Struggles of Ortiz

Last night after watching Farnsworth strike out Ortiz on his fastball and looking at his Batting average I got to thinking about how David has done since Farnsworth struck him out on 5/24 with the bases loaded on that curve ball. The numbers were quite surprising.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings.

Stat	1st 30 games	Next 13	Last 13	Season Total
At Bats	117	48	45	210
Hits	31	14	9	54
Aver.	.265	.292	.200	.257
HR’s	11	3	3	17
Walks	20 (4 int.)	3	12 (1 int)	35
OBP	.372	.333	.368	.364

As you can see, David in his first 30 games started off slow average wise, then seemed to be hitting his stride (at one point his average was over 300), and then came the Farnsworth bases loaded game. He has been dismal since that game with the only redeeming feature being his walks have went up. So, if you were wondering, he is indeed struggling, but I don’t think it’s so much the shift as it is to being in a funk after Farnsworth struck him out. Some times lately he looks lost at the plate, and I don’t see that big smile.

If it was me, I would just sit him down for a game or two and let him take some extra BP. Relax big fella, its time for you to get a breather.

Updated score by inning post.

game 56 - Yankees game 9

Update: Papi goes deep and Manny was robbed. grrrr - 2 - 1 loss. Thats now 4 straight losses to the yanks. grrrr.

Also Updated LOL watch.

No stats today, no gnashing the teeth about last night's thrashing, its a glorious day and there are still 3 more games to play in NY this week. Papi, Manny, Lowell, Youk, Tek and Nixon all go deep tonight. Thats my story, and I'm sticking to it.

As usual you can find ESPN's preview here.
Press pass from MLB.com is located here.

Besides I have a BD cake I need to eat.

1/3 of the season finished let us review

As usual all stats are from the day by day database at baseball musings and those that I keep on my own.

Tonight the Sox take on the Yankees but lets not get hasty and look at this coming 4 games yet, instead 1/3 of the season is done, so its time to recap our present situation and make our forecast for the next 1/3 of the season. I love baseball!

2005 vs 2006

First off let’s get the geek stats out of the way.

Presently, the Sox are ½ game ahead in the east division with a 33 and 21 record. Last year their record was 30 and 24 and they were 2 games back in the division.

Team batting average is presently .278 compared to last years .280. This produced 297 runs (67 home runs) this year compared to last years 294 runs (57 home runs).

So far this year the Sox have stolen 19 bases in 26 attempts. Last year they were 13 for 14 in this department.

The pitching has improved this year with a 4.60 ERA compared to last years 4.76 ERA. This improvement is due primarily to a better bullpen ERA as the starters are 25 and 18 with a 5.07 ERA. Last year the starters were 22 and 15 with a 4.78 ERA. The bullpen has improved tremendously with an 8 and 3 record, 21 saves in 23 chances, with an ERA of 3.60 (3rd best in the American League). Last year the team was 8 and 9, 12 in 16 with a 4.71 ERA.

Two other areas where the Sox improved are in the fielding statistics and batting average against. This year the gloves have a .990 fielding percentage (1^st in the majors), while last year the gloves (thank you Renteira) were dismal with a .982 percentage. Batting average against this year is .257 compared to last years .274.

2006 Pitching

Last but definitely not least there is one other pitching statistic. This year the Sox have had 27 Quality Starts, which is exactly 50 percent of all starts. The team has won 23 of those games. Hard luck pitcher of the year is Wakefield who has seen a loss in 3 of his 8 quality starts.

Opposing pitchers have thrown 17 quality starts with the Sox winning 6 of those (all wins came in quality starts by the Sox) and the 3 of those lost were also quality starts by the Sox. In fact there have been 9 games where both the Sox starter and the opposing starter pitched gems. A 6 and 3 record in those games is quite good. Of course, Wakefield has taken the brunt of these losses (2 of them). The pitching has been good enough that over 50% of the time that an opposing pitcher throws a gem, the Sox starter has been able to keep the team in the game.

So what does this mean? Well if 50 % of the time a Sox starter is going to throw a gem and the team is going to win 85% of those we can expect to win 69 quality starts in the year 2006. Considering that we are winning over 1/3 of the games where a quality start is not thrown, this will add another 30 wins. Projected from this is 99 wins. This is a 4 game improvement over last year.

In 54 games the starters have thrown 321 1/3 innings which averages a little less than 6 innings per start. The main work horses have been Schilling, Wakefield, and Beckett who have started 35 of the 54 games with a 4.11 ERA which is almost 1 run a game less than the starter ERA. These three have also averaged slightly over 6 1/3 innings a game. They are also responsible for 23 of the 27 quality starts this year. This would bode well for a three man rotation in the playoffs.

The bullpen this year has been anchored by Papelbon. When you start off the year giving up only 1 run in 28 innings and saving 21 games you are on the way to having a Rivera type season. Timlin and Van Buren also have ERA’s under 2, with Foulke, Dinardo, Tavarez and Seanez also less than 5.00 ERA’s. The bullpen is also averaging .77 strikeouts per inning.

Fielding 2006

We should not be surprised about the fielding this year. We acquired a gold glove 3^rd basemen, a gold glove caliber shortstop and second baseman and as a back up a gold glove 1^st basemen. The infield has lived up to its name. The only question mark coming in was how Youkilis would handle the switch to first. Well, so far he has been outstanding, 3 errors in 400 chances for a .993 percentage. While this is not gold glove stats it is very solid in the middle of the field.

The outfield has played solidly also and the return of Crisp should add speed and coverage.

Batting 2006

The Sox are 6^th in batting average in the majors, 5^th in the American League. In OBP they are second behind the Yankees. 8^th in the majors in slugging percentage, 7^th in the American League and 4^th in the majors in OPS behind, Toronto, Cleveland and Yankees.

Red Sox are averaging 5.5 runs a game which is 5^th in the majors and 4^th in the American League.

There are no Sox in the top ten of batting average, runs scored, hits, triples, or stolen bases at the present time (American League only).

Lowell is leading the league in doubles with 23. Ortiz is tied for 3rd in home runs with 16, is second in RBI’s with 50 and 8^th in walks with 34. Manny is 4^th in walks with 42 followed by Youkilis with 38 taking the 5^th spot. Youkilis, Ramirez, and Nixon are 5 – 7 in OBP. Manny is the only Sox to break the top ten in slugging (10^th) and OPS (6^th).

So while the major top ten is scattered with Sox players there is no one who really jumps out and says that one person is having a big MVP type year. Lowell and Youkilis are leading the team with .320 and .313 batting averages.

My Thoughts

The first 54 games have shown us a team that is gritty with the glove and capable of getting big timely hits. No big surprises with the bats except for Ortiz’s and Variteks batting average, all other starters are hitting close to their career averages and those who aren’t are not letting their failures with the bat affect their fielding.

The team is over .500 in wins by all margins of 3 runs (+10 in 32 games) or less which bodes well for the dog days of August. As long as the team keeps it close they win the majority of the time.

Over half of their games have been against their division with only the Yankees and Toronto (7 losses to Toronto) giving them fits. It will be good for the team to start playing the other divisions in the next 1/3 of the season.

I see no reason why this team can not continue their present pace. I look for them to be no worse than 66 and 42 next 1/3 break in the season.

Hope you enjoyed!!!!

game 55 - Yankees game 8

As usual all stats are from the day by day database at baseball musings.

The start of a 4 game series with the Yankees. So far the sox are ahead in the season series 4 games to 3. The next time the boys will face the rivals will be a 5 game series in Boston in August. Tonight its Beckett vs Mussina. Mussina has been the ace of the Yankee staff. Beckett has been the number two man for the Sox after Schilling. Last time the teams faced each other in the Bronx Beckett won game 1 over Johnson, Mussina won game 2 beating Schilling and Wakefield took the rubber game. Papelbon has only saved one of the 4 wins so far against the Yankees.

Beckett's stats in the Yankee game in the Bronx (only time he has faced them this year) was 7 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs which is a 3.86 ERA. A quality start that gave him the win.

Mussina was almost as good with 6 1/3 innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs which is a 4.26 ERA. One of the 17 quality starts thrown against the sox this year.

I expect two gritty teams to battle two quality starters. This game will probably come down to the clutch hit.

ESPN.com preview can be found here.
MLB.com press pass found here.

Game 53 - Tigers game 2

As always all stats are from the day by day database found at Baseball Musings, a valuable tool for any die hard fan and prognosticator.

Wakefield faces Bonderman today, both pitchers have very similiar stats for the season with Bonderman ahead in wins and Wake having the better ERA.

