Observations After Red Sox ALDS Game 1 Victory

Game one actually played out much like I had expected, and hoped, it would. Jon Lester pitched a great game, but he did have me worried in the first inning. He was missing his spots, falling behind in the count, throwing too many first pitch balls, and walked a batter to load the bases with 2 outs. I was confident he'd get out of the jam (since there were two outs), but if this was how he was going to pitch the whole game, we were doomed.

Thankfully, Lester and Varitek kept making adjustments, Lester's command got tighter, and his pitch selection worked incredibly well. As hoped, Lester kept the Angel's score down (only 1 unearned run), and got through 7 innings. I was initially surprised to see Justin Masterson become the first Sox pitcher out of the bullpen. But, Masterson's delivery can be tough on right handed batters. The Angels featured a stretch of right handed batters in the middle of the lineup, partly thanks to facing a lefty starter, and Masterson would be a good choice to confound them. You have to tip your hat to Masterson. His very first playoff appearance, facing the meat of the Angels lineup in the 8th inning of a 2-1 game; Mark Teixeira, Vladimir Guerrero, and Tori Hunter, right off the bat.

Well, Masterson survived, and probably boosted his confidence, but he did not dominate. Teixeira lofted a line drive that looked like a sure hit until Jacoby Ellsbury made a sensational diving catch to rob him of the hit. Then, Vlad lined a single to left, before making a huge base running error. With Vlad on first, Tori Hunter floated a Texas Leaguer over first base into no man's land. JD Drew charged in from right, Dustin Pedroia ran over from second, and Kevin Youkilis backpedaled from first base. Youk came the closest, but could not snare it. In a move that appeared to be half in frustration, Youk snatched the ball up in a second with his glove and turned toward the infield. His eyes must have lit up as he saw Vladimir lumbering to third base like a bison already riddled with arrows from an Indian hunting party. The throw arrived in time for Mike Lowell to do some stretching before making the tag. The gaff gave the Angels their second out, and Masterson quickly induced a ground ball to finish the scoreless inning.

The Red Sox are too well focused in the playoffs and will not let the Angels get away with mistakes like that. Reminded me of the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series - good team, but just could not put it together to score, and made dumb mistakes to keep themselves out of it.

Jonathan Papelbon did not disappoint in the 9th. He gave up a sharp single, but struck out three batters to seal the win.

The non-pitching stars of the game for Boston were Jacoby Ellsbury and Jason Bay. Jason Bay, looking foolish in his first two at-bats, both strike outs, drove Youk (who had walked) home in the 6th with a 2 run home run. Bay followed that with a double in the 8th inning.

But, Jacoby Ellsbury brought it last night. The Angels approach was to leverage speed, aggressive base running, solid defense, and keep the pressure on the defense constantly. Well, Ellsbury must have been listening in to those strategy meetings! He lead of the game with a double, but got stranded at third base. Then in the 3rd inning, his speed prevented the Angels from turning an inning ending double play. With Ellsbury on first, Lackey was so worried about a steal that he ended up walking Pedrioa. Again, no run scored, but the pressure was being applied. The pressure continued in the 5th inning when Ellsbury bunted his way on base with two outs, and then easily stole second, only to be stranded again. Then in the 7th, with two outs, Ellsbury hit a triple to right center (that was ruled an error but shouldn't have). This time Big Papi stranded him.

Ellsbury's pressure final caused the Angels to crumble in the 9th inning when he hit a single to drive in Jed Lowrie, and then stole second base for the second time. This inning, he was not stranded. Ellsbury advanced to 3rd on a Pedroia groundout, and scored on a David Ortiz single.

Mike Lowell and JD Drew, our two injury concerns, both played all 9 innings, surprisingly. Each time a ball was hit to Lowell, I cringed, then breathed a sigh of relief as each play turned out to be routine, and did not require any awkward bending, twisting, or diving. Neither player did very much, both going hitless in 4 bats. But, they both got the work in, both got a chance to improve their timing, and both got a test their injuries in a live game situation. I think JD Drew looks physically solid, and is likely to have an impact. Mike Lowell did nothing wrong, but he kind of looked like he could go down at any minute. Let's hope not.

So, the Sox are in the position they wanted. The Angels look down the road and see Josh Beckett, who is still a go, waiting to face them in game in Boston. That is a game they have to be worried about. A loss to Daisuke Matsuzaka tomorrow night would make game 3 against Beckett a potential series ending sweep. So, clearly tomorrow's game is a must win for the Angels. That puts additional pressure on a starting pitcher who has not pitched well in September and is trying to regain his dominance. Well, trial by fire tomorrow night.

The match up I'm looking forward to is Dice-K against Vladimir Guerrero. Dice-K like to keep the ball away from batters and has no problem risking a walk. Meanwhile, Vlad does not know the meaning of walk. He'll jump across home plate to attack a pitch. I am not sure Dice-K could walk him if he tried. Should be a fun match up. For Dice-K to keep the ball away from Guerrero's bat, who knows where he'll have to throw it.

The Sox were successful this year by different players stepping up, almost in a rotation, to have big games. Last night, some regular heroes were a bit quiet at the plate; Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, and even Big Papi (9th inning ground ball was far short of his typical fireworks). So, I'd watch for them to have a bigger impact, as well as JD!

Final note - the Angels' middle of the order looks tough. Last night, each time those three came up (Teixeira, Guerero, and Hunter) at least TWO of them reached base, every time! in the first inning they went, single, fly out, walk. In the 3rd it was, strike out, reach on error, RBI single. In the 5th, single, single, ground out. Finally, in the 8th, they went, fly out (diving catch by Ellsbury), single, single (during which, Vlad got thrown out at 3rd). Dice-K, and the rest of the Sox pitching staff need to take heed. This is a dangerous threesome.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Matsuzaka Peaking at the Right Time

Dice-K looked completely ready for the post season last night. He pitched seven shutout innings to help the Red Sox clinch at least a tie for the Wild Card. There is but one team left to smite before their spot in the playoffs is secure. Yes, the Yankees are that very team. Unfortunately, the Red Sox don't play the Yankees until later this week, and by then, amazingly, those games will truly be meaningless.

The Yankees packed up their venerable old park last night after completing the final game ever to be played there. With two outs in the ninth inning, Derek Jeter was replaced by Wilson Betemit, presumably to allow Jeter one last moment in the spotlight to be cheered by his adoring fans. However, we all know the real reason is they were scared he'd make an embarrassing error on the final out of the game, right?

So, enough of the crying and tears over poor Yankee Stadium. If it was so sad, then why tear it down? If it means so much to everyone, what was neither George or Hank Steinbrenner at the glorious final game? If honoring the historic players and coaches was so important, why was neither Roger Clemens nor Joe Torre acknowledged during any of the ceremonies? And, if this was such an important event, why was the closing of Yankee Stadium held on a Sunday night, in a meaningless game against the Orioles? I'll tell you why. It was not supposed to be that way. The Yankees think they are automatically in the playoffs every year. The true hope and expectation was that they would indeed have a farewell game, but it would be in celebration of a World Championship. They were so confident they would at least be in the playoffs, that no thought was given to the event that the final game would be a regular season game against Baltimore. No wonder the vocal half of the Steinbrenners did not show. They were embarrassed.

