Sox vs. Tampa

RED SOX (46-31)
Marco Scutaro SS
Daniel Nava LF
David Ortiz DH
Kevin Youkilis 1B
J.D. Drew RF
Adrian Beltre 3B
Jason Varitek C
Bill Hall 2B
Mike Cameron CF

Put that on your poll...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPvMOVFshyI

Pap owes Pedey dinner.....

atta boy Pedey... that was a big "fuckin eh" rounding first after his 3rd jack of the night. 15 total bases. Let me repeat that... 15 TOTAL BASES. That has only happened 7 other times in the 2000's... Pooholes in '04 and our very own Mike Cameron did it on a 4 homer night while with Seattle in '02. Falling short on the others.

Decent start by Dice-k. That Scutaro error probably cost him an inning on his line which ends up looking like this : 5ip 5h 2r 2er 4bb 6ks levels his ERA at 4.50

Pap..... Serenity now. In his defence when he came out for the home half of the 10th he was on a mission and made quick work of the Rockies.

Its also Pap's first back to back blown saves since blowing two to the Tigers and Twins consecutively May 7th and 9th... both on the road....

Beltre... Man what else can I say. This guy has been huge. Another 3 hits. Works the average to 3.42 and was a triple shy of the cycle (so was Pedey).

Dice-K returned to the scene of his 2 run RBI in the '07 series and sits nicely with a solid .500 average....

Also of note J.D. Drew did pinch hit for Andrew Dice-K which pretty much rules out any trip to the DL for J.D. Salinger if you look at placing him retroactively etc...

Lots of positives. And at least we wont see Carpenter in THE GATE WAY TO THE WEST!!!

Game 74 vs Rockies

Marco Scutaro-SS
Daniel Nava-LF
Dustin Pedroia-2B
David Ortiz-1B
Adrian Beltre-3B
Jason Varitek-C
Mike Cameron-CF
Josh Reddick-RF
Daisuke Matsuzaka-P

Nice to see Nava rewarded by being put in the #2 spot.

on another note Mike Lowell was placed on the DL this afternoon... anyone care?
too bad for Lowell. i would like to see him play everday but that is obviously not going to happen with the sox. Hopefully Mike will be able to contribute with another team in the near future.

Beckett etc.

Looks like Beck is slated to possibly return no earlier than July 11th or July 16th.

Still seems like a no-go for Drew tonight so it will be a Pawtucket outfield once again.

Line up will be up soon for tonights game against the Rockies.

Blown

Jonathon Paplebon entered the game and quickly poured some gas and lit a match....poof. loss.


Tough loss after battling back against Jimenez and inflating his ERA all the way up to 1.60. Good effort by Lackey who got behind early but fought hard and retired a stretch of 10 Rockies in the meat of the game while the Sox were scoring runs. His final line ends up looking thusly: 6.2 ip, 5 earned with 7ks in the no-decision. Nava drove in another 3 and Darnell went deep in his home state.

Tough one to lose with the Rays losing earlier and the Yanks tying things up at 4's with the D'backs as we speak. missed opportunity to gain ground on the Rays and Keep pace with NY. Thats why we play 162. Back at it again tomorrow night as the Sox look to avoid the sweep. The Sox will have to contend with another pitcher on a hot streak tomorrow night when the face Jason Hammel who has an ERA of 0.00 over his past 3 starts going 3-0.


DICE-K (5-2, 4.59)
vs.
Jason Hammel (5-3, 4.03)

Game 73 Vs Rockies

here's the line up set to face Ubaldo

Marco Scutaro-SS
Dustin Pedroia-2B
Victor Martinez-C
David Ortiz-1B
Adrian Beltre-3B
Daniel Nava-LF
Josh Reddick-RF
Darnell McDonald-CF
John Lackey-P

Westmoreland status update

check out the link below for full details following a conference call with the media this afternoon. good to see this progressing well.


http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2010/06/ryan_westmorela.html

...And it wasn't even Ubaldo out there....

Jon lester (8-3) had another strong outing. 6ip. 6ks 1 earned and only 1 walk. Bringing his ERA down to 3.03 for the season. But was saddled with the loss mainly because there was a rookie walking out from the other dugout that seemed to have the number of the Sox hitters tonight. Chacin did get into trouble in the 3rd and 7th loading the bases each time but escaping unscathed. The Sox were able to muster one run in the 9th but it was too little too late after Okajima gave up a run in the 8th. We also saw the end of Dustin’s 10 game hit streak but he did manage two free passes. Adrian Beltre keeps swinging a hot bat with two more hits and scoring the only run tonight for visitors.


Word on the injury front is that J.D. is the closest to returning to the line up. Possibly Thursday, after tweaking his hamstring over the weekend.

