Tim Wakefield goes for No. 16 today. It’s already the top of the first. Comment away!
Sweet 16 Redux Redux: Sox-Sox Gamer VII
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Tim Wakefield goes for No. 16 today. It’s already the top of the first. Comment away!
Next post: Long Night’s Journey Into Day: Yanks-Tigers Gamer
Previous post: (are) Home Runs (are) Overrated?
Paul! A redux redux turns into “is rich” according to the Updike rule of titling. “Sweet Sixteen is Rich.”
In a weird mood…
Drew, Lugo and Tek are all sitting today out.
Just makes me feel like this is already a throw away game.
Umpire with an inconsistent strike-zone already… he squeezed Burhle on a pitch almost right down the middle to Manny, which would have been strike 3.
Oh geez these Fox announcers are horrible. It’s gunna be a long game.
Hmm, I didn’t even check to see if I get the game down here..
Cash bobbles the ball on the pitch-out, which easily would have had Owens out at 2nd.
“…Drew, Lugo and Tek are all sitting today out….”
uh, i don’t see how that’s a problem for the sox rob…
Wow, umpire calls ball 4 on a pitch pretty much right down the middle to Pierzynski. This sucks.
Now the walk. Rough start for Wake.
Nope, I get the Mets. Yuck.
I wouldn’t mind the three of them in the game, mostly want Lugo playing. At least his speed gives him a chance and he has not hit so bad in the second half. Tek had game two off, but Wake is pitching. Drew sat out the 2nd game last night. Not sure why he is sitting now other than Buehrle is a lefty.
Three fly-outs in the first for Wakey.
Wake gets out of the inning, thankfully without giving up any runs.
Kielty’s batting average against Buehrle is like .450, that’s why Drew is off.
That is good for us then Atheose.
Indeed it is!
Wow, pitch #2 to Kielty was a strike. Definitely not liking this ump.
Kielty draws a walk.
Announcer: “I think Buehrle is the ace of this staff”
I miss Remy.
Alas, I’m getting Dodgers/Mets. Gameday radio it is.
Just saw the Kielty/Cora/Cash bottom three. Ugh.
SF, Kielty is to Buerhle as Germany is to France. He’s a positive this time, not a negative ;-)
The first two pitches to Uribe are right down the middle, but called balls. This umpire is sleeping.
Pitch 2 and 3 to Richar are strikes, called balls. Jesus.
He’s squeezing Buehrle too, thankfully.
Both pitchers doing well considering the Ump has been pinching the zone.
Sox batters hitting like Matsuzaka’s on the hill…
Gameday just showed a pitch to Konerko right in the middle of the strike zone called a ball. Anyone watching can back up that BS?
Same with the fifth pitch – both shown as balls while Gameday puts them smack in the zone, not even close. That makes five pitches, three strikes, but only 1 called an actual strike. Is Gameday on crack? Someone help me out here…
And to Dye more of Gameday’s “truth”? Two of the six pitches to Dye shown to be on the black or in the zone but called balls, leading to a walk.
Yeah, this umpire is absolutely bullshit. Wake gets out of it with a K though, but it’s getting a little too close for comfort.
No harm, Uribe whiffs to end the fourth, still no score. Come on, bats!
I’m watching it live, so I can verify what gameday says.
As long as the ump is consistent, the edge on the bad calls is slightly duller. Is he being consistent, A?
Kielty surrenders on the second pitch. Not so German…
Alex Cora does what Alex Cora does post-May: make an out.
I’ve never been one of those chicks who digs the longball (well, I do, but I can also appreciate a solid double or a CG gem) but GOD this game is boring. At least via radio.
Cash out, 1-3. Lame inning. Next time around we better be seeing some pinch hitters.
SF,
He’s missing some calls on Buehrle’s side too, but it’s been only 3 or 4 bad ones so far. He’s blown 12 or 13 calls for Wake so far.
