Sox blow two leads, lose sloppy game to Astros

Astros 11, Sox 10
WP: Brocail (3-3)
LP: Delcarmen (0-2)
SV: Valverde (20)
HRs: BOS-Lowell (12); HOU-Loretta (3), Lee (18), Wigginton (5)

SUMMARY:
On a night when Boston's offense returned in full force the pitching staff had trouble getting any Astros out as the Sox blew leads of 4-0 and 9-6 thanks to shitty performances from Jon Lester and Manny Delcarmen.

Dustin Pedroia and Mike Lowell both notched 4 base hits apiece and Boston rapped 6 extra base hits, but it wasn't enough to overcome Houston's 14-hit, 3-homer attack.

#1 STUNNER(s - in a game like this there's gotta be more than one):
-Pedroia 4-5, 2R, BI the Little Big Man is as hot as it gets, batting .492 (30-61) in his last 14 games
-Lowell 4-4, 2R, 3BI, 2 2B batting .542 (13-24) during 6 game hitting streak
-Carlos Lee 3-5, 2R, 3BI, HR a big game for a big man
-Lance Berkman 2-5, 3BI, 3K the Big Puma took home the Silver Sombrero but still managed to get the game winning hit
-Mark Loretta 1-4, R, 3BI, HR you just knew the ex-Sox second baseman would factor into beating his old mates in one of these games

THE BIGGEST LOSER(s): ditto
-Lester 5IP, 9H, 6ER, 0BB, 3K, HBP, 2HR not a good outing for the lefty
-Delcarmen 1IP, 3H, 3ER, 1BB, 1K, 1HR not a good outing for the righty
-Brandon Backe 5.1IP, 9H, 6ER, 3BB, 5K, 108P 'Stros starter didn't fare much better
-Geoff Geary 2/3IP, 3H, 3ER, 1BB, 0K neither did the first Houston reliever
-Jason Varitek 0-4, 3K, PB the Captain had a rare bad game at and behind home plate tonight

RECAP:
In case you couldn't get the drift of this wild, woeful game from the descriptions above I'm gonna try and sum it up in 1000 words or less right here.

Or, how 'bout two words: that. sucked.

It's funny because this was one of those games that would have been freakin' awesome if the Sox won.

Instead it was uglier than that chick on the Planters Peanuts commercials, way uglier than Ugly Betty and even fuglier than Nick Nolte's mug shot.

Yeah, it was that bad.

Boston jumped on Houston starter Brandon Backe for a four spot in the third inning, scoring all four runs with two out on a two-run double by Manny Ramirez (1-4, 2R, 2BI), a double by Mike Lowell and an RBI single by Kevin Youkilis.

Unfortunately Sox starter Jon Lester decided to repay the favor and then some when he allowed Houston to score five runs in the bottom of the third after two were out in what seemed like a sick game of "can you top that?"

Before the night was over the sickness of the game would reach new lows as Boston regained the lead only to blow it again, and the outcome wound up being decided on a seemingly innocuous play that prematurely ended the sixth inning.

The bottom of the third began on a bad note when Lester hit his mound opponent Brandon Backe with a pitch to start the frame. Speedster Michael Bourne followed with his second bunt single of the game, but then Lester got a ground out and a strikeout and it looked like he would escape the inning unscathed.

No such luck.

Carlos "El Caballo" Lee ripped a 2-2 pitch from Lester into right field to plate both runners and cut the Sox lead in half, and then things really fell apart when Miguel Tejada lined a single off Lester's leg to prolong the inning, and the agony, even further.

After shaking off the effects of the drilling, old friend Mark Loretta laced the first pitch he saw from Lester deep over the wall in left for a monumental three run homer, and just like that the Sox four run lead had turned into a one run deficit.

I told you it was ugly.

But it gets even worse.

Lee added a run to the lead when he absolutely annihilated a Lester breaking ball for a mammoth solo shot with one out in the fifth, but Boston would strike back with a five run sixth that should have put the game away but ended up falling one run short.

