After a slow start, Josh Beckett is having another fine season. Unfortunately for him, the Sox seem unwilling to provide him any support. Five times now, he’s thrown a quality start and received either a loss or a no decision. Conversely, only twice has he received a win or no-decision from a non-quality start.
Today, he looks to take matters into his own hands and help the Sox sweep the Twins, giving Boston the season series and, more importantly, opening up a sizable 3.5-game advantage in the Wild Card and leaving the possibility of narrowing the gap in the division to just two games (or widening their lead over the Yankees to five).
Livan Hernandez, who has a better record this year despite an ERA nearly two runs worse, has fared extremely poorly against American League pitching (5.93 ERA) this year, and hasn’t done too well in his few times facing the Red Sox. The Sox lineup as an aggregate is batting .332/.408/.526 against him in 225 plate appearances.
All this means Hernandez will throw a no-hitter, Beckett will implode and the Sox will lose. That’s just the way things seem to have gone over the last month or so.
Lineups courtesy the Globe:
Red Sox:
CF-Ellsbury
2B-Pedroia
1B-Youkilis
LH-Ramirez
3B-Lowell
DH-Casey
C-Varitek
RF-Moss
SS-Lugo
SP-Beckett
Twins:
CF-Span
2B-Casilla
C-Mauer
DH-Morneau
RF-Kubel
LF-Young
1B-Lamb
SS-Punto
3B-Buscher
SP-Hernandez
What happened to Drew? He was pulled in the ninth last night and now has the day off. Is he hurt?
Answered my own question:
“Drew quietly left during the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s win with back stiffness”
i have decided I would approve of a Sox sweep.
Holy crap there’s a 1:05 game today, and Beckett’s on the mound?
Well there goes my productive workday.
It’s no Drew and Ortiz, but you could do worse than Moss and Casey in there. If only Cash were playing and Lowrie were up…
do you think they’re going to pull the trigger on Lowrie this season, cut losses and just stick Lugo on the bench? Tough call in a tight race.
Beckett gets ahead 0-2 but walks him. F’ing A.
HAH, picked off 1st.
Two batters in a row that Beckett got ahead 0-2 but then couldn’t put away. Casilla doubles.
Now that caught stealing looks even better.
Beckett can’t put people away today! He was up 1-2 on Mauer, but gave up a hit. This is lame. 1-0, Twins.
I snuck out of a meeting for this?
Morneau homers. Fuck.
22 straight fastballs, after starting off the first batter with one FB and two curves.
Beckett listens to me and starts throwing curveballs. 3 of the last 4 pitches have been curves now.
2 bad first innings in a row for him, right? Let’s hope he settles down like he did last time.
thanks for straightening him out, Ath.
Weak sauce. Turn it around, bats.
Ellsbury singles! He’s been hot lately, hitting .314 in July.
Pedroia grounds out, erasing the speed. Damnit.
Anytime, RBF. Im just glad he listened to me.
Hernandez is a junkerball pitcher with an ERA of 5.17. This means we’re going to get shutout against him.
C’mon Manny, get us on the board. (Pedroia at 2nd, 2 outs.)
Pedroia is scoring position for Manny.
4 straight fastballs to Manny, all of them 86 mph. And Manny fouls two away.
That’s pathetic.
And the 5th fastball in a row to him is grounded out to the pitcher.
Two leadoff hits. Nothing else, though. Yuck…glad I’m not watching for awhile. Maybe things will change for the better…
Back-to-back singles by Lugo and Ellsbury!
Come on Pedroia, extend that streak.
Two on, none out. If they don’t capitalize with Pedroia-Youk up next (and Manny thereafter), then…well, I’ll stamp my feet and be annoyed. So there, Red Sox, you’ve been warned!
2 down, none in. Goddamn it.
Manny!
Manny doubles to right. 1 run in. Can we cash in once more? Runners 2nd and 3rd, 2 out, Lowell.
Lowell!!!
Manny seems to be officially back.
Now seems like a good time to leave. Good luck, Ath, Red Sox.
LOWELL TIES IT!
Everyone hits! Casey singles in the go-ahead run.
Heck yeah! Casey dunks it into left, and suddenly, the Sox have the lead! Pound this guy!
