That WAS what I was Hoping For!

Boston was really pissed yesterday, and they showed it with a frickin awesome 14-1 win over the Yanks. Youkilis, Pedroia, Martinez, Ortiz, Bay--they all had an awesome game and Youk even hit 2 home runs. They scored 13 out of their 14 runs with 2 outs!

And Tazawa? After complaining about Red Sox pitching yesterday, this guy made me unbelievably happy by throwing 6 shutout innings and even though he let some NYers get on, he never let them cross home plate. It was a great outing indeed.

And....this dude is my new favorite Yankee :)

So, let's talk negatives for a moment. The game was on FOX. So Tim McCarver talked (and went on for a good 10 minutes about his poorly hidden Derek Jeter love) nonsense, including these gems: "Tazawa's stuff is nowhere NEAR as good as A.J. Burnett's"--as Boston is up 7-0 against Burnett. He also tried to sound smart by saying the Food and Drug Act was passed in, what, 1906? Umm...I don't know where he was going with that, actually. But my favorite idiot saying came from his partner, Kenny Albert (what, no Joe Buck? What a shame...), when he said this, IN THE FIRST INNING: "Red Sox scoring all three of their runs in this inning."

I hate FOX!

Starting to Get Annoyed

Many fans and sportswriters are saying that we should all start to get just a little worried about this horrible skid we are witnessing. Me, I prefer to be annoyed. It's better than worry, after all. I haven't lost the belief that the Sox will get better and come out of this, as worry would indicate. But since I am going to a Sox game in less than a week, I do NOT want this trend to continue--I would be very ANNOYED if they lost in such a pathetic fashion again. The one time I went to a Baltimore game and the Red Sox lost, the Orioles fans were simply too....irritating to bear again. The other 5 times when Boston won--those were good times.

If there's one good thing to be said, it's that Ellsbury had a good series in the leadoff spot. Apparently, Friday was the first time since July 3rd that the Red Sox leadoff hitter had a two-hit game. Eek.

Hey, maybe we'll get Roy Halladay? And Smoltz can take a rest for a few months. Though even if they can muster up some good pitching, it won't do much good with the offense sitting these games out. Oh, and the Yankees strictly kicking ass.

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

From Way Down to Feeling Great

Because I can actually watch this game, I might just do a streaming post:

7:12: The TV is on mute (as I am studying, blah) and I look up and see these new sharp red home jerseys. I wonder out loud to myself if these are new (because I am a little slow at times), unmute the TV and the Orioles announcers are discussing the debut of the new red jerseys. I think I am psychic (clearly).

7:14: First Oriole is a strikeout. This is a good sign!

7:15: And the next dude gets a hit. Strike that last comment.

7:27: I just noticed Youkilis's stupid chin-eating beard is back. Yuck.

7:40: Brad Penny just walked the last 2 guys and successfully walked in a run to put the O's up 1-0 WITH NO OUTS. UGH. It is not good when your starting pitcher already sucks in the 2nd inning. At least Mike Lowell can make awesome plays. 1 out. Brian Roberts just got a hit, 2-0. This is Crap. B.P. (interesting initials, considering he is making my BP rise) pitched well last time, what gives.

7:46: Walked in another run! You can hear the Fenway boos from miles away. I feel bad for him, actually, but I am still frustrated nonetheless.

7:47: GRAND SLAM SON OF A BITCH

7:55: Hey, something good! Jason Bay hit a 2-run HR! It's something, people, gotta dig away at this huge lead. 7-2.

8:02. Ellsbury hits a "single" in between 3 Orioles, RBI! 7-3.

8:09: Pedroia hauled ass to get a single, bases loaded with 1 out. Ortiz RBIs, 2 outs though. 7-4.

8:26: HR J.D. Drew! 7-5!

8:53: I left the room to make dinner, somehow the O's have 8. F.

9:06: J.D. Drew hit a triple to center, I love it. What will Jason Bay do? Walk! Mike Lowell? Walk! Jason Varitek? Lucky error for him, run in! Nick Green? Hits one waaaay back, 2 runs in, tie game!! Woo hoo!!!

9:40: Youkilis just got nailed in the head. The pitcher looked very concerned so I can't be mad...and he's up walking to first base. Guess he's okay, but I'm sure we'll hear more about it tomorrow. Maybe it shook Baez (O's pitcher) up because he just walked Drew to load the bases with one out!

