It's Zach Miner on the hill for Detroit tonight, after planned starter Armando Galarraga was scratched with a "severe sore throat." He'll face a lineup bereft of Kevin Youkilis, serving the first of his five games' suspension, and Victor Martinez, who is receiving a night off. That makes for arguably the worst possible lineup among all the possible DH/1B/3B/C combos, and just shy of the worst possible defense (Ortiz at first, Kotchman at DH being the worst possible). So it should be a fun game against a pitcher who hasn't started since May 2 but has a better ERA than the guy he's replacing but has given up five runs in 6.1 innings against the Sox so far this season.
Looking for three straight and to keep pace with those pesky Yankees. Comment away!
Why wouldn’t you just tell Martinez that due to the fight he doesn’t get the night off, but he gets tomorrow’s travel day off. Wouldn’t that be better for him anyhow? I mean, what if he plays tomorrow, then the flights get delayed, they get into Texas at 1am, etc. Why, with the possibility of really establishing some momentum, does Tito suck Martinez out of the lineup with Youk also out?
And WHY is he batting Ortiz CLEANUP?
Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Jason Bay, LF
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Casey Kotchman, 1B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Nick Green, SS
— Josh Beckett, RHP
Tigers
1. Curtis Granderson, CF
2. Placido Polanco, 2B
3. Clete Thomas, LF
4. Marcus Thames, DH
5. Carlos Guillen, 1B
6. Magglio Ordonez, RF
7. Alex Avila, C
8. Brandon Inge, 3B
9. Adam Everett, SS
— Zack Miner, RHP
It’s a good game to rest your regulars. You’ve got the ace on the mound, and a crappy pitcher is starting for the other club. The Sox have a much harder time of it tomorrow afternoon when they face Verlander.
Probably right Andrew, but I still would rather get this game and worry about Verlander later. I don’t like taking Beckett for granted.
Praying for a miner miracle.
Sorry.
Before the game on NESN they said that the off-day for Martinez was so he could work with the bullpen coach. Apparently they want to go over how Martinez works with the bullpen, which is understandable considering how they’ve played in the last few games.
Beckett with a quick K to Granderson, and ahead of the next batter 0-2.
Uh oh, looks like Beckett brought his A game tonight. Someone is pissed they didn’t get a W last time.
Minor has been in 3 of the last 5 games from the bullpen. I wonder how long they expect him to go tonight.
“And WHY is he batting Ortiz CLEANUP?”
No shite.
Wow, Ortiz strikes out looking on a great inside pitch… no wait, it’s called a ball. That was a gift right there.
F*cking iMac screen implosion. Gonna be quiet in the gamers or a while I fear.
To the Genius Bar.
Gameday had that pitch just inside but the right call, ath.
REMY IN THE BOOTH! FUCK YEAH!
TURNING POINT!
Wow, Beckett getting squeezed
MIKE FUCKING LOWELL!!!!!
Mike “keep me in the f*cking lineup” Lowell with yet another homerun. 1-0 Sox.
Jesus it’s good to hear Remy’s voice again. I haven’t realized how much I miss it until now.
God, Remy seemed really sad. Understandably.
Beckett a little lucky there, the right field corner taking one away. Hard shot.
(on the desktop in our home office, no laptop though so my posting ability dies when I have to go cook dinner)
Beckett mostly dealing (deep shots to right notwithstanding). 3 frames for Josh, no knocks.
Whatcha cooking SF? I grilled up a few tilapia fillets in butter and lime sauce, with some green beans and garlic bread. I’m still hungry, lol.
Bay!
Hanger steak and roasted taters.
Well apparently this is the Bay/Lowell series. Jason Bay with a 2-run homer, 3-0 Sox.
Beckett owes these guys steak dinners for giving him a fricken lead.
That was strike 3, damnit.
Holy potatoes, that was a pretty curveball to get the K.
69 pitches through 4 though.
Lowell and Drew single. Very happy to see the Sox taking advantage of an unprepared pitcher two nights in a row.
It’s crazy that Minor has thrown one pitch less than Beckett over 4 innings, despite allowing 7 baserunners to Beckett’s 1.
Guillen breaks up the no-hitter.
Shit.
Speaking of one-hitters, Pedro is one-hitting the Cubs.
It’s very hard for me to ever root for players on other teams, particularly former members of the Red Sox (or any members of the Yankees), but I really hope Pedro is a monster down the stretch.
CHARGE THE MOUND PEDRO!
Way to go IBM, Pedro’s 1-hitter is over.
Man,Miner teed up the game for you guys to win.
Wow, Lowell just beat out an infield hit. This series has been craaaaaazy.
Wow, goofy infield pop-up single.
Been watching a bit of Pedro vs. cubs. Wrigley must lead MLB in cell phone calls per game. Fucking poseurs.
Props to Zach Miner tonight. This was a tough assignment, given that he just pitched 2 days ago.
…
Tek up w/ sacks packed, setting another big disappointment.
Bye,Tigers. Let´s see if varitek does something
Drew walks, Kotchman singles. 5-1, bases still juiced.
Damn smallish strike zone there.
Dolsi apparently not getting any calls. two of those balls appeared to be strikes on gameday.
HAHAHA IBM I’m watching the same thing. Lots of shots of girls on cell phones.
Seeing Pedro’s 2-seamer brings back memories. Great memories.
Haha,there you go,sox,keep up the pace ;)
Tek walks to make it 6-1; Dolsi wp makes it 7-1.
make that pb on avila.
E5 (T), 7-1. All four runs w/2 outs.
Sorry. 8-1. All FIVE runs w/two outs.
…
Ath, Cubs fans are insufferable. We call Wrigley the World’s Biggest Bar.
Wow, horrible luck for the Tigers tonight. 8-1.
Great clutchy inning from the Sox — five runs with two outs, including some from the bottom of the order (accidental though they may have been).
WHY DIDN’T THEY PLAY VICTOR?!?!
Good call, Tito. Why I am not a manager.
Yeah, this ends up being a great game to give key players a rest — and, so far, one game in which Youkilis’ presence is not needed.
And Bay only hitting 2b today. So Ortiz wont ground into a DP maybe.
From the Globe, SF:
“Francona chose Kotchman because he wanted to give Victor Martinez a day off, in part so he could work with bullpen coach Gary Tuck on catching knuckleballs out of a machine. Martinez will catch tomorrow.”
Tomorrow is an afternoon game.
WBZ-FM the Sports Hub goes live tomorrow vs. WEEI. Too bad they have Felger going up against Ordway.
Phillies making it tough for Petey to lose his season debut. 11-1.
Jesus. Is there a worse OF than Soriano?
12-1 now,IBM.
Oh, oh. Cubs w/ bases loaded.
How can you get a HBP on a pitch that crossed the plate?!
Wow, that HBP was bullshit. It was a strike!
Some jackass Cubs fan throws a beer on Victorino as he catches a ball in CF.
He gone.
Fucking idiot Cubs fans.
Ballgame!
Ortiz in the 4-spot is such horseshit. Really, Ortiz in the lineup at this point is more often than not horseshit.