Well, we won last night 11-4, but it wasn't as clean a win as I was hoping to see. Daisuke's fifth start and he fell apart in the 4th inning for the 2nd game in a row. With no outs in the inning he proceeded to walk three in a row and then got tooled for a couple of weak hits, leading to four Yankee runs. We were down 4-2 after that inning, but luckily Yankee pitching fell apart once again - Pettitte this time, including walking in a run, and we took the lead 5-4 in the top of the fifth. Again Dice-K settled down his next trip to the mound, and had removed his thermal shirt. Kinda makes sense he wouldn't be used to wearing one pitching in the stadiums in Japan. Anyway, I know he's working on his delivery from the stretch, I just hope it starts paying off for him soon. At least he moved to 3-2 on the year and the Sox notched another one in the win column.
Sox are 15-7, the only other team who's lost only 7 games is Cleveland, but they're only 13-7 having played two fewer games than the Sox. Game 2 of the series is today, 3:55pm, IN THE BRONX!! :)
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Friday, April 27, 2007
Baltiwho?
First off, my apologies for such an extended absence. Work's been pretty crazy as we are preparing to move our entire operation across the street, plus my 50" Samsung DLP is busted and in desperate need of repair, meaning there hasn't been much chance to watch the games lately. Anyway, before we dive in, here's a recap from MLB.com of the past three games:
4/24 (10-3, Sox Lose)
4/25 (6-1, Sox Win)
4/26 (5-2 Sox Win)
The game on the 24th was just a messy Tavarez loss to the Blue Jays... four errors, including a horrible throw by Ramirez that resembled a little league play and a bungled catch in the outfield by WMP (who would end up making up for it last night). The funny thing about this one was that a lot of the odds makers were favoring the Sox, since we were at home. Umm, hello!!! The chances of beating Halliday two starts in a row are never that good, and the Jays always seem to get hot at Fenway... looks like they need to start watching more baseball.
The next game was down in Baltimore against the Orioles. Schilling had a solid game, allowing 1 run on 5 hits with 3K's and 2 walks. Okijima and Donnelly each pitched an inning to close it out. Ramirez and Lowell drove in two, Papi drove in one to break a 1-1 tie, and Cora hit a homer off Cabrera, who he was 9 of 16 against lifetime (if I remember correctly). The real story of the game though was the resurfacing of the bloody sock story. Apparently Gary Thorne, the announcer for the Orioles, said on air that the sock was painted red and not blood soaked. Well, the airwaves were full of comments on it yesterday, people believing one thing or the other. Here's the story and it's conclusion from the Boston Globe:
Bloody Mess (4/26/2007)
Hole Uncovered in Sock Story (4/27/2006)
Hopefully that's the last we'll hear of this for another 2 and a half years...
Last night's game, the finale of a quick 2 game set, went our way again, as in the top of the 8th WMP hit a grand slam off of the Orioles' closer Chris Ray, who gave up a walk-off grand slam to A-Rod on 4/7. You absolutely need to watch the interview with him after the game, it's classic!! Looks like Baltimore might need a new closer, which sucks for them considering how much they spent this off-season rebuilding their pen. I was pretty psyched for Wily Mo as everyone on the radio yesterday was making fun of him, calling him Wiffy Mo. Beckett got the win and joined Babe Ruth and Pedro Martinez as the only Sox pitchers to win 5 games in April - pretty good company!! Papelbon came in to close it out, and picked up his 7th save of the season.
As of this morning, the Sox are sitting pretty atop the AL East, 3 games up on Toronto at 14-7, and still have the best winning percentage in all of baseball at .667.
In other news, Phil Hughes, one of the most highly touted pitching prospects around, made his major league debut for the Yankees last night, losing 6-0 to the Blue Jays. Hopefully he won't be as good as everyone's claiming he is.
Oh, here's one more story from the Globe, via everyone's favorite reporter CHB, about Dice-K and his throwing habits... not sure how much of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt though...
Slinging it with the best of them (4/27/2006)
Tonight we get Matsuzaka against Pettitte at Yankee Stadium. Can't wait for that one!! Let's hope we can keep the streak going and sweep again :)
4/24 (10-3, Sox Lose)
4/25 (6-1, Sox Win)
4/26 (5-2 Sox Win)
The game on the 24th was just a messy Tavarez loss to the Blue Jays... four errors, including a horrible throw by Ramirez that resembled a little league play and a bungled catch in the outfield by WMP (who would end up making up for it last night). The funny thing about this one was that a lot of the odds makers were favoring the Sox, since we were at home. Umm, hello!!! The chances of beating Halliday two starts in a row are never that good, and the Jays always seem to get hot at Fenway... looks like they need to start watching more baseball.
