That's All for Buchholz

At the end of the 2007 season, Clay Buchholz looked like the next young stud in line to become the ace of the Red Sox pitching staff. He looked sharp, confident, and dazzled the baseball world with a no-hitter. Red Sox fans were irritated that the Red Sox front office left him off of the playoff roster, but we were sure he'd be an important part of the 2008 playoff run.

That was then, this is now. Clay just has not been able to get it together this season, and I think a portion of that blame may lie with the Red Sox, but it is hard to say for sure. When Buchholz began to struggle a bit in June, they "invented" a fingernail issue that apparently required a trip to Pawtucket (coincidentally timed perfectly to open a roster spot for Bartolo Colon). While in Pawtucket, rather than just get some solid work in, they decided that Clay needed some tinkering. So, they went to work trying to alter his arm slot and perfect the mechanics of his fastball. Sometimes when you tinker with something too much, you simply make it worse. Remember when you'd get a pimple and you just couldn't help but pick at it, or when you'd get a mosquito bite and you just had to scratch it? These things feel right at first, but in the end, only make the problem worse.

Since Clay returned from his tuneup, he has been nothing more than a tremendous disappointment. Last night, the Red Sox staked Clay to a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 2nd inning. A 4 run lead would normally cause a pitcher to relax, gain confidence, and go after batters with more determination and less caution. That was not the case for Clay who preceded to give back 3 runs in the bottom of the second inning. That, apparently, was enough to get Terry Francona nervous. In the 3rd inning, he hit the first batter, Melvin Mora, with a pitch, got Aubrey Huff to fly out, and then walked Luke Scott. So, runners on first and second, one out, and Clay had thrown 60 pitches. Interestingly enough, that was all Tito wanted to see. His vision of the future did not include Clay inducing an inning ending double play, or even any Dice-K-like magic to end the threat unscathed. Tito could only see further woes ahead, so he pulled the trigger early in the game and sent Clay to an early shower, a brief stop on his way to AA Portland.

Meanwhile, when Tito called in David Aardsma, he probably did not expect what he got either, as Aardsma finished up the mess Buchholz had started by allowing the first batter he faced, Ramon Hernandez, to hit a fatal 3 run home run. The score was now 7-4 in favor of the Orioles. The Red Sox managed to only score 6 runs by the end of the game, so this hit was truly the dagger that ended the game in the 3rd inning. Javier Lopez relieved Aardsma an inning later, and fared no better. The first three batters he faced went like this; single, walk, three run home run. At 10-4, this game was truly out of reach (This was not the Texas Rangers you know. Against Texas, this game would have been far from over).

The good news is that Hideki Okajima pitched two good innings, the 7th and 8th, only allowing one base runner on a walk. The bullpen simply does not look like they are ready for the playoffs yet. But, if Okajima can regain last year's form, having the Okajima-Papelbon one two punch at the end of games may be just enough to get them by.

Meanwhile, Josh Beckett is still day to day, the result of numbness in two fingers on his pitching hand. It appears the numbness stems from his elbow, which is mildly sore, supposedly due to sleeping on it funny. Yes, this worries me for now. A pinched nerve in an elbow could clear up over night, or could become a nagging problem. Tim Wakefield is recovering from shoulder soreness quite well. He claims he is now pain free and throwing well. He could be back for the upcoming Yankee series, which would help the Sox buy some time before determining what move they will make to back fill for Buchholz. I am guessing they are hoping that Bartolo Colon is declared ready just in time.

Also on the injury front, Jed Lowrie fans can revel in the news that Julio Lugo has run into a setback in his recovery, quite literally. While doing some running, he felt a pull in his healing quad muscle, and is back to square one. Lowrie can breathe a sigh of relief and continue showing the Sox that he is the shortstop of the future.

As the playoff race continues, the Sox lost an opportunity to inch closer to the Rays, who finally lost a game last night. The Yankees and Twins, however, both won their games. While we are not too worried about the Yankees (yet), the win by the Twins pulls them to within 1/2 a game of the Red Sox in the Wild Card race.

The Sox have the night off tonight, travelling up to Toronto. Does is make you nervous having the Sox face the Blue Jays (a team they have trouble beating this year) on the road (where they have been struggling for success all season)? Paul Byrd starts things off, and he did pitch reasonably well in his Sox debut. After Byrd, the reliable Jon Lester follows, with the mystical Dice-K to end the series. I'm certainly not expecting a sweep in Toronto (for either team) but I am hoping they can steal two wins in the series. Anything less will likely force a slip in the standings at a bad time of year to be slipping.


(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Lackey Misses No Hitter, Takes Pedroia Off Christmas Card List

Last night was a beautiful night to be at the ballpark. Perfect weather, nice seats, and a near historic pitching outing by John Lackey. Lackey did not look like he was throwing anything overpowering, primarily throwing a low to mid-90's fastball, and mixing in a slider, occasional curve, and a rare change up. He really wasn't throwing overpowering pitches, nor was he drastically mixing up speeds. Lackey only struck out 4 batters the entire game. Red Sox batters were generally putting the bat on the ball, but they could only muster looping fly balls to the outfield, or ground ball aimed right at infielders.

Inning after inning would pass and we'd keep waiting to see a base runner in a white uniform, and the potential for a rally. Other than JD Drew being hit by a pitch in the second inning and Dustin Pedroia drawing a walk in the 6th inning, no Red Sox batter reached base. Unfortunately, I broke the cardinal rule of a no hitter. I spoke the fatal words "no hitter" while the no hitter was underway. In fact, I said the words as often as I could casually bring them up in conversation starting around the 6th inning. You know, things like, "could you pass the ketchup, I don't want to get up and miss any of this no hitter", and "what a nice night to try for a no hitter, isn't it?".

So, if I jinxed it for John Lackey, I apologize (NOT). There was really not too much buzz about the on-going no hitter in the crowd until the bottom of the 8th inning. I guess people didn't think it would last that long, and when the 9th inning came around and the Sox were losing 6-0, I scanned the crowd and noticed that I could not find a single empty seat. Even though the Sox looked certain to lose, the Fenway Faithful understood that a piece of baseball history was unfolding before them, and no one wanted to miss what would happen.

