JOKY!

Non-Red Sox post ahead, I'm warning you:

JOKY JUST WON THE GREATEST MATCH

Novak Djokovic just won a four hour and 44 minute match against Radek Stepanek that went to a 5th set tiebreaker! I was so nervous during it, my stomach was horribly ill and my heart was pounding, even when he was up 6-1. That was a really, truly great match to watch. The score?

6-7, 7-6, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6

YEAH.Someone's gonna be tired for his 3rd round match!

Yes, you read that right: this was only a SECOND ROUND match!

The Open's getting good...

GO DJOKOVIC!

Nothing Good to Say

Strained oblique for Manny, that's what they told us yesterday. He didn't play last night, and he probably won't for a week or more...I miss Manny. I miss pitchers walking Ortiz to get to Manny and then Manny hitting an RBI double or something (and probably laughing inside, as we all do). I guess I will just have to wait.

So I had a bad feeling about last night's game all day, but that never really means anything. Except, of course, that I was proven right, and we lost another one. And right now? We are losing again.

NO SWEEP. I will not accept that!

Schilling gave up a solo shot to Cano and we are down by one, but it's still early. Still plenty of time for Wang to stop being good. We don't even have a hit yet though. At least I have Giambi swinging at the first pitch and flying out to brighten my day.

Please don't lose.

On another note, John Isner is playing some great tennis and has made it into the 3rd round of the U.S. Open. Juan Carlos lost in the first round, which sucked, but Novak Djokovic is still in it, even though it seems like forever in between his matches (and they didn't even show his first match! So mad about that). Donald Young moved into the 3rd round after Richard Gasquet, my French guy, pulled out with a fever or something -- but hey, Young in the 3rd round! That's still awesome. Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic are both in the 3rd round as well, but unfortunately they are both in the same quarter of the draw and therefore will have to meet in the quarters. I'd want Jankovic to win because she's my favorite female but Ivanovic is my second favorite (or third, I can't decide) and I'd like to see her do well. Of course, she has to get through Venus first before she'd meet Jankovic, and that's a tough thing to do.

Not Good Enough

Well, last night's game didn't exactly go according to plan. Not to worry though, because Josh Beckett is pitching tonight and he will not lose. I don't want to jinx anything, but as long as we win one out of the three games, we'll be in good shape.

The real question is how are Manny and Kielty holding up? Ramirez left early last night due to back spasms and Kielty also left with a back injury. Kielty's x-rays came back okay, and we're still waiting on Manny's status. Hopefully they are both fine!!

And just in case you were questioning why we let Damon go after he hit that HR last night, please be reminded: "It's taken a number of players to replace me," Damon said of the Red Sox. "I'm Johnny [Bleeping] Damon." That is all I think I have to mention on the subject.

What a Show

WOW.

The Red Sox are so hot right now....WOW.

They just won 11-1. That's 10+ runs every game over the last 4 games. And the best part about it is it's not just one or two people contributing, it's the whole team. Starting pitchers, the bullpen, the position players, everyone has been helping. I love it.

The Chicago announcer just said it all -- the White Sox have been outscored in this series 46-7.

That is pretty embarrassing for the ChiSox...but pretty awesome for us. And since NY lost 5-4, we are now up 7.5 games! And hopefully the goodness will carry over into the NY series and we will sweep that one too (oh God I can't even imagine how great that would be)!

Holy Cow

I swear when I left the room in the 8th inning it was 5-0. Now I come back and see they won FOURTEEN to 2?! Okay, hold up a minute.

That is 11 + 10 + 14 = 35 runs for Boston
3 + 1 + 2 = 6 runs for Chicago

YEAH THAT'S RIGHT

Seriously, that is some amazing offensive production from a team that isn't even known for its offense. What a statement! The series with the White Sox isn't even over yet, but....this is a great way to enter a series with the Yankees. Hopefully they won't slow us down!

You are Welcome, Men

Man, am I good luck. I start watching the game today and immediately Mike Lowell RBI doubles, Manny scores on a Kielty sac fly, Varitek hits a home run, Youkilis doubles, and Cora singles. They didn't actually need those runs but HEY it always looks better when you score in the double digits!

Since they are playing the ChiSox, I get to watch the game tonight on WGN. I wonder how much MLB.TV is now. I'll have to buy it in September and pay $15 to watch the final month of the season. Though I won't have to watch it on September 6, because I will be in B'more for the annual Boston-O's game. And I will turn 23. Big day!

Good luck tonight men, do not disappoint me. We can go up 1.5 more if things go our way!

P.S. My Lake Oswego, Oregon team lost yesterday. It sucked. I went 1-for-4 that day, I got crushed. It's all up to Curacao now..

Little League Post of the Day

Yeah Curacao! What a great game I just watched. Let me set it up:

It's a 1-1 tie after regulation, so we're headed to extra innings. Venezuela is up first, and some kid hits a solo shot and depresses me. They are leading 2-1 going to the bottom of the 7th, and 1 out goes by, 2 outs go by, no one is getting on base. After an 8-pitch AB, one of the Curacao kids gets on with a single. The next kid gets a 4-pitch walk. So there's 2 on with 2 outs and Deion Rosalia gets an 0-2 count, and the Venezuela pitcher throws what had been called a strike all day...but this time was a ball. And the very next pitch? A walk-off home run!

