Red Sox Re-Sign Dusty

That's right. The little big man has a new contract with the Sox.

Our favorite team signed the second baseman for a nice $40.5 mil for a healthy six years. The breakdown is as follows: Pedroia will get $1.5 million next season, $3.5 million in 2010, $5.5 million in 2011, $8 million in 2012, $10 million in 2013, and $10 million in 2014. He also received a $1.5 million signing bonus. So, if you do the math, that means Pedroia will continue wearing red until he's at least 32.

Coming off a season in which Pedroia hit .326 with 17 homers and 83 RBIs and became the first American League second baseman to win the MVP award since Nellie Fox in 1959, it's no surprise the Sox made the deal they did. And as a first step in setting up the 09 season, I'd say Theo is definitely on the right track.

(And if you want to help commemorate Dusty's spectacular season, The Remy Report has made a T-shirt just for the occasion. Here's the web address if you're interested: http://theremyreport.innuity.com/store.html)

Now the only real question that still remains is what's going to happen with Varitek. And with negotiations kicking off in Las Vegas this week, we may have an answer to that question sooner rather than later.

Sox Out of Cereal Business--Peter

Well, two days in a row in the off-season! Yesterday, the MVP. Today, the Sox left the cereal business. They traded Coco Crisp to KC for an apparently good setup reliever, Ramon Ramirez, even up. Looking at Ramirez' stats other than the one year he was injured, he looks pretty good. Great opponents BA, especially against right handed batters. Also a great change that behaves like a splitter, as well as a better than average curve and fast ball.

Hate to see Coco go, particularly after this last season, but this will both free up some dollars for the free agent market and, hopefully, force Ellsbury into more consistency with the stick.

Coco was a great guy for the three years he was in the Fens. maybe not quite as good as the Hose had hoped when they signed him to replace Damon, but 20 steals a year for three years, great fielding, and a .270-.280 BA ain't bad. Good luck Coco--Welcome Ramon.

MVP DUSTY!!!!--Peter

Well, here it is! Another off-season VIP. That's both Very Important Pronouncement and Very Important Person. Just announced--Dustin Pedroia is the American League MVP for 2008. Well deserved and many congratulations for Dusty! Let's see now: two years in the Bigs and a Rookie of the Year and an MVP. What's next?

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead - Jenn

Dad and I promised to keep you faithful Sox fans informed of any and all goings ons during the offseason. So as promised here's your first bit of GREAT NEWS.

No, we still haven't signed Jason Varitek and the rumors swirling around a Lowell trade are still swirling. But the news came out today that MIKE TIMLIN WILL NOT BE BACK!

Here's what Epstein said he told Mike Timlin at the end of the season: "we came to a mutual understanding that Boston probably wouldn't be the best fit for him. By the way what a career that guy had. I think he was my first free-agent signing."

And a collective sigh of relief escapes Red Sox fans everywhere. (At least it escaped my lips.) I don't dispute the career Timlin's had and he did help the Sox win their first World Series in 86 years. But as I've said numerous times this past season, there comes a point when it's time to hang up your spikes. I'm glad Epstein and Timlin have finally realizes that point is now.

Anyway, I thought that tid bit deserved a little blog space. When more comes out about Varitek or Lowell or CC Sabathia, I or Dad will let you know. For now... Go Pats!

It's Finally Midnight!--Peter

Well, I was going to post last night after the Sox tragically failed to extend their streak of elimination game wins, but I just couldn't bring myself to sit down in front of the computer at that moment. There we were--all the way back from the near elimination in Game 5 through a truly gutsy performance by JB in Game 6 to a perfect first three innings by Lester, supported by Dusty's no-doubt blast in the 1st inning--and somehow, the Rays came back to take a lead and then expand it to 3-2 getting into the late innings. Just as in Game 2, all we needed was just one well timed single and the outcome would have been totally different. Unfortunately, the Rays' pen was equal to the task and it was not to be.

I've occasionally mentioned on this site that I like to add the LOB's of each team to the actual score and see who would have won had all the LOB's managed to score. In this case, the Sox would be going to the Fens to host the start of festivities against the most futile team in MLB (more on that later), the Phillies, on Wednesday. Had all LOB's for each team made it home, the score would have ended up Sox 9, Rays 6. Just needed one or two more hits. But, as my wife says about many things we confront in life, "it is what it is."

Let's face it--the Rays earned the pennant. This was not a cheap shot. They likely will represent the A.L. well. I'll be rooting for them, partly because there are two players on the team from the geographic region surrounding Boston. Baldelli is from Rhode Island, about an hour's drive from Fenway and their best hitter, Carlos Pena, is, as I have noted many times now, from Haverhill, Mass., a shoe manufacturing city about 45 minutes northwest from the Fens. How do I know this, you ask? Simple! After being born in Boston, the family moved to Haverhill when I was four and I grew up there and attended high school in the city.

I referred above to the Phillies historical team futility. In addition to having only won a single Series (1980), they are the only team in MLB to have lost more than 10,000 games overall since they were founded. Pretty sad.

Next year, the Sox will be back at it, and, hopefully, go to the Series. After all, after the '04 title, the Sox faced the Chisox on the latter's run to the World Championship and were swept; in '06 they missed the post-season due to a series of key injuries; and we all know what happened in '07--World Champs again!

As Jenn mentioned in her comments today, we'll sort of shut down for the off-season, but will be on if anything super important occurs.

First super important item: Mike Lowell had hip surgery today, and all, according to radio reports, went well. He's expected to be totally ready for start of Spring Training. Have a happy off-season; keep your eyes tuned here; and see you in the spring--it's only roughly 118 days away--REALLY!!

Oh Well... - Jenn

As Dad said in his previous post, the Red Sox were refusing to lose. That is until last night. Our faithful Sox put up the good fight, but in the end, those newbies from Tampa Bay simply wanted it more.

So all our players are headed home to watch the World Series instead of taking part again this year. But that's okay. The Rays made a real go of it, and as much as it pains me to say so, they deserve their chance. They just better not f*ing lose!

So what is there left to say? Well as we all weep into our coffee this morning let's look at the bright side. First that spectacular come back from being down 7 zip in Game 5. I mean, would you really have wanted to lose after just five games and by a slaughter like that? Absolutely not! That come back gave us and our team the lift we needed to head back to the Trop and give it their all.

Then in Game 6 as Dad stated, Beckett proved me wrong and showed he still had the stuff needed to keep his team in it. While he didn't have his usual speed, he had the command. And after what I'm sure was an indepth conversation with John Farrell, Beckett discovered the way to beat the Rays was with his curve ball, not his fast ball. A long overdue homer from The Captain, helped put the Sox on top and keep those spirits up for the do or die game of the weekend.

That would be Game 7. A pitching matchup of Lester and Garza. We were all hoping it would be a reverse of their last outing. One where Lester was super hot and Garza sucked. While we got the first part of that desire, we didn't get the 2nd. Both Lester and Garza were white hot last night. Unfortunately Garza was just a little hotter - limiting the Sox to just two hits through the first six innings. And that would have been fine considering one of the hits was a home run by Dustin Pedroia to put the Sox up 1-0.

But after being perfect through the first three innings, Lester faltered in the 4th and gave up three consecutive hits to the Rays to tie it. The game continued downhill from there. Things looked up in the 7th when Garza put two men on, but he got out of it unscathed. And that was the rest of the game. Just as we thought there was a chance, the Rays pitching staff slammed the door. The Sox left 8 men on base. All they needed was two of those men to come home to tie up the game and give the Sox the glory they and Red Sox Nation wanted. But it never came to fruition.

Even though the Sox are headed back to Boston, they put up a great fight and showed why their fans are so loyal. Sure they'll lose here and there, but they never give up. As I said, the ALCS had two earlier opportunities to end in the Rays favor. But the Sox held their ground and fought tooth and nail to get to Game 7. Did we all want to see them kill the Phillies in the World Series? Sure. But the fact that they made it to Game 7 and got at least one run on the board at Tropicana Field can make every member of Red Sox Nation, proud of the oldest team in baseball.

But I'm not just sad because the season has come to a close. I'm sad because the end of the Red Sox season also means the end of Duffy's Cliff - at least for a few months. Dad and I are going on hiatus. (Sorry, TV term creeping in.) But don't worry, if something major happens in the off season, like there's a problem with Lowell's recorvery... bite my tongue or The Captain is traded to another team... kill me now, Dad and I will be here to report it and keep all you rabid Sox fans up to date.

And of course once the season starts up again in April, we'll be back reporting game by game as our beloved Sox try again for those beautiful jewel-studded rings. Thank you all for joining us on our maiden voyage. We had a blast and can't wait for Spring Training. See you all in a few months.

GUTS!!--Peter

The title says it all! There's just no other way to describe the performance of Josh Beckett. He gets hit hard in the ALDS by the Halos. He starts game 2 in the ALCS against the Rays with a chance to put the Sox two up in the league championships--and gets lit up again. He says he's fine, just "off a little bit", but it's clear something's not right with JB. But he's such a competitor you just know he's dying for another chance to prove he's still the best post-season money pitcher anywhere.

Well, the Sox 8-7 comeback the other night in the Fens gave him that chance, and he grabbed it, held it, and basically dared anyone to try to take it away from him. There was an instant in the Tampa 1st when his situation might have again caused questions. That was when B. J. Upton once again made like Carlos Pena and drove a ball so long, hard and high that it hit off a supporting beam deep in the Tampa stadium for a home run. In trouble? Not tonight--Not JB! He bore down and got the next two hitters to end the inning. After Yoooouk tied the game in the Sox top of the 2d, JB was almost unhittable. One inning later, Big Papi doubled, sending Dusty to third, and Yooouk came through again, plating the lead run on a hard grounder.

From that point on, JB was almost untouchable. He allowed three more hits, but kept them very scattered, and hit a batter on a two strike count. While one of those final Rays hits was a solo homer, it was just a pitch that was a little too good. Stroked by the Rays weak hitting shortstop, Bartlett, it left the game knotted at two. How does a guy who gets just a single roundtripper in the entire regular season hit one in a league championship series? It could have been worse, however, as the Rays catcher, Navarro had led off the inning with a single. But the captain of the Bosox, Tek, showed why he is so valuable to this team, even if he never gets another hit. Navarro had been put in motion and Tek threw him out. The ball was so perfectly thrown that Lowrie had time to stop for a sandwich and beer before applying the tag, had he wanted to. No throwout and the Sox would have trailed after Bartlett's HR, 3-2. With the tag, the shot just tied it and left the Fenmen in position to grab the lead again.

Which they immediately did in the top of the 6th. With two already gone in their half of the 6th, Tek again provided the heroics. Already a cumulative 0-14 in the ALCS, and not doing a lot better in the entire post-season, everybody was hoping he'd get a hit and start something going. Get a hit--Did he ever! Working the count to 2-0, he got a pitch he liked and drove it on a line into the seats in right center, just over the 379 marker--Sox, three-two.

