Red Sox 07 Game 115 Recap

Final

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

W: J. Hoey (1-0) L: H. Okajima (3-1)

☼ Sun - Markakis - S.F. for the walk off win
☁ Cloud - Drew - would be easy to give it to Gagne, but his misplay of Huffs double really set up the blown save

Game thoughts!

So, basically after the first inning Matsuzaka matched the future Cy Young winner pitch for pitch, and then the Sox finally get to Bedard in the eighth to set him up for the win. What the frag went wrong? Gagne has been horrible since he became a Sox. He needs to get his stuff together so that we can count on him in these situations.

Tough loss, a four run lead in the eighth goes up in smoke and Hideki looked human in the ninth after the Sox had failed to score in the ninth. Missed opportunities and of course the Spankees faced the Indians who decided they should just freaking choke. Arrrrrgggghhhhh.

Lugo watch - 2 for 5 - up to .230

Coco watch - 1 for 4 - down to .276

Drew watch - 0 for 0 with a walk - maintained .254

♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Red Sox 07 Game 115

			@
D. Matsuzaka		13-8, 3.70		E. Bedard		12-4, 3.09
Red Sox		69-45		Orioles		52-61

Friday, August 10     Oriole Park at Camden Yards  ✠ 7:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	69	45	-	5-5	17	16	70	44
New York	63	51	6.0	8-2	10	15	69	45
Toronto	57	56	11.5	6-4	19	19	60	53
Baltimore	52	61	16.5	3-7	9	22	56	57
Tampa	44	70	25	5-5	13	12	44	70

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Red Sox: Matsuzaka earned his 13th win of the year Saturday night in Seattle, allowing six hits and two runs -- both solo home runs -- over seven innings of work. The Boston right-hander walked two and tied a career-high with 10 strikeouts. The 10 strikeouts brought his season total to 152, three short of Ken Brett's franchise record for strikeouts by a rookie.

Orioles: Bedard pitched 6 2/3 innings on Sunday in an 11-3 triumph over Tampa Bay. The left-hander allowed three earned runs, struck out 11 batters and walked none en route to his career-best eighth consecutive victory. In July, he became the first Baltimore recipient of an American League Pitcher of the Month Award since Ben McDonald accomplished the feat more than 13 years ago. Bedard has faced the Red Sox only once this season, limiting them to two hits in six scoreless innings.

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

Hitting History vs Bedard

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
D. Pedroia	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
K. Youkilis	16	1	0	0	0	1	4	7	.063
D. Ortiz	19	5	1	0	1	4	5	4	.263
M. Ramirez	17	4	1	0	0	3	2	7	.235
J.D. Drew	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	12	1	1	0	0	3	1	0	.083
J. Varitek	14	2	0	0	0	2	4	7	.143
C. Crisp	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
J. Lugo	27	7	1	0	0	0	3	2	.259
Totals	116	20	4	0	1	13	21	27	.172

The starters are batting .172 vs Bedard in 116 at bats fortunately, their OBA is close to .300. Still that is an abysmal performace history. The bench though (WMP, Cora, Hinske and Mirabelli) are batting .375 as they have gone 9 for 24 against this pitcher. In fact if you just had this as a Wakefield start with Mirabelli replacing Varitek, you get a 10% increase in the batting average.

Overall, the entire team is 29 for 140 with 26 BB and 33 K's. The OBA is .331 for the entire team.

If I was Francona, which I am not, I would make two subs today. First I would replace Youkilis with Hinske since Eric is batting 3 for 9 against Bedard. Secondly, I would replace Dew with WMP since Wily is 5 for 9 against Bedard.

Just those two subistitions would raise the average from .172 to .229. Of course .229 is still terrible but is a whole lot better than .172.

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Matsuzaka	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Bedard	9	4	4	0	52 1/3	45	30	4	31	40	5.16	1.45	5.81

Here is the deal, Bedard has been spectacular in his last ten starts. That includes a start against the Red Sox on 7/31/2007 in which he went 6 innings of two hit ball and earned the win over Josh Beckett. In those ten starts he is 8 and 0 with a 2.27 ERA and is averaging 6.73 innings per start with a .86 WHIP. In other words he has been spectacular.