Now, back to real baseball...

Brilliant game yesterday to defeat the Blue Jays 3-0. The pitching worked like last year's formula. Dice-K (the starter) went 7 innings, Hideki Okajima shut down the 8th, and Jonathan Papelbon mopped up the 9th. Nicely done! On offense, Jacoby Ellsbury led the charge going 3-4 with 2 doubles and a triple. That allowed him to save his 50th stolen base of the year to take place during the final 7 game home stand. Thank you Jacoby! Ellsbury's triple in the 1st inning was quickly followed up by a sacrifice fly by Dustin Pedroia to give the Sox the game winning run from the second batter of the game. Pretty cool. In the third inning, with Ellsbury on second base, David Ortiz crushed his 22nd home run of the season to give Dice-K a little cushion. Papi has been hitting with more power lately. Either his wrist is no longer an issue, or he's decided to ignore it until November.

Yes, Tampa Bay lost last night, and at first glance, it looks like an exciting race developing for the final week. Tampa holds a mere 1 1/2 game lead over the Sox, and there are still 7 games remaining for Boston, and 8 remaining for the Rays. But, before you get too excited, overtaking Tampa is still a long shot, although not mathematically impossible. There are two keys. First, the Sox do not play Tampa, so no chance at taking them down head to head. Second, Tampa Bay holds the tie breaker, and are 2 games ahead in the loss column.

So, if Tampa Bay goes 6-2 in their remaining games, that would eliminate Boston. If they go 5-3, Boston has to finish the season 7-0. All the Rays need to do is to go 4-4 to force the Sox to go 6-1. So, yes, the Sox are only 1 1/2 back, but it is a VERY long 1 1/2 games.

I will be going to the game tomorrow night (Tuesday). And, just like earlier this month when the Sox set the new consecutive sold out games record on Monday, and I went to the game on Tuesday, it looks like I may miss by one game again. A win by the Sox tonight, or a loss by the Yankees, and the Sox clinch the Wild Card. Oh well, as long as they clinch!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Split Double Header With Toronto

The Toronto Blue Jays, wallowing through most of the season, have come on like gangbusters in September. They have been so hot, tearing through the AL East, that they have even surprised themselves. Suddenly, they looked up at the standings to see they had passed the Yankees to take over third place, and were making ground on the Wild Card spot. This had Red Sox fans worried. Would the Red Sox become the latest team to get steamrolled by the Blue Jays?

Seeing they had an outside chance of capturing the Wild Card spot, the Blue Jays went into playoff mode, all guns blaring. The pitching rotation was juggled, forcing their top 3 starters to face off against the Red Sox, all on 3 days rest. This not only gave them their optimum pitching match ups in this series, but set them up to repeat those match ups in the next series against the Sox in Toronto. Now, if you ask me, the Jays were probably so hot because they were playing loose, no longer concerned about the standings. They were out of contention after all, right? Then, the winning streak put them back in contention, and they got serious, and tightened up.

The Sox, behind a brilliant performance by Tim Wakefield, won the Friday night game, 7-0. Toronto put up their own brilliant pitching performance out there and won the first game of the double header behind AJ Burnett, 8-1. A win in the afternoon game for the Sox would ensure they did what they needed to do, at least split the four games with Toronto.

So, last night, Bartolo Colon faced off against Jesse Litsch. The Jays jumped on the Sox for 5 runs in the second inning, but only two were earned, thanks to an error by Jed Lowrie at third base. It looked bad for the hometown team, and as I left the room, my wife said to my daughter, "I think Dad's giving up on this game". My daughter calmly replied, "Mom, this is the Red Sox, you never give up until the very end". That's my girl! Colon settled down and faced the minimum 3 batters per inning for the next 4 straight innings (thanks to inning ending double plays in two of those innings). That is what the Sox needed. Shut down Toronto and hold them to five runs, while they try and chip away.

The Sox had put 2 runs on the board in the first inning, both scoring on a sloppy Toronto play. A wild pitch, followed by a throwing error scored the first two runs of the game. The Blue Jays were no longer playing loose! Now, if you were scoring this game, I'd love to see your scorebook. By the 6th inning, both managers, knowing they had expanded rosters to work with, started substituting players like this was the All Star Game. The Red Sox scored a run in the bottom of the 6th on a bases loaded sacrifice fly by Jed Lowrie with one out. Then the moves started.

Jesse Carlson went in to pitch, and Terry Francona sent in Mike Lowell to pinch hit for Alex Cora. After Lowell popped out, Brandon League went in to pitch to Kevin Cash, but Francona sent in Coco Crisp to replace Cash. Crisp grounded out to end the inning. Now, how does your scorebook look to reflect the defensive changes in the 7th inning? With Coco in the game, Jacoby Ellsbury moved to right field and Coco took center. Kevin Youkilis moved from first to third base and Mark Kotsay came in from right field to play first. Jed Lowrie slide from third over to short to fill in for Cora, and finally, David Ross replaced Mike Lowell and came in to catch. Phew! If you were at the game and left to get a beer, when you got back it would look like a totally different ball game. By the way, Javier Lopez also came on to pitch (and get the Jays out 1-2-3). So, only Jason Bay and Dustin Pedroia remained at their positions.

David Ortiz was the hero of the 7th inning. With Ellsbury on third, Ortiz walked with one out. Then, Youk hit a ground ball that had double play potential. Ortiz had a good jump, and slid to get in the way of shortstop Mark Scutaro. Ortiz slid cleanly and within the base path, but managed to clip Scutaro and prevented him from making the throw that would have ended the inning. That allowed Ellsbury to score the Sox' 4th run. The score was now 5-4 with 2 innings to go. Ortiz' slide allowed the Sox to inch closer.

Then, in the 8th inning, the Red Sox fought their way back into the lead, with a little bit of luck. The inning started with a Jason Bay double, then a single by Lowrie that scored Bay and tied the game at 5. A sacrifice bunt and a ground out put Lowrie at third base with two outs. Then, Jacoby Ellsbury came up and battled back and forth with Scott Downs. Downs could not get strike three past Ellsbury, and Ellsbury could not get solid contact. With the count full, Ellsbury swung and again just nicked the ball, but this time it rolled fair down the first base line like a well placed bunt. Ellsbury sped to first and when Downs rushed to get the ball, he slipped and fell. Ellsbury reached safely, and Lowrie scored the go-ahead run. Pedroia followed with a single, and Ortiz hit a double to bring home Ellsbury for the insurance run.

