Can't Make it Two in a Row

Saturday: Bases loaded and Wily Mo was up and I was thinking 'Oh great another double play' but he singled! Then The Gonz struck out. But then Youkilis doubled in 2 runs to tie the game! They had bases loaded and SCORED!! So different and exciting.

So after they tie it, Julian Tavarez comes in to pitch and I realize we are going to be losing after this inning. And yes, he gave up a homerun on his second pitch. However, a Trot Nixon sac fly tied the game again the following inning. And then Tampa Bay got the lead back in the 8th when Manny threw the ball to home but hit the runner who has heading there instead.

Top of the 9th. Down by one. The Red Sox have bases loaded and no outs. Manny is up. Err, strikeout. But only one out. Trot Nixon walked and the game is tied! Now all of the men currently on base got there with a walk. Jason Varitek singled in a run and now we have the first lead of the game. Mike Lowell then hit a sacrifice fly to score Ortiz and Pena looped one into center to score Nixon.

Manny Ramirez had quite a game. He hit his 4th homerun of the year and pounded a triple that was oh-so-close to being a homerun.

Lenny DiNardo pitched 5 innings and only gave up 4 runs. Personally, I was expecting about 17 runs, so I'm pleased with this outing.

Sunday: All you need to know is they tried to come back in the 9th again, but didn't have enough. It was 5-2, and they did manage to score 2 runs on Lowell and Pena homeruns. But even with 2 men on and one out, nobody could get an RBI to at least tie the game. Cora even had his first steal, but to no avail. Youk struck out and Loretta grounded out. And Schilling got his first loss.

3-6 road trip. Yankees tomorrow. Home games. Tied for first. You know these games are going to be awesome. Will you cheer or boo? Because I'm thinking boo.

If You Get On, You Will Get Left On Base

Sox have bases loaded, 2 outs. Want to take a stab at what happened next?

Grand slam!

Just kidding. Actually, Varitek hit an easy one to the second baseman.

I know it's hard to believe that yet another bases loaded opportunity was squandered. They were only down 5-0. It was only a chance to get back in the game.

WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?

How many men are going to get left on base? This is crazy. They didn't even get a single run out of the deal.

Manny and Youkilis each walked three times. In the 9th, Manny and Varitek walked to start. Down 5-2. Lowell...DOUBLE PLAY. Yeah. I can't believe it either. Then Nixon struck out on three pitches.

And Joe just said 14 men were left on base tonight. 6 of them were on 3rd base. That's just stupid.

Lenny DiNardo pitches tonight. I have a feeling I know how this will go.

Forget About April 27

Oh. My. WHAT?

That score reads 15-3, but can it be? Did a Josh Beckett game just go down like that? Did Beckett give up a grand slam in the first inning? Did he only last 3 2/3 innings? He gave up 8 earned runs?

What happened?

8 Red Sox players had zero hits. That list includes Youkilis, Ramirez, Nixon, and Loretta. PENA and CORA had hits. MANNY didn't. Wait, Pena and Cora had TWO HITS EACH. MANNY = ZERO. That isn't right!

Defense was awful. Loretta missed a popup, Cora threw an easy ball away.

At least Craig Hansen is doing well. He moved up to Pawtucket yesterday from Portland. Something to be happy about. And I won my tennis match. And The Office was finally new. But when it comes to that game, I offer you nothing to be cheery about. And I doubt you care that I won my game.

I have no answers for this one. Let's just forget this game ever happened. Too bad we can't erase it from the loss column.

Passed Ball..Passed Ball...Passed Ball..

Let me start off with this. Bronson Arroyo threw eight innings of one-hit ball. 4-0. The man is 4-0.

Now, Wakefield. Wakefield. Eek. In the first, he threw a 77-mph fastball that turned into a 3-run HR. It's starting to feel like every game that Tim Wakefield pitches is one for the L column. That should not be. It just should not be.

So, we lost this one 7-1. Wake is 1-4 now after giving up 3 earned runs and only striking out 3. He only lasted 5 2/3 innings. Why did they trade Bronson?