Looking closer there is really not a lot of things he has done wrong in those starts either. Nine of the starts were quality starts and the only start that was not a quality start was against the White Sox on 7/2 in Chicago. In that game he allowed five hits (3 of those home runs) which accounted for six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. He also had four walks, with only Boston drawing more walks. His K/BB ratio is 5.24 in that time period. Spectacular!

Matsuzaka has never faced the Orioles. Look for him to struggle a little bit, the question is can he stay away from a big inning. One big inning could be the death of this game.

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

Red Sox 07 game 113

			@
T. Wakefield		13-9, 4.55		J. Saunders		5-0, 3.10
Red Sox		68-44		Angels		65-46

Tuesday, August 7    Angel Stadium of Anaheim  ✠ 10:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	68	44	-	6-4	17	16	69	43
New York	62	50	6.0	7-3	10	15	69	43
Toronto	56	55	11.5	5-5	19	19	59	52
Baltimore	52	58	15.0	6-4	9	22	56	54
Tampa	42	69	25.5	4-6	13	12	41	70

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Red Sox: In his last start at Fenway Park, Wakefield celebrated his 41st birthday by controlling the Orioles for seven strong innings. He allowed only six hits and three fifth-inning runs, winning his 150th game as a member of the Red Sox, only the third Boston pitcher to accomplish that feat. What's more: he's on pace to record a career high in victories after tying for the league lead with 13. "I don't feel 41," he said after the game.

Angels: Saunders continued his high-caliber work in dispatching the A's across 6 2/3 innings, holding them to two earned runs on six hits while striking out three and walking two. A strike thrower who keeps his defense involved, Saunders also keeps his team in games. The Angels are 7-0 in his starts since he opened the season with a 4-3 loss to Oakland. He has faced Boston once for a no-decision, going 5 2/3 innings on Aug. 22, 2006, giving up two unearned runs in a game won by the Angels in Anaheim.

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

Hitting History vs Saunders

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
D. Pedroia	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500
K. Youkilis	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	.000
D. Ortiz	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Ramirez	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J.D. Drew	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
C. Crisp	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333
D. Mirabelli	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000
J. Lugo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	12	3	1	0	0	0	2	1	.250

Not a lot of history here against this pitcher, but then again he has only been around since 2005. Overall not a lot of history as a team either with the recently passing waivers Wily Mo Pena having the most success since he has went 2 for 3 against Saunders. Still, this team has faced this pitcher before so they should know him a little bit. Expect a similar type of game to last night's game. This is a good team with very good pitching.

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Wakefield	21	9	10	0	142 2/3	142	72	19	52	91	4.54	1.36	6.46
Saunders	1	0	0	0	5 2/3	6	0	0	3	4	0.00	1.59	5.67

Saunders has faced the Sox only once back on 8/22/2006 in Anaheim. Those numbers represent a typical outing vs the Sox for a first time pitcher. Still, I would think that he is not quite as good as his record this year seems to indicate. Overall, he is 12 and 3 with a 4.51 ERA in 23 starts. Look for the offense to do better than last night since he has a career 1.40 WHIP and a 5.62 average innings per start.

This is a team that Wakefield struggles with on the Win / Loss side of the ledger. Overall in 21 starts he has a 4.51 ERA with a 9 and 9 record vs this team. His WHIP is 1.39 and he averages 6.46 innings per start. Twelve of his starts have been quality starts, which is a pretty good ratio. At Anaheim he has a 5 and 5 record in 11 games with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP with a 6.39 innings per start. Look for Tim to pitch a typical game, lots of hits and walks but very few runs.

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

Red Sox 07 Game 112 Recap

Final

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

W: J. Speier (1-2) L: C. Schilling (6-5) S: F. Rodriguez (28)

☼ Sun - Izturis - lead off home run in the seventh sealed the deal.
☁ Cloud - Moss - he threw to the wrong base in the fourth and his juggle meant he had no chance to throw the insurance run out at the plate.

