Bobby Blows The Game: Sox Drop Last Game of Series

I'm not complaining about my team here. Sharky was on his game, and they could not get much going against him. Also, the home plate umpire gave Tampa almost another whole strike zone worth of strike zone. For reference, the last at bat of the game... Cody Ross saw, I  believe, five pitches outside of the strike zone. Three of them were called strikes, and he ended the game. Should he have swung, knowing that the umpire had a strike zone the size of Iceland? Sure. It doesn't make the umpire right though.

Daniel Bard was excellent. This was heads and shoulders above his last performance. Unfortunately, it was hot out, and Bard still isn't, in my opinion, as stretched out as other starters. What I mean is that he hasn't really had the chance to throw this many pitches as often as our other starters. In the seventh, after about 100 pitches and two outs, Bard lost it. A blind man could see that he lost it. The kid was clearly done. With relievers ready to go in the bullpen after a base  hit and a walk, Bobby V. did what any extremely knowledgeable baseball person would do.... he left the struggling starter in the game to walk two more consecutive batters, walking in the winning run.

Bobby screwed Daniel Bard on that. Bard should have been out of the game. Now, I'm all for letting your starters work themselves out of trouble on most occasions, but Bard had nothing left. He's still a converted bullpen guy, and the manager, the self proclaimed smartest guy in the room, should have been paying attention. In my eyes, this loss is on Valentine. And it's not just because I don't like him any more.

Still, the boys have nothing to be ashamed of. They won three pretty damn convincing games, and only lost by one run in their only loss. That, dear friends, is a successful series, if I do say so myself. Tonight, Jon Lester opens up a series with the Texas Rangers. In his first two starts this season, Lester has gotten just about no support. Let's see if the bats can give him a hand this time around.

Also, Washington Capitals? Milan Lucic is going to destroy you. It takes a really tough guy to attack someone from behind and then call him a crybaby. And I will reiterate the sentiments of Jack Edwards.... Lucic would make the crybaby gesture back to you, but he'd end up scratching his corneas with his championship ring. So.... there's that. Congratulations on win #2, Bruins! Two more to go....

Sox Demoralize Rays: More Success on Jackie Robinson Day

I want to start out by saying that I love, love, love the idea of all the players wearing #42 for Jackie Robinson Day. It's a wonderful tribute to a man who played an integral role in the history of baseball. I don't like, however, when I am on redsox.com trying to look up Jeff Bailey's uniform number so I can post my opening day pictures and all the numbers have been changed to #42. A minor issue, I guess. Just wanted to get my bitching out of the way.

For his second game of the season, Doubront again went five innings. He allowed nine hits and four runs with one walk and seven strikeouts. While the kid was pretty good, we really are going to need to get more than five innings out of him if he's going to be a worthwhile starter. That being said, he's young and I'm willing to give him the chance to adjust to the big leagues. I think he's going to be just fine.

For the second consecutive game, Ross and Calviles hit home runs. Ross went out of the park again. I'm sorry I doubted you, guys. Keep it up and I will gladly eat crow for the rest of the season.

The real beast though, is Papi. Is he on a tear or what? Granted, he was hitting the first six games of the season, but he's been destroying this weekend. 3-4 yesterday with an RBI, 4-5 Saturday with five RBI's, and 2-4 with 2 RBIs on Friday's game. With a .444 batting average, Papi is downright scary right now. I love it. I guess that's what happens when you  show up to camp looking as trim and fit as Papi did... and don't kid yourself, the dude looked good this year. The results at the plate are validating his extra work this offseason. It's pretty awesome.

Atch got a little roughed up, but he was saved by Padilla. Morales, though allowing two hits, had a good inning, and Sauce closed the door perfectly in the ninth. That ERA that used to be infinity is now down to 9.00. A few more innings like that, and he'll bring that baby down in no time.

Three wins in a row. The last time the Sox had three regular season wins in a row was July of last year. Seems like such a long time ago, doesn't it?

This morning's game brings Sharky to face Daniel Bard. I'm going to be interested to see how Bard fares against this Tampa lineup that is probably feeling mighty angry at losing three in a row to the Sox. As for Sharky, he's a mixed bag. I've seen the Sox beat the stuffing out of him, and I've seen him blow the Sox away. What we've got on our side is the fact that this is a big game for Sharky, trying to stop a four-game sweep.... and we all know the nickname Big Game James is normally more of a joke than a reality. This will be interesting.

Goats: All Goats

... Except Wakefield. Wakefield was what everyone else should have been. He was good. The rest of the team didn't bother to show up. I hate to do this, but I'm afraid I have to take away the rest of their off-days as punishment. It's for their own good, and believe me, I take no joy in it.

