Brewers Short on Braun, Swept by Boston

No, the title does not have a misspelling. Milwaukee Brewers' left fielder, Ryan Braun, had an impressive afternoon yesterday, hitting two home runs off of Red Sox ace, Josh Beckett, accounting for 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. Shortstop JJ Hardy also had a 2 run home run, and Prince Fielder contributed with a solo home run of his own. All four home runs came off of Beckett, who was not his usual masterful self, yet amazingly, the Brewers would need more brawn than that if they hoped to beat the Red Sox yesterday, as Boston completed the three game sweep with an 11-7 victory.

David Ortiz led the way for the Red Sox offense, and with Manny Ramirez' bat acting a little bashful lately, Ortiz had to look for another dance partner. He found one in Dustin Pedroia, and what dance partners they made! In the first inning, Pedroia walked and Big Papi drove a beautiful double into the left center field gap to score Dustin from first base. In the third inning, Pedroia lofted his second home run of the year into the Green Monster seats, and Papi followed with a solo home run of his own around the Pesky Pole in right field. The dance continued in the fifth inning when Pedroia led off with a single and Papi drove his second home run of the day into the right field seats, this one 3 rows behind the visiting bullpen. Between the two of them, Papi and Pedroia drove in 6 runs and scored 5! Quite a 1-2 punch. But, they were not the only ones with offense. Jacoby Ellsbury drove in two with a bases loaded single in the 4th, and Kevin Youkilis hit a 2 run home run in the 7th, his 9th of the year.

With all that offense, Josh Beckett did not need to be brilliant, and he really was not as bad as the score looked. He went 7 innings, saving a tired bullpen, and struck out nine batters while only walking one. Three of the four home runs he gave up came on curve balls, and the fourth was on a change up. The curve balls all stayed up in the zone, and when they do, they are very vulnerable. The fact that it was the curve ball that got Beckett in trouble is better news for Sox fans than if the home runs came off of ineffective fastballs. But, this is something to keep an eye on. Beckett pitched reasonably well for the Sox in 2006, but a rash of home runs (36) prevented him from having a stellar season. Last year he kept the ball in the park much better, only giving up 17 home runs, and nearly won a Cy Young award. Let's hope this is just a blip on the radar, as he has now given up 9 so far this year.

Jacoby Ellsbury, even with his blinding speed, finally got thrown out stealing in the 4th inning on a perfectly executed pitch-out by the Brewers. The pitch-out was the only way they could have caught Jacoby, and it was inevitable that someone would time that play right.

We talked about this briefly yesterday, and at the time I thought it was only a one-time oddity. But, for the second day in a row, Terry Francona pulled Julio Lugo out of the game prior to the 9th inning in favor of Alex Cora, presumably only for defensive reasons. I am struggling to recall a time when a starting shortstop was ever pulled late in a game for defensive reasons only. Starting shortstops become starters because they are good and don't need to be replaced for defensive reasons! Typical defensive substitutes are terrific batters who are playing first base or outfield, but are defensive liabilities (think Jason Giambi), but not your starting shortstop! I am surprised I have not heard anything about this yet, but after you all read this, spread the word and let's get the talk going.

Every relief pitcher, other than Hideki Okajima who was resting a mild wrist sprain, was used on Saturday, so the Red Sox called up pitcher Chris Smith from Pawtucket as an insurance measure on Sunday. Van Every was sent back to the minors to make room. Smith did not get in to the game on Sunday, and that is unfortunate as he'll most likely be headed back to Pawtucket shortly. It appears the Red Sox were indeed planning on bringing up Bartolo Colon to pitch on Tuesday to take Clay Buchholz' spot. But, with the rain out Friday, Daisuke Matsuzaka was bumped up to Saturday. If Dice-K takes his next scheduled start on Wednesday, he'd be doing it on only three days rest, something the Sox would rather avoid. So, rather than have only one start to fill, the Sox now have two to fill. So here's the plan...