Game thoughts!

Schilling pitched ok, nothing spectacular, but not lousy either. Six strong innings of only two runs will normally get a pitcher a win, just not last night. The reason - 11 men lob. You can not expect to win every game when you are not scoring and leaving a ton of men on base.

What the frag was Manny thinking in the fourth? I know you felt like the umpire missed the call, but you can not get thrown out of the game.

Lugo watch - 1 for 4 - up to .227

Coco watch - 0 for 4 - down to .277

Drew watch - 3 for 4 - up to .252

♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Red Sox 07 Game 112

			@
C. Schilling		6-4, 4.20		J. Weaver		8-5, 4.00
Red Sox		68-43		Angels		64-46

Monday, August 6    Angel Stadium of Anaheim ✠ 10:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	68	43	-	7-3	17	16	69	42
New York	61	50	7.0	6-4	9	15	68	43
Toronto	56	54	11.5	6-4	19	18	59	51
Baltimore	52	58	15.5	6-4	9	22	56	54
Tampa	42	68	25.5	4-6	13	12	41	69

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Red Sox: After a dominant rehab stint for Triple-A Pawtucket, Schilling is ready to make his first start for the Red Sox since June 18. In three Minor League starts, Schilling didn't give up a run over 15 innings. He struck out 18 without issuing a walk.

Angels: Weaver fought his command in one of his roughest starts of the season in Seattle on Wednesday night, surrendering six earned runs on 12 hits and one walk in six innings. He struck out only one hitter, and his stuff was not as explosive as he needs it to be. It was the second straight time Weaver had yielded six earned runs, and he has surrendered 23 hits in his past 11 1/3 innings. Weaver is 0-1 with a 2.84 ERA in two career outings against the Red Sox.

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

Hitting History vs Weaver

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
D. Pedroia	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
K. Youkilis	7	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
D. Ortiz	5	4	0	0	1	3	1	0	.800
M. Ramirez	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	.000
J.D. Drew	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	4	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.250
J. Varitek	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	.333
C. Crisp	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
J. Lugo	3	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	.333
Totals	32	9	1	0	2	5	3	5	.281

With the limited amount that these guys have faced Weaver, they have a pretty good average and do hit with some power. Maybe its a Weaver thing, but they don't seem to have had much trouble against this guy. In fact his first major league loss was against this team.

As far as the bench players go, well the are 0 for 8 with 4 K's. Don't look for Tito to be switching with any of the starters.

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Schilling	5	5	1	0	42	40	13	6	3	32	2.79	1.02	7.40
Weaver	2	0	1	0	12 2/3	11	4	1	3	10	2.84	1.11	6.33

Both times that Weaver has faced the Sox he has went at least six innings and both starts were quality starts. This is one tough young pitcher but he has never beaten the Sox.

Schilling's stats include five relief appearances. As a starter Curt is 4 and 1 with a 2.92 ERA in 37 innings. His WHIP is .92 and four of the five starts were quality starts. This should be a good pitching match up tonight!

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

Red Sox 07 Game 111 Recap

Final

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

W: J. Beckett (14-5) L: M. Batista (11-8)
HR ➢ Bos: M. Ramirez (19)

☼ Sun - Ramirez - home run and two RBI's got the offense started
☁ Cloud - Batista - most of his five walks came in the first two innings igniting the Sox offense

Game thoughts!

Coco ignited this offense by leading off the game with a double. It only got better after that with the Sox putting up nine before the day was done.

Beckett started off well striking out five of the first six batters he faced. Overall he went 6 2/3 innings striking out 9 and allowing only the 1 run and 8 hits. It was a dazzling performance.

Lugo watch - 2 for 5 - up to .227

Coco watch - 2 for 4 - up to .280

Drew watch - 1 for 3 - up to .247

♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Red Sox 07 Game 111

			@
J. Beckett		13-5, 3.41		M. Batista		11-7, 4.23
Red Sox		67-43		Mariners		60-48

Sunday, August 5    Safeco Field  ✠ 4.05 PM ET.

