Wild Randomness on the eve of a meaningful series with the Skanks–but not in the way we are used to…
The Sox won again, backed by a superb outing, if not WEIRD outing by Jon Lester, where he went 6 innings, giving up a run on 2 hits, a wild pitch, a BALK, and hitting Grady Sizemore. He also walked 1 and struck out 2. He threw 86 pitches, 55 for strikes, and took a no-hitter into the 6th inning. It got so far that Tito was actually rooting AGAINST the no-hitter, so Jon would not have to pitch the complete game, thereby driving up his pitch count, when the playoffs begin next week…
Masterson, Okajima and Papelbon (though I don’t know why he would be other there) each threw a scoreless/hitless inning, striking out 1…. Read more…
After over a month (He has been out of commission since August 17th) JD Drew was finally back in the lineup, batting 5th and patrolling right field–at least for 4 innings anyway–which is a start. He went 1-2, with an infield single and committed an error in his 1st game back…From JD: “Not bad, a little stiff. But no worse for the wear, I don’t think. I’m still fighting off that injury a little bit. I felt it before the game started, felt it yesterday, but felt like I could play, start trying to play through it a little bit. Hopefully, it won’t get any worse, and just kind of continue to bounce back.
Now, Mike Lowell needs to get to a point where he can play….. Read more…
Last night’s win was a bit of a surprise–it was only Cliff Lee’s THIRD loss of the season–and you never know which Tim Wakefield you are going to get–or, if the offense is going to give him any.
But the stars aligned just enough to allow the Sox to squeak by with a win: Tim Wakefield pitched 6 innings of competent 4- run baseball, giving up 6 hits (and no homers this outing!), while walking 1 and striking out 6. He threw 99 pitches, 64 for strikes….
And one of the BEST stats of the evening: Inherited runners/ Inherited Runners Scored: Okajima 3-0, Lopez 2-0, Papelbon 3-0…. Read more…
This was one of those games where everything seemed to line up: Beckett on the mound, a crappy 0-3 fill-in pitcher for Cleveland (he replaced our #4-5 starter, Paul Byrd!) and the Sox were hitting (12 hits in all) BUT, it just seemed like they were always that one big hit away from cracking the game right open. All told, 12 runners were stranded by the Sox in last night’s contest…
This was also a night when Josh Beckett struggled a bit, going 6 innings giving up 4 runs on 7 hits while walking 1, hitting 3, throwing a wild pitch and striking out 6. He threw 105 picthes, 67 for strikes in the outing… Read more…
With the last road trip of the Regular Season completed for 2008 (The Sox went 3-3 in that span), The Boston Red Sox will be able to do something they have not done in a while–clinch a spot in the Postseason at home.
There are 7 games left to play, and the Sox Magic # stands at 1 (The Skanks could not accommodate by losing to the Oreos in the last game in the “old” Skankee Stadium last night). So, unless the Sox stage a cataclysmic collapse and lose every game, and the Twins and Skanks win every game, the Sox will be asked to the dance for the 5th time in the last 6 seasons… Read more…
Holy Buckets! How does a pitcher do a complete 360 in the span of 3 starts???
September 6th: One of, if not the worst outing of Wake’s career…Against Texas–A 15-8 loss: 1 2/3 Innings pitched, giving up 7 runs on 4 hits, while walking 4 and striking out 1–and using 49 pitches to do it (26 of them were for strikes)
September 12th:A totally different pitcher…Against Toronto–A 7-0 win: 8 Innings pitched, giving up 0 runs on 3 hits, while walking 0 and striking out 4–and only using 94 pitches to do it (65 of them were for strikes)
September 17th:Another one of the worst outing of Wake’s career…Against Tampa Bay–A 10-3 loss: 2 1/3 Innings pitched, giving up 6 runs on 6 hits (including THREE homers), while walking 0 and striking out 2–and using 51 pitches to do it (34 of them were for strikes) Read more…
Apparently, the role of Tim “I pitch REALLY well, but get no run support” Wakefield is now being played by Josh Beckett–and he pitched about as well as anyone could expect, going 8 innings, and only giving up the 1 run, a homer to, who else, Carlos Pena.
Speaking of Carlos Pena, a guy I work with, actually grew up with Carlos Pena in Mass, and has said he is a really nice guy…
Then, Justin Masterson, who has been very good for the Sox this year, came in at the bottom of the 9th, got 1 out, proceeded to load the bases, so that Dioner Navarro could win the game on an RBI single….. Read more…
Big Papi (3-run blast), Mike Lowell, Jason Bay, and Jacoby Ellsbury (each a solo shot), Jason Varitek and Kevin Youkilis (each a 2-run shot) –in total 6 homers in 1 game, contributing to 10 of the 13 runs the Sox score in last night’s shelling of Ray’s ace, Scott Kazmir (3IP, giving up 9 runs on 6 hits while waking 4 and striking out 2) et al…
So it was a good thing this happened, as Daisuke, once again, could not get himself to the 6th inning (5IP, giving up 1 run on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7…) He also threw 28 pitches in the 1st inning, 17 more in the 2nd, for a total of 101 through 5…
With this win, he has become the winningest Japanese player in a single season in the bigs… Read more…
I stayed up until Mike Timlin came into the game, and then knowing EXACTLY WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, I went to bed. And I awake this morning, and I look at the scores and see that Mike Timlin, who is tied with Kent Tekulve for the most relief appearances ever by a right hander with 1,050, gave up a 3 run homer to Carlos Pena (after giving up 2 singles in a row with 2 outs…)
Josh Beckett’s 6 inning, 1 run on 6 hit outing, while walking 2 and striking out 7–WASTED…
Okajima (1 IP), Masterson (2IP), Delcarmen (2IP) and Lopez (2.1 IP)-7.1 INNINGS TOTAL of shut out, 3-hit ball–WASTED… Read more…
Once again, the Sox cannot deliver the death blow against a 1/2 decent team (or the Skanks).THIS was the opportunity to get into 1st place for the 1st time since JULY–and this was a cluster from beginning to end:
Starting with Vintage Daisuke: 5 innings of 102 pitch ball (61 for strikes), giving up 3 runs on 8 hits, while walking 4, hitting 1 and striking out 5….Wonderful…
The line up could not do any better than 2 runs until Jason Bay’s (thankyouverymuch, Jason) 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th… Read more…
