Red Sox 07 Game 33 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	1	0	6	1	0	0	0	0	0		8	13	0
Toronto	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	5	1

W: T. Wakefield (4-3, 1.79); L: R. Halladay (4-2, 4.37)
HR: BOS: M. Lowell (7).

• Hero - Tim Wakefield
• Honorable mentions - Doug Mirabelli, Mike Lowell
  
• Goat - Roy Holladay
  

Idle thoughts

Well thank goodness for Sox in Two! I missed the first 5 innings tonight due to the s1cdaughter receiving an award at her High School. I love the Sox, but as it should be I love my daughter more. So, thats why its thanks for Sox in Two. I watched the game in the shortened version shown later so, if I missed any thing well, two bad.

Finally the Sox decided to bring the bats out in a game that Wakefield was pitching. Showing how crazy this game can be, it came against the pitcher that you would have thought least likely to for them to explode against. The Blue Jays are just terrible right now and have been ever since Zaun went down with an injury. Next up is the semi-hot Orioles who have won three in a row.

Gleaned from various places on the web:
From the herald:

1. The 23-10 start matches the third best in franchise history at this point of the season, trailing only the 1946 (26-7) and 2002 (24-9) teams.
2. Red Sox batters, meanwhile, scored 26 runs in Toronto after managing only seven in Minnesota. The Sox improved to 18-0 on the season when scoring at least five runs.
   
3. Toronto loaded the bases with one out, but Wakefield struck out Frank Thomas, and after strike three, catcher Doug Mirabelli alertly fired to first base to pick off Glaus for an inning-ending double play. The momentum-shifting play began a stretch of 16 consecutive batters retired by Wakefield.

From MLB.com:

1. Manny Ramirez added two hits to the cause and, thanks to another big lead, was able to exit early for the second game in a row. Ramirez's single in the third gave him 132 RBIs lifetime against the Blue Jays, surpassing Harold Baines as the all-time leader in that category.
2. But the key to the series -- and the road trip -- was the pitching. The Sox didn't allow more than three runs in any game on the journey, which started in Minnesota.

This games press pass is here.

Oh yeah, the spankees lost increasing the division lead to 7 games over the Orioles and them.

Red Sox 07 Game 33

Thursday, May 10 Rogers Centre 7:07 PM ET

Tim Wakefield, RHP (3-3, ) Red Sox (22-10) @ Roy Hallady, RHP (4-1, ) Blue Jays (13-20)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	22	10	-	7 - 3	22	10
New York	16	16	6	7 - 3	19	13
Baltimore	16	18	7	4 - 6	16	18
Tampa Bay	14	19	8.5	4 - 6	12	21
Toronto	13	20	9.5	2 - 8	15	18

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: The knuckleballer was sterling his last time out, tossing seven scoreless innings to beat Minnesota at the Metrodome and end his two-game losing streak. Wakefield's ERA is a much better indication of how well he's pitched than his won-loss record, since the Red Sox are continuing their trend from last year of failing to score runs for him. In his last 11 starts -- going back to July 17 -- the Sox have scored 16 runs with Wakefield in the game. In his career against Toronto, Wakefield is 13-8 with one save. He beat the Jays, 4-1, with seven strong innings in Toronto on April 18.

Blue Jays: Halladay matched the second-worst start of his career on Saturday in Texas, allowing nine runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings. Halladay took a no-decision in a 5-3 loss to Boston at Rogers Centre on April 19. He allowed two runs on six hits in 7 1/3 innings and left with a 3-1 lead that the bullpen was unable to hold. Five days later at Fenway Park, Halladay gave up three runs in eight innings, but was a 10-3 winner. He is 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA against the Red Sox in two starts this season, and 9-7 with a 4.46 ERA in 29 career appearances against Boston.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	34	8	0	0	1	2	2	6	.235
K. Youkilis	20	4	0	0	0	0	4	3	.250
D. Ortiz	63	18	5	0	5	16	3	10	.286
M. Ramirez	66	17	3	0	3	9	6	15	.258
J.D. Drew	5	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.200
M. Lowell	11	4	0	0	2	5	1	1	.364
D. Mirabelli	10	2	1	0	1	3	0	2	.200
C. Crisp	18	6	0	0	1	1	0	1	.333
D. Pedroia	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	236	61	9	0	13	36	17	40	.258

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Wakefield	31	13	9	0	230 2/3	229	99	20	82	181	3.86
Halladay	29	9	7	0	183 2/3	196	91	18	47	139	4.46

The last two times that the Sox have faced Halladay the starting pitcher was Tavarez. The team went 1 & 1 in those two starts with Tavarez taking the loss on 4/24. The 4/19 start both starters had a no decision. Can Wakefield do as well as Tavarez? If the roof is closed look for Timmy to do great.
Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 32 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	1	2	0	0	0	3	0	2	1		9	12	0
Toronto	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2		3	8	2

W: D. Matsuzaka (4-2, 4.80); L: T. Ohka (2-4, 5.53)
HR: BOS: D. Ortiz (9), M. Lowell (6), M. Ramirez (6), J. Lugo (2). TOR: L. Overbay 2 (5).

• Hero - Daisuke Matsuzaka
• Goat - Tomo Ohka

Idle thoughts

Daisuke's curve ball seemed to have a bigger bite to it tonight. I know that sinker ball pitchers prefer to be a little tired when they pitch, since it helps them keep the ball low, but I never heard it being good for the curve. Then again what do I know? Still, if he continues to pitch like tonight he will be alright.

