Had a bad day...

I was very optimistic about both the Phillies and the Red Sox today.
They have both been playing extremely well, and their respective opponents seemed ripe for the picking.

Well, so much for the optimism. Both teams had their chances to win, but just couldn't get it done. Two games, two losses.

The Sox played at 3:55pm, with Tim Wakefield facing the Yanks' Jeff Karstens (14.05 ERA). The Sox' top of the 1st lasted approximately 86 years, and they knocked Karstens out of the game.When Karstens left the game, his ERA was still 14.05. Sounds promising, right?

Well, as Borat would say, it was NOT promising. Karstens got smashed with a Julio Lugo line drive on his 1st pitch, fracturing his right fibula. He stayed in the game, and five pitches later, he allowed a single to Kevin Youkilis. That was the last batter he faced. The Yankees brought in Kei Igawa (7.84 ERA, ticket to AAA Scranton (Go Greyhound!) likely waiting for him in his locker), and it looked like it was about to be another huge inning, and quite possibly, another huge win. But the Japanese southpaw, acquired via the posting system for a pittance ($26 million), got out of the inning without allowing a run. Then he managed to get out of the next five innings without allowing a run. All while randomly wearing sunglasses. The Yankees had attempted to skip him in the rotation, but he wound up pitching six scoreless innings, and picking his second win of the season. I'm guessing he won't be skipped next time. I wonder if he wears his sunglasses at night? (Sorry. Couldn't help myself...)

Tim Wakefield wasn't very effective, pitching 5.1 innings, and allowing 3 ER on 5 hits and 6 (!) walks. His ERA rose from 2.08 to 2.59, and the loss dropped his record to 2-3. It seemed certain that the Sox would come back to win, against Igawa, or the over-worked Yankees bullpen, or the venerable closer with the ERA of 12.15. But they were held to one measly run, with the venerable closer (Mariano Rivera) picking up his 1st save of the season, and lowering his ERA to 10.57. (Which is, incidentally, still 10.57 higher than the Sox not-venerable closer.) The Sox were held to 7 hits, with Ortiz-Ramirez-Drew combining to go 0 for 9. The game was on FOX, so there was no Remdawg. Or Don. Or Tina. Or Kathryn. Or Amalie. I missed them all. So, it was pretty much a day with no sun for the Sox. Actually, I think only Igawa noticed the sun today. (Note to self: Stop beating sunglasses metaphor to a red painty death.)

The Phillies 7:05pm game was, quite possibly, worse. The lineup included Rod Barajas AND Abe Nunez, which didn't seem to bode well from the start. (Of course, the two went 4 for 7 with a Barajas HR, so I obviously know nothing.) However, SP Adam Eaton earned about 24.5 cents of his $24.5 million contract, allowing 7 ER on 10 hits in 4.1 extremely ineffective innings. Reliever Victor Rosario allowed 3 ER in 1.2 innings, digging too deep of a hole for the Phillies bats to escape. Leadoff hitter (!) Aaron Rowand extended his hitting streak to 16 games, and 3-hole (!) hitter Jimmy Rollins had a pair of hits. They seemed one swing away from a huge inning most of the night, but they didn't manage to get that swing. The Phillies broadcasters bored and irritated me, and once again, there was no Amalie. The games pretty much sucked today. But they'll get'em tomorrow.

The Phillies will try to win the rubber game of the series, with Jamie Moyer facing the Marlins' Wes Obermueller. I think that matchup definitely favors the Phillies, especially with the Phillies playing at home. And with Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia both unavailable to "pitch."
The Sox send Batshit Crazy Julian Tavarez to the mound against Yankees ace, Chien-Ming Wang, who is coming off an injury, and has only one regular season start so far. But Wang is still kind of "ace-y." This could be a tough one for the Sox. But at least we'll have Remdawg, Don, Kathryn, and Amalie back. That should be enough to make the difference.

Had a good day...

Two more good things from Friday:

Jon Lester pitched brilliantly in a rehab start for Pawtucket, pitching five scoreless innings. Lester only allowed three hits, and only two runners made it to second base against him. Lester struck out six, walked no one, and threw 56 of 84 pitches for strikes. He has another rehab start on Wednesday, and doesn't look very far away from taking Batshit's spot in the Red Sox rotation. That would upgrade the rotation and increase the probability of Batshit Crazy episodes.

In exciting news of a personal nature, I got my annual bonus check on Friday. After a year of putting up Papelbon-esque stats, highlighted by an otherworldly VORM (Value Over Replacement Manager), my team was rewarded. I bled enough red paint to fill a pair of sanitary socks over the past year, so I think I earned it. I believe I will purchase a second yacht, so I am not stuck using the same yacht all the time. Who wants that? My first yacht is named the Papelbon, this one will be named the Hamels. The balance of the bonus will be put into mutual funds and CDs.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light

The Red Sox won their 3rd straight game tonight, 11-4 over the slumping Yankees. The Yankees have now lost seven straight, and sport an 8-13 record. They are the highest paid last place team in history right now, and they are not exactly showing a lot of life.