Another interesting tidbit. I have seen home crowds actually being to cheer for a visiting pitcher in the 9th inning when pursuing a no hitter, even when their team is the one to suffer the loss, like when Curt Schilling chased a no hitter against the Angels last season in Anaheim. Sox fans? no chance. Everyone was interested that a no hitter was in progress, but not a single solitary clap or voice of encouragement went out to Lackey. I have no doubt whatsoever that, had Lackey completed the no hitter, he would have received a warm standing ovation in recognition of the feat (and the first no hitter by an opposing pitcher in Fenway Park in 50 years). However, up until that final out, every Fenway fan was cheering for one thing, and one thing only...a hit that would ensure there would not be a no hitter in our house, and a hit that would fire up a last minute rally.

So, with one out in the ninth, Dustin Pedroia laced a ground ball single through the infield into left field for a clean hit, and the crowd let out a huge roar. Pedroia will never again receive a Christmas card from John Lackey, but he made everyone in Boston happy with that hit. Lackey was getting high on pitch count, and when Youkilis stepped up to the plate, I imagine Lackey felt just a little deflated. Youk did not pause to ponder that, instead he went for the kill, clobbering the second pitch he saw into the Green Monster seats, putting the Sox on the board 6-2. With the meat of the order coming up, and only one out recorded, the crowd suddenly had visions of a dramatic last minute come-back. But, alas, it was not to be.

Clay Buchholz, the Boston starter, had an up and down outing. He looked terrific opening up the game, and after two innings, he also had a no hitter going. But, with one out in the third, Mike Lowell misplayed an easy ground ball, and the inning unravelled for Buchholz. Before you knew it, there were two runs in, bases loaded, and still only one out. Not only that, but Vladimir Guerrero, the Angels power hitter, was at the plate. My stomach sank. one swing of the bat and this game was over before it got going. But, Clay showed some moxie forcing Vlad to ground into a blessed inning ending double play.

Clay started off the 4th inning by allowing a single and a home run. Everyone was waiting for Francona to get him out of there before everything caved in. But, Varitek went out for a chat, soundly slapped Clay across the face and said "snap out of it man, your team needs you". With that, Clay realized he was right and proceeded to retire the next 10 batters in a row, taking the Sox into the 7th inning and saving the bullpen some wear and tear. So, a mixed outing for Clay, but he is showing signs of being a valuable member of the rotation.

Meanwhile, I attended the game with my daughter, and my sister and her son. Baseball is a game of streaks, trends, and records, and my sister has one going that we pray will end. She has never attended a Sox game in person and had the Sox win the game. So, next time she goes to a game, I'll let y'all know so you can adjust your wagers accordingly. The kids had fun though, and it was, for them, a pleasantly quick game, ending in 2 hours and 28 minutes!

Now, can the Sox get back on track behind Beckett tonight?

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Sox Sweep Seattle to End Road Trip

That was a close one, and also a timely win. Both the Yankees and the Rays won yesterday, and when your competition wins, you want to win and keep step with them.

Clay Buchholz was much improved over his past two outings, and that is a good sign. Clay went 5 1/3 innings and gave up 3 runs, but he held the line early on, and did not fall behind quickly like he has in his last two outings. In fact, entering the 6th inning, he had only surrendered a solo home run to that point. In the 6th, he started to unravel giving up a two run home run and putting two men on base with one out before turning the game over to Justin Masterson. Masterson is working out of the bullpen for the Sox and this was a big test. How does he handle coming in to the inning with 2 men on and one out? Simple. He strikes out the next two batters to end the inning.

Masterson did not stop there. He went on to record a 1-2-3 7th inning, followed by a 1-2-3 8th inning! So far, whoever thought he'd work well out of the bullpen looks like a genius. Also, since Masterson had been training all year as a starter, he can be used (at least for a while) in long relief situations very effectively. Masterson did a nice job of getting to the ninth inning for Jonathan Papelbon, but the problem was that the game was only tied 3-3.

In the 3rd inning, Ichiro Suzuki kept the game from getting out of reach when he leaped high on the right field wall to rob JD Drew of a sure 3 run home run. It was an amazing catch, and the Sox may have been able to use that to build a comfortable lead. But, as strange things always happen in baseball, the next batter, Kevin Youkilis, laced a line drive to right field. As Ichiro chased it down and bent to scoop it up, the ball snuck under his glove and rolled to the wall for an error, allowing two runs to score. That's baseball. Once play you are a hero and a sure web gem, and the next play you make an error that could cost the game.

More great pitching for Boston came after the 8th inning as Hideki Okajima and Manny Delcarmen combined to pitch two scoreless innings. In an interesting move, with the game still tied, Terry Fancona went to Papelbon to pitch the bottom of the 11th inning. Papelbon finally got a strikeout (he's had fewer of those lately) and induced a double play to end the 11th.

The 12th inning, the Red Sox had had enough. Time to end this thing. They worked the bases loaded with one out, and Mike Lowell became the designated hero with a line drive single to left. Jacoby Ellsbury scored from third, and JD Drew showed some speed sliding in safe at home from second base. Sean Casey singled in an insurance run to bring the score to 6-3. So, now we're thinking Papelbon will be back out and end this, right? Wrong. Francona, perhaps not feeling Papelbon has enough bullets left in the gun, and also thinking a 3 run lead should be comfortable enough, sends in none other than Craig Hansen to close the game out. Hansen did it, but he did not do it easily. With two outs and a runner on first, Hansen surrendered a single and a walk to load the bases. White knuckle time, folks. So, Jose Vidro steps to the plate and watches the first three fastballs go by, none of them is a strike. Bases loaded, three balls, no strikes, two outs. Next pitch, called strike. Next pitch, Vidro tops the pitch for an easy bouncing ball to Dustin Pedroia who flips the ball to first to end the game. Phew! Close one there Hansen!

Tomorrow, the dreaded Yankees come to town. Stay tuned...

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Exciting New Prospect in Pawtucket

The start of the second half of the season always brings with it a host of trade talks. The trade deadline is July 31st, and fans everywhere will be inventing some pretty incredulous trades to either attempt to jettison players they don't like, or bring in players they'd love to have (very often both in the same trade).

This year, there is not big need to look outside the organization if you are in the market for a power hitting left-hander. Watching the Pawtucket Red Sox the last two days, I couldn't help but notice just such a player. He is big, strong, and looks locked in. He homered in both of the past two games, and one of those home runs was on an outside fastball that he was able to stay with and drive the other way to left field. That is the sign of major league material.

The one drawback that I can see is that the guy is a bit slow afoot and seems to have the most value as a DH. He can play some first base, but I sure wouldn't worry about his job if I were Kevin Youkilis.