9 runs first game, 9 runs tonight, for Wakefield they will score what? If we are lucky they will give him at least 3 runs, however more likely they won't give him over 1 while he is in the game. Since his knuckler seems to do better in domes, lets pray for rain in Toronto.

Bases loaded, 2 outs, first inning, if you are the Blue Jays the perfect person was up to bat. Jason Varitek sucks with bases loaded, going into the game he was 34 / 153 for a .222 BA his lowest with any men on base. Surprisingly he is 39 / 114 with men on 1st and 3rd.

While Drew went 0 for 3 tonight he still walked twice. Sooner or later (hopefully its sooner), the man will start to hit the ball.

This is the worst stretch for the Jays since they lost 9 straight in 2002. Currently they are at 8 losses in a row.

After 32 games the Sox have scored 168 runs and allowed 110. Before the game Sox were 4th in runs scored and had allowed the fewest runs in the American League.

I have been keeping a record of the opponents records prior to each game. If the team was over 500 at the time of the game I have been counting it as a 500 game. Example games 12 - 13, in Toronto, the Blue Jays were over 500 for all three of those games. Since the Sox went 2 and 1 that counted as 2 wins against winning teams. The other four games the Jays were less than 500 and are counted in that category.

The Sox are 17 and 4 against winning teams, and 5 and 6 against losing teams. The Yankees on the other hand are 9 and 9 vs winners and 7 and 7 vs losing teams.

Press pass from Mlb.com is here.

Red Sox 07 Game 32

Wednesday, May 9 Rogers Centre 7:07 PM ET

Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (3-2, 5.45) Red Sox (21-10) @ Tomo Ohka, RHP (2-3, 5.50) Blue Jays (13-19)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	20	10	-	7 - 3	21	10
NY Yankees	15	16	6	7 - 3	18	13
Baltimore	15	18	7	4 - 6	16	17
Tampa Bay	14	18	7.5	5 - 5	11	21
Toronto	13	19	8.5	2 - 8	15	17

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.

The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Matsuzaka's early-season ERA continued a sharp upward climb after the Red Sox star rookie allowed seven runs, five walks and five hits in a make-up game against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday. Since his smash debut in Kansas City, Matsuzaka has yielded a decidedly less impressive 6.39 ERA in five starts, two each against Seattle and the New York Yankees. He faced Toronto at Rogers Centre on April 17, allowing two runs in six innings while striking out 10.

Blue Jays: This start could have huge personal importance for Ohka, who has more wins in the Major Leagues (50) than any pitcher not named Hideo Nomo (123), but who isn't treated with nearly the same reverence in his native Japan as Boston's heralded Daisuke Matsuzaka. Ohka isn't exactly in top form for the showdown against his countryman, coming off Friday's 7-1 loss to the Rangers in Arlington in which he allowed seven runs (six earned) on 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings to a team that had never beaten him before. Ohka is 1-1 with a 4.76 ERA in two career starts against Boston, both made last month.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	14	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	.143
K. Youkilis	6	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.167
D. Ortiz	9	2	0	0	1	1	0	1	.222
M. Ramirez	10	2	2	0	0	3	1	2	.200
J.D.Drew	14	3	0	0	0	0	0	4	.214
M. Lowell	39	13	1	0	3	6	2	4	.333
J. Varitek	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	----
C. Crisp	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Pedroia	3	1	1	0	0	2	1	9	.333
Totals	97	24	5	0	4	12	4	15	.247

Ohka has kept the Sox in check pretty much. You might see Hinske in this game since Youkilis did get plunked again last night in the sixth. Since this is the 2nd time in two games that this has happened, I would not be surprised if Youkilis gets a day off.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Matsuzaka	1	0	1	0	6	3	2	0	3	10	3.00
Ohka	2	1	1	0	11 1/3	10	6	3	4	7	4.76

The last time that Ohka faced Boston he got the win in Fenway park on 4/23 of this year. That was the first game of a two game series that the Blue Jays swept when Halladay came out the next night and blew the Sox away. Those were the last two road games that the Jays won.

Jays have now lost 7 straight and are facing the weakest starter for the Sox tonight. Fortunately, the Sox are facing a weak starter also tonight. Daisuke needs to come out and throw some strikes. Don't let the squeeze effect you, because you are going to get squeezed in your rookie year. Look for Daisuke to go seven innings of 6 hit ball.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 31 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	1	3	4	0	0	0	0	1	0		8	13	0
Toronto	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		2	6	0

W: J. Beckett (7-0, 2.51); L: V. Zambrano (0-2, 10.97)
HR: BOS: M. Lowell (5), J. Varitek (3), K. Youkilis (3), D. Pedroia (1). TOR: A. Rios (6).

• Hero - Josh Beckett - 7-5-1-1-1-5-1 nuff said
  
• Goat - Zambrano for giving up 4 home runs in the first 3 innings.

The Red Sox score a run on Youkilis smashing a fast ball to center in the first giving Josh his first lead of the night. Then Alex Rios steps up to the plate and on the first pitch to him its a tie game as he crushes one. Lind then doubles and I am seeing the ghosts of Beckett past dancing in my head.

That is where they stayed. After the first two batters Josh was magnificent and the only reason he didn't pitch the 8th was because Tito said, "Josh you been sitting here for a long time watching our offense tack on another run, I ain't sending you out there." It should be noted that he sat on the bench til the end.

Good game by the Sox, unfortunately, the Spankees also won as they beat up on their whipping boys, in the Bronx. Malphabet even got a hit or two. Daisuke vs Ohka, the fourth time(?) that two Japanese born pitchers have squared off.

