2009 Red Sox Game 7 Preview

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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 Game 6 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	1		4	9	0
LAA	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	1	X		5	10	2

W: D. Moseley (1-0) L: J. Beckett (1-1) S: B. Fuentes(2)
HR ➢ Bos: J.D. Drew (1), K. Youkilis (1) LAA: V. Guerrero (1)

✫       - B. Abreu - His two run single made got the lead for the Angels and they never gave it up.
✫✫     - V. Guerrero - His solo bomb gave the final winning margin
✫✫✫   - Youkilis and Drew for their back to backs

⋔ Fork - The entire offense, another day, same song, different verse - 1-10 RISP and 10 LOB.

Game thoughts!

Beckett looked good until the third. The third saw the Angels get a couple of seeing eye singles and then the big hit was the Abreu single to right that scored two runs. Of course if Drew hadn't missed the cut off man on the previous play, there would have been only one run scored on that hit.

I have to be honest, this is getting old though, another day and another game and the Sox are absolutely sucking with Runners In Scoring Position. I know this team is better than it has shown so far, but geez, it is tough to think of the last place Red Sox.


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

2009 Red Sox Game 6 Preview

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Josh Beckett		1-0, 1.29		Dustin Moseley		0-0, 4.50
Red Sox		2-3		Angels		2-3

Sunday, April 12, 2009     Angel Stadium of Anaheim  ✠  3:35 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:  Beckett was in top form on Opening Day, firing seven strong innings against the Rays, allowing two hits and a run while striking out 10. Beckett has struck out 10 or more in a game nine times in his career. Beckett pitched well on the road last season, going 7-5 with a 2.85 ERA. In his career against the Angels, the righty is 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA. At Angel Stadium, he is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA.

Angels:  Moseley delivered a solid season debut, yielding three earned runs on nine hits across six innings against the A's on Tuesday while striking out four men and walking none. All the damage came in one inning when the A's bunched together four singles for three runs. Making good use of his two-seam fastball, Moseley got ground-ball outs when he needed them. He has faced the Red Sox twice in his career and has no record and an ERA of 8.10.

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

2009 Red Sox Game 5 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	2	0	1		5	8	0
LAA	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1		4	8	0

W: B. Penny (1-0) L: J. Saunders (1-1) H: R. Ramirez (1) S: J. Papelbon(2)
HR ➢ Bos: M. Lowell (1), (2) J. Bay (2) LAA: (2) M. Napoli (2), T. Hunter (1)

✫       - J. Bay - Two, count them, two HR's with 3 RBI's. The Sox needed every one of them.
✫✫     - M. Lowell - His two run shot (with Bay on base) got the Sox offense going.
✫✫✫   - B. Penny - 6 innings pitched and only 84 pitches thrown, yeah boy!!!

⋔ Fork - None, but Papelbon was threatening.

Game thoughts!

Tightly played game with all of the Sox runs coming off of the Home Runs. A much needed win and good game by everyone. If Penny gives us 30 more starts like this one, the Sox will be more than happy with him this year.

After 35+ pitches Papelbon is done in this series, but man did he struggle. The fastball was all over the place today.

Factoid - A nine game losing streak to the Angels was broken.

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

2009 Red Sox Game 5 Preview

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Brad Penny		0-0, 0.00		J. Saunders		1-0, 0.00
Red Sox		1-3		Angels		2-2

Saturday, April 11, 2009      Angel Stadium of Anaheim ✠ 4:10 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:  -   The right-hander is determined to recover from his injury-plagued 2008, when he went 6-9 with a 6.27 ERA for the Dodgers. Penny would love to get back to the level when he won 16 games in 2006 and 2007, making the All-Star team in both seasons. This is Penny's first season with the Red Sox. He has a career record of 94-75 with a 4.06 ERA. Penny is 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA in five career starts against the Angels. At Angel Stadium, he is 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA.

