B) Any given player on the left side of the Red Sox' infield
C) YF
You make the call.
Chat about today's action in the Motor City here.
125 replies on “Watch the Ball, Dammit!: Sox-Tigers Gamer III”
I at a Seahawks preseason game a few years ago, and a very vocal (drunk) fan was lamenting the home team’s play. He was continually shouting – “our defense sucks!” – well, until he got kicked out for harrassing the “cheerleaders”…. that’s what I’ve felt about the sox’s defense lately. arg. they almost errored for the cycle!
Awesome “Meatballs” referrence.
…
AJ Burnett — shocker — suspended 6 games and fined by MLB discipline czar/Yankee apologist Bob Watson.
So much for Phil Hughes going to the pen. Get ready to take AJ’s place against the Rays next week kid…
Burnett’s retaliatory pitch was definitely in the head area so I’m not totally upset by this, but it is interesting that no one – even the Texas batter he did it to – even blinked about it. Padilla had so clearly and egregiously targeted Teixeira in that game that the Texas hitters were just waiting to get their due and swallow their medicine…to mix metaphors.
AJ getting suspended is just as ridiculous as Beckett’s at the beginning of the season.
It’s part of the game, like fighting and hockey
Wakes gets through 1st on 7 pitches.
So far we are seeing the Dontrelle Willis of old.
Make that 9 pitches for Wake in the first.
Today marks the official one-third mark of the season with the game’s end. Lose and it’s a 93-win pace. Win and it’s 96. Go Sox; get the sweep!
Dontrelle looking fairly tough.
Answer: We have bad Wakefield today. Three straight hits to open the second, the last a 2-run double.
…
Loogie successfully handes the first ball hit his way.
…
Cabrera comes up lame.
Ahhh, Wake. Not pretty.
3-0.
Ack.
already 3-0? cripes
Dane Sardinha batting for the Tigers, the first major leaguer since Garth Iorg’s brother named Dane.
Lugo works a walk on a close ball 4. I’m astonished. 2 on, none out.
I agree AJ getting suspended sucks, but at least Watson is keeping things fair with the precedent he set regarding Beckett’s head-shot.
Still, I agree with SF: it’s part of the game. No harm, no foul. Speaking of foul, why the hell wasn’t Kottaras sac-bunting there?
Kottaras Ks, Pedroia BBs.
I confess to worrying a bit about Drew up with them loaded and one down, even though I like him.
Drew walks. One run for the Red Sox.
Willis walks in a run, 3-1.
It is becoming what I had feared, a crapola pitching day.
We’ll take it. Youk, let some of that anger out here with a granny.
These afternoon games during the week mess me up.
Youk walks, there’s another. Dontrelle losing the strike zone big time, not close.
Out goes Dontrelle.
That’s a shame.
No kidding Paul, I didn’t know there was a game until about 10 minutes ago. At least I have a meeting-free afternoon.
D-Train walks Youk. No-hitter still intact.
D-train d-railed. Zach Miner will replace him.
Oh shit, that really sucks. Glad I didn’t start him in my fantasy league this week.
And Cabrera leaves the game with an injury? Okay, this game should be ours to lose fellas.
…aaaaand Leyland ejected. What was he arguing?
YES!
BAY!
Bay double, 4-3 Sox. From 3-run deficit to lead in five walks, a HBP, and a double (I think).
Jason Copernicus Bay, please have my babies.
5-3!
Every run is precious with Wake pitching, 5th one comes in on Lowell’s groundout.
All 4 BB, plus the HBP, have scored.
D-Train: no hits allowed, yet 5 ER. Good times.
Baldelli with a grounder between third and short and that 6th run is in!
Adrian! 6-3!
This is fun to watch!
Copernicus? Seriously?
6-3, and the Yankees are losing 2-1 also! What a great afternoon!
Is anyone watching the game live? On Gameday, it looks like a lot of Willis’ pitches called for balls seemed veeeery close to being strikes.
Did Leyland get kicked out for that?
A quick glance at wikipedia says his middle name is Raymond, but I like Copernicus better.
I don’t know why Leyland was ejected, but I bet it was for that.
It confuses me that defensive metrics rate Ellsbury as average when he made running down that sure-fire double look easy. Maybe it’s how Abreu-like he is at plays near the wall?
That’s gotta be in Devine, because his range is fantastic. If only he weren’t so afraid to go into the wall…
The Abreu comparison is dead-on though. I didn’t see it until you mentioned it.
How the hell did the Sox play the Tiggers in a 3-game set and miss BOTH Verlander AND Jackson! Booo-urns!
What happened to Youk???
