As it has so often before, the Red Sox' season rests on the right shoulder of on Josh Beckett.
Sure, the Sox could come back and win three straight if they lose tonight. But there's only so many times you can play that tune, and one suspects after last year's music died that it may indeed be played out.
So, Josh, it's you. Make like 2007 and send the Sox back to Boston with one win down and just two to go.
Comment away!
CB Bucknor behind the dish tonight. Hope Beckett can keep his cool…
Hopefully Bucknor has seen footage of his horrible calls and goes easy on Beckett.
1-2-3 inning. It’s motherfucking Beckett time.
Inconsistent strikezone already. Bucknor gives Beckett a call for strike 2, then doesn’t give him a pitch that was closer.
Quick 1-2-3 innings for both teams. Hopefully the Sox remember how to hit soon.
Hey look, another game where our offense isn’t going to do shit.
Not this inning. Doesn’t look like Bucknor is being very helpful either.
Bucknor gives Beckett a generous called strike 3. Late call at that; finally VMart frames a goddamn pitch.
On the bright side, it looks like we have Good Beckett tonight.
“Let’s go Red Sox” cheer gets going.
Good to see this series isn’t the only one with bad umpiring. Mauer was robbed of a doubledown the LF line. It was about 6 inches fair, ump called it foul. He singled two pitches later.
The offense has been less than inspiring so far this series. Actually I take that back. It has inspired nausea.
Phil Cuzzi was the offending ump.
Jesus, strikezone suddenly shrinking against Beckett. All we want is consistency!
Beckett having trouble locating that curveball.
They were all pretty clear balls on gameday at least Ath, but the exact same pitch was called for strike 3 the inning before.
2 Twins on, 0 out in 11th vs. Marte.
Beckett having trouble locating that curveball. As long as he’s not hanging it…
Yeah it looked closer on TV than on gameday, Ethan. But you’re right, it was a strike for the last two innings.
Great play by Drew for out #2.
Cuddyer singles, sacks loaded, 0 out. Marte stays in the game.
Bases loaded for the Twins now, no outs. And nobody left in the bullpen either for the Yanks.
Woah, where the fuck was that pitch blue?
Beckett is shaking off VMart a lot. No me gusta.
Aybar then singles.
Young lines out to first. 1 down. CArlos gomez up. … Robertson had replaced Marte before Cuddyer’s hit.
First hit of the game to the Angels. Fortunately with two outs.
Gomez reaches on FC. 2 down.
Unbelievable. Twins fail to score.
Ouch, Twins can’t score. The umpiring mistake could very well cost them the game.
Harris F8. Huge squander by the Twinkies.
BUCKNOR YOU COCKSUCKER.
It probably did. Kubel singled after Mauer singled. Had Kubel hit a double, he taked third on Kubel’s hit and then scores on Cuddyer’s single.
Inning over. 42 pitches after 3… pretty damn good.
Hey offense, wake the fuck up.
BUCKNOR YOU COCKSUCKER.
Seconded, but it doesn’t matter. Beckett pitching well so far. Having a chat with Bucknor apparently…don’t get kicked out ><.
Still, the Twinds had the bases loaded with none out and failed to score. (p.s., ath, for Bucknor it’s cocksuckor.)
I would give a lot of money to be able to listen in on Beckett’s conversation with the umpire.
Ugly boy Tex homered. Fuck.
Teixeira walk-off homer.
And the Yankees walk off on a Texeira HR. Wow. The Yankees will obviously win the series, but to lose due to an umpiring mistake is a bit of a tragedy.
And the homer was a Yankee Stadium Texas Leaguer, too.
SUCK IT TORII HUNTER. No catch for you! Ellsbury triples!
ELLS! TRIPLE!!!
Ellsbury with a leadoff triple! Finally!
Sorry, trying to follow the game while I’m being a halfway decent parent. What umpiring mistake?
Ah, “offense”, I believe I’ve heard of this concept.
What umpiring mistake?
Umpire called a fair ball foul and cost Mauer a double. And Pedroia can’t bring Ellsbury in. Sigh.
Mauer doubled down the line… but it was called foul. It was half a foot fair, very clear. Mauer ended up singling, but so did the next two batters, which would have scored Mauer.
V-Mart! The Sox finally plate a run.
A RUN!!!! WHEEEEEE!!!
RED SOX TAKE THE LEAD!
“Run(s)”!
Youk = Fail
Most homers since D-Day: David Ortiz with 27
And Papi continues his uselessness so far this series. Oh well, at least they broke their 20 innings (!!!) post season scoreless streak.
