I mean…

Granted, the Red Sox didn’t exactly put their best lineup on the field yesterday.  Dustin Pedroia sat out with what was later reported to be a fractured finger (he won’t go on the DL, since there’s only two games left), and Jacoby Ellsbury also didn’t make an appearance.  I’m not making excuses for the Red Sox, but let’s be honest: when Ryan Lavarnway (currently batting somewhere in the .160s) is your fifth hitter, and three-hitter Cody Ross is the biggest threat in your batting order, you’ve gone off the reservation somehow.

Regardless of whether the Sox were either flopping around in the bottom of the fishing boat, or just giving their exciting up-and-comers a chance to play, last night’s game against the Yankees was the most one-sided rivalry game I’ve seen in a long time.  Clay Buchholz imploded in the second inning, giving up eight runs in a nine-run frame that decided the game early and sent a disinterested fan base packing for yet another depressing night.

Robinson Cano started the second-inning barrage off for New York, launching a solo home run to center field.  Buchholz got Mark Teixeria to strike out, but the unflappable Nick Swisher glanced a double off of center field with one out.  Curtis Granderson scored Swisher by hitting a home run of his own, and then Russell Martin promptly hit another home run, making the score 4-0.

Undaunted, Buchholz announced himself with authority by walking Eric Chavez and Derek Jeter, and loaded the bases via an Ichiro Suzuki single.  Alex Rodriguez sacrificed Chavez home for the second out, before Cano used his second at-bat of the inning to double home Jeter and Suzuki.

With the score 7-0 with two outs, Bobby Valentine had finally seen enough.  Alfredo Aceves replaced Buchholz.  Aceves faced Teixeira first, and Teixeira (of course) hit the Yankees’ fourth home run of the inning, scoring Cano and leaving the score at 9-0.  Swisher followed up with another double, but Aceves finally got Granderson to ground out to first to end the inning.

The Sox didn’t really get any kind of offensive rally going.  They scored a couple of baserunners here and there, care a well-executed Jarrod Saltalamacchia sac fly and a Daniel Nava home run; but there was really nothing happening at all at the plate.

With the win, coupled with Baltimore’s loss to Tampa, the Yankees took sole possession of first place with two games to play.  The Red Sox’ best-case scenario now is to play spoiler for either the Yankees or the Orioles, as both teams continue to battle for the division title.  That’s literally about all that Red Sox fans can look forward to – an exciting game 162 that means nothing for the Sox, but could potentially affect another team’s postseason. Blah.

Here’ a link to last night’s box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Tonight’s game 161 pits Jon Lester (9-14, 4.94 ERA) against David Phelps (4-4, 3.34 ERA).  Phelps replaces the beleaguered Ivan Nova in a start that will probably decide Phelps’ prominence on the Yankees’ postseason roster.

The Red Sox came out strong yesterday in the Bronx, beating the Yankees 4-1 in a nationally-televised game.  Jon Lester put up seven strong innings, allowing five hits, one run (a Curtis Granderson solo shot) and striking out four while allowing only two walks.  Honestly, I didn’t think he’d pitch this well, especially since he let the leadoff guy get on base in each of the first two innings.  But, he turned it around, and the Sox lineup helped him out.  Adrian Gonzalez ripped a first-inning two-run bomb to set the tone, and Nick Punto scored Pedro Ciriaco on an RBI single in the fifth inning.  The Sox tacked on an insurance run when Scott Podednik scored on a wild pitch from Cody Eppley in the ninth inning.

Jon Lester (Keith Allison, c/o flickr.com)

Ciriaco went 4-for-4.  What is it with this kid?  And, Punto had a great day at third base – he flashed the leather a couple of times.

Also, a moment of excitement in my house: when Craig Breslow came on to pitch in the eighth inning, Breslow and batterymate Ryan Lavarnway formed the first all-Yale University alumni battery in the major leagues since 1883.  As the wife of an especially enthusiastic Yalie, this was a Very Big Deal, and we spent most of the time Breslow and Lavarnway used inducing Robinson Cano to hit into a double play facebooking about it.  For God, For Country, And For Yale, and all that.

