Red Sox 07 Recap ALDS Game 2

ALDS - game 2
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Final

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

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

W: J. Papelbon (1-0) L: J. Speier (0-1)
HR ➢ Bos: M. Ramirez (1)

☼ Sun - MBM - 3 run shot after another IBB to Ortiz
☁ Cloud - Rodriguez - Tried to sneak that one by MBM, it didn't work.

Game thoughts!

So, the game seemed to start off with some angst as Daisuke struggled in the first (31 pitches) but did not allow any runs. The bottom of the first saw a key 2 out hit by J.D. Drew to spot the team to an early 2-0 lead. Sadly Daisuke reverted to his Matt Clement tendencies and allowed the Angels to tie the game and then take a 3-2 lead after 1 1/2 innings. This was not what Theo and Francona had in mind when they named him the #2 starter in the playoffs. I don't know, maybe they should have taken a longer look at his home and away splits.

Still, Daisuke did seem to settle down after his shaky second inning. A ten pitch third, helped by a smart play by Lugo throwing out Anderson at third was followed by a ten pitch fourth, both innings started with lead off hits though. That was the bright spots of his outing, since he could not get out of the fifth inning and left with runners on first and third. Thankfully, Lopez was able to get Morales to ground out to end the inning. Daisuke's final pitch count 96 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. THE MAN NEEDS TO START TRUSTING HIS STUFF!

The bottom of the fifth saw the Sox tie the game, removing Daisuke from the Loss Column, when Pedroia led off with a double, moved to third on Youkilis's ground out and was able to score on Mike Lowell's sacrifice fly after Ortiz (intentional) and Ramirez (thanks Kid) walked. It seemed like the Sox might do more damage as Drew battled in a 10 pitch at bat that saw a ground out. Those pitches were the last ones that Escobar would throw for the night.

Both bull pens did their jobs in the sixth, seventh and the bottom of the eighth innings. The top of the eighth did see some unusual activity.

After Okajima retired both Kotchman (F7) and Morales (swinging K) Francona brought in the Bot. One pitch and it looked like the inning was over but the normally sure handed Lowell made a bad throw to first on Kindricks ground ball and Youkilis could not dig it out of the dirt. On the 1-0 pitch Kendrick stole second. Scioscia brought in a pinch hitter (unusual to say the least) for Mathis and with the count 1-1 Rivera worked a walk (on strike 3). With pinch runner Willits stealing second (Kendrick stole third during Rivera's at bat) on a 1-1 pitch, the table was set for a disastrous outing by the Bot. Figgins though looked at an 88 mph split for strike three and it was to the bottom of the eighth.

What should have been a one pitch outing by the Bot instead became a thirteen pitch inning. Still, no blood no foul.

Speier induced two ground outs by Drew and Varitek (Tek just missed a pesky pole HR) and Crisp flied out to right in the bottom of the eighth. The ninth inning started out well for Bot as he got two pop ups to Lugo before walking Anderson. Izturis though followed that walk by popping up on the first pitch to Lugo. The stage was now set for the heroics.

Lugo started off the ninth by singling and on the first pitch to Pedroia, broke for second which prevented the double play on his grounder to short. Time for K-rod to come into the game and I was now sitting on the edge of my seat. With Lugo on 2nd with only one out, you knew that Papi would get a chance to bat.

Youkilis heightened the tension by striking out on a pitch in the dirt setting the stage. Would K-rod face Ortiz (.400 BA) or would Sciosia walk Papi for the second time to face Manny (2-9)? The Angel skipper went with option two and on the second pitch to Manny Fenway Park went ballistic as the ball was crushed over the left field wall. Sox Win, Sox Win!!

Oh, yeah the Yankees lost in extra innings!

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

Red Sox 07 Game 150 Preview

			@
R. Clemens		6-6, 4.45		C. Schilling		8-7, 3.93
Yankees		84 - 64		Red Sox		90 - 59

Sunday, September, 16      Fenway Park  ✠ 8:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	90	59	-	6-4	22	23	94	55
New York	84	64	5.5	8-2	14	18	88	60
Toronto	74	75	16.0	4-6	26	24	78	71
Baltimore	64	84	25.5	3-7	11	28	66	82
Tampa	62	87	28.0	5-5	20	18	62	87

ESPN.Com Preview .
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From MLB.Com Scouting Report
Baseball-Reference - Preview

Yankees: Could it finally be? Clemens insists it will be, though after having a pair of cortisone injections in his right elbow, his first Fenway Park start since 2003 could be a game-time decision. The Red Sox faithful are certainly salivating for a chance to bat around the Rocket, but the Yankees are just hoping that Clemens has a few more bullets left in his 45-year-old arm. Clemens claimed his last start was like throwing with a piece of wood. He'd need to be wary of a Boston lineup that can certainly wield the lumber.

Red Sox: Despite being winless in his past three starts, Schilling has been pitching well. In his last outing, he allowed just one run and five hits in a 1-0 loss to Scott Kazmir and the Devil Rays. Schilling has allowed seven runs in his past four starts. He is 3-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 11 starts at Fenway Park this season. Schilling is 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA in four starts against the Yankees this season.

