Maroth (3-0, 4.69) vs. Tavarez (1-4, 6.60)
7P ESPN HD Fenway
According to my pre-series calculations, this game could be decided long after the starters leave the game.
Maroth may be 3-0, but his ERA tells the true story- he has pitched much worse than his record indicates. As in, he's allowed at least two runs or more in six of his seven starts. What, that's not so bad you say? Well in one of those starts he gave up three runs, two others he allowed four, and in another he surrendered five runs in seven innings.
In his favor the Tigers score 6 1/2 runs for every game he starts, so he's got that going for him.
Tavarez goes Maroth one better, though: he's allowed at least two earned runs in all six of his starts, two games with three, two games allowing four runs, and one stinker when he gave up six runs in 4.2 innings. Although he has pitched decent at times, he hasn't benefited from near the run support that Maroth has (Boston avgs. 3.5 runs/start), therefore the lousier record.
Bottom line is this should be a slugfest that will be decided in the late innings, unless one of the two starters is exceptionally bad before that.
Go Sox!
5.16.2007
Game Preview: Detroit @ Sox GM 3
5.11.2007
Birds best Boston to break streak
Baltimore 6, Sox 3
WP: Burres (1-0)
LP: Tavarez (1-4)
SV: Ray (8)
HRs: none
SUMMARY:
The Red Sox four-game winning streak came to a grinding halt back home at Fenway as the Baltimore Orioles rapped 13 base hits while fresh-faced youngster Brian Burres outpitched ancient leatherfaced veteran Julian Tavarez for his first major league win.
HERO(s): Markakis & Mora 8-9, 4-2Bs, 4R, RBI
Talk about pests, these guys were like a couple of giant friggin' horseflies, especially Mora to Tavarez; the veteran third baseman was 3-4 career vs. Julie coming in, then laid a 3-3 on him in the first five innings tonight. Markakis was just as pesky, and these two caused headaches for Boston all night.
GOAT: Tavarez 5IP, 10H, 5R, 4ER, 0BB, 2K
He didn't pitch horribly, but wouldn't you know as soon as I start to give Julie a little dap, he goes and pulls a mini-Gascan on me. My fault for falling for the Tavarez hype (never thought I'd type those words together.)
RECAP:
The scene was set and the time was ripe. Boston was coming back home from a 5-2 roadie including a three game massacre of a nest of helpless Blue Jays, and beginning a 10-game homestand against another flock of AL East wannabes, the Orioles, a team Boston has recently owned, winning 22 of the last 25 meetings between them.
Oh, and the kid starting was making just his second career major league start. Nice.
But wouldn't you know nothing like this ever goes according to script, especially when you've got Julian Tavarez holding the pen, and the Sox looked a little flat in blowing numerous scoring opportunities while the Birds appeared little bit sharper by making 4 or 5 terrific defensive plays and the end result was Boston suffered a disheartening loss.
It began to look bad early for the Sox as B-More grabbed a quick 2-0 lead after one inning thanks to doubles by Markakis and Ramon Hernandez and a single by Audrey Huff. Mora followed with an infield single, but was Tavarez got jay Gibbons to fly out to end the inning. Boston had a chance to answer right back, but Lowell struck out on a low pitch to leave the bases full in the bottom of the inning.
However, just like they always do, the Boston batters got their pitcher off the hook almost immediately, as the Sox responded with a 2-spot of their own in the second. Cap'n Tek got things started with a leadoff double, but looked as if he'd be stranded there when Willy Mo & Pedroia got out. But wouldn't you know the team's iciest hitter, Julio Lugo (3-5, R, RBI), spanked a clutch 2-out double to left to score Tek, and the gap was cut to 2-1.
But this is where missed opportunities haunted Boston again. Coco (2-5) followed Lugo's double with a single and then he stole second. That forced Burres to walk Papi to load the bases, and things were looking good when Manny walked to force in the trying run. But Youk flied out to end the threat and three men were left stranded, a dubious feat Boston would accomplish three times in the game.
