Sox slam 10 XBHs in a rout of the Braves

Sox 11, Atlanta 0

WP: Tavarez (5-4)
LP: Carlyle (1-2)

HRs: BOS- Drew (6), Coco (4), Papi (13), Manny (11), Hinske (2)

Julian's jubilation provided a hilarious backdrop to the Sox offensive display

SUMMARY

Boston exacted sweet revenge for the 14-0 drubbing the Braves laid on them in May at Fenway as the offense smacked 15 hits including five homers and five doubles, Tavarez pitched seven shutout innings and the Sox took two of three from Atlanta before heading west to San Diego.

HERO: Boston batters 15 hits, 11 runs, 10 extra base hits

It was a true team effort tonight as every Boston starter except Lugo had at least one hit, five players had at least two hits, and ManRam chipped in with three knocks.

Plus seven guys had at least one extra base hit, three had two XBHs, and Manny & Drew both notched a double & a homer.

Did I mention six different players drove runs, four drove in at least two, and Coco brought home three with his 1st inning smash?

GOAT: Buddy Carlyle 3.2IP, 9H, 7ER, 3BB, 4K, 3HRs

Buddy pitched more like Kitty Carlisle as the Boston batters bludgeoned poor Buddy to the tune of nine hits-a mind-blowing seven for extra bases-and seven runs in less than four innings.

It was ugly early (two homers allowed in the first) and often (Boston sent 14 batters to the plate in the first two innings) for bummin' Buddy, who needed a My Buddy doll, or at least a joke from Buddy Hackett, after this one.

I'll stop now.

RECAP

After the Sox hitters slapped the Braves pitchers around like Foxy Brown at a nail salon, I'm still trying to figure out if it's ironic or just plain sad that the only regular who failed to register a hit was Julio Lugo, yet he was robbed not once but twice of possible base knocks.

Nevertheless the Boston batters unleashed an awesome display of offensive firepower on an unsuspecting Atlanta squad, ripping five homers and 15 hits off of four Braves hurlers (Oscar Villareal was the only Atlanta pitcher who didn't allow a hit, run or walk) and jumping out to a 7-0 lead after just two innings.

That large early cushion allowed Julian Tavarez to slip into his wacky alter ego, let's call him Bizarro Julie, the one who pitches like Juan Marichal and acts like Juan Epstein.

Tavarez (7IP, 3H, BB, 4K) was dazzling for much of his seven innings, mesmerizing Atlanta hitters with a wide array of pitches, pitch locations, and odd on-field antics.

Fist pumping, finger pointing and him repeatedly touching his scalp and cap led ESPN announcer Dan Shulman to describe his schtick as "Julian Being Julian", and that overplayed handle is actually appropriate in this case.

It turned out Boston didn't need to score a ton of runs to win with the way Julie pitched, but they went ahead and grabbed a bunch early, just to be safe.

J.D. Drew got the party started right away when he launched Carlyle's fourth pitch of the game over the wall in right center for a quick 1-zip lead. Dustin Pedroia followed with a double to deep left,and after Papi struck out swinging, Manny doubled home Pedroia for the second run of the game.

But the fun was just beginning.

Youk fanned on three pitches for the second out, but after falling behind 2-0 to Tek, Bobby Cox decided to walk the Captain to get to the hot-hitting Coco Crisp.

Bad move, wife beater.

After looking at one pitch, Coco launched Buddy's second offering high & deep into the seats in right for a sweet 3-run bomb and a sudden 5-0 Sox lead. It was Crisp's third longball of the series after he had only tallied one the whole rest of the year. Check his urine.

Lugo ended the inning (of course) with a long flyball, the Sox picked up right where they left off in the second, scoring a pair of runs on Big Papi's 13th homer of the season and second in two nights; coincidentally it was a majestic, towering shot that landed almost exactly where Coco's did.

Anything you can do, little guy...

Staked to the big lead Tavarez set to work on mowing down the inept Atlanta lineup, which hasn't scored in 19 innings and was without the ice-cold Andruw Jones (whose batting average is a downright Lugo-esque .202), and he did not allow a baserunner until one out in the fourth and faced the minimum amount of batters through six thanks to two Boston DPs.

His enthusiasm for the situation was evident on two nice plays by his infield, a scoop play by Papi at first on a relay from Pedroia, and a nice snag of a hot shot from Kelly Johnson by Lugo leading off the fourth.

The plethora of fantastic plays by his fielders had Julie on cloud nine, and his wildly entertaining sideshow began to take center stage over the "ho-hum, we're slaughtering them" game itself.

His constant fidgeting, rubbing and removing of his cap combined with him twice asking for the ball at the end of an inning and tossing it into the stands led ---- to speculate whether Tavarez was either doctoring the ball or for some reason trying to convey the appearance of doing so.

Revenge for Atlanta's Brian McCann repeatedly stepping out of the box at the last instant last night against Josh Beckett, or simply just a way for Julie to stay focused while the onslaught was taking place as he sat in the dugout.