The Sox tied the game when Julio Lugo led off with a walk, Jacoby Ellsbury (1-5, R, BI) tripled him home and after Geoff Geary relieved Backe Dustin Pedroia stroked his fourth hit of the game, a single to right center, to score Ellsy and knot the game at six.

The rally didn't end there though as J.D. Drew (1-3, BB, 2R) dropped a single into center, Manny walked to load the bases and Lowell crushed a sac fly to right to give Boston the lead back at 7-6.

For good measure Youk doubled to deep center (man this stadium can be cavernous in places) to score both Drew and Manny, but the 'Stros alertly cut off the throw to the plate and nailed Youk trying to take third on the play, and it would be that base running blunder that would come back to bite Boston later in the game.

Still you would think a 9-6 lead with four innings to go would be enough to earn the win. But not in this fucked up Arena ball-like contest.

David Aardsma relieved Lester to open the sixth and continued his recent impressive stretch when he set the side down in order including the last two by strikeout. But after the Sox failed to do anything off Tim Byrdak in the top of the seventh, Aardsma ran into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the inning when he walked Bourne and gave up a single to Hunter Pence to open the frame.

In came Craig Hansen, who promptly surrendered an RBI single to Lance Berkman, who had struck out three times up to that point, and one pitch later Varitek failed to catch an inside fastball from Hansen that went for a passed ball and allowed Pence to score and cut the lead to 9-8.

Gulp.

Hansen got out of the inning when he retired Lee, Tejada and Loretta after that, but another 1-2-3 inning put the Sox back on defense quicker than you can say "blown save."

As soon as Manny Delcarmen came in that's just what happened.

No sooner did the Houston announcers declare that Delcarmen had tossed 13 2/3 scoreless innings over his last 11 appearances, the longest such streak by a Sox reliever this season, did Manny D surrender a laser beam home run to Ty Wigginton of all people to "tie" the game at nine.

And that was the beginning of the end.

Darrin Erstad sliced a pinch hit single to center, Brad Ausmus sacrificed him over, and after Bourne struck out Hunter Pence walked to bring Berkman to the plate in a game-deciding situation.

Wouldn't you know the new NL RBI leader did just that.

The Big Puma pounced on a Delcarmen curve ball and slapped it down the left field line over Lowell's head to score both Erstad and Pence and this topsy turvy contest had come full circle again, with the Sox on the wrong end of an 11-9 score and wondering how it all went so wrong.

Well that's not true, lousy pitching is how, but I meant that in a rhetorical sense.

To make matters worse Lowell hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth off Houston closer Jose Valverde to cut the deficit to 11-10, and if Youk had just stayed at second on that play in the sixth, who knows if he might have come around to score and give the Sox that extra run they needed to possibly win this one tonight.

Once again Boston will try to take 2 of 3 from an inferior National League squad when Josh Beckett takes the mound tomorrow afternoon and tries to find the form that made him a Cy Young contender last year.

If he pitches like these guys did tonight he'll look more like Cy Sperling though.

RECORD: 50-33
AL EAST: Up 1/2 gm
STREAK: L1
LAST 10: 6-4
UP NEXT: Sun @ HOU 2:05 Beckett vs. Mohler

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Sox salvage win in a LONG, wild game at the Big A

Sox 9, LA of A Angels 6
WP: Okajima (3-0)
LP: Speier (1-3)
SV: Papelbon (26)
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (5)

SUMMARY
In a marathon finale to this lopsided series Boston survived some horrible pitching and more sloppy defense to prevail over LA in what turned out to be the longest 9-inning home game in the history of the Angels franchise.

Okay, so it only tied the record, but it's friggin 2:10 in the morning, so forgive me.

#1 STUNNER Pedroia 3-5, 3R, BI, HR
After three Boston pitchers combined to blow two Sox leads Dustin led off the 7th inning with a drive that barely cleared the left field fence--and Garret Anderson's glove--for what proved to be the winning run.

