Well, this game had a bit more punch than the last one. In fact, I think Coco may be practicing to take on Sugar Ray--either one. But, I'll leave that discussion to Jenn. My only comment on events over the last two games is: the Rays should be glad they're not playing against Tyrus Raymond Cobb, better known to casual fans as Ty. That's Ty, as in lifetime BA of .367; 4191 hits; 896 steals and a basket full of .400 seasons.He went into hard slides all the time. If you were the fielder trying to tag him out on a steal attempt, you had to be prepared for his spikes. He came in with them high--and expertly sharpened before the game. 'Nuff said--Take over, Jenn. I'm on to the game.
Today's game completed the second Sox Fenway sweep of the Rays in just over a month. It also simultaneously extended the Sox' latest streak to three straight and six of seven, while extending the Sox division lead to a game and a half over the Rays. As with a number of the recent Sox W's, this also was definitely a team effort. With nine hits spread around the lineup, only two of which were for extra bases, the Sox put a concentrated effort together that quickly took the Rays out off the game and then slammed the door on them.
Starting in the first inning, Pedroia reached after being hit on the elbow and was joined on base by Drew, who drilled a neat two-bagger. Front and center ManRam. Two pitches later, the ball was soaring over the Monster Seats, a truly Monster drive--three zip Sox. From there, it was just a matter of piling it on for a few more innings, the final of 7-1 being reached by the fourth inning.
Lester pitched into the 7th, limiting the Rays to a single run, while picking up 5 K's and allowing no free passes. He was succeeded by Jenn's favorite pitcher, Mrs. Timlin's favorite son, Mike. Timlin proceeded to go 1 2/3 hitless innings of shutout ball, allowing only a pair of walks. His effort was followed by a final inning of one hit shutout ball from Aardsma and just like that the Sox had upped their lead.
In addition to the timely hitting, the Sox relay team was also busy during the night. This time it wasn't Ellsbury as he'd left the game early after hurting his wrist diving for a ball in the outfield in the 4th. This time the track star was Lugo, who stole his seventh sack of the season. It's not 28, but, at the present rate, it'll total about 20 by season's end. Once upon a time, a Red Sox right fielder named Jackie Jensen won the league stolen base crown with 22 in a season, at the time an unheard of number for a Red Sox player. Of course, as folks old enough to remember can tell you, Jensen was quite a player and would have been good in any era. He regularly got 100 ribbies annually, hit 20+ homers a year and played a pretty respectable defensive right field. Even more uniquely, he was an All-America running back at UC-Berkeley and, to this day, is the only individual to have played in both the Rose Bowl and the World Series. Quite a heritage to live up for.
The thing that finally ended his career, a good deal before it should have ended, was fear. That's fear as in of flying. As the game expanded nationally, it was only a matter of time with the teams all relying more and more on planes to make their continent-spanning trips. John Madden's private bus wouldn't have worked, as he only has a single game every week to get to. A half dozen a week couldn't be covered in the same way.
One final note--CELTICS WIN GAME ONE vs. Lakers!!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Coco was in the Wrong - Jenn
Sorry, Dad, but I respectfully disagree. I even re-watched the steal in the 6th and the steal in the 8th and I still think Coco was in the wrong.
But before I get to Coco's steal in the 8th, let's look at the steal that started this whole fight. There were 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th. Ellsbury was at the plate. And on a pitch-out, Coco stole 2nd base. Unfortunately Rays short stop Jason Bartlett blocked the bag with his knee. So while Coco was safe, he injured his left thumb on the slide when his hand made contact with Bartlett's knee. (It's now bandaged and we'll have to wait and see how bad the injury is.)
Bartlett should not have been blocking 2nd that way. He's a short stop, not a catcher and this is 2nd base, not home plate. Yes, he should have been straddling the bag, but not at the knees. He should've been straddling with his feet. But he wasn't, Coco was pissed and he let Bartlett know it. So, since this is baseball and Coco was hurt, of course it's time for payback.
Just to be clear, I have no problem with payback. It's part of the game. When a pitcher hits a batter, I totally expect the opposing pitcher to hit a batter on the opposing team. Everyone expects it. The umpires even give warnings over it. But that's pitchers. These are infielders and in my opinion it's a different set of rules. You don't go after an innocent bystander. If Bartlett's the one that hurt you, go after him.
