Another week, another Sox player on the DL

Sox lose Moss to DL due to emergency appendectomy, but recall a pitcher, not an outfielder, to replace him

Already this season Boston has had to deal with disabled list trips by its top starter, Josh Beckett, starting third baseman Mike Lowell, backup infielders Alex Cora and Sean Casey as well as lengthy illnesses to Jason Varitek and Daisuke Matsuzaka and nagging injuries to David Ortiz, Coco Crisp, Jacoby Ellsbury and JD Drew.

Now they can add backup outfielder Brandon Moss to the list.

In an odd twist of fate the solid 24-year-old had a terrific game at the plate and in the field on Friday, but said he was feeling funny and was not 100% during that game.

By Saturday evening his condition had worsened, causing team doctors to send him to the hospital to find out what was wrong.

Hours later Moss had his appendix removed, sending him to the shelf for at least a month, and suddenly the Sox had another key piece of the roster removed as well.

But in a move that will cause considerable head scratching, especially if an emergency situation arises or one of Drew's myriad maladies flares up, team management decided to bring up reliever Craig Hansen to takes Moss' spot on the roster, leaving the club with just four outfielders.

Supposedly Julio Lugo is the emergency outfielder, even though he hasn't played the position but a handful of times in his career and acted like someone asked him to drink arsenic when he was interviewed about the prospect of manning the outfield turf.

But hey, after making his league-leading 9th error at short yesterday, maybe a BJ Upton-esque shift might be the best thing for him.

Seriously, though, with Drew spending more time in the trainer's room than on the field in his career and Coco and Ellsbury already nursing nagging ailments, is it really wise to go with four OFs for this vital road trip to Detroit, Minnesota and B'More?

I guess it has something to do with there not being any real viable candidates ready to make the jump down at Pawtucket, with Bobby Kielty on the DL, but this situation has the potential to blow up in their face should Drew come up lame again.

All I know is if I see Lugo out there, I'm closing my eyes and saying a prayer that the ball is never hit his way.

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That's more like it: Sox spank Rays

Sox 7, Tampa Bay 3
WP: Buchholz (2-2)
LP: Jackson (2-3)
SV: None
HRs: BOS-Moss (2); TB-None

SUMMARY:
The Red Sox did two things tonight that they haven't done in a while: beat the Rays, and score more than three runs. Led by Clay Buchholz' strong pitching and the bat and arm of Brandon Moss, Boston avenged last weekend's 3-game sweep by Tampa Bay with a decisive win in Game 1 of this series.

SUPERSTAR: Moss 2-4, 2R, BI, 1 assist
The kid is picking up right where he left off when the club shipped him to Pawtucket after the opening series in Japan.

His 4th inning home run ensured the Sox would score more than 1 run in this game, but it was his laser throw to home plate that nailed Evan Longoria trying to score to end the 2nd that was the key moment of this game.

THE BIGGEST LOSER: Edwin Jackson 4IP, 9H, 6ER, 3BB, 4K, HR
The escalator man was down again in this one, and it was his inability to shut the Sox down when they scored 5 runs with two outs in the 4th that led to the Rays losing this game.

RECAP:
Finally!

After a 2 1/2 hour rain delay that pushed the start to 9:30, and a week of feeble offense that produced thrilling wins and heartbreaking losses, the Sox got back to what they do best: pound the ball and pray the bullpen hangs on.

Since the rain delay pushed the start back I did get to catch the whole game, even though my son's Little League game was a 16-13 marathon. But with the game just ending at 12:48 am EST, I don't have the energy, nor the desire, to wrap this one up.

So as is my custom, I'm gonna get some shuteye and finish the post in the morning. Just another advantage bloggers have over the mainstream media.

Suck that, Bissinger.

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Okay, I'm all rested up and ready to report on what took place last night. If you've already read the Globe or watched SportsCenter this morning, oh well.

The Sox ensured there would be no repeat sweep by the Rays with an impressive performance on the mound and at the plate. Although starter Clay Buchholz (5.1IP, 5H, 1ER, 4BB, 6K) was not nearly as dominant as he was last weekend in St. Pete, he worked his way out of several early jams and held the Rays down until his offense could pick him up.