Especially bad for the night were Salty and Youkilis. Salty couldn't remember how to catch a knuckleball, and it scares me to be able to say that Varitek did a better job handling Wake. Youkilis grounded into two double plays. For chrissake, man, just strike out! Stop taking others down with you. CRW's double play was sandwiched between Youkilis's 3rd and 6th inning DPs. Also, Crawford leaving the bases loaded in the top of the first? Not acceptable.

Really, there's not much to say. Tommy Hottovy struggled. Alfredo Aceves couldn't stop the damage.... though it WAS limited damage. On a night where Wakefield only gives up two runs, you would expect the offense that put 14 runs on the board in their last game to at least make a game of it. They didn't. They weren't even in the park as far as I could tell. Tim deserved better, guys. He threw over 100 pitches for the first time since 2003 or some ridiculous year like that. You couldn't have managed to NOT ground into three double plays? You couldn't have maybe taken a few more pitches apiece from Sharky to get that pitch count up? He pitched nine full innings and only threw 110 pitches. See something wrong with that, guys?

Still, we have a game and a half lead over the Yankees, so it's not ALL bad, now is it? Winning streaks don't go on forever. Especially when Youkilis keeps grounding into double plays, damnit!

Joshua Patrick takes the ball at the Trop tonight, and a pack of bears look to turn Vancouver into Boston. I am going to be a ball of tightly wound nerves all day.

Cloud Nine: Lester and Sox at Nine Wins

Nine is a wonderful number. Ted Williams wore the number nine. There are nine position players in baseball. There are nine innings. I could probably make an effort to come up with more wonderful facts about the number nine that relate to baseball, but the best I have right now is that the Sox win streak is now nine. That win streak, for the most part, has been ridiculously decisive. The Boston boys have managed 83 runs over the course of this nine game win streak compared to the 36 that the A's, Yankees, and Blue Jays have managed to put up. File that under ‘good things.’ (I absolutely filed it under ‘good things.’)

Jonny had a perfect game through three and two-thirds innings. Yes, the same Jon Lester that had a really rough month of May. HE was perfect for a third of this game. Actually, aside from the Bautista home run, which really, I’m surprised he didn’t hit more off of us this season, Lester only allowed a single and a walk to Encarnacion in the fifth inning and eighth inning respectively. He pitched eight, collecting eight strikeouts and lowering his ERA to 3.73. There’s something so appealing about a low ERA. I wish I could accurately describe my appreciation. I can’t. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that Jonny looked good. It’s great to see him jump back on track like this. Hopefully he doesn’t regress back into May.

The Sox only managed to squeak by with 17 hits and 14 runs in this one. I know, it’s not eighteen hits and sixteen runs like the game before, but we can’t be greedy, can we? Apparently, we can. Ernie got the offense going in the first inning with a solo home run. Two innings later, he grounded out a brought the second run home. Youkilis followed that up with an RBI single, bringing the score to 3-0. Jonny gave a run back in the bottom of the fourth, and then it was bedlam from there on out.

In the fifth, CRW singled and was brought home by a Munchkin home run. Did I mention that his knee is ok? Because his knee is ok. An Ernie double and a Youkilis walk later, Ortiz stepped up and launched his second fifth inning three-run home run in two days. He must like the fifth inning. I know I’ve been enjoying them. With the bases clear and nobody out, Drabek came out of the game and his replacement allowed singles to Crawford, Salty, and Scutaro. Scutaro picked up an RBI, and it was 9-1 Sox.

Scoring picked right back up in the sixth inning. Munchkin walked, Youkilis doubled him in, Ortiz doubled Youkilis in, and Salty doubled Ortiz in. Three more runs. But wait, there’s more! In the ninth, with CRW on base, Youkilis hit a two-out two-run home run to cap off the scoring for the weekend and to add just a little insult to injury. His home run was like a ‘yo mama’ joke after spending two hours worth of taking a lead pipe to someone’s spine. Yeah, it was insulting, but they are in too much pain to care.

Needless to say (but I’m going to say it anyway), that was a pretty spiffy weekend from our red stocking-d friends. I hope they spend their off-day napping and doing whatever they were doing before every game this week, because it was working. Tuesday brings us Wakefield vs. Sharky Shields… who I would take great pleasure in humiliating on the mound so…. Yeah. I don’t think I’m asking for much.

Papi: Stepping Up Against Sharky

I like when the Sox beat Sharky Shields. Truth be told, I like it when they beat just about anyone. Wins are fantastic. They're extra-fantastic when coupled with a Yankees loss that puts us just one game out of first. Everyone likes being in first place. I know I do. Our wounded warriors do, too.