I know it really isn't Bard's fault, but I'm getting pretty fed up with all these passed balls. 10 so far this year, FOUR in this game alone. And more than one run scored because of it. I agree, trading Mirabelli was a great move!

So Lowell was up with 2 men on, and as soon as he hit an out ball, you could distinctly hear an, "Oh, f--k!" Way to keep me amused! Of course, he was probably thinking that Pena was up after him and he just ruined the only chance they had of scoring. But seriously, when the only run scored all night was a Wily Mo homerun, you know things are in bad shape.

I just can't get on board with the bottom part of the order. Pena, Mohr, Bard, Gonzalez. That just doesn't look impressive. It doesn't look like the Red Sox. Here's the lineup that I miss:

Damon
Renteria
Ortiz
Manny
Nixon
Varitek
Mueller
Millar
Bellhorn

Now that is a Red Sox lineup. Don't even try to tell me Pena/Mohr/Bard/Gonz looks better than that!

Manny Makes Them Pay

Top of the 8th inning. Tied 5-5. J.T. Snow strikes out. Youkilis singles and steals second (wow). Mark Loretta pops out. 2 outs and the Indians decide to intentionally walk David Ortiz. Manny did not like that at all, so he hit a 3-run homerun that ended up winning the game. When will people learn? Walking Ortiz to get to Manny is simply ridiculous.

Schilling left when it was tied, so Foulke got the win despite giving up a run. Schilling actually threw 133 pitches, which is the most pitches he's thrown in 6 years.

David Ortiz also hit a homerun last night, his 9th of the year. That ties him for 3rd most in the league, behind Pujols (12) and Gomes (10). The WBC sure didn't slow him down.

Who else had a good game? Lowell was 3-for-5, Manny was 3-for-4, Youkilis was 2-for-3, and Varitek was 2-for-4. Let's hope this offensive production continues tonight for Wakefield, because everyone knows he's going to need some run support.

Time to Get Back on Track

Tonight's match is the first in a series against Cleveland. The Indians have a pretty good team, but Schilling is pitching and I don't think they will be a problem tonight. I think with Schilling, Wakefield, and Beckett pitching this series, we may be able to get a sweep and get back on track. Losing both Toronto series is not really very good, so a sweep will do nicely. Plus, the Yankees have an upcoming series with Tampa Bay, so these games are important. Well, they all are.

Mark Loretta amused me with a comment he made on Papelbon's new hair. “That was from a bet he won - a reward. Maybe there’s a lack of fundamental understanding there on how to wager.”

And though Stern and Mohr are (were) making a decent effort at center (and sometimes are rather impressive), I can't wait until Coco Crisp comes back. I think his absence is noticeable, despite Francona's insistence that Youkilis is doing a swell job in the leadoff spot. Mid-May, they're saying. Well, mid-May cannot come fast enough.

A Loss and A Win

Saturday: Lenny DiNardo, I know it's not your fault that you got thrown into a starter role because David Wells is injured and Theo traded the wrong guy, but seriously. That was ugly. I'm pretty sure no one in the entire world expected the Red Sox to win this game. Especially when you put in Harris, Pena, Snow, Mohr, Cora, and Bard.

Guys on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. We NEEDED some runs, but Youkilis and Loretta did not come through. Surprised?

Just remember, BRONSON ARROYO IS 3-0.

Sunday: Broke the losing streak! David Ortiz started off hitting a 2-run HR, Lowell had 2 RBIs, and Youkilis and Loretta both hit RBI singles. Papelbon ended the game by getting a double play, and it feels good to win again. Final score was 6-3.

Looking at the AL East, the Yankees beat Baltimore, and Tampa Bay lost to Texas. That puts the current standings at

Boston 12-7
Baltimore 11-9
Toronto 9-8
New York 9-8
Tampa Bay 8-11

Poor Papelbon. He pitched 10 scoreless innings so he had to get a mohawk. Ouch.

12 Inning Effort Crushed by Rudy Seanez

The game went 12 innings. 12 long innings, 4 hours, and the Red Sox lost it as soon as Rudy Seanez entered the game. Exactly.

