Ortiz Walks Off Against Detroit (7/31/10)

After a huge loss the night before, it looked to be yet another loss until Big Papi returned.

The Sox started the day buy dumping the struggling Jeremy Hermida for the rising prospect Ryan Kalish and sending struggling reliever Ramon Ramirez to the San Fransisco Giants.

Daisuke Matsuzaka started the day and pitched below average for the first time in 2 weeks. He gave up a 1st inning 2 run homer to AL MVP candidate Miguel Cabrera and allowed 2 more runs in 6 innings of work. Meanwhile the Sox offense just couldn't get a clutch hit when it counted. Detroit starter Max Scherzer allowed a whopping 9 hits in 6 1/3 innings but got some timely double plays to keep the damage to a minimum.

Down 4-0 in the 7th the Sox rallied. Adrian Beltre and Bill Hall hit back to back singles to chase Sherzer from the game, however Bill Hall was gunned down at second base. Lefty Brian Thomas was brought in to face the lefty rookie Ryan Kalish who managed to single home Beltre, chasing Thomas from the game. Ryan Perry came in and Darnell McDonald then doubled home Hall to cut the deficit to 4-2. The Sox loaded the bases on a JD Drew walk and a Kevin Youkilis hit by pitch, but once again the Sox didn't get a clutch hit as David Ortiz struck out.

Lost in all this was the relief pitching of rookie Dustin Richardson (brought up to replace Ramirez), Scott Atchinson and Hideki Okajima who pitched 3 combined scoreless innings to give the Sox a chance to win the game.

In the bottom of the 9th, it looked like a second straight loss was at hand. Darnell McDonald would have none of that as he singled to start the inning, chasing Perry from the game and bringing in Phil Coke. Coke got Marco Sctutaro to fly out but pinch hitter Jed Lowrie continued his resurgance by belting a double to center. Then the Tigers made a bad decision, they intentionally walked Youk to get to Ortiz. Ortiz is the Sox all-time leader in walkoff hits and he delivered yet another by crushing a shot off the monster. All 3 runners scored and the Sox won a game they seemed destined to lose.

With the trade deadline come and gone and the only 2 moves being in house, it looks like the Sox are going to live or die with what they have. While the Yankees picked up Lance Berkman and Austin Kearns, the Sox brought up Kalish and Richardson. Now for the final 2 months there are 3 teams in the AL East fighting for 2 playoff spots....who will survive?

Team Effort Leads To Sweep of Angels (7/28/10)

Today's game was a microcosm of the Red Sox season, a group of men banding together putting personal stats aside to get the W. Their opponents should be equally applauded for their guts and determination.

At the start of the game, the LA Angels starter Joel Piniero (who was supposed to be the Red Sox closer in 2007) was scratched due to an oblique strain. Right then and there the Angels entire bullpen had to be ready to go. At first it didn't go so well for them.

The first member of the Red Sox to step up was Adrian Beltre, clocking his 17th home run in the top of the second off emergency starter Scot Shields. 2 batters later, Bill Hall stepped up with his 11th moonshot of the season. Eric Patterson began his incredible day by doubling before back to back walks of Marco Scutaro and Darnell McDonald loaded the bases and chased Shields from the game 1 1/3 innings in.

Now it was the Angels turn to show their guts and determination. After Fransisco Rodriguez put the fire out with no further damage, the Angels struck. Sox starter Josh Beckett (2-1) pitched admirable today but in the second Bobby Wilson drove in Hideki Matsui and Reggie Willits drove in Howie Kendrick to tie the game. Rodriguez would pitch scoreless third and 4th innings before giving way to Rich Thompson in the 5th. In the bottom of the 5th, Willits hit a leadoff double before being sacrificed over to third by Erick Aybar. A Maicer Izturis sac fly scored Willits to give the Angels a 3-2 lead. Their starter was scratched before the game began and their emergency starter was knocked out in the second inning, but the never say die Angels had taken the lead.