Bonderman has started 3 games against the Sox at home the last two years. He has a 5.19 ERA with 2 wins and 1 loss in those starts. Only one of the starts would be classified as a quality start. In all 6 of his starts against the Sox, Bonderman is 2 and 4 with a 6.25 era and 2 quality starts.

Wakefield has started 18 games (6 quality starts) against the Tigers over the last 11 years. At Detroit Timmy is 4 and 3 with a 6.12 ERA over 42 2/3 innings. As a starter overall he has a 12 and 5 record with a 4.46 ERA. In his last two appearances at Comerica, Wake has gone 12 innings giving up 10 runs (including that 6 hr game on 8/8/2004). This is a 7.50 ERA for those two games but he is also 2 and 0 in those games. Out of the 8 games started in Detroit tim has had 2 quality starts.

ESPN.com preview found here.
MLB.com press pass found here.

Game 52 - Tigers game 1

UPDATE: YOOOOUUUUUK

As always all stats are from the day by day database found at Baseball Musings, a valuable tool for any die hard fan and prognosticator.

Game 1 of a 3 game series starts tonight where two of the league leaders in wins face each other. Schilling pitched a very good game in his last outing against Tampa Bay and I think this will continue. Rogers on the other hand was lit up like a firecracker against Cleveland, going 4 1/3 innings and giving up 5 runs. The Indians are similar to the Sox, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him struggle again tonight.

In his career Rogers has started 11 games at home against the Red Sox (46 appearances). The gambler has a 4 and 1 record with a 4.86 ERA in these games. Only 3 could be classified as a quality start. He has started a total of 24 games, going 9 and 6 with a 5.30 ERA. Only two of his road starts would be classified as a quality start.

Overall, including his 22 relief appearances Rogers is 11 and 7 against the Sox with a 4.93 ERA. Lots of history here against this pitcher and I think that will count against him tonight.

Schilling on the other hand has never started a game in Detroit, but has made 4 appearances (2 starts with Ariz. - 2 relief appearances), 1 in Detroit last year which he lost. In both starts, the Schill was 1 and 1 with a 4.50 ERA and 1 quality start. His relief appearance are to say the least forgettable (maybe unforgettable would be correct). Total of 1 inning 6 hits, 5 earned runs, 0 balls and 2 K's for a whopping 45.00 ERA. Overall his total ERA is 7.20.

I think you will see Schilling be aggressive inside, forgo velocity for placement and produce a gem.

ESPN.com preview is here.
Press release for tonight can be found here.

Game 50 - Jays game 10

As usual, all stats come from the day by day database at Baseball Musings.

Well, Clement did nothing to gain my confidence yesterday, Theo, release the boy because you sure can’t trade him. For those of you with an iron stomach you can read all about it here.

Today its Chacin vs Beckett and that should be a quality game. Chacin has made one start in his career at home against the Sox and his pitching line was 6 – 7 – 1 – 0 – 0 – 2 – 2 which makes it a 0.00 ERA at home against the Sox. Overall in four games he is 2 and 0 with a 5.49 ERA in 19 2/3 innings.

All of Beckett’s starts against the Jays are this year. He has made one start at Toronto (the extra inning fiasco remember) with a pitching line of 7 1/3 – 5 – 5 – 5 – 3 – 2 – 3 for a 6.14 ERA. In three games he is 1 and 0 with a 4.66 era over 19 1/3 innings.

From what I can tell Beckett is 5 and 0 after a loss this year with 3 ND. Unfortunately all of those ended up being losses. Still, after eight losses he has given the team a chance to win in all of those losses and I will take that any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

I fully expect Beckett to pitch a whale of a game, of course Chacin being a leftie, I expect him to pitch good also. I expect a tight game tonight, with the boys hanging on at the end to go back up 3 1/2 games.

ESPN.com preview here.
MLB.com preview here.
Press Release found here.

Si's Power Rankings

Mentioned that I had taken a look at ESPN's power ranking the other day, and was confused by both the Tigers and Sox having lower rankings than the teams that are currently in second place in their divisions. This ranking is definitely more to my liking and makes better arguments (I think) . Enjoy!!!

Game 49 - Toronto game 9

As always all stats are from the Day by Day database at Baseball Musings.

Roy Halladay vs Matt Clement tonight. Halladay is 6 and 1 this year with a 2.77 ERA in 9 games. His last win was the 23rd against Tampa Bay, pitching 8 2/3 innings and allowing only 1 Earned Run. In his career at home against the Sox (as a starter), Halladay is 5 and 2 with a 3.42 ERA in 11 starts. He has also appeared in 3 games as a reliever at home pitching 5 1/3 innings with an 18.56 ERA. Total stats home and away has Halladay appearing in 25 games, 1 complete game, 8 wins, 6 losses, 119 K's, 41 Walks and a 4.49 ERA.

Clement (who I think I will call DHL for deer in head lights) has made 3 starts against the Blue Jays in Toronto (all with the Sox). His record in those games are 1 and 1 (the win this year) with a 5.71 ERA in those 3 games. His shortest outing was the win this year when he went 5 1/3 innings allowing 2 earned runs. In 7 games total against the Jays he is 2 and 3 (both wins this year) with a 7.34 ERA.

MLB.com preview is here.
ESPN.com preview is here.
Press Release found here.

I fully expect DHL to stink up the place. He is the most aggravating of all of the Boston starters. In 9 starts this year he has had 3 quality starts. The team record is 5 and 4 (only Wakefield has worst at 5 and 6), due to the fact that the bats pound out 5.90 runs per game. Well, with Halladay pitching I do not expect 5.9 runs tonight. I hate to say it but I fully expect this game to be a big L (making the Sox 3 and 6 vs the Jays this year).

Home Games

Well, thought I would post the scoring by innings of the Sox in their home games.

Games	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	extra
48 all	Boston	20	20	15	9	13	20	13	17	5	n/a
24 home	Opp	8	19	13	15	14	8	11	9	13	n/a

As you can see the Sox have scored the most in the 1st, 2nd, and 6th innings. The low number in the 9th represent the only 2 come from behind wins at Fenway this year (24 home games). Presently Sox are 16 and 8 at home, and 14 and 10 on the road.

Schillings 200 win and other stuff

Schilling pitches 7 strong innings followed by Foulke and Papelbon to win his 200th game, only the 4th to do it in a Sox uniform (last one Tiant). Was a quick game too, 2:46 and Schilling became the first 8 game winning al pitcher this year. Game Recap at ESPN.com can be found here. Have a chance to sweep tommorrow afternoon (well actually today).

Just took a look at the ESPN.com power rankings. What I don't understand is that the White Sox(1) and Yankees(5) are both rated above their division leaders. Ok, I can understand the Sox being one over the Tigers(2), but the Yankees above the Sox(6)?

Last time I looked the Sox have a winning record against the Yankees and lead them by two games and I don't buy that Wakefield is more and more looking like a non reliable starter. True he has an ERA over 4.5, but out of 10 starts he has pitched 6 quality starts. With better run support(3.9 pg) his record could easily be 6 and 3. The next lowest support for the team is Schilling (5.6). The team record in his starts is 4 and 6 which is the only one below 500. Wakefield has always been streaky and I expect his streak to start being W's starting today (13 - 2 against the Rays).

Game 46 - Devil Rays game 8

As always all stats are from the Day by Day database at Baseball Musings.

Wells is making his first start since his rehab start last weekend. I am not sure what to expect from him on this start since he only threw 66 pitches in 5 innings in that start. What we do know is that historically Wells is 10 and 1 ( 19 starts) with a 2.91 ERA in his career against the Devil Rays. At Fenway David is 2 and 0 in 2 starts with a 1.29 ERA (14 innings pitched).

I fully expect Wells to be limited to 75 or 80 pitches, the key is how efficient he will be with those pitches. This is his first start for the Sox since April 12 (a loss) against Toronto.

Kazmir has been a major pain to the Sox these last 2 years ( first start against Boston 9/14/2004). He has started 5 games at Fenway with a 3 and 1 record and a 2.54 ERA over 28 1/3 innings. I just noticed that he has went w - l - w - nd - w in those games (loss is due baby). In his three wins he has given up 1 earned run over 17 2/3 innings. This year he is 2 and 0 against the Sox (both of his wins came in quality starts by Schilling and Wakefield 2 of the 3 losses that have occurred in 23 quality starts this year.

What I expect is a close game that may come down to the bullpens. Lets hope that we are the winners in that.

ESPN.com preview here.
MLB.com preview here.