Tampa Bay had numerous chances to get ahead early and put the Sox in a tough spot, but due to some solid pitching, and their own ineptitude, they were not able to capitalize on those opportunities.

The Rays had seven base runners in the first three innings yet failed to get any across the plate. In the second inning Buchholz walked the first two batters, but then got Dionner Navarro to strike out, Gabe Gross to fly out, and Longoria tagged out at home plate on a throw by Brandon Moss that was as good as any JD Who? ever made.

In the third the Rays again got the first two batters aboard, but Buchholz buckled down and fanned the next three hitters, including Carlos Pena and Longoria looking, thanks to a nasty breaking ball that was baffling Tampa Bay batters all night.

Boston broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third when Dustin Pedroia (3-5, 1R, 3BI) doubled in Julio Lugo, who had also doubled. It was Pedroia's league-leading 12th two bagger of the year, and it broke an 0-11 drought that he had in the Toronto series.

After Buchholz finally retired the Rays 1-2-3 in the fourth, Boston broke the game open in the bottom of the inning, thanks to Edwin Jackson's inability to record the third out.

Jackson quickly retired Mike Lowell and Youk to start the frame, but then Moss followed with a cannon blast to deep straightaway center field that bounced off the top of the camera tent for his first homer since Opening Day in Tokyo.

That shot opened the floodgates for the sputtering Sox, as the next five batters reached base, the big blow being a 2-run single by Pedroia that made the score 5-0 and gave the soggy Faithful hope that this wouldn't be another 9th inning nail biter.

Although Buchholz gave up a run the next inning to make the score 6-1 and Javier Lopez continued the horrible performance of the bullpen by surrendering two runs in the seventh, you never got the feeling that the game was in doubt.

Indeed when Hideki Okajima came in and got three straight fly outs in the 8th, and then Varitek doubled in Moss in the bottom of the inning to run the score to 7-3, you could sense the victory was all but in the bag.

Just to be sure Francona trotted out his closer to pitch the 9th. Whether it was due to the fact that he had already been warming when the score was 6-3, or that Tito wanted to make sure no one (re: Timlin) fucked up this win, Papelbon came in throwing gas and retired the last three batters without incident, wrapping the win up at nearly 1 am.

The win gave the Sox a little breathing room in the division and also served notice that just because the Rays had won four straight against the Sox, Boston isn't about to cede the East title to the upstarts just yet.

Especially if the offense can score more than 1 run per game.

And especially with a healthy and fired up Josh Beckett ready to take the mound tomorrow night, with payback on his mind.

RECORD: 18-13
AL EAST: Up 1gm
STREAK: W1
LAST 10: 4-6
UP NEXT: Sat vs. Rays 705 Shields vs. Beckett

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Manny, Moss power Sox to Opening Day victory

Boston 6, Oakland 5 (10 inns)
WP: Okajima (1-0)
LP: Street (0-1)
SV: Papelbon (1)
HRs: Bos- Moss (1); Oak: Ellis (1), Hannahan (1)

Superstar(s) of the Game: Manny & Moss 4-9, 2R, 2 2Bs, HR, 6BI
Ramirez knocked in 4 of the 6 Sox runs with a pair of two-run doubles, including the game winners in the 10th, and Brandon Moss, a late fill in for J.D. Drew, knocked in the other two with an RBI single in the 6th and the game-tying solo shot in the 9th, his 1st career home run.

The Biggest Loser: Huston Street 1.2IP, 3H 3ER, BB, 2K, HR, BS, L
The stellar young As closer blew the save when he allowed Moss' shot in the 9th, then got torched for 2 more runs on 2 hits and a walk in the 10th to take the loss. No sushi for you!

RECAP:
At times it wasn't pretty.

Other times it was downright terrific.

All of the time it was damn early.

But either way you look at it the end result was Boston stole a victory in the Land of the Rising Sun in a game that began just after sunrise on the East Coast, squeaking out an extra-inning win over a bunch of relatively unknown baby As after a shaky performance by starter Daisuke Matsuzaka and reliever Kyle Snyder.