That play occurred at 12:57 a.m., but I guess it was worth the wait.

PAN's FAUN Jon Lester 3.1IP, 8H, 5ER, 3BB, 3K, 93 pitches
For the third consecutive outing Lester was less than impressive, allowing 7 hits and 3 runs on 51 pitches in the first two innings, then after the Boston batters fought to take a 4-3 lead, he gave it right back in a 2-run 4th.

His ERA is now a Tavarez-esque 6.43.

RECAP
Ah, nothing like a little 4 hour marathon to end an already lengthy and disheartening series out West.

At least the Sox managed to win this one, but I would definitely classify it as a war of attrition.

Much like the last couple of nights I am in no position to recap this 15 run, 25 hit, 352 pitch extravaganza, a game that had more twists and turns than the Autobahn and ended mere hours before most of civilized society gets up for work.

Not to mention my notebook contains more scribbles than a 3-year-old's artwork.

I will briefly summarize by saying the Boston batters showed a lot of moxie to keep fighting back after it looked as if the Halos were headed to their first series sweep of the BoSox since 2001.

Down 3-0 after two innings the Sox hung a four-spot on LA of A in the 4th, highlighted by five consecutive hits including three straight doubles, but the Angles answered back with two in the bottom of the frame to regain the lead, 5-4.

Determined not to be swept the Sox responded with a two-run 5th, only to see the Angels tie it right back up with a run in the bottom of the frame, which marked about the sixth time I nearly turned the game off.

Although many will question the sanity of sticking with such a frustrating late night contest, those who stayed awake were rewarded when Pedroia led off the 7th with a solo shot that bounced out of Garret Anderson's glove, seemingly the only break Boston caught all series, and when the Sox tacked on a couple more runs in the 8th it was as if a giant weight had been lifted from everyone's shoulders.

So the Sox gained a game back on the Stanks, who were drubbed by the Jays, and will enjoy a MUCH needed day off tomorrow (today) as they wait to start the series in Baltimore on Friday.

And all of RSN can celebrate one thing--the last of the fucking West Coast games this season!

Good night now.

Morning.

Whatever.

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Pedroia & Drew lead assault on Giants

Sox 10, San Fran 2
WP: Tavarez (4-4)
LP: Zito (6-7)
HRs: BOS-Pedroia (3)

SUMMARY
The Sox finally broke out of their offense slump; well, at least two players did.

J.D. Drew (3-4, 3RBI) and Dustin Pedroia (5-5, 5RBI) combined for eight of Boston's nine hits and knocked in eight of their 10 runs, and Barry Bonds went a measly 1-3 in his Fenway debut and heard it from the crowd as the Sox broke a two game losing streak and a long stretch of scoring 2 runs or fewer.

HERO(es): Drew & Pedroia 8-9, 5R, 8RBI, 2-2Bs, HR
The top two guys in the order proved to be quite a 1-2 punch for Tito and the Sox tonight as the new leadoff combo torched Giants pitching, mainly Barry Zito, early and often.

Incredible stat of the year: until Coco's leadoff single in the 8th, no Boston batter other than Drew or Pedroia had a hit, yet the Sox led, 7-2.

GOAT: Zito 5IP, 5H, 6ER, 4BB, 5K, HR
If guys like Lenny DiNardo, Joe Blanton, Josh Fogg and Micah Owings have been able to shut this offense down over the past couple of weeks, what's it say about the $126 million dollar former Cy Young winner that he got shelled like Chuckles the Clown at the circus parade?

Over-Rated!

RECAP:
Maybe Tito's lineup shuffle wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Criticized in some circles (guilty) for placing his slumping, $70 million dollar right fielder in the leadoff spot just days after dropping his $36 million dollar shortstop from that position to 9th in the lineup, Terry Francona's strategy, once again, proved to be a stroke of genius.

The new look lineup, unveiled last night, didn't produce a spark against Colorado, but boy did the new Dynamic Duo catch fire and burn the mutha down tonight.