The O's would break the tie in the 5th, thanks to some poor pitching and shoddy defense from Willy Mo Pena. Markakis (that pest again) and Miguel Tejada (1-4, R) singled to open the frame, and Hernandez picked up his second RBI of the game on a groundout to Lowell. After Huff flied out, Mora (pest #2) doubled in Tejada on a ball that WMP played like a 10-year-old on my son's LL team, and the next batter, Gibbons, tested Pena again, and again Pena came up empty, flubbing a sinking liner that allowed Mora to score and pushed the Orioles lead to 5-2.
With the way Burres (5IP, 7H, 2ER, 5BB, 3K) was keeping the Sox from scoring and then the bullpen shutting them down, another come-from-behind victory was not in the cards for Boston tonight. That became abundantly clear in the bottom of the 5th, when friggin Markakis made a spectacular catch on a Varitek shot to right, and in the 6th, when after Lugo singled with two outs, John Parrish came in from the pen and picked him off first without having to throw one pitch, leaving Papi standing at the plate in disbelief. Yikes.
So the Sox will look to put this one behind them and start a new streak tomorrow, and with Schilling facing Steve Traschel, I like Boston's chances.
NOTES:
-Selective hitting: when Manny walked with the bases loaded in the 2nd, it marked Boston's 6th run scored that way this season, tied for the ML lead; when Tek did the same in the 7th, they took the lead outright
-The top two Sox hitters, Lugo & Coco, combined to go 5-10 with 2 doubles, a run, an RBI and a stolen base
-Youk (2-5) continued his hot streak; he's now had 11 hits in his last five games (.524)
-Missed Opportunities: the Sox left a season-high 13 men on base
-Papi had a strange night- he was 0-2 with three walks and two strikeouts, another one on a check swing (can some stat hound please look up how many of those he has had this year please?)
-The Sox sent Devern Hansack back to Pawtuckett before the game and recalled sidearming lefty Javier Lopez. Lopez was immediately thrown into the fire, and after allowing a single to Corey Patterson on his first pitch, he retired the O's quickly with a double play and a groundout
-Kyle Snyder pitched well in 2 innings of relief; although he did allow a run after Mora doubled in the 8th, he struck out three and had a good curveball working. Romero pitched the 9th again
-Manny (1-3, R, RBI, 2BB) extended his hitting streak to 10 games (16-42, .380), raising his average from .202 to .252 in that time. Heee's (almost) baaaack!
-J.D.Drew had the night off, a move I'm sure Francona wishes he didn't make after Pena's circus show basically cost Boston the game. Drew did pich hit in the 7th and had a chance to tie the game, but Tejada snared his liner and nearly turned a miraculous double play, and when pinch hitter Alex Cora flied out, another rally was squelched
QUOTES:
-"We had our chances earlier in the game and we didn't take advantage."-Cora, summing things up nicely
-"His first big-league win; it'll be one he remembers, I'm sure. This is one of the Meccas of sports."- reliever Jamie Walker on Burres' victory
RECORD: 23-11
AL EAST: Up 6 gms on BAL
UP NEXT: SAT vs. BAL, 1P
5.06.2007
Sox fall to Twins despite Tavarez besting Santana
Minnesota 2, Sox 1
WP: Santana (4-3)
LP: Tavarez (1-3)
SV: Nathan (8)
HR: none
RECAP:
I'm not even going to pretend that I saw any of this game. I could do like some bloggers do and just glean the highlights from SportsCenter & a bunch of web sites, but I'm not going to do that.
I'm too tired.
In the last 12 hours I coached my son's baseball team in the 90 degree heat, attended a wedding on the beach- in said 90 degree heat-, danced the night away at the reception, and then came home and crashed on the couch just in time to catch the DeLa Hoya/Mayweather fight.
