Trade Stuff; Last Night's Wreck

The Yankees got Abreu and Lidle. I used to like that Abreu guy, but now...well, you know.

Despite being reassured by Francona that he would not be traded, Mike Lowell is involved in a recent rumor involving Julio Lugo and Scott Linebrink. They've got 4 hours to make a move, so we'll know soon.

The game: Schilling had 2 strikeouts in the first, everything appeared to be going well, and then Vlad RBI-singled. But then Curt got another strikeout, and Boston just needed some offense. And thanks to the LA defense, they got it. Youkilis singled, then Cora hit it to the 1st baseman Kendrick who proceeded to throw to 2nd but missed by a bit. Youk got to 3rd on the play. Then Ortiz struck out, and Manny hit one off the pitcher who proceeded to throw home (where Youk was safe by a mile) instead of going to 1st. Thanks, guys!

But the 2nd was bad. A double and an out started it off, then a triple to right field (Trot tripped a little when the ball took a different bounce than he anticipated) scored Kendrick. Chone Figgins RBI-doubled, but as he was halfway to third, he saw Manny make a great throw to Lowell who threw it to Cora, and with that, he was out.

So Schilling gave up a HR to Cabrera to make it 4-1. He was not having a good night at all. Then Vlad hit it completely out of the park to make it 5-1 (right after Ooolando). So then in the same inning he gave up yet ANOTHER home run. 6-1. Seriously, it was ridiculous. From Orel: "In the dugout we say, sarcastically, he's not missing any bats." Which was kinda funny, okay.

Trot Nixon got hurt in the 3rd and Wily Mo came in and struck out with one swing. When I told Trot to hurt himself so he wouldn't get traded, I wasn't serious!! He seems to have a strained right biceps; I hope it's a strain and not a tear, because I don't want him to go on the DL again.

In the 5th, the Gonz singled, Cora doubled, and Ortiz got RBI #100 and #101 with a double. Manny was out, but Pena hit a long double off the wall and sent Ortiz home. Then Varitek walked, and Mike Lowell got hit but the home plate umpire said he didn't! You could see Lowell's pained reaction, and I don't think he could have been acting since his reaction was instantaneous. Either way, that's not really fair. The man said he got hit, so he got hit! Lowell was angry. As he should have been, he got screwed on a call that would have loaded the bases.

Van Buren came in to replace Schilling in the 6th, making it Schilling's shortest outing all season (or so the ESPN folks said, who knows if it's true). And he did not do a good job. He loaded the bases without getting a single out, but then Coco made ANOTHER fantastic leaping catch and since the runner at 3rd didn't expect it, he didn't score. And the runner at 1st almost got doubled off. But then Figgins hit a RBI-single. Way to kill the momentum, Chone.

Tavarez replaced Van Buren, gave up a 2-RBI double. Tavarez, if you want us to like you, you have to do better than that.

Didn't get any better. After Youkilis' strikeout in the 9th, you could hear a few choice words come out of him. And that string of expletives pretty much sums up the whole game.

Papi Does it AGAIN

First things first. The Sox asked for Mark Buehrle for Coco Crisp are were refused. I know something's going to happen, and I want to know now.

LA scored 2 runs in the 1st inning, which is never good when you're up against a pitcher who is 7-0 with a 1.14 ERA. But Boston also scored in the first on an Ortiz single, and Beckett performed nicely in the 2nd.

All tied up going into the 6th. Craig Hansen pitched the 7th, and gave up a 2-run HR to put the Angels back on top. So Timlin came in to work the 8th, and as soon as he came in bad things happened. Double, out, single, RBI-single, outs.

8th inning - Ortiz was up, he hit his 35th home run, natch. Manny singled, Trot singled (please don't trade him), then a wild pitch advanced the runners. Varitek struck out, then Lowell was up and I was overjoyed to see 'In play, run-scoring play' again, and this time it was a 2-RBI double! Tie game! But Crisp and the Gonz did nothing, so it was 6-6 for the 9th.

FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY Papelbon pitched the 9th inning! 1-2-3.

So the bottom of the 9th. Youkilis was the first up, and I really just wanted to get to Papi. Youk did double (off the top of the wall! SO close to ending the game), and Loretta popped out. Ortiz was intentionally walked, then Manny grounded into a freaking double play. That really, really sucked.

10th inning. Trot Nixon was up, and the WEEI guys were saying "Way back way back!" which I assumed meant the game was over. Liked the little "That ball is..caught!" at the end. I really wanted Nixon to be able to end it all, especially since he's presumably one of the guys who could be traded.

Tavarez came in in the 11th. It made me nervous. He hit someone, then got an out, then someone hit a single and the runner was being waved home and Manny threw him out at the plate! Awesome. Saved the game. Then Tavarez got the final out on a SO. Tavarez kind of made me feel bad with a recent interview, saying, “It kinda sucks. We’re in first place and they boo me. They say ‘You suck.’ During batting practice. Out in the street." We aren't supposed to boo our players, guys! We aren't Yankee fans, come on. He said he understands it, but still. It's not like he's Seanez! Crisp led off the bottom of the 11th, grounding out (and making him 0-for-5). The Gonz singled, Youk singled, Loretta struck out, and Ortiz was up again.

Once again, Ortiz was Mr. Clutch with a game winning RBI-single! I'm telling you, that man is INCREDIBLE. There really are no words for how good he is. I can't believe it sometimes, but I sure do love it.

Don't Even Get Me Started...

Very, very, very disappointing game.

Let's start from the beginning. Crisp and the Gonz both had a chance to tie the game in the second and couldn't get it done. The Gonz did hit a double in the 5th to tie it, so he made up for it, but still. We needed all the runs we could get.