J.D. Drew and Dustin Pedrioa eschewed the usual top of the order etiquette of taking a lot of pitches and getting on base any way you can to set up the big boppers down in the lineup and instead they became the big boppers in the lineup.

And Boston would need someone to pick up the slack when original bopper Big Papi was ejected after arguing a strike three call in the second inning, forcing Wily Mo Pena into an early an unexpected entrance into the game, and especially after they were behind 2-0 before they even came to bat.

For the third consecutive game and fourth time in the last six contests Boston allowed the opponent to score in the first inning. This rally started, of course, with Red Sox playoff hero Dave Roberts, who received a long & loud ovation of appreciation for his major role in bringing a championship to the city.

Roberts led off the frame with a single, then Mark Sweeney followed with a deep double to right that nearly went out and easily score Roberts with the first run. Fitting, huh? After Randy Winn grounded out, Mr. Bonds stepped to the plate, and a long, loud and sometimes lewd roar greeted the tainted (soon-to-be) home run king. What a surprise.

The crowd (which somehow contained quite a few Giants fans-hmmm) roared for a different reason four pitches later when Barry took a Tavrez offering and hung a looping fly down the right field line that wrapped up and around Pesky's Pole near its topmost point and looked to be fair, but was waved foul by first base ump Charlie Reliford.

After a brief protest by Giants manager Bruce Bochy, a bemused Bonds stepped back in the box and promptly popped out to short right. Julie was almost out of the inning when his wild pitch allowed Sweeney to score, and just like the offensively challenged Sox had a deficit to overcome.

Little did we know it would be the only runs the Giants would score on the night.

Because have no fear, RSN, the top two Sox batters were ready to get their 'A' games in gear, and although the onslaught started innocently enough when Drew was hit by a Zito pitch to lead off the game, it didn't take long for the fireworks to start.

Like, say, two pitches later, when Pedroia raked a Zito fastball into the Monster seats for a lightning quick 2-run homer that tied the game and foreshadowed the kind of night it was going to be for the scorching-hot second baseman.

The play after the homer would also foreshadow the end of the night for Boston's hot-hitting DH.

Papi took exception to a fastball from Zito that appeared to be a tad inside but was called strike three by home plate umpire Tony Randazzo. After an exchange of heated words, Ortiz stalked off towards the dugout, then at the last second slammed his helmet and bat to the ground, drawing the immediate ejection from Randazzo.

But no Papi, no worries tonight as the Drew/Pedroia offensive machine was just getting heated up.

In the bottom of the third the pair would both single and then Drew would score on an RBI fielders choice by Manny Ramirez and Boston had its fiorst lead of the night, 3-2. In the fourth, after Lowell and Lugo walked, Drew ripped a double to deep center that scored both men, then Pedroia roped a single to right that brought Drew home with Boston's sixth run of the night.

In the sixth it was more of the same, as Coco reached on an error, stole second, moved to third on a groundout, and scored on a sharp single to right by Drew, pushing the score to 7-2 Sox. Pedroia did follow with a single as well, but Wily Mo grounded out to end the inning.

By the 8th inning Zito was long gone, Bonds was 1-3 with a single and a walk, and Drew & Pedroia were still playing a game of 'can you top this?'

Coco led off the bottom of the 8th with a single, the first hit by someone other than Drew or Pedroia, and then Julio Lugo walked to set up another scoring situation for Drew. Ah, but this time he flinched, flying out to deep center on a nice play by Roberts (of course), and it was up to Pedroia to record a base knock and take home the Kewpie doll.

And he did just that when he tagged a Jack Taschner (who?) pitch to the left centerfield gap for a two-run double that made it 10-2 Sox, put an exclamation point on his night, and sent waves of relief rippling throughout the Nation- hooray, the drought is finally over!

Tavarez would end up going seven solid innings, allowing six hits and just the two runs, walking two while fanning three, and Okijima and Pineiro chipped in with a scoreless inning each, and like we all expected, Tavarez was the one who broke the starter's slump, and Drew and Pedroia were the ones who carried the offense.