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	67	43	-	6-4	17	16	68	42
New York	60	50	7.0	6-4	9	15	68	42
Toronto	55	54	11.5	6-4	19	18	58	51
Baltimore	51	58	15.5	6-4	9	22	55	54
Tampa	42	67	24.5	4-6	13	12	41	68

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Red Sox: Beckett was efficient, throwing 76 of his 110 pitches for strikes over eight innings, but far too hittable against Erik Bedard and the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night in Boston. He allowed five runs, all earned, on nine hits and two walks, losing back-to-back starts for the first time this season.

Mariners: Batista was lights out against the Angels in his last start, shutting them out for seven innings while allowing just four hits and striking out two. He has compiled 10 quality starts in his last 14 outings. Batista has thrown at least six innings in 15 of 21 starts this season and has won in seven of his last 13 starts. A win would give him 12 for the season, which would be a new career-high.

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

Sox Batting vs Batista

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	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Ortiz	16	6	2	0	2	7	4	1	.375
M. Ramirez	20	8	2	0	1	4	2	4	.400
J. D. Drew	23	6	3	0	1	3	3	1	.261
M. Lowell	16	4	2	0	1	2	2	5	.250
J. Varitek	12	4	0	0	0	1	2	3	.333
C. Crisp	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
J. Lugo	19	4	1	0	0	1	2	3	.211
Totals	109	32	10	0	5	18	15	17	.294

109 at bats vs this guy and the Sox starters have 15 extra base hits. Wow. What is even better, is that with this being a day game after a night game, Mirabelli might be playing. Doug is four for eleven with a home run vs Miguel.

Cora also has success against Batista, if you slid him in for Lugo his 9 for 32 with two doubles along with Mirabelli's success would really lift this teams average against Batista. The team would be 37 for 121 with 11 doubles, 6 HR's, 12 BB's and 15 K's making that a .306 BA. Not bad, not bad at all.

Pitching Comparisions

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Beckett	3	2	1	0	20 2/3	18	9	1	2	19	3.92	.97	6.89
Batista	7	4	4	0	47 2/3	64	35	4	29	30	6.61	1.95	5.43

Josh has faced the Mariners once each of the last three seasons (including this one). This will be the first time he has faced them twice in a season in his career. His numbers would be even better except for his first start when he was a Marlin and he lasted 6.2 innings giving up 10 hits and 7 earned runs. Both of his starts as a Red Sox came at Fenway on 4/16/2006 and 4/10/2007. He went seven innings both outings and gave up one earned run in each of those starts. That is outstanding!

Batista has appeared in sixteen games vs the Sox. As a starter he has went 38 innings in seven starts with a 6.63 ERA. His main trouble has been walks as he has walked 25 batters while only striking out 24. He made one quality start back in 2004. To say that the Sox seem to have his number would be an understatement. Oh, yeah, his record in seven starts is 2 and 3. Look for the bats to come out swinging vs Miguel. Can the Sox make it two in a row at Safeco? I say you betcha!

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

Red Sox 07 Game 110 Recap

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

W: D. Matsuzaka (13-8) L: J. Washburn (8-8) S: J. Papelbon (25)
HR ⇛ Cle: Beltre(17), Betancourt (7)

☼ The Sun - Varitek - his two out double put the Sox ahead to stay
☁ The Cloud - The Seattle defense - two errors that scored 1 run

Idle thoughts!

The long Red Sox nation nightmare is over as the Sox finally, finally won a game in Seattle. A close game through out the night as Daisuke kept on escaping from trouble. Still, he went seven innings only allowing two runs off of solo homers. Oh, yeah, he also struck out ten Mariners.

Gagne ran into trouble in the eighth, when with two outs he gave up a seeing eye single to Broussard. After a steal of second Johjima singled him home and the game became a heart stopper. Still, the man who has the best save percentage in MLB history was able to get a come backer to end the inning with men on second and third.

The Bot came on in the ninth, but just like Gagne he had two out trouble also (after Guillen and Ibanez reached I was calling for the wooden stake). For some reason the Mariners just won't die quietly in Safeco (Do you think a nine game winning streak helped ?- ed), and always want to play with blood pressure.