Now it was the Sox turn to mount a comeback. Rich Thompson shut them down in the 5th and 6th striking out 3 in the process. Then Kevin Youkilis stepped up by belting his 19th homer of the year to tie the game. Thompson recovered to strike out David Ortiz and Beltre to give him 5 K's in 3 innings. Beckett ended his impressive comeback by striking out 2 of the last 3 batters he faced to lower his ERA and put his team in position to win.

In the top of the 8th, Rich Thompson gave way to Fernando Rodney. Bill Hall and Jeremy Hermida walked which brought up Eric Patterson. Patterson attempted a sacrifice bunt to move the runners over, but he dropped it so good he beat it out to be credited with a single. With the bases loaded, Marco Scutaro put an exclamation point on the day (he had walked twice and hit 2 singles earlier) by launching a grand slam just over the left field seats to put the Sox up 7-3.

In the bottom of the 8th it was Manny Delcarmen and the Red Sox defense's turn to step up. Manny managed to strike out Aybar and Izturis but allowed a double to Alberto Callaspo and a walk to Bobby Abreu. Then Juan Rivera seemed to have hit a sure single to center but Bill Hall defied the laws of gravity by jumping up and snaring the ball to preserve the 4 run lead.

In the top of the 9th, a real class act moment occured. Once again Hermida and Hall had walked bringing up Patterson with a chance to hit for the cycle. Instead, Eric declined his shot at history to lay a bunt down to move the runners over. Even if he gets released, putting the team in front of his own stats is a class act in my book. In the bottom of the 9th, it was up to Ramon Ramirez to step up and finish off this day. Ramirez closed the game out with a pop out and 2 strikeouts to end the game 7-3 and complete the sweep. The Angels put up a valiant fight deserving of respect, but the Sox got a team wide effort to win the ballgame.

The road-trip spanned 10 games producing 6 wins and 4 losses....all but 1 of the losses being 2 runs or less. The Sox are now 7 games behind the Yankees and 5 behind the Rays with plenty of baseball left to be played. Jon Lester (11-5) goes for the Sox friday night at home against Detroit.

Lackey, Lowrie Leads Sox Late (7/27/10)

Lot of L's in that opening line, however those L's turned into a big W as the Red Sox won last night's game 4-2 behind the pitching of John Lackey and the hitting of reborn Jed Lowrie.

Lackey (10-5) was brilliant through the first 7 innings, giving up 1 run and scattering a few hits while his counterpart Jared Weaver of LA was pitching a shut out. The Sox turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead when Lowrie doubled in Marco Scutaro and Darnell McDonald. In the 8th, Beltre doubled off of Kevin Jepsen to drive in David Ortiz for some insurance.

Since the bullpen has been borderline awful, Francona left Lackey in after 118 pitches to start the 8th. He managed to get Alberto Callaspo to pop out, but a Bobby Abreu bomb chased him from the game. With the score 3-2, the exhausted Daniel Bard trudged in from the bullpen to once again save the day. He escaped the 8th with the only hiccup being a meaningless walk to Hideki Matsui.

In the 9th, the Sox managed to add to their 3-2 lead on a bizarre play. Angels closer Brian Fuentes intentionally walked Kevin Youkilis to get to Ortiz. The last time I remember the Angels walking someone to get to Ortiz, Big Papi hit a 2 run walkoff home run to end the 2004 ALDS. With Ortiz at the plate and Scutaro on second, he hit a ball into the shift that got past first basemen Mike Napoli. Second basemen Howie Kendrick got to the ball but with Napoli out of position, Fuentes was late getting to the bag and the throw from Kendrick sailed past allowing Scutaro to score. It was ruled a hit by Ortiz and an error on Kendrick.

Jonathan Papelbon closed out the bottom of the 9th in short order for his 24th save. Today's game features Josh Beckett fresh off his 6 2/3 1 run ballgame against the Mariners against 10 game winner Joel Piniero. The Sox will be without Bard and Papelbon so Beckett either has to pitch a complete game shutout or Hideki Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez has to not give up a run for once.

Sox Strike Down Angels (7/26/10)

This current West Coast road trip by the Red Sox has seen great starting pitching but absolutely horrendous offense and relief. Yesterday Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched 6 strong innings allowing only 1 run before the bullpen once again faltered.

