Slam Blam Thank You Maam!

The Red Sox rode the good fortunes of not one, but two grand slams en route to a, not as close as it sounds, 11-8 victory to complete a four game sweep of the Kansas City Royals. The sweep of Kansas City comes on the heels of a three game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers, leaving the Sox perfect on their latest home stand as they take off for the west coast to meet the Oakland A's.

Red Sox starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka, earned the win to improve his already impressive record to 8-0 on the season. Dice-K had a good game, but not a great game. He, once again, tried dancing around the strike zone with mixed success. While refusing to give in to batters, he also ran his pitch count up to 118 pitches, throwing 67 for strikes. He struck out 7, but walked 6. He gave up 6 hits, but held the Royals to only 3 runs, going 5 2/3 innings before handing the ball over to Javier Lopez, holding on to a 5-3 lead. Lopez did his job, striking out the only batter he would face to end the 6th inning.

The big story of the day was the offense, specifically from JD Drew and Mike Lowell, both the authors of devastating grand slams. JD Drew's was an opposite field shot into the Green Monster seats that gave the Sox a 4-1 lead in the 2nd inning. Mike Lowell's came in the 6th inning after the Sox had already plated two runs and lifted the lead to an insurmountable 11-3 advantage for the home team.

The Red Sox bullpen, however, decided that a blowout was not exciting enough for the fans at Fenway Park. Fearful that fans would start streaming out of Fenway too soon, Terry Francona sent Craig Hansen in to level things out in the 7th inning. Hansen got to work early allowing a lead off home run to stop any early exiters in their tracks. That seemed to slow some fans from leaving, but many fans were still feeling a bit too confident. So, a walk and a double later put another run on the board narrowing the score to 11-5. Hansen finished up the inning without further damage, but fans returned to their seats, afraid that Hansen might come back out for the 8th inning. When Francona opted to send in David Aardsma, fans breathed a sigh of relief and began packing again. Well, Aardsma did what he could to hold the audience, so with two on and two outs, wisely surrendered a powerful three run home run to narrow the score to 11-8.

At this point the bullpen had done their job. They had returned excitement to the game and left the outcome in doubt. Fans would be foolish to leave now. Holding on to a three run lead, the Red Sox now had a save situation, and we all know what that means - this is a job for ... Jonathan Papelbon! Papelbon started the 9th inning off with two quick ground outs, but when he noticed a few people starting for the exits, he quickly allowed back to back singles to draw them back in. Not that all eyes were riveted, and the stage was set, Papelbon wrapped it up with a fly out to Jacoby Ellsbury to seal the win.

So, has Manny Ramirez been saving his 499th and 500th home runs for the west coast fans? If so, today might be the day! Manny is 3 for 8 in his career against today's starter, Rich Harden. Those three hits? All home runs!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Colon Looks Sharp Earning First Win for Red Sox

Bartolo Colon made his much anticipated first start for the Boston Red Sox last night, and walked away with his first win of the season as the Sox defeated the Royals 6-3. As anticipated, Terry Francona planned to limit Colon to 80 or so pitches while he continues to build up his strength. Colon lasting 5 innings, throwing 74 pitches (60 fastballs, 12 sliders, and 2 change ups). The grounds crew had to continually reinforce the pitcher's mound as Colon's imposing size kept packing it down (just kidding), but Colon was able to put his weight behind his pitches, regularly keeping his fastball in the low 90's, but topping out at 96 mph. For a guy who relies on power to overwhelm batters, this is a good sign - he has the strength to still throw with power, and if he is fortunate enough to suffer no physical setbacks, he'll only get stronger, and the Sox will continue tightening their hold on first place (currently 2 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays).


Facing the Kansas City Royals at home may be helping the Sox' pitching look even more imposing, but in 3 games against the Royals, the Sox have only given up a total of 4 runs. Last night Colon gave up only 2 runs in 5 innings and walked off the mound with the Sox behind by a score of 2-1, Jacoby Ellsbury providing the one run with a lead off homer in the first inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Jason Varitek got things rolling with solo home run of his own, and by the time the inning was over, the Sox had put 4 runs on the board for a 5-2 lead that would provide Colon with the win. The Red Sox bullpen had a terrific night. Craig Hanson, Javier Lopez, and Manny Delcarmen each pitched a scoreless inning to get to the ninth, where Mike Timlin came in to wrap things up. With a 6-2 lead heading into the ninth, this was not a save opportunity, so Papelbon got the night off. Timlin preserved the win, allowing a single run resulting from a walk, stolen base, and a single, all with two outs.

So, for now, Bartolo Colon is an official part of the Red Sox starting rotation. He will be pitching every fifth game for the near future at least. If he continues to improve, the Red Sox will clearly have the most imposing rotation in the AL. If anyone goes down, Clay Buchholz will be able to quickly step right in. With the success that Justin Masterson has had, the red Sox pitching talent goes even deeper. Right now, you have to feel real good about the Red Sox starting pitching.

