2009 Red Sox Game 7 Preview

			@
J. Lester		0-1, 9.00		D. Braden		0-1, 4.50
Red Sox		2-4		Athletics		2-4

Monday, April 13, 2009       Oakland Coliseum    ✠ 10:05 p.m. ET

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

Red Sox:  -  Lester tries to bounce back from a shaky first outing, in which he gave up eight hits and five runs over five innings to the Tampa Bay Rays. Lester came out strong in that one, striking out five over the first two innings. This is his third career start at the Colisuem, where he is 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA. Lifetime against the A's, Lester is 2-2 with a 3.94 ERA. He hopes to perform better on the road than he did last year, when he went 5-5 with a 4.09 ERA.

Athletics: - In the first Opening Day assignment of his career, Braden -- at 25 the oldest member of Oakland's starting rotation -- held the host Angels to three runs over six innings but was outpitched by Halos lefty Joe Saunders, who blanked the A's on three hits over 6 2/3 innings. Braden gave up nine hits, none bigger than Howard Kendrick's opposite-field homer in the fifth inning. A soft-tossing lefty who relies heavily on command, Braden walked one and struck out three on 97 pitches. He faced the Mariners twice last season, both times in relief, and allowed two earned runs in two innings. He's 0-1 with an 8.71 ERA over 10 1/3 innings against Seattle for his career.

?WTF? Beats me what they are talking about, the day by day shows Braden pitched once against the sox, last August when he went 3 1/3 allowing 4 earned runs at Fenway in a loss. ?WTF?

Filed under the Baseball is a funny game, especially when it comes to stats column.

Last three years the Sox are 6-11 at Oakland with a 4.14 ERA with Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Okajima and Lester getting the wins. Only Matsuzaka and Schilling have a .500 record or better as starters though.

The funny part, if you look at the last five years though the Sox are 10-13 (4-2) with a 4.46 ERA. Almost 1/2 of a run increase in the ERA and they won almost as many games in those two years than they have won in the last three years. Some times you just never know in this game.

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 Red Sox Week 1 Stats Recap

Ok, so week 1 is in the books and not a moment too soon. The Season is not off to the best of starts but hey, what are you going to do jump off a bridge? A long season has just started and we are only 4% through the season, plenty of time to make up lost ground.

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

Batting Stats

	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR	RBI	BB	K	GDP	BA	OBA	Slug%
Opp	198	54	13	1	9	27	26	42	7	.273	.362	.485
AL	2954	760	164	14	98	398	314	602	71	.257	.334	.422
Red Sox	198	48	10	1	8	20	24	36	7	.242	.329	.424

Not very good splits for the Sox. Those opposing numbers means that the Sox Pitchers have not been doing their job either. The problem for the Sox is the batting average. They just need to get more hits (doh!). Surprisingly, it was the Angels that really kills the pitchers. .289 / .375 / .485 against the Angels this past weekend and that included two Quality Starts by Wakefield and Penny.

As bad as the Sox were though, it was even worse when they had runners in scoring position - 8/46 with a .174 / .304 / .261 in that situation. Opponents were 20/66 with .303 / .392 / .409. No wonder they went 2-4 for the week.

Pitching Stats -

	GS	CG	W	L	W Pct	SV	SHo	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	HBP	BK	WP	ERA
OPP	6	0	4	2	.667	4	0	53	48	22	19	8	24	36	2	0	1	3.23
Red Sox	6	0	2	4	.333	2	0	52	54	29	29	9	26	42	3	1	1	5.02

That is UGLY - a week to forget!!!

♊ -   Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 March Madness Final

Ok, so I didn't pick the winner, but I did have the Tar Heels in the Final, I just figured it would be Louisville instead of Michigan State facing them. Oh, well, the fragging Heels won. I really, really, really hate North Carolina and the ACC (except for Duke). Still you have to give them their due, the Heels and the ACC have now beaten Big Ten teams 5 times in the championship game since 1985. They are now 7-5 in Championship games since the first 64/65 teams of march madness and they are tied with Duke for the most championships since that time.

Number two conference is SEC with a 5-3 record (Arkansas 1, Kentucky 2 and Florida 2). It would be nice to see the SEC bounce back this coming year, but I just don't see it. Oh, Well!!!

2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament Elite 8

Down to 8, the Great 8 or Elite 8 or whatever else you want to call it, but it is down to 8 teams. Any surprises? Well, Missouri's pasting of Memphis was a surprise but none of the other wins were suprising. Today it is #3 Missouri vs #1 Connecticut followed by #3 Villanova vs #1 Pittsburgh. At least one Big East team will make the Final Four today, will it be 2?

Who, knows, certainly not me, but I did have the Nova vs Pittsburgh match up. Connecticut seems to be on a mission, but can they handle the press of Missouri? I still think they will miss Dyson, but it would not surprise me if they make the Final Four.

