But Texas loses anyway. My apologies, Lyle. Boston rolls into the Ballpark at Arlington for a three-game set with the Rangers; it’s a battle between the team with the best record in the league and the team with the worst. Daisuke Matsuzaka is on the bump and has been excellent in his last three starts, with a 1.88 ERA and 19 Ks in 24 innings in victories against Atlanta, Toronto, and Detroit where he threw a complete game. Texas counters with Brandon McCarthy (4-4, 5.82 ERA 1.62 WHIP), who shares the Texas wins lead with Robinson Tejeda, who is also 4-4; they are the only two Texas starters with a .500 record. Lineups in the extended. Comment away.
I liked this blog post from Nick Cafardo:
Francona had a funny comment when asked how he would react to the possibility it might rain and disrupt him during his start and how he handled that situation in Japan. Francona said, "My guess is when it rains in Japan it’s the same as it rains here."
Lineups
| Boston | |
| J. Lugo ss | .236 |
| K. Youkilis 1b | .347 |
| D. Ortiz dh | .319 |
| M. Ramirez lf | .250 |
| J.D. Drew rf | .237 |
| M. Lowell 3b | .333 |
| J. Varitek c | .274 |
| C. Crisp cf | .240 |
| D. Pedroia 2b | .269 |
| Texas | |
| K. Lofton cf | .267 |
| M. Young ss | .240 |
| M. Teixeira 1b | .307 |
| S. Sosa rf | .266 |
| F. Catalanotto dh | .164 |
| N. Cruz lf | .211 |
| I. Kinsler 2b | .240 |
| G. Laird c | .233 |
| R. Vazquez 3b | .600 |
Bumped this gamer in front of the Yanks gamer to reflect start times.
Drew bvetter start hitting NOW. He’s skipping out on the last game agaisnt the Yankees, agaisnt a pitcher versus whom he had a good record, by CHOICE fills me with rage. Thats not a team player. Thats not dedication
IF the day off and work in the cages somehow helped him, so be it. But I want to see those results NOW. TODAY. I swear if he goes 0-for, he will be dead to me. This is Boston. You can’t get away with any half-assing here.
Drew is going to have a tough time hitting now, D. The game doesn’t start for another 40 minutes.
heh, Fair enough matty.
PAwSox are RAKING in the first. 6 runs on 8 hits, two outs.
Ellsbury has gone two for two with a single and a double and its only the FIRST!
Scratch that. Make that 8 runs on 9 hits. SUper Joe just knocked in Kottaras and Ellsbury. Murphy flies out and the inning is over.
Nice. Hey, Dionysus: when do you think the Sox should bring up Ellsbury? I don’t think we’ll see him until September.
Yankees are losing 2-0 in the second.
Clippard just threw one ten feet over Posada’s head. Hilarious!
Honestly? While, I’d LOVE to see him this season, I’d perfer maximum development on him. He’s got so much promise I want him to be sharpened to a diamond-cuttign edge when he makes the show. No rushing. HE definatly still has some learnign to do, particularly avoiding gettign picked-off (he’s got great base stealign potential with his The Flash speed, but gets picked off alot).
Maybe a few tastes late in the season, if, y’know, we still ahve a large diviionsal lead (I have a feelign it’ll be much closer) so there is little pressure. I don’t see any reason to rush him.. yet.
The only way we see him sooner is if he starts performing in AAA liek he was when we promoted him out of AA – ie hittign over .400 consistantly to the point where he’s no logner being challenged at all.
He’s so valuable I don’t want to risk screwing him up, is what I’m saying.
Speaking of Pawtucket ;-), Moss and Bailey just went back-to-back to lead off the second and chase Syracuse’s starter (I dont really care about his name).
Lineups updated.
Typepad service is back up. Was down for scheduled maintenance.
Does it look like a delay or a postponement?
roootbeer,
“Game is a long way from starting
By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff
ARLINGTON, Tx – Well looks like a long night at the ballyard. The Rangers just announced this game won’t start anytime before 8:30 p.m. central time. The current band of showers is expected to be around for at least the next hour. At that point they’ll make another evaluation of the situation.