If I gave you one guess as to which Red Sox players hit back-to-back HRs, who would you say? I would say David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez and I would be right. Manny's first homerun of the year was also his 48th against Toronto. Joe and Jerry informed me that Manny and Ortiz have both hit HRs in the same game 31 times. Manny would go on to hit another HR.

Bases loaded, top of the 8th. Youkilis is up. He struck out. I swear they've been screwing up more bases loaded situations this season than ever before.

Beckett didn't have as good an outing as before. He gave up 5 runs, walked 2, and only struck out 3. I like to see a very high SO number, so three is disappointing to me. Plus, he gave up three homeruns, which is very bad.

Then Timlin came in and immediately gave up a homerun! WHAT??! The game was tied after we'd had a 6-2 lead just a half-inning ago.

In Kevin Millar news, he hit a single with the bases loaded against the Yankees to put Baltimore back in the lead.

Johnny Damon! I had the pleasure of watching him hit a weak one to the 2nd baseman with bases loaded and 2 outs. It was certainly enjoyable. The Yankees lost 6-5 and had bases loaded in the 9th, but they too screwed up a lot of bases loaded innings. Too bad!

And Bronson Arroyo is now 3-0.

Lenny DiNardo has to face Roy Halladay today at 1. Roy Halladay is really, really good. DiNardo is not. Let's hope for some huge offense.

WEEI Quote of the Day:
Jerry: What are the chances of Tommy John having Tommy John surgery?
Joe: He had it.
Jerry: It worked!

Wakefield Loses and Wells is Thinking Retirement

Entering last night's game, Wakefield was 13-1 with a 2.96 ERA against Tampa Bay. MLB.com always has these really corny headlines that I love, and this one was "With a record like this, Wake deserves a Rays." Their cleverness never ceases to amaze me. And I really mean that.

Dustan Mohr was responsible for the only run of the night, blasting a solo HR in the 2nd inning. But it was all downhill from there.

Also, every passed ball by Josh Bard makes you miss Mirabelli. This time, a passed ball cost the Sox a run. Which didn't end up mattering since the Red Sox lost 5-1. Wakefield dropped to 1-3, he's just not in his groove yet.

The worst part of the game was the very end. The Sox managed to get the bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th with only one out. Trot Nixon and Jason Varitek were due up, so you realize there's a chance we could win, or at least tie. And then Trot struck out. So it was down to Tek. And I don't want to have to say this, but he hit one to left that wasn't very deep. So the excitement of a bases loaded situation was again destroyed. This feeling is becoming rather routine.

And finally, David Wells says he might be retiring if his knee doesn't get better soon. I guess that's a risk you take when you trade a 29-year-old and keep a 42-year-old.

Schilling and Youkilis (!?) Rule All

3rd inning: Youk singled, Mark Loretta singled, Gathright erred, Youkilis scored, Loretta ended up on 3rd. Intentional walk for Ortiz to try to get Manny to GIDP, then Waechter walked Manny on 4 pitches. Trot Nixon singled so Loretta scored. Varitek's sac fly got Ortiz home. Mike Lowell hit a double that got Manny and Trot home, please note that that was Lowell's 8th double of the year. Mike Lowell + Fenway = RBIs All Over the Place.

The awesomeness of that inning wasn't over! Stern got on because the new pitcher Jason Childers couldn't catch the ball, and Lowell scored. The Gonz walked. Youkilis continued his great day by singling home Stern. Loretta ended it but at the end of the inning it was 8-0.

Tampa Bay had a total of 4 errors last night. Two of them by Ty Wigginton in the same inning. That is pretty bad.

Schilling improved his record to 4-0. He allowed only 1 run and struck out TB 7 times. Youkilis went 3-for-4 with a solo HR. He's been pretty impressive this year, doing better than probably everybody thought he would.

Adam Stern slammed into the wall to make a catch to rob Toby Hall of a hit and end the 6th inning. How much do I love Adam Stern right now? They just sent him down last night, which makes me hope that Coco Crisp will be back really soon. Here is Adam Stern's Catch du Jour:

Look how high he can jump! Ooohh...