The guy's name is David Ortiz, and you need to keep your eye on this guy. I assure you, he'll be called up before you know it, perhaps as early as the upcoming series against the Yankees when the Sox return to Boston. This guy would be perfect in the number 3 hole batting in front of Manny Ramirez. I know, you are now saying, "but we already have a power hitter in front of Manny - JD Drew". That is true, and JD Drew did win player of the month honors for the month of June. But, I'm telling you, this Ortiz guy can be even more effective. Imagine a guy like that in front of Manny, and then you bat JD Drew in the #5 hole behind Manny! That is what a lineup should look like. Instead of simply being in first place in most team offensive statistics, the Red Sox would be in mega-first place!

But, what about pitching and defense? Well, good point. Clay Buchholz sure did not have a game to remember yesterday, getting clobbered right out of the gates by the Angels in an 11-3 loss. In two starts since returning from Pawtucket, Clay has only proven that sending him down to Pawtucket was a good idea, and maybe they brought him back a bit too soon. Reworking a guy's delivery and arm angle is not something that takes root overnight! If it were not for Clay's past success and his amazing no-hitter, we'd all be shouting for him to be not only sent back, but including in some blockbuster trade deal.

Defense? If your goal for defense is to have a few laughs, then there is no need to worry about defense! Last night Manny provided plenty of laughs in left field. He got a terrible jump on a weak fly ball, feebly dove for it in a last ditch effort, but came no where near the ball. As the ball rolled past him he tried to quickly get up and chase it down, but in getting up he tripped, stumbled, and fell over the ball. As he rolled, the ball ended up under his butt, and he had to arch his back to reach under and retrieve it. Of course, by then, the batter was on third base, trying to suppress a good belly laugh. Did anyone really ant to catch the ball after watching where he had to retrieve it from?

Okay, so the Sox lost their opener against the California Angels of Los Angeles who play in Anaheim. Fear not, for a well rested Josh Beckett will make everything right today. Look for Jed Lowrie to make a significant contribution, and for some small ball to come into play. The home runs did not work yesterday (Youk and Manny), so let's do it with singles, stolen bases, and timely doubles today.

(Photos courtesy of ESPN)
(David Ortiz Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Dice-K Leads The Way

That's the type of game we like to see from Daisuke Matsuzaka. But, in the first inning, were you thinking what I was thinking? "Here we go again" were the only words that made sense. Dice-K retired the first two batters of the game on infield pop-ups, and then proceeded to make it exciting by loading the bases on two walks and an infield hit. He got out of the inning by getting Delmon Young to ground out to Kevin Youkilis, but thoughts of walks and high pitch counts were already dancing in my head.

I'm not sure what Dice-K did after the first inning to right the ship, but form there on he pitched very sharp, lasting into the 8th inning, and only giving up one more walk along the way. Perfect timing for a dominating outing, since the Twins' starter, Scott Baker, was also spinning a gem. Baker looked just as good as Matsuzaka, neither one of them allowing a single run to be scored against them.

Hideki Okajima came in to replace Dice-K in the 8th inning and did his job to raise tensions and keep fans interested. Dice-K was tiring. He got the first batter out thanks to a diving catch by Jacoby Ellsbury in left field, then gave up a bunt single, and a single to right field to put two batters on. He was done and Terry Francona needed to bring in a reliever. So, the game is knotted in a scoreless tie in the 8th inning with one out and two runners on base, and Justin Morneau coming to the plate, the Twins' outstanding cleanup hitter. Hmm, who can we bring in to relieve Dice-K who can really hold inherited runners on base? Oh, I know, Hideki Okajima! As my daughters are prone to say, "wait...what?". Okajima has been abysmal when brought into an inning with runners on base. It has been almost a sure thing that at least one of those runners would score, and yet that's who was coming in. Well, Morneau, and the on deck batter, Jason Kubel, are both left handed. At least we have that going for us.

I have to say, Okajima waged a valiant battle against Justin Morneau, but in the end, Morneau was able to draw a walk to load the bases. Rather than send another lefty up to bat, the Twins sent in Craig Monroe to pinch hit. Okajima buckled down and got Monroe to pop out to Youk for the second out, and then got Delmon Young to harmlessly ground out. Can you believe it? That was the game right there. Right then, you knew this one was ours.

Sure enough, in the bottom of the inning, Dustin Pedroia hits a double, and with one out, Manny Ramirez (finally) gets a clutch hit single to right to score the game's only run. Jonathan Papelbon made short work of things in the ninth, and with Tampa Bay finally losing a game, the Sox managed to creep one step closer, now 4 games behind the Rays.

The Rays will now be facing off against the Yankees in New York. Can you bring yourself to cheer for the Yankees to win to help us get closer to the Rays? That's a tough one, isn't it?

An interesting move on the horizon, as the Sox are ready to bring Clay Buchholz back up from Pawtucket. To make room for Clay, Justin Masterson has been sent back to Pawtucket, however he will begin working on coming out of the bullpen rather than starting. The Sox do have extra starters, with Bartolo Colon still waiting to rejoin the team, Masterson might have a tough time getting back into the rotation this season. However, as a reliever, he can surely contribute. I like the idea.

Now get out there and cheer for those Yankees (boy it hurt to type that).

(photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

What Manny was Really Doing

In last night's 6-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Manny Ramirez provided the entertainment with another memorable "Manny Moment". In the fourth inning with runners on first and second and one out, old pal, Kevin Millar, hit a deep fly ball to left that looked like a sure double. Both runners took off, confident the ball would drop in for a hit. Manny raced back and to his left and somehow managed to catch up to the ball, catching it at full speed heading towards the outfield wall with about three strides to go before reaching it. Manny let his momentum carry him to the wall, planted a foot on the wall and pushed off, propelling high up enough to reach the fans. In fact, sitting in the front row, right in front of Manny, was a fan in a Red Sox shirt. While he was there, it appeared that Manny gave the fan a quick "high five" before dropping back down to the field. Meanwhile, there was still a play going on, as that was only the second out. The runner from first was now between second and third and racing to get back to first base before Manny noticed. Manny fired a throw to Dustin Pedroia, who relayed the ball to Kevin Youkilis to complete the double play and end the inning.

Now, most people wonder what the heck Manny was doing high fiving a fan in the middle of a play, but the Rational Sox Fan has the inside scoop for you loyal readers. A "source" (who will not be named, but is the same source Boston Herald reporter, John Tomase, used for his piece about the Patriot's filming of the Rams pre-Super Bowl practice session) happened to be at the game and provided the information. Apparently, as Manny was chasing the ball down, the fan in the Red Sox shirt was heard yelling, "Manny, I'll give you ten dollars if you make that catch!!", and held a ten dollar bill in his outstretched hand. Manny apparently heard the shout, made the catch, and leaped up to snag the ten dollars from the generous fan. If you watch the replays closely, you can see Manny slip the bill inconspicuously from the fan's hand. Very clever move - and very entertaining. But, now you know the inside story.