The final score held at 7-5, and the Sox have taken two of the first 3 from the Jays. If the Jays manage to win the fourth, four games would have come off the schedule, and they'd be sitting in the same spot. The clock is ticking. The Yankees, who should be eliminated from the playoffs sometime in the next week, did the Sox a favor by beating the Rays 6-5 last night. The Sox have played 2 more games than the Rays and are 3 behind them in the loss column, 2 games overall. The Sox play 3 games in Tampa starting tomorrow. Those games had better be sold out! They are, by far, the biggest games in the Rays' history. If the Rays take the series, they should be able to easily hold on to their first ever Division Title! However, if they lose, the battle will continue to wage on. The way it looks today, the Division winner will get to play Chicago (or the Twins), and the Wild Card has to play the Angels. The Angels seem like they are the team to beat this year. That Division title is important!

Finally, an interesting story. Catcher, George Kottaras, is one of the Sox' September call-ups. He has never been in a big league game, and there were no plans to use him this weekend. Then, with the Sox being so far down on the first game of the double header, Tito called down to George to warm up. The next thing you know, Kottaras was heading in to the game to pinch hit. His parents, not expecting he'd be playing, were out shopping for a couch at Sears. Sears had the game on their TV's, and while his parents were trying out furniture, they glanced at the screen to see their son stepping up to the plate! Isn't that fun? Kottaras nearly homered down the right field line, but the ball curved foul. He ended up striking out, but the ball got away from the catcher and he reached first base safely. As the inning progressed, he ended up scoring the Red Sox' only run of the game on a sacrifice fly.

Behind me, the rain is coming down hard, but it is supposed to let up. Let's hope the Sox get the game in, we don't need too much schedule juggling this time of year!

(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 Win 6-5 Over Toronto in Extra Innings

Now, that was quite a game. As expected, Daisuke Matsuzaka and AJ Burnett went toe to toe and came away pretty even. Dice-K went 6 innings, allowed 8 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 8 and walking only 1. AJ went 7 innings, allowed 7 hits and 5 earned runs while striking out 7 and walking 3. Both pitchers gave up 2 home runs. So, that left the game in the hands of the bullpens.


The Red Sox bullpen has not been overly reliable lately, but yesterday they got the job done. Justin Masterson was sharp as he went 1 1/3 scoreless innings. Hideki Okajima nailed down the final two outs of the 8th inning before turning it over to Jonathan Papelbon, who got 6 straight outs to bring the game to the 11th inning. In the top of the 11th, Jed Lowrie drove a ball deep into center field for a home run to put the Sox up 6-5. With Papelbon already having gone 2 innings, Terry Francona sent Manny Delcarmen in to nail down the save. While Manny has been shaky at times, last night he got the job done.

The Sox survived a scare when Jacoby Ellsbury crashed into the chain link fence in center field while making a catch a step away from the wall. Ellsbury suffered cuts around his eye and was shaken up, but he knew the Sox' injury situation with JD Drew dealing with a herniated disc. So, even shaken up, Ellsbury stayed in the game.

The Red Sox injury situation is still a concern. They gained a game on the Rays, who lost last night, and stand 4 1/2 back in the division, and hold a 1 game lead in the Wild Card standings over the Twins, while the Yankees sit 5 games behind the Sox. That 5 game lead feels good, but the Red Sox and Yankees will square off for 3 games in Yankee Stadium starting tomorrow night. A sweep by the Yankees would throw them right back into the race. The Sox have pushed off Josh Beckett's next start, forcing him to miss this series, but Tim Wakefield has declared himself ready to return to the rotation, just in time to prevent the Sox from having to make a move. The only thing that worries me about that, is that Wakefield has not generally fared too well in his first game back.

So, what do the Sox need to do to make the playoffs? In my analysis, since the start of the Wild Card format in 1995, no AL team that has won at least 94 games has ever missed the playoffs. The Red Sox record is currently 75-55. They would need to win 19 out of their final 32 games to get to 94 wins. So, can the Sox go 19-13 to wrap up the season? I think that looks pretty doable.

They also have 6 games remaining against the Rays. That presents a nice opportunity to pull the Rays back a bit. So, they need to get it all started tomorrow night by jumping all over Mike Mussina and starting the series off with a win.

Tune in tomorrow when we'll take a look at how my analysis of the 2008 Yankees has turned out!

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Red Sox Take 2 Out of 3 from Reds

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz were missing from the lineup, but the Red Sox offense did not seem to notice, rolling to a 9-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds yesterday. With Josh Beckett on the mound, 9 runs is far more than they ever would have needed. The offense got started with speed, when Jacoby Ellsbury lead off the game with a single and promptly stole 2nd base, and then 3rd base. Exactly what the Sox need to do with less firepower in the lineup. Dustin Pedroia did his part by hitting a sacrifice fly ball to score Ellsbury for the winning run. That's right, the second batter of the game drove in the first batter of the game for the winning run!

Ellsbury's 2 steals set a new record for steals for a Red Sox rookie with 33. The previous record was set 100 years ago in 1908 by Amby McConnell, remember him? With the season not even at the half way mark, Jacoby should be a shoo-in to break the all time Red Sox stolen base record of 54, set by Tommy Harper in 1973! As long as Ellsbury stays healthy, this one is well within reach.

After getting things started with speed, the Sox fell back on their true love, power! Cincinnati is known as a home run friendly park, and the Red Sox sure would agree with four players hitting home runs yesterday. Jacoby Ellsbury hit one to prove he is not only about speed, and Coco Crisp, JD Drew, and Dustin Pedroia all joined in with home runs of their own. Crisp had a nice day, accounting for 4 RBI's, and JD Drew refused to cool off, belting his 11th home run of the year.

All of this offense just made it too easy for Beckett. Josh went 7 innings, allowing no runs on 6 hits and 6 strike outs for his 7th win of the season. His best outing in a few starts. With Dice-K Matsuzaka still on the DL, it is good to see the Red Sox Ace step up and take charge! Speaking of Dice-K, he is scheduled to make a rehab start with the Pawtucket Red Sox on Monday. If all goes well, Dice-K is penciled in to come of the DL and make a start with the Sox on Saturday against the St. Louis Cardinals. That gives Justin Masterson time to squeeze in one more start this Wednesday in Philadelphia before swapping places with Matsuzaka. I expect Masterson will make the most of it.

The Red Sox will kick off a 3 game series against the Phillies beginning tonight, when Bartolo Colon will continue his terrific comeback. Now, before you go and start putting this one in the win column consider two things. The first is that the Phillies are having a great season. They are in first place in the NL East with a 41-30 record (compared to to the Red Sox record of 44-28). They are a slugging team this year, leading the NL in most offensive stats. If the Sox are going to win in Philly, they will have to prove their pitchers can stop a truly potent offense. Are you listening Colon, Lester, and Masterson? That goes for the bullpen too! And with Ortiz still on the DL, and Manny possibly sidelined with a strained hamstring, the Sox will not be bringing the same punch to the table. The Sox will be facing good pitching as well, including an old nemesis, Janie Moyer. I know, you thought he had retired and become a cross walk guard a long time ago. But, no, the crafty 45 year old lefty is actually still pitching, and pitching well, as his 7-3 record this year shows.