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

Hitting History vs Clemens

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Ellsbury	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
D. Pedroia	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Ortiz	22	5	0	0	2	2	2	5	.227
M. Lowell	14	2	0	0	0	0	1	4	.143
J.D. Drew	4	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	.250
J. Varitek	20	3	1	0	0	0	4	8	.150
E. Hinske	14	2	1	0	0	0	2	6	.143
C. Crisp	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	4	.222
J. Lugo	12	1	1	0	0	0	0	4	.083
Totals	96	15	3	0	2	2	11	33	.167

.167 BA for these guys, not good, but was that against this Clemens, the 45 year old or the old but younger Clemens before he went to the NL. Only Drew can say he faced the younger Clemens of the NL and the others, well they faced the dominating Clemens. With a .282 BAA vs Righties and a .255 BAA vs lefties, this year I say we see the old, old Clemens.

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Clemens	20	9	5	0	125 1/3	107	52	8	42	134	3.73	1.19	6.27
Schilling	18	7	7	0	122 1/3	126	64	26	32	100	4.71	1.29	6.52

This Years Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Clemens	1	1	0	0	6	2	1	1	5	2	1.50	1.17	6
Schilling	4	0	2	0	25	35	16	8	3	14	5.76	1.52	6.25

Clemens has been good this year vs the Sox, but then it was only one freaking game. Of course it took a Papi home run to break up the no hitter in that game so you could say he has been on fire. Schilling's problem has been the home runs. 8 homers in 25 innings is not good and that is why he is 0-2 this year. Still, the last time he pitched he was just as good as Wang was in Yankee stadium. I also think he will be good tonight.

Last five times that Clemens has pitched at Fenway in the Regular Season he has gone 26 2/3 innings with a 5.74 ERA and 1.69 WHIP. Makes you wonder how he is 3 and 1 in those games.

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

Red Sox 07 Game 149 Recap

Final

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		1	4	0
Boston	1	0	0	0	1	3	4	1	X		10	12	0

W: J. Beckett (19-6) L: C. Wang (18-7)
HR ➢ Bos: E. Hinske (6) NYY: D. Jeter (10)

☼ Sun - Beckett - A home run in the first and then after that, zip, zero, nada.
☁ Cloud - Wang - A melt down in the sixth ended the suspense of this game.

Game thoughts!

About freaking time this team got its act together when playing the Yankees. Finally the team beat them and in a resounding fashion. It would be best of course if they made this a habit and repeated it tomorrow night.

The nice thing is that after last nights game and after Jeter's first inning home run, the Sox immediately responded in the bottom of the first. Of course if Drew or Tek had gotten a hit right after Lowell's rbi single they might of been able to knock Wang out in the first. Wait what am I saying, Drew and Tek failed with RISP, nothing new there.

After the long first inning Beckett really settled down with 1-2-3 innings in the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th innings. It looked like it would be another one in the 7th until he hit Giambi with 2 outs (about freaking time also). Since Youkilis had been hit earlier in the game, it was easy to think this was pay-back. The home plate umpire thought so, and I also think it was intentional. About freaking time I say.

What I was surprised about was how close this game was until the sixth. Neither team had scored after the first and it looked like it would be a game that would turn on some freak play (usually to the detriment of the Sox). It especially looked this way after with two outs Wang walked the bases loaded for Jason Varitek who swung on the first pitch and on the next pitch popped out to second. I was ready to freaking throw a brick through the TV set.

Fortunately the Sox got a little bit lucky in the fifth. Ellsbury pinch ran for Youkilis (after he was hit by Wang) and on Ortiz's single to right, he went to third. I don't think that Youkilis would have been able to make it to third on that hit, which is why they were lucky. 1st and 3rd with 1 out and Lowell up to bat, you felt like the Sox would score, but Lowell lined out to Jeter which made Drew's at bat crucial. His at bat in the third was the first time that J.D. had reached base vs Wang, making him 0-10 in his career. This time he swung at the first pitch, a sinker on the outside corner and lined a single to right. 2-1 Sox and the lead would only grow after that. Yeah, boy!!!

The rest was just icing on the cake. Eight runs later this game was over and the Sox lead in the division was back to 5.5 games.

Player watch:
Lugo 0/4 .239
Crisp 2/5 .273
Drew 1/3 .265

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

Red Sox 07 Game 148 Recap

Final

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

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	6	0		8	12	2
Boston	0	1	1	3	0	2	0	0	0		7	13	2

W: B. Bruney (3-1) L: J. Papelbon (1-3) S: M. Rivera (27)
HR ➢ NYY: J. Giambi (14), R. Cano (17)

☼ Sun - A. Rodriguez - The go ahead run scores on his single.
☁ Cloud - Francona - Misuse of the bullpen from the seventh on.

Game thoughts!

The Sox jump out to the lead in the second, added a run in third, gave up a run in the fourth and then increased the lead in the bottom of the fourth. When the score is 5-1 your favor after four, you should not lose that game (unless you are Baltimore or Tampa Bay).

If a 5-1 lead should be safe then 7-2 should be even more safe, but on Friday night Mr. Terry Francona found a way to blow the lead and the game. Now you can argue that Terry followed his plan and that Okajima and Papelbon blew the lead but that would not be correct. He made two critical mistakes in his bullpen management.

The first mistake was in the seventh inning. After Lopez started the inning with two outs he allowed a walk to J. Posada, remember the lead is 7-2, so why bring Okajima right then to face Matsui? Last time I looked Lopez is a left handed pitcher? Didn't make sense when he did it, and doesn't make sense now.

Second mistake was having Okajima start the eighth with only Papelbon warming up. What happened with Gagne or MDC, you can't expect Papelbon to get you six outs? Idiotic in my opinion, absolutely idiotic. Six runs later and still no outs and now you have a tired Okajima and a tired Papelbon that you probably won't go to for Saturday's (today) game.

IDIOT!

