The Boston Red Sox went through some major changes over the last year. Some good, some bad and some just… meh. They unloaded some dead weight — Josh Beckett and his bad attitude, Carl Crawford and his bad contract and Adrian Gonzalez and his bad luck (as collateral damage.) Needless to say, the 2013 Opening Day line up is going to look a lot different from 2012 with only four players returning for the starting nine.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF: He will most likely bat lead off as his did last year. That’s only if he doesn’t sprain his earlobe in spring training or catch a hangnail during warmups.
2. Shane Victorino, RF: Newly signed Victorino makes the most sense for the #2 spot. Dustin Pedroia held this spot last year, but with the addition of the speedy “flyin’ Hawaiian,” he may be better suited further down in the order.
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B: He’s proved himself to be an offensive asset and has surprising power for a guy of his stature. He has a career .303 batting average with a .830 OPS. Last year, the #3 spot belonged to the departed Adrian Gonzalez.
4. David Ortiz, DH: Big Papi will once again commandeer the clean up spot. Let’s just hope that achilles can hold up and David can pick up where he left off last season before he went down with the bum heel.
5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B: The position stays the same, just the personel has changed. Middlebrooks takes over full time at the hot corner after the somewhat rancorous departure of Kevin Youkilis.
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C: Salty takes over the #6 spot from Ryan Sweeney who was allowed to go to free agency following an unspectacular year.
7. First Base?: With the Mike Napoli deal in limbo, could Mauro Gomez start the season at first base? Or will they continue to search for a more seasoned first baseman if the Napoli contract crumbles. If Napoli does end up in Boston, I imagine he’ll bat a little higher up in the order — probably 5th. In 2012, the recently departed Cody Ross held this spot in the line up.
8. Left Field?: Do the Sox see Jonny Gomes starting the season guarding the Green Monster? Or Ryan Kalish? This one baffles me. Salty batted #8 to start last season.
9. Stephen Drew, SS: Drew replaces last year’s shortstop Mike Aviles at the end of the order. Needless to say, my excitement level for this position is very low. I’m begging this guy to prove me wrong.

Well, 2013 should be an interesting year. There were some big holes to fill over the off season in this line up and I’m not feeling too confident that the new acquisitions are going to get them where they need to be. I’m not sure I can handle a “rebuilding year” so someone needs to do something really sparkly or that’s exactly what we’re going to get.

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”

Jon Lester just cannot catch a break these days.  Despite giving up only four hits and striking out a season-high nine through 6 2/3 innings against Oakland, Lester took the 3-2 loss for a Red Sox team that sputtered to another extra-inning loss.  Lester gave up a home run to ex-Sox Coco Crisp on the third pitch of the game, but that was it.

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

The Red Sox lost this game in the ninth inning, following a series of miscues by Ryan Kalish and Nick Punto that were exacerbated by Boston’s overall inability to score.  In the top of the ninth inning, the Sox led 2-1, and had runners on first (Mike Aviles) and second (Ryan Kalish) with no outs.  Punto tried to bunt the runners over so that a sac fly could score an insurance run, but he popped the bunt up instead.  The Oakland first baseman dove, caught the ball, and doubled Aviles off at first.

So, with Kalish on second, the Sox up by one, and two outs, Kalish tried to steal third.  It was a close play, but the umpire called him out, ending the scoring threat.

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Sox closer Alfredo Aceves turned in a shaky performance.  With runners on first and second with one out, Oakland pinch hitter Brandon Moss took an 0-2 pitch up the middle.  Kalish, who was hurrying to beat the runner to the plate, bobbled the ball.  One run scored, tying the game, and the runner that was on first ended up on third with one out.

Of course, after that, Crisp – of all people! – stepped up to the plate and hit a sacrifice fly to Kalish to end the game.

So, yeah – this was a game where one player’s mistakes were highlighted, but as usual, it’s not like the Red Sox did a lot of hitting.  They’ve only scored 12 runs in their last six games.  With this lineup, that’s inexcusable.  It’s hard to blame that on Kalish.

Here’s a link to the depressing box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.

Oh, and also – Daisuke Matsuzaka is back on the DL following his last horrific start.  He claims he hurt his neck.  He is very… middling.  I think that’s the right word.  The Sox called up Mauro Gomez, a third baseman from AAA Pawtucket.  Gomez will chip in while Will Middlebrooks recovers from left hamstring soreness.