Jon Lester pitched a pretty good game, holding the Orioles scoreless until the 6th inning when a single, double, and another single put two runs on the board for Baltimore. He got out of the inning, striking out Aubrey Huff and Millar, and had only thrown 86 pitches to that point, but Brad Mills, filling in for Terry Francona for the night, opted to go to the bullpen to start the 7th inning.

Javier Lopez started the 7th, and did a nice job. He got the first two batters out and induced Freddie Bynum to hit, what looked like, an inning ending ground ball to Pedroia. Pedroia, uncharacteristically misplayed the ball and Bynum was safe at first. Somehow the official scorer did not see the play as an error, but the play would be the beginning of the Sox' downfall. At this point, the Sox were holding on to a 3-2 lead, thanks to solo home runs by Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek and a single by Pedroia that plated Jacoby Ellsbury from second base in the 1st inning.

Now, cue up the funeral march music as it all unravels. The left handed batters had passed, so Brad Mills got Lopez out and sent in Craig Hansen in to get the quick out and hold the lead. But, Hansen instead gave up a single and a walk to load the bases and make things interesting. Mills apparently was uncomfortable with the situation, and decided to go for the "sure thing" and sent Hideki Okajima in to replace Hansen. What Mills failed to notice in making his decision was that Okajima has been awful this season when he enters a game with inherited runners. Going into that inning, He had allowed 8 of 11 inherited runners to score this year. Those runs get charged to the pitcher who put the runners on base, so Okajima's ERA stays nice and low. But, we've discussed here how Okajima does does not have the same success as when he comes in with bases empty. Well, Jay Payton liked the second pitch Okajima threw, an 85 mph fastball, and planted in the outfield stands for an Orioles inspiring, and Red Sox deflating, grand slam. Now that the bases were empty, Okajima felt more comfortable and got the final out of the inning, and pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning.

The Sox were out of time, out of energy, and done for this game. So, the Sox still struggle to find pitching relief that can handle the 6th and 7th innings effectively and consistently. Hansen may still be that guy, but not last night. And please, let's hold off on bringing Okajima into an inning with runners in scoring position for a while!

In other news, Clay Buchholz has been placed on the 15 day disabled list (DL) because of a split fingernail. Now, I know fingernails are important in controlling the ball on certain pitches, but 15 days to heal sounds excessive for a fingernail. There is a possibility that this move is partly to let Buchholz heal, partly to give him a rest and help him through his first full season, but could also be partly to set up a scenario to call up Bartolo Colon. If my sources are correct, Colon would get one more start in with the Pawsox, and then his next start would be set for Tuesday. The Sox would need a replacement for Buchholz on Tuesday. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

So, the Sox head home having lost 6 out of 10 games on this road trip and get today off as they limp back to Boston. Tomorrow they kick off three games against their one-time AL East rival Milwaukee Brewers. They were a team we were used to kicking around pretty well, other than their one shining year in 1982 when they made their one and only World Series appearance, which they lost to the St. Louis Cardinals. In 1994, the Brewers left the AL East and joined the AL Central when MLB added the third division, and in 1998 the Brewers joined the NL, and have not been seen around these parts since. The Brewers are at .500 right now, and let's hope they play more like the hapless Brewers of the 70's and the Sox can get a couple of wins under out of them.

(Photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports) (Source shall remain nameless ;-)

Red Sox Crawl Out of Minnesota

The Red Sox lost by a score of 7-3 last night to the Minnesota Twins. After just having won three out of four from the Tigers, the Sox have now lost three out of four to the Twins to break even on the current 10 game road trip. Last night it was Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz who got things going in the first inning. Coco Crisp lead off the game with a double (and he was not even using his powerful pink bat), Dustin Pedroia bunted him over to third (what better player for some small ball than little Dustin Pedroia?), and David Ortiz singled to score Crisp. Manny followed Ortiz with a long shot over the 'Hefty Bag' right field wall for his 498th career home run. When Manny is hitting with power to the opposite field, it is a sign he is getting in a groove. Watch for him to have a hot week or so.

With the Sox opening the game with a 3-0 lead, things looked promising for the Boston nine. But, unfortunately those were all the runs the Sox would score, as Minnesota was able to keep the Sox off the scoreboard behind the crafty pitching of Livan Hernandez. Livan did not use blazing speed, he simply dazzled with good location, lots of off-speed breaking stuff, and kept the Sox guessing all night. Clay Buchholz looked more dazzling, and also more predictable to the Twins hitters. For the second straight night, the Red Sox got a sub-par performance from their starter as Clay only lasted 4 1/3 innings giving up 7 earned runs on 8 hits, 5 walks, and 4 strike outs. No surprise that Clay remains a work in progress. He clearly has talent, and occasionally throws a gem of a game, but can easily follow that up with a few mediocre games. He is in a good place to grow, learn, and evolve as a big time pitcher. We'll just have to accept that we'll be on a bit of a roller coaster this season with him.

The Sox bullpen looked great last night with Javier Lopez, Craig Hansen, and Mike Timlin combining to hold the Twins scoreless over the last 3 2/3 innings allowing only 3 hits and no walks. Shame to waste such a solid effort on a night where the offense could not keep up. The bullpen morphed again last night as Julian Tavarez was designated for assignment to make room for the return of Sean Casey from the DL. I like the move as it shows Hansen the Sox have confidence in him and want to see him stick in Boston and make this his true debut season. They may miss Tavarez, as he provides reasonably dependable long relief, but with the quality of starters, and the tendencies they've noticed this season, the Red Sox just did not feel like they'd be taking a big risk by letting Tavarez go. Hansen seemed to get a lift from the news and channeled the excitement into an impressive 7th inning, feeding the Twins a steady dose of fastballs and sliders to induce two ground outs and a strike out. If Hansen is truly ready, he can be an important part of this bullpen, providing the critical bridge to Okajima and Papelbon - a role that Manny Delcarmen was expected to fill, but has so far fallen short.

The Sox head east to play two games in Baltimore. Josh Beckett faces off against Jeremy Guthrie tonight. You can count on Beckett halting the current two game losing streak. Wednesday it will be Jon Lester facing Daniel Cabrera in a more evenly matched game. If Manny stays hot, stealing two from the Orioles will be within reach, and a great way to wrap up the road trip.