In the 4th inning, Vlad Guerrero got picked off. INHD had the game so I was able to actually watch it, and man do I love seeing that happen.

So the 6th inning was pretty enjoyable. The Angels had men on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Lowell caught a line drive, then intentionally dropped it to try and get a triple play. Nice try Mike! Then what was supposed to be a routine double play...wasn't, when Youkilis received the throw off the bag and kept inching back to it but didn't get there in time. Turned out okay, though, as the final out was made right after that.

Sadly, the 7th inning was not kind to Red Sox pitchers. Lester let 2 runs score before Delcarmen came in, who gave up a 2-RBI double on his first pitch (charged to Lester). Lopez came in at 6-2 and gave up another one immediately. Lester would go on to get the loss, which makes me sad because I wanted a 6-0 next to his name.

So here we are at the bottom of the 9th, needing many runs to get back in it. The first 2 outs came rather quickly, so that sort of killed the dream. But the Gonz doubled, Youk got on, Loretta walked on 4 pitches, Gonz scored on a wild pitch, then came Ortiz. He was called out on a strikeout, but he didn't swing! I rewound it twice and paused it during his "swing" and I am fairly positive he didn't go. I think the umpires just wanted to end the game, as it was 12:30 in the morning and they were probably tired. That's weak. It was such a depressing way to end the game, especially when Ortiz was probably about to hit another homerun, as he does.

It was also Mike Lowell day, so it would have been nice to win. The Lowell Spinners renamed the team the Mike Lowell Spinners and every Lowell at-bat was shown in Lowell. Every double by a Lowell player meant a $50 donation (by someone to someone, I kind of forgot), there were double cheeseburgers at Fenway, and Lowell hit a double his first ab.

Oh yes, and David Wells will be pitching on Monday. Foulke is doing some rehab work, and Wells skipped a Minor Leagues stint to pitch Monday, but Clement, Wakefield, and DiNardo aren't that close to being available.

Beckett vs. Weaver in about an hour. The game's on FOX if you're lucky, some of us are getting Mets vs. Braves. What's up with that?

No News Yet

Still hearing nothing about trades. Not even any enjoyable rumors. I just don't want to see they traded away the young pitchers, and I don't think they'll do that because they've been pretty incredible this season. But if I see we traded guys like Dustin Pedroia or Delcarmen or Hansen or anyone of the sort....please, no. Epstein is no fool though, and when asked about trades, he said, "We will be aggressive, but will not mortgage our future for a short-term fix....We have several players in the upper minors who should be ready to contribute soon. Dustin Pedroia and David Murphy are our top position prospects in Triple-A. Among starting pitchers, David Pauley, Abe Alvarez, and Kason Gabbard are closest to helping. Edgar Martinez is also doing a nice job in Portland's bullpen....After overcoming a shoulder injury in spring training and a slow start, Pedroia is having a fantastic year. He is a big part of our future....Edgar is having a good season at Portland, as he continues to refine his slider and changeup. He is a promising prospect and with continued development should one day help the big league team."

The next series will be against the Angels, who just happen to be playing fantastic lately. They're 17-5 this month and unfortunately, these are the pitchers they're giving us: Ervin Santana, Jered Weaver, and Kelvim Escobar. Escobar goes tonight (6-9, 3.88 ERA), followed by Weaver (7-0, 1.15 ERA; that'll be tough), then Santana (11-4, 4.25 ERA) on Sunday night. Lester, Beckett, and Schilling will have the task of stopping their offense, which includes one of my favorite players, Vladimir Guerrero. Can't cheer for him for the next 3 days, though!

Pardon The Interruption Quote of the Day:
Jason: Hey Dan, have you ever tested positive for high levels of testosterone?
Dan: I'm Dan Le Batard and I'm guilty as charged! Right, ladies? Bam!
Jason: I said testosterone, not Viagra.
Dan: Did you like my gentle 'Bam' there? Romantic, sexy, soft, whispered? All the things I am.

Tidbits

* Keith Foulke is considering the idea that he may not be playing at all for the remainder of the season. "I'm not going to continue like this. It's not worth my time. It's not worth anybody's time." He's probably so frustrated with all his injuries at this point, who can blame him?

* Kyle Snyder pitched 6 innings yesterday and gave up 5 runs. Usually, those 5 runs wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but the offense wasn't on and only gave Snyder one run. A lot of zeros in the hit column for that game.

* I want Harold Reynolds back. Apparently, he was fired for sexual harrassment, but he says it wasn't like that. "It was a total misunderstanding. My goal is to sit down and get back. To be honest with you, I gave a woman a hug and I felt like it was misinterpreted," Reynolds said. I don't care, Baseball Tonight just isn't the same without Harold and Kruk arguing.

How About that Offense?!

Back to back homeruns: Manny and Trot! I was just reading an article about Nixon's less-than-stellar offense; I suppose he didn't like that too much. He even ran through a stop sign; he was feeling it last night. As you can tell, if the clearly unbiased Manny says he was safe, then he was safe. And he was.

Curt Schilling was having a good night, so I guess the reason why he came out after 6 was because of his high pitch count (105). They brought Delcarmen in, who didn't get an out before he let 3 singles turn into a run. That made it a one-run game, but he found his rhythm and didn't allow any more runs. And then it started.

The Sox proceeded to score 6 runs in the 8th inning, and another in the 9th. A bases loaded walk, Varitek double (that cleared the bases, it was also when Nixon went through the sign), Crisp single, and Gonz force out removed all the nervousness from Sox fans (those that were still awake, that is). "One of the luxuries of pitching for this offense is -- this offense," Schilling said.

