The Sox look to win their final interleague series before heading up the coast tomorrow to play Seattle. It’s two of the best pitchers in the game as Beckett faces Peavy. Comment away.
So Long San Diego: Sox-Padres Gamer III
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Cora in the lineup today.
IN PLACE OF PEDROIA.
Nice, Terry. What will it take to bench Lugo? Does he have to sink to .150?
The best part: Alex Cora’s 3/21 lifetime against Peavy with 6 K’s and 2 BB. Lugo did face him once last year…he’s 2/3 with a 2B and a SB.
Lowell is 4/8 with 2 HR’s and a 3B, with 1 K and 2 BB.
JD Drew…1/14 with 6 K’s and 4 BB. The one hit was a 2B.
And so far, Peavy looks like his usual nasty self. If Beckett’s on, this could be a very fast game.
Man, Peavy can pitch. This game is going to suck.
Early still…but it sure looks like my gut feeling that one of the two starters would disappoint may have been a little off.
Holy crap, four players almost get hurt on the same play. Tek hits a popup behind third, and Greene crashes into Russell Branyan as the ball falls in. Peavy’s the only one left to cover third, and he ends up on the ground trying to tag out a sliding Varitek. That’s one way to hit a triple…
Of course…Lugo grounds out weakly to first as he chops at ball four. I’m proud of him for making contact…
beauty at bat by cora which ends in a single. first and second, one down for ortiz.
Papi comes through with the RBI
papi with a meek grounder through the right side. coco scores from second. 1-0 sox. first and third for manny. 1 down.
Manny with a SAC fly
2-0
manny sac fly drives in cora. 2-0 sox.
Funny…of the three hits this inning, one was a popup the OF’s kinda gave up on, and another was a seeing-eye groundball through the right side. Cora’s liner remains the only well-hit ball of the game.
I’ll take it, though. Might be a little lucky, but two runs are two runs.
And now Drew gets on with what’s being scored as an infield single. That might get changed to an error later…Peavy up to 67 pitches already.
Lowell singles, Papi scores.
And Lowell lofts another soft flyball into RF that Cruz can’t get to. Papi with the nice slide to avoid the tag at home, 3-0 Sox. This is unreal…reminds me a great deal of that game against Oakland and Joe Blanton a while back, where they put up something like 3-4 runs without hitting the ball squarely.
I regret not benching Peavy in my fantasy league…
peavy looks pissed that the sox have been patient with him. most batters have run the count to 2 strikes, and jake makes this look of disgust that the sox aren’t swinging.
Tek flies out to end the inning. Peavy up to 72 pitches after 3 IP.
Ha, and Varitek gives it a ride to LF. This one was actually hit very hard and on a line, almost to the track. But it gets caught.
d1- we could all use you to have a rough fantasy day.
Beckett gets through the inning, rather quickly also. I think he threw 12 pitches?
I never regret starting pitchers against Boston in my fantasy leagues. Chances are if its to the point I would regret it im too damn happy the sox were killing someone lol
lugo tries his hardest to throw an easy ground ball away for the third out. papi saves his ass with a pretty pick. thanks huleo.
Wow. Lugo almost makes a throwing error on a VERY routine grounder, but Ortiz picks it out of the dirt to save him and the Sox a run.
That’s always been Lugo’s MO…make the tough plays, screw up the easy ones.
I start Peavy against anyone. And it’s not like he’s been awful, though the box score is all that matters. Besides, it seems like whenever I bench someone against Boston the Sox get shut down…and I’d rather Boston win then have a good fantasy day.
Lugo grounds out again.
sticking with the patience gameplan. lugo grounds the third pitch softly to third. i really am done with him.
Beckett showing Lugo how its done.
Beckett should flip the bat in Lugo’s direction.
How does your pitcher get a hit and your multi-million dollar shortstop doesn’t?
I know there is more to it than that. Just seems an odd issue.
whats the difference between a sub .200 hitting Dustin Pedroia and a sub .200 hitting Julio Lugo?
Atleast for me I had confidence that Pedroia would get going and get over .300 I dont have that confidence in Lugo.
Just saw on the news that Rod Beck passed away today.
beckett sees 6 pitches, cora sees 5 pitches. coco and lugo saw 4 combined. do those two not get invited to team meetings or something?