Press Release here.

(had a much longer post originally but blogger lost it grrrr)

Game 45 - Devil Rays Game 7

Beckett goes to the mound in game 1 of a 4 game series tonight. Out worthy opponent will by Waechter. Beckett is 6 and 1 while Waechter is 0 and 2. Beckett has never faced the Devil Rays in his career (baseball musing as usuall for the stats).

From MLB.com
Scouting Report:
Beckett was masterful with his fastball in his last start, leading the Red Sox to a win over the Phillies. He struck out just four, but kept Philadelphia hitters at bay until an eighth inning three-run home run by Ryan Howard. Finishing the seventh inning is nothing new for him; he's done it in seven of his nine starts. Beckett has not faced the Devil Rays in either of the two series between the teams this year.

Waechter has faced the Sox twice at Fenway (both last year), his pitching line in those games are 2 gs, 2 losses, 9 innings pitched, 13 hits, 13 runs, 11 earned runs, 3 hrs, 4 BB, 5 K's and an 11.00 ERA. To say the least he has not been impressive at Fenway except in his one relief appearance where he went 3 innings without any runs.

For all games (6 starts, 1 relief) he has pitched 30 innings, gone 1 and 2 with an ERA of 6.27. Obviously, he pitches better at home.

From MLB.com
Scouting Report:
Waechter made his first start out of the bullpen on Saturday after missing a turn in the rotation because of an off-day. He allowed three runs over six innings on six Marlins hits, walking three and striking out two. It was a big improvement from his last outing, in which he allowed seven runs on 11 hits over seven innings in his longest outing of the year. Waechter lasted just 2 2/3 innings at Boston April 19, surrendering seven runs (six earned) on five hits and three walks for his first loss of the season. He is 1-2 all-time with a 6.27 career ERA against Boston.

Some pretty good stuff in the press pass but am pressed for time you can read it yourself here.

ESPN.com's preview is here.

My thoughts, I look for the Sox to come out in overdrive tonight against this young right hander and I expect lots of scoring (save some for the other games boys). Beckett will continue to pitch well against this young team. Looking for his 7th win to be recorded tonight.

Don't remember where I saw it today but Maddon said he might not do the 34 defense tonight. We will have to wait and see.

Game 44 - Yankees game 7

From Baseball Musings we are able to see that Randy Johnson is 2 and 0 at Fenway with a 5.23 ERA in 3 starts. Only one of these has been a quality start and that was the Sunday game last October that clinched the playoffs for the Yankees (yes, I did not say the division because before the Wild Card there would have been a playoff). Interestingly, he has given up 7 home runs in just under 21 innings during those games. Overall, with Seattle and the Yankees he has started 12 games at Fenway with a 6 and 2 record and a 4.32 ERA.
From MLB.com Scouting report: Johnson tries yet again to straighten himself out, having struggled in each of his past five starts and six of his last seven. Johnson was hit hard by the Red Sox on May 9, giving up seven runs in 3 2/3 innings, though only two of the runs were earned. The Big Unit has walked 15 batters in his last five starts, striking out 18.

Clement has started one game against the Yankees at Fenway and lost big. He pitched 2 2/3 innings giving up 6 earned runs on 5 hits and 5 walks. One of the hits was a home run and he had 4 k's in that game. Overall against the Yankees he is 1 and 1 with a 5.54 ERA in 3 starts, all with the Red Sox.
From MLB.com Scouting report: Clement has been the model of inconsistency, alternating wins and losses for his last five starts. The common theme in his good starts has been late struggles. Twice he has thrown six scoreless innings, but has ended up allowing a total of seven runs in those two games. In his last start, he held the Phillies to one run on three hits through six, but gave up two more runs before departing in the seventh. Clement has not faced the Yankees this season and is 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA in three lifetime starts against New York.

So, now that I have thrown out these facts and figures what do I think will happen? Well, I expect it to be a slugfest. Johnson is struggling and struggling pitchers do not usually do well against patient teams, but if the Sox let him off the hook then there could definitely be problems.

Clement has been up and down this year (see previous posts on his games for my thoughts on Clement) and he could be up but, I think the Yankees are the type of team that causes him to struggle, they are patient, they make you throw strikes and they do not mind taking walks. When people get on base against Clement, he really slows down the game and that puts the defense on their heels. Now, of course since I just said I expect him to meet or exceed his 20.25 era against the Yankees at Fenway watch him go out and pitch a 1 hitter (yeah right).

From the press release - this is the best start for the Sox since 2003. Boston is also 4 - 2 in games decided by 2 runs this year. Opposing lefties are 1 and 2 with a 5.94 ERA in their last 4 outings against Boston, with the Sox going 3 - 1 in those contests....Lefties were 4 - 0 with a 1.45 ERA in the previous 5 starts. For the season lefties are 7 and 5 with a 3.17 ERA in 14 outings.

ESPN.com preview here.

Game 43 - Yankees game 6

Wakefield vs Wright in game 2 of this 3 game series. Pulling data from Baseball Musings I see that Timmy has started 13 games for the BoSox at Fenway against the Yankees with 4 wins and 7 losses and a 5.18 ERA in those starts. Since 2003 Wake is 2 and 4 at home in these games. 6 of his 13 starts have been quality starts with a 2 and 0 record in those games.

Overall Wake has appeared in 41 games vs the Yankees and has a 9 and 12 record with 1 save. The ERA for these games is 4.47 during that time.

From MLB.com

Wakefield suffered a loss in his last start, giving up eight hits and four runs over seven innings. He is 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season. Wakefield is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in his first four starts of May. He was the winning pitcher in a 5-3 win over the Yankees on May 11, and is 2-4 with a 4.19 ERA in eight starts in the series the last two seasons.

Jaret Wright has started 2 games at Boston as a Yankee with a 1 and 1 record and a 5.40 ERA. Adittionally he has started 3 other games as an Indian with no decisions in those games. His overall ERA at Fenway is 5.92 in those starts. 1 start was a quality start with the a no decision in that start. Besides the 5 games he has started at Fenway he has also started 4 other games vs the Sox as an Indian (3 games) and a Brave. His overall record is 1 and 4 with a 7.30 ERA in these 9 games.

From MLB.com

Wright looks to follow up a solid outing against the Rangers, in which he threw six scoreless innings before allowing three runs in the seventh. Wright went 1-1 with a 5.40 ERA in two starts against the Red Sox last season, and he is 2-1 with a 6.23 ERA against Boston in his career

ESPN.com preview here.

From ESPN.com

Tim Wakefield (3-5, 4.17) will face the Yankees for the third time this season. He did not get a decision in Boston's 7-3 win here but improved to 9-12 lifetime against New York by pitching six strong innings May 11 at Yankee Stadium.

Some interesting information was found at the press release for the Red Sox on David Ortiz.

102 Rbi in 100 games
David Ortiz drove in 3 runs on Monday tying Chicago’s Jim Thome for the American League lead with 41 RBI. It also gave Ortiz 102 RBI in his last 100 games beginning July 31, 2005, the most of any major league player in that span. Ortiz also tops the majors with 37 homers in this period:

Player	Games	HR	RBI
David Ortiz	100	37	102
Albert Pujols	101	35	87
Ryan Howard	94	30	77
Alex Rodriguez	103	30	81
Troy Glaus	95	29	70
Travis Hafner	96	28	84
Andruw Jones*	101	28	91
Paul Konerko	102	28	73

*Matt Holliday is tied with Jones for 2nd with 91 RBI in that span.

Game 42 - Yankees game 5

UPDATE: Put another win in the column. Schilling goes 8 innings on less than 100 pitches and the Sox got to Wang in the 3rd for 4 runs to start the offense rolling. The only excitement came in the ninth when Foulke got hammered for 4 runs before getting the final out. Makes the Sox 4 and 1 against the Yanks this year.

ESPN.com box score here.

Game 1 of a 3 game series at Fenway starts tonight. This is the 5th game of 19 games versus the Yankees this year. Since 2003 the Red Sox have a 32-29 record (regular season), Boston Starters are 9 and 10 in thirty games at Fenway during that period with a 5.46 ERA, and the overall record is 17 and 13 with a team ERA of 4.70.

Schilling has started 5 games with the Red Sox against the Yankees with a 4 and 2 record overall (3 and 1 at home) with a 4.75 ERA at Fenway (4.98 all starts). Including 2 relief appearances with the Sox Schilling is 4 and 3 with a 5.16 ERA. Schilling has 4 quality starts against the Yankees (3 at home) and is 4 and 0 in all of those games.