The Sox finish up their west coast swing today, when they take on Oakland again.  Aaron Cook (2-1, 4.32 ERA) – who pitched fantastically his last time out – will take on A.J. Griffin (0-0, 1.50 ERA) in what will be Griffin’s third career start.  Griffin hasn’t given up a run in eleven innings, and two-hit Texas over six innings his last time out.

Am I the only one who is SO tired of talking about last place?

Daisuke Matsuzaka, in search of his first win of 2012, pitched a beauty last night giving up just one run in 5.2 innings and struck out five. Unfortunately, he didn’t get the W, but the team did. The bullpen posted yet another brilliant performance keeping the Jays scoreless for the remaining 3.1 innings with a combination of Scott Atchison, Andrew Miller, Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves. Despite his strong outing, Dice K told reporters after the game the has more work to do.

“We ended up winning the game, so I’m really happy about that,” Matsuzaka said through a translator. “I do have to give credit to myself to holding them to one run in the first inning. Other than that, I need to go deeper into the game to be more satisfied with my pitching. … I’m not satisfied with the way I pitched today.”

Padilla struck out two batters in the eighth inning. Honestly, I’m surprised anyone even steps into the batter’s box against this guy. He scares me. And not just because he has a reputation for beaning guys. He just looks mean. Like if I get a hit, he’s going to pull a machete out of his sock and hack me to death on first base. I’ll just take the K, thankyouverymuch. *shivers* Glad he’s on my team.

Jays’ pitcher, Aaron Laffey, really shut down the Red Sox line up allowing them only three hits over six innings. Obviously, they were elated to see him not come back out for the seventh inning and promptly welcomed his three replacements that inning by putting up a three spot on the scoreboard. Jarrod Saltalamacchia got the scoring started with a two-out, solo home run. Pinch hitter Ryan Kalish then doubled, PH Daniel Nava was hit by a pitch and Mike Aviles walked to load the bases for Dustin Pedroia. Pedroia didn’t let me down, shooting a ground ball up the middle for a base hit scoring Kalish and Nava but Aviles was caught in a rundown for the final out.

After Padilla showed the Jays who was boss in the top of the eighth, the Sox decided to tack on a couple more. David Ortiz doubled, Cody Ross singled and Adrian Gonzalez smashed a wall-ball double to center to score Ortiz. Will Middlebrooks, who had a rough night at third, finished off the scoring with a sac fly to score Ross.

Aceves pitched a one-two-three ninth. Game over. Sox win. Bye-bye last place once again.

Clicky here for all the good stuff box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. They finish off their three-game set with the Jays this afternoon with Jon Lester (4-5, 4.48) taking on Ricky Romero (8-1, 4.34). This is an interesting match-up — they have nearly identical stats but their records are worlds apart.

Injury Update: Clay Buchholz has been diagnosed with esophagitis which is an inflammation of the esophagus. Ouch. However, Clay is suffering from an erosion of his esophagus which is what caused his internal bleeding. Double ouch. I’m wondering if the 15-day DL is going to be enough to come back from this. In other news, Jacoby “Fra-geeee-lay” Ellsbury is starting a rehab assignment in Fort Meyers this week as the DH. Really? REALLY? Whatever happen to the initial “oh, he’ll be out probably 4-6 weeks report”? Did they really mean 4-6 months? Tape a friggin’ asprin to your stupid sublexed shoulder and get your ass back to Boston. I’m going to start calling him JD Ellsbury.

It’s so refreshing to see a Red Sox starting pitcher take the mound, throw strikes, not make faces at the home plate umpire, not buy into his own hype, and just quietly and calmly gut out a win for a team that really needs them.  Thank you, Franklin Morales, for being the most admirable starting pitcher in the bunch.  Morales, who took over the injured Josh Beckett’s slot for a spot start last night, pitched five innings.  His 80 pitches were the most he’s thrown since he was a starter for the Colorado Rockies in 2009.  He gave up two runs, four hits, and struck out nine without walking a single batter.

On Morales’s effort, the Red Sox beat the Chicago Cubs 7-4, taking two of three in the interleague series.  The Sox are (gasp!) BACK AT .500.  They’ve won two straight, and they’ll take a day off today (one of Josh Beckett’s 18 days off, I presume?) before returning to Fenway to host the Miami Marlins.