Well, it turns out that was Coco's intention. He admitted after the game that he thought Bartlett would be the one covering 2nd in the 8th since he was covering 2nd during the original steal. Unfortunately he was wrong and Iwamura got the brunt of Coco's attack.
Now, I've seen base runners take out 2nd basemen, and I've always felt it was a little shady. I can get behind it though, when the point of the attack is to avoid the double play. But this was not a double play ball. This was a steal. And the fact is Coco slid waaaaay too late. Coco wasn't stealing to be safe, he only had one thing in mind - take out the baseman. And that's exactly what he did.
Iwamura wasn't hurt, but I wouldn't be surprised if Coco gets hit by a pitch in today's final outing against the Rays. Even Coco says he wouldn't be surprised if the Rays decide to retaliate. He just doesn't want them to take it out on his teammates. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how steamed Rays manager Joe Maddon really is.
But before I get to Coco's steal in the 8th, let's look at the steal that started this whole fight. There were 2 outs in the bottom of the 6th. Ellsbury was at the plate. And on a pitch-out, Coco stole 2nd base. Unfortunately Rays short stop Jason Bartlett blocked the bag with his knee. So while Coco was safe, he injured his left thumb on the slide when his hand made contact with Bartlett's knee. (It's now bandaged and we'll have to wait and see how bad the injury is.)
Bartlett should not have been blocking 2nd that way. He's a short stop, not a catcher and this is 2nd base, not home plate. Yes, he should have been straddling the bag, but not at the knees. He should've been straddling with his feet. But he wasn't, Coco was pissed and he let Bartlett know it. So, since this is baseball and Coco was hurt, of course it's time for payback.
Just to be clear, I have no problem with payback. It's part of the game. When a pitcher hits a batter, I totally expect the opposing pitcher to hit a batter on the opposing team. Everyone expects it. The umpires even give warnings over it. But that's pitchers. These are infielders and in my opinion it's a different set of rules. You don't go after an innocent bystander. If Bartlett's the one that hurt you, go after him.
Well, it turns out that was Coco's intention. He admitted after the game that he thought Bartlett would be the one covering 2nd in the 8th since he was covering 2nd during the original steal. Unfortunately he was wrong and Iwamura got the brunt of Coco's attack.
Now, I've seen base runners take out 2nd basemen, and I've always felt it was a little shady. I can get behind it though, when the point of the attack is to avoid the double play. But this was not a double play ball. This was a steal. And the fact is Coco slid waaaaay too late. Coco wasn't stealing to be safe, he only had one thing in mind - take out the baseman. And that's exactly what he did.
Iwamura wasn't hurt, but I wouldn't be surprised if Coco gets hit by a pitch in today's final outing against the Rays. Even Coco says he wouldn't be surprised if the Rays decide to retaliate. He just doesn't want them to take it out on his teammates. Guess we'll just have to wait and see how steamed Rays manager Joe Maddon really is.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Streaks and Freaks--Peter
That's streaks as in the Sox' latest, which started against the Rays in Fenway yesterday (or, if you want to stretch a point, is now five of six and began in Baltimore over the weekend); and freaks, as in some of the idiots on Fox Sports blog, as well as the Rays manager, who don't seem to understand that this isn't Little League--it's MLB with all the intensity of the moment. Everyone's upset because Coco slid late into second in the 8th and took out the Rays 2d sacker, Iwamura in the process, though Coco was tagged out.
I guess they'd have crucified should-be Hall of Famer Pete Rose for his famous home plate slide and crash into the catcher to score in the All Star game, and would have also screamed to high heaven over God only knows how many slides into defending infielders Hall of Famer Ty Cobb made. It's the game! Get over it! For those who say Coco (or any of the others I mentioned) was 'trying to deliberately hurt' Iwamura, I respond, "Go home and cry on Mommy's shoulder and then have some milk and cookies so you feel better." You're obviously too young to understand the game at an adult level.
What makes these cry-babies seem even more infantile was the fact that the Sox were well on their way to a win at the time--one that would restore them to first place in the division.
Overall, another good team effort, in the same vein as last night's. Tonight, the Sox got 11 hits, with only one, a double from Drew, for extra bases. But, tying these together with stolen bases by JD & Coco, and adding in some damn good pitching, the entire team contributed. Officially, every starter except Dusty and Lugo hit safely. Actually, as replays showed, Dusty also got a hit, a ground rule double down the right field line in their half of the first that was barely fair when it settled in the seats. The first base umpire blew the call, declaring it foul. So much for that hit. Had it counted, the Sox would have taken over the game that much earlier.