Kotsay pinch-hitting for Youk? In the 4th inning?
I don’t like this one bit.
Maybe the injury from last night is bothering him.
ha – missed holladay twice in the recent Toronto series as well!
anyone watching live – youk out cause of his ankle?
6 runs on 2 hits… that’s an odd box score
Caught stealing was beautiful. Great, great throw by Kottaras.
tight calf on youk according to the radio.
Thrown out, then a strikeout. 56 pitches after 4 innings for Wake; pretty damn good.
Baldelli’s got the GIDP thing down
He’s just trying to speed the game along; it’s a hot day in Detroit.
Err, it’s only 66 in Detroit right now. Maybe Baldelli just wants to speed the game along before he needs a nap.
Weird world when a Tek home run in a montage seems so much more plausible than a Papi one.
Oh, what a play by the Detroit SS to rob Ellsbury of a bloop single to left (his favorite kind).
Close, but replay shows Cabrera’s replacement hit a long foul ball.
Did they stop to review it Devine?
Gameday informs us that yes, yes they did.
As it sits, Wakefield has a quality start of the minimal kind (6 IP, 3 ER). He’ll see the start of 7th at least, though.
Teixeira hits a bases-clearing double, tie game in Yankeetown.
I skipped back and forth between games, so if they checked, it was a fairly quick check.
Hopefully he’ll pitched the 7th AND the 8th Devine; he’s only at 73 right now. I say keep him out there until he allows two baserunners.
I agree with you, Ath, though the loud out (and immediately following hard hit up the middle that Wake deflected to turn it into a DP) by the scrub is worrisome.
Loud strike, I mean.
73 pitches through 6 for Wakes.
DAMN!
On-field delay???
Miner injured. Pitching change time could be lengthy.
And that’ll do it for Wakes.
Here comes Masterson.
Wake removed after the double with 2 out in the 7th. I can see why, though I’d have just as soon given him one more batter.
Damn, Wake lifted after the double to Raburn. Since Masterson is rested I guess I have no problem with this.
Masterson does the job. Good times, great oldies.
Lowell singles on a 100mph pitch.
Up steps Rocco GIDP Baldelli.
Lowell and Baldelli with great ABs against the flame-throwing Zumaya.
Baldelli did also single in the Red Sox’ latest run, but yeah the GIDPs weren’t fun.
Ellsbury with the cheap hit on 0-2. Yes.
Does anyone else cringe when they hear “bases loaded, nobody out for Lugo”?
Lugo, of course, is terrible.
News flash: Lugo is still useless.
Kottaras got jobbed on the K pitch. Predictably, it is up to Pedroier.
ZOOMaya: “No insurance for you.”
It’s a good thing we’re up 6-3, or that bases-loaded-with-nobody-out squander would have really stung.
Lugo’s only good fortune is that he can tell himself, when the boos inevitably and justifiably rain down on him, that they’re just emphasizing the first syllable in a stadium-wide chant of his last name.
And you know he does, too. “Hey, I’m just like Youkilis guys!”
Laird pinch-hitting. The Tigers need baserunners, how about you try bunting for a single big guy?
I had sympathy for him until he tried defending himself on that screwed up DP against the Mets. Just go away.
Oki out of the inning, three-run lead intact.
The rumors are true: our bullpen is awesome (don’t make me regret these words, Pap or whoever).
Radio guys are talking about Paps before the game giving a demo of some high end baby stroller/car seat/high chair. Sounds scary.
Drew with the .800 OBP on the day. Gotta love it.
Why do you tempt the baseball gods, Devine?!?!
Seriously though, you’re right:
Masterson: 3.38 ERA (as a reliever)
Ramirez: 1.35
Okajima: 2.31
Delcarmen: 1.17
Papelbon: 2.35
Saito: 2.84
Bard: 1.04
For the record, those aren’t just the good pitchers: that’s every current member of the bullpen.
Drew has 4 walks today, for a June OPS of 1.238
Only 8 LOBs today.
Who goes when Smoltz comes on board?
The easiest of save situations for Pap, with Larish-Granderson-Inge due up.
It feels weird having 1.5x as many walks as hits today.
Devine, if Papelbon screws up today I’m blaming you ;-)
The leadoff walk is infuriating. Far too many for Papelbon this year.
BAD PAPELBON
Granderson has not GIDP all season…
Getting the lead runner is huge on that hot shot up the middle.
Petey sucks.
Elf!
What’s with Oki?
Of COURSE the tying run comes up, of COURSE it does.
Fuck you Devine fuck you Devine fuck you Devine
Oh, my gameday show Oki pitching, it’s Paps?