This year so far Schilling is 3 and 0 at Fenway with a 2.14 ERA (espn.com). He has not made any starts against the Yankees at Fenway but is 0 and 1 after his last start against the Yankees this year. This is the only loss the Sox have against the Yankees.

FROM MLB.com

Though he won his last start, Schilling has been in a slump of late. After giving up four homers over his first seven outings, he has given up six longballs in his last two starts. This is Schilling's second start of the season against the Yankees. In the first one, he was the losing pitcher, giving up eight hits and six runs over five innings. Schilling has been dominant at Fenway this season, going 3-0 with a 2.14 ERA in three starts.

Wang has 2 starts at Boston, one this year and one last year. His overall record is 0 and 1 with a 4.41 ERA, at Fenway he is 0 and 1 with a 4.63 ERA. Ironically his loss came in his only quality start against the Sox last year.

FROM MLB.com
Wang has been terrific in his last two outings, allowing just three runs (two earned) in 16 innings against Oakland and Texas. The right-hander has had his sinker and slider working, inducing an incredible number of groundball outs for New York. A winner of three straight starts, Wang will be looking to improve on his five-inning, three-run outing against the Red Sox at Fenway Park on May 1.

ESPN.com preview here.
All stats created with help from the day by day database Baseball Musings.

game 41 recap

A quality start by the Phillies and a non quality start by Dinardo, result a 10 - 5 shellacking. Lenny showed the rust of sitting for 2 weeks, his pitches kept climbing and the Phillies kept smacking him around.

The only good thing to happen yesterday was that the Mets actually held on to beat the Yankees. Start of a three game series tonight against the Yanks.

ESPN.Com game 41 boxsore here.

game 41 - Phillies game 3

Dinardo goes to the mound today, from Baseball Musings we see that he has pitched only once in his career against the Phillies and that was in a relief appearance 2 years ago. He pitched less than 2 innings with an era of 10.80. His starts for the Red Sox have actually been pretty decent and he is coming off of his first Major League win. Tito has benched Ortiz today to put out his best infield since Lenny is a ground ball pitcher.

Lidle has never pitched against the Sox as a Philly but has made 6 starts and 5 relief appearances with the Mets, Tampa, Oakland and Toronto. He is 1 and 2 with a lifetime era of 6.75. With these numbers I am not expecting a 1 - 0 game today.

MLB.com preview is here.

Game 40 Recap

Both pitchers threw quality starts (out of a possible 80, 34 have been quality starts). Hero of the day has to be Beckett though, as he went 7 innings, knocked in 2 runs (single and homer). For awhile I thought we would be faced with a Wakefield type game as the Phils, kept the boys from mounting any threats, then along came the sixth and the error by the SS. 4 runs later I was sitting there thinking this is all sewed up except for that nagging feeling that we could get a replay of this game (warning not safe for Yankee haters).

All in all a good quality win and another series taken (I make it 8 - 4 - 1 in series) and a successful road trip. I am really liking what I see in the defense of this team, the pitchers seem to be really comfortable and they know if the get ground balls, the defense will make the play. The only sour note in this game was the error by Snow (please make him happy and trade him).

Next game is Dinardo, lets see how that goes.

ESPN recap here.

Game 40 - Phillies game 2

Beckett goes to the mound tonight after 2 strong starts in which he hasn't walked anyone. Myers is also pitching well, so tonight could come down to the team that scores first wins.

Papi should be playing first again (got to have the bat), but expect Youk to switch over late in the game if they have a lead, Lowell to take over at third.

ESPN.com preview here.
MLB.com preview here.

From the press pass the team has made the fewest errors ever in their first 39 games since 1960.

From the day by day database at Baseball Musings Beckett is 1 and 2 at Philly with a 4.18 ERA in 6 games started. 3 of the games he made it past the sixth inning and 2 of the games he was out after 2 innings. Lets hope we get the sixth inning pitcher tonight.

Away games

Well, thought I would post the scoring by innings of the Sox in their away games.

Games	Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	9th	extra
56 all	Boston	13	16	15	23	20	27	13	24	20	0
32 away	Opp	30	19	21	29	20	14	18	20	1	1

As you can see Boston has allowed more runs in the first inning than any other inning during their away games. This has been most troubling about Becketts starts.

Updated: 6/7/2006

Game 39 recap

Clement pitches well, his 3rd quality start and the Sox rewarded him by scoring all of their runs on homers. This year the Sox are 3 and 0 in Clement's quality starts. Overall in 20 quality starts the team has won 17 of those games (Wakefield and Schilling have the losses) . When the opposing team has a quality start the Sox are 4 and 8.

Think about that, in 39 games there have been 32 quality starts by both teams with the Sox winning 21 of those. Today its Beckett vs Myers. go sox.

ESPN.com recap here.

Game 39 - Phillies game 1

Tonight starts a 3 game set in Philly, who have lost 3 straight on the road against the Brewers. We have Clement (teeth grinding already) against Leiber. I have no idea how Clement will pitch, but maybe since its a NL team he'll actually pitch well. We will see.

ESPN.Com preview here.
MLB.Com preview here.

Last year on the road Clement was 5 and 2 with a 4.20 era in 15 games (was 8 and 4 with a 4.90 era in 17 games at Fenway). His only game last year at Philly he went 7 innings with 7 hits, 1 earned run and 4 K's. He received the win for that effort.

For his career Clemnent has pitched in 7 games at Philly, with a 3.48 era and a 4 and 1 record in 41.1 innings. 5 of the 7 games were quality starts.

This year he's 2 and 1 with a 4.91 era in 3 games on the road ( 1 and 2 with a 6.14 era in 4 games at Fenway).

For his career as a Philly, Lieber has a 10 and 8 record in 21 games at home with a 4.77 era. This year he is 1 and 3 with a 6.03 era at home.

As a Philly Jon has pitched one game at the Sox (at phil). That outing was a 5 inning effort with 6 earned runs and was his only loss to the Sox. As a Yankee he had 2 starts (1 win) with both starts being quality starts. Combined his record is 1 and 1 against Boston with a 5.12 era. All of his starts against the Sox have been in his home park. Game time is 7:05 at CBP. Be there or be square.

All stats gathered from Baseball Musings day by day database.

Wake loses another close one

Well the offense stunk thanks to a good outing by Bedard. The key to this game was men on 2nd and 3rd no outs and you only get one run in thanks to back to back strike outs to Manny and Lowell in the first inning. At that point, you felt that Bedard being let off of the hook was going to throw a very good game and then watched him just mow down everybody for the rest of the game.

Meanwhile, the stRangerslers lost another game to the Yankees and here we are all tied up in the standings. No game today, but Clement (ouch) starts a three game series against the Phillies on Friday.

game 38 - Orioles game 9 of 18

Tonights game is the half way point of the season series with the O's, Wakefield takes the mound against Bedard. From the Red Sox Press Pass the following are Timmy's record against the O's:

► 2006 vs. BAL: 2-0, 2.25 ERA (3 ER/12.0 IP), 2 GS
► CAREER vs. BAL: 13-11, 4 saves, 3.98 ERA (86 ER/194.1 IP), 39 G, 26 GS
► CAREER at BAL: 7-3, 2 saves, 2.90 ERA (29 ER/90.0 IP), 19 G, 12 GS

► Is 7-3 with a pair of saves and a 2.90 ERA (29 ER/90.0 IP) in 19 games (12 starts) at Baltimore…in 90.0 innings, has allowed 35 runs (29 earned) on 74
hits…has walked 36 and punched out 61.

All signs point to a good outing by Wake.

ESPN.com preview here.
MLB.com preview here.

Is Curt Schilling the New Pedro??

So Curt starts out strong last night giving up only the 1 run in the first 3 innings then comes the 4th where he is torched for 2 two run homers. The second home run in that inning came on his 104th pitch. He started the inning with 76 pitches. So the question, is this his limit, 90 pitches and you better start getting some one up and ready to go in the game?

Was good to see Loretta continue to swing the bat well and even better to see Papi knock in that key run.

Francesca talking up the Sox.

OMG, Francesca is talking about how he likes what the Red Sox are doing by injecting youth into the program. I may faint.

Game 37 - Orioles game 8 - 5/16/2006

To recap last night Beckett came out and gave up a first inning home run to Miguel Tejada and then faced only 18 batters in the next 6 innings. 80 pitches thrown and 24 in the first (8 to Miggy alone). That is why he was obtained from the Marlins. 12 in a row against the O's and now the nemesis has lost 3 games to the Sox this year with no wins. What goes around comes around.

