Papelbon Steals Second Base!

That's right, I saw him do it! Only moments earlier, Alex Cora hauled in a harmless infield fly ball for the final out of the game. The Red Sox defeated the Indians 5-4, and in doing so, clinched the American League Wild Card spot, while simultaneously eliminating the Yankees from postseason play. Then, the celebration ensued! Knowing this would be fun, I worked my way around from right field down to the first base line and found a spot a rows off the field right by canvas alley. Players were celebrating, champagne was flying, and smiles were readily found.

Then, we looked out and Jonathan Papelbon, doused in champagne, wearing a ladies-pleasing sleeveless Red Sox jersey, marched over to second base, bent over, and started tearing it from the ground. From the look of it, it was not easy. Like King Arthur once drew Excalibur from the stone, so did Papelbon extract second base from the very foundation of hallowed Fenway Park (not being frivolously torn down any time soon, by the way). With the base held in one hand high overhead, Papelbon marched directly towards where I was standing. A huge cheer went out, and as he approached, he reached out and handed the base to someone in the front row. Yes, Papelbon did indeed steal second base. I never saw what happened to the base after that. I wonder if they actually let the fan keep it?

So, I did get my wish after all, being present at the playoff clinching game. My friend brought both his father and father-in-law to the game, which turned out to be pretty fun. His father-in-law confided in me that it had been a long, long time since he had been to Fenway Park. When I asked him how long ago it was, he thought for a moment and answered, "I really can't remember exactly, but I do remember that I saw Ted Williams and Mickey Mantle both hit home runs in that game. Ted's landed right around where we are sitting but Mantle's [he said pointing up towards the Dunkin Donuts sign] landed way back there". My jaw dropped, just for a second, and I realized someday that might be me, telling a grandchild that I sat here the day David Oritz hit two home runs in the first inning, or the time Papi hit a home run that broke my friend's thumb, or the time, in 2008, when we watched the Sox clinch a playoff birth.

Another fun moment in the celebration was when 3 players jogged out of the dugout, all soaking wet and carrying fresh bottles of champagne. They were (if I recall correctly), David Aardsma, Javier Lopez (who is really tall up close), and Manny Delcarmen. The three of them headed out to right field, towards the bullpen where the Boston policeman (who bumps knuckles with Papelbon each time Paps gets called in from the 'pen) was standing. We all watched as they got closer and closer. I felt like that scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail when Arthur and his men (hmm, another reference to King Arthur?) were charging the castle and the two guards just stood there watching, and the shot of them charging kept repeating as if they were never getting any closer. Suddenly, they reached their target, still standing rock still, and proceeded to douse him with champagne amid hugs and high fives.

So, that's it. The Rays won both halves of their double header yesterday to reduce the Red Sox' elimination number to a mere 2 for the Division Title. If the Sox lose just one more game, and the Rays win just one more game, the Rays take the title. So, I think, while it is not technically over, we can relax, and concede the Rays have earned that one. Now, continue to play hard, and try to win every remaining game, but rest everyone who needs it, get work in for everyone who needs it, and line up the rotation so that we'll head in to LA with all guns blaring.

My next game to attend is Friday, against the Yankees, the night the Red Sox have announced they will retire Johnny Pesky's number! We'll also be able to say a sad farewell to the Yankees for 2008. Way back in 2002, sports radio host, Eddie Andelman, tried to organize a Yankee Elimination Party. That party got canceled, and no such party has been possible until last night. The Yankees have had quite an amazing run. Understand this. Derek Jeter has never, up until now, played in a game that had to playoff meaning. Never. Pretty impressive.

(Photos Courtesy of Boston.Com)

Red Sox Survive Toronto Visit

With four games to play against a red hot Toronto team that was suddenly very interested in a playoff spot, Red Sox fans were a little anxious. But, four games later, the Red Sox can hold their heads high. They battled well, and only lost one of the four games, effectively driving a dagger into the Blue Jay's hopes of a last minute drive for the Wild Card. As it stands, the Jays and Yankees both are facing an elimination number of 5. That means any combination of Red Sox wins plus losses by them that add up to 5, will eliminate those teams. With the Red Sox having 13 games left, if they go 5-8 in those games, both Toronto and New York are out. That sounds pretty likely.