Posted By: ncafardo | Time: 08:15:04 PM ”
I suspect the Sox will push VERY hard to try and get it in. They’ve had a truck load of doubleheaders lately and really don’t want another one.
Radar doesn’t look good
Actually doesnt look that bad, Gerb. There aren’t alot of other rain bands around besides the one that I saw (didnt zoom out much… my internet is laggy), anbd thats the one thats supposed to pass in an hour
Super exciting post up on Boston.com’s Extra Bases blog. Here’s the first sentence to whet yr appetite:
“While we’re waiting for the rain to end if it ever does, let me tell you about Terry Francona’s wart.”
Yummy.
mattymatty –
Please! It’s dinner time over here!
You think thats bad, you should check out the… column? Paragraph? I dunno what to call it. No matter what it is, its disgusting.
The Yankee’s “momentum” is only as good as their bullpen… and their bullpen sucks.
8-3, Angels.
First pitch at 10
By Nick Cafardo, Globe Staff
ARLINGTON, Tx. – The Rangers have just announced that tonight’s game will start at 10 p.m. Boston time.
The grounds crew is taking the tarp off the field right now. The rain has subsided, but it’s not completely over.
yippee!! game started!
Julio Lugo gets a couple of lucky breaks on foul pops, and manages a 6 pitch at bat before flying out to left.
McCarthy looks like crap. First three batters all missed pitches they should have been able to handle and, aside from a few nice fastballs on the outside corner, he’s not locating particularly well. Maybe the fact that he hasn’t really shown his curve or changeup too much is a bad sign for the Sox…but I think it’s just as likely that he gets hit around a little as Boston sees more of him. Unless he settles down considerably, of course.
Ramirez and Drew both walked
Lowell walked, bags full
action in the bullpen for texas here with no one out in the second.
Tak with a Sac Fly to center, Manny scores
Sox up 1-0
Crisp walked, McCarthy at 49 pitches.
Look how smart I was! ;-)
Can’t say I expected him to lose everything like this, though…wow. Almost feel bad for the guy, this is just sort of embarassing.
Gets Pedroia 0-2 with a fastball on the corner and a sick hook that starts over his head and falls to his knees. The 1-2 pitch is a bad changeup high that stays too far inside for Dustin to do anything but foul it off; the next pitch gets driven the other way but just barely drifts foul. Little bit to the left and the bases are cleared.
Another 1-2 is a hook in the dirt that bounces in; the 2-2 jams him a little bit but he drops it into RF. Great swing, great ab. 3-0 Sox.
DPod singles to right, Lowell and Drew score. Crisp gets into 3rd.
Sox up 3-0
Yanks lose
Pedroia is growing on me real quick
Hahaha Sosa drops another Lugo pop fly; lazily trots over to the line, trying to one-hand it while setting himself up for the throw to the plate. Instead it bounces off his mitt and drops in fair territory, and he throws out Pedroia at 2B, as it was shallow enough that he couldn’t take much of a lead off of first.
Lugo does the only thing he’s good for at the moment and steals 2B.
Lugo with the wheels!
Youk just missed a homer, driving the ball to deep LF. Cruz handles it with his back to the wall; better weather and that’s long gone. Something to remember if his streak gets broken…
Amazing 4 runs on 1 hit. A little plate patience and a guy who can’t by a pitch in the strikezone.
…something weird is happening with Matsuzaka…he was moving around in the dugout and headed into the clubhouse immediately after he came off the field. But nobody is warming up yet, and I think he gave a weird grin as he rushed into the clubhouse. Hopefully he’s just taking a piss or changing his shirt…
What is up with Matsuzaka? He’s left the dugout, but no one’s up in the bullpen.
Also, Ortiz reaches on an infield hit, lol. Manny promptly doubles. 2nd and 3rd, no outs.
texas broadcasters are saying dice-k hurt himself on that last pitch of the inning. he looks in pain.