As for tomorrow's games, well I think I will still stick with UNC and Louisville.

INANE STATS OF THE DAY -

✰ - #1 Seed vs #2 Seed - This match up has happened 46 times in the last 24 tournaments, #1 has won 26 of them. The only tournaments that haven't had a 1 vs 2, 1990 and 1999.

✰ - #1 Seed vs #3 Seed - 22 times this match up has occurred in this tournament and the #3 Seed has won eleven of those match ups. The #1 Seed has won 4 of the last 5 of those games including the 2 match ups in last years tournament.

♊ - Insanity is part of the times. You must learn to embrace the madness. Let it fire you.

2009 NCAA Basketball Picks - Round of 16

So, the first two rounds have came and gone and we are now looking at Sixteen Teams, the sweet sixteen. Any surprises? Well, only Arizona in my book since that is the only team I did not pick to be in this round. All the others went according to Hoyle but there were some close calls. Below is what to look for and other misc / inane statistics but if the gods of basketball want to make me happy, then the only loss that I suffer in this round would be Gonzaga beating North Carolina (have I mentioned how I hate the ACC, except for Duke that is).

Sweet 16 Match Ups – (note - when I talk about overall or previous records etc, I am only talking about since 1985, since that was the first year of the 64/65 team tournament. That is also how far back my database goes.)

✰ - UNC vs Gonzaga - No previous match ups in the NCAA tournament the last 25 years. UNC is 12-4 in sweet 16 since 1985, while Gonzaga is 1-3. Odds favor the Tar Heels. Glad that I picked them to win this match up.

✰ - Oklahoma vs Syracuse - These two teams met in 2003 when the number 3 seed Orangemen beat the number 1 seed Sooners. Two very good teams with very similar results in this round. Oklahoma is 4-3 and Syracuse is 4-5.

✰ - Pittsburgh vs Xavier - Pittsburgh has not won a sweet sixteen game in the last 25 years. Xavier has actually won 2, including last year. Will Xavier be able to handle the Panthers bruising style?

✰ - Duke vs Villanova - Duke hasn't been past this round in a while, 2004 they beat Illinois (a 5 seed) for the first win in the third round since 2001. Since 2000 Duke is 2-5 in this round. Significance? Well yes when you see that they are 11-6 since 1985 in the third round. Makes my Villanova pick look better.

✰ - Louisville vs Arizona - In 1994 #2 seed Arizona beat #3 seed Louisville. Since 1997 Louisville is 3-0 (4-5 overall) in this round. I fully expect them to make that 4-0.

✰ - Kansas vs Michigan State - Kansas has won their last 5 sweet sixteen games (10-5) overall. Michigan State has 5 of their last 6 (5-4 overall). This is a revenge game though, earlier this year Kansas was walloped by State. The last time these two teams met in this round was in 1986 when #1 Kansas beat the #5 Spartans.

✰ - Connecticut vs Purdue - Purdue is 2-3 overall but hasn't been to this round since 2000. UConn has made the sweet sixteen 11 times since 1990 and is 7-4 in those games, 5-1 in their last six games. This match up is where I thought they would miss Dyson, but the way they have played in the first two rounds of this tournament, I would not be surprised to see them blow out Purdue in this game.

✰ - Memphis vs Missouri - Next to Duke and Villanova, this may be the most anticipated game of this round. Memphis is 5-1 in this round since '85 but this is the fourth straight year that they have reached the sweet sixteen. Missouri hasn't been here since 2002 but is 2-1 in this round. Still I think I will go with the Tigers from Memphis.

Other miscellanous tidbits - This is the first year since 1989 that the SEC does not have a team in the sweet sixteen. Only the ACC has a longer streak (25), and only the Big East is approaching that mark (16).

The Conferences (6 BCS and those in this years tournament) with the best winning percentages since 85 in this round are; C-USA - 9-2, Atlantic 10 - 11-4, Big 12 - 24-19, Big 10 - 26-21. The worst is the West Coast Conference - 2-3 followed by SEC at 22-27.

Conferences with the best match ups in this round is the Atlantic 10 vs Big East (1-0), Big East vs Big 10 (4-2), Big 12 vs Big East (6-3) and C-USA vs Big 12 (2-1).

♊ - Everybody dies, Tracey. Someone's carrying a bullet for you right now, doesn't even know it. The trick is, die of old age before it finds you.

