Red Sox 2008 Game 79 Preview

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D. Haren		7-4, 3.26		J. Beckett		7-4, 3.87
Diamondbacks		39-37		Red Sox		47-31

Monday, June 23      Fenway Park  ✠ 7:05 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	47	37	-	6-4	10	9	45	33
Tampa Bay	44	31	1.5	6-4	13	9	41	34
New York	41	35	5.0	8-2	13	9	40	36
Baltimore	38	36	7.0	6-4	17	11	36	38
Toronto	36	41	10.5	2-8	11	19	40	37

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Diamondbacks: Haren had his finest outing of the year Wednesday night against the A's at Chase Field. The right-hander held his former team to just one run on four hits over seven innings. Haren threw more cut fastballs than he normally does, in part because he figured the A's were more familiar with his repertoire than other teams. He began using the cut fastball this spring but got away from it early in the season. It's an important pitch for him because it gives him something to throw rather than just a straight fastball when he falls behind in the count 1-0 or 2-0.

Red Sox: The right-hander looks for his third win of the month and his first three-game winning streak since winning 20 in 2007. Beckett held the Reds scoreless over seven innings on Sunday at Great American Ball Park, allowing just six hits while fanning six and walking two. Beckett makes this start on seven days of rest after the Red Sox built in a break for him simply for maintenance reasons. Beckett earned a win against the Diamondbacks last June, allowing two runs over eight innings. In his career against Arizona, Beckett is 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Haren

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
J. D. Drew	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.333	.333	.333	.667
M. Ramirez	12	6	2	0	1	3	0	2	.500	.538	.917	1.455
M. Lowell	8	4	2	0	0	3	0	1	.500	.444	.750	1.194
K. Youkilis	9	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.111	.111	.111	.222
J. Varitek	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	.167	.000	.167
C. Crisp	12	5	0	0	0	1	0	3	.417	.417	.417	.833
J. Lugo	7	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	.143	.143	.143	.286
Totals	60	18	4	0	1	8	0	16	.300	.323	.417	.739

This line up has faced Haren quite a bit and has some success against him. Haren also has some success against them also as his K rate is better than once every four batters and no walks. If I was Francona though, I would start Casey over Youkilis and Cora over Lugo. Just by making this switch that bottom line would be 70-24-7-0-2-10-0-13-.343-.361-.529-.890.

How about it Terry? Make the smart move here.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Haren	5	1	3	0	30 1/3	28	11	3	8	26	3.26	1.19	6.07
Beckett	5	1	3	0	28 2/3	37	18	5	8	30	5.54	1.57	5.73

A 3.26 era is pretty good versus the Sox but the worrisome detail is that Haren lost his first three games versus the Sox and is 1-0 in his last start versus the Sox. However when one looks at Haren's history at Fenway we see that he has a 4.60 ERA with a 1.66 WHIP. He also only goes 5.22 innings per start at Fenway.

Maybe, after the Sox struggling with the Cardinal starters who had their numbers a look at an old reliable will help this offense.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Haren	15	7	4	0	96 2/3	81	35	10	16	84	3.26	1.00	6.44
Beckett	13	7	4	0	86	80	37	11	17	89	3.87	1.13	6.62

Very similar numbers for Haren and Beckett this year. The ERA is the glaring statistic where Haren has Beckett beat. However, I am confident that Beckett can contain this team. I'm thinking we'll see another fine pitched game by both starters. I'll take the home team in that situation, and what a surprise, thats the Sox!

Inside Edge

Type	All	1st P	Early	2 S	Ahead	Behind	RHB	LHB	Op. BA
Fastball	54 %	62 %	57 %	39 %	40 %	68 %	53 %	55 %	.291
Curves	3 %	5 %	4 %	2 %	2 %	3 %	4 %	3 %	.291
Sliders	23 %	26 %	26 %	17 %	19 %	23 %	25 %	20 %	.213
Change Ups	17 %	5 %	10 %	37 %	34 %	4 %	16 %	18 %	.167
Totals	4,597	1,188	2,767	1,324	1,692	977	2,251	2,346	.243

Nobody is having a lot of success against Haren. Still, he is a fastball - slider pitcher and the Sox actually do fairly well against those type of pitchers. For example, Manny is hitting .280 and Drew .298 versus Right Handed Pitchers on fastballs. They also are hitting very similar numbers on sliders. I really think that Haren will not present as much of a problem as to the big guns as you would think.

♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

Red Sox 2008 Game 78 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13		R	H	E
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	0	0	0		3	16	0
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	2		5	13	0

W: J. Lopez (2-0) L: M. Parisi (0-3)
HR ➢ ➢ Bos: K. Youkilis 2 (13)

✫ 1st star - J. Lester - 7 1/3 innings of two run ball Kevin Youkilis for ending it in the 13th with a bomb.
✫✫ 2nd star - Kevin Youkilis - for ending it in the 13th with a bomb.
✫✫✫ 3rd star - J.D. Drew - a strike to Varitek in the 13th keeps the game tied.
⋔ Pitchfork - The offense - A lead off double in the 10th, 11th, and 12th resulted in bupkis.

Game thoughts!

