Papi Settles It!

Well, after a solid beating by the Rangers yesterday, even though the Hose made a run at a comeback before losing 10-7, the Sox took out their recent frustrations on the guys from Texas today. With Peavey pitching, the Sox held a slim 1-0 lead through six, soon to be 1-1 after seven, with Peavy going 6 2/3 of that. He was masterful, getting 8 K's and allowing just three hits. Even adding in his four freebies, his game WHIP was still just fractionally over 1.0. After the lead was surrendered in the 8th by Miller, who allowed a shot to the cheaps for the tying run, the Sox took to the plate in their half of the 8th. After Bradley walked and Pierczynski moved him over with a single, Pedey hit into a fielder's choice that left Hose on 1st & 3d. Up comes Papi and he does exactly what we have all loved to see him do. One swing and the ball comes to rest in Never Never Land in right and the Sox have retaken the lead, 4-2. Here's the ball, Koji. Take the ball he did, in the 9th, and settled things quickly. On eleven pitches, he put the Rangers to sleep and the Hose had the W.
Papi had a good day, going 2-4 with a two bagger, the aforementioned shot and three ribbies. Jackie Bradley, showing that he's gotten much better than his brief sojourn with the parent club last year, showed his plate judgment, taking enough pitches from Rangers hurlers to collect three freebies, and make no outs. His average for now still rests at .400.

Sox Lose 2d Straight as Pen Fails Again

Well, against the Brewers, the answer the Sox need to come up with is how to get some of the newer members of the vaunted pen to pitch like the leaders from last year such as Tazawa and Uehara. Today, the fault lies at the doorstep of Badenhop, who, in 15 pitches, gave up a pair of two baggers and what ultimately was the winning run. Not that the Sox hadn't been swimming in shark infested waters all day. Bucky had a start quite different from last year's. In four and a third, he surrendered thirteen (no typos here) hits, a pair of them into the cheaps, and six earned runs. About the only good thing from his outing was the fact that no Brewer reached on a freebie.
The Sox had their chances as the game progressed from there, eventually tying the score in the 6th. Along the way, they had doubles by Gomes and Bogaerts, as well as a dinger for three runs by Nap that got the Hose to within one. But overall, the Hose only managed seven hits, not a recipe for success when your opponent is picking up nineteen.
a bright spot: Capuano, in his second game for the Hose, again remained scoreless, this time for a pair of innings. Although he did allow two hits, he also picked up four K's, maintaining his perfect ERA, and an opponents BA of .182. That number, folks, is second in the Sox pen to, who else, Uehara, who also threw another scoreless inning today. This time, he struck out the side on a total of 13 pitches.
Hopefully, tomorrow the Sox will pick up the series ending game, get back to .500 and start a nice long winning streak.

Formula 2013 Good in 2014

Well, the Sox tonight used the same formula to win that hey finished out last year with. Get timely hitting from a relentless offense and combine with good starting pitching backed by a shutdown pen.  Tonight, both Papi and Bogaerts each had three hits, helping the Hose total 14 hits off O's pitching.  Of the 14, a dozen were singles, but came in clusters, so that the Sox never trailed. Using single runs in the 2d, 3d, and 4th innings, they jumped out to a three zip lead, only to have the O's finally get going in the bottom of the 4th with a pair. However, the Sox lost no time in regaining a part of their lead, adding a run in the 6th. This final Sox run came in just enough time to offset the O's third run in the bottom of the frame.

Sox starter Dubront was good enough to set up the Sox lead, finally being chased in the middle of the 6th with an Oriole on base and one out. That runner did score on a wild pitch by Workman, and was charged to Dubront. So, his ERA doesn't look too impressive, but he pitched when it was necessary, thus allowing the Sox to maintain their lead when he left. He picked up four K's, and that total was added to by the Sox pen, which added its own total of four K's. After the pickup by Workman, the rest of the game was pure Sox 2013 pen. First new free agent Capuano, then Tazawa and Uehara in order each tossed a hitless inning, with Capuano and Uehara both being perfect.  In fact, Koji was so good, he needed just seven pitches to close things out.