Okay, now really leaving.
okay, I’m a bit ignorant here and I hope it will be forgiven…
I think “LFRS” refers to Tek, but what the heck does it stand for?
Well, THAT inning went a bit better. I forgot we had a game this early today.
LFRS refers to “Least Favorite red Sox.” SF uses it for Lugo; I use it for Javier Lopez, though I think I’m going to switch over to Alex Cora…
LFRS is the shortstop. “Least favorite Red Sox”.
ahhh… I get it. Thank you very much. I’m not sure where I got Tek from then.
LFRS for me is definitely Lugo.
Looks like Beckett’s only going 5. Hope the pen isn’t feeling sucky today.
Micah, check the fantasy league… do you still want to make that trade?
Lugo bunts for a hit. Second single today. It highlights how effective he COULD be, getting on base in front of Ellsbury-Pedroia-Ortiz/Drew/Youk-Manny
Hey, Lugo is 2 for 2!
Ellsbury hits a seed, but it’s caught… Wind knocked it down.
And Lugo steals second, with high-contact Pedroia at the plate looking to extend his hit streak…
I accepted again. Hopefully it goes through this time.
Yeah, hopefully Micah. I don’t know what happened last time.
Beckett gets two quick outs before giving up a double to Mauer. Does Tito leave him in here?
Wow, he gets Morneau to pop out. Whew.
Okay guys, let’s get some insurance.
I have no idea either. Our league blows.
Hopefully this helps my team, I’m on a four week losing streak and will probably lose again this week.
He got Morneau. The question is whether he comes out for the sixth with a quick hook.
I think Beckett will glare at Tito until he lets him go out for the 6th.
Not pretty, but Beckett gets through five. Whew.
Who in the ‘pen do you even go to if you don’t send Beckett out? In a one run game, they all scare me.
“Drew quietly left during the ninth inning of Tuesday night’s win with back stiffness”
Sometimes Drew seems more fragile than Fred “The Hangnail” Lynn.
This is where having Masterson as the new Tavarez would be helpful…
Manny with the RBI double!! He is BACK!
Fncking pink hats. When did our fans start reaching for balls in play?
Hi, Manny! It’s nice to see you again. We like it when you do this. Keep it up, please.
Manny Ramirez drinks your milkshake! 5-3 Sox.
Funny… Manny arguing it’s a home run and Gardenhire arguing it’s a fan interference double that should keep Youkilis at third.
Umps keep it as an RBI fan-interference double.
My guess is Hansen, although I fear Minnesota would tear him up. Timlin probably will be held back to close.
The words “Timlin” and “close” in the same sentence make me feel ill.
When did our fans start reaching for balls in play?
Since forever? This is not a new phenomenon at Fenway. Believe it or not, Red Sox fans at Fenway are not all fastidious practitioners of the art of true fandom… And some of the true fans might even be wearing pink hats…
Or maybe it is Timlim in the sixth and you keep Aardsman to close. Timlin hasn’t pitched since coming off the DL.
Beckett out for the 6th, then Lopez-Oki-Delcarmen. Papelbon has pitched 3 nights in a row so I doubt he’ll be available.
CASEY! We should get his bat in the lineup more often.
Casey with another RBI!! We’re going to need each and every one of these runs if Beckett is indeed done.
I say bring him back on a short leash. He’s looked better as the game’s gone on, anyhow.
I use “pink hats” in the vernacular, not the literal, Paul.
I love Casey so much. 6-3 Sox.
With a 3 run lead I say send Beckett out for the 6th, definitely.
Francona said yesterday that Papelbon is out. Hopefully, this game won’t be a save situation, then we won’t even have to worry about it…
Hey, it’s Boof Bonser! This gives me an excellent excuse to say the word “Boof”. Yes, I am still secretly twelve years old, why do you ask?
C’mon, Zombie Varitek. Get a hit.
I read in the Globe that Paps is not available today for that very reason, Ath.
How do we know Boof Bonser sucks? Because Jason Varitek just hit a double off him!
An… extra-base hit? Do my eyes deceive me?
Best get some runs in, Moss – this doesn’t happen every day!
Dale Arnold informs us that Bonser has legally changed his first name to Boof from John.