The next game was down in Baltimore against the Orioles. Schilling had a solid game, allowing 1 run on 5 hits with 3K's and 2 walks. Okijima and Donnelly each pitched an inning to close it out. Ramirez and Lowell drove in two, Papi drove in one to break a 1-1 tie, and Cora hit a homer off Cabrera, who he was 9 of 16 against lifetime (if I remember correctly). The real story of the game though was the resurfacing of the bloody sock story. Apparently Gary Thorne, the announcer for the Orioles, said on air that the sock was painted red and not blood soaked. Well, the airwaves were full of comments on it yesterday, people believing one thing or the other. Here's the story and it's conclusion from the Boston Globe:
Bloody Mess (4/26/2007)
Hole Uncovered in Sock Story (4/27/2006)
Hopefully that's the last we'll hear of this for another 2 and a half years...
Last night's game, the finale of a quick 2 game set, went our way again, as in the top of the 8th WMP hit a grand slam off of the Orioles' closer Chris Ray, who gave up a walk-off grand slam to A-Rod on 4/7. You absolutely need to watch the interview with him after the game, it's classic!! Looks like Baltimore might need a new closer, which sucks for them considering how much they spent this off-season rebuilding their pen. I was pretty psyched for Wily Mo as everyone on the radio yesterday was making fun of him, calling him Wiffy Mo. Beckett got the win and joined Babe Ruth and Pedro Martinez as the only Sox pitchers to win 5 games in April - pretty good company!! Papelbon came in to close it out, and picked up his 7th save of the season.
As of this morning, the Sox are sitting pretty atop the AL East, 3 games up on Toronto at 14-7, and still have the best winning percentage in all of baseball at .667.
In other news, Phil Hughes, one of the most highly touted pitching prospects around, made his major league debut for the Yankees last night, losing 6-0 to the Blue Jays. Hopefully he won't be as good as everyone's claiming he is.
Oh, here's one more story from the Globe, via everyone's favorite reporter CHB, about Dice-K and his throwing habits... not sure how much of it needs to be taken with a grain of salt though...
Slinging it with the best of them (4/27/2006)
Tonight we get Matsuzaka against Pettitte at Yankee Stadium. Can't wait for that one!! Let's hope we can keep the streak going and sweep again :)
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Hangover Cafe
Well, sorry to say that between driving from Somerville to Boston and back and watching 24 that I really didn't see too much of the game yesterday. I saw us up briefly 2-1, and then suddenly we were behind again. In the first inning I heard on the radio that Mirabelli had thrown one into left field and kinda had a feeling it wasn't going to be our night... guess I was right. I think the following quote sums up the night perfectly.
From Boston.com:
"It was a lethargic day," said a very frank Doug Mirabelli, who went 2 for 3. "It didn't feel like we had the energy we had against New York. It didn't seem like we had anything going. Sometimes you don't have it every single day. A little blah today."
Minor observations: Timlin gave up a 2 run homer in the ninth, I'm really hoping he's got something left in the tank this season. Apparently Coco sat out again because of a strain in a leg muscle, unrelated to the diving attempted catch. Okijima and Papelbon should be good to go tonight after getting the day off yesterday.
Anyway, here's the recap, hopefully tonight will be an improvement...
4/23 (7-3, Sox lose)
Oh yeah, and here's a preview of tonight's game... can Tavarez possibly beat Halliday in two consecutive starts??
From Boston.com:
"It was a lethargic day," said a very frank Doug Mirabelli, who went 2 for 3. "It didn't feel like we had the energy we had against New York. It didn't seem like we had anything going. Sometimes you don't have it every single day. A little blah today."
Minor observations: Timlin gave up a 2 run homer in the ninth, I'm really hoping he's got something left in the tank this season. Apparently Coco sat out again because of a strain in a leg muscle, unrelated to the diving attempted catch. Okijima and Papelbon should be good to go tonight after getting the day off yesterday.
Anyway, here's the recap, hopefully tonight will be an improvement...