Anyway, Guillen reached on a seven pitch walk after Jonathon had struck out Ichiro and Vidro on ten pitches (five each). Ibanez then coaxed a five pitch walk and the winning run was on first base with the dangerous Beltre striding to the plate. Beltre's at bat would show the lack of discipline, seen so often these days. On the first pitch, a 96mph fastball in the shoulder area Beltre popped up to Varitek in foul territory. Game over and the Sox finally broke the losing streak at Safeco. Seven games ahead of the Yankees and with only fifty-two games left the magic number is forty-six.

Lugo watch - 2 for 4, up to .225
Crisp watch - 0 for 4, down to .278
Drew watch - 1 for 4, staying at .245

♊ - When all else fails get a bigger hammer!

Red Sox 07 Game 110

			@
D. Matsuzaka		12-8, 3.75		J. Washburn		8-7, 4.11
Red Sox		66-43		Mariners		60-47

Saturday, August 4    Safeco Field ✠ 10:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	66	43	-	6-4	16	16	67	42
New York	59	50	7.0	6-4	9	15	68	42
Toronto	55	54	11.0	6-4	19	18	58	51
Baltimore	51	57	14.5	7-3	9	22	55	53
Tampa	41	67	24.5	3-7	13	12	40	68

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Red Sox: Despite working with catcher Doug Mirabelli for the first time, Matsuzaka held Tampa Bay scoreless into the seventh inning in a pitchers' duel with Scott Kazmir on Sunday. He then was denied what would have been his 13th win, instead taking a hard-luck loss as the Rays took him deep once for the first of five runs in the seventh inning. Dice-K was charged with two runs on eight hits in his 6 1/3-innings gem, and exhibited all of the control that has made him a dominant Major League pitcher, his lone mistake coming in the form of a forkball that hung over the plate.

Mariners: Washburn struggled to find any control against the A's his last time out, allowing five runs, three earned, in just five innings while walking three and striking out two. He has earned three consecutive no decisions, and is 0-1 in his last four starts, having allowed 15 earned runs over that span. The Mariners are 5-2 in his last seven starts.

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

Hitting History vs Washburn

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	7	3	1	0	0	2	2	0	.429
D. Ortiz	14	4	3	0	0	3	4	3	.286
M. Ramirez	19	6	0	1	1	4	9	1	.316
J.D. Drew	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000
M. Lowell	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000
J. Varitek	22	5	1	0	0	4	2	2	.227
C. Crisp	18	10	5	0	1	4	1	2	.556
J. Lugo	15	5	1	0	0	0	2	1	.333
Totals	110	33	11	1	2	17	20	12	.300

Everybody except Pedroia has faced Washburn and the only ones to have truly struggled are Drew, Lowell and Varitek. Even the bench players have faced this guy and Mirabelli and Cora (the only ones with hits) are 3 for 6 against him. The bench overall is 3 for 11, so the team has had moderate to great success against this left hander. The problem is they are playing in Seattle, where for some reason this team keeps on shooting itself in the foot, re see last nights first three innings. 15 and 26 at Safeco since 1999. That includes the present nine game losing streak, nine games straight they have lost at Safeco. Unbelievable!

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Matsuzaka	3	0	1	0	20	16	11	0	7	13	4.95	1.15	6.67
Washburn	10	3	3	0	58	57	30	3	26	30	4.66	1.43	5.80

This will be the fourth time that Daisuke has faced the Mariners. His previous outings were on 4/11 , 5/3 , and 6/27 . The 4/11 and 6/27 games were quality starts in which he probably should of won the game. The 5/3 game he started against Ramirez (last night's pitcher) and purely stunk giving up 7 runs in 5 innings. Take that game out of the mix and his ERA drops to 2.40. So, you have a chance to win when Daisuke takes the mound. Unfortunately, the Sox are now less than 500 against lefties (16-17).