Sorry, let me rephrase that: I’m very unhappy with you’re antagonism of the baseball Gods Devine, I’m very unhappy with you’re antagonism of the baseball Gods Devine, I’m very unhappy with you’re antagonism of the baseball Gods Devine.
Oh and look, the Yanks took the lead in the 8th. Peachy.
That’s two.
Hmm, can’t believe I said “you’re” instead of “your”. It’s been that kind of day so far.
Foul pop-up for out #2? ME GUSTA!
2.
The grammar and punctuation gods are very unhappy with your use of the contraction instead of the possessive, Ath.
Victoire! Sweep on the road, scoring runs, against a division leader. Nice.
Pap laughs at the baseball gods.
I made things right by correcting myself! Polanco’s out just now proves that I successfully appeased them.
I’m surprised Lugo didn’t screw that play up. Two road wins in a row? I am pleased by this.
Three road wins in a row. In fact, it’s a road sweep! First three-gamer on the road all season!
Suh-WEEP!
And that caps what had started as a crappy road trip.
The last time the Red Sox swept a series in Detroit was in September 1996, when Roger recorded his second 20K game.
That’d be 4, count ’em, 4 road wins in a row, and ends a 6-4 road trip.
Now if only Texas can beat Mo here, today would be truly, truly sweet. But that’s getting greedy, I know.
Papelbon’s WHIP is now 1.458, with an ERA of 2.25. Very Daisuke-like.
Oh, nice! Considering how well the Tigers have done lately I hadn’t been paying too much attention to the long-term success of the roadtrip. Back to sweet, sweet Fenway we go.
I wonder how long it’s been since the Sox had a road swing that long be that successful.
Mo gets the save after making Yankees fans sweat. Both of us stay tied for first.
We’re 32-22. Is this our high-water mark for the season in terms of games over .500?
Bill, I just saw someone on SoSH say that this is the first time they’re 10 above .500.
Pretty incredible, given the Sox were seven over .500 after the 11-game streak. Gained three games in more than a month. :-P
horse, i think you’re on the money. I just saw the incident now, and I think it’s clear that the message being sent is, “don’t throw at the head.” It’s what Watson was telling Beckett, too.
And, really, I don’t have a problem with that if it’s going to be consistent and if he suspends Joba the next time he throws at Youkilis.
125 replies on “Watch the Ball, Dammit!: Sox-Tigers Gamer III”
I at a Seahawks preseason game a few years ago, and a very vocal (drunk) fan was lamenting the home team’s play. He was continually shouting – “our defense sucks!” – well, until he got kicked out for harrassing the “cheerleaders”…. that’s what I’ve felt about the sox’s defense lately. arg. they almost errored for the cycle!
Awesome “Meatballs” referrence.
…
AJ Burnett — shocker — suspended 6 games and fined by MLB discipline czar/Yankee apologist Bob Watson.
So much for Phil Hughes going to the pen. Get ready to take AJ’s place against the Rays next week kid…
Burnett’s retaliatory pitch was definitely in the head area so I’m not totally upset by this, but it is interesting that no one – even the Texas batter he did it to – even blinked about it. Padilla had so clearly and egregiously targeted Teixeira in that game that the Texas hitters were just waiting to get their due and swallow their medicine…to mix metaphors.
AJ getting suspended is just as ridiculous as Beckett’s at the beginning of the season.
It’s part of the game, like fighting and hockey
Wakes gets through 1st on 7 pitches.
So far we are seeing the Dontrelle Willis of old.
Make that 9 pitches for Wake in the first.
Today marks the official one-third mark of the season with the game’s end. Lose and it’s a 93-win pace. Win and it’s 96. Go Sox; get the sweep!
Dontrelle looking fairly tough.
Answer: We have bad Wakefield today. Three straight hits to open the second, the last a 2-run double.
…
Loogie successfully handes the first ball hit his way.
…
Cabrera comes up lame.
Ahhh, Wake. Not pretty.
3-0.
Ack.
already 3-0? cripes
Dane Sardinha batting for the Tigers, the first major leaguer since Garth Iorg’s brother named Dane.
Lugo works a walk on a close ball 4. I’m astonished. 2 on, none out.
I agree AJ getting suspended sucks, but at least Watson is keeping things fair with the precedent he set regarding Beckett’s head-shot.
Still, I agree with SF: it’s part of the game. No harm, no foul. Speaking of foul, why the hell wasn’t Kottaras sac-bunting there?
Kottaras Ks, Pedroia BBs.
I confess to worrying a bit about Drew up with them loaded and one down, even though I like him.
Drew walks. One run for the Red Sox.
