2 for 1 Part 2...

The title of the last blog said "2 for 1 specialS," plural...so here's the second installment...we come from taking 2 of 3 from Cincy thanks to some late offense...now the "mighty" Phillies would attempt to take a series from an AL team...they topped the NL East at the time of this meeting and sport some strong offense (and a hitter's park) led by Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Jimmy Rollins, not to mention a resurgent Pat Burrell...Utley in particular is ON FIRE this year, with 20+ dingers already, and out of the 2B position...now that's an offense...

Game 1 was over early even if we didn't know it...Colon was clearly off and left the game with a stiff back after giving up 4 early runs over 4 innings...clearly not liking the 9.0 ERA pace and concerned for his health, we yanked him, but Mike Timlin may finally be on the down side...seems like someone said that every year but this year it really might be true...4 ER in this one over 2/3 of an inning...ouch...a lofty 7+ ERA for Mike this season...on our end we had back-to-back jacks provide ALL of the offense (Dusty and 2008 JD Drew) and other than that Cole Hamels earned his "ace" moniker...8-2 final and for the second series in a row we dropped game 1 to an NL squad...

But since the title of now 2 blogs would clearly indicate, that's all the Phils would get...

Game 2 was a flat-out dominant performance by someone we're becoming more familiar with these days, the consistently good Jon Lester. All he did was pitch 7 scoreless, striking out 5 and most importantly for him, walking 1...maybe this kid finally realized he's good enough that he should make hitters beat him and not let them beat him...6-3 on the year right now and it's not too bold to say that his performance, if it keeps up, will mean that we might not miss Schill this year (more on that later)...the offense threw up 3 tough runs, 2 from a Coco HR off of the crafty Jamie Moyer and one on the Philly pen courtesy of a Lugo 2-out RBI...Lugo's D has been awful, but we knew that all along and at least he's hitting more this year...still can't believe the Sox brass loved him THAT much, but I like having the speed in the lineup so as long as he hits .270 or so I won't cry too much about him... that was more than enough O since both Oki and Pap were on...2 IP, 1 hit allowed and 5 Ks for their 6 outs...definition of lights out...

Game 3 was basically the 2008 JD Drew show...and I've decided from now on to call him "The 2008 JD Drew" for the rest of the year, and into next year, until he puts up numbers in two consecutive seasons...as well as he's playing this year (not worth his absurd contract, but still) it's hard to imagine that he can suck as much as he did last year...but look at his numbers over his career:



Ok, you can argue that the first 4 years he was getting better, up to his 2001 season...but from there on you'd expect some consistency, right? Now we all know he's the glass man...for all of his 5-tool talent the man just can't stay on the field if things aren't feeling so good, and therefore part of the performance can be judged on time played, but how the hell do you explain 2002 and 2007? Pressure? Adjustments? I dunno...all I know is I'll take the 2004, 2006 and so far 2008 JD Drew and pray that somehow he gets a daylight savings year for 2009 and misses the changeover...or something...

Back to game 3...JD's line, 4 for 5 with 4 RBI, 2 runs scored...and we needed them since the Phils put 4 up themselves...he was a triple short of the cycle and had 8 TB on the night...nice game...Masterson was good, giving up 2 in his 5 innings, and the Phils put up 2 n our favorite whipping boy, the Craig-ster...0 IP for him, 1 BB and 2 hits...ERA north of 5.7 again...and just when we thought we might be able to adjust the formula...too bad...7-4 Sox was the final and that's about all the press the Phils deserve...they're not a bad team, but the pitching is young and shallow...not sure they have the arms to make some noise in the NL playoffs nor even to hold off the Mets/Braves in the East...plus their fans should basically all be in prison (this goes for Eagles fans too, though they're probably the same mob) so I'd rather move on to a place where there aren't thugs and felons all over the stadium...wait...what...off to St. Louis...OH CRAP...

And WELCOME to lovely St. Louis for another 3-game set...yuck...the Cards weren't expected to be all that good this year but have played well despite the pessimism...timely hitting and pitching and a 43-32 record is keeping them close to the MLB-leading Cubbies in the NL Central...and as we all know, this is a rematch of the 2004 series, with basically none of the players on either side being the same and no real drama since the Cards won a WS in 2006 and we got number 2 in 2007, and we didn't play each other in either of those...so...yay...