Red Sox Wake Sleeping Tigers

One day after Tim Wakefield hypnotized the Tigers to sleep with his dancing knuckle ball, Clay Buchholz woke them up with the smell of blood. In the second inning, Gary Sheffield laced a ball off of Buchholz for a single. Buchholz was okay, and got out of the inning unscathed, but the wound left the smell of blood drifting across Comerica Park. The sleepy Tigers took the field in the top of the third, and slowly the aroma wafted past their noses. Slowly their whiskers twitched at the detection of the scent, and their excitement rose. The once sleeping Tiger lifted its head, stretched and let out a fearsome roar.

Claws fully extended, the Tigers came up to bat in the bottom of the scoreless 3rd inning. By the end of the inning, all nine batters had been to the plate, seven of them reached first base, and 4 of them had crossed home. Buchholz returned to the dugout, alive, but tattered and torn. The Sox fought back in the fourth with a 2 run home run by Kevin Youkilis, but the Tigers were not done with Buchholz yet, scoring one more run off of him in the fourth inning on 3 consecutive singles. Buchholz was finished, nothing left but bones strewn across the lair.

The Sox still had fight left in them and were able to score 2 more runs in the 5th inning as Tigers' starter Armando Galarraga wore down as well. Galarraga surrendered a lead off walk to Jason Varitek and hit Julio Lugo to put the first two batters on. A Jed Lowrie sacrifice fly, and a David Ortiz single pulled the Sox back within one run with the score now Tigers 5, Red Sox 4.

There has been discussion about how Julian Tavarez has not pitched in a long time, and without regular work, he'll become rusty and ineffective. That no longer needs to be debated. Sent in to help the vanquished Buchholz, Tavares was as rusty as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz (pre-oil can). Terry Francona gave him the entire 5th inning to manage, and he managed to turn that into three singles, a double, and three more Detroit runs. When a Tiger eats, he gets tired and goes off to rest and digest, which is what Detroit wandered off into the jungle to do. Meanwhile, the Red Sox, faced with a daunting 8-4 deficit, did not give in but rather continued to chip away.

In the 6th inning, Youkilis hit his second home run of the day, this time a solo shot, and in the 7th inning, it was Mike Lowell's turn for heroics. With two on and two out, Lowell ripped his third home run of the season into the left field stands to tie the game at eight. Then in the 8th inning with two outs and runners on first and second, Tito had a hunch and pinch hit Dustin Pedroia for Jed Lowrie who was 0-3 with a sacrifice fly up to that point. Pedroia did not let Tito down and hit a single to bring in JD Drew from second base to put the red Sox on top for the first time in the game, 9-8.

Hideki Okajima held the Tigers scoreless in the 8th inning, with some help from a questionable base running move. With runners on first and second, the result of back to back singles, one out and Gary Sheffield at the plate, Tigers' manager, Jim Leyland, sent the runners on a 3-2 pitch. Sheffield swung with enough force to tear down a small building, but missed for out number two, and Varitek fired down to third base to nail Magglio Ordonez to end the inning.

So, Red Sox fans everywhere sat back, put their feet up, and said, "Papelbon is coming in, this one is over". Well, not so fast. Matthew Joyce, playing in only the second big league game of his career, tried to check his swing on a Papelbon changeup and made contact with the ball. The ball lazily rolled out onto the field like a well executed bunt, and Joyce easily reached first base. Next up was old pal Edgar Renteria who hit a weak grounder to short. Lugo panicked and tried to rush in order to possibly get the lead runner at second, and bobbled the ball for an error. Ivan Rodriguez bunted the runners to 2nd and 3rd, and Curtis Granderson grounded out. So, with 2 outs, Placido Polanco, who had a hot bat all night, stepped up. Papelbon threw him three straight balls, before finally getting two strikes to even the count. His final pitch of the night was a fastball that jammed Polanco. Polanco swung and shattered his bat on the pitch. As parts of the bat flew everywhere, the ball lofted over Lugo's head and landed safely in shallow left field.

The Tigers had won. They loped off into the grass to lick their paws and digest their meal.

But, the Red Sox went back into the dugout, and loaded both barrels of their big game shotgun (also known as Josh Beckett). Tonight, the Tiger hunt commences.

(Baseball photos courtesy of ESPN) (Shere Kahn image courtesy of Animated-Views)

Red Sox Snag First Place From Tampa Bay

They were the wettest of times, they were the coldest of times. My daughter and I arrived at Fenway Park at 6:20 and were greeted with clouds, cold, and drizzle. The field was empty and covered by the tarp. Yellow-clad security guards stood sentry to thwart the likelihood of 30,000 people spontaneously starting the world's biggest game of "slip-and-slide" (which we were very tempted to initiate). We wandered around, took in all the Fenway sights, sounds and smells. We said "hi" to Jerry Remy and Tom Carron out by RemDawgs, and we looked for Luis Tiante who must have been indoors keeping warm. And we waited. And the rain drifted down, and we waited. Fans filled the concourse like the tide slowly rising up the beach. And we waited.

The Red Sox front office did NOT want to give up on the opportunity to play last night. We were occasionally informed that the game was delayed due to "inclement weather" (duh!) and that the Red Sox were "hopeful" that they'd be able to get the game in. And we waited. At 7:30 the Red Sox put the Yankees-Mariners game on the big screen. That was fun, except for the fact that the Mariners spent the first three innings proving they are more inept than the injury-depleted Yankees. At 8:05, the Red Sox thankfully switched the big screen to the Celtics game and we actually got to watch the entire first half of the game, while we...waited.

At 9:00 just as everyone was counting down to their decision to flee, the announcement came out that the game would start at 9:30! A cheer went up, and a swarm of worker bees gave an impressive demonstration in the art of clearing a 100 foot soaking wet square of tarp off of a baseball field. Now, we were all glad to see some baseball, but a 9:30 start is pretty extreme. If we had been playing the Yankees, the game could have easily gone until 2:30 in the morning. But, we were not playing the Yankees, we were playing the Light Beams from Florida.
We did, however, have to leave at 11:45 after the 6th inning, to make sure we made our subway connections. But, the 6 innings we saw were fun.

Clay Buchholz looked good, but a little stiff from the cold and late start. He twice allowed the first two batters to get on base, but seemed to bear down and pitch brilliantly to get out of the trouble. Brandon Moss, who had a great game, got Clay out of his jam in the second inning. With two outs, Evan Longoria tried to score from second base on a hard single to Moss in right field. Longoria had turned the corner around third as Moss was setting up for the throw - it looked like he was going to make it, until Moss launched a rocket to home, easily getting there a step ahead of the runner. Jason Varitek fielded the throw cleanly on one hop and applied the tag.