Jon Lester had no fear facing Roy Halladay yesterday. They went toe to toe and Lester faced Doc down. Both pitchers got in a little trouble early on. Lester gave up a solo home run in the first, and Doc gave up single runs in the first and second innings. But then they settled into a rhythm and held the 2-1 score all the way to the seventh inning. The Sox scored an unearned run in the bottom of the seventh, the last inning Halladay would pitch. Lester got through 8 innings before getting a rest. He left the game with a 4-1 lead, allowing only 4 hits, two walks, and producing 6 strikeouts. Terrific night for Lester!

Lester handed the ball over to our recently shaky closer. In two of his last 3 appearances, Jonathan Papelbon has look far from immortal. Last night's ninth inning started with a double and a single to score a run. The next batter, Lyle Overbay, hit a single to left but got thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double. Had he held up at first, Papelbon would have been in deeper trouble. Scott Rolen grounded out, but Adam Lind scored the second run of the inning on the play. The score was now 4-3 and Papelbon was on the brink of a second blown save in a week. Luckily, he induced Greg Zaun to ground out to end the game. Let's hope Papelbon irons out whatever he needs to so we have our guaranteed closer ready for the playoffs.

We'll get a final shot to knock Tampa Bay down a notch or two starting tonight as the Sox open a three game series against the Rays in Fenway South. Tonight's match up should be interesting with Daisuke Matsuzaka facing off against Scott Kazmir. Josh Beckett takes on Andy Sonnanstine on Tuesday, and Tim Wakefield wraps up the series against Matt Garza. All good pitching match ups, no excuses. to the winner go the spoils.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Sox Miss Chance at First Place

It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and all of us Red Sox fans in the audience were still rubbing our eyes and asking ourselves if what we saw really happened. Did Jonathan Papelbon really just give up a home run and back to back doubles to blow a 4-3 lead? We were all filled with joy a mere 1/2 inning before, when we watched Jason Bay crush a laser beam line drive that barely cleared the top of the Green Monster for a 2 run home run that did away with the Rays' 3-2 lead. The woman sitting behind me quietly said, to no one in particular, "Manny Who?", as Jason rounded the bases to the roar of the packed house.

But, we all know a one run lead in the ninth inning can be quickly erased, and we knew Big Papi would be batting this inning. Mark Kotsay lead off the inning against Troy Percival with a walk. We all thought, "okay, here we go". Then, Jason Varitek stepped up, and began to work on laying down a bunt to move Kotsay to second. Percival has been around a long time, and was not about to make it easy on 'Tek, and threw him terrible pitches - high and off the plate, to bunt at. While this futile battle was being waged, I turned to those around me and asked, "If Francona wants to get the runner in scoring position, why doesn't he send in Jacoby Ellsbury to pinch run? He can steal second, then we'd have the runner in scoring position with no outs. That would let Varitek be able to swing away, and with Ellsbury's speed, we increase the chances of safely scoring from second on a single." Everyone agreed, this made sense. But, we continued to watch as Varitek fouled off strike two, then froze as Percival snapped a curve ball across the strike zone for strike three.

Then, Big Papi stepped in and worked the count to 3-1, then put the bat on a fastball, only to fly out to right field. Now, with two outs, and the hot hitting Coco Crisp coming up, Terry Francona send in Jacoby Ellsbury to pinch run! We all looked at each other and said, what the heck has he been waiting for? Why wait until there are two outs to send in Ellsbury? So, Ellsbury takes off for second, is safe by a mile, and to top it off, the throw gets away from the second baseman, and Ellsbury wastes no time flying over to third base. Unfortunately, Coco popped out to second base to end the game.

Now, picture how differently this inning would have gone for Troy Percival had Ellsbury been sent in to pinch run immediately. No outs, and the league leading base stealer on first base while clinging to a one run league in Fenway Park with the division lead on the line. Percival would have spent half of his concentration on trying to keep Ellsbury close to first, and Varitek would have been swinging away, no trying to bunt. Had Ellsbury executed a similar steal, we could have had him on third with no outs. Big Papi's fly to right may have scored him to tie the game!

So, I am not trying to be revisionist here, and I am not at saying this is why they lost. They may have lost anyway. But, I still just don't get why they waited until there were two outs to send in Ellsbury! It just made no sense.

Daisuke Matsuzaka was okay. As usual, he had one clumsy inning, this time it was the third inning. He slipped and fell trying to field a bunt with no outs, then walked the next two batters to load the bases. Dice-K then threw a pitch more or less in the dirt, but it nicked the foot of Cliff Floyd, giving the Rays their first run. The good thing is that he stopped the bleeding pretty quickly. He retired the next 3 batters in a row, giving up only one more run on a sacrifice fly. Dice-K gave up one more run int he fourth, and left the game after 5 innings, already up to over 100 pitches, with the Rays leading 3-2. Not a great outing, but good enough to keep the Sox in the game. The bullpen, Javier Lopez, Manny Delcarmen, and Hideki Okajima, held the Rays silent until Papelbon imploded.