Tonight its Schilling vs Chen. Which Schilling will show up though, the one who went 4 and 0 or the one who has gone 1 and 2? Lets hope its the former, but am not holding my breath.

ESPN preview here.
MLB.com's here.

Wake tomorrow in the series finale, and then the trip to Philly, where the Sox record since 2001 is 4 and 2 with a 4.47 era. The Philly era is 6.98 in those games. (h/t to baseball musings).

See you later after the game, go sox.

Sox vs Orioles game 7 - 5/15/2006

Sox start a three game series against the O's tonight. From 2001 to end of last year the Sox are 31 and 16 at Camden Yards, with a 3.03 ERA. Wakefield leads the team with 5 wins during that time period with a 3.40 ERA. This year Sox are 3 and 0 with a 3.00 ERA. (h/t baseball musings).

This will be Beckett's first time to face the O's.

ESPN.com preview here.
MLB.com preview here.

Ranger game 5 - 5/13/2006

From MLB. com (here)

DiNardo picked up his first Major League win in his last start, throwing five solid innings (one earned run) in a 10-3 triumph over the Orioles. This will be DiNardo's second outing this season against the Rangers. He pitched out of the bullpen in Texas on April 4, giving up three hits and a run over 2 1/3 innings.

Lenny is 1-1 in his last 3 apperances, with an 8.31 ERA. His ERA at home though is 2.77 while Koronka's road ERA is 3.78, Koronka is also 2-0 on the road.

Texas game 4 - 5/12/2006

Well, no surprise, the rains held off just long enough so that deer in the headlights Clement could stink up the place and drop the Sox back into a virtual tie with the Yanks. Tommorrow nights game does not look like a good match up on paper but I fully expect the Sox to come out firing on all cylinders. The question is whether DiNardo can hold back the hot hitting rangers or not. Lets hope he looks more like his first and last start.

Box score for last night here.

Weekend Series against Texas - If mother nature allows

A three game set against the Rangers start tonight, Loe is the starter for the Texans and Clement for the Sox. Am so tired of Clement, "Rest is not a help right now, etc. etc. ", well if you would pitch like wake, schilling, and beckett on a consistent basis you wouldn' have been skipped against the yanks. Just be quiet and go out to the mound to pitch. One other thing, enough of this 20 minute innings from you, just take the ball, look in at Tek, nod your head and then throw the ball.

espn.com preview here.
MLB.com preview here.

Am working on a couple of things, but real quickly the sox at home in 16 games have averaged 5.56 runs. Opponents are averaging 3.88.

Yankees Sox Game 4 recap

Well the 4th of 19 games is in the books and the Sox win a nail biter. It sure looked like Wakefield would get another hard luck loss for the first 6 innings, especially with the Sox leaving the bases loaded 3 times in the first 6 innings.

ESPN Box score here.

The 7th inning turned out to be the winning rally and how strange it was. Wily Mo strikes out, Mirabelli singles, Bernie Williams misplays Gonzalez's fly ball into a 2 base error (though I think it should have been a double), Youkilis hits a hard line drive right at Cano and I am at this point totally frustrated.

Then, then, the golden boy makes a two run error, well actually they called it an infield single (another reason why I detest the Yankees, if that had been A-rod it would have been an error, see the Bernie Williams play earlier). 2 runs score and all of a sudden its 4-3 Red Sox and the bullpen is set up for the winning trio of relievers.

End of the ninth and I am looking forward to the team returning to Fenway for the quick 3 game series against the Rangers.

Things to like about the game, they kept on plugging away. 3 for 15 with runners in scoring position do not win very many games for you, but they just kept on putting runners on base and forcing the Yankees to make perfect pitches. I also liked the fact that everybody but Big Papi got a hit (am not worried, Texas will probably be the cure for his slump). Timlin, Foulke and Papelbon all did their jobs in a tight situation. It also was nice to see Youkilis get a big hit against Mariano in the 9th. That extra run sure makes it easier to breathe.

Wakefield was again very good against the Yankees, six innings 3 earned runs and 9 K's. Another quality start for Wakefield. So far in eight starts he has given a quality start in 6 of them and the Sox have won 4 of those starts. Over all counting tonights win the Sox are 4 and 4 in Wakes starts.

Yankees Sox game 4 - 5/11/2006

Well, we couldn't win the second game of this series as Schilling fell apart and was unable to hold the lead. Game 3 tonight has Wake vs Chacon. I expect a game more like game 1 than last nights but who knows.

ESPN.Com's preview

MLB.Com's preview

Peace and love to Wake I hope tonight.

Yankees Sox game 3 - 2006

Gonzalez hits the three run last night to complete the rout of the Yankees and R J takes his third loss, while Beckett throws a good one. A game that looked a lot like his first outing this year. Game 2 of the series tonight with Schilling vs Mussina. The best two pitchers of these teams this year so far. Lets hope we get a lot of Mystique and Aura are just a couple of dancers tonight from the schill.

Game 1 of the series recap here.

Game 2 probable pitchers by MLB.com here.

Lets go Red Sox, (clap, clap) lets go Red Sox.

Update: corrected Schillings quote

Game 30 - Sox vs Orioles

ESPN box score

When you send 11 players to the plate in the second inning and score 5 runs, you better win. Pretty much all phases of the game were clicking, clutch hitting, good pitching (even Seanez) and Wakefield finally got some good run support. 10 in a row over the birds and going for 11 this afternoon. Lets keep up the run barrages and we should be fine.

Baltimore vs Boston game 5

Espn Preview here.


MLB.com Scouting Report:

Wakefield is coming off his first no-decision of the season. However, the veteran knuckleballer was solid in that contest against the Yankees, going seven innings and allowing three earned runs while being reunited with long-time batterymate Doug Mirabelli. Unlike the last start, when Mirabelli literally arrived from San Diego just minutes before the game, the battery will have a chance to do some preparation for this start against the Orioles. Wakefield?s only win of 2006 came against the Orioles back on April 9, when we went six innings and didn?t allow an earned run.

Quality Starts

Have just been looking at my database on the Red Sox quality starts. So far the starters have had a total of 14 games that would be considered quality starts, the record in those starts are 11-3, with Schilling losing 1 and Wakefield losing 2 (thanks for the offense dudes).

The opposing team has thrown 10 quality starts and the Sox have won 6 of those. 3 of their wins have came in pitchers duels as outlined above. Pitching and defense does win games. Let us not forget that. The team ERA is below 5, we are 3 or 4th in the league in defense. That keeps us tied with the yankees for first.

Yankees beat up on the little guy

While out and about today earning the daily bread (hey, I got to eat man), I mentioned this story to someone and they hadn't heard about it, so just in case you haven't seen this let me bring it up. It seems the yankees are going after YankeesHater.com (the cool hats remember). The story can be found here.

Help out a fellow yankee hater and buy some cool stuff today.

Boston Vs Toronto Game 9

9th game against Toronto tonight. So far the Sox are 3 and 5 against the Jay' with only 10 games left to play against them. ESPN's preview is here.



From MLB.com

Scouting Report:
On Sunday, Schilling narrowly missed becoming just the third pitcher in Boston history to win five games in April. He allowed three runs in six innings while striking out nine, but failed to get the run support he needed in a 5-4 loss to Tampa Bay. Schilling is 3-4 with a 3.63 ERA in eight career starts against the Orioles.

Schilling has 196 career wins, with number 1 coming as an Oriole. There are some things to remember going into this game. 1) the birds are 34 and 25 at Fenway since 1999, 2) Lopez is 10 and 6 against the Sox (42 and 40 against everybody else), 3) the pain in the butt for the last 2 years Javy Lopez is on the DL and won't be playing, and last but definitely not least Schilling loves pitching at Fenway.

The bats will need to come alive tonight to take the pressure off of the Big Schill.

Cry Havoc - 5/4/2006 - Sox vs Toronto

ESPN Box score

Whew glad Tito didn't listen to me as the boys batted around in the first inning putting up a five spot that even Clement couldn't screw up (though he tried by going to a lot of 3 - 2 counts and walking 2 in the next 5 innings). Youkilas hits his second with a man on to put the game out of reach, even though Seanez pitched like Seanez (another freaking home run), and Tavarez was ok but couldn't nail it down, which meant that Papelbon had to come in to get another save.

Would be nice if someone beside Papelbon and Timlin in the bullpen could come into the game and I don't know do something unusual and NOT ALLOW ANY RUNS!!!