Red Sox 2008 Game 107 Preview

			@
J. Weaver		8-8, 4.08		D. Matsuzaka		11-1, 2.63
Angels		64-40		Red Sox		61-45

Monday, July 28      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
Tampa	61	43	-	6-4	17	15	56	48
Boston	61	45	1.0	5-5	14	17	62	44
New York	58	46	3.0	8-2	20	11	57	47
Toronto	53	52	8.5	6-4	16	22	56	49
Baltimore	49	55	12.0	4-6	18	20	50	54

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

Angels: Weaver had his shortest start of the season when he pitched just three innings against the Indians on Tuesday, exiting with back stiffness. He allowed two runs on three hits, walking two and hitting another. The only positive from his start was that he struck out four of the 15 batters he faced. His outing broke a streak of four straight starts in which pitched at least five innings and allowed two earned runs or fewer. Weaver is 0-2 with a 5.46 ERA in five career starts against the Red Sox.

Red Sox: Matsuzaka turned in one of his best performances of the season in his last start, allowing five hits and two runs over 7 1/3 innings in a 4-2 win over the Mariners. After struggling in his first start back from the disabled list, Matsuzaka has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his past five starts. The righty is 6-1 with a 3.02 ERA in nine starts at Fenway Park this season. Matsuzaka is holding opponents to a .202 average. This is his first start of the season against the Angels.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Weaver

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
D. Pedroia	8	3	2	0	0	0	1	2	.375	.444	.625	1.069
K. Youkilis	15	5	0	0	2	4	1	1	.333	.375	.733	1.108
D. Ortiz	13	6	0	0	2	8	2	2	.462	.500	.923	1.423
M. Ramirez	9	1	0	0	0	1	1	5	.111	.182	.111	.293
M. Lowell	7	2	0	0	0	0	1	1	.286	.375	.286	.661
J. D. Drew	9	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.444	.444	.444	.889
J. Lowry	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. Varitek	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.125	.125	.250	.375
J. Ellsbury	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	0	.333	.333	1.333	1.667
Totals	72	23	3	0	5	14	6	12	.319	.367	.569	.937

Not much to say here, those are great numbers against one of the good young pitchers in the league. The bench, except for Cora stinks against this guy and Cora has only faced him 4 times so not much history.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Weaver	5	0	2	0	28	17	17	5	6	23	5.46	1.46	5.60
Matsuzaka	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---

Wow, I was sure that Daisuke had started a game in the regular season vs the Angels, but I guess not, however this Angels team should be made to order for him since they are not exactly known for their patience.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Weaver	20	8	8	0	119	116	57	13	35	92	4.08	1.27	5.95
Matsuzaka	17	11	1	0	95 2/3	70	28	5	60	83	2.63	1.36	5.63

Edge Daisuke. All the way except for that WHIP (thanks to the BB's). Would be nice if we saw a blow out tonight.
♊ - Well, let's hope we get some funny hats too.

Red Sox 2008 Game 94 Recap

Final

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Minnesota	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0		5	14	1
Boston	0	0	4	0	2	1	7	4	X		18	23	2

W: J. Beckett (9-5)   L: L. Hernandez (9-6)
HR ➢   Bos: K. Cash (2), K. Youkilis (14)  Min: J. Morneau (13)

✫     - Manny - Third straight game that the "being" has came through.
✫✫    - Lowell - Followed Manny's double with a two run single.
✫✫✫   - Casey - Followed Lowells single with an rbi single himself.

⋔ Fork - Beckett - Just like Lester last night, the Ace of the staff stunk up the place by allowing 5 earned runs in 5 innings.

Game thoughts!

Just like his last game Beckett struggled right off the bat. Three runs scored in the first inning off the right-hander and the Sox were in the hole right away. The game just felt weird all day. After the first, just like in the Bronx, Beckett settled down and became the ace again. Well, until the sixth inning.

Thanks to Beckett competing, to use Mr. Terry Francona's favorite phrase, the Sox were able to scratch back into this game. Zeroes on the board in the second, third and fourth innings allowed the Sox to take the lead in the third.

With two outs Manny doubled in Lugo, Lowell then singled in Lugo and Manny and thanks to the Twins throwing error moved to third base. This allowed Casey to single in Lowell and the Sox were in the lead and would never look back.

The fifth inning saw Manny and Casey have two more RBI hits. At this point you just felt like the team would not be challenged the rest of the game.

The Twins made it a one run game in the sixth, but Youkilis got it right back in the bottom of the inning. So, the game was still close until the wacky, weird, and laugher of the seventh.

The bottom of the seventh started off simple enough. Lowell walked and moved to third on Sean Casey's ground rule double to right. Then the wacky happened.

Jason Varitek hit a sinking liner to center field. Denard Span slid for the ball, backhanding it as it one-hopped into his glove.

The base runners took off, but after the umpires belatedly signaled a catch, Span threw to second to double off Casey. Second baseman Alexi Casilla leisurely threw to third to get Mike Lowell, who had already crossed the plate.

Originally it was called a triple play, but then the Umpires conferred at Francona's request and correctly reveresed the call. Gardenhire went balistic was tossed and then the Sox just kept on adding on the runs.