Papelbon, from where we sat, looked off right from the first pitch. I don't know why, he just was not on his game. Hopefully it is nothing but a bad night. The game tying solo home run was given up to Dan Johnson, who had just been called up from AAA Durham. It was Johnson's second at bat of the season. His first at bat came on April 2nd against Boston when he was with the A's. In that at bat, he grounded out harmlessly to Dustin Pedroia. So, it seemed like a match up in favor of the home town team. That is, until Papelbon left a fastball out over the plate, and Johnson planted it out in to the center field stands.

The rubber match takes place tonight. Josh Beckett against Andy Sonnanstine. The Sox don't "need" to win this game, they seem to be in pretty good control of the Wild Card spot. But, winning this game, and pulling back to within 1/2 game of the Rays would be a big boost. We'll take whatever playoff spot we can get, but the Division Champ gets home field advantage, and we'd love to see that.

Red Sox Take Two From Seattle Behind Dice-K

So far, so good. The Red Sox, having lost three straight, could use three straight wins from Seattle to get back on track. With a win this afternoon, they could accomplish just that.

Last night, Daisuke Matsuzaka was brilliant. The key to that statement was the fact that he only walked three batters the whole game, and was more efficient with his pitch count. It has become unusual to see Dice-K standing on the mound in the 8th inning, but there he was, looking like he was heading for a complete game.

Unfortunately, his game began unraveling in the 8th inning. With JD Drew leading the way to a 4-0 lead, the Mariners were finally able to chip away as Dice-K began tiring. With one out, and a runner on base, Ichiro Suzuki laced a double to plate the first run, and Jose Lopez followed that with a single up the middle to score Ichiro. With the score now 2-0, Terry Francona felt it was time to give Dice-K some help and ensure he holds on to his 11th win of the season. So, Terry called for Hideki Okajima.

As we all know, Okajima has not fared well entering the game with runners on base, but in this case, at least the runner was at first base, and the left handed hitting Raul Ibanez was due up. Sox fans were thinking "ground ball, double play, inning over". Sox fans were also praying "please, not a home run". As it turns out, neither prayer was heard by the baseball gods, but Ibanez did hit a ground ball to first, and Kevin Youkilis managed to throw to second base to get the lead runner for the second out. Oki followed that up by getting Jose Vidro to line out to center to end the inning and complete the transition to Jonathan Papelbon.

The Mariners opted to not wait around for Papelbon to strike them out and came out with a strategy to swing early in the count. Good idea, but the result was the same, three straight outs, and Papelbon's 30th save of the. With the save, Papelbon becomes the first closer in Red Sox history to record 3 consecutive 30+ save seasons. Hopefully, that is only the start of more amazing years to come.

Meanwhile, this afternoon all focus will turn to Clay Buchholz. Will the young pitching phenom return to his former brilliance, or will he continue to labor through difficult innings, not fooling batters with an ineffective fastball? Another short and ineffective outing could result in another trip to Pawtucket. Bartolo Colon is nearing a return, but that may be weeks away. On the other hand, if Clay has a solid outing, we'll all breath a sigh of relief and welcome him back to Boston next week.

Last night's win, combined with Tampa Bay's loss, inches the Sox back to within 1/2 of a game of first place. Good timing too, as the Yankees, in their typical post-All Star surge, are starting to create pressure behind the Sox. The Yankees now have notched 5 wins in a row, and tonight will go for a sweep of the Twins before coming to town to face the Red Sox on Friday. That series will be huge. A sweep by the Yankees could vault then over the Sox into second place and return them to serious contention. A sweep by the Red Sox could stomp the Yankees back towards the basement where we'd rather see them. Stay tuned!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Forced to Settle for Series Split With Yankees

It played out just the way Tampa Bay hoped it would. The Rays were about to start playing Kansas City, a team they should be able to dominate, and their closest competition, the Red Sox and Yankees, would be playing each other. The Rays were happy to watch the Sox and Yanks beat each other up in a futile effort to move up in the standings while they racked up wins against the Royals. So, the Sox and Yanks split their four game series, and the Rays won three straight from KC, resulting in the Rays increasing their lead by 1.5 games over both the Red Sox and the Yankees. The Rays now hold a 5 game lead, and appear to be setting the dial to cruise control.