Either way the combination of Tavarez' arm and the hitter's lumber sent the Sox to a series win, and coming on the heels of Schilling heading to the DL, this kind of performance from the offense and the now 4th starter is invaluable as the team heads out west.

It was an entertaining game and a semi-positive series for Boston, which has to be happy with the run production yet cautious about the health of its other ace.

But for now let's enjoy the win, let the guys enjoy the off day, and let Bizarro Julie enjoy living in his strange, strange world.

NOTES:

• After beginning the season 1-3, Tavarez has gone 5-1 since with a perfect 4-0 record and 3.65 ERA in his last seven starts. His overall ERA is now down to 4.50


• Manny's three hits (homer, single, double) raised his average to exactly .300, the first time he's reached that familiar mark all season. His 7th inning homer was #481 career


• Drew followed his homer with a double in the second, but he was pulled after scoring on Manny's double due to what's being called a minor quad strain-jeesh.


• The homer was his 4th in the last 12 games after he had just two all season


• All In: after replacing Drew Wily Mo went on to rap two hits including a double and scored a run. Eric Hinske replaced Ortiz for the 7th and promptly smacked a 2-run homer in the bottom of the frame


• Lugo's struggling so badly that hits are being taken away from him because teammates can't advance a base as they expect him to make an out. After Tek & Coco singled to start the 9th, Julio dropped a hit in front of right fielder Jeff Francoeur, but Tek had to hold up at second and was easily thrown out by the cannon armed Francoeur, thus rendering the hit a fielder's choice and dropping Lugo down to .201. Mendoza alert, Mendoza alert!!


• Coco crispy: the defensive whiz has been tearing the cover off the ball of late, and he's now hit in seven straight and 11 of 12 games to raise his average to .250, the highest it's been since early May


• Pen pals: Joel Pineiro relieved Tavarez in the 8th and after allowing the first two batters to reach he retired three straight to preserve the shutout. Maddog Timlin then tossed a 1-2-3 ninth, needing just six pitches to close it out.


• Keeping up with the Joneses: oft-injured Atlanta 3B Chipper joined Andruw on the bench when he left after the sixth with a groin injury

QUOTES:

"Tavarez threw a lot of changeups and sliders and whatever else he was throwing. His ball was moving around a lot."--Braves outfielder Willie Harris summing up Julie's night

"This was my best game. Everything went right for me."--Julian, right on the money

"When you throw pitches like I did, especially to a team like Boston, they're definitely going to hit them. No excuse for it."--Carlyle.

RECORD: 46-25

AL EAST: Up 10 on NYY

STREAK: W-2

LAST 10: 6-4

UP NEXT: Thu-Off; Fri @ SD

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Series Recap: Braves @ Sox

Boston wins series, 2 games to 1

Game Results:
GM1: BOS 13-3
GM2: ATL 14-0
GM3: BOS 6-3

STATS: ATL/BOS
RUNS: 20/ 19
HITS: 41/30
AVG: .345/.291
HRS: 4/5
ERA: 6.84/6.33

Hitting Composite Box:

• Lugo: 2-9, 2B, HR, R, 3RBI-big first game, sat last game
• Youk: 4-9, 2B, 2HRs,2R, 3RBI-he's hotter than Jessica Biel (not really, but)
• Papi: 4-10, 2-2Bs, 3R, RBI-power has been down, average still up
• Manny: 2-10, 2B, R- hasn't hit a homer in 12 games
• Drew: 2-6, 3R, 3BB-back is okay, average is still on life support
• Lowell: 5-8, 2B, GS, 2R, 5RBI- he & Youk have carried team
• Tek: 2-8, 3B, R, 3RBI-Cap'n Clutch comes thru again yesterday
• Coco: 3-11, 2-2Bs, R, 2RBI-still doing all the little things
• Pedroia: 3-9, 2B, 3R-raised his aveage to .260
• Cora: 1-8-slumping but still batting .333
• Hinske: 1-8, RBI-forever forgiven for his game vs. DET.
• Belli: 0-3- a 2-23 slump has dropped his avg to .200
• WMP: 1-4, R, RBI, HR-always capable of clearing Lansdowne

Pitching Composite Box:

• Matsuzaka: 8IP, 9H, 3ER, 0BB, 6Ks, HR, W-keeps getting better and better
• Hansack: 4IP, 6H, 3ER, BB, 2K, 2HRs, L- solid start in an emergency role
• Gabbard: 5IP, 6H, 2ER, 1BB, 7K, W-excellent start in emergency role
• Snyder: 2IP, 2H-lowered his ERA to 1.77
• Donnelly: 1.1IP, 5H, 3ER, 2BB, K-raised his ERA to 4.15
• Lopez: 1.2IP, 3H, 3ER, 2BB, 2K-Sat. he was awful, Sun he was awesome
• Pineiro: 2IP, 4H, 4R, BB, HR-it's official-he's the new 'Gascan'!
• Okajima: 1IP, 2H- ran his scoreless streak to 20.1 inns
• Romero: 1IP, 1H, K-hasn't all'd an earned run since 4/20

To say this series was weird, wet and wild would be an accurate assessment of what at times seemed to be a Halloween horror show than an interleague baseball game.

