Coming out of The Break the Sox had the daunting challenge of going out to play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and California Plantations, who sported the best record in baseball at the time...how does that team do so well I ask you? The pitching is ok...the offense is ok...the bullpen is strong as usual and K-Rod is saving games at an absurd rate, but does that add up to the best team in baseball? Time to find out I guess...
This is how the 3-game set in LA from 7/18-7/20 went down...
Game 1 featured the second start for Clay Buchholz after his recall from the minors...last time out he didn't do so well, and this time wasn't much better...young Clay couldn't get through the 5th against a lineup with Meicur Izturis in the 3-hole...the Halos threw up 3 in the bottom of the 1st on 4 hits and walk, so right away Buchholz wasn't fooling anyone...the Sox answered back with 2 in the 2nd courtesy of a Youk 2-run shot, and they tied it in the 4th with a solo run, but that was the last time the game would be close...the Halos chased Clay with a couple of hits (and a costly error by Cora) and Aardsma came in to finish the inning, but before he could he surrendered a 2-run single to Howie Kendrick...4 runs in the inning for an 8-3 edge...that would have done it as the Sox couldn't get anything going off of the Angel pen but they decided to add on another 3-spot in the 6th for good measure (thank you Javy Lopez)...an ugly 11-3 final to get the second "half" of the season going...let's hope this isn't a sign...
Game 2 put Josh Beckett back on the hill against the team he dominated in last year's ALDS...opposing him would be Joe Saunders, having one of the surprisingly good seasons being enjoyed by so many of the Angels at this point in the season...still, on paper you had to like the matchup...Youk popped another 2-run shot to get is the lead and Beckett was cruising, looked like this might be a nice little stopper game, since the Angels had taken 3 straight regular season games from the Sox to this point...but our ace ran into trouble in the 7th and couldn't get away from it...the big inning started (apparently as most big innings do- look it up) with a solo shot from Vlad Guerrero...then Hunter and Anderson (who hits us really well in spurts anyway) singled and Reggie Willits sacrificed them over for 2nd at 3rd with 1 out...Beckett intentionally walked Kendrick to set up the DP but the EVER POWERFUL Erick Aybar tripled by finding a seam down the right field line...3 runs in and a 4-2 lead that the Angel pen again held, to keep that the final score...
Game 3 was even worse believe it or not...again the Sox blew a late lead and couldn't avoid being swept by a team that they swept our of the playoffs just 9 or so months ago...Tim Wakefield and Jon Garland each gave up two through the 6th, and in the 7th Coco Crisp stole second and scored when Vlad Guerrero misplayed a Jacoby liner...this game suddenly took on a the feeling of one of those games we luckily eke out to avoid a sweep and maybe get the Baseball Gods on our side, but once again we snatched defeat from he jaws of victory...Wake gave up back to back doubles to score the tying run and Manny Delcarmen threw a meatball to Casey Kotchman (after walking Figgins) who gladly doubled it to right scoring Kendrick and Figgins...once more the bullpen can't get us out of anything...is it just me or does everyone in the pen allow a walk and a hit for every out they record? It's just a matter of the timing and how many runs score...pathetic...safe to say that the Sox should be looking for relievers since everyone out there right now is a Jeklyl/Hyde type mystery...and that includes Pap to a lesser degree...scary, and reminiscent of the 2003 Sox who ultimately had that fatal flaw exposed in the form of Grady Little leaving Pedro in too long...
Horrible series...already sporting an awful road record the Sox had late leads in two of three of these games, games that they would have closed out last year but just can't this year...not against any decent teams, and so here we have answered our question...don't ask me how they do it, but the Angels are a very good team, and much better than the Red Sox apparently...5 straight regular season wins is enough of a sample size to make that statement...the only good news about being out in LA is that it's close enough to Seattle that the MLB schedulers thought "hey, while you're out there, head north and play the Mariners." This year that's a good thing...
And the Seattle series, also a 3-gamer, was the exact opposite story...a sweep for the Red Sox...since it's only the Mariners let's not get too excited here, and since they're the Mariners they're not worth a game-by-game discussion so we'll just gloss over the highlights...
Game 1 was all Jon Lester, 7.1 innings, 0 ER and 6 Ks against 0 walks...the Washington native makes good and is backed up by 2 2-run innings, Pap was flawless, 4-0 Sox...
Game 2 was more of the same, with Dice pitching a dominant game (see what you can do against a crappy offensive team) and taking a shutout into the 8th...they did get to him for 2 in the frame but the Sox already had 4 up there (Drew hit his 18th in this one, already 7 more than he had last year...you figure it out) and Oki and Pap tossed a perfect 1.2 combined, 4-2 Sox win...