The always informative press pass is here.

Red Sox 07 Game 31

Tuesday, May 8 Rogers Centre 7:07 PM ET

Josh Beckett, RHP (6-0, 2.72) Red Sox (20-10) @ Victor Zambrano, RHP (0-1, 5.63) Blue Jays (13-18)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	20	10	-	7-3	20	10
NY Yankees	14	16	6	6-4	17	13
Tampa Bay	14	17	6.5	5-5	11	20
Baltimore	15	18	7	3-7	14	18
Toronto	13	18	7.5	2-8	15	16

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.

The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Boston's ace in the early part of the season, Beckett will try to make it seven wins in as many starts. This is Beckett's first start of the season against Toronto. He struggled against the Jays last year, going 1-2 with a 6.21 ERA in five starts. This will be Beckett's third start of the season on the road, where he is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .219 against him this season, and he's limited the long ball: After giving up 36 homers last year, Beckett has been taken deep just once in 2007.

Blue Jays: Manager John Gibbons said on Friday that Zambrano would likely take the mound on Tuesday. "We're trying to build him up," Gibbons said. Zambrano got his first start of the season May 2 at Cleveland, in which he lasted only 2 2/3 innings, surrendering two runs on four hits. He walked three and struck out one. He threw 65 pitches. Zambrano has made six appearances this season out of the bullpen.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
K. Youkilis	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.333
D. Ortiz	12	5	1	0	2	4	7	4	.417
M. Ramirez	26	4	2	0	1	3	2	7	.154
J.D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	----
M. Lowell	12	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	.083
J. Varitek	15	3	0	0	1	1	0	4	.200
C. Crisp	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Pedroia	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Totals	72	14	3	0	4	10	9	21	.194

Not a lot there as far as hitting vs Zambrano. I would not be surprised if Hinske gives Lowell a day off, since he is 6/23 vs Victor.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Beckett	5	1	2	0	29	28	20	8	12	17	6.21
Zambrano	8	5	3	0	62 1/3	58	38	11	41	54	5.49

18 games for Zambrano vs the Sox. In his 8 starts he has 5 quality starts.

All the numbers for Josh are from last year. He started off well against Toronto throwing a gem in his first game but after that, well the ugly Josh appeared. What killed him was the HR's. 8 in 29 innings. Still, I think that Josh has definetly improved but, with Toronto on a six game losing streak, well, you just know that they are going to snap out of it. Lets hope its not until we leave town.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 30 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Bos	1	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	0		4	9	0
Min	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	0		3	10	1

W: C. Schilling (4-1, 3.28); L: S. Ponson (2-4, 6.42); SV: J. Papelbon (10)
HR: None.

• Hero - Hideki Okajima
• Goat - None - but only because Pedroia / Cora run in the first wasn't needed.

Sox go to 20-10, the same record after 30 games as in '71, '86, '94, and 2003.

Update:

Lots of things happened in this game. Looking at my game notes I have a few questions and observations:

• Is Coco tipping his steals? Remy thinks so and so does Macha.
• Do me a favor, I know it took a perfect throw from the relay man to get Papi, but Demarlo you are giving me a heart attack when you send him on close plays. Have you seen how Papi slides? Every time he goes into one I see a knee injury coming.
• 2nd inning and Lowell, Tek and Hinske go by way of the K, against Ponson?
• Am starting to get nervous every time Schilling gets to the 82 - 86 pitch level.
• Schilling is now 3 - 0 after a Sox loss.
• Sox are 4 - 0 on Sunday's.
• 4 runs or less the Sox are 5 - 10. (1 - 6 less than 3)
• Pedroia and Drew appear to be coming out of their slumps just as Lugo is going into one.
• Now that the spankees have Clemens, who has the better Pitching? I think you can say that Schilling and Beckett are no worse than the Yankee 1 & 2. Daisuke is not as good as their number 3 and Wakefield is equal to their #4. 5th starter is a toss up for the Year but Tavarez is better than Rasner / Hughes. Call it a draw.
• Thank God for Okajima.

All for now. Chow!

MLB.Com press pass is here.

Red Sox 07 Game 30

Sunday, May 6 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 2:10 PM ET
BOS Curt Schilling, RHP (3-1, 3.15) Red Sox (19-10) @ MIN Sidney Ponson, RHP (2-3, 6.67) Twins (16-14)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	19	10	-	7 - 3	19	10
Baltimore	14	16	5.5	3 - 7	15	15
Tampa Bay	14	16	5.5	5 - 5	11	19
New York	13	15	5.5	5 - 5	16	12
Toronto	13	17	6.5	3 - 7	15	15

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.

The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Seemingly unaffected in his first start after the tiff over his 2004 World Series bloody sock, Curt Schilling turned in another workmanlike gem against Oakland. He allowed two runs on eight hits over seven innings, walking none and striking out seven, but did not get the win because of Jonathan Papelbon's first blown save. Since his subpar Opening Day outing in Kansas City, Schilling is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA over five starts.