Game 1, Shaky Wake against Kyle Lohse...one thing about the Cards since 2004, it's unreal how many formerly good pitchers have pitched for them, and with mixed results...their rotation has just been a mind-numbing mess for yeas and I have no clue how half of these guys win games...but they do...somehow Lohse keeps us to 2 runs (1 earned) over 6 innings while Wake gave up his obligatory longballs...with a little help from a Lugo error it was 4-2 Cards going into the bottom of the 7th, and this is where this game turned into the "almost" game. You know, the game we "almost" won but didn't thanks to unlikely scenario A or crazy play X...in this case it was just a little untimely hitting...Jacoby led off with a single and Dusty and JD both walked on 4 pitches each...so you've got a wild pitcher with the bases loaded and no outs and Manny coming up...career 2nd in Grand Slams Manny...but Larussa goes and gets Russ Springer from the pen, who gets Manny to hit into the DP...1 run in, but danger basically over...he got Lowell via the K and probably did a little mental dance as he walked off the mound...only 1 run in and one golden opportunity wasted (Flashback alert: for those old enough to remember, this was classic, pre-2004 Sox...somehow we LIVED like this ALLLLL the time in the 80s and 90s...seems like a distant memory but we used to lead the league in LOB every year and watch things like this happen to us constantly...it wasn't just the 86 year WS drought, it was crap like this that made us hate the baseball gods...anyway...)...the even more painfully, Oki gave up the insurance run with a Yadier Molina HR...if you give up a HR to a Molina it's just not your day...and of course to complete the "almost" game we get a run in the 9th off of Franklin (their post-Isringhausen implosion closer) and leave the tying run on 3rd...like I said...AL-MOST...

Game 2 was over before the Sox got up...a SUPER rusty Dice gave up 7 runs in his 1st inning back from the DL...6 hits, 3 walks...ouch...we'll summarize the good (bullpen gave up 2 over 8 and JD hit a bomb, number 14) and then let's just not talk any more about this game, agreed? Welcome back Dice, glad that's out of your system, straighten it out...agreed?

So, could it be, the reverse meaningless sweep in 2008 after we swept the 2004 WS? Cards take the first 2 and send a surprisingly effective Joel Pinero to the hill...I had the good fortune of listening to this one on the radio for a ride up to VT, and let's just say that based on the timing, the game shouldn't have lasted the full ride, but if they played 13 just for me, I appreciate it...this game had a bunch of twists and turns...too many to highlight for a June game (we'll save the super over analysis for September and hopefully the playoffs)...so we'll hit the biggies...Lester was strong again, pitched brilliantly and had one rough inning, giving up 2 in the 6th...Pinero was just as good, gave up 2 over his 7...Youk touched him with a solo HR and then the Sox put together a rally in the 8th that gave them a 3-2 lead...started with a Crisp triple that Ankiel misplayed and Lugo sac flyed him in...then the Sox patience paid off...not having drawn a walk all game the Sox drew three in a row (Manny, JD, Lowell) after a Dusty single to steal the lead...Pap was warming and you had to like our shot to snag this one late...BUT, Pap was a little sloppy this time...sounded like he had life on his pitches and he struck out the first two he faced...sounds like a typical Pap save so far, right? But like blown saves before, the walk hurh him again...he walked Chris Duncan and then gave up a long double over Coco's head (returning the misplay in center favor) from the always pesky Adam Kennedy...I swear if Kennedy would only get to hit under pressure he'd be a .400 hitter...3-3 ballgame...the next 3 innings were nuts...relievers all over the place, the Sox leading off every bottom of each inning with a double but unable to score and most insanely Craig Hansen coming in to pitch in a bases loaded 2-out situation...he promptly threw 3 straight (no pun intended) pitches by the .300 hitting Ryan Ludwick for the clutch K...finally in the 13th, Lowell led off with our 4th straight leadoff hit in extras (is that a record) and Youk sent us home happy with a large walkoff dinger to left center...the first Sox walkoff homer of the year believe it or not! And so, we salvaged a game and avoided the mini-revenge sweep...whew...sad that we dropped 2 of 3 to any NL team but given the way this one played out I'll take it, all the way to...Arizona...

Where I'll see you next blog...great pitching coming up (supposedly) which usually means letdowns and balls flying all over the place, but we shall see...

GO SAWX!!!

2 for 1 Specials, Sox vs. the NL, get your 2 for 1, right here...