Willis walks in a run, 3-1.
It is becoming what I had feared, a crapola pitching day.
We’ll take it. Youk, let some of that anger out here with a granny.
These afternoon games during the week mess me up.
Youk walks, there’s another. Dontrelle losing the strike zone big time, not close.
Out goes Dontrelle.
That’s a shame.
No kidding Paul, I didn’t know there was a game until about 10 minutes ago. At least I have a meeting-free afternoon.
D-Train walks Youk. No-hitter still intact.
D-train d-railed. Zach Miner will replace him.
Oh shit, that really sucks. Glad I didn’t start him in my fantasy league this week.
And Cabrera leaves the game with an injury? Okay, this game should be ours to lose fellas.
…aaaaand Leyland ejected. What was he arguing?
YES!
BAY!
Bay double, 4-3 Sox. From 3-run deficit to lead in five walks, a HBP, and a double (I think).
Jason Copernicus Bay, please have my babies.
5-3!
Every run is precious with Wake pitching, 5th one comes in on Lowell’s groundout.
All 4 BB, plus the HBP, have scored.
D-Train: no hits allowed, yet 5 ER. Good times.
Baldelli with a grounder between third and short and that 6th run is in!
Adrian! 6-3!
This is fun to watch!
Copernicus? Seriously?
6-3, and the Yankees are losing 2-1 also! What a great afternoon!
Is anyone watching the game live? On Gameday, it looks like a lot of Willis’ pitches called for balls seemed veeeery close to being strikes.
Did Leyland get kicked out for that?
A quick glance at wikipedia says his middle name is Raymond, but I like Copernicus better.
I don’t know why Leyland was ejected, but I bet it was for that.
It confuses me that defensive metrics rate Ellsbury as average when he made running down that sure-fire double look easy. Maybe it’s how Abreu-like he is at plays near the wall?
That’s gotta be in Devine, because his range is fantastic. If only he weren’t so afraid to go into the wall…
The Abreu comparison is dead-on though. I didn’t see it until you mentioned it.
How the hell did the Sox play the Tiggers in a 3-game set and miss BOTH Verlander AND Jackson! Booo-urns!
What happened to Youk???
Kotsay pinch-hitting for Youk? In the 4th inning?
I don’t like this one bit.
Maybe the injury from last night is bothering him.
ha – missed holladay twice in the recent Toronto series as well!
anyone watching live – youk out cause of his ankle?
6 runs on 2 hits… that’s an odd box score
Caught stealing was beautiful. Great, great throw by Kottaras.
tight calf on youk according to the radio.
Thrown out, then a strikeout. 56 pitches after 4 innings for Wake; pretty damn good.
Baldelli’s got the GIDP thing down
He’s just trying to speed the game along; it’s a hot day in Detroit.
Err, it’s only 66 in Detroit right now. Maybe Baldelli just wants to speed the game along before he needs a nap.
http://whatitslikeontheinside.com/uploaded_images/milton_looks-775673.jpg
Ump from last night: “Have you seen my strike zone?”
Weird world when a Tek home run in a montage seems so much more plausible than a Papi one.
Oh, what a play by the Detroit SS to rob Ellsbury of a bloop single to left (his favorite kind).
Close, but replay shows Cabrera’s replacement hit a long foul ball.
Did they stop to review it Devine?
Gameday informs us that yes, yes they did.
As it sits, Wakefield has a quality start of the minimal kind (6 IP, 3 ER). He’ll see the start of 7th at least, though.
Teixeira hits a bases-clearing double, tie game in Yankeetown.
I skipped back and forth between games, so if they checked, it was a fairly quick check.
Hopefully he’ll pitched the 7th AND the 8th Devine; he’s only at 73 right now. I say keep him out there until he allows two baserunners.
I agree with you, Ath, though the loud out (and immediately following hard hit up the middle that Wake deflected to turn it into a DP) by the scrub is worrisome.
Loud strike, I mean.
73 pitches through 6 for Wakes.
DAMN!
On-field delay???
Miner injured. Pitching change time could be lengthy.
And that’ll do it for Wakes.
Here comes Masterson.
Wake removed after the double with 2 out in the 7th. I can see why, though I’d have just as soon given him one more batter.
Damn, Wake lifted after the double to Raburn. Since Masterson is rested I guess I have no problem with this.
Masterson does the job. Good times, great oldies.
Lowell singles on a 100mph pitch.
Up steps Rocco GIDP Baldelli.
Lowell and Baldelli with great ABs against the flame-throwing Zumaya.
Baldelli did also single in the Red Sox’ latest run, but yeah the GIDPs weren’t fun.