If you saw that fight you can understand why that Ambien-inspired travesty, plus a combination of a few too many Bacardi & Cokes (ahem, open bar) has made me a little groggy and left me with no desire to replay back the game on the DVR. Normally I would do that in the morning and give a review then, but we're headed to luxurious Tropicana Field in the A.M. for Little League Day at the Trop, and by the time I get home from that I'm not going to feel like watching Sunday's game, never mind tonight's.
But I digress. Or I'm babbling. Anyway, from what I gather the Sox had a pretty rough time of it tonight at the Metrodome this evening. Julie Tavarez actually out pitched Johan Santana- let me write that again, just so I know I'm not hallucinating from the rum- Julie Tavarez out pitched Johan Santana, yet the Sox stranded 12 baserunners and couldn't crack the solid Twins bullpen.
It's too bad I missed this one because it sounds like it was a real thriller; Minny scored its two runs on a fielder's choice groundout and an infield single, while Boston plated its only run on a ground-rule double. Yawn.
Long story short, Santana only lasted five innings but the Twins bully shut down the Sox lineup for the rest of the game, and Boston dropped a game in which a scrub starter out-pitched a two-time Cy Young winner
Glad I missed it.
RECORD: 19-10
AL EAST: Up 5.5 games on 3 teams
UP NEXT: @ MIN 2P EST
Schilling vs. Ponson ( I shouldn't have to watch that mismatch!)
5.05.2007
Game Preview: Sox @ Twins, GM2
Tavarez (1-2, 7.58 ) vs. Santana (3-2, 3.60) 7P EST
I don't have a whole lot of time to go over this one; I just got back from my son's LL game (we won, 16-0, and finished the season outscoring the opponents 34-0) and I am headed out to a wedding down on the beach.
Anyway, what else needs to be said about this game other than it will be a minor miracle if they pull this one off. Boston's worst starter squaring off against Minny's best, who also happens to be one of the best in the league, does not bode well for the boys from Beantown. It doesn't even matter that Santana is coming off a couple of poor starts and has lost two in a row at home, or that he hasn't fared well in his career against Boston (3-4, 3.55 ERA), or that Gascan Tavarez is coming off of his best start of the season, a win in Yankee Stadium on Sunday.
We all know that Cy-Tana is capable of tossing a no-hitter just as we know it's possible Tavarez might not be able to register one out.
All that matters is the way the Sox are playing right now, they feel like they can win every game they play in. And when you have that kind of feeling on a ballclub, anything is possible. In true Little League spirit, each player is picking up the other's slack and taking turns contributing to this hot streak (12-4) they are on. If it's not Manny or Papi knocking in the key run, it's Lowell or Cora. Drew has been slumping, now Coco is heating up. Willy Mo spells Cora and hits a monster grand slam and goes 4-4 the other night. And the pitching staff is doing the same thing.
So like I said, they way this team is (hate to say it cause of that obnoxious, overplayed ad) gellin', a win today isn't out of the question.
They just have to go out there, give it their best shot, and let the ball fall where it may.
At least that's what we tell 'em in Little League.
Go Sox!
4.29.2007
Game Preview: Sox @ Stanks
GM 3 1PM
Tavarez (0-2, 8.36) vs. Wang (0-1, 6.14)
The Stanks finally got on the BOS/NY scoreboard yesterday afternoon with their 3-1 victory over Boston, breaking a 4-game losing streak against their AL East counterparts and a 7-game skid overall.
And despite the fact that the Stanks are still staggered by injuries and ineffectiveness on its pitching staff, Jeff Karstens the latest to join the wounded with the broken leg he suffered yesterday, the Bronx boys have a good shot at putting up a 2-game winning streak after today's game.
That's because the Sox will start its worst pitcher today, Gascan Tavarez, probably (hopefully) for the last time as Jon Lester is set to come off the DL this week.