Twins: On Tuesday, Minnesota finally got what it had sought from Ponson since his solid Spring Training. The right-hander gave up a single run over seven innings of work, his longest outing of the year. He was aggressive early and often against Tampa Bay, something he'd lacked in his four prior starts. As a result, Ponson fanned five and walked just two, using 90 pitches in his second win, and lowering his ERA nearly two full runs, down from 8.44. He's 3-10 in 19 career starts against Boston, and totes a hefty 6.69 ERA.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	12	2	0	0	0	0	2	1	.167
K. Youkilis	6	3	1	0	0	1	0	0	.500
D. Ortiz	36	16	4	0	2	8	7	4	.444
M. Ramirez	47	19	2	0	1	11	7	7	.404
J.D. Drew	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
M. Lowell	4	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
J. Varitek	39	12	4	0	2	4	2	4	.308
C. Crisp	4	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.750
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	152	57	11	0	5	25	19	17	.375

Those are pretty good numbers against Ponson. I also think you will see Hinske playing today (either at 3rd or 1st) with Lowell sitting out a game. Eric has 7 hits with 3 doubles in 23 at bats against this pitcher. With Pedroia goin 2 for 2 with a walk last night, I do not expect Cora in the field since he is only 1 for 4. Still, with Tito, you never know.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Ponson	19	3	10	0	109	150	81	17	38	72	6.69
Schilling	3	1	0	0	26 1/3	20	3	1	3	19	1.03

All of Ponson's games have been starts, and the Sox own this guy. Schilling has appeared in 9 games against the Twins. I decided to put Schillings numbers in a separate box showing how well he has done against the Twins as a starter and a reliever.

Schilling starts and relief appearances

Situation	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Relief	0	0	0	0	6 1/3	3	0	0	2	6	0.00
Start	3	1	0	0	20	17	3	1	1	13	1.35

Schilling owns these guys but has little to show for it. In three starts he has two quality starts and has given up one run in all three starts. His last start against the Twins was in Boston on 9/20/2006. That was the Game in which Big Papi hit his 50th home run and was blown open by the Twins in the eighth when they crushed "phenom" Hansen by scoring 4 runs against him.

Still, with their record against Ponson, you would expect Schilling to hold these guys in check while the offense goes nuts. Looking at possibly win number four for #38.

Other idle thoughts on why the Sox will win:

1. Schilling is 2 and 0 this year after a Sox loss.
2. Red Sox record on Sunday is 3 and 0.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 29 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0		1	7	1
Minn.	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	x		2	4	1

WP: J. Santana (4-2, 3.40); L: J. Tavarez (1-3, 6.48); SV: J. Nathan (8)
HR: None.

• Hero - Johan Santana
  
• Goat - Willy Mo Pena

Take a look at that final table. Tavarez gives up 4 hits in 6 innings of pitching and loses. That is why WMP / Cement glove is the goat of this game. Without his bad jump and error on Morneau's hit in the second, it is quite possible that the Twins are shut out for the second game in a row. Is there any doubt that Coco doesn't catch that ball? Not in my mind.

for the game, but 1 for 5 while Santana was pitching. They had their chances but continue to struggle with Santana gets the hero for pitching out of trouble in the first and second. Santana had base runners on base each inning but only allowed the one run in the fourth. Sox were 1 for 7 RISP for the game but 1 for 5 RISP with Santana pitching.

Tavarez was dealing for his six innings. Only 2 earned runs with 7 K's and 3 walks. He had no outs on fly balls, so the sinker was doing its job.

Other thoughts on the game and season:

• Pedroia looked better at the plate going 2 for 2 with the only RBI and a walk. This raises his average above the Mendoza line.
• Drew continues to be in a slump, not for sure why, maybe because his is still under the weather? He needs to start hitting though to provide some protection for Manny.
• Lugo is sucking wind in the lead off role, he needs to start producing there.
• Sox are now 2 and 3 on Saturday games, joining Mondays (1 -2) and Tuesdays (1-3) as the only days with losing records.
• The number 5 starter has faced the #1 starter for five games. Team record is 2 and 3.
  
• Sox are now 6 and 2 vs in games with left handed starters.
• 1 and 6 in games scoring fewer than 3 runs.
• 4 and 3 in one run games.
• Sox are 4 and 9 when trailing after six innings.
• Since 1941 this is the fifth time the Sox were 19 and 9. Only the 1982 and 1998 team won the next game. Last time the Sox were 19 and 10 was 2003.

Preview for game 30 later on this morning. Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 29

Saturday, May 5 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 7:10 PM ET

BOS Julian Tavarez, RHP (1-2, 7.58) Red Sox (19-9) @ MIN Johan Santana, LHP (3-2, 3.60) Twins (15-14)

Update: MLB.com press pass is here.

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	19	9	-	7 - 3	19	9
Baltimore	13	16	6.5	2 - 8	14	15
Tampa Bay	13	16	6.5	5 - 5	11	18
Toronto	13	16	6.5	4 - 6	15	14
New York	12	15	6.5	4 - 6	15	12

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.

The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Tavarez was unable to pitch as long as six innings in any of his first four starts. He did record his first win in his last outing, giving up three hits and three runs over five-plus innings against the Yankees. His only blemish in that outing was a three-run homer to Doug Mientkiewicz. Tavarez has 11 strikeouts and eight walks in his 19 innings of work. Lifetime against the Twins, Tavarez is 2-2 with a 5.26 ERA in 16 games.