Here’s a link to the respectable box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  In tonight’s rubber game, Josh Beckett (or, as McCarver called him yesterday, John Beckett) and his 5-10 record and 5.19 ERA take on Hiroki Kuroda (11-8, 3.06 ERA).

Two other items of note from yesterday:

First, the Globe reports that within the next few days, Carl Crawford will ask the Red Sox for permission to get Tommy John surgery next week.  Crawford’s been playing better lately, but he’ll be the first to tell you that he’s in pain.  There’s a balance that it seems like Crawford’s trying to strike here, between playing through pain if the team’s in contention for a postseason spot (which they are, barely), and thinking of what’s best for his own health if they’re not (which I think is also ok – he does have his own career and well-being to think about, which I can’t say I blame him for).  He tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow in April, and since then he’s received a platelet injection that lets him play through the pain – but that’s never been seen as a permanent fix.

Second, the New York Daily News puts an interesting spin on the ongoing Adrian Gonzalez text message drama: apparently, you see, it was recently-traded backup catcher Kelly Shoppach’s fault.  Kelly Shoppach, who had clashed with Bobby Valentine over his playing time earlier this year, apparently sent the text message to ownership from Adrian Gonzalez’s cell phone.  It sounds like a group of players – probably none of them the impact players that could actually get ownership’s attention – became unhappy with Valentine’s style and convinced Gonzalez to let them use his phone to send the text.  Gonzalez is the highest-paid player on the team, and they apparently thought that a text coming from him would actually have some heft behind it.

So, looks like both the instigator and the leak are Kelly Shoppach.  Or at least, that’s what the Sox would have you believe, since nobody, including Gonzalez or Shoppach, care to talk about the incident any more.  Isn’t that convenient – let’s all just blame the backup catcher after he’s been shipped out of town.

I still think the larger issue is that there’s an issue at all – it’s not who told on who, or who covers for who, or who has the bigger salary and more sway over the ownership.  Fact is, this clubhouse is still in disarray, and blaming Kelly Shoppach for all the team’s problems is shortsighted, inaccurate, and will only take the Sox as far as the next blowup.

“Red Sox, why you can’t win? You make me sad.”

This is not what the Red Sox needed tonight. They definitely did not need to come into New York and drop the first game of the series. And they definitely did not need to come into New York and give up five home runs. Nope… that, my friends, isn’t going to win you many games.

I’m not sure if the air was extra thin at Yankee stadium or what tonight but it seemed like balls were flying out the park like crazy. In addition to the five the Bronx Bombers hit out, the Red Sox launched one of their own. See? They’re underachievers. You can’t give up five home runs to your opponent, only hit one in return and expect to win. It’s simple math, people.

Franklin Morales gave up four of the five home runs. I think he might be allergic to pinstripes. This season, he has given up eight total homers to the Yankees. Thankfully they were all solo shots or someone’s ERA might have really skyrocketed. I’m not going to lie, this wasn’t Morales’s best outing.

Nick Swisher led the charge for the Yankees, responsible for two of those round-trippers. And Curtis Granderson and Russell Martin went back-to-back in the second.

The Red Sox had just one burst of offensive brilliance in the third inning when they scored all four of their runs, fueled by a three-run homer by birthday boy, Dustin Pedroia. At the time it gave them a 4-3 lead but we all know that holding a one-run lead for another six innings is pretty difficult against this Yankees line up — even with their recent barrage of injuries.

And once again, I am just completely confoooosed by anything Bobby Valentine says in post game interviews. I keep wondering if maybe I just don’t speak Bobby V and that he makes perfect sense to everyone else. I can’t even listen to him without my head almost exploding.

“Well, other than the home runs, he had pretty good stuff,” said manager Bobby Valentine. “They hit all of his different pitches. It wasn’t any one pitch. Jeter’s ball, I guess, cut a little inside for a pitch that he wanted — I think he wanted to have that go away. But otherwise, he wasn’t that bad. He just wasn’t good enough.”