Daisuke Matsuzaka allowed 4 runs (all in the 4th inning), throwing 117 pitches over 6 innings. He seems to have problems in the 4th inning each game, but is very effective in the other innings. As soon as I devise a way of combatting this concern, without losing the DH for the remainder of the game, I will let Francona know. But I have nothing, as of yet. Timlin, Okajima, and Pineiro each pitched a scoreless inning of relief. Youkilis and Lugo each homered, as the Sox overcame an early 4-2 deficit, taking a 7-4 lead into the top of the 9th.

By the 9th inning, the game seemed pretty much over. With Papelbon warming up, there was no way the Yankees were coming back. But the Sox didn't need Papelbon, after scoring four runs in the 9th off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. The All-Star closer was only able to record one out, as his ERA rose to 12.15. Rivera does not look too good these days, especially against the Sox. It might be the beginning of the end for a sensational career.

The best line of the night (non-Amalie Division) goes to Jerry Remy, who was frustrated by the inability of Yanks C Jorge Posada and RP Jose Vizcaino to figure out what pitch to throw, even though Vizcaino throws only two different pitches. I forget the exact line (should have been taking notes!), but Remy and Orsillo were cracking me up repeatedly tonight, as usual. (Update: Papel-blog remembered the quote: "So now we get to see Vizcaino not be on the same page as Posada maybe three or four more times." Tip of the Sox cap to Papel-blog!)
Amalie was awesome in her pre-game segment, but, inexplicably, still doesn't have her own NESN show.

The attendance was 55,000, but by the 9th inning there were seas of empty seats. I feel a little bad for the Yanks fans who stayed until the end, but for the 50,000 "fans" who left before the game was over, not so much. The Yanks still have an outstanding lineup, but unless they get some serious pitching help somehow, they're going to spend to rest of the season on their deathbed.

In Saturday's Fox matinee game, the Sox' Tim Wakefield (2.08 ERA) will oppose the Yankees' Jeff Karstens (14.54 ERA). It was originally the Yankees' Kei Igawa's day to start, but he has been pulled from the New York rotation, due to ineffectiveness. (I guess that's what happens who you go for the cheap Japanese free agent pitcher.) Saturday will be a prime opportunity for the Sox to drive another nail into the Yankees' coffin, in front of a national audience. Go Sox!

Do not go gentle into that good night

After five innings, the Phillies trailed 4-3 to the Florida Marlins, despite another HR (5) by Aaron Rowand (4 for 5). Starting Pitcher Freddy Garcia had not been effective, allowing 4 ER over 4.2 innings, throwing 106 pitches. Yet, I was unconcerned. I was certain the Phillies would come back for the win. Well, just as soon as they stopped leaving runners on base (15 H, 14 LOB tonight).

When the game went to the bottom of the 8th, with the Phils still trailing 4-3, I got a little concerned. But Jimmy Rollins (9!) and Chase Utley (5) hit solo homers, staking the Phils to a 5-4 lead. Unfortunately, Tom Gordon (5.40 ERA) came on for the blown save in the 9th, and was lucky to escape the inning with the score tied at 5. Gordon is currently behind Myers, Madson, Alfonseca, Geary, Wally Ritchie, and Todd Frohwirth (not necessarily in that order) on the list of relievers that I would prefer to see close out a Phillies win. With three blown saves already this season, Gordon seems destined to lose his spot at closer. I just hope he's removed from the role before he costs the Phillies any more wins.

But tonight, he didn't cost the Phils a win. Despite the fact that Michael Bourn led off the bottom of the 9th (because Manuel continues replace Burrell with Bourn, for the purpose of pissing me off), the Phillies rallied for the victory. They loaded the bases on a Bourn walk, a Rowand single, and an error on a Helms sacrifice bunt attempt. Against the drawn-in Marlins infield, Carlos Ruiz hit a hard grounder that SS Hanley Ramirez did well to stop, but had no chance at a play at the plate. Bourn scored the winning run, and the Phillies improved their record to 10-12.

The Phillies will look to pull within one game of the .500 mark Saturday night, with Adam Eaton facing the Marlins' Dontrelle Willis. Aaron Rowand will look to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. The Phillies will look to score enough runs that Tom Gordon will not be needed.

He Runs on Grass, He Walks on Dirt. And Water.

The Red Sox swept their two game series against Baltimore with a come-from-behind victory in Camden Yards tonight. The Sox had a 5-2 lead, going into the bottom of the 9th, and Closer Boy ran/walked in from the bullpen to pitch a scoreless inning for the save. Jonathan never gives up runs in April- I don't know why they even bothered to play the bottom of the 9th. It's probably some kind of arcane MLB rule. (Like the "don't give champagne to the Kansas City Royals rule.")

But Papelbon wasn't the big story tonight. (I was just trying to kind of link to my post title, which I am a bit proud of. It may even be "Benjamin-esque." Also, "arcane" is totally a word that Amalie would use. OK. AB Fanboy mode off.)