9:46: Sac fly! We are winning!

9:48: Lowell-RBI single! 10-8!

10:24: Boston is really having to work the bullpen tonight, but they are doing a great job. We've seen Delcarmen, Lopez (who walked a guy and gave up a single and was promptly yanked, haha. Guess they learned their lesson with him), Ramirez, and Okajima just got the last 2 O's of the 8th inning.

10:45: There's the Papelbon we love! I cannot believe they just came back from 7-0 down to win 10-8. Amazing.

My guess is they won because I wore my Sox visor all day. Just a theory. I'll be wearing it all day tomorrow too, though!

I CAN Believe My Eyes!

WOW! Was that not one of the best games you have ever watched? I feel really bad for everyone who went to bed when the Sox were down 7-0, only to have them come back to win in the bottom of the 9th!

INCREDIBLE.

THAT was the team we have watched and loved all year. Now I want to see them again for the next 2 games.

We did not even score until the 7th inning. 8 runs in 3 innings. You know the Rays are stunned. Yay!

All I seem to be able to say is Wow. That was SO awesome. Absolute joy right there. And the fact that everyone contributed...Pedroia, Ortiz, Crisp (WHAT an at bat!!), Drew (what a way to end it, for real), Papelbon, Masterson keeping us in the lead and getting that double play ball...what an amazing game.

I feel like I could run 20 miles after that game, I am so excited and pumped up. I really need to get some studying done, but all I can think about is how much I freaking ADORE this team!!

All Tied Up

It is 13-5 in the top of the 8th. 6 different Red Sox batters have hit home runs (Ortiz, Lowell, Bay, Varitek, Youkilis, and Ellsbury).

They will not lose this game.

Not even me writing this post before the final out can screw up this one.

TIED FOR FIRST PLACE!!!!!

Dumb Fest

Another day, another loss, another game closer to being out of the postseason.

Everything that could go wrong is going wrong. Pitchers can't make it through 5 innings, the offense is hitting ground ball after ground ball after fly out, Cleveland is taking advantage of every opportunity they get. Beckett is going on Thursday, the one positive thing we have to look forward to. The offense better bring it, and by that, I mean Pedroia, Drew, Crisp, Lugo, Varitek...oh screw it, I mean ALL OF THEM.

I guess we're in it for the long haul, now we have to have 7 games instead of the 4 that I hoped for before the series began.

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!

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!

Not So Great, That One

That game didn't go according to plan.

Wakefield was off, as was our offense. Things that were not off? NY's offense and pitching. So all of that made for a bad combo.

In positive news (well, sort of positive), Bronson Arroyo gave up 6 runs in 2 innings (and then came out) and he didn't get a loss. His bullpen only allowed one run over the next 7 innings and Washington imploded. So at least one good thing happened today.

It Ended

I guess it had to end sometime. The good pitching. Just...why did it have to be Wakefield? He was doing quite okay, I'm sad he had to have such a bad outing. 5 runs over 7 innings wouldn't usually be horrible, since the Sox offense has been so productive, but you know how they feel about Tim - they only gave him 2 runs of support.

And Tavarez goes tomorrow.

Prepare to lose.

What Got Into Them?

And they're back on track.

After what was apparently a very restful off day, the bats were HUGE tonight. Youkilis, Pedroia, Lowell, and Varitek each came through with home runs, and Lugo hit a double to grab an RBI. Final score? 9-2. Not to mention Beckett pitched 7 solid innings and only gave up one run. That makes him 7-0, which is just AWESOME.

And this Clemens business? That is why I never got excited about the possibility he'd come to Boston - because deep down, we all knew there was NO chance. I'm sure he thinks he can swoop into NY and be their pitching savior. Which...we'll see. But I'm thinking no.

I Knew I Shouldn't Have Done That

I knew if I posted they would lose!

Tavarez got the loss last night, which is cruel because he only gave up 2 runs and he pitched 6 innings. He only allowed 4 hits too! Boston's offense just couldn't come up with anything to counter Minnesota's strong pitching, and in fact only Dustin Pedroia was able to come up with an RBI to get one run on the board. Ortiz was 0-for-5.

Today's tiebreaker starts at 2:10, with Schilling pitching against Sidney Ponson. He has a 6.67 ERA, so this is a good opportunity to get the offense back on track. Though the lineup has a few notables missing:
1. Coco Crisp, CF
2. Alex Cora, SS
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Eric Hinske, LF
9. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

Manny and Lugo are taking a break for this one.