Player watch:
Lugo 1/5 .241
Crisp pr
Drew 2/5 .264

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

Today in History 9/10 - 9/13 1978

Have been meaning to post these look backs in game recaps but I keep on forgetting.
Some times it is good to remember the past.

1978 - Standings in AL

9/10 -

1. Boston - 86 - 56 (B. Sprowl lost a 7-4 Game to E. Figueroa)
2. New York - 86 - 56 the massacare was complete

9/11 -

1. Boston - 87 - 56 (B. Stanley beats O's 5-4 J. Kerrigan was the loser)
2. New York - 86 -56 (off day)

9/12 -

1. Boston - 87 - 57 (Loss to D. Martinez by M. Torrez)
2. New York - 86 - 57

9/13 -

1. New York - 87 - 57
2. Boston - 87 - 58 (D. Clyde of the Indians beats Eck 2-1)

Will start putting this in the recaps of the games as we go forward! Chow!!

Red Sox 07 Game 134 Recap

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

W: C. Wang (16-6) L: C. Schilling (8-6)
HR ➢ NYY: R. Cano (16)

☼ Sun - Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang - Cano for his two home runs and Wang for his 7 innings of 1 hit pitch.
☁ Cloud - Schilling - When the offense is struggling you can't afford to give up home runs to Canoe.

Game thoughts!

Chien once again stopped the bats of the Sox. Seven innings one hit. The key turning point though was when J.D. Drew came up in the seventh with runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. He hit a ground ball to A-rod, who tried to tag Youkilis before throwing to first to nail Drew.

Initially with only Drew being called out it looked like the Sox would have a chance to tie with runners on 2nd and 3rd and only 1 out. However, the Umpires got together and decided that Youkilis had went out of the basepath to avoid the tag. Double play and Lowell was stranded at 2nd. That was really the closest they came to scoring.

Joba may have woken up a giant in this game. For some reason he decided to throw two balls at Youkilis's head in the 9th. Ejection, but the Sox were irate, especially Beckett. Will be interesting to see what happens when the Yankees visit Fenway in Sept.

Factoid - since 2003 the record in Red Sox / Yankee games is 44-47 Yankees (including today's game). During that time period the Yankees lead the Sox 17 - 12 in August and September.

Lugo watch - did not play

Coco watch - 0 for 4 - down to .265

Drew watch - 0 for 4 - down to .257

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

Red Sox 07 Game 133 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	0	1	0	2	0		3	4	1
New York	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	X		4	14	0

W: R. Clemens (6-5) L: J. Beckett (16-6) S: M. Rivera (22)
HR ➢ Bos: D. Ortiz (25), K. Youkilis (14) NYY: A. Rodriquez (44)

☼ Sun - Clemens - 5 1/3 of no hit ball.
☁ Cloud - Beckett - The 13 hits he gave up were a career high.

Game thoughts!

This game came down to the Rocket and Beckett and Josh lost. Simple as that. Josh did not pitch bad, he just had one bad inning but that was enough with the way that Clemens was pitching during this game. You can't even blame the men LOB in this game because the Yankees had 1 more LOB. Still, a tight game that was lost in Yankee stadium.

The good news is that the Sox pitching continues to be good. The bad news is that the offense is still not getting clutch hits.

Factoid - since 2003 the record in Red Sox / Yankee games is 44-46 Yankees (including tonights game). During that time period the Yankees lead the Sox 16 - 12 in August and September.

Lugo watch - 0 for 4 - down to .238

Coco watch - 0 for 4 - down to .268

Drew watch - 1 for 3 - up to .260

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

Red Sox 07 Game 132 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	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0		3	7	1
New York	2	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	X		5	7	0

W: A. Pettitte (12-7) L: D. Matsuzaka (13-11) S: M. Rivera (21)
HR ➢ Bos: M. Ramirez (20), J. Varitek (12) NYY: D. Jeter (9), J. Damon (9)

☼ Sun - Damon - Two run home run in the seventh seals the deal.
☁ Cloud - Matsuzaka - once again he gives up home runs in a close game that causes the loss.

Game thoughts!

Daisuke continued his troubles against the Yankees. This time the offense did not bail him out. Daisuke started off the game by giving up two runs in the first. A problem that he has had too many times this year reared its head right away.

After allowing a single to Damon and a excuse me swinging bunt ground out by Jeter he walked Bobby Abreu. The very next pitch was to the rib cage of A-Rod and the bases were suddenly loaded with only one out. Another excuse me swing led to a force out at second with Damon scoring and then Posada doubled down the left field line to score Abreu. The Sox were immediately in the hole and would never get the lead.

High lights for the Sox were the home runs hit by Manny and Varitek. In between those bombs was a lead off triple by Lugo, who scored on Papi's SF in the third. Papi's rbi tied the game at two and Varitek's home run tied the game at three (Jeter's home run in the fifth being the difference). So, the Sox kept on coming back but could not get the lead as Pettitte just refused to give any ground. Still, I would rather be seven games up instead of games down.

Factoid - since 2003 the record in Red Sox / Yankee games is 44-45 Yankees (including tonights game). During that time period the Yankees lead the Sox 15 - 12 in August and September.

Lugo watch - 1 for 4 - up to .240

Coco watch - 0 for 4 - down to .270

Drew watch - 0 for 4 - down to .259

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

Red Sox 07 games 132, 133 and 134

			@
Red Sox		80-51		Yankees		72-59

August 28 & 29 & 30  ✠  Yankee Stadium 7:05, 7:05 and 1:05 p.m. ET

American League (8/28/07)

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	80	51	-	7-3	18	19	83	48
New York	72	59	8.0	5-5	11	17	77	54
Toronto	66	65	14.0	4-6	23	20	70	61
Baltimore	58	71	21.0	2-8	10	24	61	68
Tampa	51	80	29.0	5-5	16	15	51	80

ESPN.Com previews Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
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From MLB.Com Tuesday Scouting Report, Wednesday Scouting Report, Thursday Scouting Report.