Matsuzaka (5IP, 2H, 2ER, 5BB, 6K, HR, HBP), making his first start in his homeland since defecting to Boston prior to last season, pitched 5 innings of topsy-turvy ball, allowing 2 runs on 60 pitches through the first two innings before settling down and holding the As at bay, allowing his teammates a chance to climb back in it with their potent offense.

Except that offense was being stymied by the bend-but-don't-break attack of Joe Blanton (5.2IP, 7H, 3ER, BB, 3K), who despite getting into mini-jams in each of the first 3 innings inning held the Sox scoreless through the first five of this early bird special.

The game began with Dustin Pedroia ripping a single up the middle at just after 6:10 EST this morning (7:00PM tonight Japan time) and ended when Jonathan Papelbon got Kurt Suzuki to ground out to Youk just before 10:00 Eastern, and in between the game featured a little bit of everything, including helmeted waitresses in the stands, geisha girls dancing on the field before the game, Hub-centric tunes like "Shipping off to Boston" and "Sweet Caroline" playing on the LOUDspeakers, and raucous ovations for Boston's two Japanese imports, Dice-K and Hideki Okajima.

Too bad once the game actually got started the hospitality and goodwill Boston had been receiving throughout the entire trip came to a sudden and screeching halt.

First came the news that J.D. Drew, who had homered in each of the two prior exhibition games vs. Japanese League teams over here, was a game-time scratch due to a back spasm of some sort, forcing the green Moss (sorry) into the starting lineup just 3 minutes prior to game time.

Pedroia then promptly sparked what appeared to be an early rally for the away team with his solid single to center and after Youk's fielder's choice got him into scoring position it was up to the big boys to get the early run in. Except Papi (0-4,BB, R) popped out to third on the first pitch he saw and Ramirez fouled out to right 4 pitches later, and suddenly it was time for Matsuzaka to make his Tokyo Dome re-debut.

Unfortunately what followed was a lesson of how not to pitch when you are being welcomed back to the place your career began as Dice-K looked like a Little Leaguer on the hill for the biggest game of his life. Matsuzaka got Travis Buck to ground out on the first pitch he threw, then proceeded to serve up a gopher ball to Mark Ellis two pitches later to give Oakland an early (literally) 1-0 lead.

It didn't get much better from there as Dice walked unknown Daric Barton, hit Jack w/ a 'K' Cust on the foot on a 2-2 count, then after wild pitching the runners over, loaded the bases on another free pass to the feeble Emil Brown. Only a slow roller to the mound by plummeting Bobby Crosby that plated one and a strikeout (on a 3-2 count) to Jack Hannahan, who was replacing the injured Eric Chavez, prevented the A's from blowing the game open before the first Sapporo of the evening was downed.

The 2nd inning brought more of the same as Boston wasted a leadoff single by Mike Lowell only to see Matsuzaka get himself in another predicament thanks to his inability to throw a breaking ball for a strike, resulting in a bases-loaded situation courtesy of two walks and a single by Suzuki in the bottom of the frame.

This time only a strikeout of Kust prevented an As uprising as Matsuzaka escaped the inning unscathed to keep the deficit at 2-0, but by this time it looked as though Dice would be gone from the game before the last wisps of darkness faded from the morning sky here in the States.

Things settled won from there, with the teams trading 1-2-3 innings for a bit until the Sox finally broke through against Blanton in the top of the 6th.

Pedroia (2-4) began the uprising with a ringing double off the wall in right center that was misplayed by Buck, and after Youk drew a 4-pitch walk, Papi had another chance to do some damage and slice into the As lead. But he fouled out to third.

Luckily Manny brought his hitting shoes in the first game of his contract year -is it any wonder why he's so focused & prepared this early in the season?- as he laced the first pitch he saw from Blanton down the third base line and deep into the corner for a 2-run double that tied the score and brought the fans from both nations (of course RSN was well represented for this ultimate roadie) to their feet for the first time since the beginning of the game.

After Lowell fanned, Mos began his rise to cult status and started the murmurs of "play him instead of the oft-injured Drew" when he ripped 1B to RF to score Manny, and the Sox had the lead at 3-2 and a potential win for Matsuzaka, who gutted it out despite his early struggles and deserved a W here.