Sharky was a formidable opponent through the first four innings, only allowing a couple of hits and a walk or two. We squandered some early opportunities, and this game looked like it was going to be a tight pitcher's duel. Luckily for us, Lackey decided to man up last night and threw seven innings of 8-hit, 1-run baseball. He didn't allow that run to come across until the Sox had a 5-run lead. I still don't like John Lackey, and I'm not sure if I ever will, but we needed a good start, and a win, from him and he delivered in relatively convicing fashion.

But, back to Sharky. He was swimming along though four innings just fine. His pitch count was a little high, but the Sox tend to make pitch counts rise pretty effectively when they're actually trying. After a Cameron single and a Scutaro double, Papi stepped to the plate and smacked a three-run shot into the right field box seats, reminding us that before Pedroia went all laser show on us, he was the one who was carrying the team. It was a nice reminder. I guess that the breakthrough against Sharky was all we needed to rattle him, because after getting Youk out to end the 5th, he came back for the sixth (with his pitch count at 98), hit JD with a pitch, and gave up consecutive singles to Beltre and Tek, scoring Drew. Dan Wheeler, Sharky's replacement, would allow a single to Daniel Nava to drive in Beltre, and we led it 5-0. They compiled three more runs on a Varitek sac fly and a Bill Hall 2-run home run.

I don't remember what inning it was, but when Beltre almost crashed into Tek, I was holding my breath. Luckily, they didn't actually collide, but if they had.... I don't know, I don't think Tek would break the way Wolverine and CRW did. Tek is built like a linebacker. This, however, does not mean I want him running into Beltre's knees just to prove that he won't break. Not at all. And seriously, someone needs to talk to Beltre about not smashing into his team mates. Does this guy pay attention to his surroundings at all? It's very concerning. I'm glad Tek is ok, but it was too close for comfort.

After Lackey, it seemed it was going to be a nice easy win requiring only one, maybe two relief pitchers to close it out. Nope. Why on Earth would they make it that easy? It took five relief pitchers to close out 2 innings. Oki allowed 2 runs in 2/3rds of an inning. Bard had to come in to close out the eighth for him. Atch started the ninth, allowing a walk and a single (and stolen bases and such) before getting Longoria to pop out. Tito pulls Atch, brings in Richardson, who strikes out Pena and then allows a quick 2-run single to Ben Zobrist. Now Richardson is out. Paps comes in for a technical save and gets Willy Aybar to end the game without any further trouble. It shouldn't have been that difficult, but it was. It's fine. It's a win. We're one game back.

And not for nothing, but I'm in love with the Red Sox rain delay commercial that NESN has been showing. Tito in that wig? Priceless.

Pitching and Defense: Finally Getting Around To Winning Games

Oh, Jon Lester, how I love you. Jon and his pirate friends were able to shut out the Rays 2-0 yesterday, limiting the AL East leaders to one hit for the night. Yep, one hit. That ups the number of one-hitters that Jason Varitek has caught to six. Sure, Jonny only lasted six innings, but Clay only lasted six innings this time around, too. The Rays were definitely making our pitching staff work, and we ended up surrenduring six walks, but the pitching staff also accumulated 12 strikeouts. Hey, whatever. Wins don't have to be glamorous, though this one was on the verge of glamorous. According to Remy and Don, the only other game Sharky has lost this season was Dallas Braden's perfect game. So is it safe to say that Sharky will only win when his team gets two or more hits? Anyway, between Jon and the bullpen, our pitching was solid, which is just beyond fantastic to see. I really hope we can keep on this roll.

It was a heck of a game. Where do I start? How about the strike zone? It was a tad ridiculous, and between the two teams, nine walks were still issued. I'm not going to get all high and mighty about how the Rays should just shut their yaps and not complain about the strike zone. Was it professional? No, absolutely not. As funny as it was to see Crawford and Maddon ejected from the game last night, it's really just a piece in the bigger picture of the season. I feel that this season, more than any in recent memory, has seen the umpiring be absolutely horrible. This isn't the first time there's been a ridiculous strike zone. A lot of games I'll watch on TV AND on Gameday, just because I like getting the general idea of where a pitch is when it goes over the plate. The results have been maddeningly inconsistent. I absolutely think Crawford and Maddon should have been ejected, but perhaps the umps might need to look at their own game data to find out why hitters are getting so mad.