Wow, another one! Gameday shows the first pitch to Richar to be well within the zone, but called a ball. Thankfully (maybe) I can’t watch the game. I might have thrown something at this point!
Wake and Cash both make GREAT plays to grab a foul ball. Cash dove down at the last second to avoid hitting Wake, thankfully.
Thank you, Andy! One pitch pop bunt to Wake.
Yeah, the strange thing SF was that the first pitch to Richar was a FASTBALL, so the ump shouldn’t have been fooled.
The Fox announcers are talking about how poorly the ump is making calls, but they’re blaming it on the Knuckleball.
These pitchers are dealing…
Pedroia BARELY beats out a grounder to the right-side of the shortstop, hustling hard the entire way. Let’s get Wakey some runs support, boys!
“In play, out(s)”
Damn you, Coco! Come on, Tizzle.
The “Let’s go Red Sox” cheer just got started up, and then the home-fans booed it away. Then it got started up again!
Coco with a poor bunt right back to Buehrle. Ortiz up.
Papi doubles! Pedroia to 3rd. Who bets there’s an IBB to Manny?
Tiz! Double, puts DP at 3rd with one out. Cash these in, fellas!
I used to be a by-the-book bunt the guy over type, but in the last few years I have come to detest the sacrifice bunt for the most part.
Manny IBB’d, as A suspected.
Mike! Singles scores one, sacks still juiced. Come on, Youk…
Lowell hits a single through the left side of the infield! 1-0 (Red) Sox.
On the 2nd strike to Lowell, he took an ENORMOUS swing… it looked like Wily Mo. Would have hit the ball 500 feet if he had connected.
Youk keeps it going! Bases still loaded for Kielty, 2-0 Boston.
Youk! Singles scores one. Sacks still juiced. Come on, Kielty!
Man, Mike Lowell. Love him. (Youk too! I take too long to type!)
“in play, run(s)”
Yay!
Kielty knocks in two! 4-0 Sox. More please…
Ooh, that sounded like an exciting play at the plate! Damn you Fox! *grumbles about MLB.tv*
Kielty comes through! Lowell scores from 2nd, 4-0 Sox.
GREAT inning from the Sox.
Lowell at home, Jackie? Is that what you’re referring to?
It was interesting, Lowell rounded third and stopped and looked back at the Left Fielder. Gonzalez, who is usually an infielder, saw that Lowell had stopped so he held the ball and walked it in, hanging his head in frustration. Lowell saw this and immediately took off, and by the time Gonzalez saw it was too late. GREAT baserunning by Lowell.
Buehrle looked untouchable til that inning. Give the Sox credit for scratching those runs — and Juan Uribe for basically standing in the exact same spot as three straight righties grounded signles just out of his reach.
Atheose – yeah, thanks for the description. Lowell seems to have a knack for heads-up baserunning. Just when I think I couldn’t love him any more… :)
Wake was making to start the B7th, but he strikes out Gonzalez to end the inning. Great job by Wake today.
Should have said that Wake was making start to sweat.
Wakefield has now pitched 22 consecutive scoreless innings. Amazing! 5-0 going to the 8th.
Assuming that’s it for Wake today, I’m pretty sure that’s the best three-start stretch he’s ever had. He had three starts at the beginning of ’95 that were pretty impressive too, though.
Cora and Cash both hit by pitches?
Pedroia doubles and knocks in Cora. Cash to third.
Wake’s era after his first 7 starts this year was only 1.79. He’s had a lot of really good starts this year. Assuming this 6-0 lead holds up, he’ll be tied with Beckett with 16 wins. It would be great to see him win 20 after the age of 40.
Tiz with the sacks full…
Crisp walks, bases loaded for Papi.
Tiz singles, 8-0!
Papi with a single scoring two more.
Isn’t Bukvich a knuckleball pitcher?
Hey, remember when this game was a pitchers’ duel?
Hard to believe the White Sox won the World series a couple of years ago. They are such a horrible team.