Thus spurred on, the Sox continued their recent tradition of two out scoring. Coco beat out an infield hit, and, after a pitching change, Dusty was safe on an error by Bartlett, simultaneously sending Coco to third. From there Papi singled to center and the Sox had a two run lead. As it turned out, that was all they would need for the evening.

Okajima came in, working two innings and faced only seven batters over that stretch, allowing only a full count, two out walk in the 6th. Once again, as he has done more and more recently, Oki has shown he is again the Oki of 2007.

With the 8th, the Sox brought on Masterson. Once again, a tight spot for a rookie to gain his battle experience. He started a bit tight, almost immediately hitting the first batter he faced, and then running the count to 2-0 on Iwamura. A quick visit by Sox pitching coach Farrell, and all of a sudden, he was focused and on! The 2-0 count on Iwamura quickly became a K, after which Masterson really showed who's the Master. He popped up Upton and Pena in succession, closing out the 8th.

After the Sox went quietly in the 9th, you know what happened when the Rays took their final turn at bat. Papelbon came on in all his brilliance. It was a classic matchup. The Rays had come from behind this year when trailing by two or more runs, regular season and playoffs, 31 previous times. Facing them is a pitcher with a Major League record 24 consecutive scoreless playoff innings. Less than ten pitches later, all three Rays batters were on their way to the showers and the scoreless innings record was now 25.

The way this Red Sox team refuses to die is truly inspiring! First, they stage Thursday's amazing comeback. Then, JB comes out and defines the word guts--never asking or giving any quarter. Then, the pen turns off the lights and slams the door, supporting the heroic timely at bats of the offense. They remind this writer of the expression used during Larry Bird's prime with the Celtics--they Refuse To Lose.

Six down, five to go.

J.D.DOOO! And Big Papi Too!--Peter

Yes, I know JD's name is Drew, but the way he stood up in the final innings tonight--all I can say is "He really DO!" Here we were after the top of the 7th, down seven zip to the Rays. Everything the Sox did, the Rays jumped on. Pitching? From Dice-K on, the Rays hit it hard--frequently out. Hitting? Not tonight. After five, all the Hose had were a pair of harmless hits and nothing on the board to show for it. In fact, after six, the Sox were two for twenty.
As if it were the final blow to the spirit, Papelbon came on in the 7th--that's right the 7th--desperation--and immediately gave up a drive off the topo of the scoreboard on the Monster to plate two more Rays runs--7-0, Rays. Then, he became the Papelbon we know and expect--Laserman. Three quick outs.

Enter the Sox 7th. After two quick outs--more of the same, I'm disloyally thinking. Then, Lowrie leads off the inning with a double, but unfortunately is followed by a pair of outs. Not looking good. But, Crisp gets a single that puts Jed on 3d. Then, it happens! Dusty gets a hit and the Sox are on the board!

Picking up the spirit, Big Papi comes up--no home runs in 62 post-season at bats. With the count 1-0, he swings and it's a no-doubter--deep into the seats in right, no cheap shot, this. Sox now within three.

Papelbon returns for the 8th, well rested. I mean he should be--he hasn't pitched since game two--hasn't had any reason to. He's classic Laser. The death stare is exponential. In fact, it's so intense, they may license it for Hallowe'en. Three up, three dead--two of them 95 mph K's. That sound the Rays are starting to hear is the monster in the dungeon waking up and rattling its chains. But the Rays still lead ,7-4. For the moment....

Sox 8th: The Rays intentionally walk Bay, choosing to face JD. In the words of Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, Big Mistake. JD takes the first pitch for a strike, then uncoils on the pitcher's next offering. It's a line shot, but no question--it's gone, and the Rays lead is now just 7-6. That monster's rattling those chains harder and harder.

After a pair of outs seem to take some of the wind from Sox sails, the late season acquisition who's playing like he's always been here, Kotsay, lines a two bagger to center. Coco comes to the plate and battles with the pitcher2-2, 3-2, pitch after pitch, foul after foul, but still hanging in there, forcing the pitcher to sweat more and more through ten pitches. Finally, on the eleventh offering, Coco strikes. A line single to right plates Kotsay, and only because of a bit of luck on the poor throw from the fielder is Coco thrown out trying to stretch it to second.

Rays 9th. Pap's replaced by Masterson. So far, the rook has show flashes of brilliance, but he's streaky. Sometimes, he's (dare I say it) as hittable as a certain Jeckyll and Hyde former member of this team. He starts off looking like Hyde. First batter, a single. After a fly out, he walks a batter and it's two men on with just one out, and I'm thinking, no, not after coming all the way back! The pride of Haverhill steps in to face him, already having a homer and another hit tonight, not to mention a couple of other HR's in the series. Not this time, Carlos. Jeckyll's returned; Masterson's the Master and Pena grounds into an inning-ending twin killing.

Sox 9th--Dusty grounds out and Papi K's. But Yooouk gets an infield hit and, on Longoria's errant throw after a brilliant pickup, is standing on second. All we need now is a hit--anything that clears the infield grass will do. But Madden sends out the order. Bay's not going to win this one--'walk him', and four pitches later, Bay's on first.

JD steps up again, fresh from his heroics of the prior inning.After watching a couple of the newest Rays pitcher's offerings, he uncoils yet again. The ball travels on a low trajectory over the head of the rapidly retreating right fielder, lands fair and it's over. SOX WIN!!!!

This is the largest post-season comeback ever in the AL, and is second only in MLB history to the Philadelphia A's recovery in 1929 from an 8-0 trailing margin against, who else--the Cubs, to win 10-8.

Five down, six to go.

Yuck Exponential--Peter

Well, as I said in the early part of the game (our first intragame post, by the way), if things continued the way they began in the 1st, it was not going to be a good night for the Hose. I got encouraged after the initial three spot that Wake gave up, when he put together a streak of six consecutive outs, taking him two outs into the 3d. If he could continue the way he was now going, we might come out of things OK. Unfortunately, the 3d out never came for Wake. He allowed another deuce in the 3d and was gone, Masterson doing a creditable job ending the inning quickly and carrying on through the 5th. Though he did surrender a run, he also K'd four Rays batters in the process. The score at that point was 6-1, Rays, the Sox run having come on a drive into the Monster seats by the Sox catcher, Cash.

Interestingly, Cash is a native of Tampa, while the Rays' first sacker is from Haverhill, Mass, a mid-sized city about thirty or thirtyfive miles northwest of Boston. Also where yours truly grew up and went to high school, but that's another story.

Anyway, as the game wore on, the carnage continued. After a brief respite in the 4th, the Rays added a run in the 5th off Masterson, although he closed out the inning with a simple grounder. Then came the 6th. The Only Manny-Delcarmen took the ball. Unfortunately, TOM also served up a one out triple, three walks and a single, leaving with the bases still jammed.

His successor, Lopez, came in and promptly surrendered successive singles and a run-scoring ground out before finally closing out the inning. That left the Fenmen on the short end of an 11-1 score and still a few innings to play. Oh, joy!

After another brief respite, neither team scoring through the Rays half of the 7th (a 1,2,3 inning by Lopez, in fact--perhaps some hope?--I don't think so), the Sox bats hinted at a smidgeon of life in their half of the 7th.

Papi, his wrist still not yet 100%, led off the inning with a long drive to right that appeared at first blush to be headed for the cheaps. As it turned out, it ricocheted off the low wall in right and caromed toward center away from the Rays' right fielder, Perez. It kept rolling farther and farther toward center while Perez gave chase. All the while Papi is running, and running, and running--first base, turn the corner and....second base; don't even slow down now....suddenly standing on third--a triple. No outs and Yoouk coming to bat. Unfortunately, he grounded out,but with Papi going on contact, the Sox got the run home, 11-2.

As son as the Rays came to bat in the 8th, they set to matching and whatever else they could do. With Jenn's favorite Sox pitcher, Timlin, now throwing, the pride of Haverhill, Pena, walked to lead things off. Then, in short order, Crawford tripled and Aybar singled, 13-2, Rays. Timlin did finally coax a double play grounder to end the inning.

It's now the bottom of the 8th and I'm thinking it doesn't look good. How's that for understatement? Well, I'm also briefly musing, the Hose could conceivably pull out the same type of inning they did this summer against the Rangers and put a nice ten spot on the board. Then they'd be within one. Likely, Not really. Not at all.

But they did show a few more signs of life. Lowrie singled to lead off, and moved to second on JD's grounder. Dusty came up and drilled a run scoring single to center, 13-3. Next up was Big Papi, who promptly K'd for the new pitcher. But it wasn't over quite yet. Yooouk drove one deep to center, plating Dusty with the Sox' fourth run. Regardless of the final result, the Sox were showing some character--they were letting the Rays know they weren't dead--they could and would still fight. Although they would score no more this evening, they continued their feisty spirit into the 9th, working a pair of free passes before finally shutting down. It's just like a rattlesnake. As long as there's still life in the snake, the degree of injuries it may have absorbed matters little--it can still bite, and you know what that means.

Tomorrow is a day off with action resuming on Thursday night, the Diceman on the mound. Assuming he carries the day, you can just picture Lester and JB chafing at the bit to each get some payback. Remember too--the last two times the Sox were in the ALCS, they were way behind, 3-1 last year to the Tribe and 3-0 to the Yankees. Both times they picked themselves off the floor and swept their way into the Series. Here's to a threepeat of that feat.

First Inning--Not Looking Good!--Peter

Oh, boy! Here we go again! Wake's pitching game four. First inning, Iwamura--quick K. Upton, four pitch walk, followed by steal of second. The Pride of Haverhill--homer into the cheaps in center, followed by Longoria doing the same to left. Crawford--double and then stole third as the next batter K'd. Navarro walked and that's where we are now. Better get better fast or the Sox are in deep doo-doo.

Yuck! - Jenn

Last night should have been the night that the Sox started their final sweep toward the World Series. It should have been proof that the Rays really are this year's Rockies. It should have been the night that Lester extended his postseason scoreless streak to 30 or so innings.

Unfortunately "should have" doesn't help in the reality. It's a great pipe dream that Sox fans and players alike can talk about and wish upon. Then there's the reality - a thing you can't imagine, dream up, or create. It just is. And last night reality punched Red Sox Nation square in the jaw.

After a spectacular first inning from the "new ace" - one that got three outs on just five pitches, things crumbled for the lefty. Actually more like imploded. The second inning was the beginning of the downward spiral into hell. After a couple hits and a walk that should have been a strike out, the first run scored. But one run does not a game win - at least not in the second inning.

However the third was a very different story. Again 2 more Rays got on base and unlike the previous inning where Lester was able to squeak out with a minimal amount of damage, he got rocked. With 2 men on base BJ Upton stepped to the plate and crushed that ball. It didn't just go into the monster seats, but over them and landed on Landsdowne Street to give the Rays a 4-0 lead.