Moss struck out, Lugo walked, Ellsbury singled, Pedroia hit a three run double, Youkilis doubled, Ramirez singled, Lowell hit a fielders choice and then Casey grounded out to first. Seven runs scored in the inning and the game was officially declared a rout as the inning ended with the Sox up 14-5.

Of course more wackiness happened in the top of the eighth. With Hansen pitching he walked the lead off hitter. Grind, grind, grinding my teeth on that one. Terry, sensing the game was wacky yanked Hansen after Span singled and brought in Delcarmen.

Casilla then hit into a double play, that should not have been a double play. Remember there are two on base and no outs which makes the infield fly rule a possibility. Casilla hits a soft pop up that goes up about twenty feet in the air and lands about a foot (Lugo allowed it to drop) on the outfield grass.

On the hop he throws to Pedroia at second forcing Span and Dustin, after looking at first base throw to third where Harris is tagged out by Lowell. Obviously the Umpires did not call the infield fly and the Twins went from runners on first and second with one out to a runner on first with two outs. Then Delcarmen did the same thing that Hansen did, he walked a Mauer. Look, you are up by nine runs in the eighth, do not walk people!

The bottom of the eighth saw the Sox add two more runs on a pinch hit homer run by Cash, a Moss triple, a Lugo ground out, a Pedroia single and then Youkilis hitting a home run. Cash's homer was a bomb as the ball ended up in the parking lot, an absolute bomb that was his first pinch hit home run. Thankfully the ninth ended with Timlin getting three outs only allowing a one out single by Young. The WATER WAS SO DIRTY.

Factoid - The 18 runs were the most for the Sox since Sox scored 25 against Florida in 2003.

Factoid - Season highs in winning margin, most runs in an inning, hits and runs.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 93 Recap

Final

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Minnesota	0	0	0	3	0	0	1	1	0		5	11	0
Boston	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	x		6	11	1

W: D. Aardsma (3-2) L: M. Guerrier (4-4) S: J. Papelbon (27)
HR ➢ Bos: M. Ramirez (17)

✫     - M. Ramirez - His home run in the eighth tied the game.
✫✫   - J. D. Drew - two rbi's the second one getting them close in the eighth
✫✫✫ - Moss - A game winning rbi, his second of the night.
Just in case it escaped you, all six runs were knocked in by these three players, thus the star's.

⋔ Fork - Lester - 7 1/3 innings but five earned runs ouch.

Game thoughts!

Another one run game, and another win for the Sox. As bad as this team has been on the road in these close games, they have been spectacular at home in these situations. Overall they are now 13 - 16 in 1 run games. 2-14 on the road, 11-2 at home.

The Sox started off well as they scored in the first thanks to an Ellsbury single and a J.D. Drew double to left field. It especially felt good since the Twins had stranded two runners, thanks to two walks issued by Lester, in the top of the inning. Both pitchers settled down though as they both had 1-2-3 innings until the top of the 4th.

The Twins finally broke through as they got three straight hits off of Lester after two outs. The big blow was triple to right field by Harris which scored two runs and was followed by a single by Punto. All of a sudden the Sox went from being in control to being behind and Blackburn responded by having a 1-2-3 inning for the third time in a row.

Lester continued to struggle though as he allowed two more batters to reach in the sixth inning. Thankfully the Sox were able to retire the side without any runs scoring when Mauer hit into a double play to end the inning.

Blackburn was still dealing. To recap he had a 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th innings and only allowed a Youkilis single in the 5th and a Pedroia single in the 6th before finally allowing the Sox to score again in the 7th after a Youkilis triple with one out followed by Moss's sacrifice fly.

The Sox were finally back within two runs only to have Lester and Aardsma give up the Twins fifth run of the night. I was ready to chew bricks and throw them at the television but the best part of the game was still to come.

After Ellsbury doubled down the left field line to start the eighth inning Pedroia then singled to center and Drew got his second rbi of the night on a ball that Morneau barely got some leather on which allowed the second baseman to throw out Drew. One inch to the left and I think that ball goes through to right field but that is why it is a game of inches.

Manny followed up Drew's at bat by crushing a ball to left center field and just like that the game was tied at five. Fenway park went nuts, the vibrations in the park even made the center field camera shake. At this point you had to feel like the game was going to be won by the Sox.

The only question was which inning would see the winning run pushed across for the Sox lead. One out later, Youkilis and Moss answered the question as Youkilis doubled to center and after a wild pitch moved him to third, Moss singled up the middle.

Papelbon was warming up in the pen and even after he allowed a lead off double I was sure that he would get the save. Sure enough, he did by getting a strike out and a ground out for the last two outs. The water was dirty!