This series between former crosstown rivals Sox and Braves literally had a little bit of everything: rainouts & rain delays, great pitching & horrible pitching, beatings administered by each team in successive games of a doubleheader, 11-three hit games, 2-four hit games, 20 doubles, two triples, 9 homers, one grand slam, a number of great catches & defensive plays, runners tagged out at home, three players making their 2007 debut, one player striking out 5 times in a game, and a total of 933 pitches thrown.

Whew! That was one fucking crazy series!

Boston was lucky to escape with 2 of 3 seeing as the Braves were throwing two of the best pitchers in the game while the Sox countered with two hurlers making their first starts of the season. After the first two games of Saturday's doubleheader basically cancelled each other out, yesterday's rubber match was the tie-breaker, and when Boston prevailed with Kason Gabbard besting Tim Hudson, the Sox could take the flight to New York knowing that with this team, even when they are expected to lose they can find a way to win.

Bring on the Bronx Bummers!

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Sox rough up Hudson, take 2 of 3 from Atlanta

Sox 6, Atlanta 3
WP: Gabbard (1-0)
LP: Hudson (5-2)
HRs: BOS-Youk (6)

Kason, we hardly knew ye; after his brilliant performance, Gabbard was optioned back to Pawtucket

RECAP:
The Sox stung Atlanta starter Tim Hudson for 8 hits and 6 runs in just 4 2/3 innings and Kevin Youkilis extended his hitting streak to 13 games with three hits including a home run as Boston won the third game of this wet & wild series .

HERO: Kason Gabbard 5IP, 6H, 2ER, BB, 7Ks
One day after the Braves rang up 18 hits and 14 runs on a beleaguered Boston staff Gabbard made his 2007 ML debut and shut down Atlanta by throwing a mixture of pitches that kept the hitters off balance all day.

GOAT: Hudson 4.2IP, 8H, 6ER, 2BB, 0K, HR
The man with the second-best ERA in the NL allowed as many runs in the first inning today (4) as he had in his last 17 innings combined; the six earned runs Hudson gave up was almost half as many as he had surrendered all season (13)

Honorable mention: Andruw Jones: 0-5, five strikeouts (yikes!)

SUMMARY:
Just before 4:00PM EST the sun started to shine over Fenway and the grounds crew began to remove the tarp from the field in hopes that the horrible weather would hold off long enough to play the finale of this interleague series.

Shortly after 4:30, following a 2 1/2 hour rain delay, emergency call-up Kason Gabbard threw a ball to emergency call-up Martin Prado, and the game was underway-finally.

Less than a half hour later the Sox had hung a 4-spot on the man who had been allowing less than 2 runs per 9 innings this season, effectively putting the game out of reach thanks to the stellar pitching of Pawtucket padawan Kason Gabbard.

And immediately after his performance Gabbard suffered the same fate as yesterday's emergency starter- he received a slew of "thank yous" and a bus ticket back to the PawSox. Boston brought reliever MattapanManny Delcarmen back to the club to provide bullpen depth for the series with the Stanks

Such is life these days around the old ballteam, a strange existence featuring a revolving-door rotation, games played in, or with the threat of, constant rain, and a still-unfathomable 10 1/2 game lead on the nearest competitors.

When the rain finally subsided things got bright in a hurry for Boston, and I'm not just talking about the skies over Kenmore Square. After Gabbard retired the Braves on 12 pitches in the top of the first, Boston went to work right away on Hudson, the former Oakland ace who has had a rough time winning at Fenway throughout his career.

Coco grounded out to start the inning, but then Youk got the first of his three hits, a single to left that extended his hitting streak to 13 games. Papi then belted a soaring blast to right that somehow eluded right fielder Jeff Francoeur and landed at the base of the bullpen wall, and runners were at second and third with just one out.

Manny then hit a shot up the middle that smacked Hudson in the leg (reminiscent of Lugo's blow to Jeff Karstens) and ricocheted to third base. Trouble is, Youk broke for home as soon as the ball caromed off Hudson; right play, unfortunately the ball bounced right to charging third basemen Chris Woodward, whose throw to home easily nailed Youk fort the second out, with Manny safe at first.

Rally over, right?

Wrong.

J.D.Drew walked to load the bases and then Cap'n Tek, possibly warming up for some of his patented Stankee bashing, ripped a ball into the right field corner that ended up as a bases-clearing triple, a demoralizing blow to Hudson who thought he would escape the inning unscathed.

Eric Hinske followed Tek's hit with an RBI single to right two pitches later, and the Sox enjoyed a 4-0 lead before any of the seats had even dried.