Lugo up. He’s 2 for 2, but those were with the bases empty…
Oh, great. Now we have to hope for a hit from Varitek AND Lugo in the same inning. And if that happens, I’m going to go buy a lottery ticket on my lunch break.
Paul, I’ve seen a whopping three games at Fenway in my 36 years of Red Sox fanhood, so my misconceptions are hard to kill.
A hit here and we won’t have to worry about how the pen lines up behind Beckett.
Shockingly, no lottery ticket for me.
Well, Lugo hit the ball well. Bad luck on that one.
Josh Beckett above 100 pitches > Any member of the bullpen
Ponson allows one hit, a Carlos Pena homer, in six innings. 1-1, top 7.
…
Lopez is up in the pen.
Well, uh… shit.
Well, maybe I was wrong on that one. Kubel homers.
A homer to Kubel and now Delmon gets a hit. Looks like Becket < bullpen.
OK, um, Tito?
And then Delmon Young doubles. I think you were wrong on that one, Paul.
And now a double. Time to pull him, I think. Not that Francona will, of course…
You’re a new dad. You get a Mulligan, Paul.
Hey, Francona does come out. Well, I agree with the decision to send him back out, and I agree with the decision to take him out right there. So, props to Tito… Beckett with not one of his better performances, but he stands to win it if the pen can not irretrievably suck.
As long as it’s not Javier Lopez.
Sadly, I do not have much trust in that. We’re going to need more runs if we want to win this one.
Also, re: Yankees game – if there’s one guy I really can’t stand to see pulling the “guy off the scrap heap kicks ass for the Yankees” routine, it’s Ponson. He’s a horrid human being.
Why do the Yankees always seem to find that one guy? Aaron Small, etc. Pisses me off… Lopez (kock on wood) looking good so far. The problem is you just never know when the meltdown will come…
Hansen up now. And we’ve got to get 12 outs from the pen.
Crap.
For example, right there. 6-5 now.
Argh. Can we get out of this inning with the lead? Please?
Well I guessed right about Lopez coming in for the 6th… and he gives up an inherited run. We’ve still got the lead though.
Paul, your mojo sucks today.
Another single, but Manny nabs Punto at third!!
Manny!!
WTF was Punto thinking?
Don’t fuck with Manny’s arm, don’t do it.
Manny with the assist!
In defense of my mojo, I think the bullpen sucks today — and every day.
Not a bad idea walking Span. He’s hitting .462 against lefties.
Now a four-pitch walk puts the tying run at second. WTF. Just when I started to trust Lopez, he goes and turns into the pumpkin I always accused him of being…
Hate Javier Lopez with a passion.
GARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!! E-1 moves runners to 2nd/3rd. Javier Lopez: LFRS.
Well, that was abjectly terrifying. Somehow we still have the lead.
Lopez out of the inning. We’ve still got the lead.
Timlin-Oki-Delcarmen?
Ellsbury with the sun-aided double. Pedroia still looking to extend that hitting streak…
Flyout to short right, but Ells advances to third. Youk up. Insurance, please!
Jacoby is the wind.
Damnit Pedroia flies out, but Ellsbury is now at 3rd. He should get another AB in the 8th.
Nobody I’d rather have up than Youk in this situation
And the sac fly. Big run there…
and Youk makes me look smart, which is no easy task
So who is out… Timlin or Oki? Whichever doesn’t come out will probably pitch the 8th, with Delcarmen in the 9th.
Does XM think a clip of Cal Ripken and A-Rod talking about their pickup basketball game will get me to listen to that show? Ooooh, yes, let me hear two multiomillionaire athletes talk about the fratboy inner-circle lives they lead! I love that XM has an all-baseball channel and plays all the games, but a lot of the baseball-related programming is pretty terrible….
…
Lopez still out there, despite being over 20 pitches.
Javier Lopez still pitching. That makes me feel like stabbing myself in the eyeball.
Okajima pitched 3 of the last four days, one of them being a 37-pitch affair. Maybe Timlin is coming out for the 8th, Delcarmen the 9th?
Nevermind, Oki had last night off. My mistake.
I’ll help stab you in the eyeball, Paul. God, Lopez sucks.