Game 3 held a little more suspense as the Sox had to wait until the 12th inning to claim their sweep...Clay was a little better this game, allowing 3 in 5.1 and King Felix was hurt buy a couple of errors, so at the end of 6 it was 3-3...the top of the 12th started with the same score but the Sox doubled up their side of it in that frame...Jacoby led off with a single and Dusty moved him over...Drew was walked intentionally and then the key play was a bit of a gift as Bloomquist misplayed a Youk shot to center, allowing 2 runs to score...Sean Casey drove in an insurance run and then we brought in Hansen because we decided that we didn't want the game to end yet...but unfortunately for the Sox and their fans Hansen DID pick up his second save after trying to give it away...out, single, out, single, walk and the bases were loaded for Jose Vidro, but Vidro smacked one right to Dusty to get the save for Hansen...why won't we trade this guy again?
Hey, a sweep is a sweep, and after being on the wrong side of one we did what we're supposed to do and beat a bad team badly...and on the road too...and we got to go home, but guess what awaited us at Fenway after the off-day? The Bronx Bombers...
And so we arrive at the game and the series that enraged me enough to hop so quickly and energetically back onto the keyboard...of course it would be the Yanks, right? Had to be...especially because isn't this supposed to be the year that they faded? Isn't this the Mussina is done and the young pitchers just aren't there yet year? The year that those insanely expensive free agent signings and the overspending finally caught up to them? It was...I know it was...but here we are, in a late July series, and the Yanks are right there with us...that we both trail the Rays at this point is the only change (ok, that's quite a change) but with their mammoth offense and the resurgences of Mussina and Giambi (both of whom I hate...a lot) the Yanks are putting themselves into position to make a run...
GOD DAMN IT...
And if Game 1 of this series wasn't enough to piss Red Sox fans off I don't know what is...there was no waiting for the marquee pitching matchup of the set, game 1 was Beckett versus Joba...the bona fide ace (perhaps in all of baseball) versus the young, confident up-and-comer...Joba is having a great year making the transition from the pen to the rotation...he's been protected a little, but not much, and tonight would be a real test for him...and for Beckett too...the Yankee lineup is daunting for any hurler, and Beckett needs to show them what an ace is...
The matchup lived up to its billing...on paper anyway...if you read the box score for this one you'd see that Beckett and Chamberlain each went 7 and Beckett was out dueled...he gave up a run, and Joba didn't...Joba struck out 9 and Beckett 6, so both guys must have pitched well, and both pens were flawless...so you'd think that it was just a tough-luck loss on a night where a good young pitcher had it going...but you'd be WRONG...dead wrong...the truth of this one is that Beckett's run was garbage...it was a Giambi "single" hit towards SS against the shift...so Lowell had to field it and everyone was out of position...no play anywhere and Abreu, on third after a single and another single by A-Rod, all with two outs...so whatever, a little back luck there but not too much to complain about...the real complaint could be leveled against Marty Foster. Who the bleep is Marty Foster you might ask? He was the home plate umpire on this night, and if there is any justice in baseball he'll never get behind the plate again...this guy was AWFUL!!!! Everything Joba threw was a strike...I mean everything...I was going to write "everything close" but the truth is that the pitches didn't have to be close...high strikes were called, low strikes were called, outside, inside...it didn't matter...the Sox hitters kept looking back at Foster like he was high...who knows, maybe he was...and worse yet, not only did Beckett not get the same courtesy, but it also extended to Farnsworth and Rivera! It was a sham...and it got almost embarrassing for Foster on TV since he K-Zone kept getting chucked up there and showing how terrible his pro-Yankee calls were...it was a disgrace...the final straw came with Rivera on the hill in the 9th and Mike Lowell at bat...down just the one run, Youk had singled with one down against Mo bringing up Lowell...ball, called strike, foul had the count 1-2, but from there Mikey valiantly kept the AB alive with 2 fouls, a ball and another foul...he was then called out on a pitch that was high and inside, and I mean waaaaay high and inside...little league umps wouldn't have called this a strike in a mercy-rule blowout, that's how bad it was...and you know it's bad if Lowell, the consummate pro and a baseball gentleman by all accounts, argues the call...he threw his helmet and bat down and got his time in before getting chucked, but to get one of the all time good guys that upset you know some crap had to be going on...believe me, it was...horrible calls all night, and a game 1 gift for Joba and the Yanks...this one left a bad taste, and inspired at least one blogger to break out the keyboard...
