Phillies 8, Sox 2
WP: Hammels (7-4)
LP: Colon (4-2)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (6), Drew (12); PHI-Howard, 2 (19), Rollins (6)
SUMMARY:
Coming off a series in which Boston hit six homers and scored 16 runs the Phillies turned the tables on them tonight, slamming a double, two triples and three home runs among their 12 hits in routing Bartolo Colon and the Sox.
#1 STUNNER(s): Ryan Howard & Jimmy Rollins 6-10, 4R, 7BI, 3B, 3HR
Philly's leadoff hitter and super slugger tag-teamed the Sox right from the get-go as Rollins hit a homer to lead off the game, Ryan followed with a two-run blast minutes later and both of them did damage later in the game as well.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Mike Timlin 2/3IP, 4H, 4ER, 2BB, 0K, 22P
Why Tito brought Tired Arm into a game that was still winnable (4-2) in the 6th inning when David Aardsma was ready and willing to enter the game is a question the Nation will ponder for days to come.
This latest awful outing pushed the ancient reliever's ERA over 7.00. Please, for the love of God, either make him retire or DFA this fossil NOW.
RECAP:
I, like most of RSN, had a bad feeling about this series, and this opening game in particular, before it even started.
It didn't take long for Philly to prove us cynics right.
The Red Sox got chewed up and spit out by the offensive juggernaut that is the first place Philadelphia Phillies tonight at Citizens Bank Park, and they wasted little time in flexing the muscle that has allowed them to score 20 runs not once but twice this season.
Philly scored three runs before they had two outs on a pair of first inning homers, and things got so bad for Boston that 260-lb Ryan Howard and cement-footed Pat Burrell both legged out triples before the night was through.
How good is this offense?
Put it this way - their second baseman, Chase Utley, is leading the majors in homers and is second in the NL in RBI and he went 0-5 tonight (with an RBI) and they still scored 8 runs.
That's how good they are.
Tonight's starting pitcher, Cole Hammels, went 1-3 with a single to raise his average to .316 (12-38).
That's how good they are.
With his four ribbies this evening Howard tied teammate Utley for the NL RBI lead with 62, despite the fact that he's only hitting .225.
That's how...well you get the point.
It was apparent right from the start that Colon did not have the same kind of stuff he had in his four previous starts this season when his first pitch to Rollins missed outside badly, and when he put the next one over the plate the reigning NL MVP crushed a fastball off the facade of the upper deck in right for a quick 1-0 Philly lead.
Two pitches later Shane Victorino (2-4, 2B, BB, R) roped a double to deep right center and after Colon got Utley to strike out, Howard hit a 1-0 offering from Bart just over the wall and into the first row of seats in left to give Philly a 3-0 lead before everyone's seats were even warm.
Hammels (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 2BB, 5K, 2HR, 110P), meanwhile, kept the Boston batters at bay, escaping jams in the first when he struck out Drew and Manny after Pedroia had doubled with one out, and in the second when he whiffed Colon after Sean Casey (2-4)doubled and Julio Lugo walked with two out.
Colon escaped a two on, two out jam of his own in the bottom of the second when he got Utley to pop out to Casey at first, but he got burned by Howard again in the third when the beefy first baseman hit a 2-1 pitch to the opposite field again, this time making it as far as the third row of bleachers for his second longball of the game and 19th of the season.
He now trails teammate Utley by just three for the league lead in that department.
That's how good...alright, enough of that.
Trailing 4-zip Boston finally cracked the Hammels puzzle when Pedroia (3-4, R, BI, 2B, HR) and Drew hit back-to-back jacks with one out in the fifth, Drew's eighth of the month and sixth in the last nine games and Pedroia's second in two days, and with the lead sliced in half at 4-2 it looked like the Sox could possibly mount a comeback if they could get Hammels out of the game.
Instead it was Colon who exited the game after tossing a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, reportedly due to a back issue, and that's when things got away from the comeback kings.
After Javier Lopez worked around a two out triple to Burrell (2-2, 2BB) to notch a scoreless fifth, Tito inexplicably brought in Timlin to pitch the sixth with the game up for grabs and Aardsma ready in the pen.
Talk about a move that came back to bite someone in the nads.
Timlin went out and tossed his BP fastball to the salivating Philly hitters, and they hammered him like soldiers home on shore leave. Here's a transcript of the destruction of a comeback chance:
-Pedro Feliz walks on 4 pitches
-Carlos Ruiz (who!?) singles to left on 2-1 count
-Hammels sacrifices both runners over
-Rollins hits 2-RBI single to right center, 6-2 Philly
-Victorino singles, Rollins to third
-Utley grounds into fielder's choice, Rollins scores, 7-2 Philly
(here's where Tito might have wanted to remove Tired Arm, preferably with deadly force, if necessary. But no...)
-Howard triples to deep right center on first pitch, Utley scores, 8-2 Philly, game over, Timlin's career officially over as well.
Okay I made that last part up, but one can dream, right?
Things got so bad for Boston that Francona brought in fellow frazzled reliever Hideki Okajima to pitch the 8th inning of an 8-2 ballgame, hoping he'll work out his kinks in a laugher instead of a save situation.
Good news is he pitched a clean inning and even struck out Howard to cap it off.
Bad news is our top setup man and one of the best in the league last year is pitching meaningless innings in blowouts to get his confidence back because lately he has sucked worse than Speed Racer.
Tomorrow night Boston will get a chance to put this ugly loss behind them and even the series at one with Jon Lester on the mound.
Sure the kid will be opposed by 237 game winner Jamie Moyer.
But he's only batting .167.
RECORD: 44-29
AL EAST: Up 2 gms
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Tue vs. PHI 7:05 Lester vs. Moyer
6.16.2008
Phillies give Sox a taste of own medicine
6.15.2008
Bailey lives up to his name as Sox hammer Reds
Sox 9, Reds 0
WP: Beckett (7-4)
LP: Bailey (0-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Drew (11), Crisp (4), Ellsbury (4), Pedroia (5); CIN-None
SUMMARY:
After two tight games in this series Boston batters teed off on the ragged Reds pitching staff today, blasting four home runs including three off appropriately-named starter Homer Bailey, as the Sox took the series two games to one.
#1 STUNNER: Jacoby Ellsbury 3-5, 2R, HR, RBI, 2SB
The electric Sox outfielder sparked the offense today when he led off the game with a single, stole second and third base, and came around to score on a sac fly. He also contributed a home run to lead off the 3rd, and his two steals gave him the Red Sox all-time rookie record of 33.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Bailey 2.1IP, 4H, 5ER, 3BB, 0K, 3HR
The only thing worse than a pitcher with the name of 'Walk' is a hurler with a moniker as unfortunate as 'Homer', especially when he lives up, err down, to his handle.
RECAP:
No Manny?
No Papi?
No biggie.
Despite the absence of the team's top two sluggers Boston still managed to club four home runs, three by the most unlikely trio of Coco Crisp, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, and inflict an 11-hit, 9-run beatdown on the Reds in the finale of the first Sox series in Cincy since 1975.
And the beneficiary of all the unexpected offensive largess was Josh Beckett, who pitched just well enough (7IP, 6H, 2BB, 6K, 98P) to earn his second win in his last three starts and seventh of the season, helping Boston win its 16th road game as they start to distance themselves from the bottom of the pack in road losses.
But the story in this one wasn't the pitching but the source of Boston's unlikely offense.
It's one thing to have guys step up when your big guns go down. That's what heavy-hitting vets like Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek and J.D. Drew are paid and expected to do.