The Red Sox lost the last two games of the series in well fought, close games. In both, they managed to get Mariano Rivera on the ropes, and both times failed to connect with the knock out blow. Last night, Terry Francona seemed to have made the smart moves to put his guys in position to win. In the top of the ninth, with Rivera on the mound, Sean Casey lead off with a single. Preferring more speed on the bases, Tito sent in Brandon Moss to pinch run for Casey, and Coco Crisp nicely bunted him over to second base. One out, and a man in scoring position.

Tito then made an interesting decision. The next batter was Julio Lugo, who has not been batting so well lately. So, Tito pinch hits for him - not a bad idea, BUT he sends on Jason Varitek to hit for him. Varitek has been in a terrible slump lately, but you just have to hope he gets the bat on the ball in that spot. Tito was probably hoping for at least a sacrifice fly to get Moss over to third. Instead, Varitek broke his bat on the first pitch, weakly grounding out to the pitcher, holding Moss at second base.

So, Tito goes for the big gun, and sends in Manny Ramirez to hit for Kevin Cash. Again, a very smart move that did not play out. For some bizarre reason, Manny went up to the plate and watched three straight change ups to go by, all of them called strikes! He never once took the bat off his shoulder! Even Rivera could not believe it. "I was kind of surprised, yeah, definitely," Rivera said. "Yeah, I was kind of surprised he didn't take the bat off his shoulder. I don't know what he was thinking. That's Manny." No one knows what Manny was thinking. I can't imagine he was being uncooperative because he wanted the whole night off, but that's what it looked like.

Having squandered their chance, the game went into the 10th inning, where the Yankees were able to sneak in a run off of Jonathan Papelbon. With a runner on second and two outs, Paps immediately worked the count to 0-2 against Brett Gardner, but could not get the 3rd strike. Garder ended up hitting a perfectly placed grounder up the middle that Cora tried to knock down, but it hit the lip of the grass and Cora could not come up with it.

A well fought game all around. Wakefield and Joba Chamberlain went toe to toe and came out of it with a draw. Wake went 6 1/3 innings allowing 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 5 strikeouts. Joba went 6 innings allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 5 strikeouts. So, you see, you can be just as effective with speed as without. The Sox bullpen (Javier Lopez) gave up one run, and so did the Yankee's pen (David Robertson). So, it all came down to the closers. Even then, it was a split decision, with the victory going to Rivera over Papelbon.

The Sox finally get to come back home, and if their usual success in Fenway Park continues, maybe they'll be able to inch closer to the Rays before the All Star Break.

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Just a Hellacious Game

The title is a direct quote from St. Louis Cardinals' manager, Tony La Russa. He may have a point there. Both teams had opportunities to win yesterday's game, but time and time again failed to get it done. Jon Lester had yet another superb outing, lasting into the 8th inning, and only allowing 2 runs in the 6th inning. The 6th inning was the only inning Lester really got into any trouble at all, facing no more than 4 batters in any other inning.

Unfortunately for Lester, the Red Sox offense just could not get it done yesterday, and when he exited the game, the Sox were down 2-1, their only run coming off of a solo home run from Kevin Youkilis, the game's eventual hero. The Sox did threaten to blow the game open in the 8th inning. Coco Crisp lead of the inning with a triple and Julio Lugo brought him home with a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2. Then, with 2 outs, Dustin Pedroia singled and stole second base. Cardinals' reliever, Chris Perez, then had a meltdown walking the next 3 batters in a row to allow the go ahead run to score, and earning himself a blown save. At this point, Manny Ramirez was at second base, and Terry Francona made a very logical move. Manny's hamstring has been bothering him, and Terry envisioned a single and Manny trying to score from second and aggravating the nagging hammy. So, with the Sox holding a 3-2 lead, and knowing Jonathan Papelbon would be pitching the 9th, Terry sent Brandon Moss in to pinch run for Manny. Nothing would come of that move, as the next batter, Kevin Youkilis, would strike out to end the inning. But, once the game went into extra innings, I bet Terry regretted not having his star slugger in the lineup.

Yes, the game went into extra innings on a somewhat rare blown save by Jonathan Papelbon. Paps looked great to start the 9th, striking out the first two batters he faced. However, he walked the third batter of the inning, which so often results in bad news. It did yesterday when Papelbon took a little something off of his fastball with the count 0-2, and Adam Kennedy rifled the 92 mph offering into center field for a long double that scored Chris Duncan from first base, tying the game at 3.