Games 2 and 3 were less emotional, exciting, worthy, you pick the adjective...the two teams traded blowouts, as the Yanks lit up Wake to take game 2 10-3 and the Sox avoided the sweep by pounding Sidney Ponson to take the finale 9-2...only thing of note in either if these games is BIGGGG PAPI!!!! In game 3 he hit his first HR off of the DL (see, I was so pissed about game 1's pitching travesty that I forgot to mention the return of Big Papi) and I don't think I need to say any more about that...he's the man for the Sox, and seeing his big swing launch one was a true sight for sore eyes...
So a little bit of a bumpy stretch here, but not all too atypical for the Sox at this time of the year...the middle always seems to be the hardest time for the Sox to stay consistent, so hopefully they're ready to get past July and into a groove...
One more series before August and the dog days get here, again against the Halos but this time at home...I'll be back soon to discuss that one, and until then...
GOOOOO SOXXXXXX!!!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Quick Recap Part 2...Getting Through the Break...
Luckily, after a crap-tastic stretch where we blew game after game against AL East teams (games that could cost us in September), we had the Twins and O's coming to Fenway. Two things about this news...1) The Twins and O's are both terrible...the Twins somehow magically put together 1 year in 4 that they compete with spare parts and young guys, but the other 3 years they're nothing, and this is one of those years...and the O's are, well, the O's...they're owned by Angelos...'nuf ced...2) We're good at home...like MLB-best good at home...we just stink on the road...so getting these two teams into Fenway for a quick 6 before The Break is a good thing I told myself...
And I was right...
In the Twins series we showed them that, in Boston at least, we can beat them just about any way possible...game 1 was a pitcher's duel, with Dice and Scott Baker firing zeros at each other while they were out there...the only O on either side came in the 8th, Manny singled in Pedroia, and that was it...Oki and Pap were nearly flawless, 1-0 Sox...game 2 was a 6-5 win which was of the comeback variety...the Sox put up 4 in the 8th to take the lead, again with the big damage coming from Manny...a game-tying 2-run dinger...this time Aardsma set up Pap who gave up a hit but nothing more...for the finale it was all about the offense...the Sox put a legit hurting on the Twins, 18-5 was the final...I'd give you details but the numbers would take up a paragraph and a third, so let's just say that a 7-run 7th put it away and the sweep was complete...
We have to love Minny, don't we? I mean, it's almost a cliche at this point but that's the state that just keeps giving to Boston, don't they? Papi to the Sox, KG to the Celts and Randy Moss to the Pats (this one with a detour to Oakland, but hey)...we'll take it I guess...I almost feel bad for them, it's a good sports state too, not like they don't love their teams...oh well...thanks Minny...we love ya...
One pretender down...one to go...
Baltimore sneaked into Fenway sporting a sub-.500 record, but in game 1 of this series we tried to help them get over the hump...the game marked the return of Clay Buchholz, after two months away, so we can allow a mulligan here...the kid wasn't sharp and the O's put up 7 runs, enough to beat us on that night (you didn't think we'd get 18 back-to-back, did you?)...the Baltimore bullpen was (gasp) good...wow...can't believe I just typed that, but it was...let's forget that happened, on to game 2...which was a lot more like what we were expecting out of this series...Wake had the knuckler dancing and didn't even need it to be, since the boys threw 12 runs up on the board against a slew of O's hurlers...Drew hit his 17th on the season, Manny his 18th and Youk had the big big fly with his first career grand slam to highlight his 6 RBI on the night...good old fashioned whoopin'...so of course game 3 in the series would be a tight one...this one was all about the arms since the Sox only managed single runs in the 1st and 4th...but Dice, Oki and Manny Delcarmen got it to Pap without allowing a run...Pap did allow one, but just one, and the Sox held on 2-1 to take 2 of 3 from a team that they should ALWAYS take 2 of 3 from...and on this day that W was also enough for first place in the AL East heading into the break...
So a 5 of 6 stretch before The Break catapulted the Sox into 1st...time for some R&R and then hopefully an even better second half of the season...I like where this team is considering that the Rays have been pitching over their heads, the Yanks are also up and down and that we haven't played our best ball yet...if we put it together in July and August we could very well have the kind of September that will see us hit the top and stay there...
