually more exciting when Boston was not at bat, and you could tell as the game went on that Beckett was turning in a performance that was nothing short of remarkable.
Not only was Becks setting down LA batters at a rapid clip, but it was the way he was doing it that made the feat all the more amazing. Utilizing a variety of pitches including his usual 97 mph heater, a nasty low-90s slider and a knee-buckling 77-80 mph curve, Beckett was not so much as pitching to the Angles hitters but pitching through them, like a brand new John Deere plowing a field of knee-high grass.
In the fourth he needed just 10 pitches to cut down the trio of Cabrera-Guerrero-Anderson again; in the fifth, after pesky Maicer Izturis managed an 8-pitch at bat before popping out to short, Beckett needed only five more pitches to retire Casey Kotchman and Howie Kendrick; and in the sixth he absolutely tortured Mike Napoli and Reggie Willits, getting them to whiff on 77 mph yakkers before Figgins lined out to Coco Crisp, who made a nice sliding catch to extend Beckett's streak to 18 batters in a row sent back to the bench.
By the 7th Lackey was gone, who in all fairness held on to keep the game close after those first few innings, and although Boston squandered a couple of possible scoring chances and had four calls go against them (a phantom foul tip by Kendrick, a bogus caught stealing on Lugo, and two horrible strike-three calls on Youk and Manny in the 5th), thanks to Beckett's dominance the game was all but over.
The string of retired batters ended with one out in the seventh when Guerrero fought off a sinker in the dirt and a 97 fastball on the hands and lined a single into left field, drawing a polite applause from the appreciative crowd, but Becks shook it right off and needed just five pitches to get out of the inning.
With one out in the eighth Howie Kendrick singled past Lowell and under Lugo's glove for the Angels third hit of the night, and Tito had Papelbon & Okajima ready in case Beckett began to peter out.
Fat chance. After Manny Aybar's grounder forced Kendrick at second, Beckett made pinch hitter Kendry Morales look like a Little Leaguer, running the count to 1-2 before freezing him in his place with a wicked 96-mph curve that appeared to come from left field and bisect home plate like a laser-guided missile.
The Sox went down in order against Earvin Santana in the bottom of the inning, and then all that was left was for Beckett to close the book on his third playoff shutout.
Another managerial move by Francona paid off when Jacoby Ellsbury, freshly inserted in left field for defensive purposes, made an excellent sliding catch of a sinking Figgins liner to lead off the ninth, one pitch later OC grounded out to Lowell, and after Guerrero notched his second single of the night and with Papelbon looking on from the pen and the applause rising to a deafening crescendo in the park, Beckett got Garrett Anderson to fly out to Coco in deep left center to put a cap on what will go down as yet another brilliant postseason performance for a man who is starting to make a habit of turning in such efforts.
Now Boston can relax and enjoy the off-day tomorrow, secure in the knowledge that if Dice-K can shut down this stumbling Angels lineup on Friday, the series could be all but over. And with Beckett assured of another start should it go more than three games and LA riding a 5-game postseaosn losing streak, one could almost assume that this series is done.
But we'll take it one game at a time. As long as each of the next two games are victories, we'll be alright.
9.27.2007
Another one-run loss keeps Sox two games short
Minnesota 5, Sox 4
WP: Bonser (8-12)
LP: Beckett (20-7)
SV: Nathan (36)
HRs: BOS-Papi (34), Tek (16); MIN-Cuddyer (16), Jones (2)
SUMMARY
For one of the few times this season Josh Beckett couldn't provide a quality start as the Cy Young candidate had his worst outing in weeks in his final start of the season.
Becks surrendered five runs and 10 hits in just six innings of work, and although his teammates tried to stage a comeback, the deficits proved too much to overcome.
New York won as well, leaving Boston's "magic number" at two games.
#1 STUNNER Jason Bartlett 3-5, 2R, 2B
The unknown shortstop was a catalyst all night from the leadoff spot, reaching base and scoring in two of the first three innings and providing a spark for what had been a moribund Minny offense.