Extra innings were quite eventful. The Cardinals had runners at first and second base in the 10th, but Hideki Okajima struck out Rick Ankiel to end the threat. In the 11th inning, Okajima got into a jam with 2 outs and bases loaded. Francona called on Craig Hansen for help, and he delivered a strikeout to end tinning, and kept up the good work with a 1-2-3 12th inning. The Red Sox also had opportunities. In the 10th inning, Jacoby Ellsbury lead off with a double, and Dustin Pedroia bunted him to third base. But, JD Drew, cooled off for one day, struck out and Sean Casey flied out to strand Ellsbury 90 feet from a win. In the 11th inning, the Sox had runners at 1st and 2nd with one out, but Jason Isringhausen got both Alex Cora and Ellsbury to strike out swinging. Pedroia lead off the 12th inning with a double, but Drew's grounder to the pitcher allowed the Cardinals to trap Pedroia off second for the first out, and Sean Casey hit into a double play.

Tough game so far, but if you stuck with it through all the frustration, you were rewarded with a thrilling 13th inning. With one out in the top of the 13th, Javier Lopez allowed a double to Chris Duncan. The next batter, Adam Kennedy, hit a sharp ground ball to right field directly to JD Drew. The Cardinals were clearly desperate to score, and sent Duncan around third to home. JD Drew was not able to contribute with his bat yesterday, but he sure helped with the perfect throw he fired in to Jason Varitek. The throw took a friendly hop into Tek's glove, then Tek turned to see Duncan still three strides away, but lowering his shoulder knowing his only chance would be to plow Varitek over and hope the ball jars loose. Varitek braced himself for the collision, and then, at the last second he dropped low and Duncan's lunge passed too high rolling harmlessly over Tek as he applied the tag to prevent the run. Terrific play by the Captain to not only ensure the out but to also avoid possible injury.

So, Manny Ramirez is out of the game, and time is running out as well. The Cardinals had used every position player on their bench, and the Red Sox only had Kevin Cash left. Bullpens were down to their last pitcher or two. It was time to end this, but who could get it done? Kevin Youkilis, that's who. Mike Lowell lead off the inning with a single, and Youk launched a 3-1 fastball over the Green Monster to end the game with a 5-3 victory and end a two game losing streak.

Things won't get any easier for the Sox today as the first place Arizona Diamondbacks come to town. Josh Beckett gets the start on an extra day of rest. With the Sox bullpen being emptied out yesterday, this would be perfect timing for Beckett to pitch deep into the game! The Cardinals came to Boston just having suffered a 3 game sweep at the hands of the Royals only to take 2 of 3 from Boston. The Diamondback are coming to Boston just having suffered a 3 game sweep from the Minnesota Twins. Sound familiar? Let's hope the results are different this time!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Top Reds in Extra Innings, 6-4

The Red Sox headed into yesterday's game with a big offensive handicap, missing both Manny Ramirez and Big Papi, their number 3 and number 4 hitters, from the lineup. In addition, playing in a National League Park, there would be no designated hitter so the pitcher would be taking the 9th spot in the order (and the Sox got 5 strike outs out of the 9th place in the order, as it turned out). The weakened lineup would then have to face one of the brightest young pitchers of 2008, Edinson Volquez. The edge the Sox needed to take advantage of was speed, with Jacoby Ellsbury and Coco Crisp both in the outfield.

Ellsbury got things running right away. He lead off the game with a single and advanced to second base on a wild throw, possibly due to Volquez worrying about a steal. The steal was coming - just one batter later, with JD Drew at the plate, Ellsbury stole third base and the throw got away, allowing him to score the first run of the day. JD Drew scored the Red Sox' second run in the fourth inning when he roped a triple to deep left field, and two batters later, snuck home on a wild pitch. Leading 2-1 in the 8th inning, JD Drew got things going again in the 8th with a lead off double, and scored on a Mike Lowell single to center field. Unfortunately, third base coach, DeMarlo Hale, thought Lowell was one of the team's speedsters and sent him home from first on a double by Kevin Youkilis. Predictably, Lowell was easily thrown out.

But, with a 4-2 lead, the Sox looked to be in good shape. Tim Wakefield had a very good game, only allowing two solo home runs in 7 innings to go with 6 strike outs. But, the bullpen was not able to keep the lead for Wake. The one time sure thing, Hideki Okajima, replaced Wakefield in the 8th inning. He faced three batters allowing a single, a strike out, and a walk. But, Terry Francona, wisely keeping Okajima on a short leash for a while, decided to change direction and brought in Manny Delcarmen. Manny immediately gave up a single to Javier Valentin, scoring a run from second base. But, before things got out of control, he thankfully induced Ken Griffey, Jr., to ground into a double play.