The All-Star Break really deserves only one item of discussion here...we'll mention the same thing everyone else was buzzing about after the HR Derby...JESUS, Josh Hamilton can hit...the ball just sounds different coming off of that kid's bat, doesn't it? IN-sane...nice to see him back on top after his personal struggles...he was drafted 1-2 with Josh Beckett, and those two were "can't miss" prospects back in 1999, Hamilton was number 1 for the Rays and Beckett number 2 for the Marlins...Beckett soon lived up to his hype and has become a legit ace for a perennial contender...Hamilton traveled a longer, darker road to the majors, but he's now finally where he belongs...generating the same kind of buzz he did in baseball back in 1999...welcome Josh, you've arrived again...
The actual All-Star game was pretty lame...but the AL won, great, so if we do get back to The Series we'll have home field...someone pointed out that the AL skipper, Terry Francona, looked super giddy after winning the game and then realized that it was probably because Terry knows we can't win on the road, so if we're gonna win The Series, better have 4 games at Fenway!
Ok, getting closer to actual current events...the next blog (tomorrow night or Wednesday at the latest) will get us through the two series before this last Yanks series...that would be the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Disney The State of California with those Annoying Thunder Sticks and That Stupid Rally Monkey (I think that's their official name now, right?), who are really good, and the Seattle Mariners, who I think just might decide to follow the Sonics to Oklahoma City if this season gets any worse...quick comment on the NBA, if you want to read about an injustice, check out the Sonics move to Oklahoma...google it or read the Sports Guy (see link to the right)...all that's missing to make this deal any shadier is the new owner (Clay Bennett) letting David Stern have sex with his wife (Indecent Proposal style)...it's a real travesty, and the Seattle fans are being raped by Stern and the NBA, plain and simple...
GO SAWX!
And I was right...
In the Twins series we showed them that, in Boston at least, we can beat them just about any way possible...game 1 was a pitcher's duel, with Dice and Scott Baker firing zeros at each other while they were out there...the only O on either side came in the 8th, Manny singled in Pedroia, and that was it...Oki and Pap were nearly flawless, 1-0 Sox...game 2 was a 6-5 win which was of the comeback variety...the Sox put up 4 in the 8th to take the lead, again with the big damage coming from Manny...a game-tying 2-run dinger...this time Aardsma set up Pap who gave up a hit but nothing more...for the finale it was all about the offense...the Sox put a legit hurting on the Twins, 18-5 was the final...I'd give you details but the numbers would take up a paragraph and a third, so let's just say that a 7-run 7th put it away and the sweep was complete...
We have to love Minny, don't we? I mean, it's almost a cliche at this point but that's the state that just keeps giving to Boston, don't they? Papi to the Sox, KG to the Celts and Randy Moss to the Pats (this one with a detour to Oakland, but hey)...we'll take it I guess...I almost feel bad for them, it's a good sports state too, not like they don't love their teams...oh well...thanks Minny...we love ya...
One pretender down...one to go...
Baltimore sneaked into Fenway sporting a sub-.500 record, but in game 1 of this series we tried to help them get over the hump...the game marked the return of Clay Buchholz, after two months away, so we can allow a mulligan here...the kid wasn't sharp and the O's put up 7 runs, enough to beat us on that night (you didn't think we'd get 18 back-to-back, did you?)...the Baltimore bullpen was (gasp) good...wow...can't believe I just typed that, but it was...let's forget that happened, on to game 2...which was a lot more like what we were expecting out of this series...Wake had the knuckler dancing and didn't even need it to be, since the boys threw 12 runs up on the board against a slew of O's hurlers...Drew hit his 17th on the season, Manny his 18th and Youk had the big big fly with his first career grand slam to highlight his 6 RBI on the night...good old fashioned whoopin'...so of course game 3 in the series would be a tight one...this one was all about the arms since the Sox only managed single runs in the 1st and 4th...but Dice, Oki and Manny Delcarmen got it to Pap without allowing a run...Pap did allow one, but just one, and the Sox held on 2-1 to take 2 of 3 from a team that they should ALWAYS take 2 of 3 from...and on this day that W was also enough for first place in the AL East heading into the break...
So a 5 of 6 stretch before The Break catapulted the Sox into 1st...time for some R&R and then hopefully an even better second half of the season...I like where this team is considering that the Rays have been pitching over their heads, the Yanks are also up and down and that we haven't played our best ball yet...if we put it together in July and August we could very well have the kind of September that will see us hit the top and stay there...