Morneau singles. Does he leave him out there for Kubel, who is also a lefty?
since someone mentioned Timlin before, I’ll mention this story. I was up at Fenway a few weeks ago for the Friday night game against the Cards, sitting behind the Sox bullpen. During the rain delay Timlin was leaning against the outfield wall looking up at the crowd. A couple of Cards fans yelled out, “Hey, Mike, do you miss us?”
Timlin smiled, shook his head, then pointed first to the ‘B’ on his cap, then to his heart.
Awesome. If only he could still get guys out.
And he does NOT suck in the Ray Allen sense (Digit and I spent the playoffs chanting “Ray Allen sucks” every time he did something good – it worked pretty well for the Detroit and LA series). He just plain sucks.
Stuff Lopez in a can, and bring in Delcarmen. I’m not sure Timlin still has stuff.
Hansen. Ugggggh. This game is starting to make me wish my meeting had lasted longer.
Kubel battles before giving up a walk. Two on now for Delmon. Hansen in now.
Great story ponch. I miss Timlin.
Delmon singles, bases loaded with 1 out. *gulp*
I have a 4:00 meeting that I can’t take my laptop to… I was hoping this game wouldn’t be this close.
Crap. Can we get a double-play ball, then?
Man, Moss lost that ball in the sun. That stinks.
Aw, not gonna test Manny’s arm this time?
I… did he get out of that? He got out of that. Well done, Craig. Well done.
Dunno how that happened, but there are 2 out now on a shallow fly to Manny.
And Hansen escapes!
Whew. Somehow Hansen gets out of it despite needing to make an extra out.
Holy crap we got out of that inning.
I’m out guys, see you later.
Just wondering if Punto has ever banged a 13-year-old in the middle of a football field …
I’d like to hope that next time we can just let Hansen start innings without men on bases.
wow, I may have to take back everything bad I’ve said about Hansen. Might take a while.
NYY 1, TB 1, bot 9
And the Boofer’s still in … ?!?!?!?!?
And Casey’s 3-for-4 with that double!
Take advantage! (2nd and 3rd, none out)
Oh, it’s Varitek…
*lowering expectations*
Ground to the right side, Tek!
Sean Casey: still awesome.
C’mon, Zombie Tek! You got him last time, you can do it again!
I think this is the lineup the Sox need to have going forward, just replace Moss with Drew. Casey’s bat is too good to languish on the bench…
‘Course, Casey should have been out but for Kubel’s poor play.
just got back into the office – what just happened???
Umps wisely reverse the call, turning a triple play into an RBI single for Tek!
WTF is going on????
A triple play? No?
Radio guys calling it a trap.
Heh heh, suck it Gardenhire: that ball bounced, B.
Paul: Agreed, but that assumed Manny’s hamstring holds up playing in left. I think that’s the real reason he’s been DH-ing so much.
A single! Man, Boof, you’re terrible.
Span trapped a sinking liner by Varitek, and the baserunners reacted as such. Umps ruled it an out, and because Lowell crossed the plate, it would have been a triple play, with Casey way off the bag at second.
Umps reversed it and called it a single…
Gardenhire gets ejected? For being incredulous that Tek got two hits in one game?
Tell you what, Devine, it sounds like the umps completely botched this one from the get-go,even if they did get it right eventually. I don’t blame Gardenhire for being pissed.
Reliford – the crew chief – initially gave an out call.
Uh, what was the original call?
Gol dern it.
Oh sorry, wrong thread…
Craig Breslow replaces the Boofer.
Was Breslow that geeky looking what he pitched for us?
…
PR Christian steals third with one out, then left stranded. NYY-TB go to the 10th, 1-1. Maybe they’ll play 20 more. …
Has it been that bad, Bill, et al? Bad day for umpiring, that is.
Dammit, Moss. Second time he’s failed with a man on third and less than two outs today.
Time for the inevitable Lugo GIDP.
Loogie, we need you here. These are not just insurance runs.
Devine, I’m listening to the radio call so I’ll have to defer.
But the radio guys have indicated a very inconsistent strike zone all day.
Breslow, like myself, is a New Haven native… I’ve always rooted for him.
My dad grew up in Manchester.
Yeah, I’m listening to radio, too, and they’ve been dogging the home plate ump all day, citing inconsistency on both sides. They also panned the poor call on the trap/triple play.
Woo! Lugo WALKED!