On the other side of the ball, Sox pitching wasn't perfect, but it was better than OK. In six innings, JB gave up a single run, struck out five and, once again, didn't walk a batter. That's his eighth time in his last eleven starts that he's walked one or fewer batters. That's not too shabby! Shades of Pedro!
The reason he came out after only 92 pitches is that he'd slipped badly as he planted his foot on the mound, wet from an ongoing drizzle, on a pitch in the sixth. Although he stayed in to finish out the inning and showed no ill effects, Tito and the Sox medical brain trust decided wisdom was, in this case, the better part of valor. With so many other Sox pitchers serving a variety of sentences on the DL, I can't say I disagree. Nothing was to be gained by keeping him in there. Schill, Dice and Buchholtz don't need any additional company right now.
As it turned out, the bullpen did fine. Okajima redeemed himself for his last outing, giving up only a single in an inning of scoreless work, and Hansen finished up the 9th in just 10 pitches. Kind of a continuation of the command he demonstrated last night. However, the most awesome work from the pen was the guy who preceded Oki. Taking the rock to start the 7th, The Other Manny-Delcarmen just about wiped out the Rays with a display that looked like the second coming--of Laserman.
In a total of 16 pitches, the final one reaching 98 mph, he shut down the side on 3 K's. First batter--K! Second batter--K! Third batter--K! Inning over! TOM looked as good as he ever has!
OK--that's the first two of the series against the Rays. Time to break out the brooms tomorrow and keep the Hose in first!
I guess they'd have crucified should-be Hall of Famer Pete Rose for his famous home plate slide and crash into the catcher to score in the All Star game, and would have also screamed to high heaven over God only knows how many slides into defending infielders Hall of Famer Ty Cobb made. It's the game! Get over it! For those who say Coco (or any of the others I mentioned) was 'trying to deliberately hurt' Iwamura, I respond, "Go home and cry on Mommy's shoulder and then have some milk and cookies so you feel better." You're obviously too young to understand the game at an adult level.
What makes these cry-babies seem even more infantile was the fact that the Sox were well on their way to a win at the time--one that would restore them to first place in the division.
Overall, another good team effort, in the same vein as last night's. Tonight, the Sox got 11 hits, with only one, a double from Drew, for extra bases. But, tying these together with stolen bases by JD & Coco, and adding in some damn good pitching, the entire team contributed. Officially, every starter except Dusty and Lugo hit safely. Actually, as replays showed, Dusty also got a hit, a ground rule double down the right field line in their half of the first that was barely fair when it settled in the seats. The first base umpire blew the call, declaring it foul. So much for that hit. Had it counted, the Sox would have taken over the game that much earlier.
On the other side of the ball, Sox pitching wasn't perfect, but it was better than OK. In six innings, JB gave up a single run, struck out five and, once again, didn't walk a batter. That's his eighth time in his last eleven starts that he's walked one or fewer batters. That's not too shabby! Shades of Pedro!
The reason he came out after only 92 pitches is that he'd slipped badly as he planted his foot on the mound, wet from an ongoing drizzle, on a pitch in the sixth. Although he stayed in to finish out the inning and showed no ill effects, Tito and the Sox medical brain trust decided wisdom was, in this case, the better part of valor. With so many other Sox pitchers serving a variety of sentences on the DL, I can't say I disagree. Nothing was to be gained by keeping him in there. Schill, Dice and Buchholtz don't need any additional company right now.
As it turned out, the bullpen did fine. Okajima redeemed himself for his last outing, giving up only a single in an inning of scoreless work, and Hansen finished up the 9th in just 10 pitches. Kind of a continuation of the command he demonstrated last night. However, the most awesome work from the pen was the guy who preceded Oki. Taking the rock to start the 7th, The Other Manny-Delcarmen just about wiped out the Rays with a display that looked like the second coming--of Laserman.
In a total of 16 pitches, the final one reaching 98 mph, he shut down the side on 3 K's. First batter--K! Second batter--K! Third batter--K! Inning over! TOM looked as good as he ever has!
OK--that's the first two of the series against the Rays. Time to break out the brooms tomorrow and keep the Hose in first!