So by the time it became clear that Oakland had no chance of catching up, Tavarez and Seanez were allowed to pitch. And I say, it should be the only times they're allowed to pitch - when a 6-run lead is in place. Well, maybe a little bigger lead for Seanez.

The best thing about this win for Schilling? "It means that [Beckett's] got to keep his mouth shut for another four days."

Beckett Makes it 13

First run of the game: The Gonz hit a solo HR. So when Manny was up with Youkilis and Loretta on, I was in the mood for some more RBIs. So I said Ramirez would have one RBI and my cat said Manny was going to hit a HR (okay maybe my cat can't talk). Anyway, Manny did hit a long one and I owe my cat $50.

So then, I asked my cat, "Do you think Ortiz is gonna hit a home run, too?" and as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I saw 'In play, run-scoring play' on Gameday. I need to hone my psychic abilities for cash.

Craig Hansen came in in the 7th and loaded the bases. The score was 7-3 before he came in, and... it was still 7-3 at the end of the inning. Good save.

Timlin worked his way though the 8th, and it was my great pleasure to see Papelbon come in for the 9th. And it went strikeout, strikeout, strikeout. All hail King Papelbon!

No More of That, Please

7-7 tie. Bottom of the 8th. Timlin's got 2 outs. And then?

Home run. But that's not the worst part. It was in INSIDE-THE-PARK home run. Coco Crisp tried to catch the ball and was about 5 feet off (“It’s not a good feeling when the ball’s not where you expect it to be,” Crisp said. “Not a good feeling at all.”), then Manny went to get it and missed it completely. He's pointing to the ball so Coco could get it, and by the time it got to Lowell the Mariner was going home. Kill me now.

But then!

Jason Varitek hit a solo HR in the 9th!

But then.

Francona kept Timlin in the game (despite my many, many protests) and he proceeded to give up another HR. So the Red Sox had a perfect opportunity to move 3.5 games ahead again, and lost it when Papelbon didn't come in.

Ortiz' RBI-double and single, Varitek's RBI-double and HR, Loretta's RBI-single, Manny's SF...all for nothing. All because no one knows when to take pitchers out. If I can do it, someone in the Boston organization should be able to! What a day.

Alas, I seem to have forgotten the most amusing play of the day. Manny tried to stop a ball by sliding his leg out in front of it. The play didn't work, and actually kicked the ball away from Crisp. Rough day.

Gabbard; Some Trade Possibilities

If you heard anything about trading Lowell, be assured that he is here to stay. Or so Theo says. From MLB.com: Lowell was not at all preoccupied with recent rumors that the Red Sox had talked of dealing him to the Padres for right-hander Jake Peavy. While general manager Theo Epstein completely shot down the rumors to reporters on Friday, Lowell was also given firm assurance from the club that the reports weren't accurate. "Tito [Francona] did talk to me yesterday and told me that Theo said there was no truth to it whatsoever, so that's coming from the boss."

It turned out that Kason Gabbard had a really good beginning to his Boston career. Over 5.1 innings, he only allowed two earned runs. It was the sixth inning when the trouble set in. Again, MLB.com reports: It was all set in motion when Lowell charged a slow roller by Eduardo Perez and made a barehand snag and throw to first. Perez was ruled safe, as first-base umpire Larry Poncino ruled that David Ortiz's foot was off the bag. Several television replays appeared to show Ortiz's foot resting on the bag when the ball landed in his glove. Typical! The Gonz made a throwing error that broke the tie in favor of the Mariners, but...A-Rod did strike out 4 times yesterday for the first time in 11 years.

But it seems that we may have another young and reliable pitcher in the works, so though we did get the loss, good things may be coming with this kid. He is going to have to change his number IMMEDIATELY though, as for some reason he took 61 (which will always be Bronson Arroyo's number).

TRADE TALK

The Globe is saying there's a possibility for a Pena-Arroyo reverse trade. Please don't tease. But seriously, many teams are looking to get Pena, and the Sox need a pitcher more than ever. From the Boston Globe:

Cleveland -- They could part with Jake Westbrook or Paul Byrd.
Colorado -- The Rockies actually like Julian Tavarez and Rudy Seanez. [They crazy?]
Arizona -- Miguel Batista has pitched well lately but can be a free agent after the season.
Philadelphia -- Jon Lieber, recently off the DL, makes a lot of sense for the Sox. He's a veteran righthander who has had success in the AL. The Bobby Abreu speculation also has been out there for a while, and it appears the Sox could land him if they believe David Wells can return and give them a solid couple of months and they then want another big hitter.
Florida -- You can never dismiss any scenario involving Dontrelle Willis.
The Gonz -- "I would like to be here for a long time," said Gonzalez, "but I don't expect anything until after the year. I'd rather just concentrate on the season." [That makes me sad.]

The Event of Homeruns

Last night was the Homerun Derby, Red Sox style. 8 runs off of 5 homeruns from 5 different men. Ortiz, the Gonz, Varitek, Youkilis, and Ramirez all hit the long ball during the game. Crazy.

Kyle Snyder pitched 5 good innings and gave up 2 runs. Hansen pitched 1.2 innings and let Seattle double their score. Delcarmen came in to take care of it, and pitched 1.1 scoreless innings. Timlin pitched the 9th for the second time this week.

Bases were loaded for the Sox in the 9th with 2 outs, but the Gonz already had his RBI for the day and made the last out. All in all, a pretty good game. After all, when you have 5 HRs hit by 5 different players, the game can't very well be bad!

By the way, Shea Hillenbrand is off to San Francisco. Kason Gabbard will be pitching for the Sox today, and here is some information I have on him: Pick No. 872 overall by Boston in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft. 9-2 with a 2.57 ERA for Double-A Portland before moving to Triple-A Pawtucket on June 27, where he posted a 1-3 record and a 4.97 ERA in five starts.