Obie points out that the Sox last postseason run was Pedey’s 1st inning homer in Game 7 of the 08 ALCS.
Well….I hope Beckett ate his Wheaties today ’cause the way things have gone, that might be it for run support.
Fuck you Abreu.
Ahead 1-2 and Beckett hangs a backdoor curve. That pitch really isn’t working for him so far tonight.
I absolutely hate Abreu. He always has that “I just fucked your girlfriend” smile on his face.
And Abreu takes 2nd without a throw. Great.
Ethan, is your feed ahead of mine? It’s a 2-0 count to Hunter, and Abreu is still on 1st.
Hm, no they just said on the radio that he took 2nd, but I guess they were wrong. Also, MIKE. FUCKING. LOWELL.
MIKE POSEIDON LOWELL! Fantastic play to save a double and maybe a run.
Shit. Hit and Run causes Pedroia to move over. 1st and 3rd, 1 down.
Fucking Abreu. He started to steal, so Pedro moved over to cover 2nd… and the ball is hit RIGHT where Pedroia would have gotten it.
Time for Beckett to bear down.
There’s the curveball Beckett needs. Great pitch.
Fuuuuuuuuck. Oh well, at least it’s only 1 run. I hate Abreu so much.
Sac-fly. 1-1.
That was a depressingly short lived lead.
I really like Gonzalez on this team. Inning over.
Got out of it without further damage. Thanks A-Gon.
Nice play by AGonz and I really don’t like Abreu
Considering the lineout, I’ll take it. I hear you generally need to score 4 or 5 of these “runs” to “win”.
It would be nice if they could just score say…5 runs and make it a bit less horribly stressful.
Warning track power from Bay.
5? How about 8 or 9?
A-Gon whiffs on 2 straight ball fours. Oh well.
Weak K by Gonzo.
Seeing Alex try to catch up to a high fastball is like watching a 7 year old try to hit a fastball. He just sort of closes his eyes, swings really hard, and misses it by about a foot.
Don’t want to jinx it, but Beckett is really hitting his groove now.
Good inning for Beckett. C’mon offense, stop sucking!
All right. Beckett just mowed them down, the top of the order is coming up, and Weaver is at 78 pitches and just peaked too early fist-pumping on striking out Alex Gon-fucking-zalez.
HAMMER THIS GUY, NOW!
Ellsbury rung up on another questionable call.
Wow, pitch right down the middle to Pedroia called a ball.
Wow, pitch right down the middle to Pedroia called a ball.
What do you expect from these umps Ath? They might as well bring in a little league crew.
Two more questionable calls against VMart.
Sigh.
Hey! Our Little League umps are WAY better.
Gameday has all three called strikes to V-Mart out of the zone. Yeesh.
They should bring in “Low Ball Bill” from my old Little League. He used to love running us up on pitches at the ankles.
My brother’s little league had an ump like that Ethan. My dad would always scream “HE COULD HAVE TIED HIS SHOES WITH THAT PITCH, BLUE!”
Well at least Beckett is getting some generous calls now too. Figgins K’s.
Fuck you Abreu. You smell.
Hey look, we got Abreu out. Hasn’t happened to often in the last 26 hours.
Another solid inning for Beckett. Too bad the offense can’t back him up so far.
8 straight retired by Beckett.
The offense should be ashamed of themselves, really, but I’m hoping for a late-inning outburst for Beckett a la 2007 ALCS Game 5.
OK, guys, we need like 6 runs to put this thing away. It’s late and I’ve had a tough enough week.
The middle of the order has really let them down so far this series. I guess you have to give some credit to Weaver, but these have not even been close to good at bats.
I’m half prepared to think it’s better for the Angels to win because at least they have a better chance at beating the Yankees. This team just doesn’t look ready.
VMart/Youk/Ortiz/Bay/Lowell/Drew: 3 for 34 (.088 batting average).
Wow, that pitch to Bay was a strike. Gameday confirms. Bucknor is god-awful.
You know Stuck, watching the Yankees win earlier really made me think about that too. I really don’t think the Sox have any chance of beating them if we’re even able to get to the ALCS.
Mike Lowell with some great contact, but Hunter runs it down.
This offense is just godawful.
I know, Ath. The Twins had so many opportunities they couldn’t cash in, and I could easily imagine the Sox doing exactly the same. Of course, that’s assuming they could actually generate any scoring opportunities, which at this point looks like a real stretch.
Bad, bad Beckett. How can you walk Vlad?
Lester with his first walk of the game. They wisely pinch-run for Vladdy, who OPS’d about the same as Ellsbury did this season.