And it looks like Cora is trying to get back on my good side (or he just found a good shirt):

It's Official: Randy Johnson is Ugly

Okay, I know you already knew that. But The Phoenix has compiled a list of the Top 100 Unsexiest Men in the World. And I simply must point out that Randy Johnson is #2. TWO. That's like, really high.

Other people of interest: Don Zimmer at 29, Julian Tavarez at 33, George Steinbrenner at 71, Grady Little at 72, and Hideki Matsui at 91. I think Matsui belongs a lot higher.

They also put Tony Kornheiser at 30, which is so not cool. I think Steinbrenner should have been much higher.

Tony's response to the list:
Wilbon: I have this list of the 100 Unsexiest People and TK is #30.

Kornheiser: Really? Cuz I have this list of people I want to jam in the head with an ice-pick and you're #1!

Another Day, Another Win

Bases loaded for the Gonz. Yeah, he did nothing. Again. I'm pretty sure he's 1 for 5 now with bases loaded. I think I remember him getting a single with one out, then nobody else contributed to the scoring effort. So many men left on base, every game!

Ortiz hit a double, then Manny hit one to send him home. That was Ramirez's first extra base hit of the season (!?), and it just so happened to put the Sox in the lead.

Again, Manny got some RBIs, hitting a hard shot to right field to score Loretta and Ortiz. Manny just might be back.

And Kevin Youkilis decided to win the game with a 2-RBI shot off the wall. Though another run did score after that, Youk's hit broke a tie and gave Timlin the win, despite the fact that he gave up some runs.

And Papelbon can thank Adam Stern for saving him when Stern made a great catch to end the game with bases loaded.

WEEI Quote of the Day:
"Randy Johnson's getting shelled."

Clement vs. Tampa Bay

The Devil Rays begin their 3-day stay in Boston tonight as Casey Fossum pitches against Matt Clement. Clement had a rough time his last outing, but he is 3-0 against Tampa Bay lifetime and surely he will want to make it 4-0. I have heard of Casey Fossum, so I assume he is somewhat good, but his ERA of 6.94 isn't too intimidating. Of course, Clement's is 9.00, so I won't say anymore about that.

The Boston Herald is accepting song ideas for Papelbon, because apparently he's not that fond of the song that currently plays when he comes on. He currently enters to ''Bodies" by Drowning Pool, and I don't know what that song is but it does not look good.

2 hours until gametime. I'm hoping for something to happen, and I'm betting on batters getting hit and gloves coming off. Hopefully the incident in spring training with Tavarez was only the beginning of a beautiful rivalry this season.

As long as they don't hit Ortiz.

It's Patriots Day! And It Was Fantastic

First, Sunday stuff:

Beckett had the best ERA in the league going into this game, and Schilling had the 5th best. Beckett had another great day, pitching 7 innings and allowing 3 hits, 2 runs (only one of which was earned), and 1 walk. Timlin came in in the 8th to try to maintain an ERA of 0.00, and he did. And Papelbon continued his 9th inning dominance, getting his 3 outs easily.

WEEI quote of the day:
"Think our ratings will be higher than Regis and Kelly tomorrow morning?"
"They're on before us. Besides, Regis is a Yankees fan."
"Oh, we'll take care of him."

Monday morning:

Trot is back! I missed his bat very much. He singled his first AB and then Alex Cora doubled to bring him in. He was a swell 3-for-4 today. David Ortiz hit a solo HR today, his 5th of the year.

Lenny DiNardo, filling in for the man-who-should-have-been-traded David Wells, gave us 5 good innings. He only gave up 2 runs, which is a lot less than I expected. Rudy Seanez came in to pitch the 6th, and he certainly has been lackluster so far. He got 2 strikeouts, then gave up a single and a HR to put us behind.

But wait! David Ortiz hit his second homerun of the day to tie the game again. Then Manny came super close to hitting a HR right after Ortiz, but missed by about 2 feet. And then Nixon hit one hard for a ground-rule double. Right about now, you kind of felt something good starting. Gil Meche intentionally walked Varitek to get to Lowell. And then that good feeling I had was brutally murdered as Mike Lowell grounded into a double play. So many squandered bases loaded opportunities lately.