I have to admit that Jonathan Tyler Lester is making me look bad for placing him in the 3 or 4-starter category. After today's game he is now seventh in the AL with a 3.13 ERA. Not bad, not bad at all for the young left handed pitcher.

Game was delayed for almost an hour and then became a pitching duel. Lester started the game by facing only seventeen batters in five innings with the help of two double plays. He did not run into any trouble until the sixth inning when the Cardinals got back-to-back doubles and a one out single to plate their first two runs.

Pineiro was just as good though as he went into the eighth inning. The only runs he allowed were a seventh inning home run by Youkilis with two outs and he was relieved by Perez in the eighth after Crisp tripled to center field on a ball that Ankiel slipped and fell on while pursing to open the inning.

Perez immediately gave up a sacrifice fly to Lugo to tie the game. After an Ellsbury ground out, Pedroia then singled and stole second, Drew walked, Manny walked and then Lowell walked to force in the second run of the inning and the Sox were finally in the lead 3-2. All three walks came on fourteen pitches with Ramirez and Lowell walking on four straight pitches. Those were the first walks of the game for the Sox.

One run lead going into the bottom of the ninth and Papelbon, who hadn't pitched since the 18th, rested in the pen and I am feeling pretty good. After the bot struck out Ankiel on three swinging strikes and then on four pitches strikes out the hard to strike out Molina I am really feeling pretty good about this game. Then disaster struck.

After throwing seven straight strikes, Jonathon threw four straight balls to walk Duncan. Ok, the winning run, Adam Kennedy, is at the plate so no big deal especially when bot gets to 0-2 on Kennedy with his first two pitches. Only, Kennedy fouled off the next two pitches then hit a ball deep to center field that Coco could not track down (I think he lost the ball in the clouds, possibly what happened to Ankiel also) and bounced off the wall scoring Duncan from first base. This game became the fourth blown save of the year for Papelbon.

The rest of the game was part anxiety and part frustration.

Okajima gave up a bloop single and a walk in the tenth, but escaped trouble by getting a pop up and a strike out of Ankiel. Of course the Sox couldn't take advantage of the lead off double in the bottom of the tenth so anxiety (Okajima) was followed by frustration. Game should have been over but was going to the eleventh inning.

Molina started the eleventh with a single off the wall and Kennedy singled to right with one out. Edge of the seat time once again. After Schumaker flied out to Coco, Aaron Miles loaded the bases on a swinging bunt. I was ready for the blindfold and the cigarette, especially when Terry Francona strode out to the mound calling for Hansen. Three pitches later it was Hansen striding to the dugout and the game was still tied. Only, once again, the Sox could not take advantage of a lead off double (this time by Lowell). Anxiety, frustration, same song, second verse, could get better but going to get worse.

The twelfth saw Hansen retire Glaus, Stavinoha and Ankiel in a one, two, three inning and when Pedroia lead off with a ground rule double I thought the game was about to be over, except the fates wanted more frustration. On the first pitch Drew hits a broken bat line drive that Villone was able to graze and Pedroia was thrown out at third. Two pitches later Sean Casey hit into an inning ending double play and frustration followed. On to the thirteenth inning we went.

After Hansen got Molina to pop out to Youkilis, Francona went to the pen. Don't ask me why he did that, because I don't have a fragging clue. Hansen had been mowing them down and Francona went for the left versus left match up instead of sticking with the hot hand.

Immediately, it looked like it was going to come back to haunt the Sox as Duncan doubled off the wall and two pitches later Kennedy singled to right field. It was on this play that J.D. earned his star for this game.

Charging the ball, he quickly transferred it from the glove to his hand and threw a one-hop strike to Varitek in enough time for Jason to gather himself for the impending collision. Duncan was out by 10 feet and two pitches later the Sox were out of the inning and racing into the dug out. Another extra inning another anxiety attack, by now I was praying for the Sox to get put this game in the win column.

For the fourth straight inning, the Sox had the lead off batter reach base as Lowell singled to left field on the first pitch. Maybe the key to this game was don't hit doubles as five pitches later Youkilis earned his star by depositing the ball into the monster seats. Finally, the Sox were able to close the deal.

The water was dirty!

Factoid - Talk about having someones number - J.D. Drew versus the Cardinals was batting .169 / .290 / .339 going into this game. Needless to say, his 0 for 5 today just makes those numbers even worse.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something.

Red Sox 2008 Game 78 Preview

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J. Pineiro		2-3, 4.02		J. Lester		6-3, 3.18
Cardinals		44-32		Red Sox		46-31

Sunday, June 22      Fenway Park  ✠ 1:35 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	46	31	-	6-4	10	9	45	32
Tampa Bay	44	30	.5	6-4	13	8	40	34
New York	40	35	5.0	7-3	13	9	39	36
Baltimore	38	35	6.0	6-4	17	11	35	38
Toronto	35	41	10.5	2-8	11	19	39	37

ESPN.Com Preview .
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ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Cardinals: Exhibit 14,591 on why wins are a bad way to judge a pitcher: Pineiro hasn't won since April 29. In the interim, however, he's pitched well enough to win at least three times, most notably in his most recent start, when he allowed a single run over seven innings. Fenway Park probably isn't high on Pineiro's list of favorite places, but he's going well enough that he might be able to erase the bad memories of a frustrating '07 with the Red Sox.