So, ninth inning, 4-3 lead, no problem, right? Well, almost. Jonathan Papelbon got the first two batters of the ninth out on consecutive ground balls. Then, Edwin Encarnation stepped in and waged a fierce battle with the Sox closer, fouling off some very good pitches. Papelbon, hoping to catch Edwin looking for a 98 mph fastball, opted for an 89 mph slider. Unfortunately, the slider did not have enough bite on it, and Encarnation sent it into the left field seats for a game tying home run. Papelbon finished off the 9th, but earned his 3rd blown game of the season.

The Sox needed runs, and the got them in the 10th on back to back solo home runs from Youkilis and Coco Crisp. For the Sox to get a rare road win, they needed someone to take care of the Reds in the 10th. Enter, Craig Hansen, and begin some National League roster moves. With the pitcher due to lead off, Corey Patterson was sent in to pinch hit, and Hansen got him to ground out, and then struck out Jay Bruce for two quick outs. But, to keep things exciting, Jolbert Cabrera singled to center field, and was then allowed to steal 2nd base, and then 3rd base with no throw from Kevin Cash. With a two run lead, the batter was all that really mattered. The batter was Ken Griffey. Hansen wisely was careful with Griffey, but maybe a bit too careful, walking him on 5 pitches. To speed things up on the bases, Bronson Arroyo, our old pal, was sent in to pinch run for Griffey. But, all the interesting strategies went for naught when Brandon Phillips flied out to JD Drew to end the game, which earned Hansen his very first save as a major league pitcher! Congratulations to Craig Hansen!

This afternoon, the Sox will attempt to take 2 of three on the road, a rarity these days. But, there are a lot of fathers out there looking for joy on Father's Day. With Josh Beckett starting for the Sox, you would think this was a sure thing, but Beckett has not been dominating lately. But, he has pitched well enough to keep them in the game. The Sox will again be dealing with a weakened lineup, so look for more of the same today - aggressive base running, low scoring game, and attack the bullpen.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Hide the Gatorade Cooler

The Red Sox lost to the Minnesota Twins last night 7-6. It was the second time in three days that they lost via a blown save by Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th inning. Papelbon, usually a sure thing, suddenly looks vulnerable. In Detroit, Papelbon took his frustrations out on the Gatorade cooler, last night he only publicly beat up his hat. In Detroit the game was lost through a series of strange events, including an accidental hit on a check swing and a damaging error.

But, last night was a straight out loss. He just was not intimidating to the Twins, and that forced him to fatally mix in an ineffective splitter. Consider this. Papelbon threw 18 pitches in the 9th inning. Out of those 18 pitches, he had zero called strikes, and only one swinging strike. Every other pitch was either a ball, a foul, or a hit. Since the fastball was not quite doing the trick, he went to the split finger, but was not able to execute it well. He looked "okay" after the first three batters giving up a lead-off single, followed by a sacrifice bunt and a foul pop out. But, with two outs, the Sox allowed Delmon Young to steal third base, setting up a dangerous situation with the Sox clinging to a one run lead. After four straight fastballs to Gomez leading to a 2-2 count, Papelbon went to the split finger, but Delmon was not biting as he watched two of them go by for ball 3 and ball 4. Young proceeded to steal second base, putting the winning run in scoring position for Mike Lamb. But, Papelbon could not get the fastball by Lamb. The count was 1 ball and 2 strikes after four straight fastballs in the upper 90's when Papelbon again went to the split finger, and Lamb stayed with it, sending a lofting single into left field to send both runners home and win the game. So, what went wrong? The splitter was not effective and lost the game.

On another sour note, Julio Lugo continues to ring up the errors. Last night's damage came in the 2nd inning and cost the Red Sox 2 unearned runs. With two outs and a runner on second, Lugo blew an inning ending ground ball to keep the Twins at the plate. A quick steal and a single then sent two runs across the plate. Sloppy play forced the game to be closer than it should have been.

The offense did well, making Bonser go "BOOF" in the 5th inning. Bonser was unable to get out in the 5th. A single by Dustin Pedroia, a walk to David Ortiz, and a single by Manny Ramirez loaded the based for Mike Lowell. Lowell hit a double, two runs scored, and Bonser went - "BOOF" - time to hit the showers big guy. Every batter in the Sox lineup had at least one hit, and the six runs scored would normally be enough for the win. But not last night. Put that one in the column of wins that got away.