So I'm very happy that my International team won today and hope my team from Oregon wins as well...and they start at 3 pm. They have a tough one ahead of them, they're playing the undefeated Texas team. Be there or be square.

Yeah, I Know

Of course they lost when I said something. Typical.

Keep Up the Winning

Things have been going quite well lately, haven't they? Boston has won 2 days in a row whereas NY has lost 2 days in a row, and the Lake Oswego Little League team is moving on to the next round. If only things could stay this good...

Because the Angels are my second favorite AL team, I must quote this: Garret Anderson of the Angels turned in a performance for the ages, driving in a team-record 10 RBIs with two homers (a grand slam and three-run homer) as the Angels poured in 18 runs on the Yankees. Anderson isn't my favorite Angel (that is, of course, Vlad Guerrero), but I must throw out some congratulations to the man because he did a great thing while playing the right team.

Wily Mo Pena is doing pretty good in Washington, and the deal for him was finalized yesterday when we got Chris Carter. Carter is a left-handed-hitting first baseman who comes from Triple-A Tucson to Boston. He hit .324 there with 18 homers and 84 RBIs in 126 games this season. Prior to the trade, he led the Pacific Coast League in hits (163), was tied for second in doubles (39), ranked fifth in batting and ninth in RBIs.

We'll see.

It's All Bad News

Uh oh.

The lead is down to 4 games.

We play Tampa Bay next and NY plays the Angels, so we have an advantage there. And do we need it. Time to win the next 3 games and get back some of what we've lost over the last couple of weeks. Because 4 games? Not too reassuring.

Let me talk about something good now...LLWS! I was mistaken in my earlier wishes of Lake Oswego going 2-1 and Massachusetts going 3-0; they both need to go 2-1 and the other 2 teams in the pool need to go 1-2. So those Lakers played Walpole today and won off a Reid Penney home run (they always do good once I say they're a favorite -- see last night's post). So Oregon plays Ohio tomorrow and Massachusetts plays Georgia and they both MUST win! I gotta admit Oregon has turned out to be my favorite team, even over the Massachusetts boys.

Okay and apparently there is a kid on High School Musical who is singing in the commercials for the LLWS and I swear to God I thought he was Coco Crisp. He looks exactly like him! I don't know who this kid is but if you saw him...you'd agree with me. It's eerie.

A Fantastic Game and Some Good Kids

Julio Lugo just came through with a 2-run single in the 5th. It's getting good up in here...Youk just singled with 2 on to reload the bases with no outs and yes, that means Ortiz is up. First pitch, Gameday says In play, run(s) and it's a GRAND SLAM OH MY GOD!!

(Is it bad that I'm thinking please don't blow this one Gagne)

Man, I am so happy he did that. I think David Ortiz needed that since maybe he hasn't been as clutch as usual with his injury and all. This is awesome. We're up 6-5 now with no outs! Thank you to the In Game Highlights on Gameday, because I watched that grand slam and noticed one key moment -- Manny's arms raised in excitement. Is he finally getting into this season?!

Fast forward to the bottom of the 8th. Cora started off with a single, Lugo was out on a bunt, Youkilis lined out, they put Ortiz on, and Manny doubled! Two runs in (Manny does not like to be insulted like that), and WOW he is having a great game. Drew walked, and Varitek RBI-singled to put the Sox up 9-5. Then Drew scored on a wild pitch...things were going well. And Papelbon is coming in to pitch the 9th, so we will win.

P.S. Manny made a really great catch at his feet to end the 4th inning. That is the effort I've been waiting for! Excitement, RBIs, great D...oh Manny, where have you been all season? I love it when you show that you really do care :)

So the Little League World Series...you all know I am into this. Unfortunately, my 2 teams are in the same pool so they will be playing each other soon. I'm going with the Massachusetts team (of course!) and Lake Oswego, Oregon, because I always pick the teams from Oregon (and I got that college team 2 wins, didn't I?). So I am cheering for Ohio right now to beat Georgia because GA beat Oswego and I need GA to lose so Oswego can go 2-1 and Mass can go 3-0. That's my plan here, hopefully these kids will work it out for me. And Ohio is helping me out big time, they are up 10-2 with 2 more outs to go. I won't lie, I have some favorites, and I usually pick which team I want to win based on which one has the most kids who like the Sox. Or whoever has the cutest kids, fine! But the kids I like the best so far are...Connor Shockley out of Maryland, Levi Rudolph from Lake Oswego (how goddamn cute is that kid!?), Reid Penney also from Oregon (he likes Ortiz!), Calvin Hermanson from Oregon (I call him Stilts), and some kid from Curacao who looked scared out of his mind when he got up to the plate and I automatically liked him. If you're not watching the LLWS, watch it, you will enjoy it!

OH NO WILY MO

THEY TRADED WILY MO.

WHY?!?

I swear to you all they will regret that move. Pena had Ortiz and Ramirez to teach him how to hit like them! So much potential.