Red Sox: Lester has been Boston's best pitcher over the last few weeks. He has won his last three starts, giving up a total of three runs in 20 1/3 innings. Lester is holding opponents to a .249 average on the season and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts. Lester has thrived at Fenway this season, going 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Pineiro

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. D. Drew	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333	.333	.333	.667
M. Ramirez	23	10	0	0	3	5	3	3	.435	.536	.826	1.362
M. Lowell	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	--	---	---	---	---
K. Youkilis	9	2	1	0	0	1	0	2	.222	.222	.333	.556
J. Varitek	13	0	0	0	0	1	2	5	.000	.125	.000	.125
C. Crisp	11	4	0	0	1	2	1	3	.364	.417	.636	1.053
J. Lugo	9	3	1	0	1	1	1	1	.333	.400	.778	1.178
Totals	71	21	2	0	5	10	7	14	.296	.375	.535	.910

Unlike the last two days where the Sox have been facing the pitcher for the first time, they know Pineiro. Boy do they know Peneiro. If I was Terry I would sit Lowell for this game and start Casey at first base. At least Casey has seen this guy and is 1 for 4 with a walk. Will be interesting to see what Terry does.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Pineiro	9	3	5	0	50 2/3	69	38	8	22	40	6.75	1.80	5.63
Lester	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---

A fragging 6.75 ERA, are you kidding me? Look if the Sox can't torch this guy then this season will be a repeat of 2006. They own this guy, absolutely own this guy. Break out the bats and get ready for a show.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Pineiro	10	2	3	0	56	57	25	6	14	33	4.02	1.27	5.60
Lester	16	6	3	1	96 1/3	90	34	7	38	62	3.18	1.33	6.02

All across the board, except for the K/BB ratio Lester has been better. He needs to challange these Cardinals, especially since the Cards are only 14-12 versus Lefties. He also needs to be a stopper for this team.

Taking a look at espn's scouting / inside edge for Pineiro:

Inside Edge

	ALL	1st PITCH	EARLY	2 STRIKES	AHEAD	BEHIND	VS RHB	VS LHB	OPP BA
Fastballs	58%	63%	60%	49%	49%	73%	59%	57%	.294
Curves	14%	14%	14%	18%	20%	5%	11%	18%	.241
Sliders	17%	16%	16%	20%	18%	12%	25%	6%	.287
Change Ups	11%	7%	11%	14%	13%	10%	5%	19%	.211
Totals	2125	588	1316	593	808	427	1209	916	.273

A fastball pitcher with a pretty good change up and curve ball. Even better is the fact that this year his ERA is over 2 runs higher on the road (2.84 home, 4.99 road) and his ERA during a day game is a horrendous 6.33. I like our chances versus this guy.

♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

Red Sox 2008 Game 77 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

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

W: M. Boggs (2-0) L: D. Matsuzaka (8-1)
HR ➢ StL: A. Miles (1), T. Glaus (10), R. Ankiel (12) Bos: J.D. Drew (14)

☼ Sun - C. Smith - made his debut by going 4 innings of 3 hit ball (HR by Glaus the big hit), other than that, well not much.

☁ Cloud - D. Matsuzaka - 12 batters faced, only three retired. Left with bases loaded 0 outs in the second, enuff said.

Game thoughts!

Daisuke, needless to say, stunk up the joint. A five-pitch lead off walk, a home run, a single, a fly out, a single, a ground out, a single, a double and then a K. Nine batters faced, four runs scored and two men stranded and that was just the first inning. This was the shortest outing in Matsuzaka's brief baseball career.

Normally, in a game at Fenway if the Sox are trailing by four runs it is no big deal, but when you follow that four run first inning with the Sox blowing a lead off double by Ellsbury, you start to worry. Throw in the whole first time ever this pitcher (who was making his third career start) has faced the Sox then you start to worry.

When the second inning sees the Sox pitcher once again walking the lead off batter, followed by a single then another walk. Well, now its "are you fragging kidding me time?” Not a great game by any stretch of the imagination. Just simply, completely a Fugly game.

Factoid - Troy Glaus before today’s game has a career .311 average with a .420 OBA and .561 Slugging % at Fenway. Rest assured after today's 2 for 4 with a grand slam, those numbers will only go up.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something.

Red Sox 2008 Game 77 Preview

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M. Boggs		1-0, 5.56		D. Matsuzaka		8-0, 2.53
Cardinals		43-32		Red Sox		46-30

Saturday, June 21      Fenway Park  ✠ 3:55 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	46	30	-	6-4	10	9	45	31
Tampa Bay	43	30	1.5	6-4	12	8	40	33
New York	40	34	5.0	8-2	13	9	39	35
Baltimore	38	34	6.0	7-3	17	10	35	37
Toronto	35	40	10.5	2-8	11	19	39	36

ESPN.Com Preview .
Yahoo's Preview .
ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Cardinals: In his first big league start, Boggs acquitted himself nicely, but in game No. 2 it was a bit rocky. Against a potent offense in its friendly home park, Boggs will be doing well if he simply keeps his team in the ballgame.