I’m bettign bathroom break. I hope. I pray
Well, they were just digging mud out of his cleats and now he’s sitting there on the bench with his jacket on his throwing arm like he always does. They said before the tarp was coming off the bullpen, but I would imagine that’s something they’d be doing if the weather was passing anyway. And there’s still nobody warming.
Ugh. 2nd and 3rd, nobody out, and Drew/Lowell hit weak little grounders to end the inning. Awful.
They’re saying he looks sick. As in, a stomach issue…maybe he went rushing off to pray at the porcelain god. In any case, he’s back out there. I’m not worried anymore.
rookie of the year, cy young, mvp. it could happen.
Matsuzaka kinda looks like he might puke if he has to go cover first.
Manny is COMPLETELY responsible for that 3B. Completely. An above-average LF makes the catch; an average fielder holds him to a double. The ball bounced and Manny waved at it with his bare hand, giving the 1B time to roll into 3B. Ugh.
I don’t have any idea how Sosa’s basehit ended up a double. None at all. A liner, but not hit particularly hard…landed just behind the infield. That one might have been on Manny, too.
So much for an easy game 1. If Catalanatto played every game against Boston he’d be a Hall of Famer. The Boston offense needs to wake up now in a bad way…
Daisuke is clearly sick. This one is still winnable, but its gonna be tough.
What was that about this one being winnable?
Well it still is…sorta. But Matsuzaka looks like absolute horse sh*t all of a sudden; terrible, terrible pitch and anyone who gives up a homerun to that scrub can’t be throwing well.
And now Snyder’s warming up. This was a game they really needed to win. Coming off a bad series in NY, best pitching matchup by a wide margin, a Texas starter who can’t throw strikes; and now this is happening.
The strange thing about Dice-K is he’ll be cruising along and then just lose it completely out of nowhere. And then he’ll be fine again. Never seen anything like it.
And the whole Catalanotto thing is just weird.
Does anyone think Lugo is going to cease sucking anytime soon?
Youk extends his streak. Papi ties it up.
Manny puts us ahead.
Now would be a time for Drew to wake up if he wants to save any chance of being accepted by Sox fans.
I still think Lugo will turn it around somewhat. If you look at his career…May has always been his worst month by far; .249/.294/.371. Better then this current May, but not by a heck of a lot.
Not sure if anyone else noticed that they chnaged that scoring on Pedroia’s line drive to Abreau Wednesday when they charged Abreau with an error it was changed to a single and Pedroia ended up 2-3 not 1-4 in that game now with his 1-2 thus far tonite hes batting a nice .274 which I think is 4th best on the team.
Gopd I’m going to kill Drew
…if Drew hits like this all season, or all the way through June and into July, I won’t “accept” him. But I’m definitely not hinging my opinion on one May ab…
Well, Matsuzaka’s back out. Cool…I guess…
Young leads off with an opposite field double on yet another terrible pitch, this time a changeup at the letters. This is pathetic.
on that earlier post shoulda been Pedroia went 2-4 not 2-3
Matsuzaka appears that he’s ready to give the lead right back…
I think this has to be it for Dice-K. He’s looked like dogs___ since the fourth inning.
Matsuzaka’s such a perfectionist. He worked on the cleats after running up a 3-2 count on Catalonotto. Ks Cat.
I still say next year Daisuke will be amazing. We all have to remember this is very much a transitional year for him.
Remember Beckett and that was just NL to AL.
…and predictably as soon as I say that, Dice-K gets a double play and a strikeout. Good job by him, terrible job by me.
since it’s gone 5, can we just hope that a downpour puts an end to this mess?
That pitch Catalanotto to end the 5th was a great pitch after looking pretty sketchy in the rest of the AB.
pitch /to/ Cat.. anon was me.
TOAST!
trippling tekster :)
Man… I wish I could see that hit. Tek isn’t exactly speedy.. so a triple is a feat.
Now COCO!
Wow. I didn’t know the rule about the ball attendent/security guy on the RF line. Tek ripped one down the line and it got stuck beneath the security guy’s chair, bounced off his foot unintentionally and then just stopped. Guy got up, Sosa trotted over and threw it in, but at this point Tek was on third and Lowell had scored.