Willie Harris, previously DFA, accepted an assignment to Pawtucket! So he's still in the system, which is good because I liked him and so did many of the Sox players, apparently.

Back to 2.5 Games Ahead

The latest on Wakefield: "He's been diagnosed with a stress fracture in one of his ribs," Francona said. "He's actually been pitching with pain in his ribs for about a month or six weeks. [The] bone scan shows that there's significant healing now, which is good."

More bad news: David Ortiz has been sitting out with a sore back. He'll be fine, though, and Wily Mo Pena did a fine job taking his place. Yesterday's game had Crisp leading off and Youkilis taking Ortiz's spot in the lineup. Even without Ortiz, the Sox managed to beat Texas by a score of 6-4. Schilling pitched 7 innings and gave up 4 runs. Delcarmen got the hold and Timlin got his second save. 6 out of the 10 runs in the game came from RBI doubles. This win for Schilling makes him 12-3 and brings his ERA to 3.50.

Kyle Snyder starts today against Seattle. Yeah, we'll see how that goes down. Unfortunately for fellow East Coasters, the game doesn't start until 10 pm and I am not a big fan of the late games.

Yesterday, I watched a Pardon the Interruption that didn't have Wilbon OR Kornheiser! The only consolation I had was Michael Smith won Around the Horn that day and I haven't seen that happen in a long time (okay, I haven't watched the show in a long time, either).

Another Close One; A Former Sox Gets the Boot

David Ortiz totally bunted in the first inning, and he got a single out of it. And it wasn't even his first bunt of the year.

Manny Ramirez hit a solo homerun to put the Sox up 1-0 in the 4th.

The Royals did load the bases in the 6th, but a fly out to center killed their chance of scoring.

A very confusing double play went down in the 8th inning. I guess Youkilis bunted, or tried to bunt, and he got tagged in the head and the Gonz was out at second. Youkilis and the Sox thought the ball was foul. Listening to the game on the radio really doesn't do the game of baseball justice.

Another 1-0 win, another starting pitcher going 8 innings (Beckett), another save by Papelbon. So the KC series turned out to be much more interesting than anticipated.

Les Updates:

- Josh Beckett signed a 3-year contract extension
- Tim Wakefield's strained upper back will keep him from making his next scheduled start Saturday in Seattle. No comment on a report in the Boston Globe that Wakefield has a fractured rib. The Globe reports that Wakefield is expected to miss 3 weeks to a month, and lefthander Kason Gabbard is expected to be called up to replace him.
- Former Red Sox player (and a former favorite of mine) Shea Hillenbrand has been designated for assignment. He was mad about not playing, after returning from a trip to L.A. to adopt a baby. He was also upset that no one from the Toronto front office congratulated him after the adoption went through. He wouldn't even sit with his teammates in the dugout yesterday. "Gibby called a team meeting, and then he stood up and reamed me out in front of my teammates," Hillenbrand said about his (former!) manager. "I'm very disappointed about what he did and I find it very unprofessional." I guess Toronto has little patience for that kind of stuff, because he was gone pretty fast once it all went down.
- Beckett leads the league in both wins and HRs allowed. Papelbon leads the majors in saves, Ortiz leads in homeruns and RBI, Lowell is one behind the leader in doubles, and Mark Bellhorn isn't even in the top 50 for most strikeouts!!

Lester was ON

Jon Lester was AWESOME last night. He went 8 innings, only threw 100 pitches, and only allowed one hit. ONE HIT. This win makes him 5-0, and it also makes him the first Red Sox rookie to win his first five decisions since Aaron Sele won his first six in 1993. Promising, promising, promising.

The one KC hit was almost not to be, too:

Papelbon pitched a perfect 9th to get the 1-0 win. The only run scored came courtesy of a Gonz RBI single.

Here's what we have for the Latest Player News:

Jermaine Van Buren - Recalled from Pawtucket
Javier Lopez - See ya in Pawtucket
Willie Harris - Designated for assignment. I liked him, too.
David Wells - May throw a simulated game Wednesday morning
Keith Foulke - Still trying!
Wily Mo Pena - He's back!

Mirabelli Comes Through Big

Wakefield made his delayed start last night, and though the first inning went well, the second was pretty scary. He loaded the bases and walked in a run. Then a hit went by Lowell for 2 more runs.

KC scored again in the 6th, and it wasn't looking too good, being down 4-0 and all. But then in the 7th, Crisp RBI-singled, and Doug Mirabelli hit a 3-run homerun! Mirabelli! It was only his 3rd HR of the year, but it sure did come at a key time. And right before he hit the HR he started walking to 1st because he thought he was walked. You can bet the Royals would have rather given up the walk than the HR!

The Gonz had a web gem due to this flip to second to get that Royal out:

Willie Harris (PRed for Loretta) scored on a SF by Manny in the 8th. And that was all they needed to win it, 5-4.

It took 5 pitchers to get the job done. Wakefield lasted 4, Delcarmen, Hansen, Timlin, and Papelbon helped out. Timlin got the win, pitching much better than he had been lately. And Papelbon came in to pitch the 9th, and it was easy (as usual).

But those Yanks won too, so we're still only up by .5.

In a shocking and surprising move, David Ortiz stole second base. Manny and Youkilis were jumping up and down cheering for him. It was so cute!

Get it? He stole second base!!

KC Series Begins Tonight...Time to Win

Kyle Snyder did hit someone in the 5th. I sincerely doubt he meant to do it though, because it loaded the bases with no outs (and there was already a double play opportunity with someone on first). He then walked in a run to put the A's up 1-0. He had been doing really well up to that point, it was the first walk of the day for him. Next, he got 2 strikeouts, but a single after that scored 2 more runs. No one thought to take him out, so another single made it 4-0. Finally, he was replaced - but by Seanez, so nothing was really safe. And, predictably, Rudy S. allowed another run off a Jay Payton single.