That was the end of the game. Maybe not literally, but mentally for Lester and every other Red Sock on that field. With Garza keeping his emotions in check, there was no way the Sox were coming back from that deficit.

It looked like there was a chance in the seventh when we had men at first and third with no one out. But after a fly out that scored the Sox only run, there was nothing left. And it wasn't any surprise. Out of the seven hits the Sox managed to scrape together, only two of them were for extra bases. But by the time the Sox got that run, I was already watching the game in fast forward, not wanting to live through the agony of any more innings or runs.

But as hard as it is to believe, the Sox and Red Sox Nation have been here before. As a matter of fact, we were down 2-1 in the ALCS in '03, '04 and '07. And in all three instances, the ALCS took seven games to complete. Now we won't discuss '03 and the Grady Little/Pedro Martinez fiasco, but in '04 we were down 3-1 and came back to kill the Yankees and sweep the Cards in the championship. Then last year, again we came back to beat the Yankees and swept the Rockies for the trophy.

So, yes, it's heartbreaking to watch a game like last night unfold. But just remember these are the Red Sox and we've been here before, we've been David facing Goliath. And just like the biblical story of the past, we've thrown that rock and knocked out the competition. This series will be no different.

Tonight Wakefield's on the mound. While he hasn't pitched yet in the off season, he's well rested and has been throwing great in his practice sessions. JD Drew's leading off the batting order and Coco Crisp is playing center. With a lineup like that we can't lose... Right?

Why We Lost - Jenn

There are two reasons we lost on Saturday. Their names are Beckett and Timlin. Since Dad gave great accounts of both Game 1 & 2, I'm just going to talk about these two Game 2 killers.

In Game 3 of the ALDS Beckett pitched five innings. He threw 106 pitches, only 59 of which were strikes. He gave up nine hits, four runs (two of which were home run shots), and four walks. He struck out six. The Sox went into extra innings and in the 12th Lopez gave up three hits which turned into the win for the Angels.

In Game 2 of the ALCS Beckett was again the starting pitcher. This time he only lasted 4.1 innings. He threw 93 pitches, only 56 of which were strikes. He gave up another nine hits, eight runs (three of which were home run shots), and one walk. This time he struck out five. Again the Sox went into extra innings and again the opposing team, the Rays, got the win.

Anyone else starting to see a pattern?

Remember Beckett pulled his oblique during a practice session before the ALDS which is why he was pushed to Game 3. Beckett says he's better and that the cortisone shot they administered has him feeling no pain. But remember the last horrible outing Beckett had during the regular season when he pitched against the Jays and only lasted 2.1 innings? He gave up eight runs there as well. It wasn't until a day or two later that the public discovered he had tingling in his fingers and then was out for the next three weeks.

According to Michael Vaccaro, another avid Sox fan and a friend of mine, of Beckett's 93 pitches on Saturday, only four of them achieved a swing and a miss. Only four out of 93 pitches. This is not the Beckett of last season. Hell, it's not even the Beckett of the regular '08 season.

Beckett may say he feels good, but his stats tell another story. Now I understand wanting to pitch in the postseason. Especially after last year's performance. But when you're injured, you're not going to have your best performance and you're going to hurt the team. It's time for Tito and/or Farrell to have a sit down with Beckett and tell him he's done until he's actually feeling better and can prove it in a practice session. He should not, under any circumstance pitch again in the ALCS. Give him the time off he needs to recover, then take another look when the Sox head to the World Series.

As for Timlin... if you've read this blog, you know how I feel about the relief pitcher, so I won't go off on him for the umpteenth time. I'll just pass on the stats that Michael passed onto me: Delcarmen, Okajima, Masterson and Papelbon all pitched for a total of 5.2 innings. They gave up only two hits - not one run and not one walk. They also each got one strike out - for a total of four K's.

Then Timlin came in. He pitched only 2/3 of an inning and gave up three walks, which eventually turned into the winning run the Rays needed for the walk-off. He didn't strike a single batter out.

Beckett's post season ERA is currently 16.62. Timlin's is 13.50. Need I say more?

Game 3 is this afternoon back at Fenway. Lester's starting, and he's been light's out at home. Here's hoping today will be the start of the Fenway sweep.

Sox Fall One Hit Shy--Peter

Well, tonight was a heartbreaker to lose. The Sox and Rays played long ball derby and swapped the lead back and forth through the first five innings, including four lead changes through five. The Sox finally tied it at eight in the 8th on a wild pitch, but kept failing to deliver the one big hit that would have salted away the game.

After Beckett was shelled from the game, leaving before the 5th was over, and charged with all eight of the Rays runs to that point, the bull pen held up remarkably well. From Lopez to Delcarmen, through two outstanding innings by Okajima (Oki looked like the Oki of '07!), through one and a third by Papelbon, the bull pen held firm. No runs were able to get home for the Rays. But, while this was going on, the offense was getting men on base, time and again--and leaving them there. They stranded thirteen for the entire game, but most seriously a pair in the 5th after already having scored with three solo shots by Dusty (his second of the game), Yooouk, and Bay; a pair again in the 6th; one each in the 8th and 9th; and a pair in the 11th.

To compound matters, in spite of his three hit evening, in the top of the 8th the Hose had two men on with nobody out and Yoouk grounded into a twin killing. Thankfully, one of the Sox runners made it to third on the play, to score a moment later on a wild pitch, tying the game at eight.

Aside from that unfortunate grounder, Yooouk was one of four Hose hitters getting three hits for the night. In fact, those four, Yoooouk, Dusty, Coco and Bay, accounted for all of the Sox' hits. One more hit in any of a number of the aforementioned key situations would have resulted in a Sox victory and a two zip series lead.

As it turned out, Jenn's favorite pitcher, Timlin, came on in the bottom of the 11th and walked the first two batters he faced. During the second of these, some of Timlin's pitches looked like strikes, particularly the second, but they were called balls by the umpire. After the count went to three and O, the Sox pitching coach, Farrell, and Tito both went out to complain to the umpire. Farrell, in particular, was really hot, and the TV pitch locator graphic showed he was correct on at least the second of the balls. All to no avail, as he returned to the dugout, he kept bitching and was tossed by the ump. This is another of the relatively recent changes that supposedly makes the game 'better' that I think are ridiculous. Can't argue balls and strikes, or you'll be run. It's right up there with no brushback pitches. For what the umpires earn, you'd think they could develop thicker skins--and maybe a few cojones.

Anyway, the two baserunners made it to second and third on a grounder to Yooouk at third, allowing the lead runner to be plated with the winning run a moment later on a shallow sacfly to Drew in right.

Back to Fenway and Lester on Monday for a day game. At least the Sox have taken home field advantage with their win in game one.

Still four down and seven to go.

Dice Rolls The Rays--Peter

Well, here the Sox were--again opening a playoff series on enemy turf; enemy turf probably more literal than in most cases, given the stormy history these two teams have had over recent years. The Sox were at the Trop to play the Rays, who have shown that their early season success was no fluke. These guys apparently are the real thing. They had just finished shutting down the Chisox to get the right to host the Bosox, and everyone was predicting a solid battle.

Enter the Diceman. While the Rays pitching, led by Shields, did a very creditable job, it was no match for the many varied offerings of Dice-K. More than get the 'W', Dice pitched in the truest sense of the word when it really counted.

All season long, he has shown an almost uncanny ability to get out of jams, somehow avoiding surrendering the necessary hit that his opponents required when everything seemed on the verge of exploding in his face. Tonight was no different. Suddenly facing a bases loaded situation in the first inning, he bore down and denied the Rays the hit that they needed to possibly crack the game open early. Just as suddenly as the threat materialized, the inning was over and the score was still all zeroes.

The Diceman continued his brilliant performance through six, still in possession of a no-no entering the 7th. That finally ended when he surrendered a leadoff single in the 7th, but he still kept the shutout going to finish that inning.

Meanwhile, he had been given the lead in the 5th when Bay led off with a walk, moved to third on a ringing double by Kotsay, and scored on a sacfly by Lowrie. As it turned out, that would be enough for the victory, but the Sox tacked on an insurance run in the 8th when Pedroia got a single. Dusty then wasted no time, stealing second. After a walk to Big Papi, Yooouk brought him home with a solid double that the Rays outfielder made a great try for, but couldn't quite bring in.

When Dice-K gave up a pair of hits sandwiched around a wild pitch to open the Rays half of the 8th, Francona yanked him, replacing him with Okjima. Oki was OK! He quickly got the Rays' best slugger, former Sox player and the pride of Haverhill, Pena, to fly our to Drew. Job done; new pitcher. Masterson replaced Oki and took care of the rest of the 8th, getting Rays rookie star Longoria to ground into an inning-ending twin killing.

Sox 9th--and that can only mean one thing--Laserman! Papelbon came on and wasted precious little time slamming the door in the Rays' faces. Three up--three down, two of them K's. His fast ball was just exponential Papelbon, just exploding past the helpless Rays batsmen with predictable results.

Four down, seven to go.

A Hit By Jed; Angels Are Dead--Peter

Well, this one was a game that you hate to see anyone lose. But, there's no question I'm glad the Sox won! Tonight there were so many heroes, it's hard to single out any one player. Lester took the ball and, just as in game 1, kept the Angels off the bases. He was magnificent through seven, and left with a two zip lead, one of the runs coming on Pedroia's first (and, as it turned out, only) hit of the series. Dusty lined a shot high off the Monster and drove home a run in the 5th, getting the Hose their second run of the game. The way Lester was pitching, it was looking more and more like that would be more than enough. Not so fast.

I'm watching it on the tube and counting down the remaining Halo outs until the series is done and the Sox get to move on when, what happens, Tito yanks Lester and brings in Okajima to open the 8th. He quickly gets the leadoff, but then walks a batter with two outs, and is gone. Masterson comes on, gives up a walk to Vlad Guerrero, and then, to make matters worse--very worse, blows a sign from Tek, throws a heater about chest high over the plate when Tek called a breaking ball, and it goes to the backstop. Both Angels runners move up and now, with men on second and third, Torii Hunter, performs as he has throughout the series. He drops a sharply hit liner into right field that, even with a dead on throw can't prevent both runs from scoring, tying the score.

Masterson last just one third more of an inning, now into the 9th before being replaced by The Only Manny--Delcarmen, Who I never knew before last night, is from Boston-- a true home town boy. Manny finds himself with two outs and a runner on third, one of the Angels' fastest baserunners. Just as the TV commentators finish suggesting that a suicide squeeze is something that the Sox have to be on the outlook for, the Halos attempt exactly that. TOM throws a high heater to the third base side of the plate and here comes the baserunner. The batter attempts to provide cover by just getting his bat on the ball and putting the ball in play--anywhere at all--just get it in play. But he misses--the ball's just a bit too high for him to make contact, and the baserunner is halfway down the line on his way home with what would have been the lead run, when all of a sudden, there he is--naked to the world and dead as a doornail unless he can get back to third before Tek tags him out.