"Sox Appeal" is Back - Jenn
Starting this time last year NESN decided to jump on the dating-show bandwagon with "Sox Appeal". According to the NESN website, Sox Appeal is a show that sends "a single fan (the hero) on three blind dates over the course of one Red Sox game. Each date lasts two innings. During the seventh-inning stretch, our hero consults the Fenway faithful who help the hero decide which dater should come in from the bullpen to close the game. If the dater closes the game, NESN sends them out for a night on the town. If not, there's always next week."
Last year Don and Remy would cut to the couple at their table in the Monster Seats and comment on the goings on. Well last night was the first taping of the the new season. And in classic Don and Remy fashion, they had a lot to say about one of last night's couples. I was laughing my butt off, both at their comments and the girl herself. Anyway, I decided it was just too good to keep to myself. So, I taped it for you guys. You may need to turn the volume up to hear our faithful reporters, but it's well worth the laugh.
Last year Don and Remy would cut to the couple at their table in the Monster Seats and comment on the goings on. Well last night was the first taping of the the new season. And in classic Don and Remy fashion, they had a lot to say about one of last night's couples. I was laughing my butt off, both at their comments and the girl herself. Anyway, I decided it was just too good to keep to myself. So, I taped it for you guys. You may need to turn the volume up to hear our faithful reporters, but it's well worth the laugh.
So what do you think of the hero's second date? She's quite a character, isn't she. And what a dancer.
While watching the couple go through the motions is always fun, Don and Remy know the viewers are there to watch the game. So they make sure we don't miss a thing, cutting back and forth to the action on the field. And as Dad posted, there was a lot of action on the field last night. Good to see the team isn't letting Papi's bad news get them down. But the real question is, how long can the team sustain without their designated hitter? Only time will tell. As for the couple on top of the monster, we'll have to wait for the new season to start in August to see how that turns out.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
The Team Sucks It Up--Peter
Well,, we got the official word on Papi's wrist. The tendon sheath is partly torn and even though he's only on the 15 day DL, it's generally conceded that he'll be gone for at least a month. No-one's planning on surgery at this point, but just as his bat was truly coming around, he's gone again. Aside from his power numbers, which are among the league leaders, his BA is almost respectable--a few points more and legitimate respectability would be his.
So, what does the team do when one of its offensive leaders goes down? The same thing when a soldier in battle gets hit. Everyone else picks up the banner and moves forward. It's simple--suck it up, go forward or die. The Sox performance tonight was a very good example of that.
Manny got only one hit, but reached base twice and scored both times. Ellsbury, in spite of not getting a hit, continued to take a page from the likes of Maury Wills and Lou Brock. Get on base any way you can and it's more often than not like hitting a double. He gets to first, lights the afterburners and BANG there he is standing on second and ready to come around at the first opportunity. Tonight he added another stolen base to his league leading total.
Lowell only got one hit tonight, but it counted as much as possible--a two run shot to the cheaps. JD had two hits-a two bagger and a homer to account for two of the Sox runs while raising his BA top the highest it's been in over a month. He's just shy of returning to .300 territory again.
Even Coco, who's been in the grips of a miserable slump in recent weeks came through with a very timely two run double to put the Sox up 6-4 in the 6th when they took control of the game for good.
Let's not forget the pitching staff. Masterson was good enough to get the win, going six innings on his fast recall from the Pawsox. Though he gave up all four Rays runs, if you take away the two bad pitches he made that Iwamura and the Pride of Haverhill (Pena) each put beyond the reach of any outfielder, he's throwing shutout ball. I know, I know. You're saying, "If cows had wings, we all could fly" (never understood the exact logic of how that one worked), but minus those two pitches, he's pitching pretty fine.
Tito, having seen enough replaced him with The Other Manny-Delcarmen the 7th and was rewarded with an inning of hitless shutout ball. Lopez was inserted in the 8th, and when he walked what would be his only batter, was followed with Hansen.
Now Hansen is a big strong kid who sometimes can't control where he puts his pitches. He's ample proof that being able to throw consistently in the mid-90's isn't always everything if you can't do it with command. Tonight he had that command. Ten pitches later and a perfect 8th was over. In the final inning, Laserman arrived on the scene and, true to classic form, turned off the lights for the Rays. Twelve pitches, two K's and another perfect inning to notch his 17th save in 19 chances and Pap, not to mention the rest of the team, had pulled together and cut the Rays' lead in the division to 1/2 game.