Round two of Interleauge play was here, let the AL rejoice! The last several years, this happy experiment, created by Bud and the gang to spice up baseball and bring in some extra cash, has meant one thing...the AL teams all get hot at the same time...the Sox especially as they've POUNDED the Senior Circuit since this whole mess started...they're something like 3242-22 against them...ok, that's a bit high on the win side, but it's not as nuts as you might think!

First up this time around, Cincy...the formerly proud Reds (remember 1976) are stumbling to rebuild their franchise and losing a lot of games in the process...why not give them the World Champs for AL opponents this year?

Game 1 featured the Reds' ace Aaron Harang against the surprising rookie, Justin Masterson (an Ohio native like Youk and Sean Casey). Harang has had a pretty rough year so far, and sported a 2-9 record before this one got started, but the Sox found out what this guy can do when he's right...Manny drove in the lone Sox run and they could manage only 4 hits over Harang's 7 innings, versus 7 Ks and 0 BBs...Masterson pitched ok, giving up 3 ER over his 6.2 and showing us his K potential, ringing up 9 Reds...Rookie phenom Jay Bruce and homer fiend Adam Dunn each went deep and that was enough for Harang to get his 3rd win of the season...so the Reds took game 1 in a pitchers' duel and you basically had the feeling that the Sox O wasn't going to put up with that any more...

And they didn't...game 2's Cincy starter was Edison Volquez and we threw the Wake out there...remember how I mentioned the Reds rebuilding? Well aside from Bruce, Johnny Cueto and this kid Volquez are the keys...filthy stuff...we only managed 3 runs (2 earned) off of him and he was dominant in general...1 BB, 9 Ks against a Manny and Papi-less offense (but still)... nasty...this youngster has gas and a couple of out pitches, and he should be a star in the NL for a while...we held a normally roomy 4-2 lead (thanks to an 8th inning double and single from Drew and Lowell) going into the bottom of the 8th and then this turned into bizarro game...Oki and Delcarmen gave up the extra cushion on the dreaded single-walk-single combo, making it 4-3 after 8...then Pap came in to lock it down, but didn't...another iffy Pap outing...he got Brandon Phillips and Adam Dunn on two groundouts but unlike the last couple of years he's just not always finishing games and pitches this year...the 3rd batter of the inning was Edwin Encarnacion, not a bad little player for sure, but not the caliber hitter that should be beating Pap...but Pap hung a splitter (first pitch called by Moss, not Tek...wonder if that has anything to do with this...going to have to watch more closely) and Encarnacion lined it out of that hitter-heaven...tie game...Pap just doesn't seem invincible this year...his 3rd blown save before the break...not catastrophic, but bothersome...luckily for him he was able to pick up the sneaky W as Youk and Coco decided we weren't losing this one...they teed off on Mike Lincoln for back to back jacks, giving the Sox a 6-4 lead, and Craig Hansen, yes THE Craig Hansen got the save...and before you ask, yes I was nervous and no it wasn't easy...got the first two outs quickly (grounder, K) and then gave up a single and a walk, but got a weak fly to end it...EXHALE...gotta say, and this is by no means an endorsement that he should EVER be in a close game, but he looks better...he seems to be learning to mix pitches and hit spots better, and that 96 with movement is better than 98 without any...let's hope...and pray...hard...

Rubber match! Josh Beckett on the hill versus Homer Bailey, and that's all you need to know about that game...Beckett is starting to settle in a little while Homer is having a disastrous year...I mean awful...and it continued this night with Coco, Jacoby and JD going deep (again it's a TINY ballpark) before Bailey's 2.1 innings were up...5 ER...ouch...and their pen wasn't much better, giving up 4 ER themselves including Dusty's 5th of the year...if Coco, Jacoby and Dusty are hitting bombs, you know you're in a hitter's park...Beckett threw 7 shutout innings for the laugher W...and just like that, a 2 for 1 special in Cincy...off to Philly for 3 against our NL counterparts, the NL East leading Phillies...

Stay tuned for that blog as it's getting late and I'm tired...2 for 1 part 2 coming soon and GO SAWX!!!

Sleep, the Celtics and a whole lot of missed blogging...