Click here for the home run derby box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The two teams meet again today at 4:05pm for a nationally televised game on Fox. Jon Lester, coming off a very strong 12-strikeout performance over the Indians, will face David Phelps. Lester has not had much luck against the Yankees this season — he’s 0-1 with an ERA of 6.97 in two starts.

Friday night, I had it all planned out. Stay home, order Thai take out from a brand new place in my town, watch the Red Sox and Yankees while trying to sneak peaks of the Olympics Opening Ceremony. Errr… yeah, it didn’t quite work out that way. I ordered my Thai food at 7pm and was expected to wait 45 minutes. Ok…that’s not so bad. I arrived at the restaurant at 7:45pm. My food came out at 8:20! Completely ruined my plan but at least the food was good – although the two-star heat made my lips numb (I think five stars would kill me.)

Considering what happened between the Red Sox and Yankees on Friday night, I’d like to forget it ever happened. Not a great way to celebrate my birthday, that’s for sure. I knew it was going to be a bad night when the Bronx Bombers put up a three-spot in the first. “Here we go again,” was my first thought. The Sox sort of hacked away at the lead but could never pull ahead, and then Curtis Granderson put the nail in the coffin in the eighth with a grand slam off Mark Melancon.

See? Do you blame me for not wanting to relive that crap? So I missed the first few hours of the Opening Ceremony to watch that. But it’s tough when you share the remote control with a Yankees fan. He wasn’t missing that for all the Olympians in London. Click here for the *gag* box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.

Needless to say, I didn’t have high hopes for Saturday night’s matchup between Jon Lester and CC Sabathia. Especially considering Lester’s major suckage of late. And considering CC scares the bejeezus out of me. But then the Red Sox put up three runs in the first on two singles and two doubles. What the WHAT? I almost passed out from the excitement.

So Jon Lester, just like that, has a three-run lead to work with. Would it be enough? Lester pitched six pretty respectable innings, giving up four runs on four hits and left with a 6-4 lead thanks to a big night by Adrian Gonzalez who knocked in four of the eight runs. But unfortunately, a win was not in the cards for Jon. Vicente Padilla gave up a game-tying two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth to Mark Teixeira. My first thought. Uh oh, here we go again.

Despite the no decision, Lester was happy with his performance and his team.

“I’m real, real pleased with how I threw the ball,” Lester said. “The biggest thing is we needed that game. Guys came back and kept fighting. That was big for us.”

Ninth inning heroics have been few and far between for the Red Sox this season. But last night, that was not the case.

With one out in the top of the ninth, Jacoby Ellsbury drew a walk. Pedro Ciriaco, in the DH role last night, had one of his three hits — a deep triple to center that Curtis Granderson misplayed. Ellsbury scored to put the Sox up by one. Dustin Pedroia followed with a sac fly to score Ciriaco and give Boston some insurance. Pedroia talked about the win after the game.

“I thought we did a good job,” Pedroia said. “It was a great win. We did some little things that were a big part of the ballgame. We played well. We’ve got to build on it and keep going.”

Alfredo Aceves hasn’t had many save opportunities lately but made up for it by getting the Yankees in order to end the game and secure the win. Now that was a fun game to watch. Click here for the scrappy, winning box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.

The Sox and Yanks wrap up this three-game series tonight on ESPN. Felix Doubront faces off against Hiroki Kuroda trying to get himself back on the winning track after struggling in his last outing.

So, here’s a thought experiment for you: when your starting pitcher, your number two pitcher – let’s call him, say, Josh Beckett – gives up five runs to the Yankees in the top of the first inning what are the chances of then witnessing any kind of close, fun, enjoyable baseball game?

Josh Beckett (Amanda Laws)

Turns out, if you’re talking about a Red Sox-Yankees game, the chances are pretty good.  The Red Sox stormed back against an equally ineffective Hiroki Kuroda in the bottom of the first, and tied the game at five.  A wild first inning kicked off the last series before the All-Star break: Beckett gave up two singles and then hit Alex Rodriguez to load the bases, before walking Derek Jeter home on a Robinson Cano walk, allowing a two-run single to Mark Teixeira, and giving up sacrifice fly balls to Nick Swisher and Eric Chavez.