The All-Star Break really deserves only one item of discussion here...we'll mention the same thing everyone else was buzzing about after the HR Derby...JESUS, Josh Hamilton can hit...the ball just sounds different coming off of that kid's bat, doesn't it? IN-sane...nice to see him back on top after his personal struggles...he was drafted 1-2 with Josh Beckett, and those two were "can't miss" prospects back in 1999, Hamilton was number 1 for the Rays and Beckett number 2 for the Marlins...Beckett soon lived up to his hype and has become a legit ace for a perennial contender...Hamilton traveled a longer, darker road to the majors, but he's now finally where he belongs...generating the same kind of buzz he did in baseball back in 1999...welcome Josh, you've arrived again...
The actual All-Star game was pretty lame...but the AL won, great, so if we do get back to The Series we'll have home field...someone pointed out that the AL skipper, Terry Francona, looked super giddy after winning the game and then realized that it was probably because Terry knows we can't win on the road, so if we're gonna win The Series, better have 4 games at Fenway!
Ok, getting closer to actual current events...the next blog (tomorrow night or Wednesday at the latest) will get us through the two series before this last Yanks series...that would be the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Disney The State of California with those Annoying Thunder Sticks and That Stupid Rally Monkey (I think that's their official name now, right?), who are really good, and the Seattle Mariners, who I think just might decide to follow the Sonics to Oklahoma City if this season gets any worse...quick comment on the NBA, if you want to read about an injustice, check out the Sonics move to Oklahoma...google it or read the Sports Guy (see link to the right)...all that's missing to make this deal any shadier is the new owner (Clay Bennett) letting David Stern have sex with his wife (Indecent Proposal style)...it's a real travesty, and the Seattle fans are being raped by Stern and the NBA, plain and simple...
GO SAWX!
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Yankees Made Me Do It...and other confessions...
Hi there. Nice to see you. Um...yeah, things have been good. Can't complain...you been good? Ok...this is awkward...we said it wouldn't be awkward, but it is...look...I'm really sorry...I've neglected you...and, it's not right. I'll be better...I promise...no, really...I will...I...yeah...let's hug...
And there you have it, my official "Sorry I've been gone so long" apology. Now, the chances that any of you (except my number #1 fan) have been around long enough to know that there's even been a hiatus are slim to laughable, but hey, that doesn't make my absence less excusable! But I'm back, and of course it would be a good, old-fashioned Sox-Yanks clash to inspire me, wouldn't it? Before we get to tonight's RIDICULOUS game I need to recap the last month...usually I go game by game, sometimes pitch-by-pitch on here, but since we're talking 28 games or so and nothing incredibly catastrophic has happened (i.e. we're still near the top of the AL East) we'll just go with the highlights...and we'll take this in chunks...Yanks and part 2 of the recap to follow...
We left off in the NL, about to clash with an NL "Power" in the D-Backs. Hard to call them a power when they can't really hit, but their pitching is formidable...so the series went about as you might think...we took 2 of 3 scoring 11 total runs but holding them to 6...Haren beat Beckett 2-1 in the first game, we got to the Zona starter Davis and then pen late in the second game scoring 4 in the 8th to win 5-4 and Wake had the knuckler dancing in game 3 as we rolled 5-0 with all of the RBIs coming from Brandon Moss and Kevin Cash...how sweet is that? Good series, strong pitching and 1 total error over the three games (and that on a pickoff attempt)...solid baseball all around, nice job taking it...