GAGME Beckett 6IP, 10H, 5ER, 0BB, 6K, 2HRs, E
Not only did Becks surrender double-digit hits for just the fourth time in 30 starts, he allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in each of the first five innings, gave up runs in five of his six innings, and made a costly error, just his second of the season.
Not exactly the kind of game a Cy Young front-runner wants to end his season with.
RECAP
All season long Josh Beckett has picked this team up with his clutch outings, huge wins, and excitable nature.
But tonight, in his final start of what will be remembered as one of the best seasons a starting pitcher has ever had in a Boston uniform, not just for the numbers but for the way he carried this club month after month while all the other starters suffered steep dips in production, the Texas steed was unable to ride off into the sunset in proper fashion:
with a win under his wild west belt buckle.
From the get-go you could tell this just wasn't his night when he allowed a single and a triple to the first two batters of the game, and he was fortunate to escape further damage when Minnesota ran into a foolish out at home plate and then ended the inning with a strike-'em-out/throw-'em-out double play.
Boston's blazing offense grabbed the lead right back in the bottom of the first when Pedroia led off with a single, and after he was forced at second on a great diving play by third baseman Brian Buscher that robbed Manny of a hit, David Ortiz (4-4, 2R, 2BI, BB) roped the first of his four hits, a double off the Monster, to score Ramirez all the way from first to tie the game.
Papi now has 51 doubles, second in the majors, is batting .425 (17-40) in his last 10 games, and owns and an ungodly .444 OBP, first in MLB by a mile.
Too bad his homers are down, huh?
Lowell, who also had a rough night (0-5), grounded out and moved Ortiz to third, then another hot Sox hitter, J.D. Drew, stroked a single to left center to score Papi and give Boston and Beckett a 2-1 lead.
But as I said before, this wasn't Becks' night, and as if to confirm those suspicions (fears?) he surrendered a Monster homer to Michael Cuddyer on his third pitch of the second inning that tied the contest at two.
It only got worse from there.
Minny put single runs on the board in five of the first six innings against Beckett, giving new meaning to the term "chipping away", and none of those runs allowed was more embarrassing than when he botched another brilliant defensive play by Pedroia in the fifth.
Nick Punto led off the inning with a double but appeared to be stranded there as Beckett got the next two out. Torii Hunter then smacked a hard grounder up the middle that Pedroia dove for and somehow reached, and as Punto sped around towards home, Dustin popped up and fired a strike that probably would have nailed Punto at the plate.
Except Beckett cut off the throw and then airmailed it to Tek from 10 feet away, and Minnesota grabbed a 4-2 lead on one of the rare times that Beckett has looked both awkward and awful all year.
The gaffe hurt even more when Ortiz led off the bottom of the inning with a titanic blast way over the bullpens for his 34th longball, slicing the lead to 4-3, but after
Beckett finally retired the leadoff man in the sixth, someone named Garret Jones slammed a 1-0 fastball from Josh to far and deep to straightaway center field to push the lead back to two, 5-3.
After getting out of that inning Beckett was replaced by Bryan Corey for the seventh, then Hideki Okajima made his first appearance since the club shut him down 10 days ago due to fatigue in the eighth.
Oki looked good, allowing a single to his second batter but striking out the last two hitters of the eighth, and when Varitek crushed an opposite-field homer into the Monster seats to cut the deficit to 5-4 in the bottom of the inning, there was a rising sensation in the Nation that this might be the night for one of those miraculous, 2004-esque comeback wins.
Ah, no.
It's not like they didn't have their chances, putting two runners on base after Tek's homer but failed to score, and then we had to suffer thorough the 5,725th time Boston couldn't do anything with a bases loaded situation in the ninth.
Brandon Moss, who ran for Manny in the 7th, started the inning off right with a double off the top of the Monster scoreboard, and when Ortiz walked to bring up RBI king Lowell with two on and no outs, the Faithful could sense a rally in the rain-soaked air.