Then the Gonz hit a homerun! And he made a beautiful defensive play to record an out. That man is slowly moving up on my favorites list. I don't see how he could ever pass Arroyo or Nixon, but at least it's something.

Then Seanez had a 9-pitch inning. Go figure.

Things didn't get any better after that; they did get worse though! Oakland scored 3 more runs in the 9th (all allowed by Tavarez) to make a final score of 8-1. And the Yankees easily beat the White Sox, which puts them only .5 games behind Boston.

Oh, and aside from Snyder's accidental hit batter, nobody was hit. Guess they're all over it.

Manny had a neat running backhanded catch. Jason Varitek tied Carlton Fisk's team record of 990 games caught. Not much else to say about this one.

Time for 15-game winning streak, men!

Oh We Got Us a Fight!

Hey, some scoring went down last night in our favor! Mike Lowell RBI-doubled after Manny hit a double, then Ortiz tripled to score 2 runs. Manny singled after that to score Ortiz, then Trot Nixon singled and Lowell SFed to score Ramirez.

2 errors in the 7th allowed Lowell to score on a single from Cora. Ortiz hit his 32nd homerun of the year in the 8th inning for the 7th run of the night.

Pitching-wise, it was a fantastic night. Schilling racked up his 11th win, going 7 innings and only allowing 2 hits. Delcarmen and Hansen each pitched one inning. Each reliever allowed 1 hit and no runs. Finally, a good win for the Sox: 7-0!

But the most exciting part of the evening was a bit of a fight going on between the Sox and the A's and the A's and the fans. We got some hit batsmen! Here's how it's been going down:

Friday night: Barry Zito hit David Ortiz. Craig Breslow retaliates by trying to hit Mark Kotsay. He couldn't do it, so he hit Frank Thomas in the thigh.

Saturday night: Dan Haren hit Varitek in the BACK of the leg. Hmm, that seems pretty far from the strike zone! Haren said, "I was trying to go [inside]. Not necessarily hit him, but I was definitely trying to go in." That got Schilling pretty mad, so he hit Nick Swisher in the ribs. Swisher was quite angry, saying, "You know it was on purpose. Everybody in the [expletive] stadium knew it was on purpose. I didn't think anything was going on for the first two pitches, then all of a sudden I catch one in the [expletive] ribs. The guy's been hitting his spots all night. If you don't think that's on purpose, you're crazy." Then Milton Bradley started fighting with the fans, exchanging some pretty nasty words I presume.

And it's not over, apparently. "We'll just see what happens [today]," Swisher said.

Really, when you hit David Ortiz, you better know something's going to happen.

Time for a Change

The last sentence of an article on last night's game reads as follows:

"Relievers Javier Lopez and Julian Tavarez combined to allow eight runs."

Not surprising in the least. What is surprising, however, is Josh Beckett giving up 7 runs over 4 1/3 innings. Also surprising? Seanez pitching a whole inning with no hits and no runs. Pretty ironic that he pitches perfectly when the Sox are down 7-0, but can't hold a lead for his life.

Beckett has allowed 27 homeruns this year, a number that leads the Majors. Bad stat.

Back to the bullpen. Lopez gave up 5 runs and Tavarez allowed 3, but not one of those 8 runs was earned. Boston had 2 errors tonight, one of which was credited to Tavarez. The other was the fault of the Gonz, his 4th of the year I believe.

But Coco Crisp did have another Web Gem! He made another diving catch in center that was good enough to earn #1.

And the Yankees won, which means they are closing in on Boston's lead; they're only back by 1.5 games.

In non-game news, Wakefield's back is still a problem and it may cause him to miss his start on Sunday. Be prepared to see Kyle Snyder as the starter tomorrow if Wakefield's not feeling it.

Another Long One

Jon Lester pitched another good game; he went 5 innings and gave up only one run. He got into trouble quite a bit, but he always got out of it. That 1 run came off a solo homerun, after Lowell had hit one of his own. Too bad he didn't get the win, he really did pitch well.

This is why I miss NESN and ESPN doesn't work for me: The guy said Manny Delcameron. Remy would never get a name wrong!

Hansen came in to pitch the 6th and it was 1-2-3. However, in the 7th he let 2 men get on before Delcarmen replaced him. Looked like Delcarmen was going to get an easy out, until the ball went right by Loretta and the game was tied. Loretta took his eyes off the ball, and it led to his 4th error of the year. You could tell he was pretty upset with himself, made worse by the fact that Delcarmen finished off the next 2 guys in about 45 seconds. He said this later, "I just flat out missed it. I took my eye off it to see if the runner got a good jump. I was probably trying to do too much there. But it was a severe lapse. That hurt us...I took my eye off it for a second and when I went back to it, it was gone."

Fast forward to the 9th, where we have a 3-3 tie. Willie Harris got picked off. It sucked. He comes in as a pinch-runner and gets picked off. WHATEV. Then Varitek was walked anyway, so it double sucked. Harris had an excuse: "Sometimes you wind up trying too hard. I wasn't leaning at all. I thought [Kiko Calero] balked, personally. Obviously, the umpire didn't think he did. So it was a caught stealing. He did some kind of funky move and it worked out for him."

11th: Tavarez pitched and Oakland took the lead. By 2 runs. Tavarez is either pretty good/okay (like when he pitched 4 scoreless against the White Sox) or bad. And tonight, he was bad. Gabe Kapler put up a fight and got on base in the bottom of the inning, and Varitek singled him home. Then Lowell hit it to the pitcher, and they lost by a run.