It's another story entirely when smallish "sluggers" like Coco (2-5, R, 4BI) and Pedroia and fleet-footed rookies like Ellsy power your offense to its most one-sided victory in a season already full of 'em.
What it says is that top to bottom this team is capable of beating any other even when it isn't at full strength, and when guys like Justin Masterson, Bartolo Colon, Coco Crisp and Little Big Man step up and fill a void and lead the Sox to victory, it bodes well for a club hell-bent on going deep in the playoffs this year.
Not that we'd rather go with these guys than Manny, Papi, Dice-K and Schill, but it's like having a comfy security blanket knowing they're there if we need 'em.
I already mentioned above how Boston scored its first run, on those fleet feet of Ellsbury as he stole two bases in the first inning to surpass a team rookie record that had stood since 1908. His 33 steals are 33 off the AL rookie mark, held by Kenny Lofton, but he's got a LONG way to go if he hopes to break the ML mark of 110, set by Vince Coleman in 1985.
Beckett escaped a jam in the second when he struck out Adam Dunn looking with runners on 1st and 2nd, courtesy fo a walk and Julio Lugo's league-leading 13th error, and Boston began its homer barrage in the top of the second when Crisp smacked a 3-2 pitch from Bailey over the wall in right with Tek aboard for a 3-0 lead.
And with that shot, Coco's second in two days, the seal was officially broken.
After Becektt worked out of another 1st & 2nd situation by striking out the pitcher Bailey (gotta love the NL) and then getting phenom Jay Bruce to pop out, Ellsy showed off his versatility and showed up his centerfield counterpart by lining a leadoff homer into the rightfield seats for Boston's fourth run of the day.
Two pitches later, following a fly out by Pedroia, Drew (1-2, 2R, BI, 2BB) knocked another Bailey meatball to nearly the same spot for his 7th homer in June and a 5-0 Boston lead.
When Bailey followed that bombing with a five pitch walk to Lowell, he was out of the game and the game was soon gonna be out of hand for Cincy.
As Becks was in the process of retiring 10 Reds in a row, Boston piled on in the 5th when Youk (1-5, R, BI) hit an RBI single off Jeremy Affeldt to score Drew, who had walked, to make the score 6-0, and Coco followed that with a 2-RBI single off Dan Majewski for an 8-0 lead to make the game an official laugher.
By the time Pedroia (1-4, R, 2BI) took Majewski deep for Boston's fourth homer and ninth run of the game in the 6th the sold out stadium was basically empty as every Reds fan had already headed out to celebrate Father's Day in a more enjoyable fashion.
About the only ones left, aside from the Cincy diehards, were Sox fans and Youk's family, and the last three innings resembled an intimate gathering at the local muni field.
When Mike Timlin retired the side in order in the 9th the game was mercifully over, and Boston had its second straight road series win under its belt as it headed to its next destination, fabulous Philly.
So the Sox say goodbye to the Queen City again.
At least the memories were a lot better this time around.
NOTES:
-Manny's hammy: Ramirez sat out his second straight game with that tender hammy. He played only 7 of a possible 21 innings in the series, including a pinch hit appearance in the 10th inning yesterday
-Drew's back: after going 0-4 yesterday to snap an 11-game hitting streak Drew picked up where he left off by belting his seventh homer of June. He's now batting .446 (21-47) with 7 homers, 19 runs and 16 RBI in the month.
-So is Tek: after missing the last three games with a sore throat Jason Varitek returned to the starting lineup and went 0-2 with a run and two walks. he was removed in the 8th for Kevin Cash.
RECORD: 44-28
AL EAST: Up 2.5 gms
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Mon @ PHI 705 ESPN Colon vs. Hammels
6.14.2008
Youk blasts game-winning home run in return to hometown
Sox 6, Reds 4 (10)
WP: Papelbon (3-2)
LP: Lincoln (0-2)
SV: Hansen (1)
HRs: BOS-Youk (11), Crisp (3); CIN-Dunn (18), Phillips (13), Encarnacion (11)
SUMMARY:
After the Boston bullpen blew yet another lead, including a rare blown save by Jonathan Papelbon, Kevin Youkilis capped off a successful return to his home town when he hit a home run off Mike Lincoln in the top of the 10th to give the Sox a rare and much-needed road victory.
#1 STUNNER Youk 3-5, 1R, 2BI, 2K
Is there a better way to return home, with 150 family & friends in the stands, than to hit a game-winning extra inning home run against the team you loved growing up, and that snubbed you in the draft just a few years ago?
Thought not.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Lincoln 1.1IP, 3H, 2ER, 1BB, 2K, 2HR, 29P
The Reds had all the momentum after tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, but Lincoln put out that fire quicker than you can say "longball" as he surrendered back-to-back homers to Youk and Coco in the top of the 10th.
RECAP:
"YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUKKKKK!"
The familiar chant that is heard at both Fenway Park and stadiums all over the Nation every time the good-natured, high-strung Sox first baseman comes to bat or makes a great defensive play was never heard in such full throat as it was this afternoon in his return to the city he grew up in.
In a storybook game that could have been penned by George Will Kevin Youkilis came back to the Queen City in grand style this afternoon, clubbing three hits and a pair of RBI with 100+ family members and friends sitting in the stands cheering for him, each hit bigger than the one that came before it.
The scene was made all the more amazing by the fact that he had struck out in his first two at bats of the day against hard-throwing Reds righty Edinson Volquez, perhaps because he was pressing, or perhaps because Volquez is good enough to do that to anyone.
But the stubborn, chrome-domed slugger, who has toned down his post-at bat antics since a dugout scuffle with teammate Manny Ramirez a week ago, fought through the butterflies and stayed patient, and he was rewarded with an experience he will never forget for the rest of his life.
And neither will the Reds.
To give you an idea of how big Youk is in Cincy, where he grew up, went to the University of Cincinnati and owns almost all the major offensive records at the school, when my son and I went to see the Big East college baseball championship a couple of weeks ago, players on the UC team were imitating his unique batting stance while goofing around in the on-deck circle before the game.
Simply put the "Greek God of Walks" is a god a UC and universally beloved in a city that has probably produced more home-grown major league talet than any other metropolis in the country outside of New York.
So for him to do what he did today, in a game that was an awesome, back-and-forth exciting affair right til the very end, was like living out a boyhood fantasy that any kid who's ever dreamed of being a major leaguer has ever had.
But the way things had gone just minutes before his dramatic homer it didn't look like the Sox were going to have anything to celebrate today.
Not after another bullpen implosion that saw three men waste a hard-fought 4-2 lead and a spectacular effort from Tim Wakefield that nearly sent the Sox to their 22nd road loss of the year.
Boston jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead against stud starter Volquez (7IP, 7H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 9K, 101P) when Jacoby Ellsbury led off the game with a single, went to second on a wild pitch by Volquez, stole third after one pitch to Dustin Pedroia and trotted home when cather Paul Bako threw the ball into right field trying to gun Ellsbury out.
But Cincy tied it right up when Dunn launched his second homer in two days and 18th of the season off Wakefield in the bottom of the 2nd inning, a blow that was lessened when Brandon Phillips got greedy after stealing second and was gunned down trying to take third when the ball got away from the Boston infield.
The mistakes continued as Boston took the lead in the fourth when J.D. Drew (2-5, 2R, 2B, 3B) tripled over Dunn's head in left field and then waltzed home on another wild pitch by Volquez.