Maybe Loretta is starting to get out of his slump, and before everybody goes crazy and starts screaming for Renteria over A Gon, lets remember something, this time last year Renteria had like a gazillion errors and was hitting squat. The dude could not handle Boston and his hitting woes carried over into the field. At least A Gon is playing superb defense and his hitting will improve.

Boston vs Toronto Game 8 (espn preview here)

Am not looking forward to this matchup, Clement is like 1 forever against this team and the way the Blue Jays are hitting against us do not make a good combination. Franco needs to shake up the line up, move everybody around except for Papi and Manny. Get a little fun back in this, because everybody and I mean everybody seems to be getting the A-Rod disease.

MLB.com Scouting Report

Clement has labored through his last two starts, allowing a combined seven runs (six earned) on 15 hits in 10 1/3 innings. In his last start, Tampa Bay caught him for four runs in the first two innings of a 5-2 loss, but he settled down after that, allowing just one hit and no earned runs over the next four innings. The right-hander has struggled a bit against the Blue Jays in the past, going 1-3 for an 8.44 ERA in six career starts against Toronto.

5/3/2006 - Blue Jays 7 - Sox 6

Box Score

How we miss this guy ---------->

Well Papelbon finally gave up a run and took the loss. Hey did you think he was going to have a zero era this year? Papelbon was not the problem the stinking offense was the problem. 1st & 2nd with no outs and you don't get the run home. Pathetic. Lets face it boys and girls the Sox are stinking up the place against the Jays. 2 and 5 this year with eleven more games to play against this team.

Yo, Francona, not sure if you noticed this but Shea is like 5 for 9 against Foulke. Wake up and smell the coffee.

Just pathetic.

Boston vs Toronto Game 7

MLB.com Scouting Report:

A high pitch count forced Halladay out early for the second game in a row, but that didn't stop of from picking up his second straight win. The right-hander threw 99 pitches in 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees. He allowed seven hits, but he worked well out of jams -- forcing 10 groudnouts versus just two fly outs. On April 22, Halladay picked up a win against Boston after allowing one run on six hits in five innings.

Beckett is coming off arguably the worst start of his career. In that humbling loss at Cleveland, Beckett was belted for a career-high of nine runs, eight of which were earned. In this one, he will have a chance for redemption against the Blue Jays after giving up three homers in a no-decision on April 21.

Sox Vs Yankees game 2

Update: Postponed game part of 8/18/2006 doubleheader.

Should be a great game, lets go sox. Rain Delay till at least 8:00 p.m. For ESPN's preview click the link.

For MLB.coms preview go here.

Sox 4/25/2006 - Cleveland

ESPN Box Score

Well what more do you want? Oritiz kills the first and only pitch from Sauerbeck, Mota walks Ortiz to get to Manny who makes them pay by hitting one to the opposite field, and even that speedster Youkilis gets a stolen base.

8-6 against the Indians is fine with me, but what the **** was Schilling doing throwing 133 pitches?? Game two tonight


Scouting Report:
Tim Wakefield is hoping Red Sox bats come alive for him after suffering consecutive tough-luck outings. In his last start, a 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay last Thursday, the knuckleballer gave up just three runs, two earned, over eight innings, allowing just four hits in the process. But for the third time this season, he left the game with his team posting fewer than two runs. Wakefield has a 1.56 ERA in his last three starts since allowing seven runs and seven hits in his first start April 4 at Texas.

Sox 4/23/2006 - Toronto

ESPN Box Score

Papi hits a dinger and lays down a bunt to keep an inning alive and the Red Sox salvage a win at the Rogers Centre. The Sox have lost two series now and both have been to the Blue Jays. They are 7-5 against the AL East and have yet to play the Yankees (2 game series 1 week from today). Twice they left the bases loaded yesterday with out scoring any runs. I do not like the fact that they are leading the majors in LOB. Somebody besides Youkilis and Papi need to help out the boys.

6 games left in this road trip and today is the only day off before May 8. A brutal stretch of games without an off day. They have the second best record in the AL (tied with Detroit!!!). Finally getting over my cold but Friday and Saturday are like lost days in the wilderness. Friday's loss I blame on Francona, and Saturdays' loss is due to playing the b team all together again. That is 3 losses so far this year that I lay directly at the feet of Tito.

More later this afternoon as I preview the Cleveland series. Ciao baby.

Sox 4/20/2006 - Tampa Bay

Espn Box Score

Dev Rays - 000 200 102 - 5 7 1
Red Sox -  010 000 000 - 1 6 0

Well Tim W. gets my hard luck pitcher of the year, last 2 games he pitched well enough to win but when the bats have holes in them. Start a 9 game road trip today. Lets hope it goes as well as the first one went.

Sox 4/19/2006 - Tampa Bay

ESPN Box Score

Dev Rays - 000 010 000 - 1  7 4
Red Sox -  107 010 00X - 9  9 0

A laugher and well earned. Cold medicine kept me just alert enough to enjoy the game. See you tommorrow

Sox 4/18/2006 - Tampa Bay

ESPN Box Score

Dev Rays - 000 000 220 - 4 11 1
Red Sox -  001 000 33X - 7 10 0

Other people have covered this quite well and since I am still a little bit under the weather, I plan on curling up tonight with a good blanket and watching Game 2 of this series. It was good to see Manny break out and hit a double and drive in a couple of runs. Am glad I kept him in my baseball challenge pool. Different day, different hero's make this a team.

Tampa Bay vs Red Sox game 1 Preview

Casey Fossum tonight vs Clement, another left hander faces the Sox, another night that could be trouble. I always liked Fossum and thought the Sox should have kept him instead of trading him to the Diamondbacks.

Manny has faced Fossum 7 times with 2 hits and 4 k's, Tek is 1 for 3 against him, Lowell is 1 for 8, Gonzales is 2 for 6, Pena is 0 for 3, Mohr is 2 for 5, Cora is 2 for 10, Bard is 1 for 3 and Ortiz, Snow, Youkilis, Stern, Loretta have never faced him. As you can see there is not a lot of success against the lefty.

However as MLB.com has noted: "Clement's chances for getting back on track are good as he is 3-0 lifetime against the Devil Rays, with a 2.53 ERA. " (click the pic to read the whole scouting report from MLB.com).

Lets play ball!

Update: From today's MLB.com Press Pass (must be member of MLB.com) this following tidbit:

BIG INNINGS: Through 13 games in
2006, the Red Sox have allowed nearly half of their runs in only 7.0 separate
innings, as 27 of the club’s 55 runs allowed have crossed the plate in those
7.0 frames…Boston has allowed only 28 runs scored in its remaining 109.0
innings.

► The Red Sox have allowed one run in an inning 13 times and 2 or more 14
times, including 7.0 innings of 3 or more and 4.0 innings of 4 or more.

Player Stats VS Tampa Bay

PLAYER	AVG	AB	H	HR	RBI
BARD	.250	20	5	0	1
CORA	.286	35	10	1	9
GONZALEZ	.257	109	28	1	11
LORETTA	.417	12	5	0	1
LOWELL	.262	145	38	5	25
MOHR	.415	41	17	1	4
NIXON	.320	300	96	19	57
ORTIZ	.307	264	81	19	53
PENA	.357	14	5	2	5
RAMIREZ	.326	436	142	35	112
SNOW	---	0	0	0	0
STERN	.000	6	0	0	0
VARITEK	.302	288	87	12	46
YOUKILIS	.190	42	8	1	10

LOL

Continuing our L(ast) O(ut) L(owell) watch we add the following table for your enjoyment:

Games	# Chances	Made	Percent
56	75	48	64.00 %

What can I say but the man is good. LOL

Updated 6/6/2006

Less Than 2 outs

Through 13 games the Red Sox have had a runner at 3rd with less than 2 outs 18 times, surprisingly, 2 games have not had this situation (the 1st and 9th).

The break downs are as follows:

Stat	Value
At Bats	46
Hits	13
Runs	24
Avg.	.283

Twice a run scored due to an error. Twice a runner was thrown out at the plate. 3 times the inning ended on a double play (once a run scored due to 3rd out being a run down).

Will place this link in the side bar to facilitate ease of finding.

Sox 4/17/2006 - Seattle

Espn Box Score

Mariners - 110 002 101 - 6 10 0
Red Sox -  110 002 012 - 7 12 1

DiNardo pitched well, Seanez pitched like Seanez giving up a cheap home run to Everett, Tavarez got the dp to end his outing, Foulke pitched better than it seems in the box score (both of the batters in the 9th who got hits should have been out) and Timlin did his job by getting a hard hit ground ball that was unfortunately not hit in the right place to turn the dp.