Error: Alex Cora. Off his glove. No surprises there. And yes, the error was costly. How many times is Cora going to contribute to my dislike of him?

Foulke pitched the 8th and 9th, had a 1-2-3 8th and had trouble in the 9th. I'm thinking Foulke is like a one-inning wonder at this point. Timlin came in to fix a 1st and 3rd/one out situation, but couldn't get out of it without a run scoring. With Cora, Mohr, and Youkilis due up, it wasn't looking good. Pena PHed for Cora and (guess!) struck out. Mohr struck out. Youkilis was safe on a single with a Very close call. And then...

MARK LORETTA HIT A WALK-OFF HOMERUN! His first HR of the season and I LOVE WALK-OFF HOMERUNS and what a way to end it!! LOVE IT!

One Bad Inning

2nd inning. Sox have bases loaded. No outs. It's getting exciting. Next thing you know, THREE OUTS IN A ROW. And you know the Mariners won 3-0, getting all three runs in one inning out of 9 that Tim Wakefield pitched. One bad inning, and your record goes to 1-2. Not good.

Now for the good news! Picture it. Bottom of the 9th, Yankees leading the Twins by one, Rivera is pitching. I just so happened to start paying attention to that game with one man on and thought, oh yes this is going to happen. And so it did, and Rivera has a record of 0-1 with a blown save. Love it.

Happy Easter if that's your thing. Enjoy the game at 2!

Schilling Continues to Dominate

Here is all you need to know about Friday's game:

2nd inning - 3 strikeouts in a row for Schilling. 7 SO total.
Top 6th - Schilling had a man on 3rd with one out, then was like WHATEV and struck the next two guys out.

The Ace stopped one bare-handed, just to impress us. He brought another game's worth of great stuff, pitching 8 innings of awesomeness. 104 total pitches, 3 hits, 1 run, 0 walks. That's what I like to see.

The Gonz hit a 2-RBI double, which ended up being the game winner. Mike Lowell's got 6 doubles already, he is the league leader as of right now.

Papelbon came in in the 9th to save a 2-1 game. Pop out, strikeout, single, ground out. He is 5-for-5 in save opportunities, and really impressing the hell out of us fans.

And since it amused me, this is WEEI in a nutshell: "Jamie Moyer's been in more trouble tonight than Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone and Home Alone 2." Because you know the first one just didn't have enough trouble.

No, I love the WEEI guys. When you can't get Remy and Don, they are the next best thing.

And the Yanks lost 5-1. Nice way to end the day.

It's Time For a Win

Tonight's game is the first in a 4-game series against the Seattle Mariners, who are currently 5-5. I think another sweep is in order. Curt Schilling will be opposing Jamie Moyer, who is 0-1 and about to be 0-2.

Let's do a DL check-up here. Trot Nixon is coming back maybe Monday, probably Tuesday. Coco Crisp is out for at least 3 weeks, which is really annoying. No one really knows when David Riske is coming back. Looks like Hee-Seop Choi, who hasn't even played a regular season game yet, is due back soon. At least Nixon will be back soon, he was getting off to a really great start before he got sidelined.

I know it's early to be talking standings, but the Sox are still on top and now only have a one game lead over the Yankees and Toronto. NY is on a 4-game win streak, and need to be stopped. They play the Twins later, who have a win streak of their own, so it'll be interesting to see what happens there.

Matt Clement is Negative in the Impressive Range

Manny on 2nd, Varitek on 1st. No outs. So Mike Lowell strikes out. Okay, still only one out. And then Dustin Mohr strikes out. Not good, but still...oh, no, it's Pena coming up! You guessed it, another strikeout. Man. Not good.

Matt Clement was very eh tonight. As if I needed another reason to complain about Bronson's absence. Clement pitched so well last Friday, and then he gives up a grand slam and eight hits tonight. For the second night in a row, the starting pitcher left in the 5th inning.