Now the score was 2-1 Boston, although both starting pitchers were pitching brilliantly.
Wakefield (7IP, 4H, 2ER, 2BB, 6K, 2HR, 89P) continued to stymie the Cincy hitters, retiring 10 out of the next 16 Reds batters while Boston added to its lead on an RBI single by Youk, driving in Pedroia who had led off the sixth with an infield single.
Staked to a 3-1 lead Wake's bugaboo - the longball - came back to bit him again when he surrendered an upper-deck shot to Phillips (2-5, R, BI) to lead off the 7th to cut the Sox lead to 3-2.
But Boston quickly recaptured its 2-run lead off reliever David Weathers when Drew led off the 8th with a double, again to the opposite field, and Mike Lowell followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-2.
Unfortunately a botched play by third base coach DeMarlo Hale cost the Sox a chance at breaking the game open and preventing the late-inning heroics.
After Lowell's single Youk drove a pitch from Weathers over Jay Bruce's head to deep right center, but instead of settling for runners at second and third and no outs Hale sent Lowell home all the way from first where he was easily thrown out.
Still, a 4-2 lead with just six outs to go seemed pretty solid.
Except Oki shit the bed again.
Things started out bad when Bako hit the first pitch from Oki for a leadoff single, and when Bruce walked on four pitches one out later Tito quickly went to the pen and removed the struggling Japanese lefthander.
But instead of calling on Paps for the five out save, he brought in Manny Delcarmen, who immediately gave up an RBI single to pinch hitter Javier Valentin to cut the lead to 4-3.
The only thing that saved Boston from losing the game right there was Ken Griffey Jr (0-4, BB, 2K) swinging at a 3-0 pitch and grounding into an inning-ending double play, yet another in a long line of botched and boneheaded plays in this game.
No worries, though, as all paps had to do was get three outs and this one was in the bag.
Papelbon (1IP, 1H, 1ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR) got Phillips and Dunn to each ground out to second to nearly wrap things up, but then he got sloppy with Edwin Encarnacion and the third baseman ripped a 2-2 offering into the left field stands for a game-tying, shock-inducing home run, and suddenly what looked like an exhilarating victory was resembled a devastating defeat.
And the came Youk.
After Lowell struck out to lead off the 10th, Youkilis pounced on a 2-2 fastball from Lincoln and deposited it into the right field seats for the game winner, and as his teammates and cheering section celebrated Coco cracked the next pitch to almost the exact same spot for a big insurance run, and at 6-4 Sox this one was all but wrapped up.
Sorta.
Craig Hansen relieved Paps and quickly retired the first two hitters in the bottom of the 10th before Jolbert Cabrera singled to center and Junior walked, but Hansen got Phillips to fly out to Drew on the warning track for the final out, and the fans piled onto Pete Rose Way knowing they got their money's worth.
And they were all chanting Yooooooouuuuuukkkk!
RECORD: 43-28
AL EAST: Up 1.5 gms
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Sun @ CIN 1:35 Beckett vs. Bailey
6.12.2008
Boston's longball barrage buries B-more
Sox 9, Orioles 2
WP: Lester (5-3)
LP: Guthrie (3-7)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Lowell (10), Drew (10), Youk (10); BAL-None
*Note: sorry I was late posting this but after I started it I watched the Celtics game, and after witnessing one of the greatest comebacks in the history of the NBA playoffs I was in no condition to blog about baseball! GO CELTS!
SUMMARY:
A trio of 10th home runs sent the Orioles out of Beantown on a sour note as Boston used a pair of two-run shots, from Youk and J.D. Drew, a grand slam by Mike Lowell and a solid start by Jon Lester to defeat the O's and take 2 of 3 in the series.
#1 STUNNER: Drew 2-4, 2R, 2BI, BB, 2B, HR
The torrid streak continues as Drew reached base three more times and smacked another two extra base hits, including his 6th homer in his last 11 games. He is now batting .500 in June (18-36) and is creeping up on Milton Bradley for the league lead in on base percentage.
This is the J.D. Drew the Sox expected to see when they laid out $70 mil for him a year and a half ago.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Dennis Sarfate 1IP, 1H, 2ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR
Starter Jeremy Guthrie didn't pitch well, but he left with a deficit of just 5-1. Chad Bradford chipped in with 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief, but then Sarfate let the game get away when he surrendered Youk's two-run homer in the seventh.
RECAP:
Whadda ya know, the game started at six and was over by nine!
Plus the Sox won and there were no fisticuffs or blown saves.
Now that's what I call a sweet win.
Boston dispatched the pesky Birds with a decisive seven-run victory that gave the Sox five wins in their last seven games against Baltimore, a team they (thankfully) won't see again until after the All Star break.
Like the game yesterday the Sox jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but this time instead of the Boston bullpen suddenly letting Baltimore creep back in the game the Boston batters kept adding to the lead to make sure there would be no Bird comeback or blown save tonight.
The Sox got on the board in the second inning against O's starter Jeremy Guthrie (4.2IP, 7H, 5ER, 5BB, K, HR, 107P) when Youk singled sharply to center with one out, moved to second on a groundout by Coco Crisp and came around to score on a single underneath the glove of first baseman Oscar Salazar for a 1-0 Sox lead.
The funny thing about that play is that normally Kevin Millar would have been over there and might have made the play, but he had to come out of the game after fouling a ball off his knee in the top of the second.
Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes the bar eats you, Kevin.
The game stayed at 1-0 for a few innings as Guthrie continued to struggle, but caught a few breaks like when Youk got tagged out at home in the fourth and Kevin Cash, playing in place of Tek who has strep throat, couldn't capitalize with two men in scoring position
Jon Lester, meanwhile, was mowing through the Baltimore lineup, showing no ill effects of having his start pushed back a day due to his Raysbrawl suspension.
Lester (7IP, 7H, 2ER, 1BB, 3K, 101P) retired 13 of the first 17 Baltimore batters
before running into his only trouble of the night in the sixth inning. But by then the Sox lead had grown to 5-0, and it was another case of deja vu that brought them to that point.
Jacoby Ellsbury (1-5, R) started the fifth inning off with a single to right, then one out later moved to third base on a double to the base of the Wall by white-hot J.D. Drew. And then O's manager Dave Trembley did something that he can't really be blamed for, but it came back to bite him in the nads anyway:
he intentionally walked Manny Ramirez to get to Mike Lowell.
Granted most managers would make the same decision in his situation, what with Manny being a member of the 500 homer club and one of the most feared right handed hitters of all time, but sometimes playing the percentages doesn't always work out.
Just ask Jimmy Gobble.
On My 22nd at Fenway the Royals reliever was also instructed to walk Manny to load the bases and pitch to Lowell, and Lowell responded by taking him over the Monster for what wound up being the game-winning grand slam in an 11-8 Boston win.
Fast forward to tonight and it was deja vu all over again as Lowell (1-4, R, 4BI) took an 0-1 offering from Guthrie and golfed it over the Monster for a back-breaking granny, and from there it was all over but the piling on.
As I said Lester did hit a rough patch when he surrendered three doubles in the sixth inning to cut the Sox lead to 5-2, but when Audrey Huff (2-4, BI) inexplicably failed to score from second on a two-out single by Ramon Hernandez that would have sliced the Boston lead to two runs, the game was all but over.
The Sox put this one away against a pair of Baltimore relievers when Youk (2-2, 2R, 2BI, 2BB) drove the first pitch he saw from Dennis Sarfate over the wall for a two run homer after Manny had walked again, and in the 8th Drew added to his incredible June numbers and put a cap on this game and series when he blasted a two-run shot off Jamie Walker for the final margin of 9-2.