He's faster than Tek; he should win this footrace; he should be OK. But wait! Putting on a burst of speed no-one, including Tek, knew he had, Tek reaches out full extension, applies the tag before the runner can retreat to the bag, and falls ass over tea kettle. The runner is OUT! Halos manager Scoscia gives argument because after the tag is applied and Tek does his tumbling act, the ball finally falls free. Scoscia and the runner are yelling that the fact that it kicked free of Tek's glove voids the tag and means the runner is safe. The ump disagrees and replay after replay after replay, ad nauseam, backs up the umpire. The out stands as called. As this is not the NFL, no protest flag is thrown on the field.

Which brings us to the bottom of the 9th. Bay, with one out, rifles a drive to right field that the Angels fielder just comes up short of catching by inches. The Halos are lucky, however, when it kicks into the stands, limiting Bay to a ground rule double. If the ball not only gets by the fielder (it does), but stays in the field of play, Bay definitely gets to third, and very likely goes all the way around the bases for an inside the parker that wins the game right there. Kotsay comes up, having already made a couple of highlight reel fielding plays, one a going away over the shoulder grab that would have even made Randy Moss envious. He hits one right on the button; it has double to right written all over it, but it hadn't taken Texeira into account. The late season acquisition of the Halos, in his first post-season of his career, demonstrates why he was an All-Star for his former team at first base. Diving to his left at full extension, he instantly turns Kotsay's drive into just another out. Bay is still standing on second.

Up comes Jed Lowrie. He gets a pitch to his liking and bang--just inches beyond the Angels' second sacker's reach, it's into right field. Bay, running at the crack of the bat like someone's chasing him with a machete, tears around third and heads for home. The throw comes in from right--Bay slides--it'll be close. Heeee's SAFE! SOX WIN! SERIES OVER! ON TO THE LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP!

Three down, eight to go.

Onto the ALCS - Jenn

That's right, after a little tension last night, the Red Sox dashed all doubts and squashed the Angels hopes of a pennant for the third time in as many outings. However, just like last night, it was not an easy win.

But before I get to tonight's game, let me recap Friday and Sunday.

We won.

We lost. (In 12 innings and the longest game in ALDS history at 5 hours and 19 minutes. While I was stuck working, Dad did his part and has full recaps of both games.)

Okay, now onto tonight. Again, being stuck at work, I decided to tune in. Granted I started watching in the top of the 5th, but since the score was tied at 0-0, I knew I hadn't missed anything - other than Lester being Lester and Lackey being Lackey. Another pitcher's duel similar to game one in Anaheim. But unlike game one, this time it was the Sox who scored first.

It all started with a fielder's choice by Ellsbury to plate the first run. Then Pedroia finally snapped his 0-17 streak and hit a double off the wall to plate Varitek and give the Sox a 2-0 lead and allow Lester to be the winning pitcher.

And that would have been the case if it weren't for the Red Sox phenomenal relief staff. (You may sense a note of sarcasm there.) Anyway the Sox were holding steady until the top of the 8th when Okie took over for Lester after seven great innings and 109 pitches. Things started well enough when Chone Figgins and Garrett Anderson both grounded out to 2nd. It looked as if Okie would have another 1,2,3 inning. But these are the Red Sox and just because something looks like it could happen doesn't mean it will. After two easy outs, Okie couldn't place his pitches and he walked Teixeira. Not wanting to take any chances, Francona pulled him for the even less dependable Masterson.

Now I say less dependable because you never know what you're gonna get with Masterson. Like Dad says, Masterson runs hot and cold. And unfortunately recently Masterson's been very, very cold. Well, tonight was no different. All he needed was one out. Instead he walks Guerrero then throws a wild pitch to Varitek allowing both Teixeira and Guerrero to move into scoring position. (They scored it a passed ball, but I think it was wild.) The Sox still need just one more out to maintain their lead. But Hunter lines Masterson's pitch to right, and both Teixeira and Guerrero score to tie the game.

The Red Sox couldn't answer against Shields in their part of the 8th and it's onto the 9th. After Morales doubled off the wall and Willits sac bunts to moved him to third, both myself and Red Sox Nation were starting to fear a repeat of Sunday night's game. But thankfully Varitek does what he does best and made probably the best play of the post season so far.

Willits took over for Morales at 3rd as a pinch runner because if you need to score the go ahead run, there's no one on the Angels bench that's faster. So with Aybar at the plate, the plan was a suicide squeeze. Unfortunately for the Angels, every member of the Red Sox knew it and were ready. Aybar missed the bunt and Varitek took that ball and made a bee line for Willits who was already half way down the third base line. Willits may be fast, but he's not fast enough for Varitek. The Captain tagged him about a foot off the bag, then fell, knocking the ball loose. Scioscia was quickly out to argue that Varitek didn't have control of the ball when he tagged Willits. But as instant replay clearly showed, Varitek had complete control of the ball on the tag and only lost it when his impact with the ground knocked it free. There were now two outs and Aybar's strike out makes three. Now it's the Sox turn. Maybe it'll be just like the final game of the regular season and we'll have another walk-off.

Well, clearly the Red Sox wanted that outcome as badly as "The Nation" because Bay wasted no time taking a Shields pitch and knocking it to right for a ground rule double. Willits was lucky the ball hit the dirt and not his glove because if that ball had knocked off his glove or the outfield grass, Bay would still be running. Instead Bay was stuck at 2nd with one out. Shields and the Angels bench may have believed the baseball gods were smiling down on them by bouncing that ball into the seats, but that belief was dashed when Lowrie stepped to the plate.

The young shortstop got a pitch that was down and away. But realizing the winning run was on base, Lowrie was determined to get some kind of wood on the ball. And connect he did, just enough to squeak it past the diving 2nd baseman, and into the outfield to allow Bay to score the game winning run in beautiful walk-off fashion.

Final score 3-2. Final series score 3-1. And although the Angles may have snapped their post season losing streak to Boston last night, they couldn't snap it enough to move onto the ALCS. I guess it just goes to show: doesn't matter what you do in the regular season, it doesn't mean crap if you can't follow through in the post season. See you all Friday at the Trop!

One Hit Shy--Peter

Well, as with all good things, the Sox winning streak in playoff games over the Angels came to an end last night, 5-4, in the 12th inning. The Halos got the better of Beckett in his five innings, managing to come from behind to tie and then go ahead, 4-3, in the 5th, largely due to a pair of round trippers by their catcher, Napoli. While he's not exactly a household word, he also isn't without a decent amount of power, having hit 20 homers during the regular season.

The Sox picked up a 3-1 lead on an all-time first and only in post season play, a three run SINGLE (you read that right) by Ellsbury. It wasn't that impressive a stroke, rather a simple popup that barely made the outfield grass. Three Angels fielders converged on the ball and then decided to discuss who would have the honor of making the putout. Unfortunately for them, gravity was unwilling to be on hold and the ball fell to earth safely in fair territory and while they were busy having a collective convulsion over this fact, all three Sox baserunners came home and scored.

It wasn't too long, however, before Napoli did his thing and when Beckett left, he was once again trailing. He had his velocity, but his command just wasn't there. If nothing else this proves that too much rest between starts, 13 days, in his case, is not necessarily a good thing.

In their half of the 5th, the Sox tied the score, Yooouk following a double by Jake with one of his to the wall just left of straightaway center. There things sat through the rest of regulation and into extra innings.

the Sox bullpen was holding the Angels in check, more or less, and Papelbon was doing his Laserman routine for two innings and 31 pitches (I counted 35, by the way). No difference.

In the 10th, the Hose loaded the bases, but couldn't get just one more hit or walk to bring home the winning run. In the 11th, they had a man on second, but same story. In the 12th, Lopez, having relieved Laser, they gave up a run to the Halos, making it 5-4, Angels, and then couldn't generate any reply in the bottom half. Game over.

They play again today, and, in this writer's opinion, have to do it here and now. I don't deny another Sox win in Anaheim would be beyond the bounds of the possible, but I don't wish to see the Sox have to go back in the face of renewed Angels momentum.

One Swing By Drew--Sox Lead By Two--Peter

The title tells you the way the Sox closed out the Angels, and it was definitely as dramatic as shots in past playoffs against the Halos by Manny and Big Papi have been. But it was not the whole story—not even close!

Facing Ervin Santana—a damn good pitcher--for the first time this year, the Sox got two outs in the 1st and then teed off. A string of singles started by Papi led to one run. Then, two men on, the count 2-2, and Jason Bay, in just his second playoff game ever, launches one. Like Game One, this was a no-doubter from the moment it left the bat. It landed on the boulders beyond the center field fence, and bounced even further away. Instantly, it was Sox four zip.

The Halos got one back in their half of the 1st, but the Sox matched it in the 4th. Ellsbury chose the moment with Cora on base to slam a long double into the outfield and the four run Sox lead was restored. Even though the Angels scratched back and matched in their half of the 4th, the Diceman was doing his thing.

If the Halos got men on base, regardless how they got there, Dice-K would turn it up a notch and close them down. True, they had eight hits and three free passes in the five innings Dice worked, but all they could show for it was three single runs. Anyone else would have at least surrendered five or six. As Buck Martinez, the commentator, mentioned with a graphic, the more trouble Dice-K gets himself into, the tougher he gets, with opposing BA’s dropping as baserunners increase.

However, these Angels are not the Halos of years past. This season, they added some strategic players in the persons of Torii Hunter and Mark Texeira, both game changers on a single swing of the bat. They won 100 games in regular season for the first time in team history. So you expect them to keep chipping away, inning by inning. Sure enough, after Dice left, leading 5-3, the Halos turned a pair of singles into a run off Okajima in the 6th—5-4, Sox.

Although Masterson held them scoreless in the 7th, he opened the 8th allowing a leadoff triple. That was all Francona had to see. He called for Papelbon and the Laser came on. He immediately got the first batter he faced on a foul pop on just one pitch. But the next batter, Texeira, who is having an awesome series, added a sacfly to his 3-3 evening and tied the game. Blown save for Pap. Pap then closed out the 8th, setting up the Hollywood finish in the 9th.

Big Papi launched one to deep center that initially looked for all the world that it was going to untie the game in one fell swoop. However, it was about a foot short, bouncing off the outfielder’s glove and leaving Ortiz standing on second with a double, his second hit of the evening. Crisp came in to run, and Youk turned over on a K-Rod slider, grounding out to third. That brought J.D. to the plate.

Now Drew hasn’t played much at all for the better part of the last two months, his last homer coming in mid-July, all due to a combination of family problems and a ruptured disc. He had gotten a double in the first, but it was on a straight heater. K-Rod’s deadliest pitches are a pair of breaking balls thrown at very different speeds that have made him almost as unhittable as Papelbon. Not tonight. On a 2-2 count, he left one of these a bit further out over the plate than he should have and Drew put it well out of reach of anyone, fans included—7-5, Sox.