That's 2 extra innings games in a row, and 2 losses.

Midterm Report

There seems to be an abundance of midterm reports out there, so I think I'll have to give one of my own.

Entering the second half of the season in first place by 3 games is a good place to be in, especially since 26 of their next 38 games are at home. This provides a great opportunity to increase that lead. It's important to realize that the Wild Card will most likely not come out of the AL East, so coming in 2nd place this year isn't going to cut it. In fact, it's all over ESPN that the Yankees aren't going to the playoffs, but it's entirely too premature to begin discussing that.

Another thing to consider is the amount of injuries on the team. Matt Clement, Keith Foulke, David Wells, Wily Mo Pena, and Lenny DiNardo continue their stints on the DL. Mike Timlin and Tim Wakefield are hurting, too. And don't forget Curt Schilling got hit in the elbow during his start on Sunday. And they do not have five solid starters. Josh Beckett, Schilling, Jon Lester, Wakefield...Craig Hansen? Jason Johnson had a good Minor League outing, so maybe he could be called back to help out. It's not likely that there will be many trades before the deadline, but it would probably be beneficial to grab a reliable pitcher.

And in the most obvious news of the year, the bullpen continues to disappoint. Even Timlin can't get it together, but I have to give him a pass due to his injury. Julian Tavarez and especially Rudy Seanez don't bring much to the table, and have been the cause of much anger out of me this year. Jonathan Papelbon may just be the best thing to ever come out of Baton Rouge, LA, and he has continually been a bright spot in the rather dismal bullpen.

So tonight, Lester begins the second half by pitching against Esteban Loaiza of the Oakland A's. Oakland is tied for first place in the AL West with a 45-43 record, but they're 3-7 in their last ten games and maybe they will continue their 3-game losing streak.

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About the Red Carpet Show!

Well, I did it. I suffered through a really dumb "All-Star Red Carpet Show" to recap the best parts for you. They started off interviewing Nomar, and the dumb interviewer girl went straight to Mia Hamm. Like, whatev. I sure am glad to know Mia Hamm feels "blessed" to be riding a car down the All-Star Game RED CARPET. I don't remember this stupid contrivance before, but apparently there was one last year. I even found a stupid picture of Johnny Damon from last year, he thinks he's pretty cool!

I wanted a Bronson Arroyo interview, but I guess he's not FSN material.

Thankfully, the Alex Rodriguez interview was very short. But Derek Jeter's interview was the most painful of all, because not only did the idiot interview woman say he was her favorite, but you could see Papelbon's car going by in the distance and you knew you weren't going to get any words from him.

David Ortiz had Dolce sunglasses, much bling going on, and an umbrella. He's just so awesomely awesome. His wife seems pretty cool too, and then they had this great fan talk to Ortiz and she was cracking me up. Her question to Ortiz? "How's it going to feel when you win Fenway Park as the home field for the 2006 World Series tonight?" I like that girl!

Good to see Vlad Guerrero and Renteria in the starting lineups. I've mentioned my Edgar love, and Vlad has always been a favorite of mine for some reason. But what's with Manny Ramirez not even showing up? He could have just come to show that he cares that the fans voted him in, even though he's not playing. I hope he has a good reason for standing us up.

Beltran hit a double down the 3rd base line in the 1st that A-Rod couldn't get to. I bet Lowell would have had that!

Later, it looked like A-Rod was going to make another one of his many errors, as he bobbled the ball then threw it in the dirt. But Ortiz saved him and dug it out for the out. You could even see Mariano Rivera expressing his pleasure with the play. That Ortiz, he could be playing first base all day long if he wanted. His offense wasn't as good as his defense though, as he went 0-for-2 last night.

So it came down to the 9th, with the AL down by a run. 2 outs came and went, then a single and a ground-rule double made things interesting. And with 2 outs, Michael Young hit a triple to score 2 runs and put the AL on top! So Rivera would come in, and I would finally be able to cheer for him.

So looks like the Red Sox will have home field advantage when they inevitably make it to the World Series finals this year. Good to know!

This All-Star Game Better be Good

So Ortiz didn't win the Home Run Derby last night, but he did make it to the second round. He only hit 3 HRs in that round, which wasn't very good, but we did get some good pictures out of the deal.

Here's Ortiz after hitting one of his 13 HRs:

And here are people reacting to one of his homeruns. They sure do look like they're in awe, it must have been one of the ones that went into the water.

Papelbon enjoying his 1st (of many) trips to the All-Star game:

Here's Ortiz looking like his regular self:

And the old boy Nomar made it to the game in a fan vote:

Looks like Papelbon probably won't be pitching in tonight's game. From the Globe: Red Sox rookie closer Jonathan Papelbon, who threw more pitches (52) in back-to-back games last weekend than on any other occasion this season, including the three times he has pitched three games in a row, said he doesn't expect to pitch tonight.
Guillen had this to say: "I told him, `The only way I will pitch you is if we go 19 innings and we don't have anyone else.'"

So it's not looking good for Papelbon. But watch the game tonight at 8 ET anyway, because you don't want to miss Ortiz and Loretta, who are both in the starting lineup for the AL.