So a lot of things went right for Boston and the Nation tonight. Drew continued to make people forget Papi has been out of the lineup. Youk showed signs of coming out of his month-long slump. Boston blasted three homers for the first time in a couple of weeks. Jon Lester looked great after an unexpected extra day of rest.
And the game ended in less than three hours, allowing all of us to catch a miraculous Celtics comeback to take a 3-1 Finals lead over the hated Fakers.
A good night at the old ballyard indeed.
NOTES:
-Going Streakin': Manny had his 15 game hitting streak stopped with his pair of walks, while Drew extended his to 11 games; he has now hit safely in every game since Ortiz went on the DL
-Lugo-no: the Sox shortstop committed his league-leading 13th error on a routine grounder in the 8th inning. Is he a remake of Rentanerror or what?
RECORD: 42-27
AL EAST: Up 2.5 gms
STREAK: W2
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Fri @ CIN 7:10 Masterson vs. Harang
6.01.2008
Manny homers again as Colon goes to 3-0
Sox 9, Orioles 4
WP: Colon (3-0)
LP: Burres (4-5)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Ramirez (11), Lowell (7), Drew (5); BAL-Scott (7)
SUMMARY:
The Red Sox hit three homers for the second straight game, including #501 by Manny Ramirez, and Bartolo Colon picked up another win as Boston beat Baltimore for the third straight game.
SUPERSTAR: Ramirez 3-5, 2R, 3BI, 2B, HR
How do you follow a milestone game? By slamming three hits and three ribs and taking the first step towards the next historic homer, that's how.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Burres 4IP, 12H, 7ER, 1BB, 2K, 2HR
The Sox batters treated Burres like their own personal pinata, notching a dozen hits off the slumping starter in just four innings. Yikes.
RECAP:
No Papi? No problem.
The Boston batters more than made up for the loss of their leading slugger, who missed the game with a hand injury suffered in the 9th inning of last night's win, by clubbing 16 base hits, five for extra bases, and suddenly the team that couldn't win on the road has won three straight away from Fenway.
So far in the series Boston has scored 20 runs and rapped 35 hits including 6 homers and stole 10 bases in taking all three games, a decided difference from the start of the trip in which the Sox lost five of six games in Oakland and Seattle by averaging just over 2 runs and 5 hits per game.
And don't look now but the man behind the resurgence is none other than ManRam, who added to his historic home run total today and is batting .333 (11-33) with 6 runs, 3 homers and 10 RBI on the trip so far.
With production like that who needs Ortiz, right?
Kidding, kidding.
But the best part of this offensive resurgence is that it hasn't been a one Man show - so far in B'More everyone has been getting into the act.
Like Jacoby Ellsbury, who came into this series in a 1-16 skid but has gone 7-15 with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and seven stolen bases in three games here.
Or Jason Varitek, who came in with no hits in his previous 18 at bats but has four base knocks in his last 9 ABs in the Nation-friendly confines of Camden Yards.
And maybe that's part of the explanation - there's so many Red Sox jerseys and hats dotting the stands and such loud cheering for the "road" team every time the Sox do something good in this series that maybe the guys feel like they're playing in Fenway.
If that's the case let me say thanks Orioles fans, for being such front-running dickwads that you've turned what was once one of the best home fields in the majors into a virtual vacation destination for Red Sox Nation.
The Sox jumped out to an early lead in this one when Mike Lowell led off the second inning with a double, Tek singled him over to third, and JD Drew, who missed the last two games with vertigo (seriously, what ailment has this guy not had?) skied a sac fly to left to put Boston up 1-0.
Baltimore got the run right back in the bottom of the inning on a leadoff double by Luke Scott, a sacrifice and RBI single by Adam Jones off Bartolo Colon (6IP, 7H, 4ER, 2BB, 5K, HR), but Boston wasted no time bouncing back when they roughed up Brian Burres in the third.
Dustin Pedroia started the uprising with a leadoff single to center and after Youk (2-5, 2R) followed with a single that sent Pedroia to third, Manny sliced a double to left to score the Little Big Man and give the Sox a 2-1 lead.
Lowell (2-4, 2R, 2BI, 2B, HR) then launched a sac fly to score Youk and after Tek drilled a liner that Audrey Huff caught at third, Drew dropped a single into right to plate Ramirez for the third run of the inning and a 4-1 Boston advantage.
After Colon retired the side in order in the bottom of the frame, the floodgates opened in the fourth inning, and it was very another extremely memorable occurrence.
Ellsbury (3-5, BI, SB, CS) got the party started with a bunt base hit to open the inning, and then Pedroia, who homered last night, drove a ball to deep center field that Jones snagged at the wall.
But the next two hits would not be caught.
Ramirez, still giddy from the hysteria surrounding his historic homer last night, took a 1-0 pitch from Burres and carved it the opposite way and into the seats for home run #501, and two pitches later Lowell jacked one the other way into the left field seats, giving the Sox back-to-back jacks in consecutive games and if not for Jones' catch we could've had a rare back-to-back-to-back moment to cherish.
Instead we had to settle for the regular B2B version. Oh well.
Staked to a 7-1 lead Colon got a little sloppy when he surrendered a 2-run shot to Scott with no outs in the bottom of the fourth, and after Boston tacked on a couple more runs on a homer by Drew (2-3, R, 3BI) and single by Ellsbury in the 7th he started to tire when he hit Freddie Bynum and walked Brian Roberts to start the bottom of the inning.
On came Javier Lopez, who ruined the recent impressive string by the bullpen when he
surrendered an RBI single to original idiot Kevin Millah, but by then the game was all but over and it was time to start thinking about wrapping up the roadie tomorrow and heading back home to play the first place Rays in the old ballpark on Yawkey Way on Tuesday.
Then again with a home-away-from-home field advantage like the Sox enjoy here, who needs to go home?
RECORD: 35-24
AL EAST: 1GB
STREAK: W3
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Mon @ BAL 7:05 Wakefield vs. Guthrie
5.22.2008
Sox sweep Royals in grand style
Sox 11, Royals 8
WP: Matsuzaka (8-0)
LP: Bannister (4-6)
SV: Papelbon (14)
HRs: BOS-Drew (4), Lowell (6); KC-Guillen (6), Olivo (6)
SUMMARY:
The Red Sox had a lot to celebrate this afternoon - grand slams by JD Drew and Mike Lowell, Daisuke Matsuzaka picking up his AL-leading 8th victory, extending their winning streak to a season-high 7 games - but nearly as many things to lament, such as another shoddy job by the bully and 6 more walks from Dice-K.
Still a win is a win is a win, and now the Sox will head West as owners of the best record in baseball.
SUPERSTAR(s): Drew & Lowell 5-8, 5R, 2B, 2GS, 8BI
Talk about a 1-2 punch.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Brian Bannister 5.1IP, 12H, 7ER, 1BB, 4K, 1HR
So much for that day/night differential.
(Dis)Honarable mention: Boston bullpen 3.1IP, 7H, 5ER, 2BB, 3K, 2HR
Yet another uninspiring performance from the weakest link on an awesome team
RECAP:
This afternoon's victory over the reeling Royals wasn't pretty, it wasn't easy, and it sure as hell wasn't impressive, at least not pitching-wise.
