Oh I Just Cannot Understand

I'll be out of commission for a while. Trying to understand the WHY of the Manny trade. Head hurts.

I miss Manny!!!!!!!!

Seriously, the Angels?!

What is this thing with the Angels and so many, many losses to them? Do the Red Sox not remember that they have owned them in the postseason? Remember the 2 sweeps in '04 and '07? Try harder, gents!

I am thoroughly disgusted with yet another sweeping loss to this LA team. What hurts the most is the Angels are in fact my second favorite team in the league. I mostly like them because I love me some Vlad but also because WE ALWAYS USED TO BEAT THEM. Sickening. Ugh.

Okay, on a more positive note, I have some excellent news to pass along. I received an email from a nice lady telling me about the 7th annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, which will be held August 14th and 15th. All money raised goes directly to cancer research and patient care at the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Get together with your friends (or hey, even people you meet at bars and stuff) to watch the games and raise some money for what you all know is a fantastic cause. They want to raise $4 million, so let's help them along :)

And seriously, Sox men, let's start to win again. And forget about sending Manny to Florida, I don't like that talk. I can't imagine getting anything in return that is worth Manny's bat, even though it comes with quite a mouth.

Kind of Ugly

So things aren't looking so hot right now. We've already lost the series to NY, they are only one game behind us now, this Manny business is an unpleasant distraction, and next up we play the Angels (who we seem to have a lot of trouble with). We need an infusion of positivity, and we also need another starting pitcher to replace Wakef....uhh, we need another pitcher.

I'm hoping Lester can pick up the pieces tonight, but honestly I am not sure how he will do. I'm going to think good thoughts and hopefully we can pull off a win. Ponson is...bad? I hope? 6-1 says otherwise. But an ERA of 4.02 gives me some hope!

8:00...be there or be square. They need to get off to a good start tonight and then just keep it going.

This is Not What I Planned On

What on earth happened these last few days? Another sweep? We were winning, too, most of the time. I think we need to just forget that this series ever happened and move on to the next one.

Enter Jon Lester, who simply must do a good job tonight against Seattle! I refuse to accept another loss...

At least there is hope on the horizon....Ortiz hitting all those home runs, hopefully he'll be back soon! They're saying Friday...oh please oh please oh please oh please etc.

I Am Already Mad

The game hasn't even started yet and I am very upset. Mostly, I am disappointed. Disappointed in those stupid New Yorkers who have booed all of the Red Sox players. HELLO IDIOTS THEY ARE PLAYING ON YOUR TEAM TONIGHT!!

I did NOT boo the Yankees. I cheered for Rivera! Because he and all of the other Yankees are my TEAMMATES tonight. But then again, I am not stupid, and I do not boo my own teammates. Like New Yorkers.

Whatever. Like my father says, if everyone was as smart as us, we wouldn't be appreciated.

A little Pedroia action to get us started tonight (MY favorite player batting 9th, now THAT is stupid)

Youkilis' Day

Well now that was just a fun game! Wakefield pitched a wonderful game, Youkilis hit his first ever grand slam, and the Sox moved up to just 1/2 game out of first place. The Rays have lost like 5 in a row or something, which is quite nice for us. Which means....if we win today and they lose, the Sox can enter the All-Star break in first place.

I did feel bad for the Orioles pitcher Liz, he got mauled and the announcers were saying he isn't really ready to pitch in the Majors yet but he had to with Baltimore's injuries. But these are the Red Sox, man....you can't throw in a weak pitcher against their bats!

Ellsbury's Good Times

Wow! What a day for the offense! They done pulled off a 23-hit massacre of the Twins to win 18-5, with a fantastic performance by Ellsbury. The boy had 4 hits today, with Youkilis, Manny, and Casey right behind him with 3 hits apiece. It is my understanding that every starter had at least one hit, which is just plain fun. We swept those Twins, so at the moment we are only 2 games behind the Rays. It is still sad that we are behind them, right?!

Beckett gave up those 5 runs but still got the win, of course, he got lucky today. The bullpen was great (of course they were, they had a huge lead!).

An off day tomorrow, then we gear up for a Baltimore series. Which is good for me, I can watch the games on MASN. And then the All-Star break, so there won't be much doing for the next week or so.

Man of the Day:

Oh They Were Just So Close

Bases loaded in the 9th with no outs and they didn't score any runs?! It still hurts now, the morning after.

Masterson pitched a good game, getting into trouble a few times but only letting NY score twice. Too bad for us that Mussina was just plain better yesterday, allowing zero runs in 6 innings. It was Rivera who let us get that lone run, then shaped himself up and got three outs in a row. It SUCKED.

D.P. kept his hitting streak alive and also made a very pretty play in the 3rd inning to get the 3rd out and leave the bases loaded with Yanks. But I think the biggest story of the day (other than being THISCLOSE to winning) was Manny Ramirez getting hit three times! Those NY pitchers must either really hate him, or be really intimidated by him, no?

I Complain A Bit Much

The Sox actually won a game last night, and in pretty good fashion. 7-0 over NY. I was a little worried about team morale after being swept by TB (such close games too), but looks like I needn't worry anymore. What I need to do now is focus my energy on TB and hope they stumble in the KC series...though I doubt they will!

I am quite upset that I don't get to watch half of this series on TV (though day-after MLB.TV has been helping me relive games), and it figures the Sunday night game is on TV so I will be awful at work on Monday. Oh well. Red Sox>life.

Allow me to focus on the good for a moment: Lester was awesome last night: he pitched a complete game shutout and only allowed 5 hits total. Pedroia continued his superb playing, he has now hit safely for the past 11 games. The offense killed Pettitte, who had been 4-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last 4 starts.

But can I just say that very first called 3rd strike on Ellsbury? What a crap call!