It’s the odd 2 p.m. start for the Sox this afternoon, and it looks like a four-game sweep will be required to maintain our two-game lead on the Yankees. It’s Wakefield vs. Hendrickson, and the Sox will try to score more than three runs so that Timmeh can actually get a win. That looks possible, considering Hendrickson’s line at Fenway: 0-3, 8.53 in seven games.
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Coco’s back! Pickoff at 2nd of Crawford!
But no Manny for the second day in a row. Timlin and Pena on the DL.
Let’s see what happens in the bottom of the 1st.
Coco looks like the bat’s swinging him, not the other way around.
The Belichickization of the Red Sox continues: Timlin’s injury described as a “fatigued arm.”
Well, Coco returned just in time. But I fear for our bullpen with Papelbon and no one else. Maybe Seanez and Riske are putting it together at the right time…
Did that go out? MLB.tv just cut out on me.
Looks to me like they’re getting solid contact off Wakefield so far…and with that statement, they get a double.
no — trot caught it at the wall
Youkilis lines…to 1st.
Wakefield gets through 3.
One trip through the order and one hit.Not a good feeling about this game suddenly..
Wakefield through 4. Game zipping by.
Wait, so the Red Sox aren’t giving Wakefield run support?
STOP THE PRESSES!
Yeah really.
Two out rally, but Mirabelli’s at the plate.
Second scoring opportunity of the game for the Sox, both with 2 out.
Loaded for Trot…
Full count for Nixon on those loaded bases…and he…
WALKS! RUN!
I’ll take the run however we can get it, but I still don’t trust AGon in this situation…
That blank name was me.
1 run. That’s it and that’s all. Let’s hope it’s enough, the way this game’s going…
And the infield popout. Yuck…
Shades of George Scott there by Youk. If you know what I mean, then you are old!
Through five. Wow.
Harris doubles leading off the inning as he gets it by the pulled-in 3rd baseman (threatening to bunt on first pitch).
Leadoff double from Harris. Now let’s get some runs here!
as you command, Paul.
Crawford has problems squeezing outs today (that one was tough) and the Sox benefit. 2-0, man on 2nd, 1 out. Up comes the big man.
I suspect Hendrickson will not being seeing the end of this inning.
M-Lor is the man. Period.
GameCast’s been stuck on this 2-2 count to Lowell… What’s happening?
Not sure
ground out to 3rd
that inning was my fault; remind me not to make such happy predictions about opposing pitchers in the future.
There it is, groundout..
Some good throws by Lowell and Gonzo this inning.
What an infield. That play by Lowell (and Youk) was just fantastic. And Gonzalez’ earlier today wasn’t too bad either.
Wakefield is on FIRE today. If he gets the L today it’ll be a damn shame.
Just give them all gold gloves now. They are a good as any infield I can remember. What would the score be with Garciaparra at short and Millar at first? Bill Mueller was very good, but Lowell is actually noticeably better.
KC now down just 1 run, middle of the 7th!
Bizzaro Day: Gonzo and Harris are getting it done with the bats.
It’d be a nice time to have Crisp’s first hit at Fenway right ’bout now.
And two-out rally started by AGon and Willie!
Yeah Coco! Using the speed!
The double steal attempt helped create that play. I love this aggresive baserunning and awesome defense, but at times I am not sure what team I am watching!
Loretta should be out at first, it’s hilarious about how many calls the Rays are getting hosed on. Never woulda happened if Lou Pinella were still around.
M-LOR!! Two-run single!!
Wait, run support for Wakefield?
STOP THE PRESSES!
Youk not having a good day in the cleanup spot…
Infield single to first… Ends streak of 13 consecutive outs for Wakefield.
Gets the next batter though. I smell complete game here. Give that bullpen a *rest*!
What’s Wake’s pitch count?
91 pitches through 7. CG win?!
on the other hand, Mo has had to come out to face KC. Even if KC loses, that’s good to see.
Yankees win.
Mirabelli walks for the second time today. More than I could have expected offensively.
Let’s see if AGon and Harris can replicate their hitting feats with runners on.
Greetings Boston fans. Yankees held on against the troublesome Royals. Proctor did his best to lose it.
Heckuva game from Wake for yous guys.
Coco up again with the bases juiced! Willie Harris has been on base THREE TIMES today!
Groundout ends the threat…
Wakefield Ks Perez with his 95th pitch!
Gathright hits a seeing-eye single just left of second. He will be stealing, I am guessing.
Sooth.