But in the major leagues the end result is all that matters, and the end result of this one means the Sox now own the best record in baseball, the longest team winning streak in two years, the starter with the most wins in the American League, and an offense that appears to be as unstoppable as any assembled in recent memory.
And it's a good thing that offense is so potent, because the team needed every ounce of its power this afternoon.
Because despite ringing up 11 runs and 14 hits including two grand slams Boston nearly blew this game thanks to what has become the Achilles heel of this club, the unreliable bullpen.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (5.2IP, 6H, 3ER, 6BB, 7K, 118P) had another mezza mezza game en route to his 8th victory, and he continues to be the team's most puzzling piece; is he the decisive #1 starter who has the best winning percentage and 2nd lowest ERA in the AL? Or is he an implosion waiting to happen, as evidence by his league-leading walk total and inordinately high number of pitches thrown per start?
Right now the answer appears to be a little bit of both.
He keeps walking batters at an alarming rate (6 more today, 42 in 65 1/3 inn on the year) and has yet to pitch into the 8th inning so far this season, mainly because he throws a minimum of 100 pitches each time out. (He threw a season-high 118 today)
But he still hasn't lost this season and has been the backbone of a staff that has been riddled with injuries and inconsistencies at times.
Go figure.
Today he was not on top of his game from the get-go, as he allowed a run in the first inning on a walk, wild pitch and RBI single by Jose Guillen (4-5, 3R, 3BI, 2B, HR), and after issuing another walk he finally got Miguel Olivo to strike out to end the frame.
But not before he tossed an ungodly 34 pitches, with a 50/50 split of balls and strikes.
Yikes.
Good thing for him his offense was on top of its game, and it didn't take long for the Boston batters to penetrate the unbeatable daytime version of Brian Bannister, who had been 4-0 with a sub-1.00 ERA in afternoon starts this season.
After retiring the Sox in order in the first inning, Bannister collapsed in the second as Boston loaded the bases with no outs on an infield single by Manny Ramirez, a bleeder through the shortstop hole by Lowell and a seeing eye single by Youk.
Then JD Drew, who missed yesterday's game with a sore knee, worked the count to 2-2 before sending a pitch high to the opposite field for a Monster grand slam, his first home run since April 11th against the Stanks and a blast that reminded everyone of his monumental granny in Game 6 of the ALCS last year.
Staked to a 4-1 lead Dice still appeared as if he was going to cough it up at any time, with baserunners reaching in every inning against him, so it was nice when Youk (2-4, R, BI) singled in Lowell, who had doubled, in the 3rd to give Boston a 5-1 lead.
But Matsuzaka finally fell off the tightrope in the 5th when KC scored a pair of runs on a walk to Alex Gordon and back-to-back doubles by Guillen and Olivo (3-5, R, 5BI), and suddenly what seemed like a potential Boston blow out had turned into a nail biter.
Well at least for an inning.
The Sox chased Bannister in the 6th when Drew led off with a single, Kevin Cash, getting a rare non-Wakefield start, followed with a single and Julio Lugo drove Drew home with a sac fly to make the score 6-3 Boston.
Jimmy Gobble entered the game and promptly walked Jacoby Ellsbury, surrendered a deep double to left by Dustin Pedroia that scored Cash, and after David Ortiz popped out for the second out of the inning, KC manager Trey Hillman elected to walk the ice cold Manny Ramirez to load the bases for Lowell.
Not only that, but Hillman chose to leave the lefthander Gobble in to pitch to the righthanded Lowell.
Both moves backfired like a 76 'Nova when Lowell crushed a 1-0 pitch into the Monster seasts for the Sox second grand slam of the game, the first time Boston had accomplished that feat since Billy Mueller did it himself in Texas in 2003, and what had quickly turned into a close game just as quickly turned into a rout at 11-3 Boston.
Or so we thought.
With Matsuzaka having been replaced by Javier Lopez to get the final out of the 6th, Francona called on Craig Hansen to work the 7th. Evidently the Nova was still parked on the concourse because Hansen was horrid, allowing a leadoff homer to Guillen, a walk to Mark Teahen and then a booming double to Olivo to slice the Sox lead to 11-5.
As bad as Hansen was (his ERA is now a robust 7.56), David Aardsma was worse. Although two of the hits he allowed in the 8th were of the infield variety, the homer he gave up to Olivo was anything but cheap as it cleared the Wall with room to spare, and now the lead was back to a minuscule three runs, 11-8.
Gulp.
Even Tito's safety net, closer Jonathan Papelbon, nearly fell victim to the shitty bullpen flu as he allowed two hits after recording the first two outs in the 9th.
But sanity prevailed as Paps got Gordon to fly out harmlessly to left to end the wild affair, and the Sox had the longest winning streak since the summer of 2006 just as they head out to the West Coast for yet another 10 game road trip.
While the homestand was impressive, as the Sox won all seven games and improved to an ML-best 21-5 in the cozy confines of their home park, the real test will come when they take their sub-.500 record to Oakland, Seattle and Baltimore.
If they can come close to duplicating the magic the offense and starting pitching provided during this streak, they'll be in great shape.
You think 10 consecutive complete games would be too much to ask for?
RECORD: 31-19
AL EAST: Up 2.5 gms
STREAK: W7
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Fri @ OAK 10:05 Wakefield vs. Harden
5.18.2008
Sox complete sweep in HR derby finale at Fenway
Sox 11, Milwaukee 7
WP: Beckett (5-3)
LP: Villanueva (2-5)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Ortiz, 2 (10), Pedroia (2), Youk (9); MIL-Braun, 2 (13), Hardy (2), Fielder (6)
SUMMARY:
The Sox winning ways continued in another sloppy contest as the teams combined to blast 8 home runs, the most longballs hit in a game at Fenway in six years. Josh Beckett, who gave up four dingers, got the win, and coupled with a Rays loss Boston reclaimed sole possession of first place in the East.
SUPERSTAR(S): Papi, Pedroia & Youk 9-14, 7R, 8BI, 2B, 4HRs
We always talk about the dynamic duo of Manny & Papi, but how about the eye-popping stats from this terrific trio. The threesome single handedly had as many runs and hits as the entire Brewer's team, and every time Boston needed a big hit one of these guys provided it.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Beckett 7IP, 6H, 6ER, 1BB, 9K, 4HRs
I know he got the win and fanned nine batters, but he also allowed four homers to a slumping Milwaukee club and raised his ERA by nearly a half a run. As a result the Nation is still waiting for the 2007 version of Beckett to emerge.
RECAP:
It wasn't easy, it wasn't pretty and it wasn't a game you'd want to use as a primer for a pitching clinic.
Today's series finale with the Brewers at Fenway was entertaining, exciting, and ultimately fulfilling, mainly because the Sox hung on for the win and jumped back into first place in the AL East for the first time in about a week.
But with bad weather looming on the horizon, the Celtics Game 7 with the Cavaliers getting ready to start across town, and baseballs flying out of the park at an average rate of about 1 per inning, it's safe to say everyone was just happy to close this series out and get this friggin game over with.
No one on the Red Sox was probably more glad to see this one end than starter Josh Beckett, who had a forgettable performance on a day where all the signs pointed to a potential vintage Beckett outing, despite his shaky (0-2/9.53) career record vs. Milwaukee.
It was vintage Beckett alright. Unfortunately the vintage was mid-2006.
Things began badly for Beckett and Boston when he allowed a pair of runs to score in the first inning on a 1-0 out double by Mike Cameron followed by a 2-run Monster shot by Ryan Braun five pitches later.