The performance shows exactly what this team can do as a team. It's the mark of good teams throughout history. One member goes down, and someone steps up to cover for him. They run into adversity and the team sucks it up and moves through, over and around the opposition as if it were Patton's Third Army relieving Bastogne. Good to see.
So, what does the team do when one of its offensive leaders goes down? The same thing when a soldier in battle gets hit. Everyone else picks up the banner and moves forward. It's simple--suck it up, go forward or die. The Sox performance tonight was a very good example of that.
Manny got only one hit, but reached base twice and scored both times. Ellsbury, in spite of not getting a hit, continued to take a page from the likes of Maury Wills and Lou Brock. Get on base any way you can and it's more often than not like hitting a double. He gets to first, lights the afterburners and BANG there he is standing on second and ready to come around at the first opportunity. Tonight he added another stolen base to his league leading total.
Lowell only got one hit tonight, but it counted as much as possible--a two run shot to the cheaps. JD had two hits-a two bagger and a homer to account for two of the Sox runs while raising his BA top the highest it's been in over a month. He's just shy of returning to .300 territory again.
Even Coco, who's been in the grips of a miserable slump in recent weeks came through with a very timely two run double to put the Sox up 6-4 in the 6th when they took control of the game for good.
Let's not forget the pitching staff. Masterson was good enough to get the win, going six innings on his fast recall from the Pawsox. Though he gave up all four Rays runs, if you take away the two bad pitches he made that Iwamura and the Pride of Haverhill (Pena) each put beyond the reach of any outfielder, he's throwing shutout ball. I know, I know. You're saying, "If cows had wings, we all could fly" (never understood the exact logic of how that one worked), but minus those two pitches, he's pitching pretty fine.
Tito, having seen enough replaced him with The Other Manny-Delcarmen the 7th and was rewarded with an inning of hitless shutout ball. Lopez was inserted in the 8th, and when he walked what would be his only batter, was followed with Hansen.
Now Hansen is a big strong kid who sometimes can't control where he puts his pitches. He's ample proof that being able to throw consistently in the mid-90's isn't always everything if you can't do it with command. Tonight he had that command. Ten pitches later and a perfect 8th was over. In the final inning, Laserman arrived on the scene and, true to classic form, turned off the lights for the Rays. Twelve pitches, two K's and another perfect inning to notch his 17th save in 19 chances and Pap, not to mention the rest of the team, had pulled together and cut the Rays' lead in the division to 1/2 game.
The performance shows exactly what this team can do as a team. It's the mark of good teams throughout history. One member goes down, and someone steps up to cover for him. They run into adversity and the team sucks it up and moves through, over and around the opposition as if it were Patton's Third Army relieving Bastogne. Good to see.
It's All Bad - Jenn
Last night Wake was on the cusp of getting another game in the win column. He'd done everything he needed to through seven innings and while the Red Sox bats weren't loud enough to slam the door on the O's, they'd done enough damage to give the Sox a lead. So Wake left the game with Okie scheduled for the 8th and Papelbon for the 9th. But Papelbon would never see the 9th, thanks to his set-up man.
There's no question this year's Okajima isn't the same pitcher we saw last year. While his ERA has somehow stayed well-below 1, his performances tell another story. Of the 24 games in which he's pitched this season, he's allowed at least one man to reach base in 17 of them. That's not a good ratio. But in all those previous games Okie's only allowed at most three men to reach base. Evidently three wasn't good enough.
Last night he topped all his outings so far by allowing a whopping six men to reach base. Of those six, four turned into runs, all of them earned. Those four runs would give the O's back their lead and finally allow them to snap their losing streak. Okie may have had an ERA of .72 when he started last night's 8th inning, but by the time he left, that ERA had ballooned to 2.10. It's a sad thing when not one member of your bullpen has an ERA below 2. Unfortunately that wasn't the worst news of the night.
No, the worst news came after the game when Red Sox Nation heard that our beloved designated hitter, David Ortiz, has a partially torn ECU tendon sheath which will place him on the DL indefinitely. Ortiz's wrist will be immobilized by a soft cast in hopes that the tear will heal on its own. While Francona said that he believes surgery to be "very unlikely", they won't know anything definitive for at least a few weeks.
