Game 58/162, It Takes the Red Sox 14 Innings and a Walk-Off But a Win is a Win

From a four-run lead in the top of the ninth, the Red Sox made the game much harder to win that expected. Pedroia could have ended the game with a double play but slipped up, adding 5 innings of free baseball to the game. With a four-lead, Papelbon gave it all up. Varitek was frustrated and was quickly ejected. After Conor Jackson's two-run single of of Youk's glove to tie the game, Papelbon's frustration got to him after a few inconsistencies by the ump calling balls and strikes and was ejected. Pap claims that he was talking to Salty but the Ump thought he has talking to him.

"I more or less was just trying to get Salty out here and say, 'Hey, you know, come talk to me, let's figure out this zone so I know how to go about this,'" Papelbon said. "Cause I had no idea what his zone was. I don't know, I guess he may have jumped to the conclusion that I was talking to him, and then I felt like he threw his arms up in the air, for no reason, towards me."

In the bottom of the 11th after the Athletics scored in the top half, Jacoby Ellsbury had a crucial, game changing double to score Salty and tie the game.


The Sox went on to walk-off on JD Drew's RBI single to right center. They won but it became a much harder victory due to the overuse of the bullpen which is now tired. Beckett gave up three runs in 6 IP. Hottovy, a new addition to the roster pitched 2/3 of an inning in his debut. Pap was charged with 3 ER in 1/3 IP. Alfredo Aceves got the W pitching 4 late innings and giving up the one run in the 11th.


Notable Players:
Jacoby Ellsbury, 4 for 7 with a double and an RBI
Carl Crawford, 4 for 7 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI
Adrian Gonzalez, 3 for 5 with a homer and 1 RBI
JD Drew, 2 for 7 with a walk-off single and 2 RBI 

Red Sox Game vs Tigers Postponed (Rain)

Thanks to the heavy rain yesterday, the Sox play a double header today. The first game is at 1:05 PM with Buchholz pitching. The second game is at 7:05 PM with Beckett pitching. Carl Crawford has 3 homers in his last few games. Buchholz has pitched fine this season but not as well as last season. On the other hand, Beckett has pitched much better this season than in any of his last few injury riddled seasons. You can expect Ellsbury to do well again as he is on a hot streak. JD Drew is expected to play today and Gonzalez has been doing well as of late. Also, one surprising thing I noticed lately was that Ortiz is hitting .305 this season with 10 homers which is much better than expected by anyone. Also, remember to put all your Red Sox players into your fantasy lineups as they are playing 2 games today. Also, the Red Sox can use today to get a much larger lead over the Yankees who are trailing the Sox by 1.5 games.


Have a nice weekend!

Game 38/162, Red Sox Beat the Yankees Using Power

Red Sox 5, Yankees 3

Red Sox  - 000 200 300 - 5 9 1

Yankees - 000 020 011 - 4 8 0 

redsox.mlb.com

The Red Sox had a familiar strategy to win the game on Friday, power and good pitching. Buchholz pitched the best he had all season, giving up 2 runs on 5 hits and 7 Ks in 7 IP against the powerful Yankee lineup. 

Bard came in in the eight, giving up a triple to Granderson and letting him score on the wild pitch. Later in the inning, after walking A-Rod and hitting Cano, they had a double steal to try to get the win. Then luckily Swisher struck out on a high pitch and Posada  grounded out to second.

In the ninth, after getting two quick outs, Papelbon gave up a single to Jeter with two strikes and Granderson had a nice hit to left. Later they advanced to second and third. If Teixeira got a hit they Yanks would tie, and a homer would win it for the Yanks but happily, he popped out to third to end the game. 

As for the Red Sox offense, Adrian Gonzalez hit a deep, high homer that made me think it might get outta the park, but it didn't. Then Youk got on after a drop third strike and later, with the bases loaded, he came home on a ground out by Drew.

In the 7th inning, Salty got a hit and Joba came in. Ellsbury got on with a fielders choice and stole second. He later scored on Gonzalez's sac fly. Then with Pedroia on, Youk hit a two run homer to right and while in the dugout, you could easily read his lips: "I love this park". Probably referring to the short porch out in right.

Just for fun: Adrian Gonzalez leads the league in RBIs. The Red Sox are three games behind the Yankees and 5 games behind the Rays in first place.

Game 34/162, Red Sox Get the Win on Mothers Day

Red Sox 9, Twins 5

Twins     - 300 100 010 - 5  8  3

Red Sox  - 014 020 20x - 9 14  0

On Sunday, the Sox get the win. Dice-K got the win. He started off badly in the first inning and got better as the game went on. 

The Red Sox got on the board after Youkilis doubled and Drew grounded out with the RBI. In the third, the Red Sox really got into the attack with 5 hits in the inning, getting 4 runs. 

In the top of the fourth, Danny Valencia, (who I saw play in the minors a few times) hit a homer that was disputed and then checked by instant replay. After the Replay, the umpires confirmed the homer.

In the fifth, Gonzalez homered, showing some power over the last few days. Also, Drew hit into a force out and Youkilis scored on the error.

Lowrie also hit a two run double in the seventh to finish out the game. He has hit .229 on this current homestand. 

Notable Players:

Jacoby Ellsbury - 3 for 5 with a double and a run - extends hit streak to 17 games

Adrian Gonzalez - 3 for 5 with a homer and 2 RBIs

Kevin Youkilis - 2 for 4 with 4 runs and an RBI

Starting Pitcher:

Dice-K - 6 IP 5 H 4 ER 4 Ks 

Big Expectations for Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford

With spring training drills underway, many people have big expectations for the highly regarded  Red Sox newcomers. Adrian Gonzalez came to the Red Sox in a deal for prospects Casey Kelly, Anthony Rizzo, Reymond Fuentes, and a player to be named lated. The Red Sox have tried to acquire Adrian Gonzalez since the 2008 season trade deadline due to the fact that he is a great all around player. He has power, average, defense and the Red Sox have the ability to put him at first base, due to the versatility of Kevin Youkilis. Last year, Adrian Gonzalez had 31 homers and 101 RBIS and hit a good average of .298. This was all  while he was in need of shoulder surgery. Also that was with half of his games played at spacious Petco Park. Now with a repaired shoulder and being in Fenway Park, Adrian Gonzalez could hit many more homers thanks to his opposite field stroke which is perfect for the Green Monster in Fenway. Carl Crawford was acquired very swiftly and suddenly by the Red Sox. He was expected to go to the Angels but instead came to Boston with a large contract for 7 yrs/$142M. He is very important to the Red Sox due to his speed, athleticism, contact, and defense. Not many balls will hit the ground in left center with speedy Ellsbury and Carl Crawford taking center and left field. Also, he along with Ellsbury will drive pitchers crazy as they have both stolen more than 50 bases in one season. Think about this, if either he or Ellsbury gets a hit and steals second on the next pitch, then all they need is a hit and they will score. With these two additions to an already good team, the Red Sox have high expectations for this upcoming season.