While the Red Sox often play in friendly ballparks when they are on the road (Baltimore and Tampa Bay spring to mind), Philadelphia will not be so welcoming. In fact, they've pretty much had it with our Red Sox Nation, and seem to be very tired of the Red Sox winning. They liked us when we lost as often and as painfully as they do. But, now that we have built a solid team capable of winning championships, they feel left out. In fact, Bob Ford, an Inquirer Sports Columnist, seems to feel that Red Sox Nation is a scourge on the country. Sheesh, talk about jealous whining! Especially from a team in first place. Maybe they just want more attention?

Well, if I were you, I would not miss this series - a battle of first place superpowers, the winner securing bragging rights!

Reds Beat Red Sox in Opener

The Cincinnati Reds took the first game of the three game series by the score of 3-1 yesterday. The game featured a good pitching match-up with Justin Masterson starting for the Red Sox against Aaron Harang for the Reds. Masterson has been terrific in his 5 starts for the Red Sox, and continued that excellence yesterday. He lasted 6 2/3 innings only allowing 3 runs, which is normally good for a win when you are a starter on the Red Sox. Unfortunately, Harang was just a bit better as he went 7 innings allowing only one run, an RBI single by Manny Ramirez to score Jacoby Ellsbury who had doubled in the fourth inning.

Reds' fans must feel encouraged today. Harang entered the season as the ace of their pitching staff, but has had a rather disappointing season thus far. Going into last night, Aaron had a record of 2-9, and had not had a win since May 12. Since then he has been struggling right up until his last start against the Marlins on June 8, when he gave up 7 earned runs in a 9-2 loss. But, last night, Harang pitched like the pitcher the Reds had expected him to be. Harang held the Red Sox to 4 hits, struck out 7, and did not walk anybody. The Red Sox do have a history of faring poorly against pitchers they have never faced, and that may very well have played in Harang's favor. Whatever the reason, he simply kept the Red Sox from getting any momentum, and spoiled a fine outing by Masterson.

Manny Ramirez had proclaimed that his leg felt good enough to play left field, and it was a good thing as he drove in the Sox' only run. But, late in the game he tweaked the hammy again and was replaced by Coco Crisp. Manny will sit out today's game, and the timing is not great with the Red Sox going up against Edinson Volquez (try saying that 5 times fast). Volquez is having a super season boasting a 9-2 record with a minuscule 1.56 ERA. That is not the type of pitcher you want to face with both Manny and David Ortiz out of the lineup. Not only are both of the Sox marquis sluggers sidelined, but there is no DH while playing in a National League park, so Tim Wakefield will be batting ninth. The Sox lineup will be significantly weakened.

The key to the Red Sox scoring runs today may be to leverage the speed this lineup can offer with both Ellsbury and Crisp in the outfield, and Julio Lugo at short. Those three can all create trouble on the bases. If they can get on, steal bases, get in scoring position, the Sox may be able to squeeze in a run here and there - particularly if JD Drew, Mike Lowell, and Kevin Youkilis decide to wage another game of who can hit the most home runs this year. All three are currently tied with 10 a piece. If the speedsters can get on base, the sluggers may be able to do some damage.

The last piece of the puzzle will be shutting down the Reds' offense. The Sox will have an excellent defensive alignment today, so it will come down to how effective Tim Wakefield's knuckle ball is. The Reds probably don't see very many knuckle balls, so if Wakefield can make it dance, he ought to have a solid outing.

Now get out there, get the lawn mowed, get your chores done, and head back in at 3:55 to watch the battle begin!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Sox Sweep Rays as Emotions Boil Over

Yesterday I wondered if Joe Maddon would follow in Lou Piniella's footsteps and retaliate for Coco Crisp's hard slide into second base the night before, or if Joe would keep a level head and focus on leading his Rays to a win over the Red Sox to regain first place in the AL East. That question was answered quickly last night when Coco came up to bat in the second inning. Tampa starter, James Shields, fired his first pitch right at Crisp, grazing his leg as Crisp jumped out of the way. Crisp was waiting for that, and charged the mound setting off a bench clearing brawl. Thankfully, no one was hurt in the scuffle that ensued. Who is right and who is wrong in all of this? I'll tell you. Everyone was wrong, no one involved was right.

Let's start with Coco. When he slid into second base last night and shortstop, Jason Bartlett, blocked the bag with his leg, Coco jammed his thumb. Bartlett's blocking of the bag with his leg was not incredibly honorable, but not illegal. If the runner slides in feet first, you won't see it happen. However, I don't believe Jason was trying to hurt Crisp in any way, he was only trying to ensure the out. Crisp over-reacted, and for some reason let that mild offense just eat at him. Later in the game, he had set his mind on revenge. Now, on his next attempted steal, if Bartlett was again covering the bag, and Crisp slid in hard to take him out, that would not be so bad - eye for an eye. I don't even think Bartlett would have been surprised, and as long as no one got hurt, it probably would have ended with a few choice words. But, Iwamura covered that bag, not Bartlett. This did not matter to Coco - he jammed his thumb - someone was going to pay. First big mistake. Coco did slide in hard, and the Rays took offense, BUT, no one got hurt, Crisp made his point, and the Rays got to tell the world what a jerk Crisp was.

That brings us to last night. Joe Maddon obviously gave the green light to plunk Crisp. A win last night would have put the Rays in first place. Perhaps Joe thought back to the battle between Jason Varitek and A-Rod a few years ago and how that seemed to spark the Red Sox. Maybe. But Joe, throwing at a batter intentionally, and knowing it would incite a riot, would surely get your starter ejected from the game. Why do that in the second inning? Why not wait until late in the game? As it went, Shields did get ejected, and Maddon had to use 6 pitchers to get through the game - a convincing 7-1 spanking. Lucky the riot did not injure anyone Joe! Shields did do one thing right. He threw at Crisp's thigh area - not his head.

Why Crisp got so hot headed over all this is a mystery. He has generally been very calm and rational since joining the Red Sox. Crisp let it eat him up the day before and carried in to last night's game, just waiting for the fireworks to begin. Either he has a bad temper that rarely comes out, or he has some pent up issues that have been waiting to burst out (sharing time with Ellsbury maybe?). Crisp also knew that he'd be ejected. With Big Papi already out, and Manny Ramirez nursing a sore hamstring, why get yourself thrown from the game? He could have taken the first base, stolen second (feet first) and third and scored. At that point you glare back to say - "take that!". But, no, he goes and gets thrown out of the game, and will likely be suspended.

The bizarre night continued when Manny and Kevin Youkilis got into some kind of fight between innings in the Red Sox dugout and had to be separated. We may never learn what incited that one, but something odd is going on here. If not for that foolish incident, I may have crowned Manny the hero of the game. He did go 2 for 3, hit a 3 run home run, and a two RBI single filling in for Big Papi as the DH. But, fighting in the dugout strips you of that award. Manny was also removed in the 7th inning when he tweaked his hamstring jumping back from an inside pitch. He went to first and wanted to stay in the game, but Francona wisely pulled him, just to be safe. Apparently, he is doing okay, and I expect he'll be in the lineup as DH again tonight.

