Big Papi Home With A Vengeance!

Well, this past three games, the Sox visited Minnesota, the home of the Twinkies, and returned the favor of a sweep by the visiting team to the denizens of the Twin Cities. While the three W's were definitely whole team creations, the biggest contributor to the mayhem was none other than former Twins player (until 2003), Big Papi. Ever since the trade when the Twins let him get away to the Sox, he has taken it out on the AL Central team. His number with the Hose is that of former Twins HOF member, the late Kirby Puckett. But his heart, not to mention his bat, are all Red Sox! This visit allowed him to increase his B.A. to .364 and also had him picking up liberally in all offensive categories: homers and ribbies. In fact, when he drove a pair of balls into the cheaps in right center at the Twins' home, he took over the Red Sox franchise all time lead fro multi-homer games--more than Teddy Ballgame, more than the Babe, more than anyone else! Pretty heady company he's leading.
Not that the big man's teammates were slacking. The Dustman continued his hitting streak to eleven games, while raising his average to over .340. Jake added to his league leading steals and triples totals, Lackey picked up a heavily rain delayed win, and Nap continued to drive runs across. Also, some of the lower ends of the lineup showed strong signs of bringing their batting averages up to respectable levels, with Salty, Middlebrooks and Drew starting their respective long climbs to the higher reaches of the .200's from where they have hovered so far. If all of this weren't enough, the mound staff has also contributed. The team now has a pair of six-zip records in its starting rotation, three guys in the top ten in the league in K's, and a continuing strong pen. Uehara and Tazawa have been great in closing out games in the combined absence of the two Sox closers, Hanrahan (season over for Tommy John surgery) and Bailey (sore biceps; just off the DL today). All of this, led by Papi, has created the current five game winning streak, and moved the Hose back to within a half game of the Stripes for the Division lead.
Today, it's off to the Windy City, long time home of their opponent's broadcaster and famous Sox slugger Ken Harrelson--The Hawk!

Sox Get Timely Hits

Well, after a dismal slide that took them from not only the Division lead, but also to the best record in MLB, the Sox may have found the remedy. It wasn't a secret. All they needed was the occasional timely or clutch hit. They were getting baserunners against the Twins and the Rangers, but somehow, couldn't get them home. The trend continued for the most part in Toronto as well. Then off to the Trop to face their recent nemesis of the last 2-3 years, the Rays. So, last night, they settled the issue in the opener in the 3d inning. Putting four runs across against last year's Cy Young winner, before he left with a strain in his throwing arm that today found him on the DL, they then loaded the bases. A simple hit could help get them some breathing room and a W. Drew at the plate and, Boy, did he take care of business. One swing--Grand Slam--Sox up eight zip. They gave back a pair of those in the Rays' half, but later added a solo shot off the bat of Middlebrooks for a final score of 9-2. Lester wasn't perfect, but got better as he rolled along and ended up raising his record to a perfect 6-0 on the season, tying rotation mate Bucky.
Which brings us to tonight's game. With minimal hits for either team, the Rays broke on top in the 2d, 1-0 and the Hose tied in the 4th on a base hit by Papi, plating Victorino. A couple of innings later the Rays retook the lead, scoring a pair of runs as Hose starter Doubront ran out of gas; 3-1, Rays. Although he only shows five innings of work, he pitched into the 6th, but couldn't put anyone away in that inning. The Rays pitchers, in the meantime gave up no hits at all after the 6th, and only a total of three up to that point, including Papi's aforementioned RBI hit and Victorino's two-bagger that set it up. Came the Sox 9th! The Dustman and Papi led off the inning with freebies, followed by Nava's full count BB after Nap fanned. Sacks jammed! After Drew waved at a third strike, Middie drove a hard double into left clearing the bases and giving the Hose their only lead of the evening! And, like the man said, the only score that counts is the one at the end of the game. Failing to add any insurance, the Hose turned to their new closer of the moment, Tazawa, already having thrown an inning of shutout ball. Here it was classic Sox tension. The Rays leadoff man singled, and the winning run came to the plate. Did Taz worry? Well, he didn't show it. He promptly got Zobrist on a liner to third and followed it up with a great K of Rays offensive star Longoria. Could Sox fans breathe easier? Not   so    fast. Rays batter Escobar singles and suddenly the Rays have two on, with the winning run at first. Loney, a pretty good hitter strides to the plate, one hit away from driving a stake through the Sox' heart. Does Taz worry? Nah! Loney swings, makes contact--and it's a simple ground ball to Drew, who closes things down. Sox win. With the loss by the Stripes, Sox get back to within a game of first and a half game up on the O's. Two in a row! And all it took was a timely hit. It's great when things go the way you want them to.

