Go Buchholz

Buchholz beat Halladay last night.

That is pretty much the most awesome thing to happen.

Oh, and they're one game up over Texas now.

Good day!

I Was There...and on TV!

I was at the game in Baltimore yesterday, where I witnessed some really bad pitching and some really great offense (I suspect due to the pitching). I got a lot of pictures which I will have to post in a separate entry, and we had some fun getting yelled at. Let's see...

We got there early to see batting practice, which didn't happen because of the rain. The forecast had rain all afternoon, but there was only one brief spell of rain during the game, which was so awesome. It turned out to be a little hot even, which was unexpected but welcomed. So we were behind home plate waiting for BP to start, and time is going by, and no one is coming to take our seats....and Ellsbury was up, Pedroia, Martinez...and we got on TV a little (on MASN the camera only showed us twice, I was seen clapping when Ellsbury walked and when they zoomed in to start the game. On NESN they showed the same 2 views then my mom got on a couple times) and then we proceeded to get reprimanded by an employee showing the 2 people with the tickets to their seats. Turns out those were Cal Ripken's seats....next time we'll have to be a little less greedy and aim for the 4th or 5th row.

So we get taken to our seats, which were extremely poor compared to where we had been sitting. Spoiled, I suppose. But we got a 4-hour game of nothing but hits. We saw Josh Reddick hit his first career home run, Victor Martinez go 5-for-6, 23 total Sox hits, Buchholz give up 7 runs and Boston still won easily, Casey Kotchman's 1st Red Sox at-bat, the Orioles manager getting kicked out....it was a great game.

So the highlight of the day really was sitting behind home plate for a few batters.....getting kicked out was a little embarrassing, I heard a few "Nice try"s as I exited the good seats...and wouldn't you know, those people left early. F.


P.S. We were all wondering why Reddick ran off in the middle of the inning and came back a few minutes later. Now I see!

Not Doing So Great

Taken from an article in The Providence Journal, I found this bit to be very interesting:

-- Jacoby Ellsbury, who missed two games in Toronto because of the flu, is 1-for-12.

-- Dustin Pedroia is 5-for-18.

-- Kevin Youkilis is 7-for-19. (.368)

-- David Ortiz is 5-for-19.

-- Jason Bay is 2-for-16 (though with four walks).

-- J.D. Drew is 0-for-18.

-- Mike Lowell is 6-for-14. (.429)

-- Jason Varitek is 1-for-13. (.077)

-- Jed Lowrie is 2-for-10.

-- Nick Green is 0-for-7.

I guess this is what you call a team slump. Youk and Lowell hitting well cannot make up for the rest of the team hitting like crap. However, like Varitek said, it can't get much worse than this, so let's hope they work out of this one soon. I hate not being in first place!

I was hoping Ellsbury being back in the leadoff spot would spur some offense, but it was not to be. Not yet, anyway. And now Wakefield is on the DL, which sucks (never thought I'd say that)....but Buchholz being in the rotation is definitely not a bad thing. HOWEVER---

If anyone recalls, everytime I go to see the Red Sox in Baltimore, it seems like Wakefield pitches. I think I saw Beckett once, but I want Lester or someone new. So anyway, I'm secretly kind of excited because now Wakefield won't be pitching when I go August 2nd. And I'm reading this article about Wakefield going on the DL, and life is going great, until I hit this bit:

"The earliest Wakefield can be activated is Aug. 2, when the Red Sox complete a three-game series in Baltimore."

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS

Time to Write

The Red Sox have not won a game since my last post, and I think it is because I have not been writing! Therefore it is a simple solution, you see. They are facing a sweep at the hands of Tampa Bay, so my fingers are a-typin'.

Buchholz almost had a win yesterday until he gave up a 2-run HR in the 8th inning and thus Boston lost 2-1. We are losing them all by 1 or 2 runs, which makes it all the more painful. It is time to win, Baltimore is back in first place!

They play today at 1:40, although I have a paper due at midnight tonight that I haven't even started, I think I will be watching some Boston/TB action instead...

Japan

So our team is in Japan now, getting ready to play--wait for it--the first game of the 2008 season!! AHH! There's also an exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers that gets underway in a few hours, with Buchholz throwing.

But more importantly....wow, the season is about to begin! It seemed so far away when I put up 3/25 as the first game on the homepage, and now it is just about here. Unfortunately the 2 games in Japan are being played at 6:05 in the freaking AM. They are on ESPN2 though, so they will be taped and enjoyed later in the evening.

Baseball is like, so back. Life is about to get interesting again!

That's a No Hitter!

Congratulations Clay Buchholz! His second major league start and he throws a no hitter! That is something to be proud of :) That was quite an exciting game to watch, with all the runs and great defensive plays (I'm looking at you, Pedroia!) and of course, the wonderful pitching from the 23 year old.

The best part had to be the end when the entire team mobbed him and every single one of those players hugged him, congratulated him, rubbed his head. David Ortiz had the biggest smile on his face! Varitek ran up to him and picked him up, like when he picked up Foulke after winning the World Series...So yes, a really great performance by what looks to be a really great pitcher.

Not to mention those 10 runs we got.

Thank you Clay for stopping the 4-game losing streak!

Funny note: MASN wanted to know who we thought the player of the game was. Our choices?
A: Buchholz
B: Youkilis
C: Oritz

But...who the hell is Oritz?!