Tavarez was been an emergency solution in the rotation when Lester wasn't going to be ready to start the season with the big club and pas decided to head back to the pen. So to his credit, Julie has held the line while Lester rehabbed from chemotherapy treatments for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Unfortunately the only way Tavarez can hold the line is by allowing 8 1/2 runs per 9 innings, more than 1 hit/inning, and nearly 1 run for every inning he has pitched (14.1IP, 13R)
New York will counter with recently recovered Chien-Ming Wang. The ace of last year's staff, when he posted a 19-6 record, just came off the DL last week after suffering a hamstring injury in spring training. He made his first start last Tuesday down here in Tampa Bay and allowed 9 hits and 4 runs in 6.1 innings, picking up the loss in a 6-4 Rays win.
Boston wants this game in order to prevent New York from gaining any kind of momentum or feeling of confidence against them. New York obviously wants to establish some kind of continuity, and would also like its most reliable starter from a year ago to regain his form and become the leader that this rotation so desperately needs right now.
4.24.2007
A litany of errors leads to 2nd straight loss to Jays
Toronto 10, Sox 3
WP: Halladay (3-0)
LP: Tavarez (0-2)
HRs: BOS- Lowell (4); TOR- Wells (4)
SUMMARY:
It was a bad night all around for Boston as the suddenly slumping Sox were out-hit (15-5) out-played (Boston made 4 errors & numerous miscues) and apparently out-to-lunch in a lackluster loss to Roy Halladay and the Jays.
It's starting to look like the hangover from the Stankee series is lingering a little longer than we'd thought.
HERO: Vernon Wells 4-5, 4R, 3RBI, HR, SB
The multi-talented centerfielder got the party started with a solo shot in the first, then iced the game with a 2-run single in the 6th that pushed the lead to 9-3. In between he added two more hits, stole a base, swept the locker room and turned out the lights after everyone left.
In other words he did it all.
GOAT: Tavarez 4.2IP, 7H, 6ER, 1BB, 2K, HR, HBP
Julie, Julie, Julie. Perhaps you should stop giving bad pitching tips to Dice-K and start concentrating on trying to make some good pitches yourself.
Thankfully, Jon Lester should be back from rehab in about a week.
RECAP:
What do you get when you mix a Cy Young winner, a hulking professional hitting machine, a 5-tool All Star and a bleary & beleaguered Boston team?
The answer, as anyone who watched that travesty on turf tonight can attest to, is a horrid loss to your AL East rival that was even uglier than the blowout score indicated.
'How ugly was it?' you ask.
How about four Boston errors that could have easily been 6 or more but for some fortuitous home field scoring ugly? How about starter Julian Tavarez not making it out of the 5th inning and seeing his ERA climb to nearly 8 1/2 (8.36), then three relievers allow 4 runs and 8 hits in 4 1/3 ugly? How about three Jays notching 3 RBIs each and the team smashing 15 base hits while the Sox settled for a measly 5 hits, 4 of them singles ugly?
It was that kind of night at the ballyard, and the memories of Boston's sweep of the Stankees become more and more distant as the Sox head to Baltimore for a quick 2-gamer with their nearest competitor. Luckily Baltimore lost tonight too, so Boston will maintain its 1/ 1/2 game lead in the East.
(BTW, Stanks lost to Tampa Bay again! So we got that going for us)
Things started out badly for Beantown and only got worse. Tavarez registered two quick outs in the first only to allow a solo shot to Wells (he's the 5-tool All Star) to get Toronto on the board. But, as they have done so often this season, the Boston batters got the run right back when Big Papi knocked in Julio Lugo, who had singled and stole second, tying the game at 1 in the bottom half.
Unfortunately that would be the closest Boston would get to the lead for the rest of the night.
In the third inning the shoddy play and pitching caught up with them. With one out Alex Rios singled to center in front of Willy Mo, who continues to fill in for an ailing Coco Crisp (oblique muscle) and Adam Lind followed with a walk. Wells then lined a shot to third that ate Lowell up, and everyone was safe.
(side note: the ruling was a hit, and it was a hard hit ball, but it was a play that in the past Lowell would have made 9 times out of 10; he had the same thing happen to him a few innings later.)
Big Frank Thomas (he's the hulking hitting machine) came up and laced a double off the Wall to score Rios and Lind and bump the score to 3-1, and an error by Eric Hinske allowed Lyle Overbay to reach base and Wells to score Toronto's 4th run of the evening.