Angels:  -   Saunders is coming off a dominant performance in the season opener against the A's on Monday in Anaheim. The 2008 AL All-Star yielded just three hits and two walks while striking out two, coming out of the chute firing bullets just as he had last season when he beat the Twins in his debut en route to a 5-0 April and 6-0 start. In fact, you might call him Mr. April. No ordinary Joe, Saunders is 8-0 with a 1.84 career ERA in the opening month of his two seasons and 14 days of Major League service time. His two-seam fastball was a big pitch against the A's, jamming hitters and inducing grounders in key situations. Intensely competitive, Saunders has enjoyed some of his best games and biggest moments against the Red Sox. He's 4-0 against Boston in his career with a 2.89 ERA in six games. He was 2-0 with a 3.38 ERA in three outings against Boston in 2008. O great another guy who owns the Sox. Just beam me up now scotty!

2009Red Sox Game 4 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	0	2	0		3	7	0
LAA	0	3	0	0	0	0	3	0	x		6	10	2

W: J. Weaver (1-0) L: T. Wakefield (0-1) S: S. Shields (1)


✫    -   Jered Weaver - another opposing pitcher strikes down the Sox Batters.
✫✫   -  Kendrik - 2 Rbi's
✫✫✫  -  Mathis - 2 Rbi's

⋔ Fork - J. Masterson (2nd time this season), for letting a close ball game get out of hand by allowing 3 runs in the seventh

Game thoughts!

Is there anybody on this team besides Youkilis that can hit? Another game and for the 3 game in a row the Sox have scored less than 4 runs. This team needs to warm up those bats before they take the field.

For some reason the Sox can't even win when their starter throws a quality start, and in this case it led to the ninth straight loss to these yahoo's. Wake up the bats boys!

Factoid - Sox - 1-6 RISP, Angels - 5-14

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

2009 Red Sox Game 4 Preview

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T. Wakefield		0-0, 0.00		Jered. Weaver		0-0, 0.00
Red Sox		1-2		Angels		1-2

Friday, April 10, 2009      Angel Stadium of Anaheim ✠ 7:10 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:    -    The veteran knuckleballer is beginning his 15th season for the Red Sox. The only other active player in the Majors to have worn his uniform continuously for one team since 1995 is Mariano Rivera for the Yankees. Wakefield is second on the club's all-time list in appearances (504), second in strikeouts (1,797), third in wins (164) and third in innings (2,581 2/3). His 178 career wins are the ninth most among active pitchers. Wakefield pitched better than his record last year, finishing third in opponents' batting average at .228. Wakefield tied a career-high with 18 quality starts in '08. Lifetime against the Angels, he is 9-12 with a 4.80 ERA.

Angels:    -    His spring was delayed by shoulder soreness and then set back briefly by a back strain, but he bounced back and finished strong and appears ready to go fairly deep in games. Weaver gets by on deception with his delivery, quality stuff and a competitive instinct that enables him to do some of his best work in high-pressure situations. He was 0-1 with a 2.08 ERA in two outings against the Athletics last season and is 2-2, 2.56 in seven career starts against them. Weaver was better at home (6-5, 3.71) than on the road (5-5, 4.91) in 2008. If he puts it all together, he could fulfill the expectations of his dominant rookie season in 2006.

There are times when I just don't understand Francona. This is one of them. Wakefield has dropped his last four starts at Angel Stadium, where he has not won since 2002, posting a 9.78 ERA in those outings (from espn.com preview).

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

2009 Red Sox Game 3 Recap

Final

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

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

✫     - Garza - has became a Sox killer.
✫✫    - Longoria - two run home run deflated the park
✫✫✫   - Youkilis - the man is smoking

⋔ Fork - Matsuzaka - 3 home runs, last year he allowed 12 all year.

Game thoughts!

Two words - that sucked!

Ok, the Sox lost the first series and now they head for Anaheim, which oh yeah, they have sucked at lately. It is not time to line the bridges though, there are 159 games left to play.