Speaking of starting pitching, the NY Yankees are not only jealous of the Red Sox, and regretting not securing Johan Santana in the off season, they are also starting to take some desperate measures to improve theirs. Specifically, they are officially beginning to alter Joba Chamberlain's workouts to get him ready to move from the bullpen to the starting rotation. Prior to spring training they were leaning towards a starting role for Joba, but he ended up in the bullpen. Brian Cashman wanted him there, Hank Steinbrenner wanted him as a starter. Hank ranted about it in April when the Yankees obviously needed to improve their starting rotation, Cashman held his ground. Well, the boss won! It could be a good move for NY, whose young starters have not come close to the success that Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have achieved. It is nice to see the Yankees squirming, and it will be interesting to see how well, and how quickly, Joba can make the switch. I think the biggest concern is whether he is ready to handle the load of pitching a full season yet. But, by waiting until June to make the switch, it may have shortened the season enough for him to last just fine.

This afternoon, Daisuke Matsuzaka will be gunning for his 8th win. Manny Ramirez will still be gunning for his 499th home run. I think they need to remove the "498" countdown from left field. It feels like he has not hit one (at least at home) since they put it up. Baseball jinxes are alive and well you know.

If Red Sox fans don't already have enough to smile about, take a look at the cover of this month's Sports Illustrated! Derek Jeter getting clobbered by a hefty Rays player in a comic book spoof cover.

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Masterson Masterful in First Big League Win

Justin Masterson has made two major league appearances. His first was a terrific debut on April 24 against the Angels, in which he went 6 innings only allowing 1 run and left the game with a 3-1 lead. Unfortunately, the Red Sox bullpen combo of Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen could not hold the lead, and the Red Sox lost that game 7-5. Masterson looked incredibly solid, and made Sox fans pay attention and wonder if this kid was for real.

Last night Masterson added to the sentiment that he is indeed for real. He pitched a very similar game as his first outing, going 6 1/3 innings only allowing 3 hits and 3 walks to go with 5 strike outs. When he walked off the mound in the 6th inning he had a 2-0 lead, with one out, and a runner on second base. The next two pitchers in line from the bullpen? Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen! Was history going to repeat itself? Not last last! Lopez did his job, striking out the left-handed Ross Gload. Then Delcarmen came in and his first pitch, a curveball to John Buck, stayed too high in the zone and Buck sent it up the middle for a single, scoring the run from second. The score was now 2-1. But, Manny settled down and was able to strike out the next batter to end the inning, preserving the slim lead.

Hideki Okajima, pitching for the first time in 6 days while nursing a sore wrist, did not look as sharp as usual, giving up a leadoff double to David DeJesus. The inning was not smooth. He did induce a groundout and a strikeout, but also walked two batters to load the bases. With the game on the line, Terry Francona handed the ball to Jonathan Papelbon. You know the rest of the story. Four Royals batter later, the game was over, and the Sox had won their 5th game in a row, this one by the narrow score of 2-1.

The Red Sox pitching depth has been impressive so far this season. Clay Buchholz and John Lester have been fine additions to the rotation, and when needed, the Sox have confidence in spot starts from guys like Masterson, David Pauley, and Devern Hansack. Yesterday's announcement that Julian Tavares has agreed to an assignment in Pawtucket give the Sox some additional depth for middle relief. But, what about experienced pitching depth? How about Curt Schilling, who is still making progress in his recovery from shoulder problems, and has increased his throwing distance to 100 feet. He'd be a nice last season addition for a playoff run!

Want more veteran help? How about former Cy Young award winner, Bartolo Colon, making his season debut tonight against the Royals? Colon has been getting progressively better in his recovery from elbow troubles suffered last season. He has shown his strength is returning as his fastball has been clocked in the low 90's. Tonight, he'll most likely be limited to 80-90 pitches. The hope would be that he can get the Sox into the 6th inning on that pitch count, and be able to go deeper with each successive outing. If Colon is effective, what an incredible addition to the rotation! It could push the Sox over the top, so keep those fingers crossed that he stays healthy, and still has the stuff to get big league batters out.

Meanwhile, things are looking bleak in Gotham City. Alex Rodriguez returned from the DL and contributed to last night's game with a 2 run home run. But it was, once again, too little too late for A-Rod as the Yankees lost their 4th in a row getting spanked by the Orioles 12-2. This was one night after being spanked by the Mets 11-2! In the game, Derek Jeter was hit on the hand by a pitch. X-rays were negative, but he may be out for a couple of days now. The Yankees are looking up from the basement of the AL East today, 7 1/2 games behind the Red Sox. But, if there is any consolation for Yankee fans, it is this. Last year, through 45 games, the Yankees were 21-24, ten games behind the Red Sox, and they ended the season 94-68, only two games back. This year they are 20-25, and only 7 1/2 behind the Red Sox. So, if this season plays out like last season, they are within striking distance.

So, let's hope the Red Sox good fortunes continue, in the form of a healthy Colon, and we can keep the Evil Empire in the rear view mirror.

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)