4/23 (7-3, Sox lose)
Oh yeah, and here's a preview of tonight's game... can Tavarez possibly beat Halliday in two consecutive starts??
Monday, April 23, 2007
Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back! (Lucky Sevens)
What a glorious weekend in Red Sox Nation! Here's a recap of the games from Saturday and Sunday:
4/21 (7-5, Sox win)
4/22 (7-6, Sox win)
On Saturday Beckett benefited from a ton of offense and pitched well enough to hang on to the lead and move to 4-0 on the season. Ortiz hit a two run bomb, Coco went 2-4 and has a higher BA than Manny, Varitek also went 2-4 to continue his offensive recovery, and Pedroia sat out the game. As good of a game as it was, it was the easiest win the Sox had this weekend and probably the least memorable of the set, with the possible exception of Papelbon's save.
Sunday's game was pure insanity. Wright pitched solid through two innings, with Dice-K giving up 3 runs by the time the Sox got to bat in the 3rd. The first two batters were sent back to the dugout with nothing to show, sending Man-Ram to the plate. Then the flood gates opened... Manny homers, JD homers, Lowell homers, & Tek homers, back-to-back-to-back-to-back!! Sox take the lead, 4-3. Dice-K proceeded to give up two more runs, giving the Yanks the lead once more by a score of 5-4. Lowell homered again with two on in the 7th to give the Sox the lead for good at 7-5. One more Yankee run would come in with Okajima in relief for Dice-K in the 8th, but Donnelly came in to get the last two outs and Papelbon shut them down in the 9th with some game-saving help from his brand new best friend Pedroia at second. Pedroia also looked good offensively, slapping a nice double down the left field line past A-Rod and making solid contact in each at bat. Plus it was fitting watching A-Rod fail to step up in the clutch against us yet again, despite his incredibly hot April. Overall, my stomach was in knots the whole time... what a great example of the tension & suspense that makes baseball the best sport there is.
While I have very few negatives to highlight from Sunday's performance, there were a few.
The Jays are in town tonight for a quick two game set starting @ 7:05. We get a repeat of the Ohka vs. Wakefield game we saw in Toronto, and with the Jays on a 5-game slide hopefully it'll have a similar outcome!
4/21 (7-5, Sox win)
4/22 (7-6, Sox win)
On Saturday Beckett benefited from a ton of offense and pitched well enough to hang on to the lead and move to 4-0 on the season. Ortiz hit a two run bomb, Coco went 2-4 and has a higher BA than Manny, Varitek also went 2-4 to continue his offensive recovery, and Pedroia sat out the game. As good of a game as it was, it was the easiest win the Sox had this weekend and probably the least memorable of the set, with the possible exception of Papelbon's save.
Sunday's game was pure insanity. Wright pitched solid through two innings, with Dice-K giving up 3 runs by the time the Sox got to bat in the 3rd. The first two batters were sent back to the dugout with nothing to show, sending Man-Ram to the plate. Then the flood gates opened... Manny homers, JD homers, Lowell homers, & Tek homers, back-to-back-to-back-to-back!! Sox take the lead, 4-3. Dice-K proceeded to give up two more runs, giving the Yanks the lead once more by a score of 5-4. Lowell homered again with two on in the 7th to give the Sox the lead for good at 7-5. One more Yankee run would come in with Okajima in relief for Dice-K in the 8th, but Donnelly came in to get the last two outs and Papelbon shut them down in the 9th with some game-saving help from his brand new best friend Pedroia at second. Pedroia also looked good offensively, slapping a nice double down the left field line past A-Rod and making solid contact in each at bat. Plus it was fitting watching A-Rod fail to step up in the clutch against us yet again, despite his incredibly hot April. Overall, my stomach was in knots the whole time... what a great example of the tension & suspense that makes baseball the best sport there is.
While I have very few negatives to highlight from Sunday's performance, there were a few.
- Coco started the game on the bench, possibly due to an injury sustained on Friday night, but barring that I thought it was foolish to leave him out in favor of WMP when he's showing signs of coming out of his slump.
- The Yankees came into town with several key players on the DL. If it took this level of heroics to pull off a sweep in April, there might be cause for concern once the Evil Empire's healthy again.
- We left 22 men on base and had only one run-scoring hit with men in scoring position, namely Lowell's home run in the 7th. Not good, but at least we still pulled it off.