Red Sox: The right-hander makes his first start since May 27 after suffering a mild strain of his rotator cuff. Matsuzaka did make a rehab outing for Triple-A Pawtucket on Monday, allowing three hits and two runs over five innings. He walked one and struck out five. Before the injury, Matsuzaka was off to a terrific start. Over 64 innings, he allowed just 45 hits while striking out 55. In Matsuzaka's first 43 Major League starts, he is 23-12 with a 3.95 ERA. This will be his first career appearance against the Cardinals.

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

No batters etc since neither pitcher has faced each other's teams. After last nights debacle of errors, stranding runners, etc. Would be nice to see this team come out swinging the bats well.

♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

Red Sox 2008 Game 76 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
St. Louis	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	1	0		5	10	1
Boston	0	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	1		4	10	2

W: K. Lohse (9-2) L: T. Wakefield (4-5) S: R. Franklin (10)
HR ➢ Stl: J. LaRue (2), S. Schumaker (5), Y. Molina (4) Bos: J. Lugo (1)

☼ Sun - Wakefield - 7 innings, 7 hits and 3 earned runs. That is a quality start
☁ Cloud - Lugo and the Offense - 2 errors led to an unearned run and the offense, well it sucked.

Game thoughts!

Wakefield looked good, not spectacular but good yet the offense after getting an early lead could not add on as Francona said. It just seemed like the Sox were leaving men on base all night.

The Sox were 0-3 with the bases loaded, and only 3 for 12 with RISP. Not a good night for the boys with the bat. Oh, well, tee it up again and try tonight. Fortunately for the Sox, all most everybody else in the east also lost (only Baltimore winning). Yep tee it up again today.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something.

Schilling - A look Back

Just some comments found on the web with most coming from Curt's own blog. After all is said and done, I fully expect it to be 55-45 haters to lovers. I also expect Shaughnessey and other columnists to have a field day tomorrow.

"Maybe you should donate a significant portion of your salary (5 million?) to charity." - Idiot

"Maybe Johnny Damon gave you some pointers?" - Jackass

"You are a BumB who got lucky, Mariano Rivera, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez will all be in cooperstown before you, thats if you ever make it." - really classy there yankee fan.

"you should have given up a couple years ago, but as seeing as how you are whats wrong with baseball, and since it is all about the money, you just hung around. glad to see you go…." - Why he doesn't delete these comments I will never know.

"he fleeced the Sox" - Fleeced?

"i hope he packs his family up,including charming bride leather face and moves to fucking idaho or nebraska or some other aryan nation depot where he can tout the value of war with a captive audience of like minded morons." Comment #18.

Just for some perspective: Curt Schilling went 3-1 on the road in the '04 and '07 playoffs and 3-0 at home during that time period.

Overall Curt was 6-1 in 46 2/3 innings allowing 17 earned runs in 8 starts. That is a 3.28 ERA and he had a 1.18 WHIP in those games. If you remove his first start in New York in the '04 playoffs those numbers drop to 6-0, 11 earned runs, a 2.27 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. Curt has earned every cent the Sox have paid him.

Red Sox 2008 Misc. Post 5

Curt Schilling is done for the year. Is this good, bad, or indeferent? Personally, I think that this whole episode with Schilling has been handled badly by the Sox. Lest we've forgotten Dr. Morgan said from day one that Curt needed surgery and now we see four plus months later that he was right.

So, the big guy is done in Boston and the celebration will be hitting the streets shortly. I've never understood the hatred, unless you realize that BDS is rampant in RSN. Myself, I think he is in the top five of those who I would want to pitch for my team in the post season he might even by the number one guy in that situation. That is the only way he makes the HOF also in 8-10 years.

Personally, I would not be surprised to see the Rays approach him next summer at the break looking for his leadership and guile to help their team. If I was him, you betcha baby.

Update: - Like I said let the insanity begin: He fleeced the Sox?

Red Sox 2008 Game 76 Preview

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K. Lohse		8-2, 3.77		T. Wakefield		4-4, 4.19
Cardinals		42-32		Red Sox		46-29

Friday, June 20      Fenway Park  ✠ 7:05 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	46	29	-	7-3	10	8	44	31
Tampa Bay	43	29	1.5	6-4	12	7	39	33
New York	40	33	5.0	8-2	13	9	39	34
Baltimore	37	34	7.0	6-4	17	10	34	37
Toronto	35	39	10.5	3-7	11	18	38	36

ESPN.Com Preview .
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ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Cardinals: Lohse keeps throwing strikes and pitching deep into games. Not coincidentally, he keeps winning. He's gone at least six innings in six out of seven starts, with the only exception being a rain-interrupted affair in Washington. Lohse has issued a total of six walks in those seven games. That combination will typically add up to some solid results, and what do you know, Lohse has won five straight starts.