Matsuzaka: Dice-K held the Rays to a single hit through his first 5 1/3 innings then watched as his hard work went to waste in the form of a two-run homer in the sixth that handed both he and the Red Sox a loss. The Japanese rookie has often fallen victim to poor run support and Wednesday was more of the same as his teammates mustered just one run in his defense. Matsuzaka said afterward that he was disappointed with too many "wasted pitches," but the lone obvious error was the home run ball.

Beckett: The right-hander will be going after a career-high win No. 17 in this one. Beckett was far from his best in his last start, giving up seven hits and three runs over 5 2/3 innings. But he still managed to get the win, downing the White Sox by a score of 11-3. This is Beckett's final start in August, a month in which he's gone 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts. Beckett is 1-0 with a 5.54 ERA in two starts against the Yankees this season. This is Beckett's first start of 2007 at Yankee Stadium, where he's 2-1 with a 7.53 ERA in the regular season.

Schilling: has won his last two starts. He downed the White Sox in his last outing, holding them to four hits and a run over six innings. Schilling is 0-1 with a 7.00 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season. He is 2-3 with a 4.91 ERA lifetime at Yankee Stadium.

Pettitte: When the Yankees need a big win -- say, on days immediately following a loss -- Pettitte has been their guy. There are no bigger games, win or lose, than the hyped contests vs. Boston, and Pettitte draws the assignment to open the Yankees' against the Red Sox. The left-hander has won five straight starts, the last of which coming on Wednesday against the Angels, as he spun seven innings of one-run ball. Pettitte is 1-1 with a 5.01 ERA in five games (four starts) against Boston this year.

Clemens: The energy level at Yankee Stadium should be high for this one, as The Rocket takes on his former team for the first time since rejoining the Yankees. Clemens saw a two-start winning streak go by the boards when he allowed six runs in five innings to the Tigers on Friday. In the outing, he battled a blister on his right foot that may have impeded his delivery.

Wang: Citing a mechanical tweak that sped up his delivery some, Wang overcame a so-so start to best the Tigers on Saturday. Trusting his sinker more by throwing to the heart of the plate -- thus letting his natural movement do the work -- Wang went eight strong innings, holding Detroit to two runs. He is 2-1 in three starts against the Red Sox this season, working Boston to a 4.50 ERA.

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

Sox Batting vs Pettitte

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
D. Pedroia	10	3	1	0	0	3	0	0	.300
K. Youkilis	9	5	1	0	1	2	2	1	.556
D. Ortiz	34	11	3	0	1	5	3	9	.324
M. Ramirez	69	29	8	0	3	18	6	6	.420
J. D. Drew	14	6	1	0	2	2	1	5	.429
M. Lowell	11	3	1	0	0	2	1	0	.273
J. Varitek	46	16	1	1	1	6	4	14	.348
C. Crisp	13	4	0	0	0	0	1	3	.308
J. Lugo	19	5	0	0	0	0	3	3	.263
Totals	225	82	16	1	8	38	21	41	.364

The question is how does Pettitte have a 14 and 6 record vs the Sox. Well, actually he has struggled this year. In four starts he has had two quality starts, but he has only been able to average 5.58 innings per start with a 5.24 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP. Oh, yeah, his record is 1 and 1 this year.

Key in the first game will be if Manny, Ortiz and J.D. Drew can continue to hit Pettitte. I think they will, but it should still be a pretty close game. The big guys need some people on base so they can hit them home. Look for a good game!

Sox Batting vs Clemens

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
D. Pedroia	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
K. Youkilis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Ortiz	19	4	0	0	1	1	2	5	.211
M. Ramirez	50	9	1	0	3	6	10	18	.180
J. D. Drew	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	.000
M. Lowell	11	2	0	0	0	0	1	4	.182
J. Varitek	19	3	1	0	0	0	2	8	.158
C. Crisp	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	3	.286
J. Lugo	9	1	1	0	0	0	0	4	.111
Totals	117	21	3	0	4	7	16	44	.179

Clemens dominates these guys. Makes you wonder how he could have a life time record of only 8 and 5 vs the Sox. Especially when you see that he averages over 6 innings per start and has twelve quality starts vs the Sox. I would count on this being a low scoring game for the Sox with those type of numbers. Let us hope that Beckett brings his A++++ game.

Sox Batting vs Wang

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
D. Pedroia	3	3	2	0	0	1	0	0	1.000
K. Youkilis	18	7	3	0	0	1	6	1	.389
D. Ortiz	24	12	3	0	2	8	5	2	.500
M. Ramirez	22	13	0	0	2	5	4	3	.591
J. D. Drew	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	19	3	1	0	0	0	3	2	.158
J. Varitek	12	1	0	0	1	1	0	2	.083
C. Crisp	17	5	0	1	0	0	1	2	.294
J. Lugo	28	6	1	0	0	1	5	5	.214
Totals	149	50	10	1	5	17	24	17	.336

Looking at these numbers it is easy to see why Wang is only 4 and 4 vs the Sox. There are some good quality numbers posted by some of these guys. The thing is though, Wang has been really hot lately. Maybe the Sox can do their part in cooling him off, of course the problem is that Schilling is the Sox pitcher in this game and he has royally sucked vs the spankees this year. Schilling is going to need to step up big for the Sox to have a chance.