Pap then came on and nailed the Angels’ coffin shut, aided for the second out of the 9th by a spectacular play by Yooouk on a foul pop. Chasing a foul pop toward the seats along the third base line, Yooouk tracked the ball as it drifted closer and closer to the photographers’ box, saw it go over the box, and then, at the last minute, leaned over a cameraman and speared it with a solid backhand grab.

This is now eleven in a row in the post-season against the Angels. Two down, nine to go.

Manny Who? - Jenn

Everyone's been talking about how the Sox might be in trouble in the post season without Manny Ramirez. I mean, face it, he's the only reason the Dodgers are in the playoffs, he's probably got the best batting average in the post season of every player on the current MLB roster and our guy, Mr. Jason Bay has never seen the post season in his whole major league career.

Well, last night Bay made his presence known to Red Sox Nation and the rest of major league baseball and put any question about trading Manny to rest. Sure Manny may have gotten a solo shot last night to help the Dodgers kill the Cubs, but Jason Bay was the reason the Sox won Game 1.

It was a pitcher's duel if ever there was one last night. As Dad already said, the only run the Angels scored was because of a rare error from Jed Lowrie. That one run kept the Angels in the lead through five innings. Then in the 6th, Lackey walked Youkilis. But the Sox had already had men on base in every inning and couldn't get them home. Well, Bay, who was already 0 for 2 on the night, was tired of that. And on an 0-1 pitch that stayed out over the plate he let loose and crushed that ball to left for the 2-1 lead. As both my title and the commentator said last night -- Manny who?

But that wasn't it for the new left fielder. In the 9th with Scot Shields on the mound, Bay added some insurance to the Red Sox lead by smacking a double to right that Gary Matthews couldn't handle. That plated the 3rd Sox run and would have been enough to get the win. But Ortiz happily added some more padding when he smacked a single up the middle to plate Ellsbury for the fourth and final Red Sox run.

Bay has proved himself time and time again. Alright, so he may not be Manny Ramirez, but he's doing his part to keep the Sox in the running for that all important Championship Series. And while Bay doesn't have the stats that Manny has, he has something Manny evidently didn't all eight years he was with the Sox - happiness at being with one of the oldest teams in baseball. And in my opinion that's worth millions more than home runs or batting averages.

Jason Bay is another star in the Sox lineup. And trust me when I say we'll see plenty more from him as the post season continues. Maybe even enough for the comparisons to that other left fielder to stop altogether.

Jake's Night--Peter

Well, tonight the Sox came into Anaheim to start the post-season against the heavily favored Angels, the team with the best regular season record, 100 wins, and an 8-1 record against the Hose. Ellsbury immediately took charge of the game and showed what the Sox would do. Leading off, he drove a ball high off the fence and ended up with a double, the first of three hits and five times on base for the rookie outfielder tonight. Although the Sox failed to score, it set a tone.

Lester rolled along for the evening, setting down batter after batter, and getting stronger as the innings rolled by. He gave up a single unearned in the third, when Lowrie briefly came up with a case of dead hands on a routine grounder, the resulting baserunner later scoring on a Torii Hunter single that never would have happened without the error as Hunter never would have reached the plate to bat without the error. For Lowrie, it was a very rare miscue. This year, he set a record for rookie shortstops--155 chances without an error. From that point on, Lester stayed locked in a pitcher's duel, trailing one zip until the 6th.

At that point Yoouk reached base and a couple of batters later, Jason Bay, already having struck out twice on pitches out off the strike zone, showed why the Sox felt comfortable sending Manny to LA. A Lackey heater stayed out over the plate, and Bay turned on it. The instant it left the bat, it was a no-doubter. You knew immediately it wasn't coming down anywhere close to the field of play. No--it was cheap seats for this one--and a 2-1 Sox lead.

The pitching duel resumed after that, Lackey and his successor, Oliver, frustrating the Sox every time they appeared to be about to get something going. They got the Halos into the 8th, to be relieved by Shields, who closed out that inning. But that was all he closed out.

Up came the Sox in the 9th. Ellsbury gets his third hit of the evening and promptly steals second, his second swipe of the night. The Halos catcher had no answer for Jake. Twice, Napoli made creditable throws to second. Twice, Jake made it look like the throw was suspended in a vacuum. Neither was even close.

That opened it up for the Sox to start unlimbering the lumber. Ortiz finally got a hit, extending his post-season hitting streak to a dozen games, and driving in an insurance run. A few other Sox hitters extended the rally, and then Tito handed the ball to: LASERMAN. Although he did give up a one out single to an Angels pinch hitter, more of a contact and hope liner to right, the Angels were no match for Papelbon--not even close. Outside of that prayer by the Angels, it was a trey-trey for Laser. Three batters--three K's. Everey time the camera zoomed in on his face, it was the classic Papelbon Death Stare--no Bull, no Hope, no Chance, NO WAY!

One down and ten to go!

Coming back to Jake for a moment, in addition to reaching base five times and having three hits and the pair of thefts, he also made an unbelievable catch in the later innings to rob the Angels of a sure hit, that, had it fallen in, would have led to an Angels score that would have put the Halos in the lead at the time. A short fly to second, just beyond the reach of the Sox infielders, Jake came on at full throttle, swerved slightly to his right, extended his glove and dove, snaring it just before he hit the ground and rolled over. Could he be the second consecutive rookie of the year for the Fenmen? I ask the question because although he played late last season and in the run to the World Championship, he has little enough total time from last season that he is still officially a rookie.

The pitching was fabulous. Lester,after a little rough patch in the 1st, went seven, allowing just the unearned runs and just six hits and a single free pass, while accruing seven K's, including one inning where he struck out the side. Masterson came on for an inning and, although giving up a pair of hits, held the Halos scoreless. As for Papelbon, well, we've already discussed his coffin nailing routine.

And Now...The Post-Season--Peter

Well, as Jenn described it, the Sox had an interesting, if very wet, weekend to close out the season at Fenway. As one who's ridden out both a Category 4 hurricane as well as a 7.1 earthquake, I can tell you I'd rather do the hurricane any day--you at least get a warning before it arrives.

As for this one, it was a marginal Category 1, winds at least 74 mph, and hanging just off the New England coast as it moved north. Of course, due to the overall size of such a storm, even hanging a couple of hundred miles off the coast means that any land close to the coast is going to get rain--a lot of rain--as the storm moves on by. Such was the case as it headed for an actual landfall in eastern Maine near the Canadian border. That's what we New Englanders refer to as 'Down East' country--even though it's up north. You just have to look at a map and then factor in a bit of understanding of how things are in that part of the world.

Anyway, since Jenn already discussed the games for all of you out there, I'll just pontificate a little on the coming playoffs.

The first series has the Fenmen facing the Halos, a team that they have faced a number of times previously in the last few years in the post-season. We almost always seem to have minimal trouble with them, sweeping in most cases. In fact, that's what happened in 2004, when our relative positions were the same--the Angels had just won their division and the Sox were the wild card.

This year, there is a bit more ominoousity (don't know if that's really a word, but it must be--I just used it!) for the Hose. In nine games this year, the Angels swamped the Sox, eight games to one. Additionally, the Halos had the best regular eason record in baseball, winning an even hundred games. Our heroes' 95 wins wasn't bad, but there's the Angels' century to consider. The one good thing in that regard--it's a fresh season, in effect.

Serious worries: Lowell is questionable with his injured hip. He tried to play over the weekend, but lasted one at bat and limped to the pine. Possibly even more serious is the fact that Beckett strained his oblique during a bullpen session over the weekend, and has been scratched from the Game One start, moving instead to Game 3. Lester has been inserted as the Game 1 starter. Come tomorrow, we'll know how things work out.

Dancing Our Way to the Playoffs - Jenn

This weekend was the final series of the regular season and how fitting that the last three games the Sox play are against their hated rivals the Yankees. But unlike the last few seasons, there was nothing on the line for this series. The Sox had already clinched a playoff berth and the Yankees had... well... three more games before they were going home. So it should've been an easy series that focused on Dustin getting the batting title and us sweeping the Yanks. That wasn't quite the case.

As Dad already mentioned, Friday's game was a massacre. The Yankees came in and killed everyone they faced. No surprise though because the Yankees were playing against Pawtucket. Oh well, there was still Saturday and Sunday to watch and win. Only there wasn't because Saturday was rained out. So now we were looking at a double-header Sunday if that hurricane off the Massachusetts coast would stay where it was. And while there was some rain on and off on Sunday, it wasn't enough to dampen Sox fans' spirits.

Sunday's first game was a chance for Mike Mussina to get his 20th win. So of course all our regular Red Sox were out there in great form. At least almost great form. Dice-K was on the mound cruising along for the first three innings. So was Mussina. Neither team could get on base let alone cross home. But then in the 4th, Dice-K had a melt down. A-Rod ended up on base when a strike was called a fourth ball. (That wouldn't be the only time strikes were called balls and vice versa. The ump behind the plate was all over the place Sunday morning. What was a ball with one batter would be a strike with the next.) With Bobby Abreu already on base and only one out, it wouldn't take long before a single and a walk added up to three runs thanks to Xavier Nady's homer.

3-zip Yanks was the score until Joba Chamberlin took the mound and walked Jason Bay. Then Kotsay hit a ground-rule double and the two were in scoring position. Chris Carter ground out, but scored Bay, and Kotsay crossed the plate on Ellsbury's single. It looked like Mussina's win might be in trouble. But on a day when Dice-K only lasted four innings and Mussina was gunning for his 20th win, a comeback was not in the cards for the Sox.

Papelbon took the mound and also had one of his worst outings yet. From the first batter he faced, he couldn't get anyone out. And after 10 batters came to the plate the score stood at Yankees 6, Sox 2. That would be the final score for game one of the double header. But that was game one... game two is where we get our title.

Wakefield took the mound and with the way Wake's been pitching, it was anybody's guess whether we'd win or not. But he was on and win we did... after a little tension and 10 innings. Although Wake pitched five innings of shut-out ball, it was the relief staff that got Wake a no decision. Thanks to a two-run single from Sean Casey in the bottom of the 8th, the Red Sox were up 3-1 going into the 9th.

Unfortunately David Aardsma couldn't hold onto the lead. Betemit started the carnage with a single. Then Johnny Damon walked. Cabrera bunted, but was safe because Aardsma couldn't get a grip on the ball thanks to the wet field. Then Miranda popped out. But because Velazaquez doesn't understand that the outfielder has the right of way when it comes to catching balls, he and Van Every collided allowing Betemit to score. Gardner then struck out and the Sox were one out away from winning the game. But Cano, who already had a hit in the game, plated Johnny Damon with his single to left. The score was now tied, which meant the Sox were going to the bottom of the 9th and then onto extra innings.