Tonight it was more of the same but a little bit different against the LA Angels. Clay Buchholz (11-5) pitched 7 superb innings in his second start since coming off the disabled list. After allowing a 1st inning homer to Bobby Abreu, Clay settled down allowing no further runs and lowered his ERA to 2.71. The Sox did their part by knocking Danny Haren (LA's new star pitcher) in the 5th inning. Once again the bullpen faltered as Scott Atchinson came on in the 8th and allowed a 2 run bomb by Hideki Matsui before Jonathan Papelbon shut the door.

On this night however, the offense woke up. Fueled by the return of starting catcher Victor Martinez, David Ortiz hit a solo home run and a 2 run shot to combine with V-Mart's rbi single giving the Sox a 4-3 going into the 9th inning. In the 9th, JD Drew hit a 2 run double to give the Sox 6 runs for the first time since Game 1 of this road trip. In the bottom of the frame, Papelbon survived a leadoff hit before getting the next 3 to end the game and pick up his 23rd save.

Final Thoughts:

The win keeps pace with the Devil Rays who celebrated Matt Garza's first career no-hitter. The Sox now turn to John Lackey (coming off an 8 inning 1 run masterpiece) who opposes the AL strikeout leader Jared Weaver in game 2 against LA. Boston is now 4-3 on the road-trip and are getting healthier by the day. Getting their catcher back eliminates the black hole that was there previously and are one step closer to getting their opening day lineup. With 5 starters able to pitch 1 run 7 inning ball, a comeback is not out of the question.

Beckett Returns To Beat Mariners (7/23/10)

The Red Sox won their second in a row last night 2-1 on the back of their pitching staff. Josh Beckett returned to the mound after being out since May to toss a solid 5 2/3 innings. His only hiccup was a first inning RBI double by Jose Lopez. Other than that, he was the ace of old scattering 8 baserunners and no further runs.

The Sox tied it in the 4th on a rbi double by Adrian Beltre who drove in Kevin Youkilis. In the top of the 5th Mike Cameron hit a gap shot which looked to be a double, however the throw by left fielder Michael Saunders sailed over shortstop Jack Wilson's head allowing Cameron to reach third. Replay's showed second basemen Chone Figgins could have cut the throw off but he never moved causing the error on Saunders. In the bottom of the 5th the dugout erupted in a brawl with Lopez, Figgins and Saunders in the middle of it. Figgins left the game and was replaced by Josh Wilson, Lopez and Saunders remained.

When Beckett faltered in the 6th, Scott Atchinson stepped in and pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing a single walk. In the top of the 7th the Sox broke through on Bill Hall's 10th homer of the year to put the Sox up for good 2-1. Daniel Bard continued his awesome regular season by pitching a perfect 8th while striking out 2. Jon Papelbon came in the 9th and got into trouble with a double to Jack Wilson and a walk to Ichiro, however a punch out of Franklin Gutierez ended the game. Papelbon picked up his 22nd save as Atchinson picked up his well deserved 2nd win.

The Sox now are 3-2 on the road trip with game 3 against Seattle tonight with hometown hero Jon Lester on the mound. With Beckett, Clay Buchholz, Jed Lowrie, Jeremy Hermida and Manny Delcarmen back. The Sox are getting much needed bodies back on the team and are 5 healed injuries away from the opening day lineup they haven't had all year. They still have a chance to catch the Rays and Yankees but they'll have to make their run now. With all 5 starters (Lester, Beckett, John Lackey, Buchholz and Daisuke Matsuzaka) capable of pitching 7 inning 1 run ball, all the Sox need now is the offense to step up and they'll be off and running.

Sox Win Sloppy Game Over Mariners (7/22/10)

For 8 innings the Boston Red Sox cruised over the Seattle Mariners. Bill Hall continued a power streak with a 2 run homer off starter Ryan Rowland-Smith in the third inning followed by a David Ortiz RBI single. In the 6th inning JD Drew swatted his 12th homer of the year, a 2 run shot also off Rowland-Smith. Marco Scutaro put what seemed like the exclamation point on with a solo shot off Brian Sweeney in the 7th.