Pitching Comparisions

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Matsuzaka	2	2	0	0	13	13	10	1	5	14	6.92	1.38	6.50
Pettitte	25	14	6	0	164	168	60	6	47	127	3.29	1.31	6.56
Beckett	6	3	2	0	33	41	29	5	21	26	7.91	1.88	5.50
Clemens	19	8	5	0	119 1/3	105	51	7	37	132	3.85	1.19	6.28
Schilling	17	7	6	0	115 1/3	120	62	24	31	96	4.84	1.31	6.78
Wang	9	4	4	0	58 1/3	72	31	6	27	21	4.78	1.70	6.48

Two games for Daisuke and two wins. However with a 6.92 ERA in thirteen innings is not something to be glad about. This is the fourth time that Daisuke will be trying to win his fourteenth win. Is the fourth time the charm?

Of course that is not entirely his fault. In his last five games he is one and three with a 3.62 ERA in thirty-two and one third innings. What is really head scratching is the three losses are against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Beckett has a very high ERA vs the Yankees but this year he has actually lowered that figured. In two games he has went 13 innings with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.69 WHIP. He is 1 and 0 this year. The good news is that he has only walked five and has K'ed 12 in those two games.

While overall Schilling has decent numbers against the Yankees this year he has been horrible. His outings this year vs the Yankees have been seven innings, six innings and five innings. Overall all he has a 7.00 era in those eighteen innings. What has killed him is the six, that is right six home runs he has allowed.

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

Red Sox 07 Game 108 Recap

Press Pass ✠ Recap ✠ Box✠ Play by Play

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

W: T. Wakefield (13-9) L: R. Bell (3-2)
HR ⇛ Bos: H. Hinske(5), D. Mirabelli (4)

☼ The Sun - Mirabelli - 3 for 3 with 2 runs scored and 2 rbi's. Way to go Dougie!!
☁ The Cloud - R. Bell - 2/3 innings pitched 4 earned runs - ouch

Idle thoughts!

A short home stand is over and thanks to the White Sox the Sox were able to extend their lead to eight games in front of the spankees. What I liked about this series was the fact that the Sox won two of the three games, and did it by only losing the one game to the Orioles star pitcher on Tuesday night.

Wakefield was dandy today as he only had the one bad inning in the fifth. Any time the starter gives you seven innings and only allows three runs, you have a chance to win the game. Especially when you have the three pitchers at the back of this bull pen.

What in the world was Mirabelli doing in the sixth? He definitely cost Papi an RBI by screwing up the play on that long fly ball with the bases loaded. Even worse was the fact that it ended the inning. On a side note, the run he scored in the seventh was only the second time all year that some one actually got an RBI with him on base.

Lugo watch - dnp - day off after the night game.
Coco watch - 2 for 4 - average back up to .281! He also continues to play sterling defense in Center.
Drew watch - 0 for 1, pinch ran for Hinske in the seventh. I pray that his son is ok!

Here is a pitching line for you. 1.0 innings pitched, 0 runs, 1 hit and six pitches thrown. Of course we are talking about HID.

It was good to see Gagne strike out the first batter that he faced. No, I am not worried about the run he gave up since it was set up by a wind blown foul ball that landed fair and bounced into the stands. It looked like a good pitch to me, just a little bit of bad luck. Since this was his first game since the 24th of July, it was obvious that he needed the work.

I liked this line up that started today (except for the bench guys playing). It might not be a bad idea to keep D-ped, Youkilis, Ortiz and Manny as the first four batters of the game.

Evil empire watch - a slug fest in the Bronx and the spankees lose to the White Sox! Love those Sox!!!

Sox have a nine game road trip starting tomorrow. Thankfully, they did not have to play until midnight and then fly across country this time. The question is "can they stop the losing streak at Safeco?"

♊ - When all else fails get a bigger hammer!

Red Sox 07 Game 103 Recap

Press Pass ✠ Recap ✠ Box ✠ Play by Play

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

W: T. Wakefield (12-9) L: J. Hammel (1-1)
HR ⇛ Bos: K. Youkilis(10)

☼ The Sun - Youkilis - his three run home run ignited the fire
☁ The Cloud - Tampa Bullpen - they poured the gas on the fire

Idle thoughts!

Once again Mr. Wakefield was outstanding in the Trop. That is eight wins at Tropicana Field, seven as a starter against no losses. Six inning of one run pitching will win you a lot of games and last night it won the number twelve (season) and number 163 of his career. Good for Tim!

For a while it looked like the Sox would be in trouble as Hammel retired the first fourteen batters sent to the plate by the Sox. Fortunately, David Ortiz broke up the perfect game by singling with two outs in the fourth. With the perfect game Hammel seemed to settle down and in the fifth retired Drew, Lowell and Crisp on six pitches. Hammel had thrown @75 pitches in the first five innings and was looking to get through the sixth or @90 pitches in his second start of the year.

Meanwhile, Wakefield was matching Hammel pitch for pitch with his only blemish being a single run in the second. After retiring Young and Harris, Ty Wigginton singled to left, a walk to Gomes moved Wiggington to second and Navarro single him home on a 3-1 pitch, but he was able to entice Crawford to ground out to Cora at second to end the inning.

So, the Sox entered the sixth inning down by one run and only one batter had reached base (the afore mentioned Ortiz's single). Mirabelli started the sixth with a three pitch strike out and was quickly followed by Cora drawing a four pitch walk. Lugo worked the count by taking the first two pitches for a one ball, one strike count, fouled off the third, took ball two while Cora stole second, which seemed to distract Hammel who delivered two more balls. This is where Maddon went to the bullpen as he brought in J. Salas to face K. Youkilis.