Factoid - The Red Sox improved to 33-10 at Fenway this season.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 86 Preview

			@
T. Wakefield		5-5, 3.88		M. Garza		6-4, 3.76
Red Sox		50-35		Rays		50-32

Tuesday, July 1      Tropicana Field  ✠ 7:10 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Tampa Bay	50	32	-	7-3	15	10	47	35
Boston	50	35	1.5	4-6	11	13	50	35
New York	44	39	6.5	4-6	14	10	44	39
Baltimore	41	40	8.5	4-6	17	13	40	41
Toronto	41	43	10.0	6-4	12	20	45	39

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

Red Sox: Wakefield was in top form in his last start against the D-backs, holding Arizona to just two hits in seven shutout innings. He fanned six batters and never allowed more than one runner on base at a time. He allowed three runs on six hits in his lone matchup with Tampa Bay this season, earning a no-decision in a 5-4 loss on April 25. He has allowed three runs or less in each of his last six outings.

Rays: The right-hander is coming off a masterful performance on Thursday afternoon in which Garza gave the Rays a preview of just how good he can be. The 24-year-old held the Marlins to just one-hit -- a solo home run by Hanley Ramirez -- en route to his first-ever complete game. Garza threw all four of his pitches for strikes and retired the first 10 straight Fish before walking Jeremy Hermida in the fourth inning. Tuesday will mark Garza's third outing against Boston this season, (he is 0-1) and he will look to continue the momentum found against Florida. The right-hander has arguably the best stuff on the Rays staff and if he can keep his emotions in check, he is a force on the mound.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Garza

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	7	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	.286	.375	.286	.661
D. Pedroia	8	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	.125	.222	.250	.472
J. D. Drew	3	2	1	0	1	1	2	0	.667	.800	2.000	2.800
M. Ramirez	8	5	1	0	0	1	1	0	.625	.667	.750	1.417
M. Lowell	9	2	0	0	1	2	0	2	.222	.222	.556	.778
K. Youkilis	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.125	.222	.125	.347
K. Cash	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	1.000	.500	1.000	1.500
B. Moss	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. Lugo	5	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	.200	.333	.200	.533
Totals	53	16	3	0	2	8	6	7	.302	.393	.472	.865

Not bad averages, but it is time to face the facts. The Rays have the Sox number at the Trop. I just have no faith in this team right now to come up with the big hit. It is time for Manny to start being Manny, but right now, I think this is the Manny. Win probability - 10%.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Wakefield	29	19	3	0	202 1/3	166	71	19	67	139	3.16	1.15	6.29
Garza	4	2	1	0	21	20	11	2	11	13	4.71	1.48	5.25

Wakefield has made 39 appearances against the Rays. As a starter he is 17-3 with a 3.31 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. You have to like those numbers, but the Rays are playing like a team possessed while the Sox are playing lethargically. Normally, if they wher facing a pitcher who has a 1.48 WHIP I would give the edge to the Sox, but not right now. Calling this matchup even.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Wakefield	16	5	5	0	102	86	44	14	42	69	3.88	1.25	6.38
Garza	14	6	4	0	83 2/3	72	35	9	29	55	3.76	1.21	5.98

Splits on the the stats this year, just reaffirming my even call. I have a bad feeling about tonight's game. Wakefield is usually very good in the Dome and he is on one of his hot streaks but I just don't know.

The Sox need to take a hard look in the mirror and decided if they are going to continue this win three lose three, suck on the road be great at home type of playing. This team should be doing better than what they are doing. It is time to step up!

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 85 Preview

			@
J. Masterson		4-1, 3.43		J. Shields		5-5, 3.76
Red Sox		50-34		Rays		49-32

Monday, June 30      Tropicana Field  ✠ 7:10 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Tampa Bay	49	32	-	7-3	14	10	46	35
Boston	50	34	.5	5-5	11	12	49	35
New York	44	38	5.5	5-5	14	9	43	39
Baltimore	41	39	7.5	5-5	17	12	40	40
Toronto	40	43	10.0	5-5	12	20	45	38

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

Red Sox: Masterson earned his second career win against Tampa Bay on June 3, a 7-4 decision at Fenway Park. It wasn't his most dominant performance, allowing four runs on six hits during six innings of work. But it did set the tone for the three-game set as the Red Sox swept the Rays to regain first place in the AL East. Masterson's last start was very similar to that game against the Rays; he allowed four runs on seven hits against Arizona on Tuesday.