Woot, game over. Assuming Wake doesn’t come out to throw for the 8th, he’s pitched 22 straight scoreless innings. Great stuff from a guy who turned 41 this year.
Manny K’s, seems like he has been stuck on 19HR’s for awhile.
Ozzie must be seething over last two days. Should be due for a blowup sometime soon.
Wow, the pitcher throws a fastball maybe 5 feet to the right of Pierzynski, scoring Coco and moving Ortiz to 3rd. Lowell then singles to left field, plating run #10.
Crisp scores on a wild pitch and then Lowell singles in Ortiz.
getting very ugly.
Lowell is scorching hot…
Tom – no kidding, how’d they get so bad so quickly? At this point I think we can even call them “hapless”.
Thus far, Bobby Kielty = good pickup.
Man, SF, I really should have taken that bet with you ;-)
Kielty has been a fine pickup so far.
Or pathetic. Wretched. Actually, I couldn’t see how they managed to win the World Series. They never really seemed to be that great, yet they kept winning. Winning the Series is probably the only reason they haven’t fired that jerk of a manager yet.
HOLY JESUS, you guys need a mental picture of what just happened.
Kielty crushed a ball to center field, and Jerry Owens jumps up and ALMOST robs a home run, but instead of going over the wall it lands in his glove, AND THEN BOUNCES OUT, falling back into the field. The play saves 2 runs, despite sort-of being an error.
Shocking, Cora strikes out.
Amen, Tom. They and the Cards have made me shake my head in disbelief that such overrated teams could 1. make the playoffs and 2. win the enchilada.
Francona had Okajima warming at the start of this inning (when it was 5-0), but now has Tavarez warming up instead. I don’t understand why he had Oki up with a 5-run lead.
Man, SF, I really should have taken that bet with you ;-)
I don’t bet. It was a supposition. A bad one, thank god.
Thanks Atheose, following on the computers doesn’t do the whole picture.
Yeah, the Cards were a joke last year.
Isn’t Tavarez supposed to pitch tomorrow?
Kevin Cash walks. Thus far, he’s certainly been no worse than Mirabelli at the plate — or behind it.
Save some runs for New York, boys.
Save some runs for New York, boys.
How about tomorrow first?
//Isn’t Tavarez supposed to pitch tomorrow?//
Oh shit, you’re right. They didn’t show a camera view of it, but the announcer said Tavarez was up in the bullpen. Fox announcers are absolutely horrible.
Isn’t there like a mercy out?
Sheesh. Seven-run inning… Through five, it looked like one run for either team could have won this ballgame
Wow, MacDougal walks Pedroia with the bases loaded. Ozzie bringing in someone new, who is probably tired after yesterday’s game.
12-0. This is brutal.
Were the 2006 Cardinals the the worst team to ever win the World Series?
Yes Ozzie is like a pressure cooker right now. Not far from one his classic explosions.
Through five, it looked like one run for either team could have won this ballgame
maybe half true!
Sweet Zombie Jesus. And the bases are still loaded?
JD Drew pinch-hitting for Ortiz in the on-deck circle.
Ah, well he’ll put an end to the scoring. :P
Ball-4 to Coco was a strike, the umpire picking a BAD time to squeeze the White Sox. This is getting ugly.
I am smelling jack from Papi
Not nice, Jackie. Funny, though. And probably true
Really? Castig (I think) said one of the strikes to Coco was way low. If anything I’d think the umps would be verrry generous in a situation like this… weird.
Drew PH’s
Drew strikes out on 3 pitches, no surprise there. The White Sox struck out the side, if you ignore all those hits/walks/runs in between.
Gameday showed JD striking out in about 7 seconds!
Sorry, I’m kind of a mean person. But a vindicated mean person.
>>Ah, well he’ll put an end to the scoring. :P
My feeling exactly on Drew hitting. Three straight pitches and he goes down.