On the two - one count Kevin deposited the ball into the left field stands. The Rays were lucky that those were the only runs in the inning as Salas struck out Ortiz, allowed a double to Manny, walked Drew and walked Lowell to load the bases, but Casey Fossum came in and got a sharp hit line drive to right field that Delmon Young was able to grab for the third out of the inning.

Wakefield, once given the lead did what good pitchers do, he shut down the offense in the bottom of the sixth only allowing a two out walk on a eight pitch at bat by Wigginton. After 104 pitches his night was done once again giving his team a chance to win the game and in line for his twelfth win of the year.

Neither team was able to generate anything in the seventh as Fossum set down the Sox in order on ten pitches and Delcarmen was able to retire the Rays on seven pitches. Still a tight game, but with Okajima and Papel-bot waiting in the pen, you had to feel like this game was well in hand. The Sox though decided not leave it to the one-two bull pen punch.

Fossum looked like he was going to keep on retiring the Sox as he retired Youkilis on three pitches and was facing Ortiz, but David worked a check swing 3-2 walk and Maddon again went to the bull pen. Bringing in the right handed Camp to face Manny. Manny made them pay by lining the second pitch to right field with Ortiz running hard all the way to third.

With a runner on third with one out, Drew slapped the fourth pitch to right scoring Ortiz. Lowell hit an infield fly to second bringing up Coco Crisp. On the three - zero pitch, Crisp hit a line drive to left that Crawford dove and got his glove on the ball, but upon hitting the ground the ball popped out of the pocket and started rolling towards the foul line. This allowed Manny and Drew to score and Crisp was able to reach second. Mirabelli then finished the scoring in this game by singling in Crisp.

Delcarmen pitched an uneventful eighth, allowing only a lead off single and Snyder pitched a similar ninth. Ball game over and with the Yankees losing in Baltimore the Sox lead in the American League east crept back up to eight.

Lugo watch - 0 for 4 - average at .222
Coco watch - 1 for 4 - average at .282
Drew watch - 1 for 3 - average at .247

Lester will go for the Sox in game two, tonight!

♊ - When all else fails get a bigger hammer!

Red Sox 07 Game 101 Recap

Final

Press Pass ♊ Box Score ♊ Play-By-Play ♊ Recap

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

W: F. Carmona (13-4) L: J. Beckett (13-4) S: J. Borowski
HR ➢ Cle: F. Gutierrez (6)

☼ Sun - Gutierrez - the only run came on his home run
☁ Cloud - Varitek, Being, Lugo, and any one else that was thrown out on the bases.

Game thoughts!

A well pitched game by both starters that lived up to the hype. Unfortunately, the only threat the Indians were able to generate came on Guiterrez's third inning home run. What can you say, both pitchers are now 13-4 and their ERA's are almost identical (3.27 for Beckett, 3.31 for Carmona). That is pitching at its best.

Lugo watch - cs in the eighth, the only thing he did all game.

Drew watch - 0 for 3 (sharp line out to third, two ground outs), now batting .247.

Wtf was Manny doing in the sixth? He should have been there to signal Coco at home. MBM of course, because he wasn't even in the freaking picture. Oh well another day another 1 run loss.

6/1 - Sox were 8-3 in 1 run games, 9-4 vs lefties, 12.5 up on the MFY and 36-17 overall. 7/26 - 15-16 in 1 run games, 15-14 vs lefties, 6.5 up on MFY and 61-40 overall. That is not a good trend.

Later - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Red Sox 07 Game 100 Recap

Recap ♊ Box ♊ Play by Play

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

W: D. Matsuzaka (12-7) L: C.C. Sabathia (13-5) S: J. Papelbon (23)

☼ The Sun - Matsuzaka - 7 innings 4 hits, 3 walks, 5 K's
☁ The Cloud - Francisco - Misread of Lowell's single in the third leads to only run

Idle thoughts!

This is the Daisuke that Theo lusted after in the off season. Seven innings of shut out ball in Cleveland against this team is why he is the #2 of this staff right now, but he is only the #2 because #1 is going tonight against this offense. The future looks bright and he should wear his sun glasses at night!

Lugo watch - 1 for 4 and the only extra base hit for the Sox was his double. Now batting .226 for the year.

Crisp watch - 0 for 4 with two k's. What is it with batting 5th in this line up? Crisp was on fire coming into this game but move him to 5th and boom there goes the hitting streak. For the season Crisp is now batting .281.

Drew watch - three AB's and three K's and none really looked good, but cut him some slack, C.C. is one tough lefty.

Okajima in the eighth - 3 up 3 down.

Papelbon in the ninth - 3 up 3 down.

A game that had to be almost perfect to win, but there were three outstanding defensive plays in this game, with the first one in the first inning as Lugo cut down Sizemore at third base for the first out of the inning. The second one was in the sixth when WMP crashed into the wall while making the catch, but last and more important was the play that Youkilis made in the seventh on the sacrifice bunt.

On a play that you might just take the out at first, Youk pounced on the ball and threw a strike to second and that pretty much ended the Indians offense for the night.

Beckett tonight vs the other outstanding pitcher for the Indians, Carmona! Be there or be square!

Later - When all else fails get a bigger hammer!

oh yeah, in the roll over and die category - the Royals sucked again vs the spankees. Why can't they play like that against the Sox?