It was the first time in five games Boston failed to score at least the first three runs of the game, although they did extend their streak of scoring in the first inning to six straight games.
After Dustin Pedroia (3-4, 3R, 2BI) drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the first off Milwaukee starter Carlos Villanueva (4IP, 5H, 6R, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, 2HRs), Ortiz sliced a double to deep right center field to score Pedroia all the way from first -thanks to Francona having the hit and run on - and the Brewers lead was cut in half, 2-1.
Beckett faced the minimum six batters over the next two innings before the blazing Boston bats struck for two quick runs with two outs in the bottom of the third when Pedroia and Papi went back to back off Villanueva to give Boston and Beckett a 3-2 lead.
Time for Beckett to plow through this Brewers lineup like Brett Michaels through groupies and bring this baby home in time to catch the second half of the Cs game, right?
Uh, not quite.
No sooner did Boston retake the lead then Beckett gave it right back when he surrendered a two-run bomb to JJ Hardy with two outs in the 4th, and just as we were about to put this one on the PIP the Brews had to make sure no one in the Nation could afford to switch this one off.
Like an MLB version of pong, Boston grabbed the lead right back in the bottom of the 4th when the Brewers fell apart in the field and on the mound.
Portly Prince Fielder started the Sox rally when he dropped a simple throw on a routine grounder by Mike Lowell to lead off the inning, and Villanueva collapsed from there. He allowed a single to Youk, a walk to Tek to load the bases, and after Coco Crisp struck out in a 10-pitch at bat, he walked Julio Lugo to tie the game at four and then surrendered a two-run single by Jacoby Ellsbury that gave Boston a 6-4lead.
The inning did end on a sour note, though, as Lugo was picked off second on Ellsbury's hit and then stolen bases streak Jacoby had compiled came to a screeching halt when Milwaukee pitched out and catcher Jason Kendall caught the rookie red handed, ending the run at 25 straight thefts.
Boston appeared to put the game away when Ortiz homered again to right field off 31-year-old Milwaukee rookie Mark DeFelice, who was making his major league debut and had the misfortune of doing so against the likes of this lineup, and the Boston lead was now a healthy four, 8-4.
Okay, so now it was time for Beckett to take it to the house, right?
Well, ummm, ahhh, not exactly.
In the 6th the Brew crew evoked unpleasant memories of Harvey's Wallbangers when Braun and Fielder went back-to-back with one out in the inning, and suddenly the lead was 8-6 and no one in the building nor the national TBS audience quite knew what to make of this awkward Sunday afternoon contest.
Was the focus of the game the sheer relentless determination of the potent Boston offense, or the grave inability for Beckett to close an inferior team out when his teammates gave him plenty of chances to do so?
Granted a couple of the homers were off breaking balls, so it wasn't quite like '06 when he was throwing strictly fastballs and daring batters to hit them out, which they did, 36 times. But he has allowed 8 homers in his last 37.2 innings, so something ain't quite kosher there.
The point became moot when Boston tacked on three more runs in the next two innings, the final two coming on a Monster shot by Youk (3-5, 2R, 2BI) that made the score 11-6, and after Manny Delcarmen gave up a run (as usual) to keep the game somewhat close, Francona went straight for his horse, Jonathan Papelbon, to put this game to rest with a scoreless 9th.
So a sweep is a sweep is a sweep, even if these games were ugly enough make baseball purists gag on their sacred stats, and now the team is back where it belongs, in first place, with a four game series with the Royals on tap before they head out on another 10 game road trip on Friday.
Maybe that series will be a little more aesthetically pleasing for the purists.
RECORD: 27-19
AL EAST: Up 1gm
STREAK: W3
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: Mon vs. Royals 705 Hochevar vs. Lester
5.10.2008
Four home runs propel Sox to win vs. Twins
Sox 5, Minnesota 2
WP: Matsuzaka (6-0)
LP: Perkins (0-1)
SV: Papelbon (11)
HRs: BOS-Youkilis (8), Lowell (3), Crisp (1), Lowrie (1); MIN- None
SUMMARY:
A tightly contested game highlighted by strong starting pitching and solid defensive play was decided by a longball barrage by Boston, which launched four solo homers including back-to-back jacks in the 7th by Coco Crisp and Jed Lowrie that gave the Sox the lead for good.
SUPERSTAR: Lowrie 3-4, 2R, BI, HR
Not a bad time to get your first career home run - with the game tied and time running out. Lowrie also added a double and a single on the night, making it harder for the club to send him back to Pawtucket when Sean Casey and Alex Cora come off the DL next week.
THE BIGGEST LOSER: Glen Perkins 6IP, 9H, 3ER, 0BB, 3K, 3HR
It wasn't a terrible performance for a kid making his first career start, but when you're 9 outs away from a win and you allow home runs to light hitting Coco Crisp and the first homer of a rookie's career, you're gonna earn the 'loser' tag.
RECAP:
A game that started out great for Boston suddenly turned sour, but things got better as the game went on, leading to a satisfying win.
Welcome to the Homerdome.
Daisuke Matsuzaka (7IP, 6H, 2ER, 3BB, 7K) pitched himself into - and out of - a few jams on this evening, especially when he walked in the tying run after Youk had given the Sox a 1-0 lead with his 5th homer this week in the 2nd inning.
But despite falling behind on an RBI single by Justin Morneau in the 5th, Boston hung in there until they could finally get to the youngster Perkins, who was making his first start of his career, having just been called up from the minors to take the place of disabled Pat Neshack.
The comeback came quickly and from a couple of unexpected sources, but that's the way this team has been playing all year, by getting contributions from each and every part of the lineup.
Crisp, who hadn't homered since last September 6th, began the 7th with a deep drive into the left field seats to tie the game at two, and if that was an unlikely hit the next one was even more surprising.
That's because Jed Lowrie, for all the good he's done since his callup, hasn't showed much power. Until tonight.
After getting a reprieve when Matt Tolbert dove and slid but couldn't snag his foul pop up down the right field line, Lowrie swung at the next pitch, a breaking ball away, and somehow managed to pop it into the left field stands as well, giving the Sox a 3-2 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Mike Lowell added his third homer of the week, and the season, to lead off the 8th, and after Hideki Okijima pitched aa 1-2-3 bottom of the 8th, the Sox tacked on an insurance run in the 9th when Lowrie singled, went to second on a sacrifice, and scored on a base hit by Dustin Pedroia.
That was more than enough cushion for Jonathan Papelbon, who returned to his usual robo-closer self by striking out two of the three hitters to record the save.
So once again the Sox bounced back from a disheartening defeat to pull out a spirited win, preventing any losing streak from building up while riding the wave of having won 9 of its last 12 games.
Just think if the big boppers start hitting it out of the Homerdome.
RECORD: 24-15
AL EAST: Up 2.5 gms
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 7-3
UP NEXT: Sun @ MIN 8pm ESPN Wakefield vs. Blackburn
7.29.2007
Pitchers duel turns into homerfest as Rays drop Sox
Tampa Bay 5, Sox 2
WP: Glover (4-3)
LP: Matsuzaka (12-8)
HRs: BOS-Manny (18), Youk (11); TB-Pena (25), Upton (13), Navarro (3)
SUMMARY
For 6 1/2 innings the teams engaged in a scoreless battle between Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Kazmir, but in the bottom of the 7th Dice-K allowed a home run to Dioner Navarro, and when Manny Delcarmen allowed back-to-back homers in rlief of Dice, Boston's two longballs in the 8th were too little, too late.