Boston would add a run in the second inning thanks to a leadoff double by Pedroia, a sacrifice by Coco, a walk to Youk, and a bobble by Prado on what should have been a double play grounder by Papi that allowed Ortiz to be safe at first and Pedroia to score the 4th run. By the time Youk wrapped a shot around Pesky's Pole to make it 6-0 in the 5th, the game was all but over.

That's because Gabbard was pitching like an old pro, retiring 12 of the first 13 batters he faced before allowing back to back singles by Francoeur (3-5) and Matt Diaz (4-5) in the fourth. And like an old pro, he pitched out of that mini-jam by getting Andruw Windmill Jones to stike out swinging to end the threat.

After allowing a single and a double to open the sixth, Gabbard walked off the mound to a rousing, and deserved, standing ovation. Unfortunately Brenden Donnely would ruin Gabbard's shutout when he allowed both inherited runners to score, but even a meaningless run allowed in the 9th by Jonathan Papelbon could dampen the spirits of this club or those of RSN.

It was a crazy weekend series in Boston, one that featured 39 runs, 71 hits and nearly 72 straight hours of rainfall.

But in the end the Sox took the series, retained its huge division lead, and head to the Bronx with all the confidence in the world that they can pull off a Bronx sweep.

And if they don't, so what? Right now, being a part of the Red Sox is good, even if that person is only visiting.

NOTES:

-Atlanta outhit Boston 13-9

-Youk is batting .446 (25-56) during his streak

-Mike Lowell & Julio Lugo had the day off

-Cora, Manny & Coco were the only starters not to register a hit

-Diaz had an incredible series for Atlanta (7-12, 2R, 3RBI) as he continues to solidify himself as a big league regular

-Hudson was 1-4 with a 7.92 ERA at Fenway Park coming into this game, and he certainly didn't help those numbers any

-After allowing the inherited runners to score, Javier Lopez came in and got Scott Thorman to ground into a double play to end the inning and squelch the attempted comeback

-Papelbon allowed his first run since May 1st, a span of five appearances

-Okajima pitched the 8th and allowed two hits but kept his scoreless inning streak intact at 20.1

QUOTES:

-"I never really had a chance to get into a rhythm. They got me pretty quick and early. I just didn't have good stuff."-Hudson accurately summing up his outing

-"That ball gets through, different ballgame."-Braves skipper Bobby Cox on the Lopez double play ball. Yeah Bobby, and if wife beating were a sport you'd be a Gold Medal winner, what's your point?

RECORD: 30-13

AL EAST: Up 10.5 on BAL & NYY

UP NEXT: MON @ Stankees 7P

Bring on the Feeble Empire!

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Let's play ball!

The rain has stopped (temporarily), the sun is shining (kinda) and the Sox have just taken the field in an attempt to get the final game of this odd series underway.

Hopefully they will be able to complete this one before heading out to New York.

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Play Ball? Maybe at 4:30

According to the latest from Globe reporter Chris Gasper the Sox have announced intentions of starting today's game at 4:30, yet with more foul weather expected to blow in, don't bet on the game starting at that time, or at this rate even finishing today.

In the meantime here's a picture taken Friday, just to remind my family & friends up in Beantown what they're missing.

Hey, I may have been born into it, but I sure as hell don't have to stay living in it!

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Rain rain, go the fuck away!

Remember all the sunny optimism and "glass is half full" crap of my last post?

Well fahgeddaboudit, because now I'm really pissed off.

For the 4th time in the last 5 days a game is being affected by the non-stop shitstorm that has apparently stalled over the Northeast.

Why do I get this gut-wrenching feeling that it's part of some Spiderman III advertising campaign gone horribly wrong?

At any rate the rain is predicted to sweep through the Hub in the next hour or so and hopefully the teams can get the game in later this afternoon. But that still doesn't alleviate my outrage.

Yesterday was bad because I couldn't watch the first game due to blackout restrictions, but I still had my son's LL closing ceremonies and other outside activities to occupy my time. Last night I had the misfortune of being able to watch that debacle, but as soon as things got out of hand, the wife and I watched "Pan's Labyrinth" instead. Trippy good flick, BTW.

Today I had the social calendar all cleared and the couch in front of the HD set reserved for Red Sox baseball with Remy & Orsillo at 2:00PM, only to see the tarp on the field and that familiar misty-gray backdrop blanketing the Boston skyline.

Fuck I muttered to myself.

Then I looked outside and noticed it was 82 degrees and breezy and thought, oh well, I guess things could be worse.

See, living in Florida does turn you into an optimist.

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Game Preview: Atlanta @ Sox GM3

Hudson (5-1. 1.77) vs. Gabbard (NR)
2P NESN HD

It's a beautiful day in Red Sox Nation. Well, at least in the Tampa Bay chapter it is.

How can that be, you ask? It's been raining since Wednesday, our top pitcher is on the DL, our rightfielder is hurting and seeking out the batting average cellar like a bunker buster looking for Uday Hussein, and our team just got waxed more painfully than Steve Carrell in "40 Year Old Virgin" last night by the Braves.