There was more excitement at home plate in the fifth inning. Jason Bartlett had already scored from third on a wild pitch, and the speedy Carl Crawford now stood on third base with one out. The Rays thought they had the momentum, and apparently thought Crawford had "Ellsbury speed". Crawford did not have Ellsbury speed (or at least Ellsbury smarts). Jonny Gomes hit a ground ball to Mike Lowell at third base, who was playing a step behind the bag. Lowell fielded it cleanly and looked Crawford back to the bag. Lowell timed it perfectly. As soon as Crawford took his step back towards third, Lowell fired a strike to first, and to everyone's surprise Crawford took off for home. Kevin Youkilis secured the out at first, stepped off the bag and fired home, Varitek applied the tag, inning over!

The exciting news for Sox fans is that the offense finally broke out. They almost got a big inning going in the third. Julio Lugo and Dustin Pedroia both doubled accounting for one run, but no one else was able to chip in. But, in the fourth inning, something finally clicked and the Sox managed to score 5 runs with two outs! Brandon Moss (remember I said he had a good game?) started the fireworks by crushing a home run to center field bouncing off the camera booth. That got the crowd fired up, and the bats too.

Jason Varitek singled and Lugo walked to set the table for Jacoby Ellsbury, who took advantage and laced a single to center scoring Varitek and sending Lugo to third. Then, Jacoby (who DOES have Ellsbury speed) was off with the pitch and stole second base as Pedroia swung at and missed strike two. Dustin hung in there and laced a single to left fielder Carl Crawford. Ellsbury was around third base as Crawford was scooping the ball. He dutifully fired to home in a futile attempt to gun down Ellsbury, who easily scored standing up. In fact, I think the throw crossed through the wake left behind Ellsbury and the wake knocked the ball off course. With Pedroia on second base, and still two outs, Big Papi got into the action guiding a single through the "shift" and into right center field, scoring Dustin. The Sox' offense was back! The surprise was that the coldest bat of the night was Manny Ramirez'. Manny struck out to end the inning, and went 0 for 5 with 3 K's on the night.

Clay Buchholz came out of the game in firm possession of a 6-1 lead with one out in the 6th. Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen stumbled through the remainder of the 6th and 7th, giving up 2 runs, but hanging on to the lead. That set things up for the Red Sox 1-2 punch of Okajima and Papelbon who sent down the Rays' batters 1-2-3 in the eighth (Okajima) and the ninth (Papelbon).

So, the Sox steal first place back from Tampa Bay (I can't believe I just wrote that - tip your hat to the Rays!), and all is well in Boston again (unless you are a Celtics fan and have chewed all of your fingernails to the bone by now).

Josh Beckett matches up against Scott Shields today and will try to keep the Rays from jumping back into first. Shields pitched a fantastic game against the Sox last week, and if he can repeat that, we are in for quite a pitcher's duel. I am still waiting for Manny to launch home run number 497, and can't imagine we'll have to wait much longer for that.

On the injury front, expect JD Drew to be available tonight, and Ellsbury is already back and running fine. Bartolo Colon has gone to Florida to begin an extended spring training. He'll join the Sox in Detroit this week and be examined by the medical staff. If all is well, he'll be inserted into the Pawtucket rotation to increase his pitch count in preparation for a call-up later possibly later this month. Curt Schilling, meanwhile, is on the verge of starting to throw for the first time since shutting it down early this spring. Keep those pitchers coming!

Beckett to the Rescue?

While I hope the title of this post is true, I don't want to imply that pitching was the problem last night. Clay Buchhulz pitched the second best game of his young career last night throwing an 8 inning complete game only allowing 2 runs on 3 hits to go with 9 strike outs and 2 walks. The big problem was that the Sox could only muster 1 run, forcing Clay to take the loss for a brilliantly pitched game.

I'm sure there are fans out there who are questioning Terry Francona's decision to leave Clay in to face Rays' hero, Akinori Iwamura with a runner on and two outs in the 8th inning and the Sox clinging to a 1-0 lead. The alternative was to bring in a well rested Jonathan Papelbon to get the final four outs to preserve the win. The result was that Iwamuri guessed right in his chess match against the tandem of Buchholz and Varitek and was sitting on a curve ball that came in a little too high in the strike zone and left the ball field very high into the right field stands for a home run.

In hindsight, you'd love to have seen Papelbon come in, but at that moment Buchholz was still pitching very strong, and had the game well under control. If Terry had pulled Clay at that point, I would have thought, in that moment, that he should have let Clay get the last out in the 8th. Iwamura was 0-3 with two strikeouts against Buchholz up to that point. After allowing the home run, Buchholz struck out Carl Crawford on three straight pitches to end the inning, so you can see he still had it. It was just a chess match where Iwamura got in the last move. It is a shame Clay could not get a win for such a great night.

Big Papi was out of the lineup tending to a sore post-operative knee suffered from his desperate, noble, but ill-advised head first dive into first base the night before. That, combined with Sean Casey being placed on the 15 day DL, was enough to silence what had been up to now, a rather loud Red Sox Offense. But, Tampa Bay youngster Edwin Jackson had a terrific night as well only allowing a single run on 5 hits in 7 innings to keep pace with Buchholz.

The one run the Sox scored, they were lucky to score, thanks to a wild pitch. Speedy Coco Crisp was on first with one out. Jackson may have been distracted by Coco's threat to steal second, but he unleashed a wild pitch that rolled far enough away from the catcher that Crisp was able to sprint all the way to third. Jackson still almost escaped the inning but after striking out Julio Lugo for out number two, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a sharp grounder deep to third. Evan Longoria made a fabulous play off the ball to his right and fired a rifle shot to first that beat Ellsbury to the bag. But with Ellsbury running, he had to rush the throw and it pulled Carlos Pena off the bag. Ellsbury was safe, and Crisp scored the only run of the night.

Prior to the game, the Sox called up outfielder, Brandon Moss, to replace the injured Sean Casey. An interesting move, because the Sox are down to only 4 infielders on the active roster, so how does calling up an outfielder help? Moss has been doing some work at first base in Pawtucket to give him some more versatility for Boston, but he's still very new to the position. I suppose in an emergency, Moss would play first, and we almost got to see that strategy in action. In the fifth inning, Julio Lugo had issues with the home plate umpire's view of the strike zone, and got in a heated argument, not thinking that getting kicked out of the game would be the worst thing he could do for the team. Terry Francona was out of the dugout faster than chicken running from Colonel Sanders to get Lugo back in the dugout. Smarten up Lugo!