Twins: Santana continued to be so-so early in 2007 in his last start on Sunday against the Tigers. He gave up three runs over six innings, and didn't once retire the side in order. His ERA (3.60) is solid by most pitchers' standards, but the bar has been raised for Santana after winning two Cy Young Awards. Pitching at home usually is a good thing, but surprisingly, Santana has struggled at the Metrodome this season. He is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts in Minnesota.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	19	4	0	1	0	1	1	4	.211
K. Youkilis	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
D. Ortiz	8	2	0	0	1	1	3	5	.625
M. Ramirez	16	3	0	0	1	1	3	5	.188
J.D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M. Lowell	8	1	0	0	0	0	1	3	.125
J. Varitek	16	7	0	0	1	2	1	6	.438
C. Crisp	33	8	2	1	1	2	2	7	.242
D. Pedroia	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	60	16	2	1	2	4	4	16	.267

From a hitting standpoint Santana owns these guys, well except for Varitek who has a great record versus this ace of a pitcher. Don't look for any help from the bench players as long as Johan is in the game. Only Hinske and Mirabelli have faced him previously and they are a combined 0 - 9. Still it would not surprise me if Wily Mo Pena is in the line up tonight since Manny has played in every game. Tito will probably give him a day off soon.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Tavarez	4	2	2	0	37 2/3	50	22	2	11	26	5.26
Santana	8	3	4	0	50 2/3	46	20	4	14	53	3.55

As Starters

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Tavarez	4	2	0	0	21 2/3	30	13	0	8	13	5.48
Santana	8	2	4	0	46	42	19	4	13	48	3.72

Here is what I found fascinating. Santana has made 3 relief appearances against the Sox with very good numbers. Of course his overall numbers are pretty good with an ERA at 3.55 but what is surprising is that he is 3 and 4 overall. Think about that! Here is a man who for his career is 81 and 33, or wins .711 percent of his starts with a 3.21 ERA. Against the Sox though he has a losing record and his ERA is .34 above his career. His ERA as a starter is up 1/2 a run. Truly amazing.

Julians last 2 starts against the Twins were both quality starts as he gave up only 2 runs in both starts. He has never started against the Twins as a Red Sox though.

I expect Julian to come out firing and locating his pitches well. This is the fifth time that he will be facing the opposing teams Ace (Millwood, Halladay twice and Wang). Every start he has made this year has been against the pitcher pitcher for the other team.

After last nights game Sox are 16 and 3 against teams who are .500 or better. I don't know about you but that seems to be a bad sign, especially since the rest of the AL East is below five hundred.

Red Sox 07 Game 28 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1		2	8	0
Minnesota	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	4	0

• Hero - Tim Wakefield - for going 7 innings of 3 hit ball and no runners past 2nd
  

• Goat - In a 2:33 minute game there is none

Wakefield was masterful as only 2 players for the Twins got even got hits off of him. As is usual though he did not get much run support. Thankfully Big Papi came through in the sixth with a solo blast into the upper upper part of right field and J.D. Drew led off the ninth with a triple in the left field gap, followed one out later by a single into right by Coco Crisp. On a night like tonight that was more than enough to get the job done.

The Sox are now 16 and 3 against teams that are .500 or better.

Lowell failed to get Drew home in the ninth, only the 2nd time in six attempts that he has failed to score the runner from 3rd with less than 2 outs this year. Coco made it 2 for 4 in this situation.

All in all a good game by the Sox and the Twins and a very good win for the Sox.

Red Sox 07 Game 28

Friday, May 4 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome | 8:10 PM ET

BOS Tim Wakefield, RHP (2-3, 2.59) Red Sox (18-9) @ MIN Carlos Silva, RHP (2-1, 3.10) Twins (15-13)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Boston	18	9	-	6 - 4	18	9
Tampa	13	15	5.5	6 - 4	11	17
Toronto	13	15	5.5	5 - 5	15	13
N. York	11	14	6.0	3 - 7	14	11
Baltimore	12	16	6.5	1 - 9	13	15

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
MLB.coms preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Wakefield's biggest problem this season has been a lack of run support. The Red Sox have scored a total of four runs in his three losses. In his start on Saturday, Wakefield didn't have his usual control, walking six while throwing 117 pitches over 5 1/3 innings in a 3-1 loss to the Yankees. Wakefield is 9-13 with a 4.60 ERA lifetime against the Twins. He always enjoys pitching indoors, and he's 6-3 with a 4.38 ERA at the Metrodome.

Twins: Silva wasn't exactly a model of efficiency, but he did enough to win his start against the Tigers on Saturday. Silva gave up 10 hits and a walk, but won the game, allowing three runs over six innings. Amazingly, he threw just 95 pitches, as he benefited from two outfield assists from Michael Cuddyer. Silva is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA in four games against the Red Sox.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	8	3	0	0	0	1	0	2	.375
K. Youkilis	5	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.400
D. Ortiz	9	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	.444
M. Ramirez	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
J.D. Drew	6	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	.167
M. Lowell	13	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	.231
D. Mirabelli	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
C. Crisp	15	4	2	0	0	2	0	0	.267
A. Cora	15	6	1	0	0	2	0	0	.400
Totals	82	23	5	0	0	5	3	6	.280

Not great numbers against Silva by the starters. I am not expecting Dustin to start, since Cora is 6 for 15 and Pedroia has never faced this pitcher.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Wakefield	19	11	4	1	123 1/3	120	58	12	38	103	4.23
Silva	3	2	1	0	20	22	4	3	2	8	1.8

Silva owns the Red Sox. In three starts he has three quality starts. Each start has went at least six innings, with his last start against the Sox (6 /15/2006) being six innings of shut out ball for the win. His one loss came in 2005 in which the Twins allowed two unearned runs in seven innings.

Fortunately Wakefield is pretty good in Minnesota. In 10 starts he has 7 quality starts and is 6 and 3 with a 4.38 ERA. He had one terrible start on 7/25/1996 (3 1/3 IP, 7 earned runs), with out that start his ERA is a very respectable 3.58.

Red Sox 07 Game 27 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Sea	5	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0		7	6	1
Bos	0	5	0	2	0	0	0	1	X		8	15	1

• Hero - Manny Ramirez
  
• Goat - Horacio Ramirez

Update: Press Pass for this game is here.