Oh c’mon. Lugo did the exact same thing Beckett did: He hit a fairly routine GB. Beckett’s found a hole and his didn’t.
Coming to San Diego was not what the doctor ordered w/r to Lugo’s slump. Peavy hasn’t been great, but he’s still Jake fricken Peavy…the fact is, the score could just as easily be tied right now. Boston has 7 hits; that could just as easily be two.
D1…lately all games have not been what the doctor ordered for Lugo.
I do not hate the guy, just expected a little more return for what the Sox paid. it is a long season and hopefully he will start to get warm here soon.
Peavy at 92 pitches, Cameron is up in the pen.
Bah. Khalil hits a fine curveball on the ground, but down the line and past Lowell for a double. Unlucky. Or a good piece of hitting, depending on how you look at it…
What does everyone thing of the potential trade with the White Sox for Buehrle?
Who are we willing to part with for him?
Do we bring back Schill or let him walk?
SF goes up 3-0 on the Yanks
Manny singles to leadoff the inning
Drew singles, Manny to 2nd
I just don’t see how we’d need Buehrle. On the other hand, he’d provide some awesome depth to an already stud rotation. But with Lester up before the end of the year, and Buccholz and Bowden both in line for a callup sometime in 2008, it seems like there’s not much of a need. Of course, far be it from me to say we have too much pitching.
Very pleasantly surprised to come home and see the Sox winning by three. Didn’t expect that at all.
Lowell fouls out to 1st.
i personally don’t think buehrle offers us anything more than lester can give us.
That said, I’d gladly deal Pena, Pauley and cash. How does that sound? Probably not enough.
I like a Beuhrle tarde if we can negotiate a contract before finalizing and if we dont give up Buchholz, Lester, Ellsbury.
I would offer Chicago a combination of two of these guys… Pena, Murphy, Moss, Crisp and then a midlevel pitching prospect.
Chicago should jump at that since Dye will be gone by the end of July and Erstad isnt what he used to be, that would give them 2 very good OFs for the next several years.
Agreed, Rod. Though an 08 rotation of Beckett-Matsuzaka-Buehrle-Lester-Wakefield with Buccholz upcoming sounds freaking awesome to me.
Lugo ends the inning for us
I wonder if Murphy’s up to showcase him a little? Murphy, Pena, Pauley and cash for Buerhle and a minor-league catcher would be pretty good for both sides maube. The ChiSox would definitely have to be in the mood to bank on Pena’s and Murphy’s potential upsides…
This may be a way for us to unload Clement. Not sure if Chicago would take him.
Is there anything concrete on which to base these speculations — other than Cafardo’s throwaway mention in his Baseball Notes this morning?
I think with Boston coming out of nowhere to become the “frontrunner” for Beuhle makes me think Schillings “injury” may be worse then were being led to believe.
why unload Clement? his contract expires this year.
Gabbard may be on the block also.
If im Chicago and offered the deal i suggested I take Moss and Murphy and either Zink or Gabbard
I wasn’t sure when it expired TJ. I thought we had him on the books for next year.
The Schill thing does make me wonder that also.
Peavy out after five. The long-awated duel fizzles.
peavy’s out after just 5. nice job by most sox hitters today.
this trade story started in the Chicago Sun Times http://redsox.travisliles.com if you look at the latest entry on my blog the link to the full story is there.
I just checked out LoHud Yanks- things are getting REALLY ugly over there. Lots of name-calling between posters.
As a Sox fan, it’s really quite enjoyable- kind of how the Native Americans must have enjoyed watching the Donner party.
I don’t like Buerhle. At all. I don’t want him for five years, as he’s probably commanding $15-17MM per and I doubt he’s worth 2/3 of that. Really don’t like him. If they must sign him for five years, I don’t want to give up a Buchholz, Ellsbury, Lester, or Bowden. Pena and Moss seeem expendable.
And Beckett implodes for absolutely no f*cking reason. Unbelievable. The duel fizzles further as Beckett looks like sh*t.
Alright Beckett, let’s get this under control again.
this is a great site for Contracts, heres Bostons.
http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2004/12/boston-red-sox.html
And Beckett suddenly losing it in the fifth. Walk, single, double with no outs to the bottom third of the order. Now 3-2 Sox.