From there, off to Houston...a hitter's heaven that little teeny field...so you had to figure there'd be at least one crazy game. Sox took the first game behind the return from the DL of the Dice man...5 scoreless though he was a little off overall, but we'll take it...JD homered for all the O we'd need, 6-1 final...Game 2 was the crazy game...11-10…21 runs, 27 hits and just garbage pitching all around…each starter (Lester and Backe) gave up 6 runs and both pens were terrible…Delcarmen killed us allowing 3 in the 8th and though Lowell homered off of Valverde, Youk and Tek struck out to end it…the last game was a brutal one to watch as another Beckett gem was wasted...Aardsma and Oki couldn’t keep ‘em off the board in the 8th and we dropped it 3-2…losing 2 of 3 to anyone sucks but to an NL team that’s not even contending? So far the 2008 Sox are just too inconsistent…weak in the pen and on the offensive side just too streaky…
So, back to the AL for the AL East leading…TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS!!! Boy does that sound nuts or what? But true…I didn’t think they’d last into June, forget July, but here were are starting a 3-game set with them on top of the division on 6/30…game 1 was looking like a possible catapult game…a comeback win was looking sweet in the 9th but it wasn’t to be as Julio Lugo lined out to end it with the tying run on 3rd…game 2 was EXCRUCIATING to watch…Wake allowed 2 runs, 1 earned and both scored on wild pitches!!! Mirabelli…where are you? In fairness Cash is actually doing pretty well…Hansen allowed another but it actually didn’t matter since we mustered a whole run off of Matt Garza…yeah, THE Matt Garza…and did nothing against the pen…3-1 bad guys was the final. Game 3 – we HAVE to salvage a game right? It’s the FRIGGING RAYS??? Nope, no we don’t…not this Rays team… break them up! Another bullpen meltdown…are we sensing a theme here this season kids? Not that hard to pick up…this time it was Delcarmen and Hansen and you saw it coming…3 runs allowed EACH thank you very much, and a 4-1 lead behind Dice became a 7-4 deficit…again we fought back getting 1 in the 8th and another in the 9th but this one ended on one of the ALL TIME dumbest decisions I’ve ever seen by a manager in a regular season game. With 1 out and Lowell on first, Tek at the plate, Francona puts on the hit and run. Know what, ok…why not? Tek has been looking awful at the plate but part of that has been his decision-making up there. If he has to swing with the play on maybe he gets a good pitch and puts it in play…at least moves the slow Lowell over…sure, it’s a gamble, but it’s worth a shot from time to time. Lowell takes off, Tek swings at a decent pitch, but fouls it off…ok, nice try, shelf the play and move on, right? No, not this night…Francona decides to gamble again, and make the exact same bet no less…he puts it on AGAIN!!! Now I’m pissed…are you kidding? With a guy that strikes out as much as Tek does and knowing that he’s in one of his trademark “I’m up here but I’m not sure if I can see and swing a bat at the same time” funks, you put it on twice in a row??? No f-ing way…but he did and the obvious happened…strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out…game OVER. Inexcusable…you should think about that play when you HAVE a base-stealer out there, with Mike Lowell running, trying that twice is insane…a K is a guaranteed game-ender…so kids, if we finish less than 3 games back in this division race, remember that we got swept by the Rays in a mid-summer series where we had a chance to win all 3 games…these things get forgotten in the second half, but this series just might deserve some mention later on…
And no rest for the weary…still on the road and heading to…the Bronx! Hadn’t been in a while so it was “nice” to get back there…sorta…gotta claim a little ignorance on this series as I was off in no-man’s land celebrating birthdays and laying on the beach for the first two games…we all need a break, right? Yeah, so what if I haven’t blogged in a month…I’ve been busy…
Super quick recap, of the first two…Lester gem, Beckett strong, Sox up 2-0 in a best of 4…yay…
Now for the crappy part…game 3 was the classic “If we win this one it would really hurt the Yanks” game…so of course, we blew it…pitcher’s duel all the way to the 9th with Mussina, who just owns us when he’s on (which is far less often these days) allowing zippo and Masterson giving up 2. The brutal part came in the 9th…Mo Rivera, who’s been nigh unhittable this year, took the hill…we all know the history…Sox vs. Mo is classic…we’re just not afraid of him…he’s not of us, and he’s going to get us more than we get him, but we’re not afraid, and that makes us dangerous. Drew singled and Mo hit Manny…Lowell then singled also, driving in JD…so we have 1st and 2nd nobody out…at this point I’m still not that optimistic…it’s Brandon Moss on 2nd (pinch running) and this is still Mo…I’d feel better with him at 3rd…and cue the Youk hit-by-pitch…bases loaded, NOBODY OUT!!! Talk about a chance to put the nail in the coffin…take the first 3 of the 4 game set by coming back off of the unhittable Mo this year…things like that propel teams (hell, it propelled THIS team back in 2004)…so all Coco has to do is make some decent contact…somewhere…that’s all…1-2-3 strikes he’s out…nice work…he did foul off the first pitch so do we call that a success? If Ellsbury were playing any better I’d gripe…but I can’t…so now Tek needs to do the job, but he’s still in la-la land, looking lost up at the plate…gets ahead in the count 2-0 but then pops it up to 1st…UGH!!! And now you just know there’s not a chance in hell that Lugo’s getting it done…did take him 5 pitches this time, but Mo got him swinging…Yanks win…do you get the idea that sometimes Mo just loads ‘em up with 0 outs to see if he can still get out of it? Anyway…another chance to hurt the Yanks, wasted…but, there is game 4 of the set, right? And for fear of actually seeing my own head explode I’m not going into all of the details for this one…let’s just say we had a lead, the pen blew it and Brett Gardner (yes, THE Brett Gardner to borrow my line from earlier) got Papelbon (our Mo, you know that, right?) for a walk-off single in the 10th inning…so, just to paint a pretty picture for you, we have a comeback in line, their HOF closer comes in and puts out the ultimate fire…we have a chance to take 3 of 4 and the pen, anchored by our hopefully HOF closer gives it back to Brett Gardner…I think I’d rather Brett Favre came in and got the hit…I’d feel better about it…like I said, we can never seem to put the nail into these guys, can we? Even in the blowout game 7 of the 2004 ALCS (that always makes me feel better) we just HAD to bring in Pedro to give them a little life, didn’t we? Maybe someday we’ll get the killer instinct…but maybe not…continuing with my theme from the TB series, if we’re close or hurting in September, remember this set too…we had a chance in all 7 games against the other top guys in the division, and only won 2 of them combined…needless to say we’ll need to be playing better ball in August and September…
Ok, that's enough to make you go blind, so we'll halt here...recap part 2 coming soon...before we need a recap part 3, I promise...
