“IV Yawkey Way”

The Tigers, Mets, and Astros swept their weekend series vs the Indians, Pirates and Padres, respectively. (PS: the collective win-loss numbers, combined, for the losers is 36-59 so far on the season). The Twins and the Reds nearly joined the ranks but were foiled by late-inning heroics by the Mariners and Cardinals. The Red Sox took 2 of 3 (and the series) from their new tormentors, the Rays, this weekend at Fenway Park. The Rays are 6-4  vs. the Red Sox this season.

A series sweep was ruled out by a brutal 14-5 loss to the Rays on Saturday. The Rays got 6 in the 5th and then 5 more in the 6th to put it away. Jon Lester wound up with the loss and an inflated ERA after the disappointing afternoon. It brought back scary memories of the ALCS game he pitched at Fenway vs TB.  He held the Rays to two runs until the 5th inning.

Tonight was another quality start by Josh Beckett. 6 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 5 K’s. The same number of runs and innings pitched as his last outing, visiting the Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Papi doubled in the Boston 8th and Jason Bay (who else?) drove him in for the 4-3 win. Papelbon gave me a heart attack with 1st and 3rd, 1 out, and then struck out the side!

#24 Ends ALDS Game 2 in '07 for Boston

Supporting Manny

One of the greatest sluggers of the modern era, Manny Ramirez, tested positive for a “banned substance”, it was reported on Thursday. (Note I said slugger. Have you seen him field?) He tested positive for HCG, a female hormone. The drug could legitimately help a male who needs help bringing his natural hormones back to a normal zone. It could and has also been used to mask the effects of human growth hormone and other banned steroids. So, the good news is that Manny didn’t get caught with the girl, but he smells like cheap perfume and has lipstick on his collar.

This is big news because this is Manny and he is a BIG star. This is big news because he is a first ballot hall-of famer and beloved across baseball and popular culture. He is loved in the cities of Cleveland, Boston and now L.A. He has this blog’s vote of confidence unconditionally, despite the fact that he is now linked with a substance that has been associated with steroids. My view is simple: Manny is guilty of being dumb and thoughtless, not of being a cheat or malice aforethought.

I got to watch Manny for years as a die-hard Boston fan. He is a talented man. He is also just emerging from a very extended adolescence (he’s 36). I have been upset with Manny in the past, beginning with a 2 week self-approved vacation leading up to his trade to the Dodgers for Jason Bay. I believe that his talent is natural because I have seen it for 15 years (8 of those as one of my Red Sox heroes.)

I’m sad that Manny has mud on his proverbial uniform, but I don’t see this on the same level as an Alex Rodriguez or a Mark Maguire. Manny will be judged by the career he has had, not by this indiscretion. 6 years after he retires, I will see him in Cooperstown.

L.A. Times has the full story among many takes:

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-manny-ramirez8-2009may08,0,6324894.story

Manny's replacement, Jason Bay, is on fire!

Friday: Red Sox 7, Rays 3:

The Rays are back in town and tonight they are probably less than loving their evening. James Shields (3-3) was bested by Boston’s Brad Penny (3-1). Penny allowed solo runs in the 1st, 3rd and 4th innings. Shields was gliding along through 5 innings and then with 2 on base, gave up another 3-run bomb over the Green Monster to Jason Bay. (I LOVE this guy!!) With 1 on and 1 out, J.D. Drew hit it deep and out to the bullpens in right field. The Red Sox are 3-5 vs the Rays in the season series. There are 2 more to go in this weekend series vs Tampa Bay.

Worth the wait on Monday night (Boston won 6-4)

Monday: Red Sox 6, Yankees 4:

The first trip to the new Yankee Stadium was a pleasure for the visiting Boston Red Sox. All of New England got to see narcissistic self-indulgence on display in a way not seen since George III raised and multiplied his excise upon the Colonists in the 1760’s and ’70’s. When watching this rain-soaked, 2 game series, you could see first-hand that the Yanks were about as successful as his majesty.

