May 29, 2005

Just when it looked like the Red Sox were headed into the abyss, they played two of their best games of the season and left Yankee Stadium in second place, one half game ahead of New York in the standings. Friday night's game was frustrating beyond belief. Boston put 18 runners on base (13 against Randy Johnson) but could must only three runs thanks in large part to Mark Bellhorn and Johnny Damon being (easily) thrown out at the plate on back to back plays in the sixth inning. Had Bellhorn and Damon stopped at third, the Red Sox could have had a 4-1 lead with the bases loaded, one out and Manny Ramirez coming to the plate. Instead, the inning ended with Boston ahead only 3-1. With the momentum completely shifted in New York's favor, the Yankees scored five times in the bottom of the sixth and won 6-3.

The Sox put on a hitting clinic on Saturday. Boston pounded Yankee pitching for 17 runs on 27 hits. According to ESPN, it was the most hits any team (including the Yankees) has ever had in Yankee Stadium. Matt Clement pitched six solid innings in the 17-1 win and raised his record to 6-0. Five Red Sox players had at least three hits. Damon and Ramirez had four apiece. Nixon and Renteria each drove in five runs. For Renteria, four of those came on a grand slam.

The Red Sox put on another hitting clinic of a different sort on Sunday night. Boston's incredibly patient batters forced Mike Mussina to throw an astounding 83 pitches in just three innings. Moose left after three innings having given up five runs and seven hits including homers to Ortiz (twice) and Renteria. After giving up two runs in the first, David Wells pitched 7 1/3 innings of no run, three hit, no walk baseball (what a shot in the arm that is for the Red Sox and Wells). Renteria, Ortiz and Ramirez were a combined 11 for 15 in the game with three homers, six runs and six RBIs. The Yankee hurlers combined for 176 pitches. Boston's duo of Wells and Foulke threw only 100.

Who's Hot: Manny Ramirez, who has raised his average from .224 to .253 over the past two days (7 for 9). Keith Foulke (2 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 walks this week). Matt Clement (6-0, 3.06 ERA this season).

Player of the Week: Edgar Renteria, in a runaway. Renteria was 16 for 24 this week (.667) with a pair of homers, six runs and six RBIs. Edgar has raised his batting average from .239 to .295 since last Sunday night. He is 13 for 16 in his last four games (WOW!).

May 26, 2005

The Red Sox were outscored 17-2 over the final 19 innings of their three game series in Toronto this week. This was the first time all season that the Sox were swept in a three game series. The Red Sox have now lost seven of their last nine road games and have fallen into fourth place in the AL East. Meanwhile, the Yankees swept the Tigers to move one half game ahead of the Red Sox. The Red Sox were 6 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees just 19 days ago and haven't gained ground on New York in any single day since then.

I cannot believe that Terry Francona left Alan Embree in the game to face Reed Johnson in the ninth inning on Tuesday night. I could see the three-run homer coming and I'm sure that many other Sox fans could too. Matt Mantei hadn't given up a run in about a month and was available to face the righthanded hitting Johnson but Francona sat on his hands.

Johnny Damon is 0 for 22 in his last six road games. In his last 12 games at Fenway, Damon is is 25 for 47 (.532) and has an on base percentage of .618.

On Wednesday, Bronson Arroyo lost for the first time since August 15th of last season. During that time period, he was 9-0 in 18 starts.

If there was a bright spot in the Toronto series, it was Edgar Renteria who was 6 for 12 in the series. He raised his average from .239 to .257 while in Canada.

May 22, 2005

The Red Sox returned home from a dreadful roadtrip with a 2-4 record against teams with a combined record of 35-50. Truth be told, the Sox could have lost all six if not for a grand slam by Trot Nixon in the middle game in Seattle and a clutch eighth inning single by Edgar Renteria in the middle game in Oakland.

Thankfully, there's no place like home. The Red Sox returned to Fenway this weekend and won two of three from the now 24-19 Braves. Ironically, the Sox beat Hudson and Smoltz over the weekend but lost to a pitcher making his major league debut (Kyle Davies). Davies did not give up a run in five innings on Saturday.

Manny Ramirez came out of his funk on Sunday going 3 for 5 with a homer. As Jerry Remy pointed out Ramirez could have easily been 5 for 5. Johnny Damon was 0 for 11 in Oakland but reached base ten times in the Atlanta series (6 for 10, 4 walks).

Player of the Week: Jason Varitek - 10 for 24 (.417), 5 runs, 2 RBI.

May 15, 2005

If not for Trot Nixon, the Sox may be heading to Oakland with a three-game sweep hanging over their heads. Nixon's seventh inning grand slam on Saturday night gave the Sox a 6-3 triumph, their only victory in three games over the weekend in Seattle. The Mariners whipped the Sox by a football score of 14-7 on Friday night and won a close 5-4 contest on Sunday. Here a few notes from the weekend.

Was it my imagination or were the Seattle pitchers consistently getting the Greg Maddux strike (six to nine inches off the outside corner) all weekend? Red Sox batters struck out 20 times in the three game series and I'd venture to guess that they were caught looking on at least 12 of those. Let's hope the M's pitchers continue to have that pitch called a strike when the Yankees arrive tomorrow.