Two Games for the Price of One

19 innings is not what I was expecting yesterday, and neither was Francona - Delcarmen, Papelbon, Lopez, Timlin, and Hansen all lasted 2 or less innings, so when it came time to put Tavarez in, he had to go a while. 4 innings, but he didn't give up a run! And then I realized Seanez was the only guy they had left, and Francona had to keep Tavarez in for as long as he could. Rudy came in and went 2 scoreless innings, but he did lose the game in the 19th. I kind of feel bad for Seanez, as he's not really very good and the whole thing was left up to him. It was really painful to go so long then lose, but it sure was exciting. Especially since we could have won about 3 times but mistakes prevented that. Here are some highlights:

Mark Loretta hit a 2-RBI single in the 11th to put the Red Sox up 5-3. Why did it go to extra innings? Because Papelbon gave up the tying HR with 2 outs in the 9th! I know, I know, I didn't really believe it either. Bases were loaded in the bottom of the 11th and Crede lined out to Nixon, but Nixon threw home instead of to 2nd and didn't get a double play. Then I thought we had a double play to end the game, but they only got an out at 2nd and a run scored to tie the game again. Lopez and Timlin came in in relief of Papelbon, and each one gave up one of the 2 previously mentioned tying runs. Hansen pitched a scoreless 12th.

13th inning - The Gonz led off with a double (of course! The Gonz is ON lately. Except for when he struck out in the 14th). Eventually, the bases were loaded with 2 outs for Nixon, and he struck out. Bullpen wasn't looking too good at this point, especially since Hansen was taken out in favor of Tavarez. Then Tavarez did something stupid that I didn't understand, because the WEEI guys didn't know either and didn't explain very well.

And then the bottom of the 19th was here, and Seanez loaded the bases with one out. And then a hit happened, and the Sox lost. NINETEEN innings and what's to show for it? Nixon was 0-for-9, Ortiz was 1-for-7, Ramirez was 1-for-8, and everyone else was just as bad. Bad way to go into the break.

And if you can stomach the fact that this article says Jason Giambi should be the 1st half MVP, check it out because it also says Bronson is the front-runner for the NL Cy Young.

So I was 2-for-3 yesterday, with the Federer and Italy winning their respective matches. My Ginzo family and I had a great time celebrating Italy's win; they won in the penalty kick phase, making all of their kicks while France missed a crucial one. It shouldn't have even gone to overtime, as France was awarded a free kick on a foul that didn't even occur, and Italy had a goal taken away for a bad offsides call. But it all worked out, and Italy is the World Cup champion for the next 4 years.

WEEI Quote of the Day: "When you find out what he's doing, will you let me know?" (referring to whatever Tavarez did)

Francona QotD:
"I do think this is the most comfortable I've been with a team since I've been here. Different years are different, [different] personalities, I've had some guys that I just love here, I'm not trying to take a shot at anybody. But this team, when we lose, they show up the next day with the same demeanor. When we win, they don't get carried away.

"I'll walk in to maybe the hotel bar after the game and there's six or seven of them sitting there. They're talking about the game. It's just a good, comfortable atmosphere. It's not as loud as it used to be. But at the same token, it's not tight, they have fun. They care about each other. I think they try to play the game right. And then you bring in the young kids that have come up. I know I've enjoyed the heck out of this first half."

Ozzie Guillen QotD:
"I think this is the best ballclub we've faced in the American League. The bullpen they have is unbelievable. They run three, four, five different guys every night. They're doing a tremendous job." (He's right about the best ballclub, but the bullpen thing? Someone's drunk!)

Today Has the Potential to be the Best Day of the Year

Folks, today might be the best sports day that we get in a long, long while.

Roger Federer vs. Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon final.

ITALY vs. FRANCE in the World Cup final.

The Red Sox can sweep the current World Champs if they win today.

I couldn't fall asleep last night I was so excited for today! It's like the Mecca of sports days for me, as I get baseball, tennis, and soccer all in the same day, and all people/teams that I like. I love tennis (as you may have figured out since I tell you all how it interferes with me seeing some Sox games), and I really need to see Federer beat Nadal. I do NOT like Nadal, and since Federer changed his hair I like him quite a bit. Obviously the Red Sox sweeping the White Sox would be an incredible way to end the first half of the season. Especially since they damn near got swept by Tampa Bay. And if the Yankees lost too, that'd be great. And this World Cup final? Wow.

I've been gunning for both Italy and France since the beginning (since I am Italian, French, and Irish), and this match-up is the best that I could have possibly hoped for. My Italian side is winning out, and I even got an Italia shirt just for today. So, the moral of this post is,

Go Red Sox! Go Federer! GO ITALY!!!

(Forgive me, the excitement of today caused me to veer very far into non-Red Sox territory.)

Ortiz Hits #31

After 3 losses in a row, the Sox have come storming back to win their last 3 games. Last night, it was a 7-2 demolishing, this afternoon was a 9-6 victory.

Ortiz hit his 31st HR of the year today, and he is the only player in Red Sox history to hit 30 home runs before the All-Star break. Pretty spectacular, that man is.

Jon Lester pitched last night, and he did a very nice job. As in, goodbye-David-Wells-we-won't-be-needing-your-services-anymore. I don't want to risk Wells coming and and being horrible when we have a perfectly good arm in Lester. He only allowed 2 runs over 6 innings. Today, Beckett gave up 5 runs in the same number of innings; good thing Boston had 6 by the same time.

Tomorrow's game will be the last before the All-Star break, and also the last before David Ortiz wins the Home Run Derby. "I just swing hard in case I hit it -- that's it," said Ortiz.

And! One of my former favorite Red Sox players, Mark Bellhorn (the others being Hillenbrand and Arroyo, of course), hit a 2-run homerun in the Padres' win. Oh Mark Bellhorn, I miss you and your hair.

A Grand Papi

Last night, they finally took a game from Tampa Bay. And they did it in pretty sweet form.

Ramirez started off the night with a 2-run shot, and Ortiz had 2 homeruns, one of which was a grand slam. It's always a beautiful sight when David Ortiz hits a HR, but a grand slam is just the best. Even Mirabelli got in on the homerun action. The Gonz hit his first triple in 2 years, along with a double to gather 2 RBIs.