Tonight, Daisuke Matsuzaka heads to the mound to right the ship. Dice-K has had a good start to the season, as evidenced by his 5-0 record. It will be important to keep the ball around the plate against this Twins team that seems to have a very good eye for the strike zone and rarely chases bad pitches - a favorite tactic of Dice-K's. The Twins counter with 25 year old left-hander, Glen Perkins, who will be making his first appearance with the Twins this season, and his first start for them ever. Perkins has made a few appearances over the past two years, all in relief. He struggles in the minors earlier this year, but has gotten back on track recently, giving the Twins the confidence to call him up in place of the injured Scott Baker.

This one won't be easy.

(Photos courtesy of Yahoo Sports) (Gatorade kick - AP Photo by Duane Burleson)

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)

Earth, Wind and Fire

Last night began with the Red Sox remembering Earth Day, turned utterly thrilling as Jacoby Ellsbury flew around the bases like the wind, and ended with Jonathan Papelbon raining fire down upon Angels in the ninth inning. A terrific night at the ballpark.

I was not feeling overly confident heading into the game. Three hours before the game, Josh Beckett, who has been battling the "clubhouse flu", was scratched with a stiff neck. The Sox were concerned the stiffness would cause him to alter his arm motion, and potentially create an injury. Jason Varitek was already out with the flu, and Mike Lowell is still rehabbing his left thumb. Dave Pauley was called up from Pawtucket to start the game, and would be throwing to backup catcher Kevin Cash. My only solace was that Jered Weaver was starting for the Angels, and I was sure the Sox could get to him.

Sure enough, Jacoby Ellsbury leading off in the first inning launched a solo home run to welcome Weaver to Boston. But, Weaver managed to wiggle out of trouble in the first inning, escaping with only the one run and stranding 2 runners. He ended up throwing 30 pitches in the inning, which would eventually be his ticket to a shortened outing. But, he surprised us all by making it through the first 4 innings holding on to a 5-2 lead.

But the Sox finally pounced in the 5th inning. Dustin Pedroia doubled, which was significant. With a runner on second, the defense cannot put the same kind of shift on David Ortiz. Big Papi took advantage and sent a single up the middle (which would have been fielded by the shortstop had the shift been on) to drive home Dustin. Then Manny Ramirez created some excitement. With an 0-2 count, he went with a fastball on the outside of the plate and drove it down the right field line. A classic Pesky Pole home run swing. The ball sailed down the line, wrapped around the pole and tried to land in the first row of the stands, and would have except for the terrific play of Vladimir Guerrero. Vladi raced to the stands, leaped, crashed into the wall with his glove extended into the crowd while his rib cage withstood the collision, and he snared the ball and held on. The play was a mere 50 feet from my seat, and was incredible. I was sure he had injured himself, but he stayed in the game to entertain us with his caveman swings at the plate.

Just as we were about to lament the loss of a sure home run, we looked up to see the ball sailing into the green monster seats. Kevin Youkilis had Manny's back and made sure we would get that 2 run homer we felt we deserved. It tied the game and brought life back into the crowd.

Red Sox pitching was just good enough to keep them in the game. Dave Pauley looked impressive at first, erasing the first 6 batters he faced. But, he dug himself a huge hole in the third inning with a bases loaded, no outs situation and the Angels' 2, 3 and 4 hitters coming up having already scored one run. He almost got out of the jam unscathed, inducing pop-outs to both Gary Mathews and Vladi. But, Garrett Anderson jumped on the first pitch he saw hitting a single to center scoring two runs. Pauley's night was essentially over, but the coaching staff tried to squeeze one more inning out of him. It did not work as he surrendered a two run home run to Jeff Mathis putting the Angels up 5-2.

In the 8th inning, Hideki Okajima gave up his first run of the year as Casey Kotchman led off the 8th inning with a home run to nearly the identical spot that Vladi caught Manny's. But, Casey's ball had enough legs to land in the third row, easily out of the reach of JD Drew, who made a good effort to try to snare it.