Why wouldn't Francona pinch hit Varitek for Mirabelli in the 8th inning of Sunday's game? Wakefield was not going to return in the bottom of the eighth and a righthander was on the mound. I guess he could have been saving Tek to pinch hit for Nixon in the ninth against Guardado, but at that point he could have used Payton. It's not the first time that Francona has failed to pinch hit Varitek for Mirabelli in a crucial situation.

Johnny Damon's 18 game hitting came to an end on Saturday night. He bounced right back with two more hits on Sunday. He's batting .435 in his last 20 games.

Since April 18th, Mike Timlin, Matt Mantei and Mike Myers have made 28 appearances covering 23 innings without allowing a single run. The trio has given up 13 hits and 8 walks over that time to go along with 21 strikeouts.

Ten times this season, the Red Sox have trailed by one or two runs going into their last at bat. Six of those times they have come back to tie or take the lead in the ninth. Unfortunately, they lost three of those six games in the bottom of the ninth.

Milestone: Manny Ramirez hit career homerun number 400 on Sunday. Ramirez became the 39th player to accomplish this feat. He also notched career RBI number 1,300 earlier in the week. He's one of 89 players on that list. That begs the question: how will Manny's numbers stack up at the end of his career? Manny is only 32 years old (he turns 33 in a couple of weeks) and there are no significant injury problems that would adversely impact his numbers in the near future. If Manny continues to average the same numbers that he has put up since 1998 (167 hits, 105 runs, 40 HR, 128 RBI per season) through the end of the guaranteed portion of his Red Sox contract (which expires in 2008), he would be 36 years old with numbers like these:

Hits    Runs    HR     RBI
-----   -----   ---    -----
2,417   1,485   550    1,784

If he continued this pace through 2010 (he'd be 38), the totals would be as follows:

Hits    Runs    HR     RBI
-----   -----   ---    -----
2,751   1,695   630    2,040

It is not unrealistic to think that he could be at or near these numbers if he stays healthy. Right now, 630 would be good for fifth place on the all-time list though Sammy Sosa (now at 574) could have something to say about that. Only three players (Aaron, Ruth and Cap Anson) are currently in the 2,000 RBI club. Bonds (157 away), Palmeiro (215) and Sosa (457) could wind up there. Ramirez would probably be in the top 25 in runs scored as well. Then again, who can predict what Manny will do? He may hit 50 homers and drive in 160 runs in 2008 then abruptly retire. He may play until he's 43 and break both the homerun and RBI record.

Player of the Week: Trot Nixon, who was 9 for 17 (.529) with 3 HR and 10 RBI this week. He reached base 12 of 20 times (.600) and won Saturday's game with a grand slam.

May 11, 2005

What a series for the Boston Red Sox. After a ho hum 13-5 victory on Monday, the Sox thrilled the Fenway crowd with "walk off" two-run homers on back to back days. In both cases, the Sox trailed by a run heading into the bottom of ninth. In both cases, it was A's closer Octavio Dotel on the mound. In both cases, Dotel walked David Ortiz to bring the winning run to the plate. In both cases, the game-winner scored with one out. The difference: Kevin Millar was the hero on Tuesday with a shot over the monster. On Wednesday, it was Jason Varitek who sent the crowd home happy with a shot into the rightfield seats. According to ESPN, this marked the first time since 1986 that a team won in back to back games on come from behind "walk off" homeruns.

Johnny Damon was 6 for 11 in the series and reached base 9 of 14 times. Damon extended his hitting streak to 17 games on Wednesday. Damon now leads the American League in batting average (.383) and hits (54).

Manny Ramirez hit his 398th career homer on Wednesday.

The Red Sox starters continued to do a great job even without Schilling and Wells. During the past 12 games, no Red Sox starter has given up more than three runs in any start. The starters' ERA over that time is 2.75. Boston is 10-2 over that time.

After beginning the season 2-5, the Red Sox have won their last five one run contests.

May 8, 2005

The Red Sox split a doubleheader with Seattle on Sunday, winning the first game, 6-3, and losing the nightcap, 6-4. Kevin Millar drove in three runs in the first game to help Jeremi Gonzalez grab his first win with the Red Sox. Gonzalez gave up three runs (two earned) in 5 2/3 innings of work. Dreadful managing cost the Red Sox the second game. Inexplicably, Terry Francona decided that the seventh inning of a 2-2 tie with a runner in scoring position and the heart of the Mariners lineup coming up was a good time for Cla Meredith to make his major league debut. Meredith promptly gave up two walks and a grand slam to Richie Sexson. The Sox were one single away from tying the game in the bottom of the seventh, but Kevin Millar skied out to right to end the rally. Wade Miller gave up just two runs and three hits in five innings. David Ortiz was 3 for 4 with two doubles and a homer.