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

2009 Red Sox Game 3 Preview

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Matt Garza		0-0, 0.00		Daisuke Matsuzaka		0-0, 0.00
Rays		1-1		Red Sox		1-1

Thursday, April 9      Fenway Park✠ 1:35 p.m. ET

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

Rays:    Garza has the best stuff on the Rays staff, which he put on display while claiming MVP honors during last season's American League Championship Series -- particularly in Game 7 when he shut down the Red Sox to claim the win. At age 25, the right-hander seems to be maturing on the mound, where he has experienced problems controlling his emotions in the past. The one thing he has lacked is consistency, as he has been either lights-out or didn't have it. He needs to better learn how to win when he doesn't have his best stuff. Garza is 3-1 with a 3.86 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox; he is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in three career starts at Fenway Park.

Red Sox:    Dice-K didn't win any contests for pitching artistry last year, but he got the job done, finishing fourth in the American League Cy Young Award voting. The Red Sox hope for more control and efficiency out of Matsuzaka this year, as he walked 94 batters in 167 2/3 innings. However, he led the Majors in opponents batting average, limiting them to .211. He was fifth in the American League with 8.27 strikeouts per nine innings. Matsuzaka is 17-7 with a 4.10 ERA in 30 career starts at Fenway. He is 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA in eight starts against the Rays.

The rubber game of the opening day series and then the Sox take off for Anaheim. A nice short win would be nice, but then again mister nibbler is pitching. Still, I like the Red Sox chances!!!

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

2009 Red Sox Game 2 Recap

Press Pass ✠ Recap✠Box✠Play -by- Play

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

W: S. Kazmir (1-0) L: J. Lester (0-1) SV: G. Balfour (1)
HR ⇛ TB: E. Longoia(1), C. Pena(1)


✫       -  Kazmir - 6 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER - Not as good of a start as Beckett but he was good, of course it didn't hurt to have the ump giving 4 inches on the outside corner.
✫✫     -  Pena - His two run shot in the 5th was a dagger to Lester.
✫✫✫   -  Kaplar - Nice catches in center and some good base running

⋔ Fork - Lester - 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 5 er - He got hammered.

Idle thoughts

Lester started off well, but the Rays got to him in the fifth. Not a good way for the leftie to start the game, but after being 11-0 in his last sixteen home starts we will let it slide. Still it didn't help that Kazmir was getting 4 inches on the outside corner when Lester was not. Tomorrow is another day, or in this case the next game is another day.

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

2009 Red Sox Game 2 Preview

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S. Kazmir		0-0, 0.00		J. Lester		0-0, 0.00
Rays		0-1		Red Sox		1-0

Wednesday, April 8, 2009      Fenway Park  ✠ 7:10 p.m. ET

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

Rays: Kazmir struggled throughout the second half of the 2008 season, primarily due to an inability to locate his slider, which historically has been his best pitch. In the first half he posted a 3.02 ERA and in the second he pitched to a 4.02 ERA. The left-hander enjoyed a nice spring that saw him find his slider and lock in his mechanics, which could be a precursor to a good season. Historically, he has enjoyed pitching at Fenway Park, where he is 4-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 11 career starts. He is 6-7 with a 3.62 ERA in 21 career starts against the Red Sox.

Red Sox: The left-handed Lester is coming off a breakthrough season. Aside from winning 16 games, he led the staff with 210 1/3 innings. He threw a no-hitter against the Royals at Fenway on May 19. He also had a shutout at Yankee Stadium on July 3. He was the American League's Pitcher of the Month in July, going 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA. Lester is 16-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 31 career games at Fenway. He is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA against Tampa Bay. However, the Rays beat him twice in the American League Championship Series last October.

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

2009 Red Sox Game 1 Recap

Final

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Tampa Bay	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	0		3	3	0
Boston	1	0	3	0	0	1	0	0	X		5	9	0

W: J. Beckett (1-0) L: J. Shields (0-1) H: J. Masterson (1) S: J. Papelbon (1)
HR ➢ Bos: D. Pedroia (1), J. Varitek (1)

Tough to pick the stars in this game. Every Boston hitter got on base with a hit except for Jacoby Ellsbury, with the 2-6 hitters reaching base twice each (only Youkilis had two hits, the others a hit and a walk). When you are putting that many people on base you are going to score runs and that is what the Sox did today.