Apparently the ruling is that the guys down the line are in play unless they intentionally interfere. Since it wasn’t on purpose, the run counted and Tek gets credit for a triple. Weird.
Don’t really like Pedroia bunting there, though I think he was going for the hit more then the sacrifice he got credit for. This guy’s struggling, why give him a free out?
So thats what happened, thanks d1. I hope Baseball Tonight has a replay for me!
I have the sense that Matsuzaka’s going to be out for the 6th inning. Considering the shellacking he’s taking, I hope Tito will at least give some thought to going to the bullpen.
Rangers not getting any breaks defensively… Aside from Pedroia’s sacrifice bunt??? Wtf, Tito? Pedroia’s batting better than Drew, Lugo, and Crisp, and yet a sac bunt?!! (Of course, Remy doesn’t give Pedroia the Cora treatment, gushing over how he does “all the little things.”)
Single for Lugo. He’s got 29 RBI now. And now he steals 2nd again… Youk singles. 10-5…
A hit, RBI, and an SB for Lugo.
Our boys must love Daisuke. He has trouble so we go all out.
And YOOOOOUK gets another hit and an RBI!
Holy crap.. PAPI has a .325 average? He may not be hitting homers, but now he’s hitting for average! Crazy!
I’ll say this about Lugo: As much as he’s been struggling, he’s fantastic W/RISP. .311/.327/.467 on the season.
And Youk is great all the time. Dumps another single into RF to score the run after Lugo steals 2B for the second time in the game.
I’m sure they will, Dio, it was a weird play. I thought for sure they were going to call Lowell back because the ball hit the guy’s foot…but I’m glad it didn’t.
I’m pretty sure Pedroia bunted on his own. He tried to put it out towards second base where Kinsler and Teix were relatively deep, which I’ve seen him do in games past. I think that was a bunt for a hit, but the scorer gave him credit for the sac.
Aaand Papi draws a walk.
I’ve seen no indication this season that Pedroia has the speed to bunt for a basehit.
Manny Ks.
Tiem to see if Drew can join the hit parade.
Maybe.
Please?
Of course he won’t. Because Drew is the worse RF ever. Dammit.. we could have had Trot back.
Eesh. Feldman has a nasty sinker. Made Manny and Drew look stupid.
Me neither, Andrew, but I think he’s trying to catch the defense sleeping. Both this one and the other time I’m thinking of came on the first pitch at a time when it didn’t make a whole lot of sense to sacrifice, and both went out towards a deep 2B.
Have to agree with Andrew re: Pedroia. He moves them quickly, but those legs aren’t long enough to leg one out more than once in a blue moon.
As to matty’s question earlier: I think the more pertinent question is whether Drew is going to stop sucking at some point. It feels like Lugo is going up there with a plan, taking some pitches, and just getting beat in 2-2/3-2 counts a lot. Not sure WTF Drew is doing.
maybe we can get MLB to let us have Drew play the field and Pena can hit in his place :p
Not sure WTF Drew is doing.
Laughing his ass off to the bank twice a month like Carl Pavano???
Dionysus, after this prolonged slump, Drew is probably going to go on a tear. Or a DL.
Wow, Snyder in for the 6th. Matsuzaka still gets 6 Ks despite only going 5… Ramirez actually runs down a fly to left.
I don’t think the J.D. Drew I see at the plate is capable of laughter, anon. But the point is well-taken.
Stupid short Baseballl Tonight format. I hate it. They don’t show Tek’s triple.
Andrew: He might have a tear that puts him on the DL. Combining the “best” of both worlds.
…it’s been TWO MONTHS. Little early to compare him to Carl f*cking Pavano, I’d say…
Not a bad pitch to Kinsler, maybe caught more of the plate then it was supposed to but it wasn’t bad. Nice piece of hitting.
Also, Gameday says McCarthy left due to an injured hand/wrist. That’d explain a lot.
McCarthy with the blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand, says FSN Southwest.