On Friday, Matt Clement improved to 4-0 as the Sox beat Seattle 7-2. Clement went seven, giving up one run (unearned) on five hits. If you take away the 4 2/3 inning, seven earned run performance against Baltimore, Clement's numbers look like this: 4-0, 38 1/3 IP, 9 ER, 2.11 ERA.

Milestone: David Ortiz had career RBI number 500 in Sunday's second game against Seattle.

I was kind of hoping that Bill Mueller would play shortstop in the second game of today's doubleheader so we'd have a chance to see a Miller to Mueller to Millar double play.

Over the past nine games, no Red Sox starter has given up more than three runs. The starters' ERA over that time is 2.91.

Miscellaneous Stats: Johnny Damon extended his hitting streak to 14 games on Sunday. Damon is hitting .455 (30 for 66) during that stretch. Keith Foulke has saved five games in five chances in May. Matt Mantei has not given up a run in his last seven appearances (6 IP, 2 hits, 5 BB). Mike Timlin has not given up a run in his last nine appearances (10 1/3 IP, 7 hits, 3 BB). These numbers make it that much more bizarre that Cla Meredith was in today's game in a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning.

Player of the Week: Bronson Arroyo, for his 8 IP, 3 hit, 1 ER win on Thursday in Detroit. Arroyo no hit the Tigers for 6 1/3 innings, retiring 19 of the first 20 batters he faced. He's now 9-0 in his last 15 starts.

May 5, 2005

After the nightmarish 1-4/injury-plagued stretch against the Devil Rays and Orioles, the Red Sox bounced back with a nice 5-2 road trip through Texas and Detroit. Bronson Arroyo won twice on the trip (15 IP, 3 ER, 8 hits, 13 K) and is now 9-0 in his last 15 starts dating back to last season. Kevin Youklis played four times on trip. He's batting .467 with a .619 on base percentage. Not too shabby. The Sox are 1-1 in games missed by Schilling and Wells. On Monday, Jeremi Gonzalez left after five innings with the score tied, 3-3. The Sox lost, but Gonzalez gave them exactly what they needed. John Halama also pitched in with five innings on Tuesday. He was just a little better (2 runs, 4 hits) and picked up the victory. Gonzalez is expected to start on Saturday night against Seattle. Wade Miller will make his Sox debut on Sunday.

The power outage continues for many Red Sox players. Johnny Damon, Bill Mueller, Kevin Millar and Mark Bellhorn have combined for only one homer (by Damon) in 378 at bats this season. Last year, the foursome combined for 67 homers. This is no surprise for Millar, who hit 13 of his 18 homers after the All Star break in 2004.

The Yankees dropped to 11-18 after losing a third consecutive game to the Devil Rays this week. Not only did they lose, but the games really weren't that close (11-4, 11-8, 6-2). The Yankees are very lucky to have won 11 games. Johnny Damon nearly took Rivera deep for a possible game-winner in the second game of the season (which the Yanks won). The Yankees won the following weekend against Baltimore mainly because of a two-out popup double by Hideki Matsui that the Orioles botched. Then there was a game in Toronto where Tino Martinez made a diving ninth inning catch to prevent Mariano Rivera from blowing another save. And these are only the games that I have seen. The other thing to note is that the Yankees have played 17 of their 29 games at home while the Sox have played 18 of their 28 on the road. The Sox are six games ahead of the Yanks in the loss column and they have some home games in hand. The two teams next meet in Yankee Stadium on May 27th.

I have sinking feeling that the Yankees will acquire Roger Clemens by the All Star break. Houston's ownership denies that they would consider trading Clemens but we all know better. The Yankees might not have the young talent to tempt Houston but I wouldn't be shocked if they tossed in a few million to make it happen. If Houston is in the hunt for a playoff spot, we won't have to worry. Either way, Steinbrenner will have his credit card ready as the All Star Game approaches, if not sooner. It was actually a good thing for the Red Sox that the Yankees were playing well at midseason last year. That meant that Big George had less incentive to make a big move. If the Yanks had been mediocre last June and July, they may have done more to acquire Randy Johnson and the Red Sox Championship run may never have happened.

Carl Yaztrzemski's son, Michael, apparently stole his father's identity and ran up thousands of dollars in debt prior to the younger Yaz's death last year (LINK). What is it with the sons of former Red Sox greats? Ted Williams' son, John Henry, was famous in large part for taking his father's body to an Arizona cryonics lab for freezing but spent much of his life trying to mooch off his Ted's legacy. Like Michael Yaztrzemski, John Henry Williams died last year at a very young age. The parallels are eerie. It kind of makes me wonder if someone should keep a close eye on Carlton Fisk's son.

May 1, 2005

After losing five of six games, the Red Sox bounced back with wins on Saturday and Sunday in Arlington, Texas. On Sunday, Matt Clement pitched six decent innings to raise his record to 3-0. Keith Foulke struggled yet again in the ninth but managed to grab his fourth save in five chances this season. David Ortiz had three hits while Trot Nixon added two hits and two RBIs. The Sox begin a four game series with the Tigers in Motown on Monday.

Player of the Week: Johnny Damon (.435 avg, 10 hits, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 4 runs).