The real hero of the game was Jacoby Ellsbury. In the 6th inning, he treated the Fenway Faithful to yet another solo home run to give the Sox their first lead of the night. So, now we fast forward to the 8th inning. The Angels had tied the game, there was one out, and everyone was wondering if Ellsbury could possibly hit his third home run of the night. Everyone including the Angels. After the first pitch, Ellsbury noticed Angels' first baseman, Casey Kotchman taking a couple of steps back. Ellsbury capitalized on the move and laid down a picture perfect bunt on the next pitch sending it deep, and just to Kotchman's right. Kotchman had no choice but to field it, and the pitcher had no prayer of beating Ellsbury to first. He made that look simple. With one out and Dustin Pedroia at the plate, the only question in Fenway was which pitch would Ellsbury steal on? His very presence on first completely distracted the Angels who practically forgot about Dustin Pedroia. With the count 2-1, reliever Scot Shields fired to the plate, Ellsbury faked towards second and stopped, and Pedroia ripped the pitch down the left field line into the corner. Ellsbury had to restart towards second and immediately went into overdrive. He had not even reached second base when the ball bounced in the corner, but his mind was already focused on home plate. In a flash, he was around third and effortlessly crossing the plate with no throw from the defense. He scored from first, unchallenged, on a ball hit to left field!

The crowd went crazy, and everyone remained on their feet throughout the ninth inning as Jonathan Papelbon threw fastball after fastball right by the heart of the Angels' lineup. Gary Mathews struck out on three straight pitches, and Vladimir Guerrero improved on that striking out on four pitches. The night ended when Garrett Anderson swung an 0-2, 98 mph fastball and actually managed to get a piece of the bat on it, popping out foul to Kevin Youkilis at third.

One of the more fun games I've been to. The Sox winning streak extends their winning streak to 6 games as Dice-K Matsusaka takes the mound tonight against the Angels' Jon Garland. Can Dice-K extend the streak? Can he work the strike zone better to get farther into the game? Will the Celtics' playoff game pull focus?

(Photos courtesy of Boston.com)

Return of the Jedi

When the Red Sox play the Yankees, it is fun to win, and it is even more fun to make a statement while you do it. Yesterday, our spokesperson for that statement was Jonathan Papelbon. What an inspiring performance! Two runners on base, two outs, one run lead, eight inning, Alex Rodriguez coming to the plate, Francona bringing in ace closer Papelbon to face him. Power versus power. Yankees' best hitter against the Sox' best fireball closer. It was so dramatic, God himself hit pause on the game by throwing lightning bolts over Boston, so he could reload on snacks. When God hit play again (over two hours later!) , Papelbon came out charged with that very lightning, striking out A-Rod on three straight pitches! For regular readers, you know I have been intrigued by Papelbon working on a new and improved slider this spring. He threw it on the second pitch and got A-Rod to whiff at it. And look at those three pitches, 97 mph fastball (fouled off), 90 mph slider (swing and miss), wrapped up with a 98 mph fastball (swing and miss).

Paps came back out to wrap up the game in the ninth getting Giambi and Posada to both strike out swinging, and then survived a drawn-out battle against Robinson Cano (the guy I called most fearless in the Yankee lineup) who forced Papelbon to throw 10 pitches in a terrific showdown until he finally put one in play, grounding out to second.

Pitching wins ballgames, and Josh Beckett looked great until he began tiring in the 6th and 7th. Francona obviously wanted to avoid bringing out the middle relief and stretched Beckett as far as he could. Beckett will need a few more starts to build back his strength with the delay he had in spring training from the strained back. Manny Delcarmen and Okajima did their jobs holding the Yankees at bay for Papelbon's drama to commence.

As I indicated yesterday, I expected Manny Ramirez to surely hit against Mike Mussina, and he did, with a home run and a double driving in 3 of the Sox' four runs. I love to point out and examine strategy here and there. The situation...runners on second and third for the Sox with one out and David Ortiz coming up with Manny on deck. First base is open, and we have seen managers in the past walk Big Papi intentionally only to get burned by Manny. But, with Big Papi struggling right now, new Yankees' manager, Joe Girardi, makes a prudent decision to pitch to Ortiz. Ortiz struck out, making that move look good. Now, he's got 2 outs, and first base is still open. Do you pitch to Manny, who already clobbered a home run against Mussina earlier in the game, or do you put Manny on first and go after Youkilis? This time he opted to pitch to Manny, who stroked the first pitch for a game turning double. Oops.

The 18 game series against the Yankees is all tied up at one game a piece. Next up, Dice-K Matsuzaka will try to continue his hot start against the Yankees' promising rookie, Phil Hughes. Hughes had an iffy outing, only lasting three innings against the Royals in his last start because he had trouble spotting his fastball. That is a correctable problem. So, no guarantee he will pitch poorly tonight. I can't imagine Papi going hitless again - so look out fans in right field! Dice-K has really looked good - I think he is more confident in the strike zone that MLB umps are giving him, and working well with Varitek to exploit that zone using his tremendous arsenal of pitches. If his location is good, with a favorable ump, we could see another pitching gem tonight!