Just like Tito drew it up.

NOTES:

• Papi's ejection was his first sine August of 2005. For the record, the call was questionable, and rRmy questioned the validity of the tossing, but the LL coach in me says you just can't slam the equipment on the field of play like that and not get run
• Manny's RBI was his 1,551st of his career, moving him into 37th place on the all-time list
• Drew's 3-hit night broke an o-11 drought, but before that he had back-to-back 3-hit games in Arizona
• The array of signs, shirts and chants that greeted Bonds was pretty impressive, but the amount of Giants fans that managed to worm their way into the park was even more disturbing
• Ryan Klesko, the regular Giants first baseman, was scratched with (teehee) sore hips,and Sweeney took his place in the lineup; Sweeney would go 1-4 with a run & RBI
• Two-way players: on top of the offensive fireworks, Pedroia & Drew also made excellent defensive plays; Drew ran down a slicing liner by Winn to lead off the 8th, and Pedroia threw Bonds out from short right on a play in the sixth

QUOTES:

"What do you want me to do, huh? What do you want me to do?" --Bonds when questioned whether he though the ball was fair or foul

"Barry asked me, 'Is it always like this? With the buzz, the media? And I said, 'Every time you play the Yankees, it's like this. It's a playoff environment."--Roberts giving Barry the 411 on what it's like to play in Fenway

"The first month of the season, we spent so much time trying to defend him. He wasn't hitting. But he plays the ball all over the ballpark. And, man, he makes contact. There's a lot of things in his favor."--Tito on his blossoming second baseman


RECORD: 42-24
AL EAST: Up 8.5 on NYY
STREAK: W-1
LAST 10: 5-5
UP NEXT: SAT vs. SFG 3:55EST

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Beckett gets win #7 as Sox club 4 homers

Sox 9, Toronto 2
WP: Beckett (7-0)
LP: V. Zambrano (0-2)
HRs: BOS: Pedroia (1), Youk (3), Lowell (5), Tek (3); TOR: Rios (6)

SUMMARY:
Josh Beckett allowed a home run on his first pitch of the night, and then he didn't allow anything else after that.

Beckett became the majors' first seven-game winner thanks to another eight runs of support from his teammates, and he is now 1 win away from matching the team record for consecutive wins to begin a season.

HERO: Beckett 7IP, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 5K, HR
What else is there to say- the guy has been friggin' phenomenal.

GOAT: Victor Zambrano 2.2IP, 8H, 8ER, 2BB, 4HRs
Forget goat, this clown was more like a giant horse's ass.

Get a load of that linescore- he allowed four home runs & eight hits out of the 16 batters he faced, and by the time he exited the game after allowing back-to-back jacks by Lowell & Tek in the 3rd, the score was 8-1 Boston and the game was over.

The Z-Man's career should be, too.

RECAP:
For an inning or so it really looked like this could be the night that Josh Beckett suffered his first loss of 2007.

Then things got back to normal.

Staked to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Kevin Youkilis solo shot in the top of the 1st, Beckett reverted back to the Josh Beckett circa Aug-Sept 2006 and served up the game-tying shot to Alex Rios on his first pitch of the game. Okay, you can brush that one off by saying it's early, but when Adam Lind roped a double to right center two pitches later, most members of RSN will have to admit they were a bit concerned.

Turns out there was no need to worry because this is Josh Beckett, 2007 edition, the one who doesn't rely solely on his blazing heater and keeps the ball down, had only allowed one homer all season, and who is the proud beneficiary of 8.2 runs/game of support from his pals on offense.

Before the sun had set on a glorious open-air night at SkyDome the Sox tagged Jays starter Victor Zambrano for four homers, including a pair of 3-run jobs by Pedroia and Lowell and by the end of the 5th inning Boston had compiled eight runs, 10 hits and 4 homers en route to a rout of the sliding Jays, who have now lost seven straight.