#1 STUNNER Scott Kazmir 6IP, 6H, 0ER, 1BB, 8K
The young lefty lived up to his ace status with an impressive performance against one of the league's best offenses.
PAN's FAUN Manny D. 2/3IP, 3H, 3R, K, 2HR
The normally reliable Delcarmen came on in relief of Matsuzaka and turned a winnable game (1-0TB) into an improbable dream; the back-to-back jacks he allowed were the first two longballs the rookie has surrendered all year.
RECAP
The Devil Rays picked a grat time to snap their eigtht game losing streak--as Daisuke Matsuzaka was trying to tie the ML lead for victories, and my son and I were sitting 12 rows from the field to witness the carnage firsthand.
I had a feeling the game would not go according to plan when we received a series of disappointments before the game even started.
First, the tickets I received from my wife's contact at the Trop were not on the third base side but on the first base side, in other words smack dab in the middle of hostile territory. Then neither team took BP, a fact my glove-toting boy didn't take too well.
Anyway, after he got autographs from Gabbard and Josh Beckett things brightened a little, and even though our seats weren't in the heart of RSN territory, I'm not complaining about sitting 12 rows from Youk's station at first base.
Then the game began, and well were all treated to the pitching battle we had expected it would be. For the third time in less than a week the Sox and an opponent engaged in a lengthy scoreless duel, with Daisuke Matsuzaka and Scott Kazmir tossing zeroes on the board like all the old timers tossing horshoes at the Sun City retirement center.
Though the lack of scoring was not for lack of baserunners. Both teams had numerous opportunities to push some runs across throughout the contest, but just when it looked like someone might break the seal, Dice & Kaz buckled down and got their team out of the jam.
The Sox had their first chache in the first inn ning when Julio Lugo led off the game with a walk, but he was quickly erased on the first of Papi's two double plays on the day.
Not to be outdone, Tampa Bay's leadoff hitter and fellow countryman of Dice-K, Akinori Iwamura, led off the bottom of the first with a solid single to right, but Matsuzaka escaped trouble thanks to a great diving catch of a Brendan Harris foul tip by Doug Mirabelli, a strikeout of B.J. Upton and Belli gunning down Iwamura trying to swipe second to end the inning.
In the second the Sox got two men on when Youk and Wily Mo both singled, but they couldn't capitalize, and wheh the Rays loaded the bases in the bottom half on a double, HBP and an infield single, it looked as if one team was going to grab an early lead.
But Dice escaped the messy situation when he got Josh Wilson to ground out to Pedroia, and after two innings despite seven baserunners neither team could take advantage of the other.
The next frame brought more of the same, as Lugo singled but was erased on Papi's second DP, and the Rays lost a golden chance to do some damage when Youk snagged Upton's hot shot to first and doubled off Harris after he had walked and Iwamura had led off the inning with a single.
On and on it went, both teams getting men on base and both pitchers living on the edge of allowing a run but climbing back thanks to a quality pitch or nice defensive play.
By the time both men tossed 1-2-3 sixths it looked as if this game was going to be decided by the pens, and with Boston posessing one of the best bullys in baseball and Tampa Bay owing one of the worst, the thousands of members of RSN knew it was just a matter of time before Boston broke through and wrapped up their second series of the Rays this month.
As you probably already know, things didn't exactly go according to plan.
Kazmir, who rarely pitches more than 5-6 innings due to high pitch counts and/or large deficits, was removed after the 6th having thrown just 97 pitches as the Rays manager, Joe milquetoast Maddon, must have had a sudden desire to tempt the fates and let his bullpen try and win a game for a change.
Who knew the mild mannered old fucker, who had actually been ejected for arguing the night before, would actually be right this time.
After Scott Doh!man allowed a one-out walk to Coco, who went to second on a ground out by Wily Mo and then stole third, and then walked Mirabelli, Gary Glover came in and retired Lugo on a grounder to Iwamura at third and the Rays pen had escaped its first jam in probably more than a month.
Tito wasn't as cautious with rubber-armed Dice-K, so with just 100 pitches on his scoresheet Matsuzaka trotted back out for the seventh as the Sox hoped to grab a run--and a win for him--in the next inning.
Unfortunately Matsuzaka and the Sox would come away with nothing but heartache thanks to a Tampa Bay upsrising that had been sorely lacking during their recent 5-25 skid.
The frame started out alright when Dice got Greg Norton to line out to Youk (with me and my son providing plenty of vocal support) to start the inning, but things went south quicker than a mid-summer thunder boomer after that.
Catcher Dioner Navarro, who has been a major disappoinment since the Rays acquired him last year from the Dodgers and is about to lose his job to recently activated Josh Paul, hit an 0-2 offering from Matsuzaka high and deep into the right field seats to score the game's first run, and after Wilson followed with a single to center, Tito pulled Matsuzaka, who received a warm ovation from the many Faithful fans in attnedance.
One run is no big deal when you think of the Sox hitters combined with the Rys pen, but what happnened next would make even us longtime diehards realize that a comeback was not going to be in the cards today.
Manny Delcarmen entered the contest with a 1.40 ERA and without allowing a home run all year.
He left with a 2.70 mark and not one but two longballs allowed as he surrendered a three-run jack to Upton following a single by harris, and then two pitches later a solo shot by former Sox first baseman Carlos Pena that made the score 5-0 and delighted the few Rays fans in attendance who had been treated to 2+ games of ridicule and humiliation courtesy of RSN South.
The Sox struck back when Manny, who owns the D-Rays, launched a shutout-busting bomb to left field and two pitches later Youk followed with a blast to deep left center off Glover, but with a 5-run cushion instead of just 1 or 2, even the Rays pen had to feel confident they could close this one out.
And after pinch hitter Jason Varitek walked with one out in the 9th, Glover got pinch hitter J.D. Boo! to strike out, then got Lugo to hit a fielder's choice grounder that forced Tek at second, and just like that a day of hope & promise turned into one of aggravation & disappointment.
But hey, at least we got Carl Crawford action figures.
With the off day Monday I'll do a follow-up post filled with picture highlights of my day at the Trop, but for now I'm just going to watch the game on the DVR to see if I made it on TV.
Hey I gotta get some enjoyment of that disaster, right?
RECORD: 64-41
AL EAST: Up 8 on NYY
STREAK: L-1
LAST 10: 8-2
UP NEXT: off Mon; Tue vs. BAL @ Fenway
7.26.2007
Sox hang on for wild win at the Jake
Sox 14, Cleveland 9
WP: Tavarez (6-8)
LP: Lee (5-8)
HRs: BOS-Manny, 2 (17), Wily Mo (5); CLE-Garko (13), Gutierrez (6)
SUMMARY
One night after the teams completed back-to-back 1-o games the two clubs combined for 23 hits and 23 runs in a wild & wacky series finale in Cleveland.
How crazy was it? Kason Gabbard had a 9-1 lead after four innings and didn't get the win, and Julian Tavarez gave up four runs including a three-run homer in 2 1/3 of relief and did.
#1 STUNNER(s)
- Manny 3-4, 4R, 4RBI, BB, 2B, 2HRs--the former Indian started the scoring with a monster homer that was the 3rd longest ever at the Jake, then ended the barrage with a blast that barely cleared the center field wall
- Wily Mo 4-5, 2R, 4RBI, 2-2B, HR--Whiffy Mo was in the zone tonight, jumping on the first pitch in 4 of his 5 at bats, with terrific results; can you say 'showcase game?'