Ellsbury with the cheap hit on 0-2. Yes.
Does anyone else cringe when they hear “bases loaded, nobody out for Lugo”?
Lugo, of course, is terrible.
News flash: Lugo is still useless.
Kottaras got jobbed on the K pitch. Predictably, it is up to Pedroier.
ZOOMaya: “No insurance for you.”
It’s a good thing we’re up 6-3, or that bases-loaded-with-nobody-out squander would have really stung.
Lugo’s only good fortune is that he can tell himself, when the boos inevitably and justifiably rain down on him, that they’re just emphasizing the first syllable in a stadium-wide chant of his last name.
And you know he does, too. “Hey, I’m just like Youkilis guys!”
Laird pinch-hitting. The Tigers need baserunners, how about you try bunting for a single big guy?
I had sympathy for him until he tried defending himself on that screwed up DP against the Mets. Just go away.
Oki out of the inning, three-run lead intact.
The rumors are true: our bullpen is awesome (don’t make me regret these words, Pap or whoever).
Radio guys are talking about Paps before the game giving a demo of some high end baby stroller/car seat/high chair. Sounds scary.
Drew with the .800 OBP on the day. Gotta love it.
Why do you tempt the baseball gods, Devine?!?!
Seriously though, you’re right:
Masterson: 3.38 ERA (as a reliever)
Ramirez: 1.35
Okajima: 2.31
Delcarmen: 1.17
Papelbon: 2.35
Saito: 2.84
Bard: 1.04
For the record, those aren’t just the good pitchers: that’s every current member of the bullpen.
Drew has 4 walks today, for a June OPS of 1.238
Only 8 LOBs today.
Who goes when Smoltz comes on board?
The easiest of save situations for Pap, with Larish-Granderson-Inge due up.
It feels weird having 1.5x as many walks as hits today.
Devine, if Papelbon screws up today I’m blaming you ;-)
The leadoff walk is infuriating. Far too many for Papelbon this year.
BAD PAPELBON
Granderson has not GIDP all season…
Getting the lead runner is huge on that hot shot up the middle.
Petey sucks.
Elf!
What’s with Oki?
Of COURSE the tying run comes up, of COURSE it does.
Fuck you Devine fuck you Devine fuck you Devine
Oh, my gameday show Oki pitching, it’s Paps?
Sorry, let me rephrase that: I’m very unhappy with you’re antagonism of the baseball Gods Devine, I’m very unhappy with you’re antagonism of the baseball Gods Devine, I’m very unhappy with you’re antagonism of the baseball Gods Devine.
Oh and look, the Yanks took the lead in the 8th. Peachy.
That’s two.
Hmm, can’t believe I said “you’re” instead of “your”. It’s been that kind of day so far.
Foul pop-up for out #2? ME GUSTA!
2.
The grammar and punctuation gods are very unhappy with your use of the contraction instead of the possessive, Ath.
Victoire! Sweep on the road, scoring runs, against a division leader. Nice.
Pap laughs at the baseball gods.
I made things right by correcting myself! Polanco’s out just now proves that I successfully appeased them.
I’m surprised Lugo didn’t screw that play up. Two road wins in a row? I am pleased by this.
Three road wins in a row. In fact, it’s a road sweep! First three-gamer on the road all season!
Suh-WEEP!
And that caps what had started as a crappy road trip.
The last time the Red Sox swept a series in Detroit was in September 1996, when Roger recorded his second 20K game.
That’d be 4, count ’em, 4 road wins in a row, and ends a 6-4 road trip.
Now if only Texas can beat Mo here, today would be truly, truly sweet. But that’s getting greedy, I know.
Papelbon’s WHIP is now 1.458, with an ERA of 2.25. Very Daisuke-like.
Oh, nice! Considering how well the Tigers have done lately I hadn’t been paying too much attention to the long-term success of the roadtrip. Back to sweet, sweet Fenway we go.
I wonder how long it’s been since the Sox had a road swing that long be that successful.
Mo gets the save after making Yankees fans sweat. Both of us stay tied for first.
We’re 32-22. Is this our high-water mark for the season in terms of games over .500?
Bill, I just saw someone on SoSH say that this is the first time they’re 10 above .500.
Pretty incredible, given the Sox were seven over .500 after the 11-game streak. Gained three games in more than a month. :-P
horse, i think you’re on the money. I just saw the incident now, and I think it’s clear that the message being sent is, “don’t throw at the head.” It’s what Watson was telling Beckett, too.
And, really, I don’t have a problem with that if it’s going to be consistent and if he suspends Joba the next time he throws at Youkilis.