Justin Masterson will be called up for the second time this year to pitch Tuesday's game, and Bartolo Colon will pitch on Wednesday. Justin will be sent back to the minors after his start to make room for Colon, and it is clear that Smith will be sent back to Pawtucket to make room for Masterson. As long as the plan holds up, get ready for the Bartolo Colon experiment to begin! At least we are going up against the Kansas City Royals, so a little experimentation does not feel as risky as if we were going up against serious contenders, like the New York Yan....wait, strike that, I meant the Tampa Bay Rays!

(Photos Courtesy of Boston.Com)

Sox Take Two from Brewers

In a day that featured plenty of sloppy play, patches of brilliant pitching, and a few timely home runs, the Red Sox managed to sneak away with two wins over the Milwaukee Brewers, moving them into a tie for first place in the AL East. It was also a day for the fans to show their heartfelt appreciation for the visiting Gabe Kapler as he was treated to a rousing standing ovation. Boston fans honor and respect loyalty with a passion. Gabe Kapler, like Trot Nixon before him, are fine examples of that. Not all ex-Red Sox players demonstrate such loyalty, and are not greeted as warmly (are you listening Johnny Damon?).

Daisuke Matsuzaka was the star of the first game going 6 2/3 innings and improving his record to 7-0 on the season. He also lowered his ERA to 2.15, third best in the American League. Dice-K held the Brewers scoreless through 6 innings, and then allowed 2 runs in the 7th inning, both of them unearned thanks to a fielding error by Kevin Youkilis with 2 outs. The error ended Youk's streak of errorless baseball, and kept the inning alive for Mike Cameron, who took advantage by hitting the first pitch he saw from Dice-K for a 2 run home run. Dice-K was effective all day mixing in all his pitches, only walking 2 batters, and fighting his way out of a couple of jams. The Red Sox also got some effective pitching out of Manny Delcarmen, who got the last out of the 7th inning and pitched a scoreless 8th, only allowing one hit, and preserving the lead for Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th. Papelbon got the save, but took one bruise in the process as he gave up a solo home run to Ryan Braun with two outs.

The Red Sox got one run in the first inning when JD Drew walked with the bases loaded, but the big runs came from the Big Papi in the second inning. With two outs and two men on base, Big Papi launched his 8th home of the season into the Green Monster seats giving the Sox a 4-0 lead. Manny Ramirez, only 2 home runs away from 500, did not go deep yesterday keeping us all in suspense for this afternoon's game.

In game one, both the Sox and Brewers had an error each. As the day wore on, the players got more tired, and the errors mounted. In game two the fans were treated to a total of 13 runs, but only 7 of them were earned as the Red Sox committed 3 errors and the Brewers committed 4! The Red Sox and Tim Wakefield were cruising into the 6th inning holding a 5-0 lead, but the Brewers fought back scoring 3 in the inning. Terry Francona went to Craig Hansen in the 7th. Hansen looked like he was going to fare well. He gave up a leadoff single to Prince Fielder (who really looks like more like a softball player), struck out Corey Hart, and then induced the next two batters to hit ground ball to the infield. Unfortunately, the first ground ball put another runner on when Mike Lowell's throw to first went for an error, and the second ground ball loaded the bases when Alex Cora bobbled the ball for another error. Rather than being out of the inning, Hansen now had his job cut out for him. A ground out plated one run, and before Hanson could end it, Craig Counsell got a hold of a slider for a double, plating two more runs and giving the Brewers their first lead of the day.

The lead would not last as a pair of errors by the Brewers in the bottom of the inning allowed the Sox two squeeze two more runs in for a 7-6 lead that they would manage to hold. Mike Timlin would make sure of that as he earned his first save of the season with a nifty 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Interesting moves by Francona in the first game. To open the ninth inning, Francona not only sent in Papelbon to close the game, he also made a couple of defensive moves. He moved Youkilis to first replacing Sean Casey, and sent in Mike Lowell to third. Was it to shore up defense at third, which Youk having made one error there, or to shore up defense at first base, where Youlikis still has an errorless streak going? He also made a move pulling Julio Lugo and sending in Alex Cora to play short stop. Now, I can't imagine he'd pull his starting shortstop for defensive reasons (although many fans would make the move for that very reason). My guess is that Lugo may still be feeling some side effects from the mild concussion he had.