And oh, David Ortiz. I love how now that Papi is back on track, all the people who were complaining to me a month ago that David needs to be released, or beaten or whatever, are all proud of him. One guy who works with me has come over the last two days saying 'what about that David Ortiz, huh? He won the game last night.' My response was something along the lines of 'glad we didn't release him like you wanted, huh?' and the guy just laughs. I take verbal attacks on Papi very seriously, and I don't think people who gave up on him a month ago deserve to brag about how well he's doing now. But it's cool. Get back on the Papi bandwagon for now. I swear, though, I better not hear these same people complaining again the next time Papi slumps. And he WILL slump. It's part of the game. David locked this game up for us and Jon last night. His two-RBI double was all we needed. Which is good, because it's all we could get. I loved it. I love seeing David win games. That was a glimmer of clutchness, wasn't it? Maybe his clutchness is starting to come back already!

I am going to give Beltre some credit here. Our defense last night was terrific. Actually, in the last five days, no one on the team has committed an error, so everybody is doing their job. How could I even fathom complaining about that? It amazes me what a difference three weeks made. My first post of May was complaining about how horrible they were playing and how I didn't even want to watch them any more. Of course, the night after I posted that, I totally wanted to watch them again, because I love baseball, and I love the Sox. But just three weeks ago, everything seemed so dire, and all of a sudden, they clicked. We're on our longest winning streak of the season. I'm pretty sure we're on the longest error-less streak of the season. We've had six quality starts in the last seven games. It's such a nice change. It's so nice to see a talented team actually utilize their talent.

Tonight, John Lackey will be on the mound against Camel. Oh man, does Matt Garza bother me. Everything about him bothers me. There's nothing I want to see more than Lackey rebounding from his craptacular outings with a W against Garza. But hell, my niece is performing a concert tonight, so I'll be getting updates on my phone. Even if he doesn't have a good game, I won't be able to see it. I'm not actually holding my breath for the sweep, but it would be nice.

Hi September: It's Been So Long!

Um.... well. This is awkward. I know, dear blog, that we haven't talked in a while. And I know I've promised to check in with you, and tell you about all of my crazy baseball adventures, and go off on tangents about as many games as possible. But I haven't. I've been lazy, and I feel terrible about it.

OK - so it's not as much laziness as it is busy-ness. I'm in grad school, after all. And I work full time. Plus, I like to go and see my friends on occassion. So, just because I didn't write up a long review of Progressive Field, Wrigley Field, and US Cellular Field doesn't mean that I don't love you. I do, and I always will. Anyway.

Last night was my last game of the season. I don't have tickets for any other games and now that the weather is getting (staying?) cold again, I won't have any will to be at Fenway. Those cold games, I prefer to watch them from the warmth and comfort of my own home. Does that make me a bad fan? I don't know. I'd like to think not. This game, back to the point, worked out incredibly well for me. I was SUPPOSED to see Dahmer vs. Camel, and that didn't make me happy. I don't care for Dahmer, and I am absolutely disgusted by Camel. HOWEVER, due to my favorite rain delay of all time, Jon Lester's game got bumped to Sunday, and I ended up seeing him instead. Lester vs. Sharky. Yeah, I loved this match-up too.... and if you don't think that James Shields looks like a shark, then you aren't paying attention. Strangely enough, the best picture I was able to get for the night was of James Shields smiling and looking ridiculously un-shark-like. I missed Lester in the pen due to traffic, and when I got to the park, Shields was warming. Someone remind me, and I'll post that picture tonight.

I felt good about the game right from the start. Seeing Lester walk out to the mound with that Beckett-esque strut he has developed, I knew he was going to be good. And he was good. He was bloody freakin' good! 8 IP, 0 ER... couldn't have asked for a better outing. And Wags, nailing the door shut. Brilliant. Ew... Wags? That's a horrible nickname. That definitely won't do. I won't be calling Wagner that again. He hasn't prompted a nickname from me yet, but it definitely won't be Wags. Gag!

And oh.... my Varitek. I love that man dearly. There is no questioning my affection toward the Captain. Even I cringe when I see him come up to bat, especially with the bases loaded. He squandered 5 baserunners all on his own yesterday, but did manage to come up with a very lucky 2-run single. Oh, I screamed all right. Jumped right out of my chair, fists in the air. I don't care if that ball should have been a ground-out to end the inning. I was just thrilled that it wasn't. If this was the last game I will see Varitek in live, that was a great final memory of him to have. This time, I really think it's over. I don't think the team will pick up his option, and I think his pride won't let him pick up the player option. I don't even know if I'm really sad about it. He's way past his expiration date. Though, I have to say I want to see him stick around. I think he'd be a great bullpen catcher! Or coach. He'd make a fantastic coach, what with all his intangibles. And stuff.

I guess that's all I really have to say about that game. Great pitching matchup, great pitching PERFORMANCES (on both ends), offense where and when we needed it from the left field line (Bay, Lowell, and Tek), and perfect weather. You just can't ask for much more from Fenway Park on a Sunday in September.