Washburn really struggles agains this team and he is 1 and 1 in his last five starts vs the Sox with a 5.53 era and a 1.55 WHIP in 5.53 innings per start in those games. Surprisingly, three of his four quality starts though were in those games (1-1). Tonight, look for the Sox to get to him by the fifth inning, the question is whether or not the Sox can then do anything against the Mariner bull pen.

From today's press pass - 5 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER: Each of Boston’s last 5 losses have come when scoring 4 runs or less…Boston is 2-9 in its last 11 games when scoring 4 or fewer runs (19-37 overall when scoring 4 or less)…By contrast, the Sox are 47-6 when scoring 5 runs or more this season, with wins in each of their last 9 such contests.

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

Red Sox 07 Game 109 Recap

Final

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

W: S. Green (5-1) L: M. Timlin (1-1) S: J.J. Putz (32)
HR ➢ Bos: D. Ortiz (19) Sea: Y. Betancourt (6), K. Johmima (12)

☼ Sun - Johjima - his two run home run sealed the deal
☁ Cloud - Timlin - why did you send him out in the seventh? Sometimes I just want to strangle Francona.

Game thoughts!

Ok, I have had enough of this losing at Safeco field. Nine freaking straight losses to the Mariners is freaking enough. What is even worse, last nights loss means that the Mariners have won the season series.

How come these losses happen? Look no further than the first inning when we had the latest MBM. What should have been bases loaded with one out and a run home ended up being 1st and 3rd with two outs.

Second and third innings were similar in that the Sox had chances to score more than one run and failed each time. Blown chances with Putz waiting at the end equal another freaking loss. I just can't stand this team at times.

Lugo watch - 1 for 4 - up to .222

Coco watch - 1 for 4 - up to .281

Drew watch - 0 for 2 - down to .245 (J.D. you are just killing me!)

♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Red Sox 07 Game 109

			@
J. Lester		1-0, 4.26		H. Ramirez		6-3, 6.52
Red Sox		66-48		Mariners		59-47

Friday, August 3    Safeco Field ✠ 10:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	1 R W	1 R L	X W	X L
Boston	66	42	-	7-3	16	16	67	41
New York	58	50	8.0	6-4	9	15	65	43
Toronto	53	54	12.5	6-4	19	18	56	51
Baltimore	50	57	15.5	7-3	9	22	54	53
Tampa	41	66	24.5	3-7	13	12	40	67

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ESPN.Com after the game Recap.
MLB.Com Press Pass
From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Red Sox: Lester looked sharp in his second start back in the Majors. The lefty limited the Rays to four hits over his first six innings of work and made just two real mistakes on the bump, both of which resulted in solo home runs in the seventh. He exited after 6 2/3 innings and the lead, and wound up yielding four runs on six hits and a walk. Lester showed a fierceness as well, tossing 97 pitches while maintaining his velocity throughout, a good sign of things to come.

Mariners: In his last outing against the A's, Ramirez pitched well enough to earn a win, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings while striking out four. Lucky for Ramirez, his next start comes at home, where he's 6-0 with a 2.63 ERA at Safeco Field, but he's 0-3 with a 13.72 ERA in five starts on the road.

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

Hitting History vs Ramirez

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	6	1	1	0	0	2	1	1	.167
D. Pedroia	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	1	.000
D. Ortiz	3	2	1	0	0	1	0	0	.667
M. Ramirez	3	1	0	0	1	2	0	1	.333
J.D. Drew	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M. Lowell	18	9	0	0	1	2	2	0	.500
K. Youkilis	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	.500
J. Varitek	3	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.333
C. Crisp	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	38	15	2	0	2	9	6	5	.395

Overall there is a pretty good results here. Led by Lowell's .500 average in almost 1/2 of the at bats there should be. So, most of the players have seen Ramirez pitch before, and that usually means good things.

I would not be surprised to see Wily Mo in tonight's game. His numbers are 4 for 9 with a double and a home run, with three walks and only one k. Knowing Francona, he may look at those numbers and say Wily Mo, grab a bat!

