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.