Due to the inability of Daisuke Matsuzaka to throw strikes the Mariners jumped out to a five nothing lead, only to have Horacio Ramirez fail to hold the lead as he allowed the Red Sox to tie the game in the bottom of the second. To say that both starters in this game were shaky would be an understatement.

The third inning was uneventful but the Sox struck for two runs on the first of Manny's homers, with Coco on board thanks to a BB. The fourth home run of the season for Manny put the Sox ahead 7 to 5. Since after that shaky first inning Daisuke settled down retiring the next eight hitters before walking Ichiro in the fourth and we could feel a little breathing room.

However trouble would strike again in the fifth. After a quick out to Coco on a fly ball by Vidro, Daisuke issued a walk to Ibanez, followed by a single, two groundouts and another single. Once again the score is tied, this time at seven all. A visit to the mound seemed to settle Matzsuzaka down and he finished the inning on a ground out to first by Jose Lopez. Daisuke was finished for the night.

This is were it pays to have a solid bull pen. Snyder, Donnelly and Romero pitched the final 4 innings allowing only 1 hit and 3 base on balls. With Manny hitting his fifth home run in the bottom of the eighth Donnelly got his first win of the year and after a lead off walk by Donnelly in the ninth, Romero came in and shut the door to earn his first save.

Back in his first start, I warned that Daisuke was a nibbler. In the games since then he has done nothing to change my mind about this assumption. In my opinion at this stage of his career he is another Matt Clement with better stuff. However, I don't think that he will continue this pattern. You have to remember that he is basically making a two league jump this year as I consider Japan leagues to be above triple A but below the national league, so we should expect some inconsistencies in what is his rookie major league season.

A good win by the home team. Any time your starter is struggling and you can pull out a win is a good win. Sox are off to Minnesota to face Silva in the first of three at the dome.

Red Sox 07 Game 27

Thursday, May 3 Fenway Park 7:05 PM ET

Horacio Ramirez, LHP (2-1, 4.41) Mariners (12-10) @ Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (3-2, 4.36) Red Sox (17-9)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Bos	17	9	-	6 - 4	17	9
Tor	13	14	4.5	5 - 5	15	12
Tam	12	15	5.5	4 - 4	10	17
Bal	12	16	6.0	1 - 9	13	15
NYY	10	14	6.0	2 - 8	13	11

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Even though he won his last two starts -- both against the Yankees -- Matsuzaka will be glad to go on to another opponent. He wasn't sharp in his two encounters with New York, giving up 10 runs over 13 innings. This will be Matsuzaka's second start against the Mariners. He was a tough-luck, 3-0 loser to Felix Hernandez in the April 11 game at Fenway Park. In that one, Matsuzaka gave up eight hits and three runs over seven innings.

Mariners: A lot of moxie carried Ramirez a long way in his last start, as he stranded seven runners in the first three innings, a trend he would not like to make a habit. The good part was he made good pitches when he needed to, and that allowed him to pitch into the seventh inning for the first time in three starts. Ramirez has never faced the Red Sox.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
K. Youkilis	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Ortiz	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M. Ramirez	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J.D. Drew	4	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	.250
M. Lowell	15	6	0	0	1	2	2	0	.400
J. Varitek	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
C. Crisp	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	22	7	0	0	1	3	4	2	.318

Its possible that we may see Wily Mo Pena in this game. He has a history against Horacio, though limited, but still he is 2 for 7 with a home run, 2 rbi, 3 walks and only 1 k. The three walks might be the tipping point. Plus, Manny has played in every game so he is due for a day off.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Ramirez	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Matsuzaka	1	0	1	0	7	8	3	0	1	4	3.86

Daisuke has only faced the Mariners once, in one of the better games, in my opinion, that he has pitched this year. Unfortunately for him, King Felix was on the mound for the Mariners . Look for Daisuke to sparkle, including in the 4th inning today.

Red Sox 07 Game 26 Recap

Final

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Oak	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	1		4	8	3
Bos	0	0	1	1	0	2	1	1	X		6	13	0

• Hero - Beckett for going seven strong innings and once the team came from behind in the sixth and took the lead (ninth time this season?) shutting down the A's. Of course this being Beckett it wasn't as easy as it sounds, when with two outs he walked two batters prompting a visit by Farrel. Then he ended the inning with another K to get out of the jam.
• Goat - J Marshall of the Oakland A's. After Gaudin started off the sixth by allowing a single by Varitek, Marshall relieved in a hold situation and on a 2 - 1 count gave up a double to left field to start the winning rally.

The first two innings were scoreless as Gaudin and Josh both pitched effectively. The Sox once again though wasted chances as in the first David Ortiz got a two out double, but Gaudin got Manny to fly out to center. In the second Drew and Lowell hit fly balls to center. Again with two outs Boston got a runner on base as Varitek hit a ball up the middle that Ellis was able to reach, but with his momentum taking him into the outfield Tek was able to beat the throw to first. Coco then hit a single to left past the drawn in Chavez. Once again though with RISP, the Sox failed to come through.

Beckett was cruising along as he set the A's down in order on eight pitches in the first and went 1-2-3 in the second on 10 pitches. The third inning was almost as easy as the first two as again the A's went down 1-2-3. Through 3 innings he had thrown 30 pitches and had 2 k's both looking. It was obvious that Beckett was in control of his pitches. His curve was the knee buckling type and he was able to spot his fast ball on the corners with consistency.