Phew.  Exhausting!  Good thing Kuroda had a similarly tough time getting outs in the first inning.  He gave up a leadoff double to Daniel Nava, moved him on a wild pitch, and let him score on a Ryan Kalish sacrifice fly.  A David Ortiz single, a Yankee throwing error, and an Adrian Gonzalez double brought the score to 5-2, before Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his 17th home run of the year to right field, tying the game and marking a new career high.

The first inning took almost 45 minutes, which, well, let’s just say visions of a seven-hour game were running through my head.  This was a Red Sox-Yankees game, after all.

» Continue reading “Red Sox Drop A Wild One, And, The Teixeira-Padilla Chronicles”

Photo by me.

Up until yesterday, I had two very memorable trips to Fenway Park — my first trip in 1978 when I was eight years old. It was a four generation outing with my dad, my grandfather and great grandmother (who was a huge fan!), and the Derek Lowe no-hitter. This one definitely tops the list now.

Becca did such a fantastic job recapping yesterday’s events with some amazing photos (if you missed it, click here) which is great because basically all I did was cry and ended up taking some extremely blurry pictures. It’s hard to  cheer, sob and snap pics all at the same time. What an amazing day! Like the final out of the 2004 World Series, I know I’ll never be able to watch footage from yesterday’s festivities without bursting into tears. It was such an emotional day for all Sox fans. Even the season ticket holder next to me got misty when Nomar walked onto the field. He said to me, “he was worth the price of admission for every game I went to that he played in. Now I’m crying!”

When I arrived for the game yesterday, I had a good feeling about this series with the Yankees. I thought nothing could go wrong — it was a beautiful day, Fenway turned 100 years old and I wasn’t at work — the Sox had to win. But they didn’t. So they’d win the second game, right? Nope. I wish I could’ve had ended today’s game after the 6th inning so I’m breaking this recap into two sections.

PART 1: Innings 1 - 6

For the first six innings of this game, I laid on the couch thinking, “crap, this is how the game should’ve gone yesterday!” Felix Doubront pitched six strong innings, giving up just one run on five hits to a pretty potent Yankees offense. He looked good and his 93 mph fast ball looked effortless. His only mistake was leaving one out over the plate in the top of the 6th for Mark Teixeira to belt over the Green Monster. On the slo-mo replay, you could see Mark’s eyes get real big and I’m sure he was thinking Christmas came early. He struck out seven Yankees and walked just two. At this point, I thought nothing could go wrong.

Even the offense decided to show up today. Almost every batter in the Red Sox lineup had at least one hit — everyone except the 3rd base platoon of Kevin Youkilis, Nate Spears and pinch hitter, Nick Punto. David Ortiz went 4 for 4 with an RBI and raised his average to .436, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia broke out his early season slump going 4 for 5. Both Mike Aviles and Cody Ross had two RBI — Cody’s coming on a monster homerun to straight away center that hit the camera tower. The Red Sox scored two in the first, three in the second, two in the third and two in the fifth and looked to be on their way to breaking their current four-game losing streak leading 9-0 after five innings.

But we all know that any lead against the Yankees is not big enough. In the 6th, Doubront struck out Robinson Cano and Alex Rodriguez before giving up the four-bagger to Teixeira. Curtis Granderson popped out to short stop to end the inning. Doubront finished the 6th with 99 pitches. I totally expected to see him in the 7th. That was not the case…. hence the second part to this recap.

PART 2: Innings 7 - 9

Vicente Padilla relieved Doubront to start the 7th and struck out Andruw Jones to kick things off. Russell Martin singled to right field and then FOX switched over to the White Sox v. Seattle game for the final three outs of Philip Humber’s perfect game. Now I love to see a perfect game just as much as the next fan but in my opinion, they stuck with the celebration a bit too long for my taste. By the time FOX went back to the Red Sox game, the wheels were starting to fall off the bus. The score, which was 9-1 when they switched coverage, was now 9-5. WTF? Nick Swisher blasted a grand salami to pull the Yankees to within four. And my nails got considerably shorter.