Boston would get a run back in the bottom of the inning when Lugo once again singled, stole second and was driven home by Hinske on a single to right, and it would pull to within 1 run in the 4th on Lowell's fourth homer of the year, his third in the last three games.
Any thoughts of another come-from-behind win were quickly dashed in the 5th & 6th innings, though, as Toronto scored 6 runs in the two frames, lowlighted by a 2-run double by Overbay, errors by Manny & Willy Mo, and run-scoring singles by Wells and Thomas (them again.)
Oh, and did I forget to mention the pitching of Mr. Roy Halladay? He's the Cy Young winner, and he pitched like one tonight against the Sox. Although the Toronto ace has had his share of problems with Boston in the past (8-7, 4.51 ERA), he dominated them tonight, allowing just the three runs on five hits in 8 innings of work, walking no one while striking out 10.
Yeah, you could say the Boston hitters were a bit overanxious to beat the 2003 Cy winner again, but it wasn't meant to be on this night.
It remains to be seen how anxious- and tired- they'll be when they take on Baltimore tomorrow night, but they'd better right the ship soon or that AL East lead could disappear rapidly.
Game Preview: Toronto @ Sox
Halladay (2-0, 2.37) vs. Tavarez (0-1, 6.75)
First of all let me get this out of the way: The Stankees lost to the Devil Rays last night, 10-8, despite A-Rod hitting 2 more home runs, bringing his April tally to 14.
Can I get a "Hah-hah"?
The second-place Orioles also lost, so Boton's dispirited 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays yesterday was not as costly as we might have thought.
But the chances of a second straight loss to their neighbors to the north is a distinct possibility considering the pitching matchup waiting for Boston: Halladay v. Tavarez, aka Cy Young vs. the Gascan.
This is a rematch of last Thursday's meeting between the two, when neither had a decision and both pitched pretty well in a 5-3 Boston victory. Tavarez only allowed 3 runs in 5 1/3, while Halladay only let up 1 run in 7 1/3, yet the Jays lost when reliever Shaun Marcum gave up Manny's first homer of the season to tie the game at 3 and Alex Cora knocked in the winning run with a clutch triple in the 9th off closer Jason Frasor.
Something tells me the friendly confines of Fenway might not be so welcoming tonight, though. The small park does not play to Julie's strengths, namely let 'em hit it hard and hope someone catches it, and Halladay hasn't won in nearly 2 weeks, a potentially fatal combination for Boston's chances to salvage 1 game of this brief 2-game set.
Hopefully the Boston batteries will be recharged following the exhausting weekend and brutal schedule. The guys haven't had a day off since a rainout on Sunday the 15th, and won't get a break until Monday, after a 3-game series in Baltimore and the weekend rematch with the Stanks in the Bronx.
They'll have to be on their game tonight, because going up against Doc for the second time in a week is a daunting task for any team, let alone one as drained as the Sox have to be.
4.19.2007
Sox salvage series thanks to Manny & Cora
Sox 5, Toronto 3
WP: Timlin (1-0)
LP: Marcum (1-1)
SV: Papelbon (4)
HRs: BOS-Manny (1); TOR-Rios (3), F. Thomas (2)
Sox box
This is the brand of MannyBeingManny Red Sox Nation likes to see
SUMMARY:
The Sox caught a break on getwaway day in Toronto when Blue Jay skipper John Gibbons mysteriously pulled Roy Halladay, who was cruising with a 3-1 lead, with one on & one out in the 8th inning.
One out and two pitchers later Manny Ramirez blasted his first home run of 2007 to tie the game, and the next inning Alex Cora tripled in pinch runner Julio Lugo to give Boston a 4-3 lead. The Sox would tack on an insurance run and hang on for the win.
HERO: Alex Cora 2-4, 3B, 1R, 1 huge RBI
Not only did the seldom-used utility player knock in the winning run in the 9th inning on an opposite-field triple, he made the defensive play of the game an inning earlier as well.