Meanwhile through all this, John Lackey was throwing a no hitter. In the third inning Lackey allowed a walk and a passed ball allowed the run to score. That was the only blemish on the night for Lackey who shut out the Mariners the rest of the way. 4 outs from a no hitter, he allowed a single to former Red Sox player Josh Bard and another single to Josh Wilson before ending the 8th by getting Ichiro.

Up 6-1 it was supposed to be smooth sailing, it wasn't. Manny Delcarmen came in and stunk the joint out. Franklin Gutierrez swatted a 2 run homer to cut the lead 6-3. Jose Lopex walked and then Scutaro flubbed a sure out to bring the tying run to the plate. Wasting no more time, Terry Francona brought in Jon Papelbon. After striking out Justin Smoak, he allowed a double to former Red Sox player Casey Kotchman to put the tying run at second base with one out. Josh Bard drew a walk to load them up. Then Jack Wilson hit a ground ball to Scutaro which should have been the game ending double play. Instead, Scutaro flipped the ball to Bill Hall who then threw the ball away allowing the tying runs to score. Just like that John Lackey's much deserved 10th win vanished and the Sox faced a possibilty of losing their 3rd straight game when 20 minutes before was a sure win. Papelbon managed to get the final out and then it was off to extra innings.

Daniel Bard stopped the bleeding with a perfect 10th then the struggling Hideki Okajima survived a bases loaded scare in the 12th before getting out of it. In the top of the 13th inning, Youkilis singled and Beltre walked...bringing up Eric Patterson who pinched hit for Bill Hall. Patterson became the hero by doubling to left center, driving in Youk and Beltre. Another struggling reliever Ramon Ramirez came in and pitched a perfect 13th for the save to end a wild game. 

Final Thoughts:

This puts the Sox 7 games behind the Yankees and 4 behind the Devil Rays in the wild card. With Buchholz, Lowrie and Hermida back and Beckett returning tomorrow night....things could finally be looking up.

Dice K Delivers in Win Over Oakland (7/19/10)

As the battered Red Sox (fresh off losing 3 out of 4 at home to Texas) go on a 10 game odyssey they needed a much appreciated lift from someone.In game 1 of the road trip against the Oakland A's, that lift came from Daisuke Matsuzaka and a 2-1 win. Dice K fresh off a win in his last outing against Toronto silenced the A's for 6 1/3 innings allowing only 4 baserunners and a single run off a Rajai Davis longball. Other than that minor hiccup he was brilliant, avoiding his self-named "Dice K Disease" and giving the starting rotation a shot in the arm. Daniel Bard allowed a hit and a walk but preserved the one run lead which Jonathan Papelbon finished off for his 21st save.

Offensively the Sox weren't much better, however an Eric Patterson triple in the 4th led to a sac fly by David Ortiz to tie the game up. 2 batters later Adrian Beltre swatted his 15th homer to put the Sox up for good. Oakland starter Ben Sheets was the hard luck loser allowing only 2 runs in his 6 2/3 innings of work.

Final Thoughts:

With Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz (one former 20 game winner, one soon to be 20 game winner) returning to the rotation to join the red-hot Cy Young candidate Jon Lester and inning eater John Lackey...Dice K finding himself could be the key for the Sox to have the most devastating rotation in all of baseball. The bullpen needs much needed work, however with Tim Wakefield giving up his spot to Buchholz it will give the bullpen another long arm to work with. Getting Manny Delcarmen back and picking up a reliever either through waiver or trade would give the Sox not only the best rotation in the game, but a feared bullpen as well. Papelbon has struggled this year but has been getting the job done lately and Daniel Bard has been virtually unhittable. A possible trade chip is lefty Felix Dubront who has pitched admirably in Buchholz' spot. Tonight could be Wakefield's last start of the season (we hope, no more injuries please) against Oakland hero of the year Dallas Braden (yells at A-Rod, throws a perfect game his next start). Hopefully he can pitch one last good start to keep the Sox in good shape before their All-Star starters return. As for now, Dice K has delivered