The Jays are in town tonight for a quick two game set starting @ 7:05. We get a repeat of the Ohka vs. Wakefield game we saw in Toronto, and with the Jays on a 5-game slide hopefully it'll have a similar outcome!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Three More Wins
Since I only got to listen to our last two games against the Jays, here's a recap.
4/18 (4-1, Sox win)
4/19 (5-3, Sox win)
Quick thoughts:
Wed: Only 5 hits for the Jays... Mirabelli goes deep... Wakefield gets some love... That knuckleball's working well this year... I might've been a little hard on Lugo in that last game, that runner was damn close to being completely in his way.
Thur: Coco's waking up... Tavarez did a great job keeping us in the game... Manny picked a nice time for his first home run... Another save for Papelbon... Until Friday's game it was easily the most important, confidence-building win of the season.
Friday was an outstanding come from behind win against the Yankees, with Mariano Rivera blowing yet another lead against the Red Sox. It started with Schilling vs. Pettitte. Schilling gave up two homers to A-Rod, who became the fastest to 12 home runs, in 15 games. Aside from Tek's 2-run blast the bats were pretty quiet against Pettitte. Coco almost killed himself slamming into the bullpen wall going after one of A-Rod's home runs. The eighth inning started off 6-2 Yankees and ended 7-6 Red Sox. Okijima came in to close it out and picked up the save since Paps was unavailable.
From ESPN, here's how it all went down:
"J.D. Drew had three hits for Boston, which trailed 5-2 before David Ortiz led off the eighth with a double and Manny Ramirez walked. Drew moved the runners up, then Mike Lowell singled to make it 6-3 and bring in Rivera. Jason Varitek, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth, singled to make it 6-4, then Crisp tripled down the right-field line to tie it. With the infield in, Cora fisted a blooper over Jeter's head to the back of the infield dirt, driving in the go-ahead run."
The Sox wore their green St. Patrick's Day uniforms and apparently it was the first time in team history that the players have had their names on the back of their uniforms while playing @ home. My roommate walked in the door, took one look at the TV, and asked "What, are the Sox celebrating 4/20?". In a way, I guess they were :)
4/18 (4-1, Sox win)
4/19 (5-3, Sox win)
Quick thoughts:
Wed: Only 5 hits for the Jays... Mirabelli goes deep... Wakefield gets some love... That knuckleball's working well this year... I might've been a little hard on Lugo in that last game, that runner was damn close to being completely in his way.
Thur: Coco's waking up... Tavarez did a great job keeping us in the game... Manny picked a nice time for his first home run... Another save for Papelbon... Until Friday's game it was easily the most important, confidence-building win of the season.
Friday was an outstanding come from behind win against the Yankees, with Mariano Rivera blowing yet another lead against the Red Sox. It started with Schilling vs. Pettitte. Schilling gave up two homers to A-Rod, who became the fastest to 12 home runs, in 15 games. Aside from Tek's 2-run blast the bats were pretty quiet against Pettitte. Coco almost killed himself slamming into the bullpen wall going after one of A-Rod's home runs. The eighth inning started off 6-2 Yankees and ended 7-6 Red Sox. Okijima came in to close it out and picked up the save since Paps was unavailable.
From ESPN, here's how it all went down:
"J.D. Drew had three hits for Boston, which trailed 5-2 before David Ortiz led off the eighth with a double and Manny Ramirez walked. Drew moved the runners up, then Mike Lowell singled to make it 6-3 and bring in Rivera. Jason Varitek, who hit a two-run homer in the fourth, singled to make it 6-4, then Crisp tripled down the right-field line to tie it. With the infield in, Cora fisted a blooper over Jeter's head to the back of the infield dirt, driving in the go-ahead run."
The Sox wore their green St. Patrick's Day uniforms and apparently it was the first time in team history that the players have had their names on the back of their uniforms while playing @ home. My roommate walked in the door, took one look at the TV, and asked "What, are the Sox celebrating 4/20?". In a way, I guess they were :)
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Dice-K's the new Wakefield
You can't help but feel bad for Daisuke after yesterday's game. He was throwing beautifully until it all came unravelled in the 4th. Between the call at the plate that got him rattled (sorry all, that was a ball...), the screw up by Lugo (knew it would happen eventually), and getting robbed on Lowell's throw to first it was a mess. But to his credit he got out of the inning and came back to own the Jays for the next two innings. Hideki pitched an awesome inning too, striking out the side, and even Pinero looked good. But, once again, the Sox bats failed to come to life and give this kid some support. Hell, he's done all we can really ask of any pitcher in his first three starts, and has a record of 1-2 to show for it.