Red Sox: After just missing his fifth win of the season in Cincinnati on Saturday when Jonathan Papelbon allowed a game-tying homer, Wakefield gets another chance to get over the .500 mark. Wakefield has thrown at least seven innings in each of his last starts, including last Saturday when he allowed just four hits and two solo home runs over seven, walking two and striking out six. He is 1-2 with a 5.29 ERA in five career starts against the Cardinals.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Lohse

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. D. Drew	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
M. Ramirez	8	3	0	0	1	2	3	1	.375	.545	.750	1.295
M. Lowell	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
K. Youkilis	---	---	---	---	----	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
K. Cash	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000
C. Crisp	28	8	0	0	0	1	2	2	.286	.333	.286	.619
J. Lugo	7	2	0	0	1	5	0	1	.286	.222	.714	.937
Totals	47	13	0	0	2	8	5	6	.277	.346	.404	.750

Not a lot to see here as there are a lot of players who have no history or very little history against Lohse. Of the bench players (for tonight's game), only Varitek and Casey have faced Lohse and they are a combined 5/15, so not even a lot of history there either.

Manny does own Lohse, but how is his hamstring tonight?

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Lohse	6	0	3	0	27 1/3	35	19	3	16	14	6.26	1.87	5.27
Wakefield	5	1	2	0	32 1/3	36	19	1	19	26	5.29	1.70	6.07

As a starter versus the Cardinals, Wakefield has decent numbers, but nothing outstanding. The ones to watch against Wakefield tonight are Izturis and Encarnacion who have very good numbers against Tim.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Lohse	15	8	2	0	88 1/3	86	37	5	21	40	3.77	1.21	5.89
Wakefield	14	4	4	0	88	77	41	12	38	59	4.19	1.31	6.29

Lohse is having a very good year, but in some aspects not as good of a year as Wakefield. In June Lohse has gone 19.0 innings with a 2.84 ERA. He does struggle on the road though as he has a 5.04 ERA in 30 1/3 innings and is allowing a .325 BAA. Cue the offense!!!

Wakefield has been great in June, in 21 innings he has a 2.57 ERA but is only 1-0. At home this year Wakefield is 3-1 in 5 starts and has a 3.90 ERA in 32 1/3 innings. He also has a .231 BAA at Fenway. How about some support offense?


♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

Red Sox 2008 Game 75 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

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

W: J. Masterson (4-1) L: K. Kendrick (6-3) S: J. Papelbon (21)
HR ➢ ➢ Bos: J.D. Drew (13), M. Lowell (11)

☼ Sun - J. D. "ON FIRE!!!" Drew, 4 for 5 and only needed the triple to get the cycle.
☁ Cloud - Inconsistent C. Hansen - 3 batters faced - single, walk, wild pitch and a 2 run scoring single.

Game thoughts!

In a reverse of the first game of this series, except for only scoring 7 instead of 8 runs and except for allowing 4 instead of 2 runs; Ok it was nothing like a reverse of the first game, the Sox scored four runs in the first before there were any outs in the inning. Following a lead off single by Ellsbury and a single by Pedroia, Mr. Hottest batter on the planet (or it seems like that), J.D. Drew smoked a home run to right center field for a 3-0 lead, even better Mr. Mike Lowell then went (for the 9th time this year) to make it 4-0.

This looked like it was going to become a cruise game as Masterson, though struggling with his control only allowed a single run in the first and fifth innings but left with a 7-2 lead. Though not one of his better games, he only allowed 4 hits and 2 walks in his 92 pitches. 6 starts for the young pitcher and in every game he has given the Sox the chance to win the game, which they have done four times. I like this kid, I like him a lot.

Still, the game was well in hand until Hansen entered the game and posted the afore mentioned pitching line. Fortunately, Delcarmen was able to come in and slam the door (though he made the heart race after he walked the first batter he faced) without allowing any more runs. I have to admit though, that I was surprised to not see Okajima in the eighth, but I am not going to argue with Francona when Delcarmen proved the move right by having a 1-2-3 inning.

Factoid - Hansen can be so maddening, he is either very good or very bad as in 7 of his 18 games he has allowed runs.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something.

Red Sox 2008 Game 74 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

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

W: J. Lester (6-3) L: J. Moyer (7-4) S: J. Papelbon (20)

HR ➢ Bos: C. Crisp (5)

☼ Sun - Jonathon Lester and Coco Crisp
☁ Cloud - Nothing, nada, looked good all the way around

Game thoughts!

Jonathon Lester pitched 7 shut out innings followed by Okajima and Papelbon. More importantly, he attacked the zone and was consistently ahead in the count. A good job by Jonathon.

This was a night of speed on the base paths as six stolen bases were stolen, even one by Sean Casey. Speed kills baby, speed kills.

Since fight night at Fenway Coco is hitting .294 / .314 / .559 with three home runs and 8 RBI's. Hes not as hot as J.D. Drew, but he is hitting 32 points above his average. Keep it up Coco!!!

Factoid - Coco homered for his third straight game and J. Lester is 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA in his las three starts.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something.