Yay, we get the AG play-by-play the rest of the game! Takes the pressure off me… :-)
Lot of speed on this Tampa club. 9/1/2 all very fast…
Hard shot at third. Lowell with a good grab, looks Gathright back, and still has time to make the throw to get Lugo. Two away to Crawford.
Steal took away the DP on that grounder, although with Gathright and Lugo on the bases, it might have just been a force anyway.
At your service.
Crawford on a two-hop straight at Youk to end the game. Nice game from Wakefield.
Seanez is warming, I suspect that this is Wake’s last inning, although I wouldn’t mind if they short-leashed him in the ninth, to see if he had enough to get the CG. He is, after all, a knuckleballer.
That was the top of the 8th
About 110 pitches thus far for Wake. I say let him go nine.
108 pitches…is he on for the 9th?
Sorry.. I am sitting way back in the bar. Looked like 9th on the smallish tv on which I am watching the game. I feel shame. (all the big tvs are on indy)
Marco Andretti wins the Indy 500 by 6/100ths of a second.
Walker thorws one over Youks head, then gets him to ground out 4-3. Is this the top of the ninth now? Waiting for confirmation of my sources….
looks that way
I’m am all wrong today. It’s Sam Hornish Jr., that beat Marco by 6/100ths to win indy.
Proctor must have jacked you up
That’s good news for all the posters at Sons of Samhornish.
Seanez is 1-1 against Gomes: outside for ball two.
The 2-1 is a breaking pitch that freezes Gomes for a strike.
2-2 is fouled back. Seanez misses badly on the deuces to bring the count full. Payoff: low and away that gets popped up to the left side and back, but drifts foul.
Seanez walks him. He had a hard time finding the outside edge of the plate. Wigginton steps in with no outs. Swinging strike on a first-pitch fast ball.
Too bad. That 1-2 pitch to Wigginton was a nice breaking ball.
Wig is down 0-2 after a foul. Low and away for 1 and 2. Low for ball 2. 2and2 is fouled straight back; Gomes was running on the pitch.
2-2 fouled again. Another 2-2 comes up at and in to bring the count full. Mirabelli comes out to chat. Payoff fastball to fan Wig. One away, man on first.
K.
Gomes takes second on indifferenceon, strike one swinging.
2 down
What a catch! Youuuuuuuuk!
1-1 is very close but called a ball, just outside. 2-1: lined right at Youk who makes a _great_ leaping grab. Gomes gets back to second in plenty of time to avoid the DP.
Indifferenceon.. is that Portugese? Gah.
T-Lee is T-Bay’s last hope.
Fans are on their feet for the 2-2 to T-Lee. Low. Full count.
T Lee walks on the full count. First and second to Josh Paul. Franc runs back into the dugout to call the pen.
Delcarmen? Really? Tavarez also warming. I hope Seanez gets this guy.
Delcarmen (?) and Tavarez are up and throwing for the Sox. Paul is up with two outs. Takes ball one.
Pitching change?
Paul is behind 1-2. Reset: Two outs, first and second. Fans are _loud_ looking for the K.
Got payoff pitch?
Check swing – Paul holds up to bring the count full.
Seanez feeds a high fastball on the full count that Paul fouls back.
Another foul back from J paul.
Bases loaded.
Seanez walks the bases loaded. Francona is going to make a change.
I think we can all agree that Wakefield should’ve been given a shot at a complete game.
2/3 of an inning and 35 pitches…3 walks
Tavarez is coming on.
Hunter: indeed.
Agreed…..Wake should have been given the shot.
Righty-lefty as Tavarez faces Norton. Strike one swinging. Greg looks at strike two. low and away for ball one.
One-two to Norton Dropped strike three scores a run. 4-out inning
OH MY GOD…
Mirabelli’s vaunted defense once again helps us out.
Gathright looks at a very close ball one, bases loaded, two outs, 5-1 Boston.
Gathright is ahead three-oh. Takes strike one.
This is painful.
I do not like our bullpen w/o Paps, Foulke, and Timln
Ball 4 is way off the mark. Gathright takes first. Tavarez walks in a run. Boston 5, TB 2. Lugo coming up.
I leave for a couple minutes, and this is what happens. Mirabelli catches Wake flawlessly for eight innings, then can’t catch Tavarez in the ninth.
END IT!
Lugo is .333 lifetime against Tavarez. First pitch is a bit outside for ball one.
Is Paps warming because this is clearly a save situation now.
I am disgusted right now with Seanez and Tavarez
Good heavenly crap.