A loss today would allow the Rays to pull into a tie in the standings with the Sox. But, they have to get past a well rested Josh Beckett first. Just watch out for Beckett to keep from over-throwing. When a power pitcher is feeling too strong, he can overthrow and ride too high in the zone and get into trouble.

(Photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Frustration Mounts for the Red Sox

Hey, I'm back from a bought with the Red Sox flu. Hope my old pal Marty entertained you in the meantime. He'll make occassional appearances for me as the season goes on.

My first thought after last night's game was, "man, I'd hate to be David Ortiz' cat tonight", after Big Papi went 0-6 including hitting into a double play in the 11th inning (for all us animal lovers out there - it is just an expression). All-in-all it was not a bad game, and the Red Sox bullpen held their own, which was nice to see. I cringed when Brian Corey came into the game, but he battled well and held down the fort.

The real frustrating part was having two men on with one out TWICE in extra innings and BOTH TIMES ending those opportunities with double play ground balls, in the 10th by Julio Lugo, and in the 11th by Big Papi himself. You have to tip your hat to Papi for trying, as he dove headfirst into first base in a desperate effort to keep the inning alive. The grounds crew for Tampa Bay will have some work to do to repair the damage that dive left behind, I'm sure.

Another frustrating moment was when Sean Casey had to leave the game with a strained muscle in his hip. He will not be available tonight. Now, unless the Sox make a move, that leaves them with four infielders tonight, Youkilis, Lugo, Pedroia, and Lowrie (who is getting a lot more playing time than we all expected). If one of those guys gets hurt, who plays infield? Ellsbury, Drew, Crisp? That would be interesting. Mike Lowell is doing well in his rehab with Pawtucket, but won't be available until later in the week. The Sox are also carrying 13 pitchers on the roster right now, which has been necessary. I would guess they'd have to send a pitcher back to Pawtucket (Corey?) and bring up an infielder for tonight, just in case. We'll see.

Bonehead play of the night was made by Rays' second baseman, Akinori Iwamura. In the ninth inning, with Kevin Cash on first and one out, Dustin Pedroia hit a grounder to Iwamura which looked like an easy inning-ending double play. But Cash was running towards Iwamura who, rather than fire to second for the force, thought about tagging Cash and throwing to first. When Cash put on the brakes, Iwamura suddenly realized he was in trouble of even getting one out, and fired to first, but it was too late as Pedroia beat the throw. Cash had taken off for second and beat the throw from first too. Safe on both bases. Unfortunately, the inning ended after Papi popped out and Manny struck out.

Tonight Clay Buchholz tries to show his last start was not a fluke. What we need from Clay is 6 or 7 strong innings, leave with a lead, and let Okajima and Papelbon take the last innings tonight. Give the rest of the bullpen a rest. The Rays are starting their own promising youngster, 24 year old Edwin Jackson, who was born in Germany, interestingly enough. Jackson sounds similar to the Sox' young pitchers, in that when he has his good stuff, he looks terrific, but when he's a little off he gets clobbered. Boston fans are hoping for the latter tonight.

Lastly, isn't there anything in the rule book to prevent an idiotic, 8 foot tall, blue monstrosity from standing right behind home plate intentionally trying to distract the pitcher? This is not the NBA you know. How about a little class?

(Photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Clay Gets His First Win

The annual Patriots Day game in Boston is one of local signs of spring. Trees begin flowering, robins are back from their winter vacations, and the Sox play an 11:30 game during the running of the Boston Marathon. I tip my hat to all those who ran yesterday! It is quite an accomplishment.

Clay Buchholz achieved an accomplishment as well notching his first win of 2008. He looked good, mixing his pitches up effectively and getting ahead of hitters in the count. Clay threw first pitch strikes to 17 of the 24 batters he faced. That is very important, especially to a young pitcher trying to establish himself. The batter is now more on the defensive, while the pitcher can start controlling the at-bat more effectively. He also battled well. In the second inning, after getting the first two batters out, back to back singles and a walk loaded the bases. Yes, we were all worried if the house of cards was about to collapse, but Clay got Ian Kinsler to pop out to end the threat. That's the kind of day Clay had. He went 6 innings allowing no runs on 5 hits, 6 strike outs, and 2 walks while throwing 103 pitches. I was a little surprised that Terry Francona puled him after 6. Clay had only allowed one base runner over his last 3 innings pitched, and that base runner was erased with a double play. But, Clay had trouble with a tired arm late last season, so expect the Sox to nurse him along for a while more.

The Rangers were a confidence builder for the Sox. They do not look like a very solid team, continually helping the Sox out with sloppy play and poor relief pitching. So, don't look at this 4 game sweep of Texas as a sign that the Sox are bound for another World Series. We hit a mediocre team playing fairly poorly, and took advantage. That is what a good team does, and the Sox did it. Julio Lugo got his game going (possibly looking over his shoulder at his possible replacement, Jed Lowrie who looks terrific), and even Big Papi started recording a few hits and a few RBI, starting with his grand slam on Friday night. Lugo went 4 for 4 yesterday, and Papi had two hits, including a double.



The fun play of the game was in the 4th inning. After JD Drew reached first on a walk, Jed Lowrie squared around to bunt. He was trying for a hard grounder up the first base line, but the pitch was away, so he opted to switch directions with the hard bunt. In doing so, he dropped the head of the bat a touch too low and the hard grounder turned into a pop-up. Luckily he was trying to bunt the ball hard, so the pop-up had enough juice on it to loft over the pitcher's head and drop harmlessly behind him for a single. First time I've ever seen that!

Mike Lowell is scheduled to do some hitting in the cage today for the first time since spraining his left thumb. The trainers have been trying to concoct some sort of brace for the thumb to give it support and help him return sooner, and have not had much luck yet. Hopefully we'll see Lowell back soon, but Kevin Youkilis has played some very fine third base in his absence, and Sean Casey has done a great job hitting and playing first. The fine play of the Sox' bench players is why they have won 9 of their last 10 games and find themselves 2 games ahead of Baltimore in first place today.

I'll be attending tonight's game, the second of the year for me. Another visit to Tequila Rain, Cuban sandwiches for dinner, washed down with the sounds of a Red Sox victory. That's right, tonight is a game that I fully expect to result in a Red Sox win. Josh Beckett gets the start against Jared Weaver and the start against the "Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim which is just around the corner from Disneyland, not to be confused with Disney World" - or whatever they are called now.