Game 69 - 70 and 71 Idle Thoughts

Whew! The Sox win two games by shutting out the Braves, while the Rockies do their best impression of Yankee Killers by sweeping the spankees in Colorado. Maybe, I should not blog at all. Just kidding MikeT9485!

Nothing bad happening at the s1c homestead just lots of "Dad" things happening. The BH otherwise known as significant other, etc has been fighting a sinus infection which meant that "Dad" became chauffeur and other things for last couple of nights while the daughter wrapped up the end of school type of things. Fortunately I was able to listen to most of the games or see significant parts of the last three games, but was not in a blogging type of situation, ie. no Internet available type of situation.

So, sorry for any missed inane statistics but things should be back to normal for a few days or at least I hope they will approach normal. One other thing, I would like to welcome Victoria (the second niece) to the family. I hope that fatherhood brings you nothing but happiness Phillip!

So, what have I not commented on? Hmmm, no recap for the Schilling game (#69) because I was so disgusted and tired I just went to bed without doing anything on the blog. Of course that paid off as we got to see that he has been freaking hurt most of the year. Schill, you know I like you and I understand you are pitching for the contract, but dude if you are hurt and look crappy, you ain't helping the contract or the team. Just get well and pitch brilliantly in the playoffs and you will get the contract, see Weaver, Jeff (who I hope is facing Gabbard on Tuesday).

Game 70 of course lifted a lot of spirits in RSN but should we have been surprised? After all coming into that game Hudson was 3 and 8 lifetime against the Sox with a 6.22 ERA. Hard to believe that he pitched a 2 hit gem against Pedro back on 8/11/2003. In five games since then (prior to tuesday) Hudson was 0 and 5 with a 9.49 ERA in 24 2/3 innings. His WHIP in those 5 games was a grotesque 2.23. Actually his performance improved his stats vs the Sox. Safe to say that the Sox just own him!

The real hero of that game though was "Lord Beckett" though as Kristen would say, though I had to like the comment from Varitek, "six is all you got". Good stuff from the captain to the ACE of the staff.

Yes, I said ACE of the staff. I've mentioned it before, but it bears repeating; "Joshua is the ace of this staff now and should be for years, hopefully decade plus years to come". I can't be plainer than that about his ability and potential. If the playoffs started today, I think its likely that the Rotation would be Beckett, Schilling (but only because of experience) and Matsuzaka with Wakefield and Sexy Lips being the all hands on deck 4th starter.

Speaking of Sexy Lips, I had to leave just as the top of the first inning was ending last night to do one of those "Dad" things, i.e. being the chaperone of the "date". So let me sum up the game for you. Drew - home run, Pedroia - double down the left field line, Ortiz - fooled on a breaking pitch for the K, Manny - doubles scoring Pedroia, Youkilis - (don't remember but I know it was an out and he was pissed), Varitek - lets walk him to get to the guy who smashed two home runs on us in game one of this series and Crisp - why thank you very much and we'll take the 5 run lead. From the looks of it, the solo home run would have been enough for Sexy Lips. By the way, the date was Rise of the Silver Surfer - "dad" is not a fan of this movie, enough said.

Hmmm, I don't think I missed anything but you never know. Will add the standing tables later for the last two three days, but right now its time to get something to eat.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 67 Recap

Final

Press Pass l Box l Recap

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

W: D. Matsuzaka (8-5, 4.18); L: M. Cain (2-7, 3.15); SV: J. Papelbon (16)
HR: BOS: M. Ramirez (9).

► Hero - Matsuzaka, Okajima, Papelbon and Ramirez - 4 hit ball by the pitchers and 1 big swing by Manny.
► Goat - Bonds, Barry Bonds - 5 pitches and 1 big K in the eighth on no swings

Idle thoughts

J.D. Drew as a lead off hitter is now 4 for 13. OBA is a robust .357. Maybe he has found his stroke.

Manny's home run was a no doubter and was needed badly. Youkilis's hit right after the home run would be the last Sox hit until Coco's single in the eighth.

A good game if you are into pitching. If you are looking for offense, well go to the Mets - Yankees game to see some.

Speaking of the spankees, Mariano comes into an 11 - 5 game and gives up 5 hits and throws over 30 pitches. The spankees better hope its not a close game tomorrow.

Daisuke had me worrying in the fourth and sixth innings. Sad to say, but I keep on expecting a terrible inning from this pitcher, who nibbles too much for me, and was pleased to see that he could make the 1 run lead hold.

Okajima worried me when he allowed the first two in the eighth inning to reach base. I do not like seeing Bonds standing at the plate with the winning run on base. Say what you will about the steroids issue but the man can hit.

What did Farrell say to Okajima in the eighth? What ever it was, remember it John because it worked. Three pitches after the visit Bonds was shaking his head as he walked back to the dugout and the threat was basically over.

Papel-bot looked great. Again his pitches were in the 96-97 range on the fast ball and 95 mph on the split. No K's, but it was a quick and efficient outing.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 66 Recap

Final

press pass l Box l Wrap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
San Fran	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	8	1
Boston	2	0	1	3	0	1	0	3	X		10	9	0

W: J. Tavarez (4-4, 4.97); L: B. Zito (6-7, 4.41)
HR: BOS: D. Pedroia (3).

► Hero - Pedroia - career high 5 hits
► Goat - Zito - 5 1/3 IP, 7 runs, 6 earned.
► Horses Patooie - Umpire Tony Randazzo - Tossing Ortiz in the first

Idle thoughts!

With Julian starting the game off by giving up 2 runs in the first, this looked like it might be another one of "those" games. We couldn't have been more wrong. Thanks to Dustin Pedroia, the game was tied going into the second inning.