A good game batting wise also with few wasted chances on the base paths. Ortiz was a man among boys by hitting 2 home runs and the sweet home run by Loretta in the ninth sent everybody home happy. The nice thing was to see Youkilis able to keep the inning alive by beating out that infield hit.

Yankees are off today so the Sox pick up a half game.

Sox 4/16/2006 - Seattle

ESPN Box Score

Mariners - 002 000 000 - 2  7 2
Red Sox -  200 100 00X - 3  5 2

Quote: Beckett "is anybody else's number one," Seattle's Richie Sexson said. "We had our hands full today."

That sums it up pretty well. Beckett got the big outs when he needed them again, the team played just well enough to win, and once again Willy Mo misplayed another fly ball. A good start for the Sox in the first, scratched out another run in the 4th after Seattle had tied it and smooth 8th and 9th innings by Timlin and Papelbon.

Yankees won to stay two games back tied for 4th with Toronto, yes, I said Toronto not Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay is tied with Baltimore for 2nd, 1 1/2 games back. I kind of like the standings the way they are and I notice that the AL East is the only division in baseball where all of the teams are .500 or better. It could be a very interesting season in the AL East this year.

Am working on stats for men on 3rd with less than 2 outs and LOL's, I hope to have those completed today and will try to have them up on the side. Will see how this works, as I took the day off today to work around the house. Spring appears to have finally taken hold.

Sox 4/15/2006 - Seattle game 2

Espn Box Score

Mariners - 003 000 000 - 3  9 0
Red Sox -  000 000 000 - 0  5 0

I have one word for today's game Fargh!!!!

Sox 4/14/2006 - Seattle game 1

ESPN Box Score

Mariners - 000 010 000 - 1  4 0
Red Sox -  000 200 00X - 2 10 0

Now that is how you stop a losing streak! Schilling goes 8 innings giving up 3 hits and one run followed by a 1 hit inning by Papelbon leading to the 7th win of the year for the BoSox. Only one thing could improve this type of outcome, a Yankee loss (whats that? you say the twins won!)

A pretty smooth game overall as both pitchers pitched a quality start. The aggravation came with the Sox leaving a ton of players on the Bases. 8 through the first 4 innings and 10 through 7 innings. The Sox should have had a 3 run inning in the 4th but failed to get the runner home from 3rd with less than 2 outs. It would also be nice if the batters would quit striking out as much as they have the last 2 nights (another double digit strike out night).

Youkilis seems to be really adapting to first base, a couple of good plays tonight with one being a web gem. I think that the first 10 games has shown he has the tools defensively for the job and any uneasiness in the field has definetely not carried over to the plate.

I am glad they keep on showing how bad Manny did last year and comparing it to this year, but it just isn't helping the man do any better. Another lousy performance at the plate by Ramirez with an 0'fer with 2 K's.

However, will take the win counting and I am counting on Manny to outright win a couple of games later on for the team.

See you later.

Sox 4/13/2006 - Toronto

ESPN Box Score

Blue Jays - 060 011 000 - 8 12 1
Red Sox -   100 000 023 - 6  9 0

I can't stand Clement, this guy will drive me crazy this year like last year. See, its really simple, Varitek throws the ball to you, he puts down the sign, you shake your head yes and then you rock and fire. Throw strikes and you will be successful, but if you keep on being 3 and 1 or 3 and 2 on a hitter he's going to grand slam you. Jeez, quit laboring too, 2nd inning you had those deer in the headlights look again. Throw the d*** ball.

That second inning just killed the team, and you just knew that Lily was going to throw another gem. You have to wonder why the Yankees never have offered anything for this Sox killer. Put him and Randy Johnson together and you could probably have 9 wins against the Sox every freaking year. Add our arch nemesis from Baltimore and make sure that those three pitch in every sox game you could sweep the sox.

So, looking at the first 9 games, the Sox have 5 quality starts (6 innings, 3 runs or less) and are 5 and 0 in those games. The opposing teams have 3 quality starts and are 2 and 1 (the Loe / Beckett game in Texas).

The starting pitching for the Sox are averaging 5.85 innings per game, and have an ERA of 5.30. 65% of their pitches are for strikes and only one unearned run has been scored while they are pitching. Overall the team ERA is 4.61, with 65% of all pitches being for strikes.

Yankee update

See ya tomorrow (today, Seattle at the Ballpark with Moyer v Schilling).




Preview here

Sox 4/12/2006 - Toronto

ESPN Box Score

Blue Jays - 320 020 010 - 8 16 1
Red Sox -   000 211 000 - 4  6 0

Earlier I said that Wells was a big game pitcher who would rise to the occasion, I should have taken into account his abysmal record against the Blue Jays. David deserved every bit of the boos that came raining down on him last night. 3 runs in the first coming via 2 home runs and his curve ball was just spinning up to the plate with no break on it. Not the way to follow the pitching performances of Beckett and the rest. The bright spot is that Wells did worse in Oakland last year on his first game back from the DL and then settled down the rest of the year. Maybe this will happen again this year.

The good news is that Papi homered again, with home runs by Willy Mo and Dustan Mohr also adding to the final score. Coco is now signed up through 2010. I missed the last couple of innings due to the cold medicine I'm taking putting me out like a light, so not much else to add to this post. A win tonight though will mean that the Sox will start the season off with three series wins.

Looking ahead I see that the two games against the Yankees have projected starters of Beckett and Wakefield.

Empire Update

KC gets three in the first and then allows three in the first. Thanks alot boys!!

todays preview brought to you by: ESPN

ESPN

Wells is a big time pitcher and I expect him to step up to the mound and own it tonight for the first 5 innings. After that, I expect a quick hook because of conditioning. First pitch at 7:05 p.m. LETS GO RED SOX!!!!

From Yanks V Sox blog

A nice table and comments by Neil H. at Yanks V Sox on the winning of games with less than 3 runs. Read and discuss.

Sox 4/11/2006 - Toronto (home opener)

ESPN Box Score

Blue Jays - 100 000 020 - 3  5 0
Red Sox -   040 000 10x - 5 10 0

36 pitches in the first inning and ends up with 108 pitches total. It is obvious that if you let Beckett off the hook early in the game that he will settle down and pitch a good game. You have to like the competitiveness of Sir Beckett. Another fiery personality to go with the Big Schill is always welcome.

It would be nice if the offense decided to catch up with the pitching but if you told me before the season that after 7 games Manny and Big Papi would have only 2 home runs and 7 RBI's and the BoSox would still be 6 and 1, I would have laughed my head off.

Not sure about Coco's status, depending on who you believe he will be out 3 weeks or 2 months. I think that Stern will play a good center field in his place and even though he is not as fast as Coco (not many are) he still brings speed on the base paths. The injury to Nixon can be more troubling though since I do not have any faith in Pena, especially after this fiasco yesterday (all I could think at the time was "Another Canseco").

Did we really trade Arroyo for a guy who seems to strike out swinging on every at bat? So far it seems like every at bat he is over powered by the pitchers fast ball. It also seems like each at bat lasts 3 pitches, he may have potential but the Big Leagues is not where he needs to develop it, send him to Pawtucket and bring up Dustin Mohr.

Yankee Update

It would be nice if the other teams in this league besides the Angels, Red Sox and A's could hold the lead against the Yankees. Letting 5 runs score in the Bottom of the 8th doesn't help anybody win games, least of all the Royals.

Sox 4/9/2006 - Baltimore

ESPN Box Score

Bring out the brooms! Boston completes the sweep of the O's with a gritty performance by Wakefield and for the 5th time the BoSox starter outlasts the other teams starter. LOL watch was 2 for 2.

Nip and tuck game for the Red Sox until Stern drove home the insurance run in the 6th inning. A quick inning by Timlin and a very good inning by Foulke led to Papelbon. I think he definetly nailed down the closer job by struggling but still getting the outs that were needed to finish off the game.

Wakefield and Bard looked comfortable with each other and I think we can put to rest the "why did they trade Mirabelli" whines. I liked Doug, I thought he was an excellent team person and the perfect back up for Tek, but Bard has been OK.

Coming up next is the home opener with Towers facing Beckett. On paper it should be a blow out for the Sox, but last couple of years the home opener hasn't followed the paper.

Sox 4/8/2006 - Baltimore

ESPN Box Score

Schilling goes 7 strong innings and shuts down the O's with only 3 hits, and 2 walks. For a while I thought he was going to be able to go 8 and then we wouldn't have to worry about Timlin but the seventh was a struggle that he finished well by striking out Conine on a 96mph fast ball on his 111th pitch.

