Series Preview: Texas @ Sox

Texas Rangers (7-9) at Red Sox (10-7)
4 game series at Fenway

Game 1 Fri 7PM
Mendoza (0-1) vs. Matsuzaka (3-0)
Game 2 Sat 7PM
Jennings (0-3) vs. Lester (1-2)
Game 3 Sun 135P
Millwood (1-2) vs. Wakefield (1-0)
Game 4 Mon 11AM
Gabbard (1-0) vs. Buchholz (0-1)

What to watch for: a pair of old Sox return to Fenway
Former Sox players Kasson Gabbard and David Murphy make their first visit to Fenway since being traded for colossal bust reliever Eric Gagne last July 31st.

With Murphy (.305, HR, 6BI, 9R) and Gabbard (1-0, team low 2.41ERA) off to good starts and showing signs of becoming solid contributors for years to come, and Gagne off blowing saves for the Brewers, this could be one of those trades that comes back to haunt Boston for years to come.

Who to watch: Josh Hamilton .308, 3HR, 15RBI
This kid represents the comeback story of all comebacks as he has gone from prospective big league bust to one of the majors best success stories in the last couple of years.

The former Tampa Bay phenom and No 1 draft pick has battled years of substance abuse and MLB-sanctioned suspensions to climb back to the majors, earning Comeback Player of the Year honors with the Reds last season before being traded to Texas in the off season. His 5-tool talents and sweet swing make him one of the most exciting players to watch in the game.

PREVIEW:
The Sox return to Fenway and finally catch a break with the schedule as the lowly Texas Rangers come to town for a 4-game wraparound series that concludes with the Patriot's Day morning game on Monday.

Fresh off a couple of long games against the Stanks in the Bronx Boston should welcome the Rangers to Fenway with open arms. The Rangers notoriously own one of the worst pitching staffs in the league, and having guys like Luis Mendoza and Jason Jennings throw in this series should be a welcome relief from having to face the Mike Mussinas and Andy Pettittes of the league.

The highlight of this series should be the return of a couple of young prospects the Sox gave up at the trade deadline last season for a man who will forever be reviled in the Hub.

Outfielder David Murphy, who had worked his way up from the minors to make the big club and looked like a potential mainstay in the Sox outfield for years to come, and pitcher Kasson Gabbard, who along with Jon Lester promised to be the backbones of the Boston rotation for many seasons as well, were surprisingly sent packing for washed-up former closer Eric Gagne.

With Gagne already gone and Murphy and Gabbard having the potential to be quality contributors at the major league level for years to come, that move will go down in the annals of bad Sox trades alongside Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell and Babe Ruth for cash.

Okay, maybe not that bad, but don't you just get the feeling that Murphy will come back to beat his old club with a clutch later homer and Gabbard will twirl a masterpiece to defeat his former team?

Aside from those guys, the Rangers are looking like the typical Rangers teams of the past few...decades: plenty of offense, lousy pitching. "Ace" Kevin Millwood is 27-28 in his 2+ seasons with the club, and their No 2 starter is the immortal Vincente Padilla.

After losing guys like Gary Matthroids Jr, Gagne, Mark Teixeira and closer Francisco Cordero, this team has gone from potential contender in the AL West to a sure fire division doormat for the foreseeable future.

Hopefully Boston will be able to take advantage of this break in the schedule and rattle off at least 3 wins in this series before the potent Angels come to town on Tuesday.

And keep your fingers crossed that Murphy doesn't tear it up over the weekend and Gabbard doesn't toss a no-no on Marathon Monday.

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It's official: Sox are in a slump

Oakland 2, Sox 0
WP: DiNardo (2-2)
LP: Matsuzaka (7-4)
SV: Embree (5)
HRs: OAK-Chavez (9)

SUMMARY:
A leadoff homer in the 3rd inning by last night's hero Eric Chavez was all the offense Oakland would need as former Sox hurler Lenny DiNardo shut down the Boston offense, and when the Sox did get baserunners, the A's turned five double plays to nullify any threats.

Just for good measure, ex-Sox Alan Embree got the save. Nice.

Boston has now lost three in a row and 5 of 6, an official "slump".

HERO: Lenny DiNardo 6IP, 2H, 0R, 6BBs, 0K
Um, like, I was just KIDDING when I wrote earlier that Lenny was going to throw a two-hitter against the Sox.

Seriously, that's just too freaky!

GOAT: The Red Sox brass...
...for letting this kid get away in the off-season!

RECAP:
Another late night, another shitty result for the Sox as Lenny freaking DiNardo bitchslapped the boys all the way to their season-high third straight loss.