It's a blow to the Sox clubhouse and Nation alike. After a tough start to the season, Papi's batting average had finally climbed to a respectable .252 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs. It's tough to lose that stat in your lineup, but with the pressure of reaching 500 off his shoulders, Manny's heating up again, and Lowell, Youkilis, and Ellsbury are all producing as well. The fact of the matter is, we don't know how this will effect the Red Sox. Hopefully Francona's words hold true and we'll see Papi swinging the bat in a month or so. Until then, I guess the rest of the line-up will have to step up starting tonight with their first game against the AL-East leading Rays.
There's no question this year's Okajima isn't the same pitcher we saw last year. While his ERA has somehow stayed well-below 1, his performances tell another story. Of the 24 games in which he's pitched this season, he's allowed at least one man to reach base in 17 of them. That's not a good ratio. But in all those previous games Okie's only allowed at most three men to reach base. Evidently three wasn't good enough.
Last night he topped all his outings so far by allowing a whopping six men to reach base. Of those six, four turned into runs, all of them earned. Those four runs would give the O's back their lead and finally allow them to snap their losing streak. Okie may have had an ERA of .72 when he started last night's 8th inning, but by the time he left, that ERA had ballooned to 2.10. It's a sad thing when not one member of your bullpen has an ERA below 2. Unfortunately that wasn't the worst news of the night.
No, the worst news came after the game when Red Sox Nation heard that our beloved designated hitter, David Ortiz, has a partially torn ECU tendon sheath which will place him on the DL indefinitely. Ortiz's wrist will be immobilized by a soft cast in hopes that the tear will heal on its own. While Francona said that he believes surgery to be "very unlikely", they won't know anything definitive for at least a few weeks.
It's a blow to the Sox clubhouse and Nation alike. After a tough start to the season, Papi's batting average had finally climbed to a respectable .252 with 13 homers and 43 RBIs. It's tough to lose that stat in your lineup, but with the pressure of reaching 500 off his shoulders, Manny's heating up again, and Lowell, Youkilis, and Ellsbury are all producing as well. The fact of the matter is, we don't know how this will effect the Red Sox. Hopefully Francona's words hold true and we'll see Papi swinging the bat in a month or so. Until then, I guess the rest of the line-up will have to step up starting tonight with their first game against the AL-East leading Rays.
Monday, June 2, 2008
The No-Look Fits--Peter
Tonight the Sox had Wake on the mound and although Papi missed his second consecutive game due to his wrist injury (more on that later), Manny was holding up the offense, getting a homer for the third consecutive game, something he last did in '06, and adding a single in five trips to the plate.
Wake's flutterball was doing its thing, so much so that Cash got his eighth passed ball of the season. That's a league high. In his defense, he also threw out one of the O's two attempts to steal, not very easy when the ball only travels to the plate at a max of about 72. I mean when your fast ball is pretty much like the tortoise rather than the hare, your pickoff chances are pretty limited.
However, Wake was pretty much sailing along through seven, having given up only two runs--his second consecutive low scoring start. In came Okajima. Now, if you've ever watched Oki pitch, about the best thing you can say about his delivery is that neither you nor anyone else can figure out how he even keeps it in the park, let alone gets it over the plate. He winds up, moves toward the dish and releases--with his head turned completely to the side, away from the direction in which he's throwing. Somehow, it not only gets there, it usually does so in such a way that, going into tonight's appearance, he had an ERA of 0.72. He can't explain it. Tito can't explain it. Hell, nobody can tell you why his delivery works--but it does!
Except for tonight. In came Oki for the 8th. Get another H and then turn the ball over to Laserman for the 9th and the win streak will reach four. Not so fast! Three batters up--three batters on base. A sac fly, by the former Sox guy Millar, no less, and now he's got a blown save. The O's manage to load the bases and then Jones, a career .242 hitter, works the count to 3-1 and drops the next pitch into the outfield for a three run double: 6-3 O's. Tito's seen enough and has Lopez come in to close out the inning, but it's too late.
We get a couple of guys on base in the 9th after the first two guys do nothing more than create a good breeze with their sticks and Manny comes up.