But the hero of the game, in my book, was Jon Lester. Lester pitched a very nice game, allowing only one run in 6 1/3 innings, giving up 8 hits. but no walks and 5 strike outs. Lester wins the hero award, not only for pitching well, but for playing with intensity, but appearing oblivious to all the craziness around him. Case in point...in the fourth inning, Cliff Floyd came up to bat. Lester threw a pitch inside that came close to hitting him. Floyd jerked back and avoided the pitch with relative ease, but with tensions already stretched, that was the sort of thing that could set another melee in motion. Floyd squared his shoulders, puffed up a bit, and glared at Lester taking a slight move towards the mound - trying to judge Lester's intent. Lester was a rock. He stood his ground, stared right back, but not with an malice whatsoever. He stared back as a competitor, as if to say, "are you done now, can you get back in the box so I can strike you out?". Lester was not to be intimidated, and Floyd saw that. He crawled back into the batters' box and did indeed strike out. On his return to the dugout, he glared at Lester the whole way. Lester did not even notice - he had a game to play. "This is not hockey", he thought, "this is baseball. I'll do my talking with my pitches". He kept up his intensity all game. He even hit two batters as the game progressed, but made it clear through his demeanor that neither was with intent. Hero of the game, Jon Lester.

But wait, there's more. Also in the 4th inning, Jacoby Ellsbury made a sweet diving catch of a ball hit to center field. As he slid, his glove rolled under, much like what happened to JD Drew earlier in the season, and he sprained his wrist. Ellsbury came out of the game. His wrist is sore but seems to be structurally intact. I expect he'll get a day or so to rest it, depending on how it feels each day. With Manny's hammy hurting, Crisp ejected, and now Ellsbury out, Francona looked down his bench and did not see any outfielders he could send in. So, for the second time this season, Kevin Youkilis was recruited to play right field, Chris Carter (also primarily a first baseman) was already playing left field in Coco's absence. I wager that may be the first time in Sox history the outfield corner positions were both being manned by first basemen.

With the outfield situation looking questionable, the Sox had to, unfortunately, send Chris Carter back to Pawtucket after the game in order to call up Brandon Moss, an actual outfielder. Carter enjoyed his first games ever in the majors. Last night he had two hits and scored two runs, and will hopefully get a chance to contribute some more in the future.

Tonight, our Great Hispanic Hope, Bartolo colon, goes for his fourth win for the Sox. I'm not sure I feel confident about this one. There are a couple of things that worry me. The first is the mental and physical state of the Red Sox. Can they mentally settle back down and get back to solid baseball tonight? And how will Manny's hamstring and Ellsbury's wrist affect the lineup? If they are both out, it will hurt quite a bit. Also, the Mariners are on a 4 game losing streak, and have their best starter, Felix Hernandez, going tonight. Losing streaks always end, and number one starters are usually the ones to end them. Hopefully, the Sox got a good night's sleep, and Brandon Moss comes up with energy to give them a spark to get right back on the attack. The Mariners are in possession of the worst record in baseball right now. Let's keep it that way!

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Red Sox Win with Power and Speed

The Red Sox won their second straight game, 6-3, over the Baltimore Orioles last night. Manny Ramirez stole all the headlines in the 7th inning when he launched a 410 foot home run, the 500th of his career. Manny has been anxious about getting past this historic milestone, and admitted he has been swinging for the fences to get it over with. Now that he has accomplished the feat, I assure you, he will relax, settle in to his swing, and start terrorizing opposing pitchers for a while!

The game had been an interesting back and forth battle. The Orioles scored first, squeezing in two runs off of Red Sox starter, Jon Lester. The Red Sox countered with back to back solo home runs by Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz in the top of the 3rd inning. Brian Roberts hit a solo home run off of Lester in the 5th inning to regain the lead for Baltimore, but the Red Sox answered right back when Jason Varitek singled home Kevin Youkilis in the top of the 6th inning to tie the game at 3.

Jacoby Ellsbury was, once again, a terror on the bases. Unfortunately, the Red Sox have been failing to take advantage of the opportunities Ellsbury has given them. I have the feeling that Baltimore starter, Garrett Olson, had been obsessing about Ellsbury's speed prior to the game. He was so worried about Ellsbury getting on, that he walked him on four straight pitches to start the game. Once on first base, the left handed Olson could hardly focus on the batter, staring down Ellsbury, and firing pick off attempts to first. Olson's fourth pick-off attempt sailed away from Kevin Millar and Ellsbury was handed second base on the error. Having Ellsbury at second changed the defense for Baltimore. With David Ortiz at the plate, Baltimore will shift the defense towards the right, with the third baseman basically playing shortstop. However, with the threat of Ellsbury stealing third, the third baseman had to cheat back to third, leaving a huge gap at short for Ortiz. Additionally, the shortstop had to hover around second base to try to keep Ellsbury from getting too big of a lead. None of this would end up mattering, as Ortiz watched the next pitch go by for a (terrible) called strike, and Ellsbury took off with the pitch and stole third base easily. After all that work to get to third base, Manny Ramirez flied out to (deep) center field to end the inning.

Fast forward to the 5th inning. With one out, Olson again walks Ellsbury, and this time Ellsbury swiped second base. With Ellsbury now in scoring position, Dustin Pedroia flied out to left for the second out. Big Papi came up to the plate, and Ellsbury wanted to increase the odds of scoring, so he quickly stole third base. The kid can sure fly out there! But, alas, Papi followed Pedroia's lead and ended the inning with a fly ball to left.

But, Ellsbury is not one to give up. In the 7th inning, Ellsbury lead off with a long line drive to the right-center field gap that one-hopped the wall. Orioles' outfielders were on the scene instantly, and most mortal players would have held up for a double. But, Ellsbury never even slowed down, leaving a cloud of dust as he passed over second base. He slid into third base, but there was no need. No throw would be coming from the Orioles - Jacoby was safe on third, with no outs. Ellsbury had been stranded on third twice so far, would this be a third time? Dustin Pedroia hit a soft grounder to Alex Cintron at shortstop. Cintron looked Ellsbury back to third and fired to Millar for the first out. Ellsbury began to get concerned. The Orioles sent in left-hander, Jamie Walker, to pitch to Ortiz. Ortiz got a piece of a slider and sent it high into mid-left field, drifting towards the foul line. Left fielder, Jay Payton, had plenty of time to get to the ball, position himself well, and prepare for a throw home. Not a good situation for a base runner. Ellsbury, fearing this may be his one and only chance to score, decided to trust his fleet feet. Payton caught the ball, Ellsbury sprinted home. Payton, in perfect position, threw a perfect throw home that took one short hop to the waiting glove of catcher Ramon Hernandez. 99.9% of players would have been out by a mile, but Ellsbury, somehow, was arriving at the plate at the exact same time as the ball. Just as the ball tried to settle in to the glove, Ellsbury was sliding in. Knowing he had only a fraction of a second to apply the tag, Hernandez rushed, just a bit, and the ball slipped away. Ellsbury was safe - he manufactured his own run, and the Sox now lead 4-3.