Leadoff walk = beginning of the end.
Lester? Did I really just say Lester instead of Beckett?
Ugh.
Beckett suddenly can’t find the plate. Ugh.
3-0 to Morales. Come on Beckett, stop thinking about the goddamn runner.
Wagner up in the bullpen.
LOL, that strike to Kendry was in the asme spot as ball 2.
1 down. Beckett recovers.
Kendrick takes 2nd. Had to happen eventually.
Shit, Kendrick steals 2nd. Close play too.
At least now Beckett can worry about the batter, and not the runner.
The Angels ball-boy down the 3rd-baseline looks like he’s 45.
Mike Lowell has played phenomenal defense at third base in these two games. Two outs.
Seems Lowell can still play the field. Who knew.
Son of a fucking bitch.
Shitfuck. Almost a phenomenal start for Beckett. I’m out. It was fun.
Another stolen base; a good throw would have had him.
Get the fucking batter, Beckett.
COCKSUCKER, Napoli didn’t try to get out of the way of that… he leaned into it, if anything.
I’d be surprised if they don’t pulled him here.
4-1 game. I’m out.
Hey Rob….. you there ?
Bueller ?…..Anybody ?
So Francona leaves Beckett out to dry and brings in Papsy for garbage time. Makes sense.
Well at least we can’t blame these losses on Manny DC.
Sweet takeout on 2nd.
Cmon Papi
Not ready to count Sox out, tying run at the plate.
Pathetic. The Sox will be lucky to steal one game this series.
Well, sucked balls. Definitely deserve to lose.
Beckett was healthy, right? So, no more excuses of ‘when he’s healthy he’s a shutdown pitcher!’
Allow me to go back to a point I made Thursday afternoon: These Red Sox don’t hit good pitching.
When I made that statement, I was (respectfully) chastised by Paul, who backed up his argument with good evidence.
What I did NOT state, however, was that the good pitching does not have to be from one of the best pitchers in the league. If a particular pitcher is having a good game, be he an All-Star or an mediocre one who is just in a groove that day, the Red Sox struggle. they do not find ways to get on. They do not win.
Lackey and Weaver are above average at best. They’ve been very good in this series. And true to their form this season, the Sox have not found ways to get on base and beat them.
We’ve got the Angels right where we want them…
Right? Right?
[P.S. I’m 99% against intentional beaning, but Napoli put himself in the 1% of cases who earn it. If he comes up again with the Sox having a solid lead, he’ll get drilled and he’ll deserve the resulting welt.]
what did Napoli do? didnt he already get hit?
Why is Rob still here?
Napoli didn’t try to get out of the way of an inside pitch. Indeed, he turned his shoulder in such a way as to make sure it hit him. That’s not the way the game is supposed to be played, and you could see Beckett spitting nails over this bush league move right afterward. Watch for payback.
Bush league? We teach our kids how to steal a HBP when a pitch like that presents itself. It’s the umpires call: did he turn into the ball or was he making an attempt to soften the blow. I’d say 8-10 times you’re awarded the base. Very rarely will an ump make the reverse decision. They teach it in college as well. If you can do it, you do it. Bush is yelling HA or phantom tagging or sliding spikes up. This is part of the game.
That was an amazing game
Furthermore, Beckett, unintentionally I’m sure, threw the pitch RIGHT AT NAPOLI. A batter has absolutely no obligation to get out of the way of a pitch that is thrown right at him. Indeed, a batter may choose to get hit in a preferred area (the back, for example) in order to not risk accidentally getting hit in a more sensitive spot, like the hand. A batter who is thrown at deserves his base. The only thing bush league about that play is Beckett jawing at the umpires after he threw a pitch at a batter. The self-described owner of the mantle of ‘playing the game the right way’ continues to provide hilarious hypocrisy.
Andrew is right in that the batter has no obligation to “get out of the way” as Beckett and most folks have said.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t the rule book say that the batter has to make an attempt to get out of the way? I thought there have been occasional batters called back from first for not making an attempt.
My understanding of the rule is that the batter cannot make a move to purposely get hit with the ball. What Napoli did last night is what most if not all coaches instruct their players to do. I’ve never really seen it all the ML level but there are HS and college players who make a living by doing that. Remember that’s the “Batters” Box, so provided he isn’t throwing himself into the pitch, most umpires won’t call that. To your point Ath, some umpires like to see movement of some sort and that’s what makes that shoulder tuck so successful.
In watching the replay Napoli did nothing more than most players would do in the same situation. Its far from being an action worthy of beaning hima again.