Josh Beckett threw from the mound at Fenway yesterday. Throwing 42 pitches (all fastballs) and another 55 today at coors field, all of his repertoire included. Beckett is scheduled to throw a simulated start on Saturday in San Francisco, after which he will fall into a routine of pitching every 5 days.

Jacoby Ellsbury has traveled to Arizona tend to his injured ribs. Still looking like a post all-star return for Jake.

Hermida is still feeling some discomfort in his ribs but is taking part in activities(no hitting yet). No time table for his return.

Great pitching match up to look forward to tomorrow as the MLB leader in wins goes for the Rockies.

John Lackey (8-3 4.53)
Vs.
Ubaldo Jimenez (13-1, 1.15) wow……

Listening to Jimmy Eat World/Clarity

Back On Track

I have been absent from the blog for sometime, however, beginning this week that will change and daily updates can be expected.

Series Preview: Colorado Rockies.

A rematch of the 2007 World Series in Colorado this week has some great pitching in store for us.

Game one tonight 8:40pm est.
Jon Lester (8-2, 3.13 ERA) Vs.
Jhoulys Chacin (3-6, 4.00 ERA)

Busy Day

Lots of news today. Lets start with an update on Mike Lowell. Lowell suffered what the Sox are calling a knee contusion. X-rays were negative which is good news. He is day to day.

Dustin Pedroia returned to the line up today after nursing a sprained wrist.

John Lackey has finished his day going 6 innings giving up 6 hits for 2 earned while striking out 3. A good effort however he did not get any run support. Lets hope for some more late inning runs.

Theo was busy on the phones yesterday, picking up Dustins good friens Kevin Fransden from the Giants for a player to be named later or cash. The Sox also signed 36 year old reliever Scott Schoeneweis to a minor league contract after he was released earlier in the week by the Brewers.

And finally, the rotation for the first week has been set and looks like this:

4/4 vs NYY - Josh Beckett
4/6 vs NYY - Jon Lester
4/7 vs NYY - John Lackey
4/9 @ KC - Tim Wakefield
4/10 @ KC - Josh Beckett
4/11 @ KC - Clay Buchholz

8 days to go

Sox rally past Jays

Being from Ottawa I hear a lot about the Blue Jays, I attend as many Sox games in Toronto as I can. Thankfully the Leafs are usually done their season by opening day so encounters with Leaf fans are rare while attending the games. While Jays fans are not quite as passionate as their hockey watching neighbours they are into the games and tend to be very knowledgeable. This, combined with the fact that the Jays always seem to play the Sox hard, always makes for a great experience. Attending games in Toronto was my main inspiration for this blog. Being at those games and seeing how many Sox fans there are north of the border was the driving force. I admit if the Jays are not playing the Sox I always cheer for them and have some great childhood memories from watching them go back to back in 92-93.

Now to the action today.

a good pitching match up. Lester put together a good line (6ip,6 hits, 2 runs (0 earned), walked 2 and struck out 5) Pap battled through a scoreless inning and Okajima put a blanked frame on the board.

There wasnt much offense going for the Sox (2 hits through 8 innings) but it was there when needed. The Sox put together a 3 run rally to walk-off in the 9th capped off by an RBI single by Tug Hulett (great name).

Mike Lowell left the game early after fouling a pitch off his knee in his first at bat. More to come later.

Grapefruity Goodness

So with the opening leg of the Mayors Cup against the Twins, Grapefruit league play is officially underway. The Sox took a tight one, 2-1, on the strength of a couple of Dustin Pedroia hits and a go-ahead single in the 8th by catching prospect Mark Wagner. The pitching was solid. Beckett started things, tossing 27 pitches, 19 for strikes while giving up one run. Paps had a 1-2-3 frame while Okajima worked his way around a hit and a walk to blank a square. Bard and Ramon Ramirez also tossed an inning of shut out ball. It is very early but its still good to see solid outings from the late guys.

Of note newcomer Marco Scutaro was great at shortstop making a few stellar plays.

Sox and Twins now head across town to battle it out again on Friday. This time with the Twins getting last swings. Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield are slated to appear. Also expected is the debut of outfielder Mike Cameron. Opening pitch 1:05 eastern.

Spring Training

I know that it is hard to concentrate on baseball north of the border when there is still plenty of hockey to be played, however, I can't ignore the beautiful weather here in Ottawa today. This weather is a friendly reminder that Grapefruit league action is rapidly approaching. Also despite the fact that pitchers and catchers don't officially report for another 1 day 21 hours and 20 minutes (aproximately) many regulars have already reported to Fort Myers eager to put the disappointment of last season behind them. I personally can't wait to hear Orsillo say Pedroia to Scutaro to Youk to end the inning. What is everyone else thinking about this upcoming season?

Welcome to Red Sox Nation North

This will be a spot for Canadian Sox fans to discuss the team and other MLB matters.. more to come shortly.. stay tuned..