Too bad Kyle Snyder didn't follow the script, as he allowed a single to Crosby and a homer to Hannahan 5 pitches into the bottom of the 6th, and now Boston would have to play catch up again.

The next few innings featured a parade of relievers, including a couple of familiar faces on the Oakland side in Lenny DiNardo and old friend Keith the Burger King Foulke, who threw a 1-2-3 8th that included a whiff of Manny to end the frame, and then the Sox were down to their final at bats.

Thankfully Huston Street was willing to play the role of goodwill ambassador today.

Moss spanked Street's 1-out, 2-2 offering into the stands in right for a game-tying solo shot that sent the crowd into a frenzy, and even though he retired the next two batters, you could sense the momentum had definitely shifted to the home-away-from home team.

Sure enough after Oki, who received a louder greeting from the fans than fellow countryman Matsuzaka, set the As down in the bottom of the 9th, Boston quickly went to work on ending this thing in the 10th when Lugo reached on an infield single to lead off, and then after an intentional walk to Papi, Ramirez roped a double high off the right field wall that scored both runners and effectively sent the fans home happy.

Sure Papelbon struggled in the bottom of the 10th, letting in a run on three hits, but by that time everyone was either too spent to worry about it or had already left for work assuming that Boston had lost in regulation.

But on this day (night? morning?) the Sox would prove to be just as resilient as they were 5 months ago, when no deficit was too large and no game was unimportant enough to brush aside.

Especially one where the psyche of two nations was resting on their shoulders.

Hey, whadda ya say we all do it again tomorrow morning?

See ya at 6:00.

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Sox Drawer: Moss back to PawSox; Pats game tonight

The much-maligned outfielder returns to minors for more seasoning
According to today's Globe the Sox have optioned outfielder Brandon Moss back to AAA after his less-than successful brief major league debut.

The 23-year old prospect replaced Eric Hinske on the team for the Angels series while Hinske took a leave of absence and went 1-7 at the plate and o-for 1000 in the field; his three miscues helped contribute to Boston's loss in Curt Schilling's return to the mound in Game 1 on Monday.

I'm not gonna crucify a young player who didn't perform well in a cup of coffee cameo, but with the stellar debut of Jacoby Ellsbury and the solid play of Jeff Bailey and David Murphy in their brief call ups, Moss' exploits were that much more magnified.

I think it's safe to say that Moss needs a bit more minor league seasoning before he's ready for the Big Show.

Tonight's Sox game will be pre-empted by the Pats
Sorry I didn't post at all yesterday but I, much like the team and the rest of the Nation, needed a break after that lengthy, late night series with the Halos.

Myself and the team had a day to regroup before tackling the Birds in B-More tonight, but unfortunately I might not be able to finish watching tonight's game until the wee hours of the morning, either.

That's because my good buddy Joe T. is taking me to the Bucs/Pats preseason contest at Ray Jay tonight.

You and I both know that preseason football games carry about as much weight as Amy Winehouse on Slim Fast, but this game will stand out for a few reasons:

1.) It's the debut of the 30-year-old, two-timing, bun-in-the-oven-having Tom Brady and his new band of receivers

2.)It COULD be the Patriots debut of Randy Moss, if he plays on the sore hammy he developed last week

3.) It's the first game since all-time good guy and great fullback, not to mention huge local fan favorite, Mike Alstott announced that he will not play this season and may never play again, and he's sure to get a ginourmous ovation when they announce him at the start of the game

4.) It's the debut of Joe T.'s new seat upgrades--from the field seats he had last season to the club seats he swapped for this season. And I'm lucky enough to break the seats in, against my beloved Pats no less.

So you see there are quite a few reasons to be excited about this game. Well, for me at least.

I'll be sure to tip back a cold one in honor of all my Boston buddies who can't be here to personally witness this historic event.

By halftime I'll probably be tipping them back in the parking lot as the scrubs take over and the crowd gets all misty-eyed at the reappearance of Vinny Testaverde in Tampa.

Go Sox/ Go Pats!

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