DFA Tavarez and DFA Seanez.
5-3 on another walk.
5 friggin walks in 2/3 of an inning!!
42 pitches combined for 2 outs!!!
Drop them off at the farm with Hoffa!
What an embarrassment.
Thank YOU, Willie Harris!
Full count, two away, bases loaed. Lined to left. Base running error by Tampa ends the game on a sharp throw to home. He was out by a mile.
Jesus, Tavarez got very fucking lucky that that throw got Gathright out.
Final 5-4. What was Norton doing on that play? There is no way he was sent.
Out at the plate! A fitting end to a ridiculous effing game…
Both need cinder blocks on the ankles tonight
Shameful final inning by the bullpen.
But…
4-game sweep!
(Still fuming)
Oh, it was Gathright? That makes a _little_ more sense, but, that ball was sit so hard right into left. I have to think that Gathright ran on his own there. The ball was hit in front of him when he was coming off second.
Not to make excuses for the two walks and the line drive hit that followed, but Tavarez had the game over with the K, before Mirabelli let it go by. There’s really just too many culprits for this one.
Way to turn an exhilierating win into feeling like we lost, guys.
True
There is no way that the Tom Foley should have sent Gathright there.
Paul: Good point. That PB was almost fatal.
So that makes four crusial passed balls from Mirabelli in two games. Can everyone start getting on his case about how much better we had it with Josh Bard? At least Bard could hit. Mirabelli: the only Red Sox batter without a hit today.
Then again, it was a tough field. Swinging on an inside breaking pitch that was in the dirt – tough play for the catcher there.
That was an insane ending to an otherwise beautiful afternoon ballgame.
Tavarez apparently didn’t care what happened after the passed ball, since it wasn’t “his fault” that the game wasn’t over.
So he decides to work around the bottom of the Tampa Bay order (8 balls, 2 strikes) and Lugo to throw strikes down the middle to… Carl Crawford, the hottest hitter in baseball?
I hope never to see the Orc and Rudy (Can Fail) Seanez in Red Sox uniforms again after that near debacle. Only the Rays’ incompetence on the basepaths saved them from utter disgrace. All Tampa had to do was sit back and let the Boston relievers tie the game for them.
I’m sure it was. But I’m just angry. Game shouldn’t have ended that way. I feel like I should blame Francona, but Seanez was fine with me when the inning started, so I can’t… Damn. lol
Francona can’t win with tough critics like us. Pulls Wakefield after 108 pitches, the gallery is ticked. Then again, leave him in, maybe his knuckle doesn’t jump. Personally, I would have liked to see another inning from Wake since he had a decent bottom 8. I even gave him the game an inning early. :)
I wonder if Gaithright ran for home because Tavarez was on the mound. Maybe the thought crossed his mind, “I score, he gets the blown save…”
Just a thought.
I would have left him in the extra inning, but I was OK with taking him out. I was even OK with Seanez coming in. Though with the bases loaded, I think I might have used Papelbon yet again.
Paul: Gathright is so fast I think _he_ thinks he can’t be caught. It’s his whole game, his speed and his glove. But that was just a bad decision on his part, or on Foley’s (I think he’s the TB third base coach). But maybe you are right, he’s an opportunistic base runner.
So, is everyone pumped up for Clement v. Halladay?
I have followed every game this season but am not looking forward to that matchup. Maybe Good Matt will show up.
By the way, great throw by Harris. On the mark on one hop to make it a done deal.
Upcoming schedule …
3 against Toronto
3 against Detroit
4 against New York
3 against Texas
… with only 1 day’s rest between Toronto and Detroit.
This is a test. This is only a big test.
Hudson: I know that nobody would choose to face Halladay right now, regardless of who gets sent up against him. But you guys had a really good game against him last time you faced him with Beckett back in early May even with the loss.
It’s right behind Wells v. Kazmir on my list of “Games to Skip.” Of course, look how that one turned out.
What sucks about this game is that instead of the 4-game sweep, the story is the bullpen, and how we nearly lost a five-run lead in the ninth. And now we’re actually going to be playing teams with winning records that have pitchers and lineups that are actually major-league ready. (I know the D-Rays’ lineup is good, but compared to Detroit, Texas or NY?)
So now it feels like we have no momentum coming off a four-game sweep. No Timlin. No Seanez. No Tavarez. So that makes it Papelbon, Riske and Delcarmen. And don’t forget about Clement and Wells. Theo better be shopping around because it’s officially that time of year.