Faded glory, tired bluster, and rumblings about “the great tradition” were on full display at “Stadium 2.0″ on the northern side of 161st st in the Bronx. Also in effect was a mediocre Phil Hughes (starting pitcher for NY), an improved Jon Lester (Boston’s starter) and an inspired Boston lineup. Boston got single runs in the top of innings 1-4, building a 4-0 lead. This was punctuated by a booming solo home run (#6) by Boston 3rd baseman, Mike Lowell.

Vintage Jon Lester (2-2)

NY drew within 4-3 in the bottom of the 5th inning on homers by Johnny Damon and Mark Teixeira. Lester was mostly dominant throughout the contest, nipping at the knees of Yankee righties and dropping sinking hooks to the inside of the strike zone on lefties. He really mixed it up effectively.

Boston added some insurance in the 8th inning and NY made it interesting in the 9th, loading the bases with two outs before Papelbon struck out Cano to end the threat.

Tuesday: Red Sox 7, Yankees, 3:

Four of the seven runs which Boston tallied were scored against Joba Chamberlain before an out was even recorded in the Boston 1st. Ortiz plated Ellsbury on a RBI single before Jason Bay launched one to deep left field with two men on base. It was all the scoring Boston would need. In the bottom of the 3rd with no outs and 2 men on, former Sox favorite Johnny Damon hit a 3-run home run to make the score 4-3, where it would remain until the Sox tacked on 2 in the 8th and 1 more in the 9th. Josh Beckett was the much improved winner.

A Much Improved Josh Beckett (3-2)

I recall Boston winning 5 of the 1st 7 games between the clubs to begin the 2003 season series and winning 11 of 19 overall in 2004, but winning the first 5 games is a new one in my time watching. Johnny Damon told the YES Network: “They outplayed us. They out-pitched us. At this time they’re a better team than we are.” Johnny always seemed to never meet a microphone he didn’t like. He also has a flair for the obvious. But he put it pretty succinctly there.

I was a fan long before ‘04 and so I’m still cautiously thrilled. None of these games were ridiculous affairs except Boston’s 16-11 win back on 4/26 at Fenway.

Alex ‘Roid-riguez is still on the disabled list after hip surgery, but will return later this week it would seem. The defamed slugger admitted to regular steroid use between 2001-’03, when he was the shortstop for the Texas Rangers. Whether or not his presence will spark the 2009 Yankees remains to be seen. I’ve said it before, Boston has the feel already of a real team. By this I mean they are not simply a conglomeration of stars.

New York did their old song and dance of the ’70’s and ’80’s under the very hands-on George Steinbrenner. His sons Hank and Hal have taken the reigns but the M.O. is the very same. Sabathia and Burnett joined the rotation and Teixeira joined the big bats. But being a team is a brotherhood, a very unselfish one. The late ’90’s championship teams had this vibe for NY, but not lately and in my opinion (so far) not this year.

Aerial View of "The Trop", St Petersburg, FL

The Red Sox were beginning to feel a bit snake-bitten when playing the Tampa Bay Rays, especially in St. Petersburg. Tropicana Field is in a maudlin, industrial area of the city with little to no public transportation to the game. The stadium, from the outside, looks like the spaceship from Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The field itself is under a dome and made of artificial turf. Historically, it was never a house of horrors for visiting teams.

But beginning last year, the Trop has given the Red Sox fits. The first 2 games this season have followed that trend. Two straight losses to Tampa, being outscored 19-2, came following a 12-1 record in the previous 13 games. But the Sox notched a big 10-6 victory at the Trop tonight, their first of the season there and their first against Tampa Bay since Opening Day’s 5-3 win at Fenway Park on April 7.