It is a sad day. Goodbye Wily Mo, I will miss you greatly. Even your crazy swings at pitches that were at your head.

Good luck with the Nats.

Why Do You Excite Me, Just to Let Me Down?

We got ourselves a game going on right here! Boston was down 6-3 going into the 8th, they got a run then and now we're in the 9th. Coco singled, Lugo doubled him home, Pedroia K'ed, and now Youkilis is up. But he just struck out after a 3-0 count! WHY? So now it's up to Ortiz... 2 outs, down by one, bottom of the 9th. It's the perfect time to...walk. Okay, now it's Manny Time. And by that I mean it is time for Manny to strike out.

Dammit.

At least there's some good news. Juan Carlos Ferrero won today in Cincy and he will be playing James Blake in the next round. I like Blake, but Ferrero must win. With Djokovic out now (he lost to MOYA), he's my only guy left!


Go Juan Carlos!

It Finally Happened

The day had to come when NY lost and we won, and that day is today. We won 2-1 and the O's killed the Yanks 12-0 (ha). I hear Coco had a game-winning single, which is great. I was out watching a tennis match but this is how I imagine the game went:

Boring...boring...boring...9th inning heroics

(No, a Sox game is never boring)

But yeah, 2 runs in the 9th after nothing for the 1st 8 makes for an exciting game. "Lowell's solo homer over the Green Monster with one out in the ninth tied the game, and Coco Crisp's single to right later in the inning scored Jason Varitek with the winning run, leading the Red Sox to a dramatic 2-1 victory over the Devil Rays on Tuesday night."

Good deal.

Djokovic!!

Djokovic just beat Federer. Djokovic just beat Federer. Djokovic just beat Federer. Djokovic just beat Federer!!! He's gotta be the first guy to ever beat Nadal and Federer in the same tournament, right?

What a great, great match that was. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about Boston's game today -- they were of course winning, then late in the game they blew it and Kevin Millar hit a stupid walkoff home run. Kevin! You are supposed to be our friend!

And what's the deal with the supposedly really good bullpen? Schilling left poised to win it, and as soon as I saw Timlin in I knew the game could be lost. BUT TIMLIN DIDN'T LOSE IT!! (shock) Okajima, Gagne, and Snyder all gave up runs to get us yet another loss. Surprisingly, Timlin and Delcarmen were the ones who pitched well. I feel another late season collapse coming on and this is a really bad feeling :(

I Approve of that Game

Today was a much, much better performance by our team. Beckett almost went all the way, he just couldn't get the last out. So instead of 6-0 it was 6-2 but a win is a win. The offense was pretty good, I remember a lot of doubles specifically from Lugo, Lowell (of course!), and Drew. I also remember David Ortiz striking out 3 times, but that is something I'd rather forget.

So Beckett went 8 and 2/3 innings, and Delcarmen came in to get the final out but he ended up walking the guy. So Papelbon had to come in and save the day, as usual. Again I ask, where would we be without him?

The Yanks are up 10-2, looks like we will stay 5 games up.

And Djokovic just took the first set from Nadal (well, on the tape he did anyway). Go Joky!!!! Juan Carlos Ferrero better start winning because he is facing some serious competition from Novak for the title of my favorite player!

Dilemma

Oh, have I a problem. While I usually have too few options when it comes to watching my favorite sports on TV, it seems tonight I have one too many to choose from. Boston is playing Baltimore, which means I have baseball for the next 3 days, beginning tonight at 7. And I so rarely get to watch the Sox on TV. But..

I have good tennis on at 7:30! My 2nd favorite player is on and I think it's gonna be a good one.

So do I watch Novak Djokovic or Dustin Pedroia?

Life is cruel sometimes. I will just have to miss a few hits and a few down the line winners as I'm switching back and forth!

Oh Crap

We are falling apart! Absolutely falling apart. Boston keeps losing losing losing and the Yankees keep winning winning winning. This scene is all too familiar..having the lead comfortably in the beginning...the middle of the season presents some problems...and by the beginning of September we are Wild Card-ed AGAIN (if that!).

I DON'T WANT THE WILD CARD!! I WANT TO WIN THE DIVISION!!

Seriously, men. Get it together, and soon, because a five game lead is not enough. I want 15!

Try to close the LA series out with a win. A good fight, even! Show some effort! I WANT A WIN.

Welcome to Boston

Umm...NO. Bases loaded with one out, tie game, 6th inning. Ortiz hits what appears to be a sac fly, but suddenly we see slow Mirabelli out at the plate!

Coco Crisp just made a fantastic catch in center field, holy crap. I just forgot how mad I am at Mirabelli because of how great that catch was.

Okay, Doug, you made up for that prior out. An RBI single to put us back on top works for me! More runs to follow -- courtesy of who? Dustin Pedroia, of course. That man makes me really, really happy.

So today we got the unveiling of our newest player, none other than Eric Gagne. And he started off right: strikeout! Then another strikeout! Then a strange hit, a ground-rule double as Lowell and Cora let the ball bounce in front of them. It was weird, and nothing I got too mad over. But Manny caught the next one and the game ended in Boston's favor. As they all should!