Red Sox Take 2 of 3 From Arizona

The Red Sox are still holding their own against the NL in inter league play. In May they swept the Brewers in a 3 game series, and in June they have won 2 out of 3 games from Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and now Arizona. In all three of those series they lost the first game, but managed to win the next two. Only the St. Louis Cardinals were able to win a 3 game series against the Red Sox, taking two out of their three games in Fenway Park. The Sox will wrap up inter league play for 2008 with a 3 game set in Houston against the Astros. With their inter league record at 10-5, they are ensured a winning record against NL teams for the regular season, which is not bad considering the caliber of teams they had to face.

Last night was a throw back look to the old days as the pitching match up featured old time foe, Randy Johnson, facing off against Tim Wakefield. Both pitchers are getting on in years, but both are still effective. Johnson has always been notoriously difficult on left handed batters, and managers will try and stack up as many right handed batters in the lineup as possible when facing Johnson. The problem for Terry Francona is that his current outfield depth chart features 3 left handed batters (JD Drew, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Brandon Moss). Manny Ramirez bats right handed, but Manny was on DH duty in Big Papi's absence. The final outfielder is Coco Crisp, who is a switch hitter. So, no matter what, two out of the Red Sox' three outfielders would be lefties. Francona opted to give JD Drew a night off, which is a good idea. Drew had been completely on fire for most of June, but has started to cool off, and a couple of days off (with the off-day today), might be just the thing to reignite that fire.

Randy Johnson pitched a fine game, but ironically, the only two runs he allowed were both driven in by the left handed Brandon Moss. In the 2nd inning, with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd base, Moss hit a weak ground ball to second base for a force out, but Mike Lowell was able to score from third on the play. Then, in the 6th inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Moss got a good piece of the bat on the ball and sent a fly deep enough to right center field for a sacrifice fly to put Boston up 2-0. That was all Wakefield really needed as he completely baffled the Diamondbacks the entire game. Through 7 innings Wake only allowed 3 base runners, a single in the 3rd, a walk in the 5th, and a double in the 7th. The Diamondbacks just did not know what to do with the crafty knuckleballer.

Kevin Cash connected for a 3 run home run, his first of the season, off of reliever, Juan Cruz, in the 8th inning to buy the Sox some insurance. They almost had to "cash" in on that insurance in the ninth inning when Craig Hansen got himself into a two out, bases loaded jam, thanks to a single and two walks. Francona was too uncomfortable with the situation and called on Jonathan Papelbon to nail the game down, which he did by throwing nothing but fastballs to Chad Tracy, striking him out swinging at the 5th one.

So, the Sox are now headed south to Houston, hanging on to a one game lead over the tenacious Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox need to dispatch the Astros quickly, and decisively, because they then head to Tampa for three games that will be another battle with the Rays for rights to first place. It may also be a chance for bad feelings to be re-ignited. Do not be surprised if Coco Crisp begins serving his suspension for his part in the brawl with Tampa Bay in time to miss out on this series. While Coco is a valuable player, Francona would be just as happy to reduce the chances to stir up any further violence between the two clubs.

P.S. The headline on Yahoo Sports, "Wakefield Beats Johnson" is just not right!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Surprised by Mirabelli's Release?

You should be. This is not earth shattering news, but if you are intrigued, then you are paying attention. Doug Mirabelli has been the Sox primary backup catcher since 2002. He is very competent defensively, and is better than most at handling the knuckle ball, which allows the Sox to get the most out of Tim Wakefield, while providing regular rest for Jason Varitek. Mirabelli has never been a great hitter, but has been occasionally clutch and does reasonably well for a part time player. He became a free agent after 2007, but was re-signed this winter to a one year $550,000 contract. So, what changed since they signed the new contract?

Well, Doug's batting has been slowly declining since 2004, but he batted a reasonable .273 in six games this spring. Also, his age has been slowly increasing. Doug is 37 years old this year. That is not ancient, but it makes sense that the Sox would want to get younger at catcher. With Varitek turning 36 next month, they clearly need to be grooming the catchers of the future. My guess is that is exactly what is happening, but I do wonder why they signed Mirabelli to a new contract - wouldn't that have already been apparent? Well, perhaps they wanted to make sure someone could catch Wakefield, and Doug was their guy until someone else stepped up. So, who's stepping up? Who is the guy that has proven to them that they no longer need Mirabelli? Tim Wakefield has started 3 games so far this spring. For every inning of those three starts, his catcher has been Doug Mirabelli. If someone is taking his place, wouldn't you want to see that person handle Wakefield in at least one game this spring?

You may have read and heard that his successor is apparently Kevin Cash. If that is true, that is nothing more than a short term fix. Kevin Cash is not the catcher of the future for the Sox. I like the guy, but he is 30 years old, and only occasionally has he shown big league potential. He failed to stick with the Blue Jays, playing with them from 2002 to 2004 when he went to Tampa Bay. He had one spotty year with the D-Rays in 2005 and spent all of 2006 in the minors. When you can't make it with the Devil Rays, you've got to wonder. He was a decent fill-in last year for the Sox when Mirabelli was injured. But, how many catchers suddenly become big league material starting in their 30's? So, if Kevin Cash starts the season in Boston, it will be purely to be a backup catcher for this year, and the Sox must feel that he'll give them a little more than Mirabelli would have.

But, look further. There are two other young catchers coming along in the Sox system, Dusty Brown and George Kottaras. These guys are young, 25 and 24 years old respectively, and are looking pretty good, both of then batting over .400 this spring. So, do the Sox have hopes that one of these guys will take Mirabelli's place? Not sure, especially since neither of them has caught Wakefield in a game this spring. More likely, these guys are potential guys to take over for Varitek as the starter in a couple years. If that's what they hope, they won't waste their playing time sitting on the bench and solely catching the knuckle ball. So, the more they like these guys, the more likely they'll be in Pawtucket this year.

So, like I said, if you are intrigued, you are paying attention. I think the most likely situation is that they simply felt Mirabelli's skills, mostly due to age, have declined, and they want to break the mold of having a knuckle ball specialist as a catcher. They want more flexibility than that, and are willing to sacrifice a few extra passed balls to get a younger, hotter catcher as a backup, and Kevin Cash may be able to provide that. There is one other possibility that would not surprise me. It is conceivable that there is a trade pending that could being a new catcher into the picture. But, you would think they'd hang on to Mirabelli until the ink was dry first.