And this exchange that I've taken from MLB.com is another reason why you just have to love Ortiz:

After yet another monster night, David Ortiz, fresh out of the shower, looked to the chair next to him and saw a stack of $20 bills.

"Is that my money?" Ortiz, a little confused, asked multiple times.

Coco Crisp finally came over and solved the mystery, grabbing the stack of bills and putting them in his wallet. Ortiz then busted out laughing and told reporters, "You know how I knew that wasn't my money?"

He then opened a container filled with $100 bills and bellowed out, "This is how I roll!"

In former-Red-Sox news, Pedro Martinez has been placed on the DL with a sore hip.

And Jon Lester will be pitching tonight against Mark Buehrle of the White Sox. Buehrle is 9-5 with a 3.86 ERA, and I hope that ERA rises after this evening.

Please Win Tonight

Can we go back to Interleague play?

Even though I didn't like the idea too much, Boston was practically unbeatable during the Interleague games. Now, they've lost 3 in a row to TAMPA BAY and are only up 3 games on the Yanks.

Carl Crawford stole 3 bases in TB's win last night, and one of them was home. This stuff needs to end tonight, because if the freaking Devil Rays sweep the Sox...oh man, I don't even want to think about that.

Manny Ramirez won't be playing in the All-Star Game due to the bad knee, but Ortiz will play despite a sore wrist.

Wakefield pitches tonight, and I hope he serves up a gem because they need another loss like they need a hole in the head.

2 Good, 1 Bad

The Bad: The Red Sox lost 9-6. I have to admit that I was watching the soccer match and then had a family 4th of July thing to go to, so I missed it. Didn't miss much though, as Schilling gave up 4 runs and Timlin gave up 3. Kapler, Ramirez, and Ortiz each hit homeruns, but they weren't enough to overcome a pretty impressive Tampa Bay offense. Since when is TB good? I don't like this one bit.

The Good:
The Yankees lost 19-1. That's just embarrassing.

Italy beat Germany in the World Cup in one of the best games of any sport I've ever seen. I know this isn't a soccer blog or anything, but I'm Italian so I have to get it in. It was just an incredible game and I hope France/Portugal will be as exciting today (go France!)

Jason Johnson (3-9, 6.22) goes tonight, he'll be opposed by Tim Corcoran, who is 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA. Let's hope we get a W tonight, eh?

Beckett Gave Up 3 Solo HRs in the Loss

Scott Kazmir pretty much owned the Red Sox last night. Kapler made a nice catch that my Yankee-loving father and Cubs-loving uncle didn't think was too impressive, but it surely was.

And since the 3-0 loss isn't very good news, let's move on to something better.

The All-Star team was announced a couple days ago, and 4 Boston players made the cut. Ramirez, Ortiz, Loretta, and Papelbon will be representing the good guys come Tuesday. Varitek was outvoted at the last minute in favor of Pudge Rodriguez and Joe Mauer. Francona has asked Manny not to go, as he is nursing a sore knee and it might be in the best interest of the team to have him sit out. It's not like he'll be playing 9 innings, maybe they could only play him for a few then be done.


Tonight, Schilling goes against Casey Fossum, who is currently 3-3 with a 5.03 ERA. This bodes well.

And in sad news, looks like Foulke isn't any closer to making his return. And David Wells? He "doesn't feel very good." Clement will be pitching for Class A Fort Myers and Francona said if things go well, he'll need about 3 starts before he can come back.

Manny's 2000th Came on a 3-R HR

Looks like I might be having a very random posting schedule this week. Yesterday, the drive from VA to RI took 14 hours (it was supposed to take ten!) so I completely missed the game. I did learn that Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz both hit 2 homeruns each! One of Manny's homeruns was also his 2,000th career hit. Of course this is the kind of game I miss. Typical. However, the errorless games streak came to an end at 17 due to 2 errors (the Gonz and Varitek). At least they made it to 17, which is the new MLB record.

Right now, I am watching the game on NESN (I am so so so happy to get NESN!) and 3 solo HRs (Youkilis, Ortiz, and Varitek) put the Sox up 3-1. Jon Lester loaded the bases in the 2nd with no outs, then got 3 in a row. Good to see he can handle the pressure situations. In the 5th, another Marlin run scored to make it a one run game. Then Manny got caught stealing, and what? Manny doesn't steal bases.

Julian Tavarez replaced Lester in the 6th and pitched quite well. But in the 7th, he gave up a solo HR to make it 3-3; he's pretty good at letting the other team get runs. Timlin came in to fix the mess, but he got in Youkilis' way as Youk went to get the ball and Youk got an error. All those errorless games, and now 4 errors in 2 games. Timlin walked a batter to load the bases with one out. He needed to pull a Lester and get out of the inning unscathed, and he did. The 3rd out came on an infield pop-up and Ortiz was basically NOOOed by Timlin, who had to make up for that thing with Youkilis.

Cora reached in the 8th, as the 2nd baseman didn't get a good handle on the ball. Kapler followed that up with a single that sent Cora to 3rd, then Youk hit one to the 3rd baseman and Cora smartly went back to the bag and avoided an out. Loretta hit a sac fly to score Cora and put the Sox back on top, 4-3.

Delcarmen got 2 outs in the 8th, then Papelbon came in to get the next 4 outs. Boston didn't get any runs in the 9th, so it was up to Papelbon to keep it a 4-3 game and hope NY would lose tonight to go up 5 games (by the way, we were struck in traffic for over 2 hours just getting to the George Washington Bridge in NYC. 26 miles = 2 hours. I was really wishing my Red Sox hat wasn't in the trunk, because there was way too much Yankee love going on. Yeah, yeah, NYC, I know..). And he did, so we're up 4.5, soon to be 5!