To which I say, you got some good points there.

But perhaps I've turned into an optimist during my 14 years in South Florida, away from the five-day rain storms, sports talk radio hosts from hell that constantly remind me how gloomy things can be, and how when a few things go wrong with our team (rain wreaking havoc with the schedule and rotation), it can feel like the end of the world as we know it.

Because from where I'm sitting, the Sox are in great shape.

Q-When was the last time this team had this big of a division lead this late in the season?
A-Never. In fact, this is only the second time in history that a team has owned a 10-game lead 40 games into the season. The last time was in 2001 when the Mariners won a record 116 games.

Q-Despite last night's shellacking and the Sox worst shutout loss since 1990, which team still owns the best record in major league baseball?
A- You guessed it...

Q-Which team has the best ERA in the American League?
A- Okay, Oakland, but the Sox are mere percentage points behind in second place (3.23-3.45).

Q-Which team is currently second in the majors in batting average (.277) and runs scored (226)?
A- Okay, you get my point, I'm done with this foolish game.

My point is despite perceived thoughts of trouble or the typical "sky is falling" mentality of RSN, the Sox are still in the best shape at any point during a regular season since 1995 when they finished the season with a 7-game advantage over the Stanks.

And, speaking of the Evil Empire, the dire condition that Boston's arch enemy is in gives Red Sox fans another reason to rejoice; the Stanks dropped another half game and two places in the standings yesterday and now reside in fourth place behind Baltimore & Toronto, 10.5 games out. Plus, they also lost another starting pitcher when starter Darrell Rasner broke a finger on a hard chopper by the Mets' Endy Chavez. The injury could sideline Rasner for up to three months.

Rasner now joins wounded hurlers Carl Pavano, Jeff Karstens, Phil Hughes, and the recently recovered Mike Mussina & Chien Ming Wang on the list of injured Stankee starters. When New York trots out the immortal Tyler Clippard tonight against the Mets, it will be the 11th different starting pitcher New York has used this season. When Hansack started for Boston last night, it marked the first time someone other than the original starting five of Beckett-Schilling-Matsuzaka-Wakefield-Tavarez didn't start a game for Boston this season.

Things are getting so bad in the Big Apple that ESPN.com columnist Jeff Pearlman openly called for Joe Torre's firing this morning on the front page of the site, and Jason Giambi's recent re-visitation of his steroid use has caused the team to consider voiding his contract.

See, things could be worse... Boston owns a large division lead, and with a loaded pitching staff and a deep bench, it gives Tito a plethora of choices for lineups (Pedroia batting 5th?!), rotations (Gabbard was one of four potential starters for today's game), and makes for sunny times in RSN.

Now, all they have to do is go out and face the the guy with the third-best ERA in the majors and try and beat him with a kid making his fifth major league start, then fly to the Bronx for a 3-spot with the reeling wounded Stanks.

And you know what they say about a wounded animal?

Kick 'em when they're down!

GO Sox!

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Payback's a bitch: Braves annihilate Sox

Atlanta 14, Sox 0
WP: Smoltz (6-2)
LP: Hansack (0-1)
HRs: ATL- C. Jones (12), Diaz (3), K. Johnson (6)

Smoltz looked like the John Smoltz of old, and having recently turned 40, he is old

RECAP:

You know what they say, what's good for the goose...

Atlanta rode the strong pitching of ace John Smoltz and 12 extra base hits to a "how do you like it?" demolition of the Sox just hours after Boston had done the same to the Braves this afternoon. Leadoff hitter Kelly Johnson led the way as he tallied five RBI and fell a single shy of a cycle, and five Braves had multi-hit games.

HERO: Smoltz 7IP, 3H, 0R, BB, 7Ks
It's amazing how a legendary big-game pitcher can save a sinking ship at just the right moment.

After his team got castrated in the opener to drop its fifth game in the last six, Smoltzie came in to stop the bleeding and earned career victory #199.

GOAT(s): Boston Pitchers 9IP, 18H, 14R, 4BB, 2WP, 3HRs, 180 pitches
Wow, did someone put a mirror up to the opener of this series or what? The five Boston hurlers put up nearly identical numbers to the putrid performances that six Braves pitchers put forth in the opener.

And while Hansack didn't pitch that poorly (3ER, 6H in 4IP), relievers Joel Pineiro, Javier Lopez and Branden Donnelly were just plain awful.

Can we get a pitcher's duel please?!

SUMMARY:
What can you say after a game like this except, "holy shit, so this is what the other teams feel like when Boston kicks the snot out of them?!"

Boston suffered its worst loss of the season in a game that was an evil doppelganger to the first game of this day/night doubleheader.

In the opener a veteran pitcher (okay, so he's a vet of the Japanese League, he was still a pro for eight years!) beat a shaky newbie while his offense clubbed 18 hits, including nine for extra bases, and stomped the shit out of the opponent's bullpen in a devastating 10-run victory.