And just because it could be really cool, "'Faithful,' the book about the '04 BoSox written by diehards Stephen King and Stewart O'Nan, is coming to HBO. The cable network is creating a six-part miniseries based on the improbable dream season, which culminated in a World Series win." Maybe we will see it next year; more info here.

They Must End

I so wanted 8 losses in a row, but I guess all things that are fantastic must end eventually. But it would have been nice if NY's losing streak had ended after the Boston series.

Of course, after I mentioned the fact that NY had no saves yesterday, they had to get one today. I should keep my mouth shut about those things!

Even though Boston's offense was quite bad (so many, MANY chances to score all blown), there's always tomorrow. And those bats better be on fire tomorrow, since Julian Tavarez will take the mound against Wang. And we are still in first place, and NY is still in last. Things are as they should be.

And what was with Mike Lowell's errors today? Both when Jeter hit the ball right to him! Time to fix whatever the problem was there.

Today I saw a picture and suddenly realized what all the Yankee fans are truly thinking when they see Manny. I thought, since I am so enlightened now, I shall share with my wonderful readers:

Mistake of the (Yester)Day: Mentioning Coco's bad hair. Because now it's even worse!

It Happened Again

Tim Wakefield got 4 more runs of support than he usually gets - which is, of course, zero. Three solo shots by Lowell, Mirabelli, and (of course) Ortiz contributed 75% of the runs, with a RBI-single by Mirabelli adding the final blow. Wakefield pitched brilliantly, going 7 innings and only giving up one run. Only 4 hits, too. His ERA? 1.35! With my track record, I'll probably be seeing him when I go to the game in September, but if this keeps up I won't mind so much.

Coco's struggles continued - he went 0-for-4 and his average dropped to .136. At least he's not alone with his problems: Manny is batting .191 and Pedroia is only .188. Eh, no biggie. They'll get in their respective grooves soon.

I Was Duped

Hey! The game was on FOX! I was Gameday-ing it until the bottom of the 2nd inning when my mom informed me of the great news. Of course I still had GD up because it does provide some good stats. Like how Schilling only threw 14 pitches through the first 2 innings.

Mike Lowell made a really nice diving catch in the 3rd, then in the bottom half of the same inning Hinske started things off with a triple off the wall. It was pretty, especially because Ortiz and Manny were right behind him in the lineup. But...they did nothing. Drew walked, and then Lowell was walked but the umpire was drunk and called the 4th ball a strike, but he did walk eventually. So they had bases loaded in the 2nd and nothing happened, now the bases were loaded again (remember last season how many, MANY times they loaded the bases and did nothing?)..Varitek hit a hard ball to Matthews in center field, and it looked like Matthews might have it but the ball went right off his glove and 2 runs scored!

Another run scored in the 4th on a wild pitch. LA's 3rd pitcher of the day and he'd only thrown like 2 pitches.

The 6th inning was a pretty good one for the Sox - the first 2 men in the order made outs, so it didn't look like it would be very special. Then came the magic: 2 walks readied things for Big Papi, who RBI-singled to Vlad. Not to be outdone, Ramirez also RBI-singled in a run to make it 5-0. J.D. Drew couldn't keep it going, but at the end of the inning, things were looking pretty good for another Boston victory.

And it was David Ortiz who made the day with an 8th inning 3-run home run to make it a little worse for the Angels.

Schilling pitched a fabulous 8 innings and allowed no runs at all. I was hoping he'd come out for the 9th, but it was not to be. Donnelly closed out the game by pitching a scoreless one.

Another huge win for Boston. Man, what has gotten into them lately? Whatever it is, I like it. And they should most definitely keep it up.

Can They Keep it Going?

I've been away and the Sox have been destroying. Except for that Matsuzaka start, that wasn't such a great one. But since then, they've only had to play one game because of the rain, and they just pummeled the Angels in a 10-1 victory yesterday. The most surprising part of that win wasn't the huge offensive production (that's to be expected, right?), it was the huge offensive production in a game pitched by Tim Wakefield. I was amazed. Tim was pretty awesome himself, pitching 7 innings and only allowing that one run on 5 hits. Please note though, that 6 of the 10 runs were scored in the 8th, after Wakefield came out!