Rays: Shields is coming off a resounding victory over the Marlins on Wednesday night in which the right-hander broke a seven-game dry spell to notch the win. He tossed seven innings of four-hit ball, allowing only a solo home run to Mike Jacobs in the sixth inning. Shields will face a new rival in the Red Sox, as the right-hander was one of five Rays suspended in June 5's on-field melee at Fenway Park. Monday's game will be the 27-year-old's fourth appearance against the Red Sox this year. Shields has beaten Boston once this season, in April 27's game at Tropicana Field, but sports an impressive 1.99 ERA in home starts.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Shields

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	7	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	.143	.250	.143	.393
D. Pedroia	7	4	1	0	0	1	0	0	.571	.625	.714	1.339
J. D. Drew	12	4	2	0	0	1	0	1	.333	.333	.500	.833
M. Ramirez	11	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	.364	.417	.364	.780
M. Lowell	10	3	0	0	0	0	0	2	.300	.300	.300	.600
K. Youkilis	14	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	.000	.176	.000	.176
J. Varitek	8	1	0	0	0	1	0	4	.125	.125	.125	.250
B. Moss	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. Lugo	10	4	2	0	0	2	1	3	.400	.455	.600	1.055
Totals	79	21	5	0	0	5	4	19	.266	.337	.329	.666

Right now Jason Varitek, aka "the Captain" is stinking up the place at the plate. Tonight would be a good night for Tek to sit. Give him a couple of days off in a row, and maybe, just maybe, he will be ready for New York.

I would also sit Youkilis, though he has been swinging the bat well lately, Shields owns him. Give him a night off also and let Casey swing the bat tonight. Of course, Terry will ignore my advice so, confidence level of them winning tonight 20%.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Masterson	1	1	0	0	6	6	4	2	2	5	6.00	1.33	6.00
Shields	7	1	4	1	35	35	22	5	10	36	5.66	1.29	5.00

Masterson has been, well, masterful in most of his games this year. His one appearance versus the Rays being one of his worst starts. Look for him to come out firing tonight though and I expect that slider of his to be working down and away to the left handed hitters.

Shields has beaten the Sox once this year. That is his only win ever against the Sox. With that ERA I can see why. Look for a patient Sox team to take him deep tonight and I fully expect him to be knocked out by the sixth inning. The question is can the bull pen for the Sox hold off the Rays.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Masterson	7	4	1	0	42	29	16	6	21	32	3.43	1.19	6.00
Shields	16	5	5	2	103	100	43	11	19	83	3.76	1.16	6.44

Pretty evenly matched between these two pitchers. Still I think I'm going to give a slight edge here to Masterson.

Inside Edge

Type (%'s)	All	1st P	Early	2 S	Ahead	Behind	RHB	LHB	Op. BA (avg)
Fastball	52	68	57	31	32	68	51	53	.313
Curves	10	9	11	9	15	2	13	6	.204
Sliders	10	10	12	6	10	7	14	5	.262
Change Ups	28	12	19	54	43	22	23	34	.179
Totals	4,278	1,194	2,691	1,111	1,482	962	2,226	2,052	.249

Shields has been tough to beat, but if you can get into the Fastball counts you can beat him. The Sox will need to be patient against this guy.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 84 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	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		2	9	0
Houston	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	x		3	10	0

W: D. Brocail (4-3) L: D. Aardsma (2-2) S: J. Valverde (21)
HR ➢ Bos: D. Pedroia (8), M. Ramirez (16) Hou: G. Blum (5)

✫ 1st star - Beckett - Seven innings only two runs
✫✫ 2nd star - Manny - his home run in the seventh tied the game
✫✫✫ 3rd star - Loretta - Game winning hit in the eighth (eases the pain somewhat)
⋔ Pitchfork - 3-2 game - there is no fork tonight.

Game thoughts!

A tight game from the first pitch. Of course with thirteen men left on base, it should not have been that tight. It did not help the cause to leave the bases loaded twice and strand 10 runners in the first six innings.

Hard to fault anybody but the offense in this game. It is time to admit that this team stinks on the road. Not for sure why, but it just stinks. Oh well, another day and another game today.

Factoid - Boston is now 2-10 in one-run games on the road this year.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 81 Recap

Final

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

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

W: T. Wakefield (5-5) L: R. Johnson (4-6) S: J. Papelbon (23)
HR ➢ Bos: K. Cash (1)

✫ 1st star - Wakefield - 7 Innings of 2 hit ball
✫✫ 2nd star - Cash - His three run home run off of cruz in the 8th sealed the deal
✫✫✫ 3rd star - Moss - His 0 for 3 accounted for the early lead as he scored Lowell twice.
⋔ Pitchfork - Consistency - Would love to see a game where one of the relievers has back to back good outings.

Game thoughts!

Wakefields knuckle ball was knuckling and Johnson was being good enough to make you bite your nails. In the first six innings the Sox were only able to score two runs off of Johnson even though they had 8 hits and 2 walks off of him. Both of those runs were driven in by Moss, 1 on a ground out, the second on a sacrifice fly.