The Sox finally broke through in the bottom of the third. Lugo led the inning off by drawing a walk which quickly became a double as on the first pitch he stole second. With Lugo running Youkilis hit a ground ball to SS in which it appeared that Julio's cutting in front of Crosby allowed Youk to beat the throw to first. Runners on the corners and no outs with Big Papi coming to the plate, but once again the Sox failed to get a hit with RISP as David hit a ground ball to second and was able to beat the throw to first allowing him to get the RBI. Sox were now 0 - 3 RISP for the game.

Still, with Manny beating out an infield single followed by a balk by Gaudin, when he dropped the ball while standing on the rubber, there was a good chance to add on more runs and possibly knock Gaudin out of the game. The A's pitcher was dealing though as he got Drew to strike out on a nasty off speed pitch followed by last out Lowell living up to the name with another swinging strike out. The Sox were now 0 - 5 RISP.

Beckett now had a lead and once again he pitched a very efficient inning. Once again the A's went down 1-2-3 on nine pitches. Beckett now had no hits through 4 innings and on a total of 38 pitches (27 strikes).

In the bottom of the fourth the Sox added another run, when with one out Crisp hit a line drive to center fielder Langerhans that was misplayed (Langerhans stint with the A's would be a short three games as the A's announced a trade after the game) allowing Coco to reach second. After a fly ball to right Lugo singled scoring Crisp. The Sox were 1 - 7 RISP. A walk to Youkilis brought Ortiz up and on the first pitch Papi grounded to the 2b who was playing the shift in shallow right. 1 - 8 RISP.

The top of the fifth Beckett finally ran into trouble facing six batters. A lead off single by Piazza, a double by Johnson (Piazza to third), followed by two strike outs. Then on a 1 - 0 pitch to Kendall he gave up the RBI single scoring both runners. The damage was limited though as he got Langerhans to ground out.

Drew must still be feeling under the weather or the A's middle infielders are better than I thought. As after a single by Manny, J.D. hit into a double play. This was his second this year in 83 AB's. For his career he hits into one every 74.32 AB's.

The A's took the lead in the sixth inning even though Beckett only threw 13 pitches. A single, K, Foul out, Single and an RBI single by Johnson placed the A's up by one. The final out was made on a ground ball to deep third, but Lowell raced toward the bag tagging Piazza and in the collision injuring Mike, Mike Piazza that is, after the game we would learn that Piazza is out for 4 - 6 weeks. That would be the last gasp for the A's against Beckett though.

The Sox came roaring back in the bottom of the sixth. A single by Varitek chased Gaudin and brought in rookie J Marshall. Coco put his fourth pitch down the left field line bringing up Mr. Alex Cora, utility player extraordinaire. Down 1 - 2 Cora flicked his bat getting a ground out to Crosby and moving Coco to third. Four pitches later Lugo hit a deep fly ball to Putnam in right scoring Coco. That would end the scoring, even though the Sox would load the bases on a HBP (Youkilis), and walks to Ortiz and Manny. 0 - 2 with RISP making the Sox 1 - 11 for the night.

In the seventh Beckett had some two out trouble by walking two batters on 14 pitches (nine to Langerhans). Once again though he was able to escape by getting Ellis looking for his seventh and last strike out.

The rest of the night was pretty much normal and went according to Plan. Okajima came on in the eighth and faced the minimum number thanks to a double play ball after Chavez walked to lead off the inning. Timlin did give up a run on an RBI single by Todd Walker and was saved from more trouble by another sparkling catch in center field.

Red Sox win, Red Sox win!

Red Sox 07 Game 26

Wednesday, May 2 Fenway Park 7:05 PM ET
Chad Gaudin, RHP (1-1, 2.54) Athletics (13-13) @ Josh Beckett, RHP (5-0, 2.48) Red Sox (16-9)

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	Exp W	Exp L
Bos	16	9	-	6 - 4	17	8
Tor	13	13	3.5	5 - 5	14	12
Bal	12	16	5.5	1 - 9	13	15
TBA	11	15	5.5	5 - 5	10	16
NYY	10	14	5.5	2 - 8	13	11

ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.
MLB.com's press pass is here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report:

Red Sox: Unblemished in five April starts, Beckett hopes May is just as kind. The first AL pitcher to five wins will go for No. 6, as the Red Sox close a two-game home series against Oakland. Beckett is 1-2 with a 6.23 ERA in three lifetime starts against the A's, but he's coming off a masterful performance on Thursday at Baltimore, allowing two runs on eight hits, walking none and fanning three. Since pitching five innings in his first start of the year, Beckett went at least six innings in the next four.

A's: Gaudin entered Friday's start at home against Tampa Bay as one of the feel-good stories of Oakland's season, sporting a 1-0 record and a 1.85 ERA in four rock-solid starts since being moved into the rotation in the wake of an injury to Esteban Loaiza. The Devil Rays, however, took advantage of Gaudin's first battle of the season with the command problems that plagued him in the first half of 2006, scoring four runs on four hits, four walks and four stolen bases over four innings.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at Baseball Reference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
K. Youkilis	6	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	.167
D. Ortiz	4	1	0	0	0	0	2	1	.250
M. Ramirez	6	2	0	0	2	3	1	1	.333
J.D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	1	---	---
M. Lowell	4	2	1	0	0	2	0	0	.500
J. Varitek	3	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	.667
C. Crisp	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.200
A. Cora	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	36	9	3	0	2	6	4	4	.250

The Sox have not faced Gaudin very much (at least these players) haven't faced him, so not a lot of history here. Manny has hit two home runs off of him, so watch for that match up tonight.