Clement's early exit led to the first appearance of Julian Tavarez. And boy, was I eager to see what he would do. And wouldn't you know, he did a pretty good job. Clement left him 2 men on, and Tavarez allowed a single but got his outs without anyone scoring. Well, not until his next inning of work, where another run was tacked on to make it 8-1.

What's that? Another David Ortiz homerun? Oh, yes, that's 4 now. He had a good night offensively, unlike Lowell, Mohr, Pena, Loretta...okay, the rest of the team. Timlin pitched an inning and continued his 0.00 ERA, and Foulke came in for the 8th and 9th and allowed zero runs. However, it didn't really matter at that point, as the score was 8-3 and Lowell (SO), Mohr (Snow PHed and walked), and Pena (he really worked the count and walked on 8 pitches) were due up in the 9th. But surprise surprise, Youkilis hit a 2-run double with 2 outs to make it 8-5. But then B.J. Ryan came in and whoa! Mark Loretta gets a hit and Youk scores! At this point, I'm getting excited but it's subdued because there's still 2 outs and then Ortiz made the final out because he swung on the first pitch.

Another loss. Ouch.

David Wells Shows Up, Kinda

We got some Wednesday Night Baseball on ESPN2 here, Red Sox vs. Blue Jays. I think I'm going to miss Lost for this.

David Wells made his '06 debut this evening, and he gave up a homerun to the second batter of the game. And the 5th batter. End of the first and the score was already 3-0. The top of the second inning wasn't much better, with a nice double play but then another couple of runs scored. Bottom of the 2nd - Mike Lowell continued his 100% at Fenway with a double off the wall. It didn't last, but it was good while it did. Then, men on 2nd and 3rd, 2 outs, Youkilis up - yup, he struck out. Wells left in the 5th with a 6-2 score, after a not-very-impressive first outing. Lenny DiNardo came in to replace him and in the 6th was in a bases loaded/no outs jam, but pitched his way out of it (strikeout, double play).

David Ortiz hit a hard one off the wall, and ran as fast as he could to make it a double. Seeing Ortiz run is always, always awesome. Then he hit a homer, as he does.

I'm telling you, these replacements for Crisp are doing great. Dustin Mohr played center today and hit a 2-run HR, and you simply must love that.

Wily Mo finally hit his first homerun. It was worth waiting for, that man has some major power lurking somewhere. Bronson Arroyo still has more HRs though.

Meanwhile, Kevin Millar hit himself a homerun over in Tampa Bay.

And Coco Crisp, because of his awesome spring and tremendous potential, was awarded a 3-year contract extension today. They're just giving those away lately.

Sox lost this one 8-4. The Jays got 16 hits, and really dominated throughout the whole game. Let's hope tomorrow is a better one.

Welcome Back to Fenway

Oh man, Wily Mo just tipped a ball into homerun territory for a 2-run shot.

Today was the home opener at Fenway, a game that was pitched and owned by Josh Beckett. He went 7 innings with only 3 hits and 1 run. He had some trouble in the 1st inning, walking 3 guys and walking in a run. A double play ended that inning though, and you can see Beckett's reaction in the above picture. Is that man pumped up or what? Schilling and Beckett are going to be the Ramirez/Ortiz of pitching.

Trot Nixon left the game in the 4th due to a strained groin. He's day-to-day, so hopefully it's not too serious. Because until the man gets some tips, Pena is just going to swing and miss every at-bat. The injury:Adam Stern doesn't seem to be having any trouble taking over for Crisp at CF. He had a 2-RBI double today to go along with Youkilis' and Lowell's RBI doubles. Lowell actually had three doubles today, which may be a sign that he is going to enjoy Fenway Park.

Ortiz's contract extension is official, finally. Four more years of the man. Love it.

Foulke was once again the set-up man, and allowed that 2-run HR that Wily Mo messed up. I don't think it should count against him, but it does. He pitched well, though. Papelbon entered as the closer, and he saved his 4th game this year. Wow. Pitching is so much better than last year, you can just feel it.