Unfortunately even the team's hitting MVP couldn't get the job done tonight as Lowell grounded out to first base, moving the runners up, and when Twins closer Joe Nathan intentional walked Drew to load the bases, the game was in the hands of Varitek, a.k.a Captain Clutch.
Nathan fanned Tek and made him look pretty awful doing so, then he embarrassed pinch hitter Kevin Youkilis on a check swing strike three to end the game, and just like that the magic feeling dissipated into the misty September sky.
After coming through in the clutch all season, Beckett and Lowell didn't get the job done tonight.
Maybe their teammates can do them a favor and pick up a division title tomorrow.
9.25.2007
Manny's return, plus 10 walks, spark Sox to win
Sox 7, Oakland 3
WP: Schilling (9-8)
LP: Gaudin (11-13)
HRs: BOS-Papi (33); OAK-Barton (3)
Manny Being Manny: after missing the last 25 games, Ramirez stepped in a knocked a single in his first at bat.
SUMMARY
Boston inched one step closer to wrapping up the division title when it handled its bidness against the fading As.
Curt Schilling had his best outing since he no-hit Oakland back in June, holding the As to six hits and a single run in six innings of work, and coupled with the Stanks' extra-inning loss in Tampa Bay, the Sox magic number to clinch the East is now 3 games.
#1 STUNNER Schilling 6IP, 6H, 1ER, 0BB, 6K, HR
When Curt allowed a first-inning homer to some nobody named Daric Barton, the whole Nation had that "here we go again" feeling. But after that mistake, Schill settled in and pitched a whale of a game when his team needed him most, just for old time's sake.
GAGME Chad Gaudin 4IP, 3H, 3ER, 7BB, 3K
The former D-Rays hurler had a Tampa Bay kind of night, surrendering just three hits but issuing a staggering seven walks in four+ innings, including a horrendous sequence in which he walked the first four batters of the fifth inning.
Three relievers also chipped in with a freebie each to round the total off at an even 10.
RECAP
Manny made his long-awaited return.
Schill looked playoff-ready.
Youk made a cameo appearance.
Lowell notched another RBI.
Papi hit another home run.
J.D. Drew had three more hits.
Ellsbury had another big night.
The Stanks lost to the Rays.
The division lead is up to three with five to play.
Is it okay to come off the ledge now?
After weeks filled with agita, anger and utter amazement for the team and the Nation over the second half swoon which nearly led to another entry in the "embarrassing, historical collapse" file, it looks as if we can finally breathe a little easier now that the 1 1/2 game division lead has swelled to 3 games in the past two days.
How good are things looking right now?
Boston gained a half game yesterday without even playing, and tonight New York blew a 5-0 lead and wasted an A-Rod grand slam in coming from ahead to lose to the baby Rays in extra innings.
That's how good.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting this thing is all sewn up. Hardly. We're just a three-game losing streak (unlikely, given the competition, but possible) and a three-game Stankee winning streak (likely, considering their competition) away from a final weekend shootout to see who takes home the division crown.
I'm just saying I like our chances a lot more tonight than I did after the Sox lost to Tampa Bay in miserable fashion on Sunday afternoon.
As you can tell by my lazy list above there were plenty of reasons to be happy about tonight's game, not the least of which was the return of mercurial slugger Manny Ramirez to the Boston lineup after a 25 game absence. As odd as it may have been to see him hitting in the two-hole for the first time in his career, just having his bat back in the lineup meant wonders for the psyche of the team.
It also didn't hurt that he lined a single in his first at bat and also drew a walk and scored a run in his first game action since August 28th.
But Manny's return wasn't the end of the good news for Boston. Starting pitcher Curt Schilling continued to look impressive in his return from shoulder fatigue with another solid outing, allowing just one earned run for the third time in his last six starts, and this time his teammates got him some runs to work with, albeit not many while he was in there.
