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 50/162, Red Sox 14, Tigers 1, Red Sox Win Through 7 1/2 Innings (Rain)

Hey guy, I haven't been here for a while as the Sox are destroying because as some of you might know, I was in Cleveland for the past few days at the Wednesday 14-2 win over the Indians at Progressive Field. I haven't made the post and uploaded the pictures yet because of technical difficulties but I'm hoping those will be up soon. By the way, Cleveland is way further from me that I thought.

Now, getting back to topic, the Red Sox have scored 14 runs in the last two games. This is the ninth time the Red Sox have scored 14+ runs in two consecutive games. The last time was in 1998 vs the Expos and White Sox.

Aceves pitched very well, going six strong innings and giving up 1 ER. Crawford went 4 for 5 and has gone 8 for 9 in the last two days. Ellsbury did well again with a three run homer to right.

Josh Reddick (who I saw playing in Rochester) went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI after replacing Darnell McDonald. Drew Sutton also did well and hit 2 doubles and had 2 RBI.

Crawford had two triples while in Cleveland, he only needed one to complete the cycle a day earlier. 

Here are the AL East current standings!

                W   L   PCT   GB
Yankees     27  21 .563    ---
Red Sox     28  22 .560    ---

I hope I can get those photos up by tonight!

The Year of the Pitcher - Buchholz and Masterson

What a night for New England fans clicking from the Bruins Lightening Stanley Cup playoff game number four to the Red Sox game where Clay Buchholz faced the Tribe's Justin Masterson; Masterson and Bucholz, both sporting their playoff hockey beards pitched a great game. With more aggressive drug testing MLB and the rise of great young pitchers throughout the MLB it has become the year of the pitcher. Last night was a mix of great pitching and some great hitting.A pitcher's duel or maybe better described as a duel draw. Masterson pitched 7 2/3 innings, Buchholz 7 1/3 innings, Masterson and Buchholz each allowed 2 earned runs, both men allowed 4 hits and 2 walks, Masterson struck out 3 and Buchholz punched out 4. A shame that Masterson neither ace got the decision.

This game epitomizes how the absence of "steroids" has changed baseball; pitching, especially young pitching now dominates the game. A team like the Tampa Bay Rays with good young pitching and timely hitting has kept the struggling Yankees and slow starting Bosox from dominating the American League East. Last night the starting pitchers were equal almost to a pitch, both teams matched home runs, and in the end the Indian's Joe Smith was just that much better than the Red Sox's closer Daniel Bard who has struggled this season to find his pitching grove. Pitching will separate the great teams from the very good teams. Last night the Red Sox pitching and Bard were not good enough. 

When the Sox signed Carl Crawford I was temporarily reconciled to the loss of Victor Martinez. When Crawford plays and hits well as he did last night I begin to forget what an important part of the Sox's success came from V-Mart's play behind the plate and as a big bat. Perhaps Crawford will help us forget.

Last night was fun. What a night for New England fans clicking from the Bruins Lightening Stanley Cup playoff game number four to the Red Sox game where Clay Buchholz faced the Tribe's Justin Masterson; Masterson and Bucholz, both sporting their playoff hockey beards pitched a great game. With more aggressive drug testing MLB and the rise of great young pitchers throughout the MLB it has become the year of the pitcher. Last night was a mix of great pitching and some great hitting.

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.