No, I didn't die...not yet anyway. I wasn't in another country (though it did feel like that a few times) and I didn't suddenly think it was 1987, a pre-blog year, just because the NBA seems to think it is...there is a pretty rational reason for this prolonged absence...well, several of them actually, but in the interest of now boring you to death I'll be concise. Last I blogged was 5/28...the Sox were up and down but more personally relevant at the time was that my daughter was up...as in awake...and ALLLLLLL the time...so excuse number 1 is that I started to sleep a lot, at home and on the road, and blogging paid the price. So, what were you doing while not sleeping, you might ask? Working and watching the Boston Celtics...I'm not going to talk about them any more now since I may end up with a full blog about it, but I will briefly mention the idiotic, revenue-driven decision to start all of these games sometime between Leno and dawn every night...are you kidding me David Stern??? Anyway, bottom line is I'm back, and we have a lot of catching up to do...in the interest of doing just that and not killing your eyes with 15000 words we'll summarize the missed time with a hybrid game-by-game, series-summary method...

We pick up with the rubber match of the May 26th - 28th Seattle series...Sox took game 1 behind Bartolo and the Mariners took game 2 after Dice got hurt, Manny hit number 499 and Timlin blew it (yes, I realize Manny has like 8 HRs since then, IT'S BEEN A WHILE)...

Game 3 was a tough loss...Wake pitched one of his rare gems, a complete game allowing 1 ER on a Betancourt HR...Bedard was strong over 7 full and we never really threatened the pen...nobody hit all night, it was gross...we dropped 2 of 3 to the lousy Mariners and that dropped us to 1-5 on the road trip (swept by Oakland the series before)...I know it's early but we can't lose series to bad teams, we just can't...it'll hurt us later if the Yanks and Rays are for real...now off to Baltimore, who is playing surprisingly well for the team they have...and for some reason these guys give us trouble even when they stink, so I was feeling awful about heading there to end the trip...

Which shows how much I know about anything as we stormed in there and took the first 3 games of the series, and pretty easily too...

Game 1 was the toughest of them, as it took 13 innings to get...Beckett pitched well but the bats couldn't put up more than 2...luckily the boys sent us home happy, putting up 3 in the top of the 13th followed by Pap nailing it shut (our 7th pitcher of the night)...gotta hope a win like that carries over (nice "foreshadowing" eh?)...

Game 2 was tied in the 7th when up stepped Manny Ramirez with a man on...Manny took a first pitch fastball from Chad Bradford and crushed it to the opposite field...the perfect Manny HR for number 500...the game was effectively over and this one will get it's own blog shortly, so just enjoy the official site video for now:

href="http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080531&content_id=2807376&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos"
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Game 3 was in June, so, hey, we're getting current! This one was a joke all the way as Colon pitched a solid if not spectacular game but taking Manny's momentum from 500 the bats took this one away from Baltimore early...7 runs on the board through the 4th and the most relevant of those were the 2 that came from number 501...you kind of thought it might not be long before number 501 after 500 took a while, and he wasted no time...this had the feel of a patented Manny streak a soon as he hit number 500...guess we'll see if it continues...9-4 Sox was the final...

Looked like we had the sweep this time in Camden Yards, leading 3-2 and handing the ball off to Oki...but the O's had a rally in them I guess, knocking a clearly rusty Oki all over the place and putting up 4 runs on 4 hits...as long as that's not a trend it doesn't really bother me at all...off to a 1-5 start on the trip the Sox salvaged it taking 3-4 in Baltimore and finishing it 4-6...not great, but this isn't August yet, so we'll build on it...time to go back to the Friendly Confines to greet our sudden rivals in the standings, the Tampa Bay Formerly Devil Rays...