Enough drama for one night? Not really. It turns out, Ellsbury could have just waited one more batter and jogged home on the back of Manny Ramirez' 500th home run! Chad Bradford went in to pitch to Manny. He only threw one pitch - an 82 mph fastball right down the middle. Manny's eyes lit up, the bat roared through the zone, and for one split fraction of a second, the round ball was hammered flat. A second later it was on its way to history as Manny sat back and watched it sail through the night sky into the outfield seats. Manny was fortunate to hit the historic home run in front of the Red Sox faithful. That's right, 48, 281 fans were at the game last night, and my rough estimate is that 30,000 of them were Red Sox fans. There were "let's go Red Sox" chants all night long echoing through downtown Baltimore. And when that home run landed and became official, the crowd went crazy - just as loud as it would have been at Fenway Park.

This afternoon, the Red Sox go for three in a row behind the third outing of the season for Bartolo Colon. Colon has looked terrific in his first two starts, both of them wins. As his strength builds, we should see Francona letting his pitch count get higher - possibly nearing 100 pitches tonight, presuming he keeps the Sox in the game.

The one case of bad news for the Sox came in the ninth inning last night as David Ortiz strained his wrist on a swing and had to be replaced by Sean Casey. The injury appears to be mild, but expect Papi to get a day or two off to let the wrist heal.

(Photos Courtesy of ESPN)

Orioles Throw the Game Away

Red Sox fans were glad to have the team back on the east coast so they would not have to stay up late to watch the games. So, what happens? The very first game in Baltimore ends up going 13 innings! So much for not staying up late. Once again the Red Sox offense was quiet. Perhaps with Josh Beckett on the mound, they felt the two runs they scored in the first inning would be all they would need. Beckett pitched a good game, only allowing two runs, one in the second and one in the fourth. But, Baltimore batters battled well against Beckett and were successful in driving his pitch count up, forcing him to leave after the 6th inning with the game tied at 2. But, working the pitch count was all they did well as Beckett used those pitches to strike out 10 Orioles.

The game went on and on as neither team could muster a real rally. The Red Sox bullpen needs some credit here. The only reliever for the Sox who did not get into the game was David Aardsma (guess who will be first out of the bullpen tonight?). The Red Sox relief squad went 7 scoreless innings, allowing only 4 hits, 4 walks, and striking out 7. For one night, the bullpen held their own!

The Sox offense finally went ahead, scoring 3 runs in the 13th inning, but they did it with a lot of help from the Orioles, who just may have finally wanted to get the game over with and get some sleep. All three Boston runs in the 13th inning were unearned. With one out, Manny Ramirez (who was celebrating his 36th birthday last night) got a gift from Melvin Mora who threw wide of first base for an error, sending Manny to second. Mike Lowell promptly hit a single to drive in Manny for the winning run. Kevin Youkilis would single, and surprisingly, with Jason Varitek batting, Mike Lowell took off for third and slid in safely. Youkilis was paying attention and took second base for a double steal. After Varitek struck out for the second out of the inning, shortstop Freddy Bynum could not handle Coco Crisp's ground ball, and the error allowed two runs to score.

Someone let Jacoby Ellsbury off the leash last night, and he ran free. We know Jacoby is half Navaho Indian, but from this stop action photo, I would guess that the other half is road runner! Ellsbury stole three bases last night to fall one short of tying Jerry Remy's Red Sox record of four in one game (don't you know that record will fall to Ellsbury sometime this season). In the 7th inning he stole second base, and an out later stole 3rd base. Unfortunately, he was stranded at 3rd when David Ortiz grounded out to end the inning. He stole his third base in the 12th inning but again was unable to score - but not for lack of trying.

The win was much needed, but with the Sox going so deep into their bullpen, they need Jon Lester to pitch deep into tonight's game to provide some relief (no pressure Jon).

If you have not already heard, Daisuke Matsuzaka was officially put on the 15 day disabled list (DL), and won't be available until June 12th. He was diagnosed with a mild strain of the rotator cuff. This is good news, as no structural damage was found. Just some rest and rehab should be all he'll need. The Sox have yet to commit to who will pitch on Dice-K's scheduled Tuesday start. The hottest rumor is that Justin Masterson will get his third call-up, and that seems pretty likely. What about Clay Buchholz? He pitched last night for Pawtucket (going 4 innings giving up 3 runs, 4 walks, and 5 strike outs), so he would not be available for Tuesday. However, I would not be surprised if Dice-K's absence provides at least one start for Buchholz.

Now, the question is, have you entered the DVD giveaway contest yet? Have some fun, test your prognostication skills and give it a try!

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)

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 Lose Mother's Day Battle to Twins

The Red Sox lost last night 9-8, in a hard fought battle against the Minnesota Twins. Red Sox starter, Tim Wakefield, got the action going early...for the Twins, unfortunately. Somehow, Wakefield followed up his best outing of the season (a 5-0 win over the Tigers), with easily his worst of the season. After a quick 1-2-3 first inning, things looked promising. But, in the second inning the knuckleball went suddenly flat and the first three batters of the inning greeted Wakefield with a single, a double, and a home run to get the scoring started. Then, with one out, Wakefield walked Mike Lamb (you'll be hearing this name quite a bit) to set up the second home run of the inning, a 2 run shot for Adam Everett, his first of the year. The Red Sox escaped further damage in the inning, and saw a long road ahead of them staring at a 5-0 deficit heading into the third inning.

Twins' starter, Nick Blackburn came out a little wild to start off the third inning and hit the first two Red Sox batters, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, putting runners on first and second base. The free passes would leave bruises, but allow the Sox to get on the scoreboard in an inning where the Sox' bats and the Twins' defense waged quite a battle. David Ortiz followed Pedroia with a single to load the bases with no outs. The battle picked up when Kevin Youkilis stepped in and ripped a line drive to the gap between short and third. It looked certain to score at least one run, until third baseman, Mike Lamb made a highlight film dive to his left to snare the ball for the first out. Mike Lowell then put some wood on the ball send a shot to right fielder Michael Cuddyer. Now, get this straight, Cuddyer does not have a limp noodle throwing arm like the Yankees' Johnny Damon. Cuddyer has one of those throwing arms you treat with respect and don't test very often. Unless, that is, you are blessed with little wings sprouting out of each of your ankles. Jacoby Ellsbury, who was tagging up at third base, has such wings. It felt like there was a moment where time stood still for just a fraction of a second. The ball had settled into Cuddyer's glove and his eyes had just popped up and focused on Ellsbury at third. Ellsbury had one foot on the bag, body braced to explode out of the tall grass like a cheetah after his prey. Their eyes met for just that split second and they both knew the race was on. Suddenly time sped up again. Ellsbury launched his body towards home, Cuddyer's arm launched the ball on a perfect arc to meet him at the plate. They both arrived at home at nearly the same time, but the fraction of a second the catcher needed to secure the ball and apply the tag was all the advantage Ellsbury needed as he slid across the plate just ahead of the tag for Boston's first run. The Twins defense ended the inning as Adam Everett reeled in a JD Drew flare.