Matt Albers came in to relieve Padilla who couldn’t get the job done, and promptly gave up a three-run shot to Teixeira to bring them within one. And I really started to sweat. This is one of those times being married to a Yankees fan really backfires on me. I may or may not have been nanner-nannering my husband about Freddie Garcia’s stellar 1.2 inning outing. Karma hates me.

Franklin Morales came in to relieve Albers who also stunk it up and got out of the rest of the inning unscathed. In the end, the Yankees scored *cough* seven runs *cough* in the inning so I guess there was some scathing, just not for Morales. I honestly can’t bring myself to give the gory details of the 8th inning without leaping out the second story window of my house so here it is in nutshell. Bobby Valentine brought in Alfredo Aceves for the six out save attempt after Morales gave up a lead off single to left. That didn’t happen, he got the loss. The Yankees scored seven more runs on a lot of hits and a couple of walks and now Red Sox nation is pissed off. The boos for Bobby V. were deafening.

The game lasted 3 hours and 52 minutes. It felt twice that long but I’m sure that had a lot to do with having to listen to Tim McCarver and his butchering of nearly every aspect of the broadcast. If you care to take a gander at the painful box score, here’s the link, courtesy of the Red Sox. The series wraps up Sunday night at 8:05pm with Daniel Bard facing off against CC Sabathia. Surprisingly, right now Bard has a better ERA then Sabathia (4.63 vs. 5.59). Let’s hope we can at least salvage one game of this series.

Sometimes, a fan is lucky enough to attend one of those baseball games that stick with you over time, the memories etched indelibly into your mind.  We’re lucky enough to randomly have bleacher seats for a Tuesday afternoon getaway where a no-name pitcher throws a perfect game.  Or, we find ourselves standing and applauding for a three-home run night that came out of nowhere.  Or, we see a play unfold that, even though it might take all of five seconds from start to finish, will leave us shaking our heads at each other and marking up our scorecards with asteriks and stars and made-up language to suit our own memories.

National Anthem (credit: Amanda Laws)

Yesterday, Stacy and I were both lucky enough to get to a game that we knew going in would be historic – a Red Sox-Yankees game that fell on the 100th anniversary of the opening of Fenway Park.  We were both there well before gametime (we found each other in the stands to say hi, and we have the picture to prove it!), and we both watched what was probably one of the best tributes to baseball – and to the power of sport – that I’ve ever seen.

First things first: I got to Fenway early enough to sneak my way into the fancy box seats against the third baseline, where I caught the tail end of the Yankees’ batting practice.  Now, I’ve lived in Boston for years, and I cover the Red Sox for Aerys.  But I’ll be the first person to tell you that I grew up in New York, and my Yankees bloodline runs pretty deep.  So, I’m always a little bit starstruck when I get within 500 feet of any Yankee, let alone Derek Jeter or Alex Rodriguez.

And oh hey, look, it’s Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez:

credit: Amanda Laws

I have to say, I hardly ever get to a game in time to see batting practice.  But I’m always glad when I do.  It’s like a home run derby without the silly rules and overdone hype.  And, I’m always blown away by how massive the players are in person.  Alex Rodriguez is, up close, really, really tall and really, really jacked.  It’s just kind of insane how athletic these players are.  It’s also kind of insane how easily they flip batting practice pitches out of the stadium.  It’s as casual to them as it would be for us to swat a fly.

credit: Amanda Laws

Soon after batting practice ended, the pregame ceremony began.  We noticed that there were, oh, something like 200 people standing in the garage in the center field wall.  The PA announcer launched into a Field of Dreams soliloquy, and soon it all became clear: those 200 people crammed into the garage were all old Red Sox players, coaches, and managers, and they walked out onto the field in “if you build it, they will come” style, taking their old positions.  The ceremony took a long time – the Sox properly and correctly gave each player, whether bit part, role player, Hall of Famer, or living legend, their due.

credit: Amanda Laws

The crowd loved it.  A friend of mine who works a good mile away texted me to ask what all the cheering was about.  By far, the biggest cheers were for recently-ousted manager Terry Francona, members of the 2004 and 2007 teams, and for the old greats.  My experience was enhanced by the old men sitting directly behind me, who screamed out the name of every player they recognized in pitch perfect Boston accents (“Billy Bucknah!  No-mah Gah-cia-parrah!  Cahl-ton Fisk!”).

credit: Amanda Laws

Once all the alums were on the field, the current Red Sox joined them for the rest of the ceremony.  This was the crowd’s first chance to see the 1912 version of the uniforms (the Sox wore their pullovers for batting practice), and I thought they were really cool.  Bright white uniforms with “Red Sox” on the front in red writing, without numbers.  White hats with no logos.  And, to a man, the players wore white socks with red stripes, socks pulled up.