After so much time in wet seats, the fans were starting to get antsy. They were doing anything the could to keep themselves and the Sox pumped up for one more win, including this couple who were a little early with the celebrating, but their dance was much appreciated all the same.



Anyway, the dancing in the seats must have been just what the doctor ordered because Cora started off the bottom of the 10th with a triple. It should have been over with the next batter, but these are the Red Sox and so it can never be that easy. Carter struck out when he swung at a pitch that was so far outside, it might as well have been down by the third baseman. Then the Yankees intentionally walked not one, but two batters in Bailey and Casey. So now the bases were loaded with just one out.
The Yankees were clearly looking for the double play. Thankfully Ross just struck out which meant the Sox still had a chance. That chance came in rookie Jonathan Van Every who had already gone 0-3 with a walk.

Van Every only saw four pitches. But it was on that fourth pitch that Van Every ended the season the way all seasons should end - with a single to right that plated Cora for the walk-off win. It was great! Not only did the Sox win the game in a great show stopping moment, but they're going to the playoffs. And the Yankees, they're heading home to watch the playoffs on their respective television sets.

Wednesday the Sox face the Angels for the first game of the ALDS. It's going to be tough competition, but the Angels have been division champs before... And the Sox still swept them.

On to The Playoffs!--Peter

Well, after the Sox had beaten the Tribe for the final time on Thursday night, I'd put together a rather long combination reportage/diatribe about the game, Bud Selig's idiocy on the 'tie-breaker' as opposed to a playoff for the division title, if the Sox and Rays were tied at season's end; how cool it was to see Joe Torre in the playoffs with 'Red Sox Lite'(Dodgers) after Mr. Hankie's Yankees had forced him out after the 2007 season; and the fact that with Dusty's 20th steal of the year, it was the first Sox team since 1914 to have at least three base stealers each with at least twenty steals for the season. The three: Ellsbury, Crisp and Pedroia.
Unfortunately, when I posted it, the computer erased the WHOLE DAMN THING--except for the title. So, sorry, you won't see it; just the highlights just mentioned above.

Now, for the Friday night game against same Yankees. Yuck!! The announced starter, Dice-K didn't start or pitch at all; got someone named Pauley. Due to the torrential downpour that caused rain delays of over two hours, Papi was scratched,Pedroia didn't play and, after a single at-bat, Lowell headed for the bench, which is probably where he should have stayed from before the game's start. After one grounder, he limped off the field, literally, not even running out the grounder. Tito later said he'd be 'day-to-day'.

Oh, yes--the game. The Yanks inserted a new guy at short for Jeter after the latter'd had an at-bat, and the sub promptly led a Yankee massacre of the Sox, getting two homers and a ringing double. Abreu, and Damon also accounted for a good deal of carnage, quickly changing the score from an end of 1st 3-1, Sox to a final of 19-8, Stripes. That score is correct--this is not a rerun of playoff game three in the 2004 Laegue Championships. It might have been worse, but the Sox staged a mini ralley in the 9th, getting three runs and a few doubles. Of course, the last time the Stripes beat up on the Sox by this score, it was the setup for the most incredible comeback in baseball history--the four game sweep of the Yankees by the Sox on the way to the 2004 World Championship. Perhaps this portends something similar for this year's edition of the Sox.

On the good side, in the Sox 1st, Ellsbury, followed by Yoooouk, each hit a homer, staking the Sox to that aforementioned 3-1 lead. Also, along the way, Speedracer stole his 50th base.

Another win and A Milestone--Peter

Well, now that the Hose have clinched a spot in the post-season, they're still trying to catch the Rays for the division. Tonight, they started fast with a quick four zip lead in the first inning. Led by the usual stalwarts, Dusty and Big Papi, with their successive doubles, they jumped in front fast. Unfortunately, the Indians chipped and chipped away at their former teammate, Paul Byrd, until midway in the game, it was tied at four. It stayed that way as the innings rolled past until the 8th.

Neither team could get any runners across the plate. Jenn's favorite pitcher, Timlin, came in after Byrd and did a reasonable job for an inning. Although he allowed a couple of baserunners, he threw a scoreless inning. His successors did the same, Aardsma going two and ultimately getting credit for the win.

Finally, in the 8th, the Sox struck for a run. Bailey led off with a triple and was quickly plated with what turned out to be the winning run. In the Tribe 9th, The Only Manny-Delcarmen, took the mound. TOM quickly shut the Tribe down, preserving the victory and getting his second save of the year.

During the course of the evening, another Sox milestone was reached. With Pedroia's steal, his 20th of the year, the team became the first in Sox history since 1914 to have at least three players with 20 or more steals in the same season. The others this year, lest you forget, are Crisp with 20 and, of course, Ellsbury with 49. Speedracer's total also leads the league.

Unfortunately, even though the Fenmen won, the Rays also won, keeping their lead at three with four to go. Their magic number is now one for the division. Who'da thunk it back in April?

CLINCH!--Peter

Well, Mr. Hankie--How are your Yankees? Not in the playoffs, that's for sure! And stop complaining about one of the classiest guys to wear the pinstripes in the last half century--Torre. Also stop complaining about injuries--like every other team didn't have to deal with them. The difference is we dealt--you whined. Torre's lucky he's in LA. He's got Red Sox lite to get to the playoffs with. You got NOTHING! The Sox clinched their fifth post-season engagement in the last six years tonight, beating the Tribe 5-4. Now, they still have an opportunity to get the division championship with five games left, trailing Tampa by 2 1/2 and awaiting the outcome of the Rays' second game today with the O's. Rays win and their magic number drops to three; lose and it's still four. Basically, the Sox almost have to run the table. It's not impossible, but, as they're now in the playoffs, they may do some juggling of players, particularly as they'll want to set up the rotation for the first round.

Tonight had some nail biting, but also showed the various components of the Sox as a team, and how they've persevered and made the playoffs again in spite of some major injuries over the course of the season.

Down 4-2 halfway through the game, they quickly responded with a trey in their half of the 5th to take the lead and then handed it over to the pen. Wake had done a decent job to that point. The only rough inning he had was the Tribe's 5th, when they took the lead, 4-2.

The Only Manny, Delcarmen, gave us a good 2/3 of an inning to start off the 7th, even while loading the sacks. Then, Oki came in and closed out that inning without any damage. Masterson held the Indians scoreless for 2/3 of the 8th, allowing a pair of runners, and when Lopez couldn't get the only batter he faced to make an out, instead loading the bases, Laserman came on to squash that rally getting the batter to foul to Yoouk. After that, Pap continued on in the 9th, getting a pair of K's and a harmless grounder to end the game--on a total for the 1 1/3 innings of ten pitches!

A final note--the Rays came back and won the second game as well. So, our heroes are now down three with five to play, and the Rays' number is three to clinch the division. Let's run the table and also be thankful that we're in the post-season.

Not the Way to Clinch--Peter

Well, here we were--back at the Fens with Beckett on the mound against the Indians. A win clinches the post-season and eliminates once and for all the Stripes. A loss--welllll. Anyway, JB wasn't his usual self in this game--very wild. Although only a single BB, he hit three batters, a career high and uncorked a wild pitch. When the dust settled, we were behind four zip.

Gradually, the Hose fashioned a comeback, including another blast from Papi. However, as part of a comeback, any comeback, when you get men on base, you have to plate them. In the final two innings, the Sox kept getting multiple men on base--and leaving them there. The bull pen gave them their opportunity, but at the end of the game, the final score read 4-3, Tribe. This had better stop--and fast. The Sox have three more against the Tribe and then finish up against the guys from the Bronx, now temporarily homeless since they closed their Stadium last weekend. If the Sox want to keep it closed, they'd better win one and soon. With the loss, they're up just six on Mr. Hankie's Yankees.
Today, they face the likely Cy Young winner of 2008, Lee. The only pitcher in the league with a better W-L than Dice-K, he's 22-2 and counting. The Hubhose have to remember he can be beaten and get to him early. Once he gets in a groove, it will not be easy.

Roll The Dice-Pap & Papi With a Burst of Speed--Peter

Well, after yesterday's loss (Toronto, 6-3 with Lester allowing five in the first two innings, and only partially balanced by Bay's 31st homer of the full year, I was ready for a return to victory--and some possible closure in the form of a post-season clinch.

The game started well, Jake leading off with a triple, the first of what would be three extra base hits on the day in four at bats. The next batter up,Dusty, the Bosox' potential MVP, hit a deep fly and, just like, that the Sox were up one zip. With the Diceman holding up his responsibility, the 3d inning arrived. Jake had again gotten on base, this time with the first of a pair of doubles, and, two batters later, Big Papi worked the count full and then unleashed one. When it finally landed, the score was three zip, Sox. It was Papi's 22d homer of the year, and further evidence, if any is needed, that the big slugger appears ready for his usual role in the post-season, a point I made the other day.

Dice-K continued to knock off Jays batters just as quick as they appeared at the plate. He didn't issue as many walks as he normally does, and when he finally left, the line showed he'd allowed just a pair of hits in seven innings, a like number of free passes and struck out a half dozen. He reduced his season ERA to 2.80, and his WHIP for today was just over 0.5--pretty impressive game by any standard.

Following the Diceman in the 8th was his compatriot, Okajima. Oki performed just like the Oki of '07. He faced the minimum three hitters, retired tham all for an inning of perfection, and handed the ball over to Papelbon, better know to readers of this site as Laser.

Laserman wasted little time. Although he got no K's to boost his incredible 73/7 K to BB ratio, he took care of the Jays in fairly short order. He did allow one hit, a single, by Vernon Wells, always a thorn in the Sox' side, but left him to die on first as he kept throwing the ball past Jays hitters.

I mentioned Ellsbury's multiple extra base hits today. At least two of them were due to his blurring speed. The leadoff triple had extra bases written all over it, but anyone else would have had only a fifty-fifty shot at three bases. With Jake, it was almost a foregone conclusion, as he was in top gear before he'd gone halfway down the first base line, and quickly turned the corner there and at second, making both seem as if they lay in a straight line from first.

His second double was more of the same. Lining the ball to right, Ellsbury didn't even slow down as he rounded first. The fact that the Jays right fielder has a howitzer for an arm meant little to Jake. Almost any other runner would have been out by a foot or two, even with a slide. With Jake at speed and coming in standing up, it merely ended up appearing to be a bit closer than it might otherwise have been had he slid. In fact, as the replays showed, it wasn't even as close as it had first appeared. Two bases, no question about it!

Having won their 91st game of the year, the Sox will clinch the post-season AND ELIMINATE MR. HANKIE'S YANKEES, if the aforementioned Stripes lose the final game ever at Yankee Stadium tonight. Wouldn't THAT be symbolically sweet! It would also be an interesting extension of the notorious SI cover jinx to a ballpark. Check it out about half past eight PST tonight.