In the bottom of the third, the Twins continued to take advantage of Wakefield. A single, a walk, a passed ball, and a wild pitch all added up to a situation where the Twins had runners on second and third with two outs. Wakefield could not get out of the jam as Mike Lamb laced a single to center scoring both runners. That was all Terry Francona could handle. With the Sox now trailing 7-1, Wakefield got an early shower as Julian Tavarez came in to try to settle things down long enough for the Sox to catch up. Tavarez would do his job, ending the third inning, and only allowing one unearned run on the fourth on an error by the usually steady Mike Lowell that would have otherwise ended the inning.

In the top of the fourth, Coco Crisp would remind us that Ellsbury is not the only Red Sox player on the team with speed as he hit a ball to deep left field and raced all the way to third base for a lead-off triple. You won't often see a triple hit to left field! The Sox pounded on Blackburn in that inning scoring two more runs. David Aardsma then came in for Tavarez and did a terrific job of holding the Twins scoreless through the 5th and 6th innings. Blackburn also held the Sox scoreless and Boston was now behind 8-4 going into the 7th.

Yesterday, Coco Crisp was swinging a pink bat as part of MLB's efforts to raise breast cancer awareness on Mother's Day. Players may opt to play with pink equipment which is signed and auctioned off afterwards to raise money towards the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation. Maybe Crisp should swing a pink bat every day! In the 7th inning, with 2 outs, and JD Drew having singled before him, Coco used that pink bat to launch his second home run of the season to edge the score closer to 8-6. But, in the bottom of the 7th, Mike Timlin surrendered a lead off home run to Craig Monroe, his second homer of the game, to provide the Twins with the insurance run they would end up needing to win.

In the ninth inning, with the Twins still leading 9-6, closer Joe Nathan came in to ice the game. The Sox did not make it easy for him. After Ortiz grounded out, Youkilis and Lowell hit back to back singles, which JD Drew followed with a clutch double to center field scoring both runners and closing the score to 9-8. This set up another dramatic moment, as Crisp stepped in with his powerful pink bat ready to do more damage. Crisp scorched a pitch back up the middle that glanced off of the pitcher and rolled towards third base. JD Drew already had a sizable lead off second base, and when he saw the ball get away, his instincts kicked in and he took off for third. A runner at third with only one out would greatly help the Sox tie the game. But, Joe Nathan somehow made a fantastic play, as he managed to quickly recover the ball and toss it to third base just ahead of Drew for the second out. Kevin Cash was due up next, and although he was 2-4 so far that night, manager Terry Francona thought that sending Manny Ramirez in to pinch hit would be the safer bet. Manny had the night off with a sore quad, but made it clear he could pinch hit if needed. But, the odds did not play out for the Sox this time as Manny hit an easy ground out to end the game.

Lots of drama on Mother's Day. It is a shame when you can score as many as 8 runs, but not get the pitching to line up for an easy win. Wakefield had a tough night, but he'll bounce back, he always does. Alex Cora started at short for Julio Lugo, who was given one more night off. As expected, Jed Lowrie was sent back to Pawtucket to make room for Cora, and get more playing time in. Cora did not disappoint, playing flawless defense and going 3 for 4 at the plate.

Tonight, Sean Casey will be added back to the lineup and all expectations are for a reliever to be cut to make room. The question is, who? A good bet would be Craig Hansen, since he still has options to be sent back to Pawtucket. However, Manny Delcarmen, Julian Tavarez, and Mike Timlin have all had struggles this year. If the Sox are confident in using Hansen steadily now, we might see one of those players cut, which would require putting them up for waivers. My guess is they'll feel it is too early to make that strong of a move and simply send Hansen down for now. If not, I'd put my money on Timlin getting the cut. He's been fabulous for the Sox up until now, but his time in Boston is clearly winding down, and this might be the moment the Sox chose to part ways.

Stay tuned.

(Photos Courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

Red Sox Douse the Rays' Beacon

Last week the Red Sox got swept for the first time in the history of the universe by the team from Florida formerly known as the Devil Rays. When the final out of that sweep was recorded, the newly named Rays blared Fenway's beloved song, "Sweet Caroline", throughout Tropicana Field. Touche! But, the newly named "Rays" are apparently a beacon that only radiates across Florida and does not shine brightly enough to reach all the way to Boston. This allowed the Red Sox to pay back the Rays in full with a sweep of their own in friendly Fenway Park. I was hoping the Sox could return the "Sweet Caroline" ribbing, but the Rays simply don't have any distinction or character to make fun of. So, we'll just have to settle for taking 3 wins from the Rays this weekend, and showing them that the Champs are not going to step aside quietly and let some upstart "light beams" settle into first place.

As a regular visitor to this site, do you find it just a little bit creepy that the day after I publish a Batman-oriented post, a fan is shown on TV at the game during the 2nd inning wandering through the Fenway crowd in a head-to-toe, full-blown, Batman costume? Must be a big Rational Sox Fan!

Jon Lester had a very solid game. Remember, this guy is young, missed significant time to win a battle with cancer, and is still trying to invent himself as a top notch big league pitcher. He continued his growth yesterday going 6 innings allowing only one run on a solo homer to Carlos Pena in the 6th inning. He threw 112 pitches, which is a few too many for 6 innings, but he only allowed 4 hits and 3 walks to go with 5 strike outs, which all combines for a good outing.

While it is exciting that the Red Sox swept, they had to do it with yet another lineup adjustment. Brandon Moss is out, having had sudden emergency appendectomy surgery Saturday night (he's fine now and out of the hospital), and the Sox decided to wait to make a move to fill his vacancy. Then prior to this game, David Ortiz' recently operated on knee was experiencing too much stiffness, and they decided to give Papi the night off. This moved Manny Ramirez into the DH role, while Jacoby Ellsbury played left, Coco Crisp played center, and JD Drew took his usual spot in right. The bench was very bare with only Jed Lowrie and Kevin Cash available. We really do need to get Alex Cora back!

The lineup adjustment resulted in the Red Sox fielding arguably the fastest outfield in Boston history. That speed made itself known right away as Jacoby Ellsbury chased down a fly ball to left center that Manny never would have had a shot at. Ellsbury continued flashing his speed as he beat out an infield single to lead off the Sox half of the first inning. And when was the last time you recall the Red Sox performing a double steal? Well, yesterday they completed, not one, but TWO double steals in the game!

Kevin Youkilis was the offensive hero of the day. Batting third in front of Manny Ramirez may have allowed him to see some good pitches, and when he saw them, he hit them! Youk went 3 for 4 with two doubles, a solo home run, and 4 runs batted in. Manny also contributed on offense with an RBI double off the green monster, but remains stuck at 496 career home runs. It never seems easy for players as they approach those historic milestones, but fear not, those home runs are coming.

