Lester Shuts Down Phillies' Potent Offense

Apparently Jon Lester stopped by this site yesterday and got the info he needed to pitch to Ryan Howard. Howard had almost single handedly destroyed Red Sox pitching the night before, and we did not want to see a repeat of that performance. But, Howard seemed vulnerable to left handed pitchers throwing curve balls, so we devised a strategy that Lester worked to perfection en route to a Red Sox 3-0 victory.

Ryan Howard stepped to the plate to face Lester in the first inning with a man on second and two outs. Following the game plan I outlined, Lester started him off with a curve ball to get him thinking, and followed that up with a fastball and a change up to show him some different speeds and keep him off balance. Then, two curve balls in a row, both of them in the dirt, brought the count to 3-2. Howard was thinking fastball, Lester threw change up, Howard struck out swinging. In the 4th inning, Lester fed Howard 3 curve balls and a change up to bring the count to 2-2. With a pitch to waste, Howard was surely thinking curve ball (or change up), but instead got a fastball that we swung at and missed for his second strikeout.

Howard had one more chance to get to Lester in the 7th inning, but two straight change ups, followed by two straight curve balls resulted in another swinging strikeout. Looks like we have solved the mystery of how to pitch to Ryan for a left handed pitcher. But, what can you do if you are a right handed pitcher? Well, if you are Jonathan Papelbon, you challenge him with power versus power. Papelbon did not try any fancy tricks in the 9th to strike out Howard for a fourth time in the game, but he did need 8 pitches to get there, finally blowing a fastball past his swinging bat.

Lester was brilliant, shutting down the Phillies through 7 innings, with Hideki Okajima turning in another strong inning in the 8th, and Papelbon wrapping up the 9th for his 20th save of the year. Much different results from the night before.

The offense came, once again, from Coco Crisp who belted a 2 run home run off of the crafty Jamie Moyer in the 2nd inning. Coco has been turning on the power recently with home runs in 3 games in a row! Julio Lugo drove in the 3rd Sox run in the 6th inning. Crisp had singled and stolen second base. With two outs, Lugo doubled to give the Sox an insurance run, one they would not need.

So, the series between these two powerhouses is even at one game a piece. Justin Masterson will try to win the series this afternoon for the Red Sox before a timely day off tomorrow. The Red Sox will take advantage of the day off to heal some wounds and get some rest. Kevin Youkilis is mending well from a back spasm, but will probably get today off as a precaution, and the day off tomorrow will ensure he'll be ready to return to the lineup.

Speaking of back issues, the Red Sox opted to err on the side of caution with Bartolo Colon, who strained his back swinging at a pitch on Monday. No major damage was done, but the Sox are afraid that Colon may alter his delivery to compensate for a stiff back and possibly put his recently healed shoulder at risk. So, they had opted to put Colon on the DL. This is good news for Justin Masterson, who will surely get to extend his stay with the big club while Colon rests up. To fill Colon's spot on the roster, the Red Sox called up right handed reliever, Chris Smith, from Pawtucket. Smith will add some insurance to the bullpen, but will only stick around until Daisuke Matsuzaka returns from the DL on Saturday.

But, Josh Beckett is scheduled to pitch Saturday! Well, the Sox are trying to build in a breather for Beckett. With the day off tomorrow, and Dice-K's return, the Sox are doing some juggling to get Beckett a little preemptive rest. Dice-K will take Beckett's start on Saturday, Lester will pitch Sunday on regular rest, and Beckett will get the ball on Monday against the Diamondbacks.

Got all that? The way things are going, I think we can expect more nagging injuries, more call-ups, and more role players getting a chance to contribute all through the season. The good news is that the Red Sox have a deep enough roster to make that work. So, now that the Celtics have joined the Red Sox as world champions, just sit back and enjoy some great baseball!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Phillies Draw First Blood - Pound Red Sox Pitching

Yesterday, I said that Red Sox pitchers will have to prove they can stop a truly potent offense when they face the Philadelphia Phillies, and they would have to do it with a depleted offense. Last night, the Phillies proved they do indeed have a potent offense, and theirs is not depleted. Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins lead the way last night. Rollins started the fireworks with a lead off home run, followed 3 batters later by a 2 run shot from Howard. Howard was only just getting warmed up as he homered again in the 3rd inning, feasting on Bartolo Colon's change up both times. Later, in the 6th inning, Howard came up facing Mike Timlin with two outs and a runner on first. Guess what pitch Timlin and Jason Varitek decided to go with? A change up. Guess what Ryan Howard did with that change up? He hit it 395 feet to center field and even a diving Jacoby Ellsbury could not catch up to it. Howard ended up on third base with a triple, and his fourth RBI of the night.

How do you stop a guy like that? Well, for one thing, maybe be careful with the change up. Another way is to send a left handed pitcher in to face the left handed hitting Howard. Javier Lopez treated Howard to a steady diet of curve balls in the fifth inning, and struck him out. Hideki Okajima also struck out Howard in the 8th inning. With two strikes, Okajima threw Howard a curve ball, which Howard watch go by for a ball. But, now Okajima had him thinking curve, and the fastball he threw next was swung at and missed. Today's starter for the Red Sox is none other than Jon Lester, a left handed pitcher, who has a decent curve ball. Don't worry fans, Lester is a regular reader of this site (I think), and he now holds the keys to taming Ryan Howard.

The Sox did get Manny Ramirez back in the lineup last night, but they lost Kevin Youkilis to back spasms. One step forward, one step back. Manny was ineffective going 0 for 4, and the only runs the Sox could put on the board were from back to back solo home runs in the 5th inning from Dustin Pedroia and the surging JD Drew. The National League format also hurt the Sox offense last night. In the second inning, the Sox had runners at first and second with two outs, but Bartolo Colon was the next batter. Colon did his best, but struck out swinging to end the threat. Then again, in the 4th inning the Sox were threatening with runners at second and third with two outs, and again Colon stepped up to the plate, and again Colon struck out swinging. Only this time, he not only ended the inning, he also ended his night. He took a huge cut on his final swing, and pulled a muscle in his back. The injury took him out of the game behind 4-0 after only throwing 70 pitches. The prognosis is good though. With physical therapy during the week, the expectation is that Colon will make his next start.

The bullpen had mixed results in total. Javier Lopez and David Aardsma both had strong scoreless outings. Hideki Okajima, coming off of two sub-par performances, pitched an easy 1-2-3 8th inning. But, Mike Timlin, coming off of two strong outings turned in a sub-par inning in the 6th inning, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits and two walks. Timlin and Okajima have both been on a roller coaster, trading good outings with bad ones. Okajima has been on top more often than Timlin, who is struggling to get in a consistent groove. I don't expect either will be used tonight to support Lester. Tonight's bullpen lineup should feature Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen, and finally Jonathan Papelbon if a save is needed.

Tonight will be another struggle for the offense with Jamie Moyer on the mound for the Phillies. As a lefty starter, Moyer has confounded the Sox in the past, and even though he's old enough to be Timlin's big brother, he is having a solid year. Hopefully our own lefty starter can keep us in the game, and maybe our offense can break out a bit more than last night.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)