Today, Josh Beckett will try to complete the three game sweep. Josh was not happy after his last performance. If he is feeling healthy and strong, he will come out firing and the Brewers will take the brunt of his frustrations. Perhaps Manny Ramirez will take it out on them too and treat us to another step towards baseball's history books.

Lastly, MLB has tentatively listed Bartolo Colon as Tuesday's starter for the Red Sox. They admit that no such announcement has been made by the Red Sox, but the mystery continues!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Red Sox - Brewers Double Header Today

The Red Sox will try to get back to their old winning ways today and break their current four game losing streak. Last night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers was rained out, forcing the teams to agree to a double header today. It will be a separate admission double header, so if you are going to either game tonight, be prepared for some traffic and parking mayhem as the first crowd tries to vacate the Fens and the second crowd swarms in.

Daisuke Matsuzaka gets the start in the opener against our old friend Jeff Suppan. If you recall, Suppan started his career in 1995 as a twenty year old hot prospect rising rapidly through the Red Sox farm system. The expectations were very high for Jeff, and the hope was that he would follow in Roger Clemens' footsteps and become the next Red Sox ace. Suppan pitched in the rotation with Clemens for two years until Clemens' infamous departure to Toronto. But, Suppan never quite lived up to expectations. He has had a long and successful career, but mostly as a middle of the rotation type of guy. His best years, statistically, were in 2004 and 2005 with the St. Louis Cardinals when he won 16 games in both of those years. Plus, I think we all remember the Red Sox steamrolling Suppan on their way to winning the 2004 World Series, and his base running gaff that took the Cardinals out of a critical offensive rally. So, as we watch our current batch of new pitchers, we should remember, you never really know which ones will be truly successful and which ones will never quite make it.

Dice-K has been on a roll, boasting a 6-0 record and a 2.45 ERA heading in to this afternoon's game. He has an advantage today facing a team that has yet to see him, so if his variety of pitches are all sharp, he and Jason Varitek should be able to keep hitters off balance today. The one thing he needs to work on is keeping the ball near the strike zone so he does not let batters get too patient, driving his pitch count up, and getting too many walks.

JD Drew and Julio Lugo will be available today and for first the first time in weeks, the Sox will have a full and healthy bench - presuming Coco Crisp's stomach ailments have passed.

Perfect timing in the pitching rotation for a double header. In the night game the Red Sox are starting Tim Wakefield, so Varitek will get a rest as Kevin Cash gets another opportunity to chase the dancing knuckle ball around. Wakefield had his worst outing of the season in his last start, but I don't think that is any indication of what we'll see today. The knuckle ball is very much a "feel" pitch. The feel can be perfect one day and nit quite right the next. But, with the heavy humid air today, Tim should have good conditions to work with.

Neither of the Brewers' pitchers for today are overly worrisome for the Red Sox. There are 8 Red Sox players who have faced Jeff Suppan in the past. Those 8 batters have a combined .344 batting average against him. The only player out of those 8 with a batting average less than .333 against Suppan is Mike Lowell, who is oddly 0-11 against him. In the second game, the Brewers will send Dave Bush to the mound. In seven starts this season, Bush has only won one game, and carries a hefty 6.06 ERA with him to the mound tonight. If you are following Manny Ramirez' quest for 500 career home runs, you may be in for a treat. Bush has allowed an average of one home run per game this season. Could be a good night for Manny. No high fives for Manny from the fans tonight though - the Green Monster won't allow it!

So, the outcome of any game is always a surprise, but the signs look good for the Red Sox to get back on track with 2 or 3 wins from Milwaukee. There's no place like home - just ask the Boston Celtics!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN.com)