Now, I'm thinking that even though he's already clocked one tonight, he's on a typical ManRam surge, eight game hit streak and all, and multi-homer games are nothing new for him. So it's really possible. Manny will drop one in the cheaps, the game will be tied and the Sox will go on from there. Uh Uh! Not tonight. He did work the count, but when contact was finally made, the ball was just a little short. It finished nestled in an outfielder's leather glove, somewhat shy of the wall. Game over. What's really frustrating about this is that every Sox starter except Cora got at least one hit, and the Hose outhit the O's 10-9 and got the only roundtripper in the game. In fact, if every player on both teams had scored, no LOB's, the Sox would have won, 13-12. True, Jacoby didn't steal a base, but even Cobb, Brock and Henderson had days when they didn't run. Even a thoroughbred needs a day off once in a while.
Beyond the game the Sox announced that Papi will go on the 15 day DL tomorrow because the strain or sprain, depending on who you talked to, was really a partially torn tendon in his wrist. How you can tear a tendon swinging at a pitch I don't know, but that's what we've got. Tito's saying there won't be any knife in play on this one and I hope so. Papi was really getting back to normal when he was hurt and is one of the league leaders in both HR's and ribbies. Hate to lose that bat for any serious length of time.
Oh, yeah! One more VERY IMPORTANT thing! There is a national election for a kids version of Red Sox Nation going on. Called Kids Nation, it allows you to vote on who you'd like to see as the Captain of Kids Nation. I'm supporting Ben B. (that's how the names are on the ballot & web site). You can too! Go to www.voteforben.org & vote.
Wake's flutterball was doing its thing, so much so that Cash got his eighth passed ball of the season. That's a league high. In his defense, he also threw out one of the O's two attempts to steal, not very easy when the ball only travels to the plate at a max of about 72. I mean when your fast ball is pretty much like the tortoise rather than the hare, your pickoff chances are pretty limited.
However, Wake was pretty much sailing along through seven, having given up only two runs--his second consecutive low scoring start. In came Okajima. Now, if you've ever watched Oki pitch, about the best thing you can say about his delivery is that neither you nor anyone else can figure out how he even keeps it in the park, let alone gets it over the plate. He winds up, moves toward the dish and releases--with his head turned completely to the side, away from the direction in which he's throwing. Somehow, it not only gets there, it usually does so in such a way that, going into tonight's appearance, he had an ERA of 0.72. He can't explain it. Tito can't explain it. Hell, nobody can tell you why his delivery works--but it does!
Except for tonight. In came Oki for the 8th. Get another H and then turn the ball over to Laserman for the 9th and the win streak will reach four. Not so fast! Three batters up--three batters on base. A sac fly, by the former Sox guy Millar, no less, and now he's got a blown save. The O's manage to load the bases and then Jones, a career .242 hitter, works the count to 3-1 and drops the next pitch into the outfield for a three run double: 6-3 O's. Tito's seen enough and has Lopez come in to close out the inning, but it's too late.
We get a couple of guys on base in the 9th after the first two guys do nothing more than create a good breeze with their sticks and Manny comes up.
Now, I'm thinking that even though he's already clocked one tonight, he's on a typical ManRam surge, eight game hit streak and all, and multi-homer games are nothing new for him. So it's really possible. Manny will drop one in the cheaps, the game will be tied and the Sox will go on from there. Uh Uh! Not tonight. He did work the count, but when contact was finally made, the ball was just a little short. It finished nestled in an outfielder's leather glove, somewhat shy of the wall. Game over. What's really frustrating about this is that every Sox starter except Cora got at least one hit, and the Hose outhit the O's 10-9 and got the only roundtripper in the game. In fact, if every player on both teams had scored, no LOB's, the Sox would have won, 13-12. True, Jacoby didn't steal a base, but even Cobb, Brock and Henderson had days when they didn't run. Even a thoroughbred needs a day off once in a while.
Beyond the game the Sox announced that Papi will go on the 15 day DL tomorrow because the strain or sprain, depending on who you talked to, was really a partially torn tendon in his wrist. How you can tear a tendon swinging at a pitch I don't know, but that's what we've got. Tito's saying there won't be any knife in play on this one and I hope so. Papi was really getting back to normal when he was hurt and is one of the league leaders in both HR's and ribbies. Hate to lose that bat for any serious length of time.
Oh, yeah! One more VERY IMPORTANT thing! There is a national election for a kids version of Red Sox Nation going on. Called Kids Nation, it allows you to vote on who you'd like to see as the Captain of Kids Nation. I'm supporting Ben B. (that's how the names are on the ballot & web site). You can too! Go to www.voteforben.org & vote.
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