With Wakefield mixing in his curve ball and fast ball effectively he was just a little bit better than Johnson. Ok, he was a lot better than Johnson, but after six innings the Sox were only up by those two runs.

Of course Wakefield is used to that but it was nice to see the eight inning start off with a walk by Lowell and then for the second straight time and third over all, Crisp hit a double putting runners on second and third. This time instead of scoring the run with an out, Cash sent one way over the monster seat. A huge sigh of relief was heard in my house and I naturally just assumed that this game was toast.

In fact I was thinking, Hansen comes in and gets 1-2-3 inning and everybody is happy. Just not meant to be though.

Hansen immediately made the game exciting again as he walked the first batter, got two outs and then allowed an infield single and another walk to load the bases. Instead of Papelbon getting two days of rest, Francona had to bring him in with the bases loaded. This being the bot though, he struck out Tracy on five pitches. The water was dirty.

Factoid - For June the Sox are batting .276 / .356 / .474 overall and a horrendous .267 / .357 / .453 at home. That is how you have a 3 and 3 home stand.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 81 Preview

			@
R. Johnson		4-5, 5.09		T. Wakefield		4-5, 4.17
Diamondbacks		40-38		Red Sox		48-32

Wednesday, June 25      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	48	32	-	6-4	11	10	46	34
Tampa Bay	45	31	1.0	7-3	13	9	41	35
New York	41	36	5.5	7-3	13	9	40	37
Baltimore	39	36	6.5	7-3	17	11	36	39
Toronto	37	41	10.0	3-7	11	19	42	36

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

Diamondbacks: Johnson has dropped his last four starts and over that span has a 7.77 ERA. In his last outing against the Twins, he allowed seven runs on 11 hits while tossing his first complete game since Aug. 24, 2006. Six of the seven runs came during the third inning and only two of the six hits that inning were hit hard. Johnson has allowed 10 or more hits in back-to-back starts for the first time in his career and his outing against the Twins was the first time he had struck out one or fewer batters since Aug. 4, 2006.

Red Sox: Wakefield has given up three earned runs or less in each of his last five starts since allowing eight runs in five innings against Oakland on May 23. He's gone at least seven innings in all of those outings, but is just 1-2 in that span. His last outing resulted in a 5-4 Red Sox loss to the Cardinals. Still, his ERA has continually dropped in each start from its highest point of the season on May 23 -? it rose to 5.19 after that rough outing against the A's.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Johnson

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	2	1	1	0	0	0	3	1	.500	.800	1.000	1.800
J. D. Drew	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.125	.222	.125	.347
M. Ramirez	42	11	3	0	5	17	7	12	.262	.367	.690	1.058
M. Lowell	44	8	2	0	1	4	3	13	.182	.234	.295	.529
K. Youkilis	16	5	1	0	1	3	3	1	.313	.421	.563	.984
K. Cash	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	.500	.500	2.000	2.500
C. Crisp	10	3	2	0	0	2	0	6	.300	.300	.500	.800
J. Lugo	33	4	0	0	1	3	2	13	.121	.167	.212	.379
Totals	157	34	9	0	9	30	18	49	.217	.301	.446	.747

One out every three batters strikes out, a .217 batting average against Johnson. Is there any hope for an offensive break out? Not if you see the norms, but you know what, they have been sucking versus the pitchers who they should be hammering so maybe turn about. Nope, I ain't buying that, confidence level in a win tonight - 10 %.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Johnson	29	16	7	1	181 1/3	149	90	24	92	222	4.47	1.33	6.25
Wakefield	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	2	0.00	.50	0.00

Wakefield has never made a start versus the Diamondbacks but he has matched up against Randy Johnson in the past. That was back in 2005 when the Sox were trying to catch the Yankees. He lost a 1-0 game in Yankee Stadium.

That was a huge loss for the Sox as the Yankees were trailing the Sox by 4.0 games prior to that game. Just to remind you, the Sox ended up losing the division by 1 game that year after Johnson also beat the Sox on 10/31/2005. In fact you could say that Johnson was the reason why the Yankees won the division that year since he went 5-0 versus the Sox.

The question is how does Johnson keep on beating the Sox? In 2005 and 2006 while Johnson was with the Yankees he pitched five games at Fenway. His record in those games is 4-0 and he accomplished this with a 6.06 ERA. In fact in the five games he only had one quality start. All other starts he gave up 4 runs (1 start) or 5 runs (all the rest). Yet he did not lose a single game.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Johnson	13	4	5	0	76	86	43	9	22	71	5.09	1.42	5.85
Wakefield	15	4	5	0	95	84	44	14	41	63	4.17	1.32	6.33

I think Randy can say that he's been the victim of some bad luck since he has allowed, or since eight un-earned runs have been scored while he ws pitching. However, he has nothing on Wakefield who is 1-2 in his last five games while averaging 7.20 innings and only giving up 10 earned runs. That is a sparkling 2.50 ERA with a 1.03 WHIP. What has hurt him though is the five Home Runs that he has allowed. The question is how long can Wakefield keep up this hot streak though? Let's hope he gets the win.