Heh Orsillo and Remy are making fun of the Rangers’ mascot. Which is basically a dude with a tail and a horse-head on. Normal human body, just a tail and an oversized horse head. Wally could kick his ass.
He would, d1, unless he’d just seen Papi wearing a Yankee cap in the ESPN studios.
I fail to understand this subbing. You have a 5-run lead. Its only the sixth. Why burn the bullpen? Let Snyds keep going.
I like this pitching move…if we were already in the 7th or 8th inning. I’d prefer to have seen Snydes cover 2 tonight, if possible.
What the hell? It’s a 5-run f*cking ballgame, why is Francona pulling someone who hasn’t pitched since the Atlanta series in favor of Javier Lopez? Two lefties due up, but Snyder’s been better against left-handers this year then righties; that changeup is apparently much improved. I don’t get this. Reminds me too much of Torre.
Alright. My hope is now that we put up another 4-spot and let Joel “Mop Up” Pinero finish the game so we don’t waste anyone else good.
That was scary…Manny almost dropped that routine fly. Not a graceful catch.
That…. was tricky.
Feldmen.. all of a sudden.. pitched sidearm (got my audio working finally).
Fooled Coco and I can’t blame him.
Another pitchign change? Whats next? Okajima and Papelbon?
…OK those last two pitches, both were strikes. Ball 3 was right down the middle, belt-high, and the 3-1 was borderline but the same pitch he got for strike 1. Whatever…here comes Donnelly. Hopefully he bounces back now.
Feldman looks good. Everything’s been low and where it’s supposed to be, with tons of movement. I’m surprised he’s been as bad as he’s been this season.
Another pitchign change? Whats next? Okajima and Papelbon?
I have to be honest. I don’t like Donnelly in this situation. Believe it or not, I’d prefer…Jo-el. Inconsistent as hell, but he’s been able to get groundballs.
joel and jc warming. everyone gets a turn.
Not sure I agree with this ump’s strike zone, but he’s been consistent. Tight, and more likely to give the outside corner strike than the inside.
Teix was 2/13 against Donnelly coming into tonight, so that probably played into it. He’s 8/30 with 4 2B and 2 HR’s against Pineiro. Not great, but not bad, either.
Teix works the count full, but Donnelly gets him to fly out to shallow right-center. Looks better now.
FSN SW: “The report on Matsuzaka is that he’s nauseous.”
oooo god.
oh d1 you had to go and do that.
…besides that wild pitch. Dammit. Strange how a 5-run lead feels so much better then a 4-run lead. I really don’t understand why that goes as an earned run, but it does. I thought it’d be unearned unless Sosa or someone gets a hit. Whatever…
Heh, rod, not as bad as what you did earlier with the “cy young, rookie of the year” comment. ;-)
he did hit the wall right then huh? i suck.
Anyone watching MLB.tv? Which player is to the right of the Sox bobblehead?
Not sure he “hit the wall” rod, unless he was projectile vomiting in the clubhouse.
Indeed, d1.
I almsot had to type a shapr reply to you, rod. Never say such things!
Okajima’s warming in the bullpen. 4-run lead…kinda understandable…but I’m pretty sure Romero and Pineiro could handle it. Not a big fan of how much they’re riding his arm.
Absolutely, d1. And with Wake’s history in Texas and the simple fact that Tavarez hasn’t been pitching real deep into games, it would’ve been nice to save a few arms for the next two days.
Yeah, that’s true, too. Wakefield could well be in the midst of one of his bad-streaks, and he’s always been bad at Arlington…ugh. Just doesn’t bode real well. Though I do keep forgetting that Manny Delcarmen’s up now; he could throw 2-3 in a blowout if they need him to.
Really, the only move I’ve flat-out hated was pulling Snyder so quickly. Like you said…good idea if it’s the 7th, not so much in the 6th. I’d have had Lopez and Co. warming, but would have let him finish the 6th and maybe even start the 7th depending on how he’s throwing.
Rangers announcers very amused by Okajima, btw.