In fact despite the addition of Ramirez, the late addition of Ellsbury as a replacement for Coco Crisp, and a ton of baserunners, Boston once again had to make the most out of a small amount of runs in what could have been a Sox blowout had the been able to cash in on some golden opportunities.
See, some things haven't changed for the better.
I'm not going to bother going into in depth detail on what went on in this one; it's too late in the season for that, and besides the how isn't important right now.
In brief summary Schill surrendered a solo shot in the first, and the Sox answered back on a RBI double by Mike Lowell in the bottom of the inning. Then they scored a pair in the fifth on the quartet of walks and a sac fly by Ellsbury (), another run in the seventh on an single by Ellsbury (can you say "spark plug"?), and finally they tacked on three in the eighth on a Kielty sac fly and Papi's 33rd homer of the season.
After Schill left, Manny D. pitched a scoreless seventh, then Tito (foolishly)brought on Gagme to pitch the eighth inning of a 4-1 contest. Bad idea. The hapless reliever allowed two more baserunners, forcing Francona to go to his close in the 8th again, and Paps came in and showed Gagme how it's done by ending the inning with one pitch.
Oakland added a couple of runs in the 9th when Bryan Corey couldn't close the game out the right way, but in the end the final score didn't matter.
All that mattered was Boston won, New York lost, Manny's back, the lead is comfy, and the end is almost near.
Fingers crossed this one is a happy ending.
9.12.2007
Just like old times: Papi powers Sox to walk-off win
Sox 5, Tampa Bay 4
WP: Papelbon (1-2)
LP: Reyes (2-3)
HRs: BOS-Papi, 2 (31); TB-Upton (24)
SUMMARY
David Ortiz conjured up memories of 2004 when he launched not one but two home runs tonight at Fenway, the first a three-run bomb in the third inning that got the Sox back in the game and the second a two-run shot off closer Al Reyes that won it in the bottom of the ninth.
#1 STUNNER ahh, let's see, who's deserving, oh yeah...Papi 2-5, 2R, 5BI, 2HR
On a night when he surpassed the 30HR/100RBI plateau for the fifth straight season and became only the third member of the Sox to do so, David Ortiz provided the Nation with a huge feel-good win and some valuable breathing room heading into the Stankees series.
PAN's FAUN Reyes 1/3IP, 1H, 1BB, 2ER, HR
Nearly one month to the day that he blew a 1-0 lead by allowing two runs to the Sox in the bottom of the ninth, Reyes must have had a major case of deja vu because this was a near carbon copy of that meltdown. Actually, this one was a lot better, or should I say worse?
RECAP
He's as good as Bird.
He's as bad as Snakes on a Plane.
He's Super Papi.
How else do you explain a man who has the strength to lift an entire Nation on his back, the ability to come through in the clutch when his team needs him the most, and the power to please a bloodthirsty fanbase as well as the Madison Avenue suits with his epic blasts and Vitamin Water smile?
I mean the guy missed most of five games in late July with two achy shoulders that have been nagging him ever since, then sent shockwaves through the Nation when he announced that he will undergo offseason surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee, a problem that flared up as recently as Monday when he needed the night off, and now he hits his first walk-off home run of 2007?
If that's not superheroic I don't know what is.
David Ortiz provided his team and fans with a huge come-from-behind victory over the resurgent Rays tonight when he blasted a pair of homer off a pair of Tampa Bay pitchers and although each homer was huge in it's own right it was the one that travelled the shortest distance that provided the biggest bang.
The Rays had jumped out to a 4-0 lead before I had even arrived home from my son's practice when they plated four in the first off shaky starter Jon Lester (3.2IP, 8H, 4ER, 4BB, 5K ) on a pair of run-scoring singles and a two-run homer by centerfielder B.J. Upton.
As usual the Sox had their share of scoring chances fall by the wayside, something that could be expected with Mike Lowell sitting this one out with what could be food poisoning and Jacoby Ellsbury on the bench nursing a sore wrist courtesy of his collision with the Wall the other night.