Historical Pitching lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Gaudin	0	1	0	0	21 2/3	15	4	2	10	13	1.66
Beckett	3	1	2	0	17 1/3	18	12	2	9	11	6.23

Gaudin has never started a game against the Sox but has appeared in 13 games as a reliever for the Devil Rays and A's. Beckett had a very rough outing vs the A's in Fenway last year.

In Fenway he gave up 8 hits, 7 runs, walked 4 and k'ed 3 while only going 4 1/3 innings. However, in his last two games in Oakland he went 6 innings giving up only 3 runs for a win and went 7 innings giving up 2 runs in a loss. The first game was in late July and the last one was in August. If you remember it was about that time last year that he rediscovered his curve ball and started to really pitch. Look for that Josh to appear on the mound tonight.

Sox are 13 and 3 against teams that are at .500 or better, with the win last night the A's are now at five hundred. Looking for a good game tonight.

Red Sox 07 Game 25 Recap

Final Bos 4 Oak 5

Hero - Buck, freaking Travis Buck who was 3 for 33 coming into this game and ended up a triple short of hitting for the Cycle. Big hit was the 2 run homer off of Papel-bot in the 9th which was bot's first blown save.

Goat - Donnelly for the back to back doubles from Piazza and Johnson which led to the winning run.

This was a game of firsts. The first runs off of Donnelly and Papelbon, the first stolen bases of the season for both Youkilis and Lowell, the first game the Sox were leading after six that they lost and the first home run of the year for Johnson. The Johnson home run was the sixth home run of the year given up by Schilling.

This game looked like it was going to be a typical 2007 game for the Sox. Seven strong innings by Schilling giving up eight hits and only two runs while striking out 7. The only innings where he really struggled were the fifth and the seventh. Curt got out of the fifth by striking out Chavez swinging (which led to A's manager Geren being ejected) and in the seventh he was helped out by a diving catch in center by Coco.

The catch by Coco was huge, first and third with no outs and it looked like there was going to be first and third with a run scored. As Curt said in his after game conference with the press, it was a game saving catch.

So, end of seven and you are thinking this is it, the game is in the hands of the bull pen and that is an automatic W, only to have it all fall apart in the ninth. Just goes to show that everybody is human, even Papel-bot.

Other idle thoughts.

• This was the third straight loss at home and the second time they have lost the first game after the Yankees series.
• The Sox are 13 and 3 against teams with winning records and 3 and 6 against losing records.
• In his first 10 games Coco was hitting .111 with a .179 OBA and .167 slugging percantage. Since then his numbers are .361/.405/.486.
• According to the globe, the courant and the herald blog sites it looks like Lester will be optioned to Pawtucket after he comes off the DL.
• Okajima is still the hero in the dark.

Red Sox 07 Game 25

Tuesday, May 1 Fenway Park 7:05 PM ET
OAK Joe Blanton, RHP (2-1, 3.55) Athletics (12-13) @ BOS Curt Schilling, RHP (3-1, 3.27) Red Sox (16-8)

Boston is ahead of Toronto by 3.5 games, Baltimore by 5, Tampa Bay by 5.5 and the Spankees by 6.5

Update: Press pass is here.
ESPN.Com preview should be here.
Yahoo's preview should be here.
The recap after the game will be here.

From MLB.Com Scouting Report:

Red Sox: Schilling, who has prevailed in three consecutive decisions, is coming off an impressive outing at Baltimore on Wednesday, when he gave up a run on five hits over seven innings. Lifetime against the A's, he's 3-3 with a 3.75 ERA in 11 games.

A's: Blanton fired a six-hitter against the Mariners in Oakland on Wednesday, but it wasn't enough, because Seattle's Jarrod Washburn threw a three-hit shutout in a 2-0 M's victory. It was the shortest nine-inning A's game -- one hour, 47 minutes -- since August 1979. Blanton walked two -- one intentionally -- while striking out six on 105 pitches, but he gave up solo homers to Jose Guillen and Kenji Johjima.

As usual all statistics were found at the day by day database at Baseball Musings and this year at BaseballReference.

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	10	5	2	0	0	2	0	0	.500
K. Youkilis	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Ortiz	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.200
M. Ramirez	4	3	0	0	0	0	2	1	.750
J.D. Drew	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250
M. Lowell	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Varitek	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	.333
C. Crisp	6	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.167
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Totals	41	13	3	0	0	3	2	4	.317

The expected batters have a decent history against Blanton, but this works out to 3 earned runs per outing against this pitcher. This is slightly above his 2.02 ERA vs Boston. Only Eric Hinske of the bench players has faced this pitcher and his numbers are not very good as he has only 1 hit (a double) in 12 at bats with 1 K.

Historical Pitching lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA
Blanton	2	2	0	0	13 1/3	11	3	1	4	7	2.02
Schilling	7	3	3	0	44 1/3	55	21	3	7	43	4.26

Curt allowed just 2 hits in 7 innings vs Oakland in Fenway last year. He has faced the A's 4 times in Fenway with a 2 - 1 record in 26 innings pitched. His lost was in Sept. 2005, this was one of his first starts that year and he went 6 2/3 innings giving up only 4 runs.

Curt is on a roll so far this year and I expect that to continue. Plus Oakland is beat up in the regular line up as they have five players on the DL. Including Rich Harden, Milton Bradley, Esteban Loaiza and Mark Kotsay. Now is a good time to play these guys.

Oakland is also struggling at the plate having scored 95 runs in 25 games. In their last 10 games the A's are 4 - 6 while the Sox are 7 - 3. Plus Oakland generally starts slow then finishes fast.