So what happened in the nightcap? A veteran pitcher beat a shaky newbie while his offense clubbed 18 hits, including 12 for extra bases, and stomped the shit out of the opponent's bullpen in a humiliating 14-run victory.

Touche.

Let's just put both of these games behind us and move on, shall we? Because if we took these two games as a barometer of both teams, this is what we would come up with:

1. Both teams have great offenses
2. Both teams have good pitching
3. Both teams can shellack young mound men and/or unreliable relievers
4. Joel Pineiro sucks

Okay so maybe the last one was out of place, but it's too obvious to ignore now so I had to throw it in there.

The Braves onslaught of runs started innocently enough as they scratched out single scores in the first, on Chipper Jones' 12th home run, and second innings off Hansack, who was making his first start of the season in place of Josh Beckett.

Former FSU standout Matt Diaz proved to be a thorn in Hansack's sack when he doubled in a run in the second and then hit a one-out homer in the fourth to push the score to 3-0. When Hansack finished the inning he was finished for the night after throwing 77 pitches and allowing
three earned runs. Then came Pineiro.

Quicker than you can say "one-way ticket to Pawtucket, please", the man who is quickly becoming the heir apparent to Tavarez' 'Gascan' nickname gave up four runs on four hits, a walk and a wild pitch in two innings of work.

Thanks for coming, Jo-el!

By the time he left the score was 8-0 Atlanta after six innings, and it was all over but the piling on. And pile on the Braves did, torching the previously unscored-upon (I had to mention that yesterday, didn't I?) Javier Lopez for three runs in an ugly 7th inning that began with an error by Lugo and featured two walks, a double and a triple, and by the time the dust cleared the score was 11-0 Boston and it was officially "let's look ahead to tomorrow" time in the dugout.

Meanwhile Smoltz, the lone holdover from Atlanta's glory days rotation of the '90s, put aside a nagging dislocated finger injury and his recent 40th birthday and completely stifled a steaming hot Boston lineup, holding the hitters to a mere three hits after they had hit the ball all over-and out-of-the yard in the opener. Talk about the power of good pitching.

By the time the Braves tacked on another three-spot in an ugly 9th inning that was played in driving rain & wind and chock full of shoddy fielding (error by Cora) and horrible pitching (three runs on four hits and a wild pitch by Donnelly), most of the battle-weary fans had long left the building, tired of sitting in the rain and watching hundreds of men run around the bases all day with no one apparently able to stop them.

Oh, and remember when I cursed the Sox by saying they might have used up all their runs in the first game.

Ditto, Atlanta.

NOTES:

-The Sox are going to need one of their fabled sabermetricians to calculate all the stats when this series is over; in two games (in one day) the teams combined for 58 hits, 30 runs and 24 extra base hits and the pitchers have thrown a total of 620 pitches. I'm tired now.

-After tallying three hits in the opener, arch nemesis Edgar Rentanerror went 0-4, the only player in Atlanta's lineup not to register a hit

-Coming into the game Johnson had 16 extra base hits on the season, then hit three in this game
-Boston's three hits were a double by Coco and singles from Lowell & Pedroia. Lowell's hit extended his hitting streak to 11 games, and Pedroia, interestingly, hit in the 5th spot in the lineup. Hmmm...

-Tek, Youk & Drew had the nightcap off; Belli, Youk and Wily Mo went 0-9 in their steads
-Pineiro's ERA skyrocketed from 4.40 to 6.06

-J.C. Romero was the only Boston pitcher who didn't surrender a run, pitching a scoreless 8th

-Kason Gabbard will get the start tomorrow, as had been speculated, and in a cruel twist of MLB fate, Hansack will take the bus back down to Pawtucket when Gabbard arrives

QUOTES:

-"Every team's the same. You get that kind of starting pitching, you're going to win."-Braves manager Crusty Bobby Cox

-"That was probably the weirdest doubleheader I've ever been a part of."-Johnson, who is only in his second year, but still, he's right

-"I'd hate to see him with all of his fingers." -Tito on Smoltz

RECORD: 29-13

AL EAST: Up 9.5 on BAL

UP NEXT: Sun vs. ATL 2P

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Sox slam Braves as Dice wins again

Sox 13, Atlanta 3
WP: Matsuzaka (6-2)
LP: Lerew (0-2)
HRs: BOS- Youk (5), Lowell (8), Lugo (3) Wily Mo (3); ATL-Francoeur (7)

SUMMARY:
Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched his second excellent game in a row and he got plenty of support from a Boston lineup that belted 18 hits including five doubles and four home runs.

Lowell's longball was particularly notable because his fifth-inning Grand Slam made a close game (3-0 Boston) an absolute laffer. And although Dice surrendered three runs in the 7th to ruin his shutout and (probably) second consecutive complete game, he has now won five in a row and is peaking at the right time.