The Yankees wore gray road uniforms with a slightly different, but recognizable interlocked NY logo on the left chest.  No numbers on the back, gray hats with navy brims.  And, I thought the coolest part was the Yankees’ socks – also pulled up, navy and dark red stripes.  I think it’s really, really special that the Yankees wore throwback uniforms for this game.  They hardly ever (and never in my lifetime) have strayed from their regular uniform, except for the odd patriotic hat on July 4th or something.  The rivalry goes back a long way, but so does the shared history between the two teams, and I think the Yankees did a lot to help the Red Sox respect the centennial milestone.

When everyone was in place, renowned conductor John Williams conducted the Boston Pops in his Fanfare to Fenway, followed by Pops conductor Keith Lockhart (the guy who dominates your television during the July 4th fireworks) giving us the National Anthem.

credit: Amanda Laws

After that, things got a little rowdy – at least, as rowdy as things can get during a family-friendly event sponsored by Welch’s sparkling white grape juice drink (TM).  Kevin Millar and Pedro Martinez – who sounded as if they might have already been celebrating a bit beforehand – clambered up on top of the Sox dugout and led the entire ensemble in a birthday toast.  The toast supposedly broke the Guinness world record for number of people (obviously, it was a packed house yesterday), but I thought the highlight was when Millar implored everyone to “Cowboy Up” again, and when he rambled on for a little too long and then said “this is getting awkward now… please stop filming me.”  The grape juice drink itself was not the finest I’ve ever had, by a long shot – but when Kevin Millar tells you to drink, you drink.

Even after all this, a good two and a half hours after I went through the turnstile on Yawkey Way, there was still a game to play.  A Yankees game, no less.

On April 20, 1912, the Boston Red Sox, who were a beast of a team at the time, staged a comeback rally to beat the mediocre New York Highlanders, 7-6 in 11 innings.  I guess the baseball gods couldn’t allow that much poetry to unfold in a single day, though, as history didn’t repeat itself.  The Yankees beat the Red Sox, 6-2, in a pretty thorough drubbing.  Derek Jeter led off the game with a pop fly to second base that Dustin Pedroia lost in the sun and dropped.  Jeter came around to score, and the Yankees never looked back.  Clay Buchholz went a full six innings, and walked Curtis Granderson to start the seventh, before Bobby Valentine (who was booed lustily every time he popped his head out of the dugout amid chants of “we want Tito”) pulled him.  Buchholz allowed six runs, five of them earned.  He gave up solo home runs to Rodriguez, Nick Swisher, and two to Eric Chavez.  The Boston bullpen held New York scoreless from there.

For the Red Sox, David Ortiz and Mike Aviles each pushed runs across the plate.  Aviles scored Cody Ross on a double to right field in the fifth inning, and Ortiz hit a monster solo home run in the second.  Ortiz, fittingly, illustrated one of the quirks of Fenway Park’s dimensions, when his shot bounced off the top of the Green Monster at its center-field corner, and landed back on the field.  The umpires originally ruled the hit a double, but let Ortiz round the bases after reviewing the film.  Boston staged a sort-of rally in

the ninth inning when Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled off of David Robertson to lead off the frame.  But, Joe Girardi squelched that dream quickly, bringing in Mariano Rivera to protect the four-run (read: non-save situation) lead.  Yankees starter Ivan Nova picked up his third win, allowing two runs over six strong innings of work.

Here’s a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  The rivals meet up again today for a 4:05 start, when Felix Doubront will toe up with New York’s Freddy Garcia.