In the 2nd, with the score tied at one and two outs already recorded, the fun really began for Sox fans. Cap'n Tek (4-4, 3R, RBI) got things started with a single, the first of his four hits, and Coco followed with a walk after taking a couple of borderline pitches. The mistake with Crisp came back to haunt them as the suddenly red-hot Dustin Pedroia deposited a 1-1 offering from Zambrano over the centerfield wall to give Boston a 4-1 lead, and Boston would never look back from there.

Ironically it was Pedroia's 3rd career longball, and two of them have come in this building.

After that the game quickly turned into a laffer when in the 3rd inning the Sox did some more 2-out damage. After Youk (3-3) led off with a single, Papi lined out to second and Youk was doubled off first. Now worries again, as this time Manny singled, Drew walked and Lowell launched his 3-run bomb to make it 7-1 Sox with seven innings to go.

When Tek followed Lowell by going yard on Zambrano's next pitch, the game crossed the threshold from the sublime to the ridiculous, and even though Psycho Gibbons then yanked his human pitching machine of a starter, the scoreboard and mental damage was done, resulting in 7 1/2 more innings of utterly meaningless baseball.

Well, I shouldn't say meaningless. Because the Beckett of old might have lost his focus in a game like this and he might have gone and done something foolish, like, say, allow three gopher balls of his own to a Mr. Vernon Wells, just like he did last year.

Turns out Becks is determined to prove to everyone that the Josh Beckett of 2006 is long gone, replaced with an efficient and confident pitcher who by following the instructions of his new pitching coach, John Farrell, and his mentor, Schilling, has transformed himself into the best pitcher in the bigs and transported himself to the doorstep of Red Sox history.

NOTES:

-The Sox had 13 hits on the game; six players had at least 1 hit, four had at least 2, and two had three or more- another solid all-around offensive showing

-Pedroia is as hot as a truckload of Tony Soprano's Makitas: over the last 4 games the second sacker is 8-13 with 3 doubles, a homer and 5 RBIs and has raised his average from .172 to .256. Looks like Tito's faith in him has paid off

-Another blazing bat belongs to Cap'n Tek, who has now hit in 5 straight games (9-17, .529) and with his 4-hit performance tonight raised his average to a more Tek-like .289. Welcome back, Captain.

-On the flip side, Lugo continues to struggle, and despite adding a couple of hits late, the slumping SS is still batting just .229. J.D. Drew is also still struggling with whatever ails him; his 0-4 night dropped him down to .255- yikes!

-Youk had to leave the game after getting hit with a Casey Janssen fastball above his right knee in the 6th, and he was not too pleased about it, seeing as he was already hit on the same leg Sunday and he was off to a 3-3 start in the game. Hinske replaced Youk, who is day-to-day with a bruise

- Devern Hansack made his first appearance of the year in the 8th and promptly allowed a run on a hit and three walks in 2/3 of an inning, a far cry from his shortened, season-ending no-hitter last year. Romero & Snyder finished it up with 1 1/3 scoreless innings.

-The Jays broadcasters were nice enough to inform us watching on Extra Innings that the 6-game lead Boston enjoys in the East is their widest margin ever after 30 games of the season

-Vernon Wells, who absolutely owns Beckett in his career (.467, 4 HRs in 15 ABs), went just 1-3 with a single off him tonight

QUOTES:

-"His off-speed stuff is the key to his success. A lot of power pitchers want to throw it by guys. He's finally understanding that off-speed is the key to being a power pitcher."- Youk explaining the secret to Beckett's success

-"I've been working a lot and it's paying off now. I always had confidence in my ability, it's just a matter of showing it. It's tough starting off slow, but once you get going it's fun to come out if it like this."-Pedroia

-"We're struggling and that was not what the doctor ordered."- the Big Hurt on the Sox homer barrage

RECORD: 21-10

AL EAST: Up 6 gms

UP NEXT: Wed @ TOR 7P

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