This brings us to the offense... props to WMP for that monster of a homerun up on top of the old restaurant. I don't think I've ever seen a ball hit that far in Toronto. But man, 1 run on 7 hits when the Jays only had three 3 hits the whole game. Manny needs to shave his head or something, the dude needs to wake up already cuz .205 with no homers just ain't his style. Youk, Ortiz, and Lugo all went 0 for 4. Then there's Tek... give up hitting lefty and focus on just one side of the plate, please!!! I really think he'd be way better off spending his time in the cage focused on hitting from one side, but we probably won't see that happen. Ahh yes, and Coco... nice game yesterday going 2-4, got the average back up to .150. Let's hope he can keep it up. Anyway, Wakefield goes tonight, let's hope we can turn it around against Ohka who's 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA. Then maybe we'll have a chance of improving on last year's record of 7-12 against the Jays.
This brings us to the offense... props to WMP for that monster of a homerun up on top of the old restaurant. I don't think I've ever seen a ball hit that far in Toronto. But man, 1 run on 7 hits when the Jays only had three 3 hits the whole game. Manny needs to shave his head or something, the dude needs to wake up already cuz .205 with no homers just ain't his style. Youk, Ortiz, and Lugo all went 0 for 4. Then there's Tek... give up hitting lefty and focus on just one side of the plate, please!!! I really think he'd be way better off spending his time in the cage focused on hitting from one side, but we probably won't see that happen. Ahh yes, and Coco... nice game yesterday going 2-4, got the average back up to .150. Let's hope he can keep it up. Anyway, Wakefield goes tonight, let's hope we can turn it around against Ohka who's 0-1 with a 7.84 ERA. Then maybe we'll have a chance of improving on last year's record of 7-12 against the Jays.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Milano (not the cookies)
So as many of you probably already know, Alyssa Milano launched her own MLB-inspired clothing line last week... I won't say much other than it's nice seeing her decked out in Sox gear :)
Jays Might Be Hurting...
The Detroit Free Press has an article about how the Jays have three key players on the DL - might bode well for this upcoming series.
Lenny?
I was just checking up on one of my favorite players from last year, Lenny DiNardo, and it appears we lost him to the A's back in February on waivers... I'm kinda disappointed about that, he did a good job filling in for Wells (anyone remember who started the Patriots Day game last year?) and overall I really liked his stuff. Anyway, best of luck to Lenny out there on the west coast.
We do still have David Pauley, another prospect that in my opinion has loads of potential... hopefully we get to see him up at Fenway sometime this year!
We do still have David Pauley, another prospect that in my opinion has loads of potential... hopefully we get to see him up at Fenway sometime this year!
Monday, April 16, 2007
Wet, Wonderful Weekend
Well, I was pretty busy this weekend and aside from keeping up with the scores of the games I didn't really get to follow any of the action. So, here's a decent recap from mlb.com:
4/13 (10-1, Sox win)
4/14 (8-0, Sox win)
Apparently Papelbon pretty much saved things in the 8th on Friday, so props to him once again. Wake had an awesome game that day too, as the score would indicate, so good for him. Schilling has thrown 14 scoreless innings in a row, so that's good news too.
Rain has again played a role as Tavarez gave up his turn in the rotation so Schilling could go on Saturday and Beckett could go yesterday. But with the rain Beckett got delayed anyway and won't go until today, if we even have a game. It's currently scheduled for 12:05pm, pushed back from 10am because of the weather. Dice-K's set to go tomorrow, which he was gonig to do anyway since Tavarez would've gone today, but we'll see if that ends up happening now. Either way it's pretty annoying and I just want some baseball to happen! Anyway, off to turn on WEEI and see if we have any action!
Oh, I almost forgot, one other thing worth mentioning - Mussina and Pavano are headed to the DL, sorry Yankee fans!! :-p
UPDATE-1: Game time is now sceduled for 12:15pm.
UPDATE-2: Beckett gave up a homer to Cabrera in the first, but the Sox are up and we've already tied it up w/ a double by Lugo and a single by Youkilis.
UPDATE-3: I should've waited for that second update - the Sox batted around in the first and it's 6-1 after the second :)
UPDATE-4: Papi just hit a homer in the bottom of the 4th, it's 7-1 and after one more inning the game will be official if it starts raining again.