I had kind of given up on good old Tim, but if he keeps pitching the way he's pitched his 2 games...ooh man, we might have an ace. Not to get too far ahead of myself, though.

The game today starts in just over 30 minutes, and I do not think it is on TV. Which sucks. If only the stupid baseball channels on Comcast didn't cost a million dollars! Thankfully, the new and improved Gameday will keep me in the game.

So I'm watching tennis now, and my favorite player Jelena Jankovic is playing Venus Williams in this marathon match. They are in the 3rd set tiebreak, and man, they're playing some good tennis out there today. Venus is back, man. Of course, I'm cheering against her, but...J.J. won! AWESOME match.

Now That's a Beating

The Boston Red Sox put on QUITE a show today.

14-3!

Pitching: Beckett pitched SEVEN innings and gave up ONE run. Could this be his year??

(Who gave up the other 2 runs? None other than Timlin. How many guesses did you need?)

Offense: RBI leaders for the day: Drew and Varitek, each with 3. You'd think with 14 runs there would have been a lot of home runs, but there was only 1, by Mr. Drew, and it came early (2nd inning). Youkilis was 3-for-5, Lugo was 2-for-2, and Pena came in late and got hit by a pitch. Bad luck for him, but I want more Wily Mo! I like that guy.

Here's the man of the day, J.D. Yes, he's wearing #7, yes, I wish it was still Trot Nixon's number, but yes, I am happy he is on the team and doing well.

Bad Night

Javier Lopez came in after Julian Tavarez had a good inning (and he only ended up pitching 4) and gave up a triple with no outs. Tavarez had a great first inning, an okay second, a bad third, a good fourth, and then he was gone. Of course he did have 87 pitches, so that was probably why. He gave up 4 runs, all earned, all in one inning. If only that third inning hadn't happened, he would have had a pretty good outing.

So what happened after Lopez gave up the leadoff triple? Ground out x2, walk, fly out. He worked his way out of a pretty big jam. Nice work from Javier.

The Sox put together another run in the 6th inning, with Varitek RBI-doubling Drew home. That made it 4-3 in favor of Texas.

So in came Kyle Snyder, who gave up a double and got an out before he was replaced by J.C. Romero. Mistake? I'd say. He threw 3 balls and one strike before giving up a run, then let Sosa hit one out of the park to make it 7-3. Then a single, another single, maybe time to take him out??! Nope. Just a visit to the mound. Another single, this one an RBI. 8-3. FINALLY he came out and Brendan Donnelly came in. A little too late, if you ask me. It took Donnelly 22 pitches to get 2 outs, but hey, he got the outs and didn't give up any runs. I'm looking at you, ROMERO.

So Boston's offense was fed up with the bad pitching and decided they had to do something. Lugo started it off with a single, (Youk flied out), Ortiz walked, and Manny singled in Julio. Okay, down by 4 now. J.D. Drew popped out and made me miss Trot Nixon some more, Lowell did nothing, and I was wrong -- seems that only Lugo, Papi, and Ramirez wanted to do something about that awful score.

Okajima was 1-2-3. The one good thing.

Even though he had a perfect inning, Okajima was replaced by Pineiro in the 8th. But I'm not complaining, because he had a pretty good inning himself.

You know, it's really hard to get excited about games when you know there's a really good chance the bullpen will blow it in the end. This time, even though the relievers did give up a lot of runs, it didn't matter since the Sox offense didn't make up for Tavarez' earned runs. All in all, a very bad, forgettable game.

Oh yeah, and Youkilis hurt his ankle. Swell. Though, he should be ready to play again tomorrow. When Curt Schilling gets his first win of the season.

Funny Quote of the Day: Headline on redsox.com: Bullpen source of strength

Poor Timmy

I wasn't going to say anything about yesterday's game because it was just another loss. However, when I see headlines like this: "Wakefield Outdueled in Loss," I get a little upset and feel the need to comment.

This man

deserves a medal.

Why? It's the same thing I said all last season: HE NEVER GETS ANY RUN SUPPORT. It's like as soon as Tim Wakefield steps to the mound, his teammates' bats go cold. And it happens like every time he pitches. I just don't get it. Do they hate him? He seems like a nice guy. Why do they do this to him all the time? He only have up one earned run!!

Oh yeah, plus that whole Wakefield/Rangers mental thing he's got.

Someday, Tim. Someday you will only give up one run and actually get a win out of it.