And there you have it, my official "Sorry I've been gone so long" apology. Now, the chances that any of you (except my number #1 fan) have been around long enough to know that there's even been a hiatus are slim to laughable, but hey, that doesn't make my absence less excusable! But I'm back, and of course it would be a good, old-fashioned Sox-Yanks clash to inspire me, wouldn't it? Before we get to tonight's RIDICULOUS game I need to recap the last month...usually I go game by game, sometimes pitch-by-pitch on here, but since we're talking 28 games or so and nothing incredibly catastrophic has happened (i.e. we're still near the top of the AL East) we'll just go with the highlights...and we'll take this in chunks...Yanks and part 2 of the recap to follow...
We left off in the NL, about to clash with an NL "Power" in the D-Backs. Hard to call them a power when they can't really hit, but their pitching is formidable...so the series went about as you might think...we took 2 of 3 scoring 11 total runs but holding them to 6...Haren beat Beckett 2-1 in the first game, we got to the Zona starter Davis and then pen late in the second game scoring 4 in the 8th to win 5-4 and Wake had the knuckler dancing in game 3 as we rolled 5-0 with all of the RBIs coming from Brandon Moss and Kevin Cash...how sweet is that? Good series, strong pitching and 1 total error over the three games (and that on a pickoff attempt)...solid baseball all around, nice job taking it...
From there, off to Houston...a hitter's heaven that little teeny field...so you had to figure there'd be at least one crazy game. Sox took the first game behind the return from the DL of the Dice man...5 scoreless though he was a little off overall, but we'll take it...JD homered for all the O we'd need, 6-1 final...Game 2 was the crazy game...11-10…21 runs, 27 hits and just garbage pitching all around…each starter (Lester and Backe) gave up 6 runs and both pens were terrible…Delcarmen killed us allowing 3 in the 8th and though Lowell homered off of Valverde, Youk and Tek struck out to end it…the last game was a brutal one to watch as another Beckett gem was wasted...Aardsma and Oki couldn’t keep ‘em off the board in the 8th and we dropped it 3-2…losing 2 of 3 to anyone sucks but to an NL team that’s not even contending? So far the 2008 Sox are just too inconsistent…weak in the pen and on the offensive side just too streaky…
So, back to the AL for the AL East leading…TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS!!! Boy does that sound nuts or what? But true…I didn’t think they’d last into June, forget July, but here were are starting a 3-game set with them on top of the division on 6/30…game 1 was looking like a possible catapult game…a comeback win was looking sweet in the 9th but it wasn’t to be as Julio Lugo lined out to end it with the tying run on 3rd…game 2 was EXCRUCIATING to watch…Wake allowed 2 runs, 1 earned and both scored on wild pitches!!! Mirabelli…where are you? In fairness Cash is actually doing pretty well…Hansen allowed another but it actually didn’t matter since we mustered a whole run off of Matt Garza…yeah, THE Matt Garza…and did nothing against the pen…3-1 bad guys was the final. Game 3 – we HAVE to salvage a game right? It’s the FRIGGING RAYS??? Nope, no we don’t…not this Rays team… break them up! Another bullpen meltdown…are we sensing a theme here this season kids? Not that hard to pick up…this time it was Delcarmen and Hansen and you saw it coming…3 runs allowed EACH thank you very much, and a 4-1 lead behind Dice became a 7-4 deficit…again we fought back getting 1 in the 8th and another in the 9th but this one ended on one of the ALL TIME dumbest decisions I’ve ever seen by a manager in a regular season game. With 1 out and Lowell on first, Tek at the plate, Francona puts on the hit and run. Know what, ok…why not? Tek has been looking awful at the plate but part of that has been his decision-making up there. If he has to swing with the play on maybe he gets a good pitch and puts it in play…at least moves the slow Lowell over…sure, it’s a gamble, but it’s worth a shot from time to time. Lowell takes off, Tek swings at a decent pitch, but fouls it off…ok, nice try, shelf the play and move on, right? No, not this night…Francona decides to gamble again, and make the exact same bet no less…he puts it on AGAIN!!! Now I’m pissed…are you kidding? With a guy