What You Need Is A Veteran!--Peter

Well, here we were--the final stretch run for the post-season. It started last week in Tampa, and now has left the country and landed in Toronto, long a thorn in the collective Sox side. Even with last week's three of four in Fenway against the Jays, this Toronto franchise has always been a cause of much pain to our heroes.

So last night's game starts this series facing one of the Jays' pair of eighteen game winners, Burnett, (the other, Halliday, comes up today) our response being mid-season acquisition Paul Byrd. Byrd has done admirably well on the whole, and has helped the Hose when they most needed it, but there we were, 2d inning, two outs on the first two Jays batters and then--BOOM!Three consecutive doubles from the bottom of the Jays order and we're trailing two zip. "This is not going to be fun", I'm thinking. Oh, ye of little faith, Peter.

There the score remains until the 5th when the Fen men tack on a trey, topped off by Casey's two run double. Unfortunately, the jays are equal to the situation and tie things up in their half of the inning and we move merrily along until the 8th.

The Sox quickly get runners on board and here comes Jason Varitek to the plate. Now, Tek has had the second of a pair of' shall we say, far less than pretty seasons with the bat. He has shown flashed of his career long capability, but overall, his BA has been sub-par. Not to worry. Tek immediately shows why, high or low BA, he's definitely who the Sox want as their catcher and captain, why he's still dangerous in a clutch situation. He's a true veteran, and, once again, proved it last night. Finding a pitch to his liking, he knocked it into the outfield to plate what would turn out to be the winning run, and then stepped aside for the Sox bullpen, with his guidance and pitch calling to nail down the win.

Speaking of the pen, The Only Manny--Delcarmen, got the 'W', with an inning of perfect baseball, followed by Oki closing out the 8th with an 'H', and Papelbon slamming the door for his 39th Save. Laser's save had a few anxious moments, largely of Pap's own making. But all was OK in the end. Pap gave up an infield hit and trying valiantly to throw out the hitter at first, instead threw the ball away--runner on 2d with no outs. He then went to 3-1 on Rolen, who, though not nearly as good as his salad days with the Cards, still can be scary with a bat. Next pitch, Rolen maced one that seemed headed to left for the tying run, but it was just a loud out. Acting more in defense than anything else, Yoouk snatched it out of the air for the out. After anothert out moved the Jays runner to 3d, Laser did what he does so well. He simply threw the ball past the Jays batter for three quick strikes--GAME OVER!

With the Sox win, they are still 1 1/2 behind the Rays for the division with nine to play, 8 1/2 over the Jays for the wild card, and 7 1/2 ahead of the Twinkies and Mr. Hankie's Yankees for the card.

Rays 10;Big Papi 3--Peter

The headline just about says it all! Last night was frustrating because the Sox matched the Rays pitch for pitch until the end and even then, barely lost. Tonight, after the Sox half of the 1st, they dropped well behind and kept getting further and further back, only slightly slowed by the efforts of Big Papi. In fact, of the Sox total of six hits for the evening, only one other went for extra bases, a double by Yoouk, that never led to or brought in any runs.

Ortiz came up in the Sox 1st with Jake on base, worked a 1-1 count and promptly drilled one deep into the cheaps in right for the only lead the Fens Men had all evening, two zip. Then, in the 4th, Hose now trailing 8-2, Papi again took the third pitch he saw and launched it. It didn't make the seats this time, however, because their was a catwalk that supports the dome in the way. It came to rest there, never to be seen again--Sox now trailing 8-3. Other than that, no offense at all from the Hose tonight.

One thing seems certain. Based on tonight's eruption and an increase of his power shots in recent games, it appears that Ortiz is ready for the post-season. Lest we forget, it was Papi who was instrumental in the playoffs in 2004 in igniting the Sox run for the world championship.

There is some unfinished business to get there. With ten to play, the Hose are leading the wild card by seven over the Twinkies and eight over both the Jays and Mr. Hankie's Yankees. Also, even though they lost the season series with the Rays 10-8, as well as dropped four of the last six with the Rays, they are still within two of the Rays. The biggest hurdle in that area is that the Rays still have a dozen games left, and are three games up on our heroes in the lost column.

However, do not lose sight of one important stat in that won/lost season record. Of the ten Rays victories,six were by just a single run and an additional two wins were by two runs. Of the Eight Sox wins, all were by more than two runs. So, a hit here, a better pitch there and the record, not to mention their relative locations in the standings might be very different. Gonna' be an interesting final thirteen days of the season.

Of Pitch Counts and Mulligans--Peter

Well, this game came down to two things--1.) the damn idea of pitch counts; and 2.) a Mulligan, which for those of you who are golf challenged, is a second chance to hit the ball, the first not counting.

Taking things in sort of reverse order, here we had Beckett rolling along through eight innings, only one mistake from a shutout, that being the Pride of Haverhill's Carlos Pena's solo shot that tied the game at one, and as we enter the 9th, what do we do? Do we let him have the chance to win his own game? Do we let him keep pitching because he's doing damn well? NO--we look to the pitch count and take him out, replacing him with a so-far decent rook with no pennant race experience to pitch in a park where until the prior day we'd not even won a single game all season. I hate to be a pessimist, but at that point the likely results were obvious. After a few batters, they were no longer likely. The sacks were jammed and we had the All-Star catcher, Navarro stepping in. Here comes the pitch--THERE goes the ballgame!

The other item, the Mulligan, was the event that allowed the Pride of Haverhill to get an extra swing, which he quickly deposited in the cheaps to tie the score, as already noted above.

The good: the Twinkies, the Jays and Mr. Hankie's Yankees all lost, so we retained our advantages in all cases with one less game to go.

Here's hoping Wake will look like the Wake of last start, not the one before.

What a Difference a Day Makes - Jenn

When I posted on Monday about the Blue Jays weekend series, I was afraid I wouldn't have any finger nails left by the time Dice-K and Kazmir left the mound. Turns out it was a fear unrealized - at least 24 hours ago.

As Dad said, Monday's first game against the Rays saw Kazmir so off his game he had already given up nine runs by the third inning. And by the time Dice-K left the mound there were several more on the board. Why you may ask? It's all because Monday wasn't a baseball game. It was a long-ball game. Of the nine starters on the bench, 6of them, that's right, six of them, hit balls out of the park; which is quite a feat since the Trop is hidden inside a dome. As a matter of fact, Jason Bays' homer was hit so hard it disappeared inside one of the catwalks never to be seen again.

But that was Monday night. A great game not only because we won, but because the win tied us with the Rays for first place in the AL East. A place the Sox haven't seen since before the All Star break.

Unfortunately last night's game, while starting off favorably, as per usual when it comes to the Rays vs. Red Sox, didn't end nearly as well. Beckett started off strong. So strong in fact that he was perfect through the first 4.1 innings. Then he gave up his first hit. But not to worry, one hit does not a run make. However a solo shot does.

Neither team could get on the board, until the sixth when Youkilis hit a deep fly ball to left. Although Hinske made the catch, the ball was plenty deep enough for Ellsbury to tag up, run home and get the Sox their first run. Unfortunately Carlos Pena, the Rays version of Big Papi, came to the plate in the 7th and tied the score with his solo shot. Beckett held strong for another inning and left with the score still tied.

It was Masterson's turn to keep the Rays at bay. He was unsuccessful. Bartlett started off the inning with a soft line drive to right. Then Pena worked a walk when an errant ball from the bullpen found it's way onto the field. That miscue led to the umps taking away Pena's 2nd strike so he could take the swing again. In elementary school we called that a do over and we always thought it was a cop out. Twenty years later I still believe it's a cop out. But cop out or not, that do over allowed Pena to land on first. Masterson did manage to strike out Longoria, unfortunately he followed up that K by hitting Floyd to load the bases.

The only thing that would get Masterson out of that jam was an infield popout, a strike out, or the best option - a double play. But none of those choices happened. Instead Navarro sent the ball all the way to the center field warning track, and because all the Sox fielders were pulled in, Crisp never had a chance of catching that ball. And even if he had, Bartlett still would have scored on the sacrifice.

So the Rays got the walk-off and regained the lead in the East. But they're still only up by a game. Today Wakefield faces Garza. And hopefully my fingernails will get the chance to start growing back.

Tied For First-Virtually!--Peter

Well, finally, here we are! The Sox went to Tampa for their final series of the regular season against their new rival for the year. Never having beaten the Rays in Tampa this year and needing at least two of three to leave here with, more or less, at least a tie for first, they had their work cut out for them. They settled the first game fast!

While the Diceman was busy gaining his 17th win against just two losses, allowing just three hits and a pair of passes in five innings, five innings in which he surrendered just a single run, a solo shot by his countryman, Iwamura, the Sox wasted no time in taking apart the Rays pitching for the night.

After the first nine pitches of the evening, the Sox had men on first and second and a 1-0 count on Big Papi. The tenth pitch of the game never found leather. Instead it found its way into the cheaps deep in right, three zip, Sox.

But the Hose were far from finished in this night--not even close. After Iwamura's 3d inning solo shot cut the lead to 4-1, the Sox closed out the game in the 4th. Sending ten men to the plate, they started immediately when Jason Bay powered one into the seats in dead center. A couple of batters later, the Sox captain, Tek, made the souvenir hunters in the left field seats happy, driving a ball into their midst and sending Lowrie home ahead of him, 7-1 Sox.

Not to be outdone, after Dusty and Big papi had added a pair of runs on the ground, Yoooouk blasted one into the same left field seats, plating Papi in front of him and finishing the scoring--for the inning.

As the game wore on, the Sox continued to build their lead, Jake adding a single run on a solo shot to the seats in right in the 5th, followed by Yoooouk's RBI two bagger to left in the 6th. At that point, it was Sox, 13-1, and Dice-K was relieved by Smith.

Not sure if it was sympathy on Tito's part, but in two innings, Smith gave up four hits, two of them two-run shots, producing the Rays' final four runs of the evening. Jenn's favorite, Timlin, and Pauley handled the mop-up, each tossing an inning of no-hit, shutout ball.

Extra Info: The six homers the Sox put in the seats is the most since they did the same thing to the Orioles in August of 2003. At the same time all of this was finding its way into the history books, Dice-K's 17th win makes him the all time highest winning Japanese pitcher in MLB, surpassing another former Sox pitcher, Hideo Nomo, who won 16 in a season thrice for the Dodgers. If that's not enough history for you, Jenn's fav, Timlin, also achieved a landmark. Tonight's appearance marked the alltime record number of relief appearances for a right handed reliever, 1,051. The old record was held by a Pirates great, Kent Tekulve. In spite of his problems this season, you don't get to hang around the Show that long if you don't have some ability. Prediction from this corner: after the final Sox win of the year (hopefully, in its final game of the year), Mike hangs 'em up--hopefully wearing his third ring.

Now, about that headline. True, the Sox eliminated the one game margin they had trailed the Rays by. However, as the number of games they and the Rays have played differ slightly to this point of the season, the Sox still trail the Rays--by just over 1 percentage point, .594595 Rays to .593333 Sox. Beckett takes the ball tomorrow and, hopefully, he'll take care of that percentage point and change--and then some.