Sox Regain Momentum vs Jays

Well, after the distress of last night's blown game, all on Lackey's major throwing error, that allowed the Stripes to take over 1st on % points, and got the Birds tied with the Hose 6 % points behind, the Jays came to the Fens tonight. Lester was on tonight for the Sox, and, as things turned out, that's all you have to know. Yes, both the Dustman and Victorino had multi-hit nights, but tonight the big news was Lester. Although he only garnered 5 K's, he tossed a complete game one hit shutout. The goose egg was a no-no through five and 2/3, finally being broken up on a double by Izturis. Had that ball not gotten through, Lester very well could have been perfect as he gave no-one a free pass all evening. In fact, Izturis was the only Jay to get on base at all! For the game, JL's WHIP was an almost invisible 0.11, and his ERA dropped back below 3, settling at 2.73 by game's end. He also lowered his opponent's BA against him to a sub-Mendoza .193. So, he's now 5-0 on the year, just behind rotation mate Bucky. Offensively, the Hose had ten hits, four of which were for extra bases. Although Papi went for the collar again--once the streak ended, he's not been as fortunate on the hits column--there was a moment when everyone in the park, as well as anyone following somewhere electronically got a taste of the respect as a hitter and slugger opposing teams now have. It was the 3d inning. With Victorino on 1st and Papi at bat, the Jays hurler tried a pickoff and blew the throw. Victo ended up standing on 2d and suddenly wisdom demanded that Papi be intentionally walked.  Not taking any chances with the big guy in that situation, no sir. Nobody scored that time, but the message was clear. If Papi comes up with men on, especially in scoring position, he gets a pass.
Join us for the next game tomorrow evening.

Words Cannot (and Won't) Express!

Well, last night's 6-1 loss to the Twinkies (maybe I should call them by their given name, Twins, after all), was not great, but I figured it was just an off night. I mean, after all, starter Dempster did only allow two runs, and still got 8 K's. Papi DID keep his streak alive at 27. Then came tonight! The title of this piece says it all!
The Twins opened up with a four run 1st against new Sox starter Webster--just recalled from the Pawsox in the aftermath of both Sox closers going to the DL on the same day and the following move to the pen of Doubront to help cover. OK, I say, big deficit to make up, but these are the Sox--team hitting well; Papi on a streak and it's only the 1st. I should have quit right there! The Sox gave some hope in their half of the inning, responding to the T's four with a fin of their own. Finished off by Johnny Gomes' slam, we're leading and that Twins fourspot ain't looking so bad after all. After what happened in the T's 2d, it definitely looked good--in comparison! The Twins sent 11 men to the plate and added seven to their previous four. In just a half inning the Hose had gone from one up to six down! Now you have to admit--that's not exactly what you'd define as progress. Yes, the Hose picked up a run in their half of the 2d, but that just got them to 11-6, Twins. It only got worse from there. When the smoke had cleared and it was all done, including the screaming, the final was Twins 15, Sox 8. OUCH! In fact, 'ouch' doesn't cover it, but I'm not sure what would, so I'll leave it at 'ouch'. It's not as if the Hose didn't hit. They did, after all, get eight runs, normally a pretty good guarantee of a win. Not tonight. They had a dozen hits, four of them for extra bases, including a pair into the cheaps. Actually only one landed there. The other, Gomes' blast, cleared everything and landed out on Landsdowne Street somewhere. But, the Sox moundsmen, at least until they were deep--very deep--into the pen, performed as if they were just serving up BP to the Twins players. It was so bad that even Papi's streak ended, leaving him 29 shy of Joe D, and equal to his former teammate, Manny's 2006 run of 27 games.
Not much else to say from here, except tomorrow's a fresh slat, and the Sox can at least square the series at a deuce apiece. The loss also dropped the Hose into a tie for first with the O's and just a half game ahead of the Stripes.
By the way, for you inveterate overall, all sports, Boston fans, as you probably know by the time you read this, the Bruins took a 3-1 Cup series lead against the Leafs in Toronto, with a 4-3 overtime win.