The Angels have a good team and I doubt they will get swept. But tonight, the Sox' ace is on the mount, and all is right in the world. Jared Weaver is a guy with talent. But, to me he is always a guy who fares great in the middle of the pack. He'd look terrific in games against the Royals, Orioles, Rays (who apparently have had the "Devil" scared out of them), and teams like that. So, on paper he looks hot. Them he faces a tough team in an important situation and implodes. I just have no faith in Weaver getting it done.

The Sox only downfall would be if Beckett does not go deep (past the 6th inning) and the Sox need to rely on the bullpen for too long. Their one weakness so far.

Coco Crisp is still nursing a hamstring, so look for Ellsbury in center, Manny in left, and JD Drew in right. The non-Lowell infield should be in place with Youk at third, Lugo at short, Pedroia at second, and Casey at first. We may not see Varitek catching as he has been battling a tough case of the flu. If he is still down, we'll have Kevin Cash catching, who is looking solid as a backup catcher this season.

(Photos Courtesy of Boston.com)

Pitching Can Also Lose Games

Well, for anyone who thinks a low scoring game is boring, you must have had fun last night. On a night when the Sox offense was on a roll, the pitching imploded. The Yankees had a very similar problem. The two teams went toe to toe for the most part. After 5 innings both teams had gone through 2 pitchers with the Red Sox giving up 11 runs, while the Yankees gave up 9 runs. Both teams needed a reliever to stop the bleeding. The Yankees found theirs in LaTroy Hawkins who pitched two scoreless innings, and the Red Sox found theirs in David Aardsma who also pitched two scoreless innings. But, to end the game, the Sox brought in Mike Timlin who was (again) unable to hold back the dam and gave up 4 more insurance runs to the Yankees. Game over. Yankees win 15-9.

The good news, for Sox fans, is that the Red Sox were able to clobber Yankee ace Chien-Ming Wang, who had pitched a 2-hitter against them only last week. The bad news is that Clay Buchholz got just as clobbered. So far, Clay looks like a pitcher who has potential, but still needs more work in Pawtucket. Here's what I expect. Clay will get 2 more starts, probably fare moderately well, but not brilliantly. Right around that time, Bartolo Colon will be declared fit and ready to go, and we'll see Colon come up and Clay go down. That's more good news - we have a starter working his way up to help out. We also have the possibility of Curt Schilling making it back up sometime this summer.

The Yankees caught a break in the 5th when Melky Cabrera went a mile out of the base path to break up a double play. The rule is that he has to be able to reach second base when he slides, but in this case he was sliding out to center field, no where near the bag. The ump should have made the call, which would have resulted in the runner at first being out, ending the inning. As is turned out, it only cost the Sox one run - and gave Julio Lugo a cheap error in his stats.

Here's a worrisome quote from Terry Francona...

"Tonight, we go to Tavarez, and if he struggles, that's what happens. We really didn't have anywhere else to go," said Francona.

We didn't have anywhere else to go because Kyle Snyder had been cut loose! Theo Epstein needs to be out there looking for dependable middle relief!

When you score 9 runs and lose, in my mind you really let one get away. The other piece of good new for the Sox is that our #5 pitcher is the one who got hammered. For the Yankees, it was their #1 ace pitcher. Not a good thing. The Red Sox send their ace, Josh Beckett, to the mound tonight to face Mike Mussina. You would think this one should go to the Red Sox, but we'll see. If Beckett and Mussina pitch the way you'd expect, and the Sox bats (Ramirez, JD Drew) stay hot, the game is in the bag. I'd look for a classic pitching night for the Sox - Beckett goes 7 innings, Okajima pitches and 8th, and Papelbon closes her out. The only worry is that Beckett has been tiring around the 6th inning, so (gasp) we might need middle relief!

Lastly, start worrying about injuries. The list is growing with Kevin Youkilis fouling a pitch off of his toe, and Alex Cora going the DL for an elbow strain. To replace Alex Cora, the Sox are bringing up Joe Thurston from Pawtucket. With Youk likely sitting out tonight, the Sox are expected to play Jed Lowrie at third base, and Sean Casey at first. Not a good sign to be missing your two starting corner infielders.

Wang Spins a Gem

Well, I gave the edge to the Yankees in the first game, and Chien-Ming Wang, unfortunately made my thoughts come true. Both starting pitchers had great games. Wang and Clay Buchholz went toe to toe with brilliant pitching. Why was Wang so effective? Two reasons. First, he had excellent command of his pitches putting the ball exactly where he wanted. Second, he kept the ball around the strike zone all night. The result is that the Sox were not able to be patient at the plate and force Wang to throw a lot of pitches. Wang forced them to swing earlier, but kept the ball out of the sweet zone. So, most players made outs early in the count allowing Wang to get away with very few pitches. That sped the game up and let Wang pitch all nine innings.

I loved the job Buchholz did. I wish he could have gone deeper, but after 6 he was up to 98 pitches. Last season he tired out early, you can't kill him this early on.

Once again, I was questioning Terry Francona's logic. We knew Clay was done after 6, and we had Okajima and Papelbon lined up for the 8th and 9th. So, all we needed was to nail down the eight. So, with Jason Giambi leading off, as a potentially dangerous lefty who loves fastballs, I'm not sure why Terry brought in Mike Timlin to face him. Timlin is fresh off the DL and is a righty fastball pitcher. Why not bring in the lefty reliever Javier Lopez to go after Giambi, then bring in Timlin? That's what I was thinking at the start of the inning. I thought Timlin worked Giambi well, but Giambi won in the end.


After that, the real question was whether we could score off of Wang. Other than JD Drew, who is still in a groove and hit a homer off Wang for the Sox only run, the answer was a resounding NO. So, don't worry about the rest. Wang owned the show. We were never going to score a second run in this game. It could have ended 2-1, 4-1, 8-1, or 12-1. Any way, the Sox were only getting 1. So, the first battle was won hands-down by Wang.

Next up - the Red Sox get their turn to send their ace out as Josh Beckett faces Mike Mussina (weather permitting). Clearly, the Sox have the edge on pitching in this one, and the bullpen is rested enough, so the Sox have the edge. The one strength Mussina will bring to the table is some effective off-speed stuff, especially a nasty knuckle-curve. That pitch can keep hitters off balance. Sox hitters have to try to lay off that pitch and sit on Mussina's near-underhand fastball. Manny will do that - not sure about the others.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Big Papi is still in a rut going 0 for 3. Hmm.

And lastly, why was Jacoby Ellsbury NOT playing on Native American night at Fenway?