Red Sox 2008 Game 74 Preview

			@
J. Lester		5-3, 3.43		J. Moyer		7-3, 4.12
Red Sox		44-29		Phillies		42-30

Tuesday, June 17      Citizens Bank Park  ✠ 7:05 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	44	29	-	6-4	10	8	43	30
Tampa Bay	40	29	2.0	5-5	10	7	37	32
New York	37	33	5.5	7-3	12	9	36	34
Baltimore	34	34	7.5	6-4	15	10	32	36
Toronto	35	36	8.0	3-7	11	16	38	33

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: The lefty has thrived of late, earning victories in his last two starts. In his last outing, he allowed seven hits and two runs over seven innings in a win over the Orioles. Two starts ago, he defeated the Rays, giving up eight hits and a run over 6 1/3 innings. Lester has given up three earned runs or less in six of his last eight starts. Lester is holding opponents to a .249 average.

Phillies: Moyer is coming off his longest and best outing of 2008, one in which he beat the Marlins in Miami with eight shutout innings and allowed only two hits while walking one and striking out three. The 45-year-old lefty is now 5-0 in his last six starts. The Red Sox will be somewhat of a familiar foe for Moyer, who spent most of his career in the American League and is 6-11 in 20 lifetime starts against Boston. One matchup to watch out for is Moyer vs. slugger Manny Ramirez, who has tagged the lefty for 10 home runs, more than any other hitter.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Moyer

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. D. Drew	4	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250	.250	.250	.500
M. Ramirez	50	17	3	0	10	20	6	12	.340	.421	1.000	1.421
M. Lowell	3	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.667	.667	1.000	1.667
K. Youkilis	6	2	1	0	1	2	3	2	.333	.556	1.000	1.556
J. Varitek	32	8	2	0	1	2	4	7	.250	.333	.406	.740
C. Crisp	18	5	1	0	0	1	1	2	.278	.316	.333	.649
J. Lugo	14	7	2	1	0	2	0	3	.500	.500	.786	1.286
Totals	127	42	10	1	12	27	14	26	.331	.401	.709	1.110

There are a lot of 1.000+ OPS against Jamie Moyer. Can the Sox take advantage of him? Do not be surprised to see Ellsbury sit tonight, especially since he has never faced Moyer and this year he is 1 for 6 versus finesse pitchers. Not a good split to have, so I would expect Coco to start in center field while Ellsbury sits.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Lester	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
Moyer	20	6	11	0	117	144	87	25	41	70	6.69	1.58	5.50

Lester has never faced the Phillies, so it will be interesting to see how he pitches to them. Personally I think you have to challenge them high and tight and low and away. Will have to see if he can be effecient tonight versus this very good hitting team.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Lester	15	5	3		89 1/3	84	34	7	37	57	3.43	1.35	5.96
Moyer	14	7	3	0	83	95	38	11	19	43	4.12	1.37	5.93

Pretty even across the board here, but I am surprised to see that Moyer has a better K/BB ratio, oh wait, thats right we are talking about Lester, not surprised to see that after all. Still, I think these are two evenly matched slingers and this should be interesting to watch.

ONE LAST THING GO CELTICS!!!!!!!!

♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

Red Sox 2008 Game 73 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

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

W: C. Hamels (7-4) L: B. Colon (4-2)
HR ➢ ➢ Bos: D. Pedroia (6), J.D. Drew (12) Phi: J. Rollins (6), R. Howard 2 (19)

☼ Sun - For the Sox nothing, absolutely nothing, unless you want to count the 1-2-3 inning thrown by Okajima.
☁ Cloud - Timlin - After the Sox had actually scored on
by Pedroia and Drew he came in and poured gasoline on the fire, 2/3 inning and 4 earned runs. Game over.

Game thoughts!

What can you say about this game? You know it could be a long night when three of the first four batters score thanks to a lead off home run and a laser shot to left by Howard with one runner on. Still, I thought that Bartolo settled down after that and he looked fairly good. Unfortunately he gave up another home run to Howard (this time a solo shot) and then hurt his back while swinging at the plate. Enter Timlin and good night, see you tomorrow. In other words Timlin sucked.

Bright spots for this game would be Pedroia going 3 for 4; maybe his slump is finally ending. We will have a better idea of that after tonight’s game though.

Factoid - After last night the Sox are now 6-4 since the beginning of the 2002 season at Philadelphia with a 5.18 ERA. The wins are good, but that ERA is horrible.

♊ - Then don't strain your brain trying. Might break something..

Red Sox 2008 Miscellanous Red Sox Nation envy

Filed in the too funny to be true folder is this piece by Bob Ford of The Philadelphia Inquirer, excerpt:

"Someone find M. Night Shyamalan and get him down to Citizens Bank Park tonight. There's a horror story to be told.
I see people. I see annoying people. I see annoying people wearing blue hats with a red B on the front.
And they're . . . they're . . . everywhere!"

Or this little beauty:
"Remy, no doubt, ran on a platform that called for more annoying sing-alongs, louder shouts from the stands in Boston accents even more fake than those presently employed and, of course, better turnout on the road."