HERO: Dice-K 8IP, 9H, 3ER, 0BB, 6Ks, HR, W
Only that three-run burst kept Matsuzaka from lowering his ERA to below 4.00 (currently 4.06)

GOAT: Atlanta Pitchers 8IP, 18H, 13ER, 6BB, 4HRs, 202 pitches
Um, whatever happened to that dominant Atlanta staff? Oh yeah, the lone leftover pitches tonight.

RECAP:
I guess this is why Chipper didn't want to play the Sox.

Boston administered an interleague ass-kicking this afternoon on a dreary & drab day in New England, ringing up its second 13-run game in a week while riding the strength of another quality Dice-K start.

Too bad I didn't get to see a minute of it!

Thanks to the g-d Fox Network and their asinine exclusive broadcast window on Saturday afternoons, I got stuck with the friggin' Subway Series (yuck) while the Braves were getting hammered worse than Kim Kardashian.

So I followed the game online.

Which is almost as good as the real thing, except for the three minute delay, lack of video or audio and utterly soulless presentation.

From what I could gather Boston was just popping homers off a battle-weary Braves staff: Lugo hit a solo shot off starter Anthony Lerew in the first, Youk nailed a 2-run blast off Lerew in the 2nd, Lowell smacked the game-sealing grand slam in the 5th off one-time Sox target Mark Redmond, and Wily Mo launched a mortar blast over Lansdowne in the 7th off the immortal Mackay McBride.

After Lowell's moonshot over the Monstah Boston enjoyed a 7-0 lead and could have cruised home from there. But no, the Sox still had six more runs to score, including five in the sixth on RBI hits by Lowell, Coco and Lugo and the one in the 7th on Pena's homer in his first AB after replacing Manny to start the inning.

While the bats were coming out of their Tigers series slumber, Dice-K was dealing another gem until he hit a speed bump in the seventh. Before that inning he had allowed no runs on five hits with no walks, but in the 7th he got tagged for three hits and three runs, including a 2-run shot by Braves RBI leader Jeff Francoeur (3-4, R, 2BI).

No matter. The Sox were so far ahead by that time (12-0) that Tito had pulled the regulars and was already worrying about Game 2, in which rookie Devern Hansack will be saddled with the challenge of pitching opposite future Hall of Famer John Smoltz.

Hope the Sox didn't use up all their offensive mojo in Game 1.

NOTES:

-Every Sox starter had at least one hit, except Cap'n Tek (0-4), while five batters had multi-hit games; even pinch hitter Alex Cora got into the act, singling in the 8th after after a 10-pitch AB

-Call Youk Phil Collins, 'cause he was in the air tonight. Sorry, that was lame. But he did put the ball in the air in all six at bats, with a homer and five fly-outs. His homer extended his hitting streak to 12-games, where he is batting a scorching .415 (22-53)

-Just when I mentioned Lowell's recent power outage yesterday (two ribbies in six games) he comes back with a vengeance. On top of his granny he also had an RBI single and 10th double; he now owns a 10-game hitting streak, in which he's hitting .447 (17-38)

RECORD: 29-12

AL EAST: Up *10.5 on BAL, NYY * tonight's games pending

UP NEXT: vs. ATL in 3+ hours

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Series Preview: Atlanta @ Sox

Atlanta Braves (25-16)
NL EAST: 2GB STRK: L-2
AVG: .259 (7th in NL) ERA: 3.96 (9th)
HRs: 46 (5th in ML)

*Pitching Matchups (*2 games Sat due to rainout Fri):
GM1 SAT1P: A. Larew (0-1, 6.52) vs. Matsuzaka (5-2, 4.17)
GM2 SAT 7P: Smoltz (5-2, 3.19) vs. Hansack (0-0, 13.50)
GM3 SUN 2P: Hudson (5-1, 1.77) vs. TBD (?-?, ?.??)

KEY PLAYERS:

• Chipper Jones: .300/11/25- Chipper is still Chipper, humongous ego and all; missed four games this week with bad thumbs (?!)
• Andruw Jones: .224/6/30- despite the lowly average, still tied for team led in RBIs and possesses that Gold-caliber glove
• Jeff Francoeur: .289/6/30-solid RF is in a 2-18 slump, but still tied for team lead in ribbies with Jones
• Matt Diaz: .316/2/5- the former FSU standout had a breakout year in '06 (.327 in 124 gms) and is picking up where he left off this year

OLD SOX:

• Edgar Rentanerror: .331/6/23/32R-one of the biggest gaffes of the Theo Era. The one year Sox shortstop is still being paid by Boston to play for Atlanta, and he is playing well, leading the team in batting average, hits, runs and at bats. Oh, and that fielding problem? He's only made 3 errors in 146 chances; shit that was like a week's worth for him in Boston. Can't wait to hear him introduced tomorrow
• Willie Harris: .404, 7R, 5-2Bs, 4SBs in 16 gms- the utility man extraordinaire played in 47 games last year for the Sox, mostly as a pinch hitter, pinch runner, or defensive replacement. Although he hit only .156, he scored 17 runs and is the kind of guy that every team needs in order to win

Let me first start out by saying this is total bullshit that the Sox, current owners of baseball's best record, have to play these tough teams in interleague play. I mean the Braves, the Giants, the Padres, it must be some kind of conspiracy or something, it's just total crap. The Stankees don't have to play these tough teams, it's not fair I tell you, waaa, waaa, waaa!