Three Losses in Texas

Well, based on history, I had my usual trepidations when our team left Toronto for Arlington, Texas. As it turned out, they were well founded. The first two games were not really close, although they could not be described as laughers. In fact, had all the LOB's for both teams actually scored, the Sox might have won at least one. Trouble is, they didn't score. Which brings us to the finale yesterday. Facing the Rangers' ace, Japanese import Yu Darvish, the Sox quickly opened a three zip lead, based on homers by Papi and Sox offseason acquisition, Ross, the fourth of the season for both of them. Papi, in the process, also extended his hitting streak to 25 games, dating to last season. However, the combination of Darvish's 14 K's, the second time this year he's reached that total, and some timely hitting later in the game by the Rangers was too much to overcome. A pair of Rangers homers off of Hose starter Lester tied it by the 6th and former Sox third sacker (a couple of years ago) Beltre managed to get a ball just beyond the reach of Sox infielders to bring home the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the 9th--a walkoff single and the 3d loss in a row for the Hose. The only other highlight for the Sox was three stolen bases, including the Dustman's 7th of the young season, which keeps him in the league leaders behind team mate Jake and a few others. Jake leads the majors in swipes with a dozen. This is the longest losing streak of the season for the Sox, and hopefully, they'll right the ship tonight at the Fens against the Twinkies. Bucky is scheduled to take the ball for this one.

Closer, But Still A Win

Tonight the Sox finished this series at Toronto with another win against the Jays. It was a lot closer than last night's laugher and the Sox were outhit, 7-6, by the Jays, but the only stat that counts at game's end is the score, and the Hose took care of that 3-1. After trailing early, the Hose put up a deuce in the 2d and tacked on the final run of the evening in the 6th. Not that both teams didn't have opportunities for more runs, especially the Sox, but good pen work again from Tazawa, Uehara, Miller and Hanrahan, he for his 4th Save of the season, kept the Jays in check and preserved the Sox lead and ultimately, the win. Dempster got his 2d W with the Sox, six innings of four hit, one run ball with four K's. He reduced his ERA to an even 3.00 and appears ready to join the other two members of the rotation (Lester & Bucky) in the sub-3 club next outing.
Offensively, Papi had the night off. Hope he's not having any achilles relapse. He's going so well so far since coming back to action. Tonight's heroes were Nap, with another two-bagger to extend his MLB-leading total to 15, and Gomes, who got above the Mendoza line with a pair of hits and an RBI. Jake also picked up another ribbie, as did Drew on a sacfly. As the Stripes were off tonight, the Hose' lead grew to 2 1/2 games and remained at 3 1/2 over the O's, who won in Anaheim. Tomorrow the team goes up against West Div leader Texas in Arlington (TX not MA). Should be a good series, but not sure if the Hose will have to face the offerings of the Rangers' ace, Yu Darvish. We'll see as the weekend unfolds.

Sox Miss Record--Then Annihilate Jays

Well, try as they might, this year's edition of the Red Sox will have to be satisfied with just tying the franchise record for most wins in April: 18. Last night, they dropped behind early, then, compliments of Big Papi and team mates, pulled ahead 7-6, only to have the pen, a pillar of strength so far, drop one. They lost 9-7, with Tazawa taking the L. However, Papi continued his white hot run, while the Dustman also picked up a couple of hits. Lester, who started, avoided the loss because the Hose took the lead just after he left, in the 7th, but his showing was his worst of the season. It wasn't terrible, but it was well below what he'd shown previously in 2013.
So, now it's May, and the Hose started the new month by shellacking the Jays 10-1. Started Bucky was virtually untouchable, allowing just a pair of scattered hits, three walks and no runs in seven very strong innings. Wilson allowed the Jays' only run in the 8th, and Mortenson cleaned up the end.  As for the offense, what can you say? They collected 15 hits, eight of which were for extra bases, and five of those were roundtrippers, a pair by Napoli, who, subject to other games tonight, appears to have regained his MLB ribbie lead, while keeping his MLB doubles lead. He was three for four, collecting a solid two base hit to complement his pair of cheap seat shots. Papi also doubled, while the other three HR's were by Carp, Nava and Drew. In fact, the hitting was pretty well spread around the order, with only Gomes getting collared. Drew, like Middlebrooks, starting to show signs of life at the plate, got a pair of hits, one the aforementioned HR.
For all you Boston fans who follow, like moi, all Hub teams, the Boston newspaper sports page headlines tomorrow morning will likely read Sox, B's, C's win. The two winter teams are both in the playoffs, and the Bruins won their first playoff game tonight, 4-1, while the Celtics, having fallen behind the Knicks 3-0 in their series, are trying to copy the 2003 Sox and become the first in their sport to win a series after being down three games. With tonight's victory in New York, they are halfway there, now trailing 3-2 and going back to Beantown.