With men at 1st & 3rd and one out in the bottom of the 8th, Cora snagged a wild toss to second base from Mike Timlin, vaulted over a sliding Lyle Overbay and threw a dart to first base to complete the double play and help the Sox escape from a potential game-losing situation.
GOAT: Jays mgr. John Gibbons
Prepare to be 2nd, 3rd, & 4th guessed for days, Gibby; why would you take out your ace pitcher, who had been dominating the Sox hitters all day long, with one out and one on in the 8th inning when he had only thrown 95 pitches? I mean Halladay had just thrown a 10-inning complete game in his last start, in which he only threw 107 pitches.
Is it any wonder that last year this bozo had one player write inflammatory sayings on a chalk board in order to get traded away from this team and another whom he attempted to fight in the dugout tunnel during a game? What a classless, clueless clown.
KEY MOMENT: 1 on, 2 out, top of the 8th
With Gibbons pulling more switches than a gangbanger in a lowrider and slumping Manny at the plate it looked like the Sox were going to go down without a whimper in this one.
But Gibbons made one move too many, and as soon as he brought in Shaun Marcum to face ManRam, the GrillMaster deposited the ball in the rightfield stands for a game-tying, monkey-lifting homerun that made John Gibbons look like the dumbest man in Canada.
RECAP:
Let's get one thing straight right off the bat: Julian Tavarez is NEVER going to win a pitcher's duel with Roy Halladay. Got me?
That being said, the guy can get some fortuitous breaks, a couple or three clutch plays and one boneheaded managerial move and worm his way out of losing to the former Cy Young winner.
How do I know this? Because that's exactly what I saw happen today at Rogers Centre. For 5 1/2 innings Tavarez & Halladay played a game of hardball chicken, with both of them blinking just once each: Doc when he allowed a run on a walk, single & sac fly in the 2nd, and Julie when he returned the favor and gave up a leadoff homerun to Frank Thomas in the bottom of the inning.
And it stayed that way for the next few frames; the aged, veteran journeyman who never met a lead he didn't want to blow squaring off against the in-his-prime, lifelong Jay who makes his hay defeating scrubs like Tavarez in close games like these.
It was just a question of when Julie would blink again, it didn't take long to find out. RSN's fears were confirmed in the bottom of the 6th when the Jays touched Tavarez (5IP, 6H, 3ER, 0BB, 4Ks, 2HRs) for a pair of runs, the first on a blast by nemesis Alex Rios and the next on a Vernon Wells double that followed Adam Lind's single.
Just like that a tight, tied contest was "blown open" with the way Halladay was pitching, and it didn't look good for the Bosox to head into the New York series on a winning streak. But quicker than you can say "how do I manage a pitching staff?", Gibbons decided to send the Sox an early Christmas present, lifting Halladay in the 8th inning despite the low pitch total and his absolute domination up to that point.
To say Boston took advantage of the opportunity handed to them would be a major understatement. You could almost feel the weight being lifted of the Sox shoulders and small smiles creeping onto the Boston batter's faces knowing they would get a chance to mount a comeback against somebody other than one of the best pitchers in the major leagues.
The beginning of the end started innocently enough, with Coco Crisp (2-4, R, RBI) beating out his second bunt single of the game to lead off the 8th. Youk (1-5) quickly popped out to short, and it looked as if it would be up to Boston's best batters to get the better of Toronto's best pitcher if the Sox were going to pull this one out. Halladay (7.1IP, 6H, 2ER, 3BB, 2Ks) was able to induce Papi (1-3) into striking out, but that's when Gibbons made the move to the pen and 33,000+ at SkyDome stared, moths agape.
The rest, as they say, is history. Manny crushed a 2-1 offering from Marcum into the stale, Molson-scented dome air to tie the game, and after Cora's circus play saved a run in the bottom of the 8th, he tripled in the winning run in the top of the 9th to cap a terrific afternoon for himself and the Sox. Papelbon sealed the deal when he struck out two of the three batters he faced in the 9th, and the Sox packed up and headed home, ready to take on the Evil Empire for the first time this season.