UPDATE-5: Final score, 7-2, Sox win! Snyder gave up a homer in the 9th, but oh well :)
4/13 (10-1, Sox win)
4/14 (8-0, Sox win)
Apparently Papelbon pretty much saved things in the 8th on Friday, so props to him once again. Wake had an awesome game that day too, as the score would indicate, so good for him. Schilling has thrown 14 scoreless innings in a row, so that's good news too.
Rain has again played a role as Tavarez gave up his turn in the rotation so Schilling could go on Saturday and Beckett could go yesterday. But with the rain Beckett got delayed anyway and won't go until today, if we even have a game. It's currently scheduled for 12:05pm, pushed back from 10am because of the weather. Dice-K's set to go tomorrow, which he was gonig to do anyway since Tavarez would've gone today, but we'll see if that ends up happening now. Either way it's pretty annoying and I just want some baseball to happen! Anyway, off to turn on WEEI and see if we have any action!
Oh, I almost forgot, one other thing worth mentioning - Mussina and Pavano are headed to the DL, sorry Yankee fans!! :-p
UPDATE-1: Game time is now sceduled for 12:15pm.
UPDATE-2: Beckett gave up a homer to Cabrera in the first, but the Sox are up and we've already tied it up w/ a double by Lugo and a single by Youkilis.
UPDATE-3: I should've waited for that second update - the Sox batted around in the first and it's 6-1 after the second :)
UPDATE-4: Papi just hit a homer in the bottom of the 4th, it's 7-1 and after one more inning the game will be official if it starts raining again.
UPDATE-5: Final score, 7-2, Sox win! Snyder gave up a homer in the 9th, but oh well :)
Friday, April 13, 2007
Rubber game cancelled
Well, so much for getting to watch Wakefield yesterday... the weather here was absolute poop and it's not much better today aside from a lack of rain. So instead of pitching against the Mariners we get to see him go against the Angels' ace, John Lackey, who's 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA. Doesn't look to good for getting Wake some run support tonight unless Lackey falls apart against our lineup, but with the way things have been going that's looking pretty unlikely. Either way, it's a Sox game and I'll be watching :)
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Can't win 'em all...
Wow, aside from the major news outlets there's been surprisingly little written about last night's game - even dirt dogs hasn't been updated yet. Having been there I figured I'd give you all a first hand account of the game (I'll try to post the pics I took sometime later on in the day).
The atmosphere was electric, everyone there knew they were about to witness history. The park had a genuinely international feel with so many Japanese fans in attendance, all holding their signs and counting Dice's strikeouts. There was even one kid who had on the jersey from his team in Japan.
We were sitting about 10 rows back from Pesky's Pole and out trotted Dice-K for his stretching routine and warm-up tosses. The fans started to gather around us to take pictures and everyone was standing and cheering his name. Eventually he moved to the pen for a few more tosses and then shortly after the team took the field and he headed out to the mound.
The first pitch to Ichiro was insanity, I've never seen so many flashbulbs going off at the same time. He ended up getting the out and everyone stayed on their feet for the second batter and then finally settled into their seats with the third. Then the Sox got to bat for all of 3 minutes before heading back out on defense.
I won't go into all the minute details of the game, but it suffices to say that Matsuzaka had an OK game but wasn't as on point at Hernandez was. The Sox could barely keep up with his fastball, not to mention his slider and curve. Everything they hit looked weak with the exception of a fly out to left field. Even JD Drew's hit was nothing special, aside from continuing his hitting streak. As the game wore on the crowd become noticeably disappointed, as we were all hoping for a Dice-K win in his first start, but as it became clear that wasn't going to happen people started to root for a no-hitter by Hernandez. It seemed like the loss would be OK with everyone if we got to see a no-hitter in person, even if it was thrown by the opposing team. As it turned out even that wasn't meant to be, but I guess that's why baseball is so much fun, you never know what's going to happen... And now, after pitching two scoreless games, Hernandez is the one being called a phenom. I wonder how Dice is feeling today...
All that aside, here's hoping we can get today's game in and get Wakefield some runs!!
The atmosphere was electric, everyone there knew they were about to witness history. The park had a genuinely international feel with so many Japanese fans in attendance, all holding their signs and counting Dice's strikeouts. There was even one kid who had on the jersey from his team in Japan.