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Lester	1	0	0	0	5	8	5	1	1	4	9.00	1.8	5.00
H. Ramirez	1	0	0	0	4	11	7	1	3	4	15.75	3.5	4.0

Ramirez has faced the Sox once, and that was in Boston on 5/3 of this year. He stunk up the place but did not get the loss. At home though, he is an entirely different animal. He is 6 and 0 at Safeco with a very good 2.63 ERA and is averaging 6.28 innings per start with a WHIP of 1.30. That is outstanding numbers. Could be tough tonight for the Sox to get started.

This will be the third start for Lester this year. Now that the trading deadline is over, it would not surprise me to see him bomb. I know he will walk the bases loaded at least twice and I fully expect him to be finished for the night after five innings. Would not surprise me in the least to be grinding my teeth as I watch this game.


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

Red Sox 07 Game 108 Recap

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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 108

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J. Guthrie		7-3, 2.89		T. Wakefield		12-9, 4.59
Orioles		50-56		Red Sox		65-42

Thursday, August 2    Fenway Park ✠ 1.05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	65	42	-	7-3	66	41
New York	58	49	7.0	7-3	65	42
Toronto	53	54	12.0	6-4	56	51
Baltimore	50	56	14.5	7-3	54	52
Tampa	41	66	24.0	3-7	40	67

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Orioles: Guthrie has emerged as one of the league's biggest surprises. He has won each of his past three starts, against the Mariners, A's and Yankees, and had a combined ERA of 1.89 in those three games.

Red Sox: The veteran knuckleballer has picked up a decision in all 21 of his starts. Wakefield went 4-1 in his five July starts. At Fenway this season, Wakefield is 7-4 with a 5.48 ERA. This is his first appearance in 2007 against Baltimore. In his career against the Orioles, Wakefield is 13-13 with a 4.07 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 Guthrie

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000
K. Youkilis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
D. Ortiz	3	1	0	0	0	1	1	0	.333
M. Ramirez	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0.000
J. D. Drew	3	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.333
M. Lowell	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
D. Mirabelli	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.000
A. Cora	4	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	.500
C. Crisp	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.000
Totals	25	4	1	0	0	1	2	3	.160

Most of these at bats came from the mothers day game of this year. That was one of only six come back wins when the Sox trailed by three or more runs so, far this year. I put Cora in this game due to him being a left handed bat, especially since Guthrie has been brutal against right handed batters this year, as he has held them to a .202 batting average. I would think that since the Sox faced him earlier this year that they should have a better idea on their approach. Still he is tough so look for a low scoring game.

Pitching Comparisions

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Guthrie	1	0	0	0	10 1/3	5	0	1	2	4	.87	.68	8 1/3
Wakefield	29	13	13	0	212 1/3	202	96	31	72	133	4.07	1.29	6.43

Guthrie has made two appearances against the Sox, one as a reliever back in April of 2006, in which he went two innings and only allowed the two hits and the one home run. The man is nasty and his first start vs the Sox proved that. If not for a stirring come back in the ninth he would had his first win vs the Sox.

Wakefield has made a total of 42 appearances vs the Orioles and really has a decent record when he has faced this team. As a starter he is 11 and 11 with a 3.96 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. That is not great but it is decent. Don't be surprised if this is a nail biter.

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

Red Sox 07 Game 107 Recap

Final

Press Pass ✠ Box ✠ P-By-P ✠ Recap

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

W: J. Lopez (2-1) L: J. Parrish (2-2) S: J. Papelbon (24)
HR ➢ Bal: N. Markakis (11) , M. Tejada (8)

☼ Sun - Youkilis - key double scores two and the Sox never looked back
☁ Cloud - Bradford - poured gas on the fire and parrish to the loss.

Game thoughts!

Today's game was brought to you by Julian Tavarez and the number two. As in two outs, I'll give up a home run (1st). Two outs, hmm, I know I'll give up a single, double and another double (2nd) and allow two runs. As in two outs I'll hit a batter (3rd). Well, lets keep the streak going by walking the third batter with two outs (4th). Oh, well I'm tired of this game, I think I'll give up the bunt single to the first batter in the 5th!