Ummm, Tito? Your starting pitcher is struggling a bit out there, maybe you could check him out, or have your catcher go out there?
Just a suggestion.
The five years makes me think it’s just smoke. I mean, the Sox do just hand out 5 year contracts to pitchers all the time.
Great. A tie game is pretty much an inevitability. Missed location badly on that pitch to Cruz, too. (I think)
Lohud is getting pretty nasty over there.
Thanks for the link, TJ. Hard to imagine the Sox giving up any of the names mentioned by the Sun-Times — though the S-T seems to just be throwing out a list of the Sox’ top prospects, as opposed to citing any firm ChiSox wish list — except maybe Jed Lowrie.
Huge out for Beckett, grounder to the left side keeps the runner at third. Two down.
Wow. Beckett is getting squeezed. I haven’t liked the HP umping this series…
Beckett pitches his way out of it with us still in the lead.
Peavy was squeezed worse, at least from what I’ve seen. The problem is, Beckett keeps trying to get that low strike.
Thankful for the K there.
Hafta say, a 28-year-old lefty starter who consistently puts up ERAs between 10 percent and 40 percent better than league average? Those don’t come around too often.
YES! Beckett Ks Gonzalez to end the threat. Good pitching to get out of that jam.
Reverse-jinx works! (for now…)
Gonzalez gives Beckett a gift of a strikeout. Nasty breaking ball, but not even close to a strike…
Neither pitcher has been thrilled with the ump today. I wouldn’t say Peavy was getting it any worse, though; it might seem that way, but that’s probably because Sox hitters don’t swing at everything the way SD hitters do.
I would like to punch the San Diego announcers in the face.
Most of the HP umpiring this weekend has left little to be desired.
Good point about Sox plate patience, d1, though I think Beckett’s been more stubborn in trying to get those strikes.
Cora is 2-2 and has been on base four times. Francona is pushing all the right buttons this season.
Come on, Big Papi!
Christ this umpire sucks…don’t blame Ortiz for getting pissy there.
Please don’t get ejected, though.
Big Papi is getting a little mouthy with the umps.
The umpiring in this series has been abysmal. Yesterday the home plate umpire was giving Young pitches that were four or five inches off the plate. No wonder the Sox couldn’t score on him.
I would almost add Lowrie to an untouchables list. Hes been playing great and i read two places that worded him as the “best infield prospect” in the system. Though I think that Taiwaneese kid in Greenville Chih-Hsien Chiang is gonna be very good. Hes only 19 to if they work him along he could be ready about the time Lugo’s contract is wrapping up. He is a second baseman and I dont know what kind of arm he has but in 4 years we can always talk about moving Pedroia back to short stop if this kid turns out well.
bases loaded for a-rod with one down. hits a dp ball visquel can’t turn. 3-1 giants. first and third, two down in the 6th.
One of the things that really irritates me is when announcers talk about players like they are best friends. The Yankee announcers do this all the time. Its incredibly unprofessional, not to mention the fact that it sounds moronic. The Padres announcers aren’t as bad as the Yankees, but it does seem that every other Padre has a nickname.
All right. Anyone else having blister concerns, with the way Beckett has “controlled” his curve the last few hitters?
One-two-three for Beckett.
1-2-3 for Beckett, runs please.
QuoSF – In my personal experience, I always found it more difficult to throw a curve later in the game. This is probably because as your arm gets tired its more and more difficult to get on top of the ball and get the downward spin you need to make the ball drop off the table. If you don’t get on top of it you end up throwing the ball all over the place.
Hopefully thats whats going on with Beckett. Or, even better, he just threw a couple of lousy curves.
Anyone know how many pitches Beckett has thrown?
Manny walks on a really close pitch.
Beckett’s thrown 92 pitches.
Manny walks…now Ring has a reason to be mad at the ump. And Drew looks like he has no chance against this kid.
this ring kid can’t pitch to right handers, but is unhittalbe for lefties. hmmmm.
Is it just me, or do lefthand batters look much worse against lefthand pitchers than righthand batters do against righthand pitching?