Okay, now that I've dispensed with my Chipper Jones imitation I can get on to previewing this series.

It's true that Jones bitched and complained that his Braves are stuck playing the Sox and the Twins and the Indians and the Tigers while other division leaders (ahem,Brewers) have a much easier inter league slate, but what's the fucking difference? If your team is good enough to be the best you've got to beat the best, so quit your bitching and play the games.

Now, the Sox come into this compacted series (thanks, Mother Nature) with a lot of questions regarding the immediate future, such as...

1. how long will Beckett be sidelined?
2. is J.D. Drew's back better or could that be a nagging issue?
3. who the hell is going to start Sunday?!

...you know, little stuff like that.

The way the rotation sets up right now, Dice K will get the start in the opener, tomorrow at 1:00. In the nightcap Devern Hansack will make his first start of 2007, but the Sox wanted to move Wakefield up to Monday so he, and not some Pawtucket call-up, can start the opener of the New York series in the Bronx.

The likely candidate to get the nod Sunday is Kason Gabbard, the 25-year old lefty who is currently 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA in eight IL starts. Gabbard proved capable of competing at the major league level when he appeared in seven games for the Sox last year, so he has the experience and confidence factor working for him. Other candidates include Kyle Snyder or Runelvys Hernandez, but the Kansas City castoff would be a reach at this point.

Old friend Edgar Renteria makes his first trip back to the place where he couldn't hit his weight and mishandled more balls than Paris Hilton. His place as the poster boy for the type of player who just doesn't fit in the Boston scene is forever secured, and his welcome back cheer should rival that of Judas Demon.

Unfortunately I will not be able to see it, because the friggin game is on during the FOX restricted time, so it will be blacked out here. Damn you FOX network!

Anyway, here's a brief breakdown of the games, as if I or anyone else really has a clue what is going to happen to this team now that it is seeing its first signs of trouble in the so-far magical 2007 season.

Game 1 is the one game that looks to be a certain Sox win. Due to the postponement Boston was able to start Dice-K in the opener and move Hansack to the nightcap, leaving Matsuzaka in his normal spot. He will be opposed by Anthony Lerew, a 24-year-old righty making his third major league start in place of the injured Mark Redmond.

In Lerew's first start on May 8th he allowed two runs on two hits and got a no decision vs, the Padres, but last time out on Sunday he got shelled by Pittsburgh, surrendering five runs and seven hits in 3.2 of a 13-2 loss to the Pirates.

Dice is coming off his best start of the season, when he recorded his first ML complete game, allowing just one run in a 7-1 win over Toronto. Matsuzakaa has now won four games in a row. ADVANTAGE: Sox. MY PICK: Sox

Game 2 looks like a total mismatch on paper- legendary, Hall of Fame righty John Smoltz, he of the 438 career starts and 198 victories, not to mention 154 saves, going against Hansack, who has appeared in exactly three career games and has one win, albeit an abbreviated no-hitter to end the 2006 season, but still.

Maybe the Sox bats will come alive vs. Smoltzie, who has been suffering from a dislocated finger lately,and maybe Hansack will have that no-no stuff again. If not, this one is all ATL. MY PICK: Braves

Game 3 does not bode well for the Sox, either, though it never does when you've got "to be determined" penciled in as your starter.

No matter who starts for Boston they will have a tough time pitching opposite Tim Hudson, who after a couple of so-so seasons away from Oakland has regained his dominant Bay Area form. He's allowed just 13 runs in 66 innings and has a terrific strikeout to walk ratio (43/13.)

So at this time, since we don't know who will start and must assume that whoever it is will be at a decided disadvantage anyway, my instincts are telling me that Atlanta should take this game, too. Thank god my instincts are usually wrong! MY PICK: Braves

There it is, a scientific breakdown of the series, and by my calculations the Braves will take 2-of-3 from the depleted Sox.

Maybe that will stop Chipper's whining.

Go Sox!

And Go Away Rain!

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Tonight's game postponed-AGAIN!

For the second time in three days the Sox have to postpone a game due to shitty weather in the Northeast.

And for the second time in three days the Sox will play a day/night doubleheader, beginning tomorrow at 1:00 to make up for the missed date. The immediate turnaround is due to the fact that this series marks the beginning of interleague play, and the Sox and Braves only play one other time this year, at Atlanta June 18-20, leaving little room for makeup dates.

So we here in Red Sox Nation are left with another night of no baseball, forced to watch the NBA, hang with the kiddies, and tend to yardwork to occupy our free time this evening from 7:00-10:00.

Oops, guess no one up there will be doing any outdoor activities tonight.

Don't worry. I'll pick up the slack.

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