Josh Beckett was brilliant tonight, pitching eight sterling innings, in which he allowed two runs on eight hits and ZERO walks. He threw 73 of his 100 pitches for strikes. (That trade with the Marlins doesn't look quite so bad right now.) Beckett became only the 4th Sox P to start the season 5-0, joining Babe Ruth, Pedro Martinez, and Matt Young.

The hero on offense was another questionable trade acquisition, Wily Mo Pena. (Note: I was in favor of both the Pena and Beckett trades, and, yes, I have been taunted in an unkind manner in the past as a result.) The bulky CF lugged his sub-.180 batting average to the plate with one out and the bases loaded in the 8th inning against Orioles closer Chris Ray. The Sox trailed at the time, 2-1.

This blogger was yearning for a right-handed pinch-hitter. (Yes, I know WMP IS RH. Bear with me here.) A single would have given the Sox the lead, a sacrifice fly would have tied the game. The worst results would have probably been a strike out or a DP, two of WMP's specialties. But the best RH option off the bench was Doug Mirabelli, who needed to be reserved, in case Varitek was injured, or Wakefield was brought on to pitch the 26th inning. So Francona allowed Pena to bat, and Pena hit a 900 ft. grand slam to give the Sox a 5-2 lead. (And if you believe the HR was 900 ft., you probably also believed that Matt Young stat a paragraph ago. But it was a 420 ft. blast.)

Ray was having trouble getting his off-speed stuff over the plate, tried to throw a fastball past Pena, and Wily Mo made him pay for his insolence. Now, if only Pena could do that to non-fastballs. Then, the Sox would have themselves a player. After that, we could start teaching him to play guitar like Bronson. I would very much like to see WMP perform "C is for Cookie" one day. But the batting and the fielding are the priorities right now.

The Sox play the Yankees in New York this weekend, hoping to replicate their excellence of last weekend against the Yanks. Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-2, 4.00 ERA) will start Friday night, facing Hideki Matsui for the first time in regular season action. As Jerry Remy said, "there should be some media there for that." Matsuzaka will be opposed by Game 1 losing pitcher Andy Pettitte (1-0, 1.78 ERA), who will also be available out of the bullpen in this Sunday's loss to the Sox. The first place Sox currently have a five and a half game lead over the cellar-dwelling Yankees.

Red Sox and Red Paint

The Red Sox returned to action Wednesday night after their sweep of the Yankees with a 6-1 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards. (I saw some strange reports on about something going on between the Sox and Blue Jays the last couple of days- something about Lowell hitting HRs and making errors, Ramirez throwing like the Mayor of Cincinnati, Wily Mo not being so good at the fielding- but Doug Mirabelli assures me it was all a hoax.)

Schilling raised his record to 3-1, with 7 innings of 1 run ball. Alex Cora raised his average to .368, going 2-4 with his 1st HR of the year. (Lil' Dustin, grab some pine!) Wily Mo Pena went 0-4, with 3 Ks. It seems like he would be well-served with some time in Pawtucket, working on his "fielding" and hitting the off-speed pitch. (Sometimes I can't believe I was actually in favor of trading Bronson for this guy. I miss Bronson. I'm guessing the Sox do, as well.) First baseman Kevin Youkilis and Author David Ortix each had multiple hit games in the win.

Sox announcer Jerry Remy had some interesting comments about the $41 million the Orioles spent to stock their bullpen in the offseason. I agree that it is very questionable to make such a sizeable investment in relievers, as their year-to-year performances can fluctuate wildly. (See Cormier, Rheal.) But Chad Bradford (1.04 ERA) and Jamie Walker (2.00 ERA) have been extremely consistent the past five years, and represent pretty good investments, especially considering the high price of free agent pitching these days. It was better for Baltimore to spend the $ upgrading their bullpen, than to hold on to it and tell their fanbase that there was no good pitching to be had. Of course, the Orioles seem pretty much destined for a 4th place finish, no matter how their pitching performs.

The most sensational comment by an announcer last night, however, was the assertion by Orioles knowledge broker Gary Thorne that Schilling's sock in 2004 was not bloody, but actually painted red. He attributed this information to Doug Mirabelli. (Yikes. What's next? 9/11 was a conspiracy? The heroic rescue of Jessica Lynch was a hoax? The Sox didn't have the last 2 nights off?)
Poor Dougie. He was not too pleased with being credited with this "story." But what I want to know is what does Amalie Benjamin think about all this? More importantly, why doesn't she have her own show? Or better, her own channel? With all the talk of conspiracies and hoaxes, I would like to hear, at length, her views on these things. NESN, are you listening? Amalie and Jonathan both need their own shows. At least 2 hours in length each. Daily. Please get on that.
NOW.

The Sox go for their 2nd consecutive win tonight, sending Josh Beckett to the mound in Baltimore. I think if Julio Lugo gets screwed by the umps again, some red paint may be drawn. Tavarez and his crossbow are ready. Buenos noches, amigos!