Hopefully Tito is thinking that, d1, hoping MDC is ready to give 2 efficient innings one out of the next two nights.
The good thing about Wake is that even if he does get shelled, unless he’s pounded for 10-15 in the first few innings, he’ll probably gut 5-6 out anyway.
Okajima still doesn’t look right. Got the side in order, but only threw 6 of 11 pitches for strikes. I don’t think he threw the curveball, either. But whatever, definitely more effective then he was against NY…but I think the lineup might have had something to do with that, too.
drew breaks out here for his mvp winning season.
oops.
d1, I looked up his other outings in Texas, and I kind of remember them being like this one. This isn’t a great ballpark for the curve, and one that hangs will get driven 500 ft, even by a player with a lack of demonstrable skills, like Ramon Vasquez. May have just been over-cautious.
Ok.. WHAT THE HELL?
Why Papelbon? WHY?!!!
I’m gonna vomit all over Francona’s head
Also.. apparently theres a time warp and the game is alreayd over, because if you go to Probable Pitchers under News on redsox.com…
well, look for yourself
http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/probable_pitchers.jsp?c_id=bos
…so I kinda wish Boston had taken a chance on Gagne. He looks nasty; not throwing in the high 90’s, but that doesn’t look like it’s going to be much of a problem. Would have been a better gamble then Joel Pineiro…
That’s a good point, Quo. Just seems strange to me that of 11 pitches, 9 look like they were fastballs (going by the readings on Gameday).
Why the f*ck is Papelbon in? This I do not understand, not even a little bit. Christ…
Not big on Paps being in here.
I gets that’s an optimistic point from me as well. I would guess the humidity doesn’t help, and he may have had the McCarthy blister in the back of his mind?
Why did I say humidity? Either way. I’m guess the heat and trying to snap off breaking pitches may have been what conspired against Brandon McCarthy. If Okajima can get 3 outs on mostly easier-to-throw fastballs, I’m all for it.
Ballgame. Woot woot.
Back to 10.5
I’m thinking maybe they’re loosing the restrictions a little on Papelbon. Seems like he’s been at his wildest when he gets infrequent work; maybe they just want more of a balance between keeping him sharp and keeping him safe. Seems weird to use your three best relievers in a 4-run game, though.
Remy said something earlier about none of the relievers having much trouble; I think that’s a good point. I mean 1 clean inning really isn’t that big a deal and if a bullpen is that efficient, guys can probably make more appearances. None of the relievers needed even 20 pitches tonight. Papelbon just threw 9. I would guess that at least one or two of them are available tomorrow again anyway.
In any case…back to 10.5 games up with a .681 WPCT. Nice.
Tough news about Matsuzaka leaving the game due to being “nauseous.”
One question: Did Matsuzaka become nauseous because of a bug of some type, or because of his own pitching?
Ahhhh a Yankee Troll.
Pity this poor creature, fellow SFs. In its dark days it knows not but how to lash out. Remember our own experiences like that and simply humor it or pay no heed.
Farrell just said that Matsuzaka had dry heaves while on the mound in the 2nd, and vomited before coming out for the disastrous 4th. Or maybe it was right after, I forget. Either way…I think he deserves a pass for this…
Red Sox fans are a little too oversensitive when it comes to needling about their vaunted “3 Aces”(TM) rotation.
Oversensitive, YF2K? Nah. After all, that’s three more aces than the Yankee rotation has. When’s the last time the vaunted Bronx Bombers(TM) picked up one of their starters when he had a bad game?
You are right Paul SF, the Red Sox rotation is vastly superior to the Yankees. My humblest apologies for offending the sensitivities of Boston fans.
Indeed, it was a major miracle that the lowly Yankees somehow managed to take 2 of 3 games from Boston recently.
Well, the Yankees have arguably the best of the bunch (Pettitte–same ERA as Beckett, no injuries…but Pettitte’s WHIP is 1.35 and Beckett’s is 1.03).
But, I mean…Proctor, Rasner, and Vizcaino are tied for 5th most innings on the Yankees and Mussina is only about four innings ahead of them. Third-most? Igawa.