As it turned out the results were friendly, but the Rays were anything but...this one was a Sox 3-game sweep, and none of the games were close...as we all know the big story in this one was Coco vs. The Rays...I know I'm a little biased on this one, but here's how I see it...the Rays are a bunch of upstart Punks, and while you have to somewhat respect their willingness to defend their own, you can't respect their opinions on how this all started and when it should end. The whole thing ACTUALLY started when the Rays SS used a bush league knee drop to block 2nd on a Coco slide...now, is this the most bush league play in the majors, no...but it is bush league, and the Rays own manager admitted that Bartlett used to do that when he played against them, and that the way to handle it is to slide spikes first into second...that's cure it...ok, fair enough...so the next time Coco got to head towards 2nd base he slid hard, spikes first and made some contact with the Rays 2nd baseman, Aki Iwamura...was it a little excessive, maybe...but if your manager admits that there may have been a dirty play out there and then there's some retaliation, doesn't that end it right there? Iwamura didn't get hurt, there was no extra kick or punch in the hard slide...some leg contact and that was all...should have been the end of it...but I guess the upstart Rays are trying to prove that they belong in the AL East instead of AAA but going about it the wrong way, because instead of letting it go there, the Rays started jawing at Coco and making threats...apparently they didn't like how Coco retaliated...oh, I get it now, you get to employ the first dirty play AND pick the retribution...my bad, missed that one in the honor code...sorry gents, that ain't how it works...so you had the sense as this one ended that Coco might be in for it in the finale...his first at bat in that one, to no one's surprise, Coco got hit by James Shields...in the thigh, to their credit, but still, that's a bunch of garbage...they obviously felt that Coco had started something with his slide, basically not admitting that they started the whole thing even though their manager SAID IT WAS A DIRTY PLAY...f-ing Rays, stop trying to make it, you suck! Have you ever had winning season? Please, we know you're trying to get legit but trying to win arguments you've already lost is IDIOTIC...do it by winning games and championships...the Marlins have 2 WS already...it's possible...rightly feeling wronged, Coco charged the mound and dodged an ABSOLUTE HAY MAKER from Shields...he's be in a coma if that had landed, but hey, he's speedy, right? Coco got in a light right before the Rays gang-tackled him and showed just what kind of punks they are...from the dugout, Johnny Gomes, who outweighs Coco by 60 pounds, got there after Coco was being held down and tried to unload on him...Carl Crawford tried to throw some sneaky blows, and even Iwamura looked like he was pulling hair or something (aren't the Japanese supposed to be polite?)...the Sox looked mostly like peacemakers, pulling people off of the pile, and while Casey and Lester were suspended I still don't know what they did...anyway, the Sox got the best revenge, winning this one easily with Manny hitting another bomb, 502 and number 13 on the season...drove in 5 and basically told the Rays to shove it...he also was apparently jacked up from the fight because he and Youk got into it in the dugout...I was ok with this since you know it's probably no big deal and it proves that Manny cares...about anything...or something...see, I told you...and to finish this series off with a quick flash forward, today (actual today, 6/13) Pap said this is to be continued with the Rays...so...stay tuned!

Most importantly the Sox were building some mo and sitting in 1st place...love it...just in time to welcome back the Mariners and Os for 6 games on a 7-day homestand...

Since you're getting tired now, we'll summarize the two series quickly in random semi-haiku format:

Seattle:

Game 1 bad. Colon rocked, Sox can't hit King Felix...8-0 final
Game 2 good. Wake shuts them down, Manny and JD dingers...11-3 W
Game 3 awesome. Masterson masters Ms in Fenway, JD both RBIs (1 HR)...2-1 final

Love to see Manny staying hot and JD continuing his 2008 even-year play...why the hell can't he do this in odd years? What's the phobia name for odd-year phobia? He has it...whatever it is...

Baltimore:

Game 1 YUCK! Manny and JD en fuego...Oki rocked and Hansen pitched...Sox fall 10-6
Game 2 Sweet. Bartolo strong again. Tek and Lowell clutch! Sox win 6-3
Game 3 BAM! Lowell GS aftr Manny IBB. Lester looks awesome! 9-2 final...

Manny and Youk seem to be ok too, as Manny was waiting for Youk after his HR in game 3 with a playful welcome...Drew hit another too...those two guys each have 10 on the season already...they keep this up and we'll get through this stretch without Papi...how did I forget to mention that!!! Papi went down and landed on the DL...shouldn't be out too long and we've played well enough in the meantime, so I forgot to include it in one of the super mini recaps...ugh...we get Dice back soon and this team is starting to play more consistent ball...looks like we have something in Colon and Masterson and you know what they say, you can't have too much starting pitching!

Time for more interleague play and hopefully the Sox continue their NL dominance while Tamps and NY struggle...hahahahaha...ok, the AL should romp again, which is great for the league comparisons but doesn't do too much for us in the standings...first up a homecoming for Youk and Casey in Cincy...a bad team overall and let's hope they play like it...

Sorry to play crazy catch up...should be back in the swing for a while...more specialized blogs and better game watching/recaps in the near future...

GO SAWX!!! And a special...GO CELTS!!!