Pitching wise you have to give the team a solid A, but the offense struggled for the 2nd time in 3 games. The biggest mistakes were made in the 6th when the boys had base runners on 2nd and 3rd base with no outs and did not get them home. Those type of things normally come back to bite you in the rear during a game but the arms bailed out the offense by only allowing the lead off home run in the bottom of the inning.

Today its Wakefield and I fully expect him to try and one up Schilling and Beckett. Should be a good game and starts at 1:35 today.

Evil empire update

Sox 4/7/2006 - Baltimore

ESPN box score

The Walkathon of the year. 6 Walks in the first inning lead to a 4-0 lead right off the bat. I kept on waiting for the Orioles to jerk the starter but didn't happen until the 2nd and by then it was too late to stop the bleeding, all they could do was slow the bleeding down.

Schilling on Saturday. If Schilling or Wake win either one of their games then its a 4- 2 road trip. Like I said earlier, just keep on winning series and the playoffs will come.

Was good to see Youkilas and Manny break out of their mini struggles. I just hope that we don't need any of those 14 runs in the next two days.

Ciao

Sox 4/5/2006 - Texas

Espn Box Score

A good way to end the series. Beckett struggled right off the bat giving up 3 hits and a first inning run. The first 4 innings were a struggle for the big Texan but he was able to hold them to the one run. Pitch count was 61 after 3, 81 after 4, 97 after 6 and 109 after 7. If the starting pitching can go 7 innings giving up less than 4 runs this team will be winning a lot of series. Just go 2-1 each series and 108 wins is there for the taking.

Good things that happened: 1) Beckett 7 innings 1 run 2) Nixon hitting a 2 run homer on the only mistake that Loe made all night 3) Pitching had 1, 2, 3 inning three times. 4) No errors!! 5) Rangers running themselves out of a big inning.

Bad things that happened - Papi hitting into two double plays and striking out. Timlin stinking up the place by going single, fly ball out, 4 pitch walk, single (runner thrown out at the plate 7 - 5 - 3) and 4 - 3 ground out in the eighth.

Grades -
Offense C (only 2 runs and failed to get runner home from 3rd with only 1 out).
S. P. A- (high pitch count through 4 brings that down).
R.P. C (Timlin stunk up the place, Papelbon was mighty).

Things noted during the game:
Crisp can flat out motor and I liked the way he picked up the 3rd base coach on his triple.
Remdog saying how Francona would spin the Papelbon relief appearance (he was wrong).
Manny showing his defensive prowess again by getting an assist (snicker).
The combativeness shown by Beckett and Papelbon.
7th inning Beckett still hitting 96 on the gun.

LOL watch - 1 for 2. (taken from Simmons of espn page 2 "E-mail from Matt in Salem, N.H.: "I want early credit for Mike Lowell's new nickname, 'Last Out Lowell,' or for short, LOL." You got it.")


that's all for tonight folks - last look at the Yankees - A's game shows it 4-4 top of 7th with Damon (Judas) batting.

Game 1 of the year a funny look

Simmons writes a good column about opening day full of Sox love and Yankee hating. Enjoy it here.

Sox 4/4/2006 - Texas

ESPN Box Score

Not a lot to say here, Wakefield gives up 4 in the 1st before he even gets an out and the blow out followed. The good thing is that Wakefield is just as likely to pitch 8 innings of 1 hit ball in his next outing so no worries there. As for the passed balls well the two are still working out the kinks and its not like Bard pull a Eucher.

The positives were the offense did ok by still getting 10 hits and scoring 4 runs in the game. There just wasn't timely hits.

Grades offense C+
Defense - C+ (passed balls will do that)
S.P. - F
R.P. C

Hey what did you expect, 162 - 0 season?

Road to Final Four ends with SEC championship

Love it, Gators win by getting out fast and never looking back, way to go Gators!!! SEC rules.

Half time of championship

Florida leading by 11!!!!. Noah is the man with 5 blocks (a new record), come on gators!!!!

Sox 4/3/2006 - Texas

ESPN Box Score

A good game for the Red Sox. Varitek knocks in 2 runs in the 4th with a 2 out double, Loretta plates one run in the 5th and scores along with Ortiz on Papi's home run. Big Papi adds another run in the 7th thanks to Coco's speed and Lowell adds the insurance run leading off the 8th with his home run. Final score 7 - 3 bosox.

Looking at box score you will see that everyone who started the game except for Youkalis got at least one hit. All of the runs scored by the sox except for Lowell's home run came with 2 outs. Only four batters struck out (with Coco Crisp doing the double dip) and there were two walks for the boys. The Red Sox made the opposing pitchers throw 168 pitches (4.2 per plate appearance).

Schilling went 7 innings throwing 117 pitches of which 79 were for strikes. In the first inning he threw a 93 mph fast ball, and on his 103rd pitch he registered 92 mph. Overall a strong start and will give him a solid B for this outing. His only struggles came in the 5th and the 6th innings with the 6th providing 2 runs on a Blalock home run down the right field line.

Papelbon went 1 - 2 - 3 in the 8th with a K throwing only 13 pitches, 10 for strikes. Give him a solid A for this outing. Foulke on the other hand struggled. 1 inning pitched 2 hits 1 earned run given up and if it hadn't been for Crisp making a fine running catch it would have been worse. Give the Foulkster a D.

Over all grade for the pitching B+ thanks to Schil and Papel. Question raised is how long is the leash for Foulke? Just like last year it seems like he gets hit around after he has gotten 2 strikes on the batter. For some reason he is having a hard time getting that 3rd strike for the out. I also think that like last year his pitching motion is different than it was in 2004. Maybe it is the camera angle but it just looks different.

Offense gets overall grade of A. Any time you can have the team do a .375 obp. you will score well, and with 6 of 7 runs coming with 2 outs that means clutch hitting. Question raised -Gonzalez what were you thinking in the 7th when you were doubled off on a fly ball to center and no outs? Varitek, I know that you are like hitting .220 with bases loaded but can't you at least hit the ball hard (I was hoping that hitting the grand slam in the WBC would help you)?

Tomorrow - Wakefield - here's hoping he has his A knuckleball.

Update: added ESPN Box score link

UCLA vs Florida for all the marbles

UCLA has tradition (11-1 in championship game), plays tough defense and has celebrity players rooting them on tonight. I fully expect to see Walton, R. Miller and other former players at the game tonight rooting the bruins on to a 12th championship. I have picked the Bruins wrong in this tournament against Gonzaga (grrrr) and against LSU. I expect this to be a tough battle tonight and would not be surprised if it stays low scoring and is tight throughout with neither team getting double digit leads.

Florida has no tradition (sorry 3 final fours in the last 12 tournaments is not a history) but in 1994 the gators lost in semi's, in 2000 lost in championship game and tonight is in the championship game again. Is this the time they win it all? Gators also play good defense with lots of blocks and their guards are tall and have long wingspan that make passes into the paint tough from the backcourt.

In 1994 there were two SEC teams in the final 4 and Arkansas won it all. In 1996 Mississippi St. and Kentucky made the last four and the wildcats won it all. In 2006 there are two SEC teams in the final 4. My heart says the progression for Florida and the SEC history has them winning it all. My head says - who knows!!!

Opening Day 2006

Sox vs Rangers at 2:00 p.m. today. Will be listening to WTIC ten eighty here in CT. while doing the work of the mundane so we can have money to eat today. I am excited about the season. I personally think the sox will win the division this year. Pitching and defense will always outdo big bats and bad defense and that is what the Jays and Yankees are today.

Coco and Loretta will set the table and Big Papi and Manny will clean the plates. Schilling and Beckett make a good one two followed by Wakefield, Wells and Clement. I see Schilling and Beckett winning 38 games and Wakefield, Wells, and Clement will add 45 games and the spot starters and bullpen will add another 10. This should get us to 95 games finishing 1 game ahead of the Blue Jays and Yankees.

See you after the game.

Finals All Set for Monday 4/3/2006

Florida broke the slipper and UCLA had it easy. Should be an interesting game.

Men's Semifinals tonight

Well I have thought about this one all week and I think that the glass slipper breaks tonight. I Like George Mason and I think it has been an enjoyable ride but I look for Florida's athleticism and depth to win this game. Looking for Florida to win by 10.

The UCLA and LSU game should be a doozy, but I say go with the better frontcourt and that means Big Baby and his compadres will win. A close game because of the defensive abilities of UCLA but look for the Tigers to play the Gators on Monday night.