We were sitting about 10 rows back from Pesky's Pole and out trotted Dice-K for his stretching routine and warm-up tosses. The fans started to gather around us to take pictures and everyone was standing and cheering his name. Eventually he moved to the pen for a few more tosses and then shortly after the team took the field and he headed out to the mound.
The first pitch to Ichiro was insanity, I've never seen so many flashbulbs going off at the same time. He ended up getting the out and everyone stayed on their feet for the second batter and then finally settled into their seats with the third. Then the Sox got to bat for all of 3 minutes before heading back out on defense.
I won't go into all the minute details of the game, but it suffices to say that Matsuzaka had an OK game but wasn't as on point at Hernandez was. The Sox could barely keep up with his fastball, not to mention his slider and curve. Everything they hit looked weak with the exception of a fly out to left field. Even JD Drew's hit was nothing special, aside from continuing his hitting streak. As the game wore on the crowd become noticeably disappointed, as we were all hoping for a Dice-K win in his first start, but as it became clear that wasn't going to happen people started to root for a no-hitter by Hernandez. It seemed like the loss would be OK with everyone if we got to see a no-hitter in person, even if it was thrown by the opposing team. As it turned out even that wasn't meant to be, but I guess that's why baseball is so much fun, you never know what's going to happen... And now, after pitching two scoreless games, Hernandez is the one being called a phenom. I wonder how Dice is feeling today...
All that aside, here's hoping we can get today's game in and get Wakefield some runs!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The time has come (almost)!
Wow, talk about a hell of a home opener... hard for things to go any better than they did yesterday (Box Score). Beckett went seven innings, threw 83 pitches, struck Ichiro out three times, had 8Ks overall on the day, and let up only two hits, bringing his WHIP down to 0.67 for this ever so young season.
What else... Drew had his first homer, Tek did well towards pulling himself out of his slump, there was an almost brawl that will hopefully continue into today, and the starters were getting pulled by the 5th inning to give the bench players a change to play. All in all a shalacking that I'm sure the Mariners will be looking to reverse tonight.
Today's game is between Dice-K and the "ace" of the Mariners, Felix Hernandez, who struck out 12 in his last start against the A's. Of course that was back on April 2nd, so hopefully things have changed since then... I'm expecting a pitchers duel all the way around tonight, between Matsuzaka will be on point for his first home start and the Sox bats are going to be fairly quiet after all the work they got yesterday. Sometimes a team can use up all of it's offense for a few days in one game, and I have an odd feeling that's what we'll see today.
What else... Drew had his first homer, Tek did well towards pulling himself out of his slump, there was an almost brawl that will hopefully continue into today, and the starters were getting pulled by the 5th inning to give the bench players a change to play. All in all a shalacking that I'm sure the Mariners will be looking to reverse tonight.
Today's game is between Dice-K and the "ace" of the Mariners, Felix Hernandez, who struck out 12 in his last start against the A's. Of course that was back on April 2nd, so hopefully things have changed since then... I'm expecting a pitchers duel all the way around tonight, between Matsuzaka will be on point for his first home start and the Sox bats are going to be fairly quiet after all the work they got yesterday. Sometimes a team can use up all of it's offense for a few days in one game, and I have an odd feeling that's what we'll see today.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Welcome Home!!
It's been a few days since my last post, so let me jot down a few observations from the past few games before getting to today's game...
Daisuke obviously pitched a great game last week, as did his opponent Zack Greinke. It was little annoying how big a deal the announcers (at least on WEEI) kept making about Greinke's anxiety issues, but what can you do? One run (a home run), 10K's, 7IP, not a bad day for a guy who's never pitched in the US before.
The 2-0 loss to Texas in Wake's first start was a tough one to take. The team picked up right where it left off with the lack of run support for this guy. Let's hope they can turn that around in the next couple of starts he has.
Then there was the 8-4 loss the next day in Tavarez's first start... pretty much a messy game and I gave up on the boys a bit too early to even comment much on that one.
The 3-2 win in the last game of the series was, for me at least, the best game of the trip. Schilling looked SO much better than he did in his first start which was a relief. Papi's bat came back to life with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs, and after the pen almost blew the game Paps came in to save the day with 5 straight outs. Hell of a game guys!