NOTES:
-Tito tinkered with the lineup again, expected with a day game after a night game, and once again he saw mixed results:
- Lugo got the day off so Coco moved to back to the leadoff spot and responded with 2 bunt hits, a run and a run batted in.
- Youk played 3rd base and moved back up to the two-hole; he had 1 hit in 5 trips and left 3 runners on base
- Hinske got the start at first base and despite going 0-2 he knocked in the first run with a sac fly and also drew a walk
- We know what Cora did
- Cap'n Tek had another terrible day at the plate, going 0-4 and leaving 5 men on base to drop his average to a minuscule .189
-Not to be outdone at the bottom of the stats sheet, Dustin Pedroia pulled an o-fer-4 as well to see his average plummet to .167, same as Coco's
-Papelbon appeared on consecutive days for the first time this season and showed no ill effects; although he did allow a walk and struggled a bit with his control, he still fanned two batters, didn't allow a hit and has not allowed a run yet this season (shades of 2006)
-J.D. Drew had a single and two walks and has reached base in all 14 games this season
-The three relievers who followed Tavarez, Pineiro, Romero and Timlin, didn't exactly post stellar numbers- 3 2/3, 2 hits, 3 walks, 1 K -but managed to come through the fires without allowing a run
-Manny's homer was # 471 of his career, and if it gets him cranked up for the season we can expect to see #500 by late August
-Alex Rios absolutely owns Julian Tavarez; after his 2-3 showing against Gascan today, Rios is a stunning 7-9 with a double, triple, homer, walk, run, and rbi against him. Yikes!
QUOTES:
-"The location was terrible. I think my little sister probably could have hit it just as far, if not further."-Marcum on the gopherball he served up to Manny
RECORD: 9-5
AL EAST: Up 1 on NY
UP NEXT: Fri. vs. Stankees, 7PM ESPN
Pettitte vs. Schilling
Let's get it ON!
Read More......Game Preview: Sox @ Jays 12:30P
Tavarez (0-1, 9.00) vs. Halladay (2-0, 2.35)
In the rubber game of this eventful-yet-low-scoring series Boston will trot out the worst member of its starting staff, Julian Gascan Tavarez, while Toronto rolls out one of the 5 best pitchers in the American League over the last 5 years, Roy Doc Halladay.
Tavarez was thrust into the 5th starter's role after Jonathan Papelbon had a change of heart about the closer's role and moved back to the 'pen just before the start of the season. Well, what's good for the bully is bad for the rotation as the always-wild Tavarez was ineffective in his first-and only-start this season; he gave up 4 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks, lasting only 4 innings in an 8-4 loss to the Rangers on April 7th.
The one good note regarding Julie getting the start is that he had one of his best outings, well ever, here last September, when he threw a complete game 7-hitter in defeating Toronto 7-1.
So he's got that going for him.
Meanwhile 2003 Cy Young winner Halladay is coming off a monster performance against Detroit: a 10-inning, complete game 2-1 win. Although the ace only fanned 2 and scattered 6 hits, he had all of his pitches working and only threw 107 of them in 10 innings- incredible.
The sporadic and erratic Boston batters will have their work cut out for them today, especially since you gotta believe they'll have to score 5-6 runs to offset Tavarez' potential wildness. In Boston's 8 wins the Sox are averaging 7.1 runs/game; in its 5 losses it manages a measly 1.2 runs/contest. Yikes.
After the game the Sox will head back home to prepare for the first series this season with the Evil Empire.
Hopefully they will be able to head into that pressure cooker with a 2nd-consecutive series win
under their belts.
4.07.2007
Sox drop 2nd straight in Texas to fall to 2-3
Sox Box
Rangers 8, Sox 4
WP: Millwood (1-1)
LP: Tavarez (0-1)
HRs:TEX- Sosa (1)
(*note: I did not post on the Sox 2-0 loss to Texas on Friday because I have been out all weekend. From what I gathered from Edes I was better off not witnessing that debacle.)
