Archive for April, 2009
The Red Sox have signed a contract extension with Tickets.com, a professional ticket scalping syndicate ticket broker that somehow provides a different service than the regular Boston Red Sox box office. I just wish Massachusetts would loosen up their laws on ticket reselling like New York, so the fans can get in on some of the scalping action.
Despite rumors to the contrary, John Henry and his Boston Red Sox are not interested in acquiring The Boston Globe, the #1 newspaper in the Boston market. The New York Times currently owns The Boston Globe and is threatening to shut it down if the Globe unions don’t make $20 million in concessions, and we all know how much unions like to give in concessions. What’s the point of a newspaper in 2009? It seems like such a waste of paper. Especially when you can read my ramblings for free and save a tree!
The Red Sox are not only hot right now, they’re nothing short of resilient. After seemingly coming back from big deficits against the Yankees all last weekend, the Sox had another comeback in store for fans last night in beating the Indians 6-5. The Sox were down 5-0 going into the 6th inning, but managed 2 in that frame and 3 in the 8th to tie the game. Then Jonathan Van Every, making his first start of the season, homered with 2 outs in the 10th inning to finish off the comeback. Jonathan Papelbon came in for the save.
The Red Sox were without several star players in the game last night. Kevin Youkilis has a sore back and Julio Lugo was out with a stiff knee.
In other Red Sox news, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched a bullpen session yesterday with no pain (that he’s telling anybody about, at least). He’ll throw again on Saturday and is scheduled to come off the DL next week.
Boston relief pitcher Javier Lopez dropped a flip from first baseman Kevin Youkilis in the bottom of the 9th inning, allowing the winning run to score in a 9-8 Boston loss to the Cleveland Indians. Indians reliever Kerry Wood, who was the goat on Monday night, got the win in this ballgame after pitching an inning of scoreless relief.
Boston did not have a homer in this game, although Pedroia, Youkilis, Varitek, and Ortiz all had doubles. Is it just me, or does it seem like Ortiz is getting one double every game? Brad Penny looked awful in this start for Boston, perhaps proving that my preseason assessment that he was awful was more accurate than I realized.
The Red Sox have their longest winning streak since the 2006 season as Jason Bay’s 3-run homer led them to an 11th straight victory on Monday night against the Cleveland Indians. Jonathan Papelbon struggled in a save opportunity and surrendered a run but the BoSox held on to win 3-1.
This was Bay’s 5th home run on the season, and he’s been doing a lot to make up for the lack of home run power from slugger David Ortiz, who is still waiting on his first home run of the season. Ortiz has had several doubles off the Green Monster in the past week.
Also of note in this game is Tim Wakefield’s performance against 2008 AL Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee. Lee was brilliant, but Wakefield matched him through 7 innings, giving up just 1 hit. Wake didn’t even get the win because the game was a scoreless tie when he was taken out for Delcarmen, but we’ll remember this game when we look back at his record this season. It was probably one of his most masterful performances in several years, right up there with the no-hit bid he had going a few weeks ago.
It looks like Brad Penny’s poor start may have been just a fluke, as the Boston starter recovered and pitched well in the second game of a doubleheader against the Twins Wednesday night. The Sox won the game by a score of 7-3. The Red Sox won the opener of the 2-game series 10-1 in a game that was called after 7 innings due to rain. The Red Sox have now won 7 consecutive games heading into a weekend series against the Yankees, who have won 6 of their last 8. The Red Sox and Yankees are currently tied for 2nd place in the AL East behind the Blue Jays, who everyone (including myself) expects to start fading fast. Friday’s game will pit Jon Lester against Joba Chamberlain.
Shortstop Jed Lowrie’s season might not be over after all. He had surgery earlier this week on his injured wrist and could be swinging a bat again in about 1 1/2 months. That would put him on track to be back in the lineup by mid-season. Nick Green has been in the lineup to replace Lowrie, and although he hasn’t batted too well he does have some pop in his bat. He has a home run in the first game of today’s doubleheader against the Twins. The Sox are currently up in that game by a score of 6-1 and Tim Wakefield is looking masterful once again. Julio Lugo, who was competing for the shortstop starting role with Lowrie in spring training, is still recovering from a right knee injury and is currently playing in Triple A Pawtucket.
In other Red Sox injury news, Rocco Baldelli was placed on the DL with a left hamstring injury. The Red Sox signed Baldelli on the cheap because the effect of his mitochondrial disorder are still not completely known.
The Red Sox have Brad Penny starting the second game of the doubleheader today. I’m not expecting much from him, and I wouldn’t be too surprised to see the Sox winning streak stopped at 7 games. He’ll be facing Liriano in that game.
The Red Sox pummeled the Orioles 12-1 for their sixth straight victory on Patriots Day. It’s also their 5th victory in a row dating back to last Wednesday. Like previous Patriots Day games, the starting time was set at the very unusual hour of 11:00am. The game coincides with a day of athletic activity in the Boston area, including the Boston Marathon. The Red Sox are now tied for 2nd in the American League East with the Yankees. The two rivals will face each other for the first time with a 3-game set in Boston this weekend. In the meantime, the Red Sox will have a 2-game series against the Minnesota Twins before taking Thursday off.
I should also note that among the many star performances in yesterday’s game, including Dustin Pedroia going 4 for 6 and Jason Varitek hitting a home run, David Ortiz ran out a triple and went in standing up. Orioles center fielder Felix Pie now has the distinction of being one of the few outfielders who have ever given up a standing triple to David Ortiz. I bet he didn’t sleep well last night knowing that.
The Red Sox finally found their 3rd win of the season behind veteran pitcher Tim Wakefield, who carried a no hitter over the Oakland Athletics into the 8th inning. It was the second day in a row that a pitcher has no hit another team for 7 or more innings. A.J. Burnett of the Yankees no hit the Tampa Bay Rays for 7 innings last night.
The Red Sox won today’s game by a score of 8-2, so it wasn’t just their pitching that found some rhythm, but also their offense. J.D. Drew had the big hit of the day, a 3-run homer.
Daisuke Matsuzaka will be placed on the 15 day disabled list with a mild right shoulder strain. He experienced discomfort last night after his second straight poor start. Let’s hope he can recover from this quickly and get things figured out. The Sox need a lot more support from the top of their rotation right now.
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