You have to read the whole thing!

h/t Baseball Musings at baseballmusings.com

Red Sox 2008 Game 73 Preview

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B. Colon		4-1, 3.41		C. Hamels		6-4, 3.27
Red Sox		44-28		Phillies		41-30

Monday, June 16      Citizens Bank Park  ✠ 7:05 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	44	28	-	7-3	10	8	43	29
Tampa Bay	40	29	2.5	5-5	10	7	37	32
New York	37	33	6.0	7-3	12	9	36	34
Baltimore	34	34	8.0	6-4	15	10	32	36
Toronto	35	36	8.5	3-7	11	16	38	33

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: The big righty has been one of the best early-season stories in baseball. The man who was unemployed in February has won four of his first five starts for the Red Sox. Colon has given up three earned runs or fewer in four of his five outings. Colon has made four starts in his career against the Phillies, going 1-1 with a 4.00 ERA. This will be his first start at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies: Hamels stuck out 13 on Wednesday against Florida, his highest total of 2008. For the second consecutive start, the 24-year-old lefty looked firmly in command, walking only one and giving up two earned runs on three hits over eight innings in earning a no-decision. Hamels has never faced the Red Sox during his first three seasons in the Majors, meaning he'll have to contend with some of baseball's most explosive hitters -- such as Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz -- for the first time.

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

The only Red Sox hitter who has faced Hamels is shortstop Julio Lugo, who is 2-for-3 with two home runs against him.

A batter to watch will be J.D. Drew, who refused to sign with the Phillies in 1997. In 24 games (23 starts) at Philadelphia he is batting .300 / .417 / .533 /.950 (ba/obp/slg/OPS). You could say he is comfortable in the batters box in Philadelphia.

Red Sox are 10-2 versus left handers this year.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Colon	4	1	1	0	27	26	12	1	11	14	4.00	1.37	6.75
Hamels	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---

Colon has faced the Phillies four times with two of those starts being quality starts. Surprisingly, all four starts were in 2002 and none of them was in Philadelphia. He needs to just keep on doing what he has been doing this year, be effecient and throw strikes.

Hamels has never faced the Sox but with the Sox being 10-2 versus left handed pitchers this year I really like our chances. Of course there is that 1st start struggles, but hey if Lugo is 2 for 3 with 2 home runs, how much stock should we put in that scenario?

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Colon	5	4	1	0	29	31	11	2	7	22	3.41	1.31	5.80
Hamels	14	6	4	2	99	74	36	11	27	86	3.27	1.02	7.07

Just like Volquez on Saturday, the Sox are facing another tough pitcher, but like I said before, the Sox are 10-2 versus left handers this year. I really like our chances versus this guy, even with out Manny and big Papi.

♊ - When all else fails, get a bigger hammer!

Red Sox 2008 Game 71 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
Boston	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	2		6	13	0
Cincinnati	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	0		4	8	1

W: J. Papelbon (3-2) L: M. Lincoln (0-2) S: C. Hansen (1)
HR ➢ ➢ ➢ Bos: K. Youkilis (11), C. Crisp (3) Cin: A. Dunn (18), B. Phillips(13), E. Encarnacion (11)

☼ Sun - Youkilis and Coco - Their wins this game.

☁ Cloud - The bullpen or Francona - The pen for coughing up the lead in the ninth (after Okajima sucked in the eighth), Francona for pulling Wakefield who was stifling the bats in the eighth at 89 pitches.

Game thoughts!

Lots of highs and lows in this game. A run on a single, wild pitch, stolen base and an error started this game. Ellsbury is so destructive. Another wild pitch scored Drew in the 4th after his one out triple.

It was good to see the bats do some damage, especially those back to backs by Youkilis and Crisp. It would also help if the Sox decided to quit giving up the Home Runs as the Reds have now hit five in these two games. Luckily they have all been solo shots, though bad (?) base running helped in the second as Phillips was thrown out at third with Wakefield covering the bag.

Unlike some people, I'm not going to say that was bad base running as we have seen the Sox make that play in the last two years (shift on steal second and go to third). I like to think it was heads up from the old geezer on the mound to cover third base. Still, after Youkilis singled home Pedroia in the sixth I was starting to breathe easier, especially with the way that Timmy was throwing the ball.

The eighth inning looked like it would come back to haunt the Sox though. After Drew led off with a double (the ball was hit to almost the same spot as his triple) and Lowell hit a single to center (who should have been out as the throw to home was cut off but nobody covered first allowing him to get back to the bag) we had another run and Youkilis striding to the plate. This is when things got crazy.

Youkilis doubled to center over J. Bruce's head but for some reason, Demarlo Hale sent Lowell home and he was out by a mile. Instead of 2nd and 3rd with nobody out it was only a man on 2nd with Crisp, Cora and Cash due up. Not sure what Hale was thinking there, but the result sucked. Of course, neither of the afore mentioned batters got the run home, but it was a 4-2 lead going into the bottom of the eighth. Automatic win time, right?

Well, once again Okajima struggled as he was only able to get one out and after Bruce walked, Francona brought in Delcarmen to face Valentin. On the first pitch he singled to right and the game was in big time jeopardy. Thankfully, Griffey hit into a double play on a 3-0 pitch. Sometimes, living a clean life pays off!

4-3 going into the bottom of the ninth and the Papel-bot striding to the mound made everything look good. Forget about the runner thrown out at home, forget about the struggles of Okajima, just bring in the bot and the hand shake line can begin. Well, usually that is the way things play out, but not today. After two quick ground outs fragging E. Encarnacion smoked a 2-2 pitch into the left field stands and the Bot had blown his third save of the year (all on the road). Two batters later and the inning was over with the score still tied.