SUMMARY:
Despite being staked to an early 2-run lead, Julian the Human Gascan Tavarez performed his usual pyrotechnics and torched that advantage quicker than you can say "I'm a hot-tempered Dominican who forgot how to pitch 5 years ago."
Gascan gave up the lead in a four-run Texas 3rd and for good measure J.C. Romero allowed Sammy Sosa's first home run in 2 years, a solo shot in the 8th, and the Sox continue to struggle, falling below .500 on the young season.
HERO: Millwood 6IP, 8H, 3R, 3BB, 3K
The artist formerly known as Kevin Millwood made a brief appearance in Arlington tonight as the veteran righty shook of a troubling first inning to hold the scuffling Boston lineup in check.
GOAT: C'mon, do ya even have to ask? Sing it with me now, "who is the man that can melt away the leads, the Gascan can, oh the Gascan can"
REVIEW:
Amid all the giddiness surrounding Jonathan Papelbon's return to the closer role just before the start of the season I, and possibly many other members of the Nation, lost sight of the horrific fact that Julian Tavarez would now be counted on to go out there every five days and attempt to procure a victory for this team.
That short-sightedness came in to focus quickly tonight in Texas as the man who seemed to blow every single game he entered last season as a reliever continued that trend right over to his first start of the year. For the third time in the first five games the Sox scored in the first inning, yet Tavarez, like Schill on Opening day, couldn't carry that momentum into the later innings. Although the blowing of the lead wasn't entirely his fault.
Boston grabbed the quick 1-0 lead in the first (unlike yesterday's shutout when the team wasn't even ready for the introductions, let alone the game), thanks to the red-hot bat of Mr. J.D. Drew (2-5, R, RBI), who had a Jekyll & Hyde-type game. After Youk and Papi singled and Manny forced pai at second, Drew singled to left, scoring Youk but Manny was out by Brad Wilkerson trying to take third. The Sox tacked on another run in the second thanks to an RBI single by Lugo, but that would be the last time the Sox would enjoy a lead on the evening.
The game began to unravel in the 3rd; after Jerry Hairston Jr. walked to lead off, underrated hitting machine Michael Young roped a double into the rightfield corner. This is when the Mr. Hyde part of Drew's night came into play. The ball rolled around the corner past Drew, and by the time he tracked it down Hairston was on the bench sipping Gatorade and Young had motored around the bases to score the tying run on a double & 2-base, 2-run error. Yikes!
It got worse from there as the Rangers turned 3 singles, a walk and a passed ball into two more runs and a 4-2 lead by the end of the inning. Tavarez was gone by the time Tek's deep double scored Drew, who had singled for the second time, cut the lead to 4-3 in the 6th, but Kyle Snyder came in and immediately allowed a double to Hairston, then Romero took over for Snyder and allowed 3 runs including Sosa's 589th career longball. This one was possibly even 'roid free.
The Boston bats continued their early season slumber. The team is batting a robust .244, and guys like Manny (.235), Papi (.167), Coco (.125) and Tek (.143) have yet to find the groove. Ironically the bulk of the Boston offense is coming from Drew (.412) and Pedroia (.333), two of the last guys expected to be the best and most productive hitters on this team. But, like I said, it's early- no need to panic. Besides, the return to baseball to Fenway Tuesday will be the magic elixir that will awaken this team from its daze and get things on the right track.
Unless it's snowing in Beantown.
RECORD: 2-3
GB: - 1/2
UP NEXT: Boston will try to salvage a game here in the chilly heartland when Schilling takes the mound against Vincente Padilla for the ESPN Sunday Night Baseball game. Something tells me the cold evening and Boston's colder bats plus Schill's desire to atone for his opening stinkbomb could make for a tight, low-scoring game. Let's just hope it's the Sox who benefit from the bloopers, check-swing RBI singles and 2-base errors for a change.
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