Oh, the wild card--Mr. Hankie's Yankees won, so they remain the same distance to the rear of the Sox--tied with the Jays, who lost a half game in the standings as they were idle. The Twinkies lost and dropped another game astern of the Hose. Twelve left for the season.

Sox Take the Series from the Jays - Jenn

Only Saturday's morning game was the blemish on the series. The three others were all great games with awesome catches, timely hits and even a few nail biting moments.

Friday's game saw Wakefield pitch the game he wanted to pitch against the Rangers last week. Instead of an inning and 2/3, the knuckler pitched a solid 8. They were so solid that not one Jay scored. While the rain bogged down spectators and players alike, it clearly didn't hamper Wake's knuckler which was floating every which way. With 4 K's and not a single walk, it's probably one of Wake's best outings this season.

Meanwhile on the offensive Jed Lowrie went two for two with a pair of RBI's. Papi had a 2-run double in the 7th and Kevin Cash hit one over the monster for three more in the bottom of the 8th. Those seven runs gave the Sox a much needed win on a night when most of the other games on the east coast were rained out including the Rays/Yankees opener.

I won't talk about Game Two not because we lost but because for some reason the game was blacked out on the west coast. I saw nothing, and let me tell you. I'm glad I did. I don't think the first game of the double-header would have been very fun to watch.

But Game Three the Sox came back with avengence. This time Bartolo Colon was on the mound. Just back from an extended stint on the DL, he looked good for the first inning. While he pitched six, the 2nd created great concern for me as I watched Colon give up five runs because of a Jed Lowrie error. Luckily though, the Sox didn't let the 3-run deficit get to them and they did what they do best - buckle down and nibble away at the opposition. And thanks to some smart base running by Ellsbury and Pedroia in the first, the Sox only had to get four more runs to take the lead.

In the classic John Sayles movie "Eight Men Out" Joseph Sullivan asks a peer "You know how much you feed a horse to get a day's work out of him? Just enough so he knows he's hungry." And after the morning's loss and just three games between them and the division leading Rays, our Sox were very hungry. It was that hunger that got them the four runs they needed to win the game. Lowrie's sac fly to deep right in the bottom of the sixth started them off. Then Ortiz's take down of Marco Scutaro in the 7th allowed Ellsbury to score run number four on Youkilis' fielder's choice. The Sox just needed one more to tie it up.

That tying run came from a combo effort by Jason Bay's double off the monster and Jed Lowrie's RBI single up the middle in the eighth. But the Sox were still only tied. If they didn't want to go into extra innings, our boys in red had to make their stand now. And stand they did. With two outs, Ellsbury stepped into the batter's box and proceeded to foul off pitch after pitch. Finally he managed to get some wood on the ball, but only enough for it to dribble about 20 feet down the first base line. Somehow the ball stayed fair, allowing Ellsbury to reach first safely and Lowrie to score the Sox's sixth run. Ortiz added some insurance when he plated Dustin Pedroia with his 26th double of the season.

Saturday night's win gave the Red Sox the momentum they needed to storm into Fenway Sunday and take the final game of the series. The Sox may have needed eight innings to get the four runs they'd need to win, but they still got the W. Thanks to a spectacular outing from Jon Lester and some timely hits against the Jays' ace, Halladay, the Sox managed to squeak out four runs and take the lead against the Toronto team. The score was 4-1 going into the 9th and that's what it should have stayed. Unfortunately, Papelbon took the mound and he hasn't been lights out recently. He blew the save against the Rays on Tuesday and came dangerously close to repeating that effort last night.

After giving up a lead-off double to Vernon Wells, and two more singles to Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay, the score was 4-2 Sox. Luckily a call went the Red Sox's way when Overbay was called out at 2nd, but Lind was still standing on third with only one out. A sacrifice or ground out would plate Lind. And although Papelbon did manage to get the next two men out on ground balls, Lind still managed to get home and make the final score 4-3. Pap got his 38th save of the year, but not without a lot of nailbiting from Red Sox Nation.

Today it's off to Tropicana Field for the final series against this year's enemy, the Tampa Bay Rays. Dice-K faces Kazmir... and I'm not sure I have enough finger nails to get me through this game, let alone the series.

Another 'W' With A bit of SSweat--Peter

Well, today's game started out a bit ominously, Jon Lester giving up a homer in the very first inning. However, the Sox run manufacturing machine went into high gear in their half of the 1st and suddenly, it was 1 all. Sox run came on a base hit by Jake, followed by, in succession, his 48th steal of the year, a sacrifice by Dusty and an RBI grounder from Papi. His homer hitting may still be a bit off, but that due to the fact that his wrist still isn't 100% and likely won't be until he gets to rest it completely for three or four months--the off-season. In the 2d, the Sox took the lead for good when Bay doubled and, with two outs, came home on a single by Coco. Coco later duplicated his two out heroics for an insurance run that turned out to be much needed, but more on that later.

From the 2d on, Lester and Halliday pretty much duplicated each other's efforts. They kept putting up zeroes, giving up few hits and fewer BB's. At one point, Halliday had a consecutive out streak going of 13 batters, while Lester simultaneously had nine in a row.

Rolling into the bottom of the 7th, it was still 2-1, Sox. At that point, Coco performed his second two out run rescue job, driving in Mike Lowell, who had preceded him with a hit. In the last of the 8th, they added another insurance run. Big Papi hit a sinking liner to right that was just out of the reach of the Jays fielder and went to the wall. Papi did what he does every twelve or thirteen months in such a situation. He went to third, his first triple since August 21 of last year. Good thing he did, because the run he scored a moment later on Yoouk's sacfly was the ultimate winning margin.

Papelbon came on in relief of Lester for the 9th, though the way Lester was throwing, there's some question of why. Anyway, here was Laser. Suddenly, there was Toronto adding runs to the scoreboard. A leadoff double, a couple of singles and it was quickly 4-3, Sox. No K's yet from Pap, and there were not to be any. He managed to steady enough that, coupled with a lucky favorable call on a throw out to second which should, replays showed, have been a 'safe', not the called 'out', got the end of the game. Good thing, too.

Tampa was busy getting beaten again by Mr. Hankie's Yankees, moving the HubHose to within a game of Tampa, while also extending their lead for the wild card over Toronto to 8 1/2 and the Twinkies to six.

Now, it's off to Tampa for three that, hopefully, will leave us with the division lead.

A Big Win--Then A Split--Peter

Well, the Sox started off their important Fenway series last night against the Jays with an impressive win. Allowing only three hits over eight shutout innings, Tim Wakefield had the ball dancing, fluttering and, to use his description, tumbling everywhere but in the sights of the Toronto batters. He finished his stint by taking out the last thirteen Jays batters in a row. A quick mop-up by the Sox bullpen and the game was safe and secure in the 'W' column. The Hose picked up a quick game on the Jays in the Wild Card hunt, and a half game each on the Rays and the Twinkies, and, while we're at it, on Mr. Hankie's Yankees.

But that was last night. Today started with a lot of excitement and an opportunity to really, in effect, end Toronto's participation in the Wild Card race. Win 'em both and the Hubhose are 9 1/2 games up on the Jays and have a chance at 7 1/2 on the Twinkies, as well as a shot at picking up the two games they trailed the Rays by entering today's games. However, it was not to be. Talk about an emotional roller coaster!

Game one today: the Sox have recent acquisition Paul Byrd on the mound. Even though he gave no-one a free pass to first, he allowed ten hits that led to five runs--in just five innings.As he was facing one of the Jays' two 20 game winner candidates, Burnett, on the mound, he quickly found out that pitching that way wouldn't cut it. He was followed by Aardsma, who, just back to the Fens from a combined DL & Pawsox assignment(s), surrendered an additional three. Final score, 8-1, Jays.

So, now both the Jays, the Twinkies and the Rays are a game better off vis-a-vis the Fellows From Fens than they'd been a few hours earlier. Obviously, not only the Jays won, but all of the others also did. Time for game 2!

Game two begins with Bartolo Colon back from the DL. He pitches well enough to win, but leaves after six trailing 5-2 after having led two zip in the first. Now, you'll ask how giving up five runs in six innings is good enough to win (other than scoring eight or ten in a single inning, which, let's face it, doesn't happen every other day). Well, in this case it could have been because three of those runs were unearned. However, never say die--because if you do, you just might. You know--self fulfilling prophecy and all that stuff.

Anyway, the Sox get one back in their half of the 6th, and on Yooouk's 101st ribbie of the year, pick up another in the 7th. It's now 5-4.

Fortunately, while this is happening, the 'pen is doing a much better job in the nitecap than in the earlier show. Lopez and Masterson, the latter the ultimate winning pitcher, each toss an inning of perfect baseball, all on a cumulative total of nineteen pitches, three of which are a K that Lopez tacks on.

Comes the Sox half of the 8th--Downs, who came on in the 6th for the jays is still out there. The Sox finally jump all over a Toronto hurler today. Jason Bay, with his third hit of the game putting an exclamation point on the end of an 0-13 slump, led off the inning with a long double. Lowrie scored Bay with a single and took 2d on Dave Ross' sacrifice and 3d on Coco's grounder. Still, it's only five all.

Jake settled the issue then and there. Using the speed that tells opposing players if it's not sharply hit, don't even bother trying to get me out, he barely dribbles one about a third of the way up the first base line. Turning on the afterburners, he is a blur going to first. In case there might be any doubt about who'll win this race, Downs attempts to grab it for the throw to first--but falls flat on his face--literally. Using this opportunity, Lowrie scores the go-ahead run.

But the Sox are not quite through. Papi comes up and drives a ball deep to left for his 26th double of the year (not bad for someone who was out for 43 games with an injury) and Ellsbury goes around the bases doing his best impression of Usain Bolt for the seventh and final run of the game. Come to think of it, maybe Bolt in Beijing was merely doing his best Ellsbury impression. Either way, the Sox now had a two run lead and moved to the 9th to seal the win.

Papelbon came on and it was more like the Laser we've come to know than the imitation who showed the other night against the Rays. Faster than you can say, "Beam me up, Scotty", he'd thrown a dozen pitches, allowed no-one to even hit the ball out of the infield, much less reach base, and one more door had been slammed on an opposing team. Game most definitely over! So, net: three Sox relievers; three innings of perfection.

The Sox had regained the game in the standings they'd lost earlier in the day. Better yet, the Stripes beat the Rays, so the Sox are back to within two with fourteen to play.

During this game, Dusty simultaneously added another historic landmark to his career and burnished his credentials for the MVP. He bacame the first Sox player in nineteen years and only the third all time to get at least 200 hits and 50 doubles in a single season. Both of the former Sox players are in the Hall of Fame--Tris Speaker in 1912 and Wade Boggs in 1989. That's pretty impressive company for a player to keep.