All I know is I'm too tired, too pissed off, and too freaked out about predicting that outcome earlier that I need to go to bed, and maybe tomorrow (today?!) I'll have a clearer picture of how the fuck something like this could happen.

Okay, I'm back. In the light of day, the situation with the team looks bleaker than it did when the game ended a few short hours ago, because looking at them now the numbers for the Sox are absolutely grisly: 3 hits (all singles), five double plays hit into, seven walks taken, no runs scored.

From what I remember, or will allow myself to remember, things started poorly for the Sox in Game 2 and got progressively worse. In the top of the first, Boston loaded the bases, for seemingly the 647th time in the last month, on a leadoff single by Lugo and the first two of DiNardo's half dozen walks. But Mike Lowell flied out to end the inning, and once again the stumbling Sox could not push a run home despite the favorable scoring conditions.

By the second inning Boston's sudden outbreak of double play fever struck when Coco grounded into the first of five after Tek had walked to leadoff. By the end of the night Boston would find creative ways to throw a GIDP in the scorecard, and even fell in love with them enough to turn a nifty 2-6 strike-em-out-throw-em-out number themselves.

Meanwhile Daisuke Matsuzaka (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 8K) was doing his best to give the team a chance to win.

Coming off back-to-back unimpressive outings, Matsuzaka was using most of his pitches effectively, and through five innings he really only made two bad ones: an 0-2 fastball that Eric Chavez crushed to the opposite field for a leadoff homer in the fourth, and a 3-2 slider that Nick Swisher (2-3, RBI) drove to the gap for an RBI double in the fifth.

Other than that he was in control (ask Mark Kotsay, who fanned three times against the Diceman in his first time facing him) and kept his team in the game. All he had to do was wait for Boston to capitalize on one of its numerous scoring opportunities, and this game would either be tied or won in no time.

Unfortunately that time never came, because every time DiNardo would dole out a base-on-balls (frequently) or the Sox would get a hit (infrequently), a double play or conventional out would snuff the threat immediately.

The best opportunity to mount that comeback came in the sixth, DiNardo's last inning. Boston loaded the bases (#648) on two walks and a single by Papi, but the formerly flammable Kevin Youkilis hit a broken bat chopper to third; instantly Chavez snagged the grounder, stepped on the bag, then fired across the diamond to complete the whipsaw DP and effectively end the game.

By the time Papi hit a soft liner that was caught and Pedroia, who hit the deck between first and second to avoid flying bat shards, was easily, comically doubled off first in the eighth, it was time call it a night and set the snooze button. It didn't even matter than another ex-Bosox, Alan Embree, slammed the door shut with a 1-2-3 ninth.

And so here we are, with our team in its first official slump of the season, and the division lead is down to an almost microscopic nine games now (I know, boo freakin hoo-shut up Stankee fans!)

Yep, the clouds are a little grayer in the Nation this morning.

I don't want to know what we'll do if it really starts raining.

NOTES:

• Other than Papi & Lugo, Mike Lowell was the only other Sox to register a hit, meaning...
• ... Pedroia's 14-game hit streak came to an abrupt halt with a depressing 0-1 (UGH!). But the ever-unselfish Pedroia did reach base twice, on a walk and HBP, and also gave himself up with a sac bunt in the first; can you say 'team player'?
• Wily Mo played right in place of J. D. Drew also went 0-2 with 2 walks
• After notching just five homers thru May 13th, Chavez has hit four in the last eight days, including on back-to-back nights against the Sox; he's also gone 7-18 in his five June games
• Following a six-decision winning streak, Matsuzaka has now dropped two in a row
• Javier Lopez relieved Dice for the 8th and although he loaded the bases with one out he did not allow a run
• Four relievers combined with DiNardo for the 3-hitter

QUOTES:

"I got away with some stuff." -- DiNardo, slyly understating things

"I tried not to look at who they were, because I went to battle with those guys for three years. If you look at their faces, that's not going to help. I just tried to look at their blue hats and their jerseys."--DiNardo (how can you not like this guy?)

"The Red Sox are not a team that loses a lot of games in a row, so I definitely had a sense of urgency to stop the skid. ... If the team had won, I could say I did my fair share. But with the home run, which I think was preventable, and the second run, I'm disappointed."--Matsuzaka; don't fret, Diceman, this one wasn't your fault

RECORD: 37-20

STRK: L-3 :(

LST 10: 5-5

AL EAST: Up 9 on TOR

UP NEXT: Wed @ OAK, 10P

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