In the bottom of the first Pedroia singled with one out but was doubled off first when Carlos Pena snagged Papi's hot shot down the line for a bang-bang inning-ending double play, and Boston left the bases loaded in the second when Eric Hinske grounded out following a single by J.D. Drew, a double by Brandon Moss and a walk to Coco Crisp.
But have no fear, because in the third everyone would find out that the old Big Papi was indeed still here.
After Rays starter Edwin Jackson (6IP, 8H, 3R, 3BB, 6K) allowed a leadoff single to Julio Lugo and a one-out walk to Pedroia, Ortiz stepped up with one thing in mind--getting the team back within striking distance of a win.
Then again we're talking about a team that just pulled off a win after trailing by seven runs in the fourth inning, so I guess 4-0 wasn't exactly the edge of the abyss or anything.
Still, when Ortiz turned on an 0-1 Jackson offering and deposited it over the visiting bullpen in right, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off everyone's shoulders, the weight of having to win this game with New York breathing down their necks.
Thanks to his three-run jack that cut the Rays lead to 4-3, that weight got a hell of a lot lighter.
Handed a new ball game Lester couldn't take advantage, and when he allowed two base runners with two outs in the third and hit the 97-pitch plateau, Tito pulled him in favor of Tavarez in order to preserve the young lefty's arm as well as his psyche.
Julie came in and immediately got Brendan Harris to hit into a fielder's choice ground out, and he would go on to provide three innings of no-hit, no-run ball, another sorely needed shot in the arm for a recently sagging bully.
Unfortunately the Sox would keep amassing baserunners only to leave them stranded on the basepaths: two in the fifth, one in the sixth, two in the seventh.
Time was ticking down and Boston was running out of innings, but at least the bullpen kept the deficit at one run, a key factor in the comeback to follow.
Manny D. relived Julie with two out in the seventh and retired pinch hitter Greg Norton on a nifty behind-the-back glove save right back to the mound, and he was victimized by a single that fell in between Pedroia (2-4, R) and Drew before retiring Aki Iwamura for the second out of the eighth.
Tito then summoned Hideki Okajima to pitch to Carl Crawford with an important insurance run in scoring position, and Oki came through big time when he fooled CC with a knee-buckling curve to end the threat.
The Sox went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning against Dan Wheeler, then Francona called upon his closer to come on and keep the game at 4-3 heading into Boston's last at bat.
Papelbon accomplished that mission when he retired Pena, Upton and Delmon Young on 12 pitches, setting the stage for the ninth inning fireworks.
On Aug 14th Reyes entered a game at Fenway with the Rays leading 1-0 and promptly served up a game-tying homer to Lowell a double to Tek and a game-winning hit by Coco, so when he walked Lugo to lead off the ninth it had to seem like deja vu all over again.
He did manage to get Pedroia to fly out for the first out of the inning, but then up stepped the Big Man to the dish, and if you squinted real hard you could see the signs of yesteryear all over the place--screaming fans, pennant race, scared shitless opposing closer.
After working the count to 3-1 it looked like they were doing the old "unintentional intentional walk" thing, until Reyes left the next pitch in Papi's wheelhouse, and he turned on it and lofted it high but not particularly deep into the right field corner.
Too bad for the Rays Delmon Young took a circuitous route to the spot the ball would land, because when it popped out of the glove of a fan ion the front row of the bleachers, it was clear had the confused kid reached the correct spot at the wall he would have had a decent shot at making a game-saving catch.
Alas the ball did find the pay dirt beyond the wall, and as Papi rounded the bases on that familiar journey preparing to get slammed on the head by his giddy awaiting teammates, the Fenway Faithful jumped up and down in delight, I jumped out of my seat screaming, and all seemed right with the world again.
That's the kind of things superheroes can do for a city. And a Nation.
Bring on the Stanks!
.jpg)