Drew looked absolutely helpless in that at-bat- I’ve never seen any decent RH batter look that bad against a righty.
Bottom of the Padres order here. Hopefully Beckett can set them down without too much trouble.
Yikes… nice play by Manny there. That was unncessarily scary.
Blum pops up. Two down.
agree fully ayuh. it can look extra ugly from the left side.
gotta go to okajima in the eighth.
The ball hit Headley in the foot, but he swung at that! That should’ve been a strike.
Manny’s played pretty good defensively this year. He’s played the wall as well as anybody in recent memory, and even on the road he’s gotten to everything he should. Also, no mental lapses of note that I can recall.
105 pitches for Beckett. I’d be surprised if Francona sends him back out there. I don’t remember which side of the plate the 2, 3, and 4 hitters for SD are though. If there are some righties in there maybe we’ll see Beckett again.
TEK!!! To straight-away center!
Tek with an insurance shot!
toasted.
you’re kidding me. lugo still knows where first base is located. good for you buddy. this is like a moral victory or something….i guess.
Clemens pitching in relief in San Fran
Why did Beckett hit? I guess he is pitching next inning.
beckett offers us more at the plate than “the other guys”.
clemens gives up a run. 4-1 giants.
With the Tek homer, I feel like they officially “deserve” to win this game. With the lost opportunities, it was looking like the kind of game where you’d be mad after San Diego came back. Now, it looks like the “offense is solid, bullpen can hold this” type of game.
As for Beckett batting…hell, I’d leave him up there even if he WASN’T pitching next inning. You trust anyone more from the bench?
I trust Pedroia and Youkilis
Youk and DPod on the bench are pretty good guys to have PH.
Beckett hit a rocket right at the pitcher. Linebrick got supremely lucky on that. Should’ve been a base hit up the middle.
I’m surprised that we’re seeing Beckett back out here though.
Whoo! K number eight for Beckett! Two down…
Yeah, okay, you’re right. I was dramatizing for comic effect.
Point is, Beckett’s awesome, if terribly cocky sometimes.
Beckett next inning?
Does Lackey have 11 wins?
Double for Cameron. That homer by Tek is looming large now.
Greene pops out to Drew. Eight strong for Beckett. Sox lead, 4-2
I’ll wager Papelbon for the 9th.
beckett is still in the dugout looking like he’s going back in.
Wow. Hoffman, huh?
Papelbon is throwing.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Beckett did go back out there. I think Tek’s homer allows Francona to do that if he wants. I would be surprised if he stays in after anyone gets on base.
Ortiz hasn’t had an easy time in San Diego. He K’s on three pitches.
Beckett will become the first 11 game winner if he wins.
Very nice breaking ball to get Ortiz.
Is Beckett coming back out? Anyone know?
Pap time!
Nope. Its Paps.
Papelbon in
“Drew looked absolutely helpless in that at-bat- I’ve never seen any decent RH batter look that bad against a righty.”
I think it’s probably just a matter of comfort. I mean righties see what, %80 right-handed pitching? For a right-handed hitter to reach the level of “major-league starter,” they have to be exceptional at hitting everyone…including RH hurlers.
Beckett’s final line:
8 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs (both earned), 1 walk, 8 Ks
Y’all won’t believe this, but Kyle Farnsworth just gave up a run!
Yanks now down 5-1 in the bottom of the 8th
7-1 in San Fran
Correction: THREE runs. This is what Torre gets for playing his C-lineup…looks like we’ll be back to 11.5 shortly.
We win!! Taking two out of three against a very good Padre team on the raod is quite an accomplishment. I’m proud of our guys.
Great job by Beckett, Tek and Cora today.
Yankees are getting smoked by a team we just swept. Ha ha!
over the weekend the yankees fell below .500 again. toronto moved into second place. clemens threw in relief. and the sox win a series being outscored 9 to 7. if you told me these things on friday afternoon, i would have laughed at you.
Anyone watch Andrew Miller dominate the Braves tonight? If the Tigers hadn’t taken him, he’d be in a Red Sox uniform right now. Maybe about to make his first start in the place of Curt Schilling. That’s the way the draft’s supposed to work, though…it’s nice when the big-money draftees slip a ton, but not too good for the game.