And BRONSON ARROYO! He had yet another homerun today (!) and pitched 7 scoreless innings. His ERA is 1.98, he allowed 6 hits and got 4 strikeouts. I am so happy that he is doing so well over there in Cincinnati.

What a Weekend! A Sweep in Baltimore

Well, I had a fantastic weekend. Except for the parts where we got lost in Baltimore, everything was great!

Saturday: The game was delayed until 6 because of the rain, and the temperature had to be in the upper 30s to lower 40s. It was frigid, but it was worth it because I saw Schilling pitch a gem. He allowed a solo homerun towards the end, but that was about it. When he was all done, he pumped his fist in excitement. He is so back.

So this Coco stealing third base thing. He stole 2nd then right after that went for 3rd and was called out. So Sunday's game we see Adam Stern starting at center and we're all what? Didn't know Crisp may have hurt himself in that attempted steal.

And Wily Mo was in the game, and he just kept swinging and missing and swinging and missing. Varitek had a great game, Youkilis did well, Papelbon came in and shut the Orioles down.

Sunday: Wakefield started off okay, and got his groove on as he went along, only allowing 1 run. Actually, that wasn't an earned run, since Loretta let the ball go through his legs on the scorer's hit. Wake hit a couple guys and Bard had zero passed balls. Looks like that combination might work.

Stern had a pretty great game as replacement for Coco, with 2 hits and 2 RBIs. And then there's Foulke. He was absolutely Incredible. Pitched better than I've seen in a long time. He struck out the first 2 guys, and moved through the 3rd out easily. But this was only the 8th inning, and then they brought in Papelbon as the closer! Foulke as the set-up man? Wow. Papelbon looked like he might be having some trouble but he got out of it unscathed.

And Kevin Millar made the last out in both games.

I must say, it was awesome. I loved how there were many chants of "Let's go Red Sox" throughout the games, yet NO Orioles chants unless they were initiated by the scoreboards.

I have much video footage that I may put up later, and some pictures. Mostly video, because I zoomed the hell out of the camcorder and got close-ups of everyone. Good stuff.

Baltimore Series Weekend - I'm There!!

Tonight, we get to see Kevin Millar in action against the Sox. The Red Sox always have some trouble with the Orioles so it'll be interesting to see how much the Sox win by tonight. I'm going to say it's not going to be a high scoring game, so watch it end up like 17-14.

Clement pitches his first game of the season tonight. I have high hopes for this guy, I think he has the potential to have a great season. Not just for half of it, like last year. Maybe he won't get smacked in the head this year.

I won't be updating again until Monday, because as I've mentioned many times, I'll be in Baltimore this weekend watching the games. If you happen to see the one in the Arroyo jersey, that's all me.

Beckett's Start? AWESOME

I know I use the word 'awesome' a lot, but it's really a great way to describe the way Beckett's first start went. He pitched 7 innings, and after giving up 1 run in the 1st, it was all smooth sailing. The man was fantastic, and he was clearly pumped up upon finishing the 7th. He even told the home plate umpire that he did a good job, but the guy couldn't really say "Thanks, any time," so he kinda shrugged.

Who else played? Trot Nixon won the game with his 2-run HR and Coco showed his incredible speed while runn- flying to 3rd. Timlin came in for the 8th, not really showing how good he is. He had only his 5th passed ball in 4 years, and gave up some hits. Scoreless inning, though. And then Papelbon. The guy was impressive. If Foulke keeps pitching the way he is, and Papelbon keeps pitching the way he is, Foulke will be out of a job.

In other news, the Orioles beat Tampa Bay 16-6. They are undefeated 2-0, but they will not beat the Red Sox this weekend! And the Reds beat the Cubs 8-6, and Bronson got the win. Glad to see he's got his season off to a good start, and I hope it continues.

Today is an off day, but a weekend series with the Orioles is coming up. And I can't say it enough, I will be there and I am way way ecstatic.

Time for Beckett to Shine

Man, the Sox got roughed up last night. Wakefield did not, as I suggested, feed off of Schilling's awesomeness. In fact, he did quite the opposite. His struggles against the Rangers continued, as he gave up 7 runs in 3 2/3 innings. That, my friends, is not good.