The Sox pitchers only had one 1-2-3 inning all night, the ninth. The fifth and the sixth innings they only faced three batters thanks to two nice double play balls. I am still not quite sure how they won this game, oh wait that's right Ortiz had a key double in the seventh! That's more like it boys!

Lugo watch - 1 for 4 - up to .222 (1 point).

Coco watch - 0 for 0 - stays at .279 thanks to his four walks!

Drew watch - no show, as he was at the hospital with his son due to extensive surgery. Let us hope that every thing turns out alright.

♊ - all else fails get a bigger hammer.

Red Sox 07 Game 107

			@
S. Trachsel		5-7, 5.26		J. Tavarez		6-8, 5.08
Orioles		50-55		Red Sox		64-42

Wednesday, August 1    Fenway Park ✠ 7:05 PM ET

American League

East	W	L	GB	L 10	X W	X L
Boston	64	42	-	7-3	65	41
New York	57	49	7.0	7-3	64	42
Toronto	53	53	11.0	7-3	56	50
Baltimore	50	55	13.5	8-2	54	51
Tampa	40	66	24.0	2-8	39	67

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From MLB.Com Scouting Report

Orioles: Trachsel looked very hittable -- again -- in his last start, continuing his troubling trend of poor performances. The veteran righty lasted only 4 2/3 innings and surrendered five runs on seven hits and two home runs to the Rays. Even working with a sizable lead for most of the outing, he couldn't get through many innings unscathed. Trachsel was hit hard, as eight Rays hit into fly outs and 10 reached base with Trachsel on the mound. Over his last six outings, he has a 9.23 ERA and has pitched into the seventh inning only once.

Red Sox: Tavarez, who made 18 starts before moving to the bullpen on July 22, will make his first start since July 18. In that contest against the Royals, he gave up nine hits and six runs (four earned) over 4 2/3 innings. Tavarez did not surrender a run during three appearances in relief. Lifetime against the Orioles, Tavarez is 2-3 with a 4.68 ERA.

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

Hitting History vs Trachsel

Player	AB	H	2b	3b	HR's	RBI	BB's	K's	BA
J. Lugo	5	2	1	0	0	0	0	3	.400
D. Pedroia	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
D. Ortiz	3	2	1	0	0	1	1	0	.667
M. Ramirez	11	9	4	3	0	1	4	2	.444
K. Youkilis	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000
M. Lowell	29	10	2	0	1	4	4	5	.345
J. Varitek	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	1	.000
C. Crisp	5	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	.200
W. Pena	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Totals	61	24	8	3	1	7	12	12	.393

This is the starting line up since it has already been posted. Lowell and Manny hit this guy pretty well. Look at Manny's total and what stands out is three triples! Also, helps that seven of his nine hits have been for extra bases! The thing is that Trachsel can be a hot or cold pitcher. Lately he has been cold, let us hope that continues for one more start!

Historical Pitching Lines

Pitcher	GS	W	L	Sho	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP	IP/GS
Trachsel	2	1	0	1	13 1/3	8	3	0	7	12	2.03	1.13	6.67
Tavarez	3	2	3	0	25	31	13	2	9	18	4.68	1.60	4.33

Most of Trachsel's performance is due to his first start vs Boston back in 2000 when he was pitching for the Devil Rays. That game was a complete game win in which he shut out the Sox and only allowed three hits and three walks while striking out eleven. That might be the best game of his career!

He started for the Orioles on 5/12 of this year and only went 4 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs. That is probably the normal for him, so don't be surprised if the does not last five tonight. Will have to see.

Most of Tavarez's stats is as a reliever as he has appeared fourteen times in his career vs the O's. As a starter he has went thirteen innings with a 2.31 WHIP and 4.33 IP/GS. However the last two times he started he went five innings to get the win on 9/29/2006 as he only allowed two earned runs. Earlier this year he started on the 5/11 and went five innings in a loss, allowing four earned runs while striking out two. Will be interesting to see how he responds tonight since he has been out of the starting rotation for a couple of weeks. Personally I would not be surprised to see a repeat of last years start.


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