Tim Wakefield started and won the ballgame. He is now 3-1. Boston jumped out to a 6-1 lead after 3 innings. Pena homered again and the Rays chipped away and drew to 6-5. But Youkilis (batting .405 entering today’s game) doubled down the 3rd base line with the bases loaded, scoring 2 more and the 6th inning ended Red Sox 8, Tampa 5. Boston added 2 more in the 7 and Tampa got a run in the 9th inning making the final score 10-6.

Tonight’s win was also a reminder that the Rays are a good team. They’re scuffling a bit at present, but they are fully capable of winning the A.L. East or Pennant again. Winning versus the Rays is far from what was once a gimme game or series, especially in Florida. They are also always up for trying to beat Boston and NY, but especially Boston it seems.

I’m glad for the win, glad for the big hits at key times and hopeful to split this series with a win tomorrow!

Evan Longoria

The Tampa Bay Rays were 8-14 coming into this game but you would never know it by the way they have made the Red Sox look like the also-rans so far this series in St. Pete. Boston outhit Tampa Bay 9-7 and Tampa only scored in one inning, which means they struck effectively and quickly and unlike Boston made the most of their hits. Justin Masterson, who started for Boston, pitched 4 scoreless innings and then gave up 6 runs in the 5th inning, erasing a 2-0 Boston lead. Tampa’s Carlos Pena hit a solo homer, and Evan Longoria (the ‘08 A.L. Rookie of the Year) hit a grand slam in the frame to give the lead to Tampa.

I am having to write the blog this Saturday that I was certain I would have to write last Saturday, but Jason Bay and Kevin Youkilis saved Sox fans, writers, chroniclers and bloggers from that fate. Last night there was no such reprieve. Boston left 10 men on base and was 1 for 6 with runners in scoring position. That seems like good Tampa pitching when there was a need to make tough pitches and also just a lack of clutch hitting.

Boston is now 4 wins, 7 losses on the road (2-3 on this current trip) and they are 10-2 at Fenway (I’ll let you guess who the two losses are to). Sixteen men were left on base and batters 3-6 were walked 6 times over the contest but only 2 runs crossed the plate. Ortiz is in a 91 at-bat homer-less streak but that doesn’t tell the whole story. They have to find a way to consistently pitch well, support with small-ball, and for God’s sake, win verses Tampa Bay.

Jon Van Every: In drag w/other Sept. '08 call-ups

Jonathan Van Every has put in his time in the minor leagues. He spent years with the Cleveland farm system. The very same whose big club hosted the Sox tonight at the “mistake by the lake.” Progressive Field (always Jacobs’ Field or The Jake in my heart) was the site of three close games this week between the Indians and Red Sox, with Boston taking tonight’s contest and the series. Tonight was a gritty come-from-behind affair. I am not loving the pitching issues of the otherwise lovable Jon Lester. However, I loved it that the boys refused to lose tonight, or at least refused to go without a fight!

On Friday, I asked for a game-tying home run in the 9th inning at Fenway, I asked for a walk-off homer two innings later, and tonight (Wednesday) I asked for Boston to rally and win another one, after last night’s awful loss due to the error at first. I got all three! I think someone’s listening. In all three cases, someone in the opposing team had to help out in some way. Tonight it was Indians’ infielder Mark DeRosa.

In baseball’s wonderful irony, DeRosa (who scored the winning run from 2nd base last night due to the error by the Boston pitcher) made an error tonight which allowed the top of the 8th inning to continue. The Red Sox tied the game at 5-5 on Ellsbury’s sharp line drive between 1st and 2nd base.

Jonathan Van Every made a neat play behind 1st base on the hard warning track the inning before, he drove in a run in the 3-run Boston 8th, then drove in the winning run with a solo homer in the top of the 10th inning.

Van Every got the opportunity to play today because of J D Drew’s sore quadriceps. He was  newest hero in what has become a season of late heroics with a variety of heroes. Coming up from the minors and helping the big club is a dream come true for both the player and the club. His enthusiasm and clutch play tonight lifted the club to a series win in Cleveland.