that strikes out as much as Tek does and knowing that he’s in one of his trademark “I’m up here but I’m not sure if I can see and swing a bat at the same time” funks, you put it on twice in a row??? No f-ing way…but he did and the obvious happened…strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out…game OVER. Inexcusable…you should think about that play when you HAVE a base-stealer out there, with Mike Lowell running, trying that twice is insane…a K is a guaranteed game-ender…so kids, if we finish less than 3 games back in this division race, remember that we got swept by the Rays in a mid-summer series where we had a chance to win all 3 games…these things get forgotten in the second half, but this series just might deserve some mention later on…
And no rest for the weary…still on the road and heading to…the Bronx! Hadn’t been in a while so it was “nice” to get back there…sorta…gotta claim a little ignorance on this series as I was off in no-man’s land celebrating birthdays and laying on the beach for the first two games…we all need a break, right? Yeah, so what if I haven’t blogged in a month…I’ve been busy…
Super quick recap, of the first two…Lester gem, Beckett strong, Sox up 2-0 in a best of 4…yay…
Now for the crappy part…game 3 was the classic “If we win this one it would really hurt the Yanks” game…so of course, we blew it…pitcher’s duel all the way to the 9th with Mussina, who just owns us when he’s on (which is far less often these days) allowing zippo and Masterson giving up 2. The brutal part came in the 9th…Mo Rivera, who’s been nigh unhittable this year, took the hill…we all know the history…Sox vs. Mo is classic…we’re just not afraid of him…he’s not of us, and he’s going to get us more than we get him, but we’re not afraid, and that makes us dangerous. Drew singled and Mo hit Manny…Lowell then singled also, driving in JD…so we have 1st and 2nd nobody out…at this point I’m still not that optimistic…it’s Brandon Moss on 2nd (pinch running) and this is still Mo…I’d feel better with him at 3rd…and cue the Youk hit-by-pitch…bases loaded, NOBODY OUT!!! Talk about a chance to put the nail in the coffin…take the first 3 of the 4 game set by coming back off of the unhittable Mo this year…things like that propel teams (hell, it propelled THIS team back in 2004)…so all Coco has to do is make some decent contact…somewhere…that’s all…1-2-3 strikes he’s out…nice work…he did foul off the first pitch so do we call that a success? If Ellsbury were playing any better I’d gripe…but I can’t…so now Tek needs to do the job, but he’s still in la-la land, looking lost up at the plate…gets ahead in the count 2-0 but then pops it up to 1st…UGH!!! And now you just know there’s not a chance in hell that Lugo’s getting it done…did take him 5 pitches this time, but Mo got him swinging…Yanks win…do you get the idea that sometimes Mo just loads ‘em up with 0 outs to see if he can still get out of it? Anyway…another chance to hurt the Yanks, wasted…but, there is game 4 of the set, right? And for fear of actually seeing my own head explode I’m not going into all of the details for this one…let’s just say we had a lead, the pen blew it and Brett Gardner (yes, THE Brett Gardner to borrow my line from earlier) got Papelbon (our Mo, you know that, right?) for a walk-off single in the 10th inning…so, just to paint a pretty picture for you, we have a comeback in line, their HOF closer comes in and puts out the ultimate fire…we have a chance to take 3 of 4 and the pen, anchored by our hopefully HOF closer gives it back to Brett Gardner…I think I’d rather Brett Favre came in and got the hit…I’d feel better about it…like I said, we can never seem to put the nail into these guys, can we? Even in the blowout game 7 of the 2004 ALCS (that always makes me feel better) we just HAD to bring in Pedro to give them a little life, didn’t we? Maybe someday we’ll get the killer instinct…but maybe not…continuing with my theme from the TB series, if we’re close or hurting in September, remember this set too…we had a chance in all 7 games against the other top guys in the division, and only won 2 of them combined…needless to say we’ll need to be playing better ball in August and September…
Ok, that's enough to make you go blind, so we'll halt here...recap part 2 coming soon...before we need a recap part 3, I promise...
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