The gameday for strike 3 happened BEFORE it showed the pitch on Fox. Even the gameday person knew JD Drew would strike out!
Snyder is out there, Hinske now playing Left Field.
Still, I’d rather have him K here than in a situation where we actually need runs.
Bobby Jenks is up in the White Sox bullpen. Either they want to give him a little bit of exercise, or Ozzie thinks his south-side boys are gunna plate 14 runs here.
Chicago is 2-8 in their last 10 games. 2-9 now. Jenks probably hasn’t pitched in a couple of weeks!
On my lunch break. Was checkign the score every now and again from behidn the forklift.
Holy god.. 13 runs in three innings. Once the Red Sox start scorign right now, they KEEP scoring. Liek sharks.. if they smell blood in the water…
Of course it helps that the White Sox are atrocious. At least it means Ozzie will be out of a job at the end of the year, a event I will celebrate.
Damn, we let them score.
Quick inning punctuated only by a hit batter (AJ) by Snyds. I wonde rif it was intentional.. to make up for Cora and Coco. FOX is mean and showing the Mets instead of the Sox.
Ok.. the homer hadnt shown up on my gameday, so I didnt know it happened. Ugh.
Is that the third wild pitch in this game.. and none of them by Wake?!
Walk, WP, single.. here we go again
Holy crap. I have been getting ready to board an airplane, and so missed everything but the first couple of innings.
The Sox have scored, what, 34 runs in the past three games against Chicago? And allowed 6?
Man.. Keilty is the Man!
Make that 35.
I dont see why Javier here. I would have just sent Snyds out fo rone more. Sure you cnat use him tommorrow, but I’d rather Lopex be available
The WhiteSox BP has been decimated this series.
BP… is that bullpen or batting practice? Not that there’s much of a difference. ;)
Ballgame. Guaranteed series win, guaranteed road trip of at least 5-2. The White Sox surely suck, but it doesn’t hurt to have the bats tune up on ’em before heading to the Bronx.
As recently as a week ago, I was worried that Boston would head into New York with only a 3-game lead, giving the Yankees a chance to catch ’em in one brief series.
With a minimum 6.5 and maximum 7.5 game lead after today, the dread has subsided… Though rooting for this team over four decades has braced me for a meltdown at any time, _pace_ 2004.
Sox win third in a row, Wake joins Beckett as wins leader with 16.
Lets review that last part.
Tim Wakefield has 16 wins, most in the majors. HELL YEAH!
Time to root for a short outing from Wang… Run that NY bullpen good and ragged…
And, lest we forget the original thread premise: Tim Wakefield is now the second 16-game winner in the majors after Josh Beckett.
(I’m looking for Wakes to win all his remaining starts, end up 20-10, and grab the Cy Young. That would be seriously cool, especially at his age.)
I agree Paul. That would make me smile.
We get a day off before the Yankee series as well, which will be nice.
The Sox have a day off on Monday, the Yankees don’t. Me likes.
Unless it cools the bats off. (Every silver lining has a cloud.)
Tavarez v. Vazquez doesn’t exactly favor the Red Sox tomorrow, at least on on paper. Plus, Chicago’s pitcher has two z’s in his name to Boston’s measly one, never a good sign. ;^)
But with this offense rolling and Boston’s history with Vaz, I like their chances.
Come on Paul, put up the side-by-side of Wang and Wake. You know you want to do it…
(I do!)
Wakefield’s success suggest that the statheads might want to add some weight to durability factors. Wake’s ERA isn’t up there with, say, Buehrle’s. But his ability to go deep into every game is a huge asset with spin-off benefits (including allowing the Sox to rely on their better relievers for 2-3 innings at most, rather than middle-relief-by-committee), and has garnered a majors-leading number of wins.
“…put up the side-by-side of Wang and Wake…”
yeah, do the one of coco, wilymo [still a sock in my heart], drew, and melky while you’re at it…