✫       - Beckett - 7.0 IP, 2 Hits allowed, 1 Earned Run, only 3 BB and 10 K's.
✫✫     - Pedroia for his first inning Home Run on the second pitch he saw.
✫✫✫   - Drew for his ground out that scored Pedroia for the game winning run. It took a great dive by Pena to prevent a 2 run double or triple.

⋔ Fork - Masterson - for making it close by allowing a double steal on his first pitch and then a single that made it a save situation. Inherited runners should not score.

Game thoughts!

Beckett and Pedroia got this game off on the right foot in the first inning. Beckett K'ed two in the first and Pedroia smashed one into the Monster seats and the Sox never trailed in this game. The only bad spots in this game came in the third when Beckett struggled but only allowed the 1 run and when Masterson choked the bit in the eighth inning.

Bad luck of the day came when Drew smashed one down the first base line that Pena made a diving stab on for the solo put out at first base. If that ball had gotten by Pena Drew would have had another double or even possibly a triple. A very good play by Pena robbed Drew.

Factoid - Beckett became the first Red Sox pitcher to start and win on Opening Day at Fenway since Aaron Sele beat Minnesota, 9-0, on April 26, 1995.

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

2009 Red Sox Game1 Preview

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James Shields		0-0, 0.00		Josh Beckett		0-0, 0.00
Rays		0-0		Red Sox		0-0

Monday, April 6      Fenway Park✠ 2:05 p.m. ET

Alright, another season is about to start! Yeah boy, 2:05 be there or be square, well actually I will be working but WTIC will be on!!! Looking forward to another season, another winning season!!!

As usual, I have the links listed for previews so have fun and we'll be back after the game!

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

Rays: Shields built a reputation as a pitcher who will do whatever is necessary to pitch his team into the seventh or eighth innings, which is evidenced by two consecutive seasons with 215 innings pitched. He has not pitched at Boston since he plunked Coco Crisp in the second inning of the June 5 game at Fenway Park, touching off a bench-clearing fracas. Five Rays players were suspended a total of 23 games for their part in the memorable incident that many feel helped push the Rays to their incredible pennant run. He went 2-2 with a 5.85 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox in 2008. Included in this body of work was a masterful complete game, two-hit, shutout of the Red Sox on April 27 that saw him strike out seven while walking just one. Shields has a 2-4 career mark against the Red Sox with a 5.23 ERA in eight starts; he is 0-3 with a 10.13 ERA in three career starts at Fenway.

Red Sox: Beckett is in a far different place than he was last Opening Day, when he was on the disabled list with back woes. Beckett turned in a strong Spring Training, looking a lot like the guy who dominated opponents throughout 2007. This will be the fourth Opening Day start of Beckett's career, but first since 2005. However, he is no stranger to Fenway openers. Beckett pitched the home opener for the Red Sox in 2006 and 2007, winning on both occasions. Beckett has generally pitched well against the Rays in his career, going 5-3 with a 3.11 ERA in 10 starts. In his career at Fenway, Beckett is 21-16 with a 4.79 ERA. He has been a strong starter during his career, going 18-10 with a 3.35 ERA in April.

Updated the links due to the postponement of the 4/6/2009 game.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 114 Preview

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J. Beckett		9-8, 4.15		B. Bannister		7-9, 5.33
Red Sox		64-49		Royals		53-60

Tuesday, August 5      Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium  ✠ 8:10 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Tampa	66	45	-	7-3	20	11	61	50
Boston	64	49	3.0	4-6	16	18	66	47
New York	61	51	5.5	4-6	20	13	61	51
Toronto	56	56	10.5	5-5	16	24	60	52
Baltimore	53	58	13.0	5-5	19	21	54	57

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

Red Sox: Beckett wasn't his sharpest in his last outing against the Angels at Fenway Park, but he certainly fell victim to a flat performance from his team. The Sox dropped a 9-2 decision and suffered yet another sweep to the Halos as Beckett allowed eight runs (seven earned) on 11 hits in just 5 1/3 innings. He'll look to bounce back against the Royals, a team he's yet to face this season but is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA against lifetime.