The game started off strong for the Sox.  Scott Podsednik led off with a single, and then scored on Dustin Pedroia’s double to left center field.  A Kevin Youkilis sac fly and a David Ortiz single scored Pedroia to give the Sox an early 2-0 lead.

The Cubs scored one run in the bottom of the first.  Things settled down until the bottom of the third inning, when Chicago scored its second run on a Starlin Castro “double” to shallow right field that Pedroia and right fielder Darnell MacDonald couldn’t sort out before it bounced off Pedroia’s glove.  Two things: first, very very hometown scoring there – if that’s a legitimate double, then I’m Bryce Harper; and second, Terry Francona, who was calling the game for ESPN, instantly jumped to Pedroia’s defense and heaped all the blame on MacDonald.  Personally, I saw Pedroia call for the ball and then let it bounce off his glove.  We all know how much Tito loves Pedroia, his cribbage buddy.  But, if Tito wants to be a neutral ESPN analyst, he should start by being neutral.

Anyway.  Ortiz made things right the next inning, when he hit a monster home run to center field to put the Red Sox ahead again, but his efforts were thwarted by yet another defensive miscue involving Pedroia.  Pedroia and Mike Aviles Aviles met at second base to handle a force out from a tap-back to pitcher Matt Albers.  Aviles cut in front of Pedroia, dropped the ball and picked up the error, and the Cubs evened the score again.  This one was clearly Aviles’s fault, but it’s kind of weird that Pedroia was involved in both defensive communication issues this game.  Is he not calling for the ball or something?  I find it hard to believe that both Aviles and MacDonald would just ignore Pedroia calling for the ball.

It seems like all was forgiven though, as the Red Sox put up three runs in the top of the seventh inning to grab the lead for good.  MacDonald doubled, pinch-hitter Jarrod Saltalamacchia singled, Ryan Kalish – who made his return from the minor leagues yesterday – singled, Will Middlebrooks hit a sac fly to center field, and Daniel Nava dropped a bunt.

Good win for the Red Sox all around.  Except for the Curse of Dustin Pedroia, it looks like things were rolling, at least for one night.  Here’s a link to the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Boston returns to Fenway from its 4-2 road trip on Tuesday, when it welcomes the Miami Marlins.  Clay Buchholz (7-2, 5.38 ERA) will try to repeat his last great start against Miami.  He’s up against Mark Buehrle (5-7, 3.41 ERA), who picked up his first loss in ten interleague games against the Red Sox last week.

Well, the Red Sox stint at .500 was short-lived as they lost to the Orioles 4-1 last night in a classic pitcher’s duel. Felix Doubront was sharp holding the first place O’s to just four hits and two runs over six innings. He struck out a season-high nine batters and whiffed Robert Andino and Adam Jones both three times.

Unfortunately, O’s pitcher Brian Matusz was even better, holding the usually high-powered Sox offense to just two hits while striking out 12.

Kevin Youkilis was back in the line up, playing first base while Adrian Gonzalez moved out to right field to help a injury-riddled outfield. He hit a home run in the fourth inning to account for the lone Sox run. Gonzalez had the other hit. *yawn*

Now that Youk is back, you have to wonder what going to happen. It would be silly to send Will Middlebrooks back to Pawtucket after he’s done so well in the bigs. But you can’t ask Adrian Gonzalez to continue to patrol right field — especially in Fenway Park. That corner will eat him alive. So what? Speculation is that the Sox are trying to get Youk some quality at bats to show he doesn’t suck and hopefully trade him. They really could use some more help in the outfield…

Speaking of the outfield, Ryan Sweeney was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a concussion. And Cody Ross was officially put on the 15-day DL but hopes he won’t be out the 6-8 weeks originally predicted. So right now the four top outfielders are sidelined: Jacoby Ellsbury, Carl Crawford, Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney. Three of the four will most likely not see any playing time until July. Darnell McDonald, Ryan Kalish and Jason Repko are also out. The Sox called up Scott Podsednik from Pawtucket to fill some shoes. June could be very interesting…

Take a gander at the very slim box score courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and O’s finish up the series playing the rubber match this afternoon at 12:35pm. Daniel Bard (3-5, 4.85 ERA) will take on Jake Arrieta (2-4, 4.72 ERA). This game will be a good test for Bard and his ability to bounce back after a tough outing against the Phillies.