But wait! There is good news! The Yankees lost, too.

Let's dissect this game. Josh Bard had 3 passed balls, which probably isn't too bad for someone who isn't used to the knuckleball. The Sox faced Vicente Padilla, who had his first AL game and to whom the Red Sox are not accustomed to. He left the game with only 1 ER through 6 innings, so the man had a good night. And Manny was 0-for-4 with THREE strikeouts. When Manny is 0-for, you know it's not a good night.

But Josh Beckett makes his real debut for the Sox tonight, at 8. Let's hope he pulls a Schilling, and not a Wakefield.

Good Luck Wake

Tonight's game begins at 8 pm, with Wakefield pitching against Padilla. I hope Wakefield catches Schilling's vibes and does as awesome as he did.

I watched the beginning of the Yankee game last night, saw Johnny Damon strike out right away, and got a little excited. This excitement was pretty much squashed when the Yankees started to absolutely demolish the A's. Whatev.

Something interesting. Apparently a fan through a syringe at Barry Bonds while he was on the field. What? Some people are really dumb.

And here's Coco making that great backwards catch I mentioned yesterday. Gotta love this:

The Day We've Been Waiting For

First things first. Little did I know, Wells is on the DL. So that messes up my lineup, because now it looks like this:

M: Schilling T: Wakefield W: Beckett F: Clement

It looks like the weekend will be Schilling and Wakefield. I guess they're going with a 4-man rotation, which means I'll be seeing Wakefield again. If he pitches the game I'm going to in May, I will be tremendously angry. Okay, now for the game!

Curt Schilling strikeout count: 5
He went 7 innings, threw 117 pitches, and was awfully impressive. Doesn't appear to be bothered one bit by his ankle, and I'm hopeful about a great season for the man.

Varitek got the first hit of the game and his next at-bat he hit a 2-run double to score Ortiz and Nixon.

Loretta hit an RBI double, with Coco scoring all the way from first.

David Ortiz hit the first Sox homerun of the season and it was just as awesome as I expected. He went 3-for-5 for the day.

Manny continued his fantastic defense by making a flawless catch on the warning track. Got him a high-five from Coco, love it.

Lowell was 0-for-3 before coming up with a solo HR in the 8th.

"There's a worthless on-camera if there ever was one, ladies and gentlemen." It wasn't Remy, but it was amusing.

Keith Foulke. He came in in the 9th. He immediately gave up a single and a double. Coco Crisp had to go Way Back to make a great backwards catch and save a run. He gave up 1 run, but we still got the win.

And the Red Sox are 1-0 with a 7-3 win over the Rangers.

Pitchers and Tomorrow

Yesterday, I realized that the #2 pitcher was Wakefield, not Beckett. Okay, seniority or whatnot, but I didn't want to see a Wakefield game this weekend because I saw one last year. Then I found out they don't play Thursday, so we now have:

Monday: Schilling
Tuesday: Wakefield
Wednesday: Beckett
Friday: Wells
Saturday: Clement
Sunday: Schilling

I will be at the weekend games, and I'm so excited to see Schilling pitch. I still wish the #5 guy could have been Arroyo, but you can't win 'em all. I wanted to see Beckett, but Clement will still be a fun guy to watch. Oh, who cares, I'm just so excited to be going!

Tomorrow is Opening Day. If you have to work and won't be home at 2, tape it. The first game of the season. Finally.

Oh, and the Yankees are once again saying they should win it this year, or else huge disappointment will ensue. Don't they say this every year? And then lose? May they never win again.

David Ortiz!

Good news out of Boston - reportedly, Ortiz is close to signing a 4-year, $50 million deal. We can all breathe a sigh of relief that he won't be wearing pinstripes in the future.

Two more days. Two more days.

Game today at 1 with Minor Leaguer David Pauley taking the mound for us. It's against the Phillies, and I wish it was Monday.

Also, looks like Tavarez won't be appealing his suspension and will start the season suspended.

Not much else going on. I, however, will be in Baltimore next weekend to see a couple Red Sox games!