Royals: Bannister rang up a lot of pitches, 111, in just five innings last Wednesday at Oakland. He allowed eight hits, walked four and struck out seven, matching his career high in Ks. Despite all that, the A's got just two runs and Bannister emerged with no decision. He's in a prolonged drought, not having a victory since June 23 -- six starts ago. Bannister faced Boston on May 22 at Fenway Park and was banged for seven runs on 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Baseball Reference stats can be found here.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 113 Preview

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C. Buchholz		2-6, 5.94		G. Meche		9-9, 4.22
Red Sox		64-48		Royals		52-60

Monday, August 4      Ewing M. Kauffman Stadium  ✠ 8:10 p.m. ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Tampa	66	44	-	7-3	20	11	60	50
Boston	64	48	3.0	5-5	15	17	66	46
New York	61	50	5.5	5-5	20	13	61	50
Toronto	55	56	11.5	5-5	16	24	59	52
Baltimore	53	57	13.0	5-5	19	20	53	57

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

Red Sox: Talk about a trip down memory lane that's a bit more bitter this time around. Buchholz watched John Lackey come within two outs of a no-hitter at Fenway Park on Tuesday, less than one year after Buchholz completed a no-no in his second career start. Buchholz showed innings where he looked strong, but fell victim to back-to-back two-run frames in the third and fourth in a 6-2 loss to the Angels. He'll look to earn his first win since May 2 against the Royals on the road. Buchholz is 0-4 in his last four decisions, including three losses in four starts since returning to the rotation in mid-July.

Royals: Meche picked up his third straight victory, all since the All-Star break, on Tuesday night at Oakland. He used an aggressive attack, working inside with his fastball and cutter, thus discouraging batters to sit on his effective breaking ball. He's gone seven innings in each of his last two wins with good economy, throwing 100 and 101 pitches with a total of just three walks. At Boston on May 20, Meche pitched well and held the Red Sox to two runs in seven innings, but he lost, 2-1. He's 4-2 against the Sox in his career.

I think that I will skip the time consuming breakdowns of pitchers and hitters for the games. To be honest with you, I feel a little behind and am tired of being called a mouth breathing racist bastard and since no one seems to really care but me about that stuff well, why post it here. However, if you want a good breakdown be sure and visit Baseball-reference.com.

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

Red Sox 2008 Game 107 Preview

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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 92 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	0	0	0	0	0	0		0	6	0
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	x		1	7	0

W: H. Okajima (2-2) L: B. Bass (3-3) S: J. Papelbon (26)

✫ 1st star - D. Matsuzaka - 7 1/3 innings, 3 walks, 5 k's and oh yeah only 6 hits.
✫✫ 2nd star - H. Okajima - 2 men on with 1 out in the 8th and first batter walks. Meltdown in the making? Nope, a foul out and a fielders choice later and it was still 0-0.
✫✫✫ 3rd star - M. Ramirez - a clutch single with 1 out in the 8th scored the only run.
⋔ Pitchfork - none, nada, both teams played well

Game thoughts!

What can you say about tonights game? A pitchers duel, helped by some terrible batting by both teams at key times but was overall a very good game. I will take 1-0 wins every day and twice on Sunday, especially after seeing the Sox lose like six straight 1 run games on the road.

Matsuzaka was dealing tonight. 71 pitches for strikes and he was challenging the hitters with his fast ball all night. More importantly, he went deep in the game, which is what this team needs. With Beckett, Lester, Wakefield and Matsuzaka as the starters, the strength of this teams pitching is the starters. They need to get 7+ innings. If they do that, then the bullpen will be just fine.

Pedroia continued his hot hitting tonight by leading off the eighth with a wall ball double. The man is smoking right now and his double came at a very good time. Drew moved him to third on a ball he pulled but it took a diving stop by the second base to get the out on a very close play. For once the Sox actually got the runner home from third on Manny's single. As I said at the time at Joy of Sox "This game was over".

Now lets do the same thing tomorrow night!!!

♊ - 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.