All in all, you have to say that Tito punched the right buttons tonight. Combined Drew and Pedroia were 8 for 9 from the top of the order (most of the game they had the only hits for the Sox). Those two also scored 5 runs, knocked in 8 runs and overall made it look easy.

Best of all, the spankees were beaten by the Mets with Perez beating Rojah. It doesn't get any better than that from a Sox fans view point. Lets hope this was not a one night occurrence, but the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

Oh, yeah, Tavarez just keeps on beating the opposing teams Ace. Lester will really have to dominate with the PawSox if he wants to be called up to the big club before September.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 62 Recap

Final
Press Pass l Box l Wrap

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

W: R. Johnson (4-2, 3.52); L: D. Matsuzaka (7-5, 4.52)
HR: None.

► Hero - Randy Johnson - 1 run in six innings
► Goat - Timlin - making a close game a blow out

Game thoughts

Question for the 2007 Red Sox; "Do you want to win the American League East?" Because if you don't just let me know so that I can put my time to better use. Since winning 2 of 3 against the Braves this team is 10 and 9. Today was also the third time in the last six games that the Sox have scored three runs or less. This is not a recipe for happiness.

As for todays game, once again Daisuke pitched well enough to win only to have his offense let him down. Of course three errors did not help either. Just disgusted with this game, actually I am disgusted with the whole team. Last six games against the Yankees 2 and 4. Last 20 games they are 11 and 9. Do we see a pattern here?

Right now I feel like I did before the Sox hosted the Yankees in August of last year. It is obvious to me that this team does not have the killer instinct. Meanwhile the spankees just keep on rolling over the Pirates. Did someone say footsteps?

Red Sox 07 Game 55 Recap

Final l Press Pass l Box l Wrap

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
New York	0	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	1		6	12	1
Boston	0	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	0		5	11	1

W: B. Bruney (2-1, 2.03); L: J. Papelbon (0-1, 2.11); SV: M. Rivera (5)
HR: NYY: A. Rodriguez (20).

► Hero - A-Rod
► Goat - Hard to pick a goat in a one run game. Okajima? Papelbon? Beckett? In my opinion none of these were really goats, so I am chickening out and saying WEATHER. Without the rain and the wind I think the Sox would have held on and won.

Game thoughts

Beckett and Pettitte pitched well enough to have won this game, instead both got a no decision. Turning point of the game in my opinion was the catch made by Abreu in the bottom of the eighth. If that had fell in Okajima would probably had his second win of the week.

Click on the links above for better game recaps than you will get from me. As I am busy working on some stat recaps and my 1/3 of season done recap.

Chow!

Red Sox 07 Game 55

Sunday, June 3    Fenway Park  8:05 PM ET
Andy Pettitte, LHP (3-4, 2.51) Yankees (23-30)

                               @

Josh Beckett, RHP (8-0, 2.65) Red Sox (37-17) 

AL East Standings

Team	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	37	17	-	7-3	35	19
Baltimore	27	29	11.0	6-4	29	27
Toronto	26	29	11.5	6-4	27	28
New York	23	30	13.5	3-7	29	24
Tampa Bay	22	31	14.5	4-6	20	33

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

Yankees: Because of an off-day, the Yankees can bring Pettitte back for Sunday's tilt at Fenway Park. In Pettitte's last start against the Red Sox, on May 23, he spun seven innings of one-run ball. He ranks 17th on the Yankees' all-time games pitched list -- this will be his 297th appearance -- and is chasing down Steve Hamilton (311).

Red Sox: Beckett picked up right where he left off in his return from the disabled list, earning a 4-2 victory over the Indians on Tuesday. Over seven innings, Beckett allowed three hits and two runs while striking out seven. He is the 10th Red Sox pitcher to win his first eight decisions in a season. The last Sox starter to do so was Roger Clemens, who went 14-0 at the start of the 1986 season. Beckett won his only previous start against the Yankees this season, allowing nine hits and four earned runs over 6 2/3 innings.

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

Expected Batters vs opposing starter

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	17	5	0	0	0	0	2	2	.294
K. Youkilis	7	4	1	0	1	2	2	1	.571
D. Ortiz	31	10	3	0	1	4	3	8	.323
M. Ramirez	67	28	8	0	3	18	6	5	.418
J.D. Drew	14	6	1	0	2	2	1	5	.429
M. Lowell	9	3	1	0	0	2	1	0	.333
J. Varitek	44	15	1	1	1	6	4	14	.341
C. Crisp	11	3	0	0	0	0	1	3	.273
D. Pedroia	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
Totals	207	76	15	1	8	34	20	38	.367

Pettitte always seems to get hit by these guys but as you see in the pitching stats below he seems to usually find a way to wiggle out of the jams. As for the subs, Wily Mo has the Most success against Andy. Thats why he is in right field for J.D. tonight. Pena is 4 for 11 but does have 3 k's.

Historical Pitching line

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Pettitte	24	15	6	0	159 2/3	161	55	6	46	124	3.10	1.30
Beckett	5	3	2	0	26 2/3	33	25	5	18	21	8.44	1.91

Beckett has sucked against the Yankees. 8.44 ERA, 1.91 WHIP. Sucks. Still the way he has been pitching lately you have to think that they have a chance. Question is which team will have to go to the Bullpen First? If the Sox can chase Pettitte in the fifth or early sixth then you have to like the Sox. BTW Pettitte averages 6.47 IP at Fenway.

Now, am off to watch the rest of the game.

Chow!