Wow, Lugo didn’t totally fail.
Hooray, Jacoby! Keep it up, little man.
Breslow’s Gameday mug isn’t too flattering.
But that’s all I can say. He chose baseball over Yale med school.
Jacoby!!
Paul, what do you think of Dale with Joe C?
PEDROIA!!!!!! A big way to extend the hitting streak!!
And Pedro breaks it open!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Now only Moss is hitless on the day.
Blown open. YEAH!
And Pedroia continues the hitting streak with that bases-clearing double.
PEDROIA!
And with that, I think we have reached bullpen-proofed territory.
HOLY CRAP I LOVE THAT LITTLE GUY!!!!
Now this is just getting silly
Ha ha ha ha.
POUR IT ON!!!
(Youk drives in Pedroia with his own wallball double.)
I really like him. It’s a different style than your typical color guy — very affable. He gets along well with Joe C. I think he’s probably better than Dave O’Brien or Troup. I wish he was on more than once a week… How about you, Bill?
And Youk keeps it going!!!
Seven doubles today so far. Gotta love Fenway.
Is it safe to relax now?
Whoops, the “bullpen-proofed” comment was me. Stupid typepad.
This game has quickly become hilarious.
unless Timlin comes in, yes we can relax
Manny drives in Youk with a single, gets pinch-run for. 14-5.
I think he’s still learning, improving. He did the Bruins on NESN for a long time so he knows what he’s doing. Sometimes I think he tries too hard to show he knows what he’s talking about. His voice and inflection are good.
He’s certainly better than John and Suzyn.
Abreau drive in TSC with one out in the 10th, 2-1.
Hansen, boy-o, you really gotta just quit with this walking thing.
With a 9-run LEAD!!!
GREAT play by Lugo!
Who is this new Lugo??
“Beckettize” recently means “Kinda suck and let runs score early; rely on your offense.”
Through the top of the 8th.
I can’t recall ever seeing the Twins play so brainlessly.
Cash is money!!
15 runs and that’s our first homer.
Kevin Cash with the Arod Bomb!!!!
Everybody hits! Moss triples.
And now Moss triples, and every Sox starter has a hit. (Moss also is the only Sox starter not to score.)
Has every sox player in this game now scored -and- gotten a hit?
No wait, there’s Jeff Bailey.
At this rate, we could put Elf on the mound for the 9th and still feel good about the game.
Gameday must have a 15-run limit. It’s not giving the Red Sox credit for that last run.
There it is. Every Sox starter has a hit and a run today.
All right. I’m out.
Here’s another big thing: Sox do not face Nathan in this three-game set.
One more and the Pats cover.
Wait, which sport is this?
In play, run(s)!!
dinger for Youk. 18-5.
This game is hilarious.
This game is going to turn the Sox into underachievers, I think, Pythagoreanly speaking.
I had lots -less- fun when Lopez came in.
This is just such a relief.
Ok Timlin, don’t screw this up!!!!!
(I’m only half kidding)
Two outs to get and 11 batters to do it, in the worst-case scenario.
Two down. Young at second, Punto up.
Game! A clean inning for Timlin, which for him means fewer than two runs allowed.
Good sweep. Day off tomorrow, then the Birds.
A fun game…once it reached a certain point.
W00t! Getting closer to those pesky Rays…
13-run lead couldn’t have hurt, and correct me if I’m wrong, but Timlin looked good out there. 93-95!?!? on the FB with good decent sinking movement when he wanted it.
Will he prove us all wrong again? Or was this a tease?
Most likely, yes. That’s why he’s still on the team. To think otherwise would be infering that Theo and Tito are complete dopes.
Gotta love the lack of quit in this team. Swept by the Rays, holding onto a narrow lead in the wild card, come back to win two close games, then put the exclamation point on a sweep of the second-place team in the WC race, one that had been incredibly hot. Only two games back of the Rays now, and tied in the apparently not-as-important win column.
Thanks to the Yanks for making the rally possible; it’s weird to be rooting for them, but seeing as they’re still closer to the Orioles than to the Red Sox, I guess it’s OK just this once.
They Rays, like the sox this year, are having a much harder time on the road. sweep Sox in Tampa, get swept at Fenway, sweep at tampa. Should be interesting into September.