Inside Edge

Type	All	1st P	Early	2	Ahead	Behind	RHB	LHB	Op. BA
Fastball %	53	59	52	55	55	51	53	57	.276
Curves %	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	---
Sliders %	38	34	38	40	37	37	38	40	.220
Change Ups %	7	6	9	4	6	10	7	3	.344
Totals (pitches)	1803	476	1078	538	711	360	1563	240	.252

Only Randy's sliders have consistently been good versus his opponents. The history versus the Sox though is so good, you have to feel that he will really be good. Another close game, yep, I think so.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 80 Preview

			@
D. Davis		2-3, 3.65		J. Masterson		4-1, 3.00
Diamondbacks		40-37		Red Sox		47-32

Tuesday, June 24      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	32	-	5-5	10	10	46	33
Tampa Bay	44	31	1.0	6-4	13	9	41	34
New York	41	35	4.5	8-2	13	9	40	36
Baltimore	38	36	6.5	6-4	17	11	36	38
Toronto	36	41	10.0	2-8	11	19	40	37

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

Diamondbacks: Davis had a strong performance for the second consecutive outing, allowing just one run on three hits over six innings. He also had a season-high eight strikeouts. The one run he did allow was a bloop single to Oakland left-fielder Jack Cust. Davis is 3-2 against the Red Sox over his career, with a 3.78 ERA in 33 1/3 innings.

Red Sox: Masterson continues to make the most of his callup from the Minor Leagues, first filling in for the injured Daisuke Matsuzaka and now for Bartolo Colon. Though Masterson labored a bit in his last start, he still earned the win against a heavy-hitting Phillies team. In that one, Masterson gave up four hits and two runs over five innings, throwing 92 pitches. Opponents are hitting .176 against Masterson. The righty has allowed 22 hits over 36 innings.

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

Red Sox Batting History vs Davis

Player	AB	Hits	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA	OBA	Slug	OPS
J. Ellsbury	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
D. Pedroia	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.333	.000	.333
J. D. Drew	7	2	0	0	1	3	0	2	.286	.286	.714	1.000
M. Ramirez	11	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.273	.333	.273	.606
M. Lowell	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	1	.000	.500	.000	.500
K. Youkilis	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---
J. Varitek	8	3	0	0	0	1	1	1	.375	.444	.375	.819
C. Crisp	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
J. Lugo	12	3	0	0	1	1	1	1	.250	.308	.500	.808
Totals	45	11	0	0	2	6	7	6	.244	.346	.378	.724

A mixed bag versus Davis as far as the hitters go. None of them really dominate him but they have had some success against him. The way the offense is going right now though you have to think that Davis will shut them down.

Pitching Comparisions Career

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Davis	5	3	2	0	33 1/3	41	14	3	11	15	3.78	1.56	6.4
Masterson	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---	---

Davis has been up and down versus the Sox. When he has been good he has been lights out, as in all three of his Wins he has gone at least six innings and only given up four earned runs. When he has been bad though he has been bad as in both of his losses he has given up five earned runs. Let us hope we get the bad tonight.

Pitching Comparisions this year

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Davis	8	2	3	0	44 1/3	46	18	2	25	38	3.65	1.60	5.54
Masterson	6	4	1	0	36	22	12	5	17	28	3.00	1.08	6.00

Masterson by far has the better numbers this year. The kid has good stuff. Davis has too many walks which really raises his WHIP. Look for a patient Sox team to wait him out.

Inside Edge

Type	All	1st P	Early	2 S	Ahead	Behind	RHB	LHB	Op. BA
Fastball	66 %	71 %	64 %	62 %	56 %	76 %	67 %	63 %	.305
Curves	17 %	14 %	16 %	25 %	28 %	5 %	16 %	23 %	.167
Sliders	7 %	7 %	7 %	7 %	6 %	8 %	7 %	7 %	.269
Change Ups	10 %	9 %	13 %	6 %	9 %	11 %	11 %	7 %	.296
Totals	4,041	1,041	2,343	1,064	1,286	1,113	3,145	896	.278

Is this an important game? Yes I think it is, for the first time this year the Sox are about to lose two series in a row at Fenway Park. After last nights loss this is the only game that they can win versus the Diamondbacks.

"Wait there is another game tomorrow night", you say. Well, take a look at Johnsons career stats versus the Sox. He fragging owns them. So tonight is the night to prevent the sweep. My confidence level for that is at 10%.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 79 Preview

			@
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.
MLB.Com Press Pass
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.