Sox come home to Fenway for the season opener tomorrow against Milwaukee, and there will be a ring presentation ceremony for the Champs' Series rings before the game. This will be Papi's third ring, and the second each for Lester, Pedey, and Bucky.

Papi, Nap Homer; Lackey K's 6

Well, today's game was markedly different in almost all ways from the opener against the O's. The only similarity to the opener is that the O's runs came from a blast by Cruz, a free agent addition.
From there, however, the Sox dominated. Never trailing, they started off with a 2 run shot by Papi in the 3d. After Cruz tied it up the next inning, they then went to town immediately. In the next inning, Nap hit one out, making it 4-2, Sox. Then, in the 7th, the Hose greeted new pitcher Webb with a bases loaded situation of his own making: a couple of Sox hits, a freebie, and up comes Nap. Base hit! Sox score another pair, and the game is basically put away. The final is 6-2, Sox, with the Hose totaling ten hits, including the two homers.
Lackey was stellar. He went a solid six, allowing just the shot by Cruz, but only a pair of other hits, while striking out six. His game WHIP was 0.67, and that's better than 'not too shabby'. It's exceptional, in fact! While I'm on Sox pitching, the pen picked up from there, allowing three harmless hits over three shutout innings, including a K per inning.
Other heroes of note were The Dustman. Who else? Pedey went four for five, and raised his BA to .600, while scoring a pair of runs. I know it's just the second game of the year, but he was vintage Pedey--like always.
Final game of the series is tomorrow with Dubront getting the ball.

Sox Can Only Finish 161-1 Now

Well, the opening game in Baltimore wasn't the outcome all of us in Red Sox Nation hoped for. However, even in the narrow 2-1 loss, there was a lot to cheer for. Sizemore showed up well, bringing in the Sox sole run with a homer. The Sox starter, Lester, looked very good, and deserved a better fate. Although he gave up both O's runs, he has a 2.67 ERA, went 1.0 for his game WHIP, and K'd 8 in 7 innings. Sox outhit the O's and had a huge advantage in LOB's, and that's the trouble with last night's game--LOB. The Sox left 13 guys stranded, and in the 9th has two on with one out, only to have Papi fly out and Bradley take a called third strike.  The lack of a timely hit can be, and was, a killer last night. Add in the placing of Vic on the 15 day DL, and I've seen better starting days.

Sizesmore's in Center

Well, here we are three days before Opening Day, and the Sox have made it official. Starting in center field will be Grady Sizemore, taking Jake's place. After over a half dozen surgeries in as many years, that threatened his career, the Sox, took a chance on him to succeed Jake in center. Competing throughout the spring with Jackie Bradley, Jr., Sizemore won the opposition, batting over .300 for the spring and showing some power. He's a 3 time All Star, and here's best wishes to him to return to his former pre-injury glory!

Sox Name Four to Sox Hall of Fame

Well, it ain't Cooperstown, but, for now, it'll do. The Sox this week named four individual to the team's Hall of Fame, induction to be later in the summer. The four are: Roger Clemens, Pedro Martinez, Nomar Garciaparra and Joe Castiglione.  Of the four, it's definite at least one, and possibly two will also end up with a plaque in Cooperstown: Pedro definitely and Nomar a possibility, although possibly after a bit due to his numbers later in his career due to injuries. As for the Rocket, his post-Sox alleged PED use may be what keeps him from the baseball HOF. At least up to now, no-one even remotely associated with the PED scandal(s) has received anywhere near enough votes for entry to that Hall. We'll see.
As for Castiglione, he's been one of the anchors to the Sox broadcast team for the last several years and has, as any Nation member can attest, had many of the memorable calls of the Sox 21st Century success.
Congratulations to all, and stay awake--Spring Training starts in 6 DAYS!!