For the third straight start Lee surrendered seven earned runs, but at least this time he didn't fight with a teammate on the field over his performance; I guess they decided to save their fireworks for the clubhouse this time.
RECAP
Holy shit!
That's all I can think of to say after witnessing one of the wildest games of the season, one made all the more incredible coming on the heels of consecutive pitcher's duels in which only two runs were scored in the last two games combined
Talk about providing contrast.
I'm not really sure where to begin with this recap, either, because my notebook looks like the demented scribblings of a retarded junkie, but I'm going to try and sift through the rubble and figure out what the hell happened tonight.
And I know my posts are wordy enough already, so just bear with me as I try to keep this under 1000 words.
Like a small crack in a large dam, the scoring stared as a slow drip before turning into a torrent of hits, runs and relief pitchers. After both Gabbard (4.2IP, 4H, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, HR) and Lee notched 1-2-3 first innings, Manny got the festivities started with a momentous longball in the top of the second.
On the first pitch of the inning from Lee, Ramirez launched a mammoth shot to straightaway center field that soared over the wall and eventually disappeared into a thicket of trees nestled above the lower section of the wall and landed in a patio area beyond the brush.
At the time I knew it was a drive of epic proportions, but it wasn't until later in the game when the Cleveland announcers (damn Extra Innings) reported that at an estimated 481 feet it was the third longest drive in Jacobs Field history did I realize how epic it really was.
After Gabbard retired the Tribe in order in the bottom of the frame, Boston dripped another run onto the board when Dustin Pedroia's double play grounder scored Wily Mo, who had singled and went to third on a single by Lugo, in the top of the third.
My first thought: hey, two runs by one team in one game--yeah!
In the bottom of the third we all got a little sense of deja vu when pesky Franklin Gutierrez blasted a solo shot to left that put Cleveland on the board, a drive that went to nearly the exact place at nearly the exact same time as his homer last night, which ended up being the winning run.
Freaky, I know.
Only this time that wouldn't be the only run for the Tribe on the night--just the only one for the moment.
Boston would string two runs together in the fourth inning when Lee walked Manny & Youk to open the inning, Lowell (3-5, 2BI) followed with a single to right to load the bases, and Cap'n Tek lined a single to left that scored Manny & Youk and gave Boston a seemingly insurmountable (with the way Cleveland has been hitting) 4-1 lead.
But that was just the tip of the iceberg, as the fifth inning would blow the lid off the scoring drought for both teams and catapult this contest into the crazy category.
The Sox seemed to slip the noose around the Tribe's necks when they sent nine batters to the plate, ripped four hits and scored five times in the frame.
Pedroia (1-6, R) started the fireworks off with a harmless single to left, then Ortiz (1-3, R, 2BB)worked a 1-2 count into a walk. Manny slammed the next pitch from Lee for a double down the left field line that plated Pedroia, and after Youk reached on shortstop Jhonny Peralta's fielding error, Lowell lined a single to right center that scored Ortiz & Ramirez to make the score 7-1 Boston and chased Lee from the game.
On his way off the field, Lee sarcastically tipped his cap to the thousands of booing fans. Ah, good times in C-Town.
Reliever Jason Stanford apparently ended the onslaught when he got Tek to ground into a double play, but Coco (2-5, 2R, RBI) followed with an RBI single to center and then Wily Mo launched a double to deep right center that scored the fleet-footed Crisp all the way from first, and at 9-1 it was time to put this one in the books, right?
Wrong.
Pitching for the first time in his home state of Ohio, all Gabbard had to do was get through the bottom of the fifth and he would own his first road victory of the season.
Easier said than done.
The inning began and ended the same way--with Ryan Garko flying out to right field. In between the Tribe would score four runs on three hits and three walks, the big blow a two-run double by Josh Barfield that cut the lead to 9-3 and gave the Indians hope, and the most painful being a first pitch ball that nailed slumping Travis Hafner on the elbow, forcing in Cleveland's fifth run and earning Gabby an unwanted early shower.
Handed a 9-1 lead, the wildness that plagued the young lefty in his earlier starts came back and cost him a shot at his fifth win of the season.
Julian Tavarez came on for his first relief appearance since his demotion from the rotation and got Garko to end the inning, and things remained quiet--for one inning.
Then in the seventh Wily Mo turned Thomas Mastny's first pitch (sensing a theme here?) into a tracer that cleared rightfield wall in about 1.2 seconds and scored Tek and Coco, who had both singled, and once again Boston had some breathing room with the score now 12-5.
Then Tavarez (2.1IP, 2H, 4R, 0ER, 1BB, 3K, HR) reminded RSN that it doesn't matter where he's pitching from, the bully or the rotation, he's always highly flammable.
Even though Lugo's error on a grounder by Barfield paved the way for the rest of the inning, after Hafner drove in Barfield in with a solid single to center it was Julie's horrid pitch to Garko that he cranked for a two-run homer that made the game a game again.
12-9 Boston, and still two more innings to get through.
Manny made sure there would be no more thoughts of a miraculous Cleveland comeback when he followed another walk to Ortiz with a mere conventional homer to center, one that barely cleared the wall and a leaping Grady Sizemore's glove, and finally, with the score 14-9 and just six outs remaining, RSN could relish the thought of taking 3 of 4 from the reeling Tribe.
After Okajima and Lopez finsihed the night off without incident. it was off to my new hometown for the Sox for a tasty three game set with the really reeling Rays.
Hope they saved some of that scoring for the Trop.
NOTES
- The start of the game was delayed 34 minutes by rain
- Boston racked up 17 hits, and here's the breakdown: every player except Youk (0-4, 2R) had at least one hit; five players had at least two knocks; two had three hits; and Wily Mo led the pack with four hits, three for extra bases
- How 'bout runs you say? seven of the starting nine scored one run, four players scored a pair, and Manny came home four times
- Pena's four hits doubled his total for the month of July and happened to occur when he is being mentioned in numerous trade scenarios. Hmmm...
- Swing early: that was the obvious game plan for tonight; in 47 PAs Sox batters put the ball in play on the first pitch an astounding nine times. More proof? Six times they hit the second offering from the Cleveland hurlers. In other words out of 47 trips to the plate, Boston hitters saw two pitches or less 15 times. Wow.
- Manny's drive is being called the third longest in the 13 year history of the Jake. The owners of the top two are Jim Thome (511') and Mark McGwire (485'). It was his 250th as a member of the Sox, and the twin blasts gave him 49 career multi-homer games, tied for 12th all-time
- Hafner's seventh inning single broke an 0-21 drought for the slumping slugger
- Barfield made two excellent plays at second, snagging a liner by Ortiz in the third and robbing Lugo of a hit with a diving stop and throw in the fourth
- Not to be outdone, Pedroia matched Barfield on a bullet by Casey Blake to open the bottom of the frame
"It was a bomb. I don't know how they measure it, but he crushed it."--Youk on Manny's blast
"That was one of the hardest balls I've seen go out. I thought it might go through it (the wall)."--Tito on Wily Mo's laser-guided missile
"It's kind of embarrassing to have a 9-1 lead and have that happen."--Gabbard
RECORD: 62-40
AL EAST: Up 7.5 on NYY (Royals blanked the Stanks!)
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Fri vs. the Rays @ the Trop Read More......
6.20.2007
Sox slam 10 XBHs in a rout of the Braves
Sox 11, Atlanta 0
LP: Carlyle (1-2)
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Julian's jubilation provided a hilarious backdrop to the Sox offensive display
- 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
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