Now, you recall I mentioned Lester only gave up one run. The Sox won 7-3, so where did those other two runs come from? In disturbing fashion, Manny Delcarmen came into the game and once again looked all-too-hittable. Francona has had a short leash on Delcarmen, which has proven to be wise, and yesterday was no exception. Manny got the first batter out on a groundout, but followed that up with a single to Jason Bartlett and a triple, that Coco Crisp dove for and missed by mere inches as he banged his knee up in the process, to Akinori Iwamura scoring one run. Hideki Okajima was called in has been pitching reasonably well, and rarely gets tagged with an earned run, but he has been much less stingy with inherited runners scoring. Okajima allowed a single to the first batter he faced allowing the Rays' third run to score, but then he settled in to pair up with Jonathan Papelbon to secure the win.

Sox land in Detroit today and will send Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound to face Jeremy Bonderman. The Red Sox should fare well against Detroit, but I do worry about the bench depth. With Moss out, the Sox have opted to call up Craig Hanson, a pitcher. This does help the bull pen out, and gives Hanson an opportunity for add to his big league experience, but Terry still has to squeeze blood from a stone when it comes to lineup substitutions. This could cause trouble, especially with guys like Crisp diving all over the field. Let's stay healthy!

Red Sox Snag First Place From Tampa Bay

They were the wettest of times, they were the coldest of times. My daughter and I arrived at Fenway Park at 6:20 and were greeted with clouds, cold, and drizzle. The field was empty and covered by the tarp. Yellow-clad security guards stood sentry to thwart the likelihood of 30,000 people spontaneously starting the world's biggest game of "slip-and-slide" (which we were very tempted to initiate). We wandered around, took in all the Fenway sights, sounds and smells. We said "hi" to Jerry Remy and Tom Carron out by RemDawgs, and we looked for Luis Tiante who must have been indoors keeping warm. And we waited. And the rain drifted down, and we waited. Fans filled the concourse like the tide slowly rising up the beach. And we waited.

The Red Sox front office did NOT want to give up on the opportunity to play last night. We were occasionally informed that the game was delayed due to "inclement weather" (duh!) and that the Red Sox were "hopeful" that they'd be able to get the game in. And we waited. At 7:30 the Red Sox put the Yankees-Mariners game on the big screen. That was fun, except for the fact that the Mariners spent the first three innings proving they are more inept than the injury-depleted Yankees. At 8:05, the Red Sox thankfully switched the big screen to the Celtics game and we actually got to watch the entire first half of the game, while we...waited.

At 9:00 just as everyone was counting down to their decision to flee, the announcement came out that the game would start at 9:30! A cheer went up, and a swarm of worker bees gave an impressive demonstration in the art of clearing a 100 foot soaking wet square of tarp off of a baseball field. Now, we were all glad to see some baseball, but a 9:30 start is pretty extreme. If we had been playing the Yankees, the game could have easily gone until 2:30 in the morning. But, we were not playing the Yankees, we were playing the Light Beams from Florida.
We did, however, have to leave at 11:45 after the 6th inning, to make sure we made our subway connections. But, the 6 innings we saw were fun.

Clay Buchholz looked good, but a little stiff from the cold and late start. He twice allowed the first two batters to get on base, but seemed to bear down and pitch brilliantly to get out of the trouble. Brandon Moss, who had a great game, got Clay out of his jam in the second inning. With two outs, Evan Longoria tried to score from second base on a hard single to Moss in right field. Longoria had turned the corner around third as Moss was setting up for the throw - it looked like he was going to make it, until Moss launched a rocket to home, easily getting there a step ahead of the runner. Jason Varitek fielded the throw cleanly on one hop and applied the tag.

There was more excitement at home plate in the fifth inning. Jason Bartlett had already scored from third on a wild pitch, and the speedy Carl Crawford now stood on third base with one out. The Rays thought they had the momentum, and apparently thought Crawford had "Ellsbury speed". Crawford did not have Ellsbury speed (or at least Ellsbury smarts). Jonny Gomes hit a ground ball to Mike Lowell at third base, who was playing a step behind the bag. Lowell fielded it cleanly and looked Crawford back to the bag. Lowell timed it perfectly. As soon as Crawford took his step back towards third, Lowell fired a strike to first, and to everyone's surprise Crawford took off for home. Kevin Youkilis secured the out at first, stepped off the bag and fired home, Varitek applied the tag, inning over!

The exciting news for Sox fans is that the offense finally broke out. They almost got a big inning going in the third. Julio Lugo and Dustin Pedroia both doubled accounting for one run, but no one else was able to chip in. But, in the fourth inning, something finally clicked and the Sox managed to score 5 runs with two outs! Brandon Moss (remember I said he had a good game?) started the fireworks by crushing a home run to center field bouncing off the camera booth. That got the crowd fired up, and the bats too.

Jason Varitek singled and Lugo walked to set the table for Jacoby Ellsbury, who took advantage and laced a single to center scoring Varitek and sending Lugo to third. Then, Jacoby (who DOES have Ellsbury speed) was off with the pitch and stole second base as Pedroia swung at and missed strike two. Dustin hung in there and laced a single to left fielder Carl Crawford. Ellsbury was around third base as Crawford was scooping the ball. He dutifully fired to home in a futile attempt to gun down Ellsbury, who easily scored standing up. In fact, I think the throw crossed through the wake left behind Ellsbury and the wake knocked the ball off course. With Pedroia on second base, and still two outs, Big Papi got into the action guiding a single through the "shift" and into right center field, scoring Dustin. The Sox' offense was back! The surprise was that the coldest bat of the night was Manny Ramirez'. Manny struck out to end the inning, and went 0 for 5 with 3 K's on the night.

Clay Buchholz came out of the game in firm possession of a 6-1 lead with one out in the 6th. Javier Lopez and Manny Delcarmen stumbled through the remainder of the 6th and 7th, giving up 2 runs, but hanging on to the lead. That set things up for the Red Sox 1-2 punch of Okajima and Papelbon who sent down the Rays' batters 1-2-3 in the eighth (Okajima) and the ninth (Papelbon).

So, the Sox steal first place back from Tampa Bay (I can't believe I just wrote that - tip your hat to the Rays!), and all is well in Boston again (unless you are a Celtics fan and have chewed all of your fingernails to the bone by now).

Josh Beckett matches up against Scott Shields today and will try to keep the Rays from jumping back into first. Shields pitched a fantastic game against the Sox last week, and if he can repeat that, we are in for quite a pitcher's duel. I am still waiting for Manny to launch home run number 497, and can't imagine we'll have to wait much longer for that.

On the injury front, expect JD Drew to be available tonight, and Ellsbury is already back and running fine. Bartolo Colon has gone to Florida to begin an extended spring training. He'll join the Sox in Detroit this week and be examined by the medical staff. If all is well, he'll be inserted into the Pawtucket rotation to increase his pitch count in preparation for a call-up later possibly later this month. Curt Schilling, meanwhile, is on the verge of starting to throw for the first time since shutting it down early this spring. Keep those pitchers coming!