The back to backs came in the 10th inning but Hansen, looking for his first career save made things interesting as he also struggled after getting two outs. Still, even with the winning run at the plate, he finally ended this game (after a visit to the mound by Farrel) by getting Phillips to fly out to Drew. I don't know what Farrel said on his visit, but he needs to bottle it up and pull it out in the future.

Factoid - Craig Hansen got his first career save, here's hoping there are more to come in the future.

♊ - Morbid and creepifing I can handle as long as we do it quiet like.

Red Sox 2008 Game 71 Preview

			@
T. Wakefield		4-4, 4.33		E. Volquez		9-2, 1.56
Red Sox		42-28		Reds		33-36

Saturday, June 14                 Great American Ball Park  ✠ 3:55 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	42	28	-	7-3	10	8	41	29
Tampa Bay	39	28	1.5	4-6	10	7	36	31
New York	35	33	6.0	7-3	12	9	33	35
Toronto	35	34	6.5	4-6	11	16	38	31
Baltimore	33	33	7.0	6-4	14	9	31	35

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Wakefield's knuckleball was working rather effectively against Seattle in his last outing. The veteran went seven innings, allowing just five hits and two runs. Two of those hits belonged to leadoff man Ichiro Suzuki, who nubbed a 15-foot single toward the mound in the first and pushed a bunt down the third-base line in the third. Wakefield struck out six batters in the contest, including four in the first two innings. He's 1-1 lifetime against Cincinnati with a 7.80 ERA.

Reds: Volquez, who got plenty of early run support, including Ken Griffey Jr.'s 600th home run, was on target in a 9-4 victory over the Marlins on Monday. After going winless since May 18, Volquez pitched six innings and gave up three runs on three hits with five walks and five strikeouts. He didn't allow a hit through the first four innings. The three runs tied for the most he's given up all season, and moved the 24-year-old's ERA to 1.56. Volquez's last start in Interleague Play came May 18, when he outdueled Cleveland's Cliff Lee, pitching six innings and giving up just two runs on four hits in a winning effort. Volquez has never faced the Red Sox.

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

I am not going to break down the batters and pitcher stats since the last time they faced the Reds was in 2005. Unless its the Braves / Phillies (since they play almost every year) I am just not going to do that during interleague play.

After last nights ineptitude, I fully expect the Sox to lose today also.

Red Sox 2008 Game 70 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box Score ✠ Play - by - Play ✠ Game Recap

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

W: A. Harang (3-9) L: J. Masterson (3-1) S: F. Cordero (13)
HR ➢ ➢ Cin: J. Bruce (4), A. Dunn (17)

☼ Sun - Masterson - 5 starts 4 quality starts and did not deserve a loss in a game that he went 6 2/3 innings only allowing 4 hits.
☁ Cloud - Offense - The road .266 / .419 home - .294 /.472 (ba/slg).

Game thoughts!

A good start by Masterson, but the offense could not get anything going. 4 hits allowed (2 home runs) but the Sox could only get 1 run from a 2-9 pitcher. Not the way you want to start the road trip.

Factoid - Drew's 11 game hitting streak is now over.

♊ - Morbid and creepifing I can handle as long as we do it quiet like.

Red Sox 2008 Game 70 Preview

			@
J. Masterson		3-0, 2.59		A. Harang		2-9, 4.37
Red Sox		42-27		Reds		32-36

Friday, June 13               Great American Ball Park  ✠ 7:10 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	42	27	-	7-3	10	8	40	29
Tampa Bay	38	28	2.5	4-6	10	7	36	30
New York	34	33	7.0	6-4	11	9	33	34
Toronto	34	34	7.5	3-7	10	16	37	31
Baltimore	32	33	8.0	6-4	14	9	31	34

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: In a rotation filled with talent and experience, it is Masterson that has shown perhaps the most consistency so far in the young season. Though he's made just four starts, the Sox are 3-1 when Masterson takes the mound. He's allowed one run or less in three of those outings, shutting down the Mariners for one run in six innings in his last start. But Masterson also has shown the ability to escape difficult jams with minimal damage.

Reds: Since a surprise relief appearance on May 25, Harang has mostly come on to tough times. In 15 1/3 innings since then, he has yielded 16 earned runs. And his worst game was his last -- seven earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the Marlins on Sunday. Hanley Ramirez did a lot of the damage with a pair of two-run home runs. It was the most earned runs Harang has given up in a game since Sept. 12, 2004 against Milwaukee. The 11 hits Harang allowed against the Marlins pushed him, however temporarily, to the top of the National League in hits allowed. He has been plagued by a lack of run support, with the Reds averaging only two runs per game in his losses.

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

I am not going to break down the batters and pitcher stats since the last time they faced the Reds was in 2005. Unless its the Braves / Phillies (since they play almost every year) I am just not going to do that during interleague play.

Nostalgia is great, but this team wasn't on the field in 75 (hell half of them weren't even born in 75). I look for the Sox to continue their winning ways against this Reds team. Also, Kudo's to Terry Francona for starting Sean Casey over Kevin Youkilis. It is moves like this that make the players love Francona. Well, done sir, well done!