I expect Beckett to have a decent game today and pick up the win. Seattle hasn't played in ages with all of their games in Cleveland getting snowed out, so they'll probably need a game or two to get warmed up again. There was a really nice ceremony before the game for the '67 team, kind of wish I could've seen that but maybe NESN will be replaying it tonight. Ahh, one more day until my first trip to Fenway since I was 8 years old... I can't wait!!
Daisuke obviously pitched a great game last week, as did his opponent Zack Greinke. It was little annoying how big a deal the announcers (at least on WEEI) kept making about Greinke's anxiety issues, but what can you do? One run (a home run), 10K's, 7IP, not a bad day for a guy who's never pitched in the US before.
The 2-0 loss to Texas in Wake's first start was a tough one to take. The team picked up right where it left off with the lack of run support for this guy. Let's hope they can turn that around in the next couple of starts he has.
Then there was the 8-4 loss the next day in Tavarez's first start... pretty much a messy game and I gave up on the boys a bit too early to even comment much on that one.
The 3-2 win in the last game of the series was, for me at least, the best game of the trip. Schilling looked SO much better than he did in his first start which was a relief. Papi's bat came back to life with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs, and after the pen almost blew the game Paps came in to save the day with 5 straight outs. Hell of a game guys!
I expect Beckett to have a decent game today and pick up the win. Seattle hasn't played in ages with all of their games in Cleveland getting snowed out, so they'll probably need a game or two to get warmed up again. There was a really nice ceremony before the game for the '67 team, kind of wish I could've seen that but maybe NESN will be replaying it tonight. Ahh, one more day until my first trip to Fenway since I was 8 years old... I can't wait!!
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Beckett and Dice-K's debuts
Well, we're roughly 10 minutes from Dice-K's debut... Don't know who decided this game should be at 2pm, but I've got my brand new radio ready to go to listen from work. Gotta say I'm pretty excited given last night's game. I don't have much time to write about it but Beckett looked good despite not having much control. He didn't get rattled while Lowell was making 2 errors behind him and in several cases he hung in there and got the outs he needed (going from 3-0 to striking that guy out was pretty sweet). I've got high hopes for him this season.
Quick thoughts:
Quick thoughts:
- Lowell's errors were a one time thing, they'll be a little less than half of his total for the season if he puts them out of his mind.
- I'm liking this Ortiz, Ramirez, Drew combo already and Drew's catch in the outfield was NICELY done!
- The pen did a hell of a job last night, let's hope they can keep it up.
- The Pirates swept their opening series?!? Congrats!
Monday, April 2, 2007
Opening Day
Well, it's been a pretty disappointing game so far... Meche just came out of the game and ironically enough the only person to manage an RBI so far for the Sox has been Papi. Lugo just got his first hit of the game but looked silly facing Meche and striking out three times. Schilling had a rough game too, 30 pitches to get out of the first while walking in a run. Honestly it looks like we're still playing spring training ball today. I guess I got my answer about Meche, since he was more than able to shutdown an offense like ours for 7+ innings. Maybe the Royals' pen will blow another game and we'll come up with 6 runs in an inning or so, but I'm not getting that vibe. Anyway, congrats thusfar to the Royals, they've played a much better game than we have...
PS: Kauffman Stadium looked great today with the fountains turned on full blast and the 80 degree weather. It was nice seeing that place packed for a change.
PS: Kauffman Stadium looked great today with the fountains turned on full blast and the 80 degree weather. It was nice seeing that place packed for a change.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
24-ish hours to go
The Boston Globe has an excellent story today about Scott Boras, the man we all love to hate. It's definitely worth a read as you sit drinking your coffee on a Sunday afternoon.
I literally can't wait for tomorrow's game. Despite being against KC, arguably the most boring team in the majors over the past few seasons, it has the potential to be quite interesting. We all get our first real glance at Gil Meche, the high-profile, 5 year, $55 million free agent signing that the Royals made this winter. While the reason they spent so much for the unimpressive stats this man possesses is still beyond me, I'm hoping to at least get some insight when he faces off against Schilling tomorrow.
I literally can't wait for tomorrow's game. Despite being against KC, arguably the most boring team in the majors over the past few seasons, it has the potential to be quite interesting. We all get our first real glance at Gil Meche, the high-profile, 5 year, $55 million free agent signing that the Royals made this winter. While the reason they spent so much for the unimpressive stats this man possesses is still beyond me, I'm hoping to at least get some insight when he faces off against Schilling tomorrow.
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