Tag: Boston Red Sox

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MLB General

The Full Count: WIld Card race is starting to matter


1. It’s Getting Wilder: Finally we have reached that point of the season where the wild card standings are starting to take shape. Right now, both leagues have wide-open chases, with the American League wild card being the closest. Three teams–the Tigers, Yankees, and Mariners–are separated by just one game. The Tigers ended their losing streak on Monday with a 6-4 win over the Devil Rays. The Yankees kept the heat on Detroit, remaining a half-game back with their fourth straight win. The Tigers are also within a half-game of division leader Cleveland, which means the Yankees might have to deal with the Indians in the wild card chase eventually. In the National League, an incredible six teams are separated by three games. San Diego is leading right now, with Atlanta a close second. The Dodgers, Cubs, Phillies, and even the Rockies all are close as well. While last year’s wild card races weren’t very close in September, this year they should go right down to the finish.

2. The Cubs’ Bad Day: It was a bad day for Chicago baseball fans. First, Alfonso Soriano was put on the disabled list due to a tear in his quad. He is expected to miss almost a month of action because of the injury, which occurred while Soriano was running the bases in Sunday’s game against the Mets. To make things worse, the Cubs lost in extra innings to the pitiful Astros. One of Rich Hill’s better starts was ruined as backup catcher Eric Munson hit a game-winning single in the tenth. Houston closer Brad Lidge came off two poor outings to get the win, and starter Wandy Rodriguez continued his up-and-down season with a great effort. The Cubs are still only a game back of the Brewers for the division lead. However, the Cubs aren’t playing nearly as well as they were a couple weeks ago, and now they have lost one of their best offensive players for a while.

3. Who’s #1?: The best two teams in baseball, the Red Sox and the Angels, are playing a series in Anaheim this week. The Angels took the first game, 4-2, after Jered Weaver outpitched Curt Schilling. In Schilling’s return from the DL, he allowed four runs in six innings to raise his ERA to 4.31. Weaver, coming off two outings of six runs allowed, just gave up two as his ERA dipped back to 3.94. The Red Sox and Angels, with 68 and 65 wins respectively, are far and away the best two teams in the majors. They will meet in a couple of weeks for a four-game series at Boston, and there could also be a rematch in the playoffs.

Player of the Day: Paul Byrd, Indians: 9 innings, 4 hits, 0 runs in a 4-0 win over Minnesota. The 10-4 Byrd has the fewest walks among all MLB starters with just 16 in 135 innings this year.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Boston back on top


1. Back to Being the Best: The Red Sox, once again, have the best record in baseball. They are 62-40 after beating the Indians in a series 3-1. They won 14-9 on Thursday, in a high-scoring contest that followed two 1-0 games between the teams. Manny Ramirez was the star in this one, with two homers, four RBIs, and four runs. Wily Mo Pena also contributed four hits and four RBIs, even after coming into the game with a .080 average in July. The Indians were excellent too on offense, as eight of their starters scored a run, but it wasn’’t even as Boston blew through them. The Red Sox extended their division lead over the Yankees back to 7.5 with the win and the Yanks’ loss to the Royals.

2. Hot and Cold: The Arizona Diamondbacks have been probably the streakiest team in baseball this season, with four winning streaks of 6 or more games and three losing streaks of 5 or more games. Right now they are hot, with their sixth win in a row coming against the Marlins. Arizona won 7-4 due to a three-run walk-off homer by Eric Byrnes. Their bullpen pitched six shutout innings after starter Micah Owings was knocked out of the game. The Diamondbacks are now ahead of the Padres for the first time in while, and they’re only 1.5 games back of Los Angeles. Next week, they will play against the Padres and Dodgers in series that could shake up the order in the NL West.

3. Double Trouble: The Phillies had a terrible day on Thursday, as they lost 7-6 to the Nationals and one of their superstars players was hurt. MVP candidate Chase Utley broke his hand as he was hit by a pitch. He may only be out 3-4 weeks, but it still will affect the team for the worse. Utley is a major reason the Phillies lead the league in runs, with a .336 average, 82 RBIs, and 79 runs. The sooner he comes back, the better for Philadelphia, which is 2.5 games out in the Wild Card race.

Player of the Day: Nick Swisher, A’s: 3-5, 2 HRs, 4 RBIs in a 6-2 win over Seattle.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Lou Pinella is earning his paycheck


1. Here Come the Cubs: The Chicago Cubs have gone from a disappointment to two games back in the division over the last two months. They are 31-15 since June 2 after yet another win on Wednesday. Red-hot starter Ted Lilly won his seventh straight decision, improving to 11-4 on the year. Lilly is 5-0 in July with a 1.83 ERA. He helped the Cubs beat the Cardinals 7-1, giving them a 2-0 series lead in St. Louis. The Cubs now are right on the tails of Milwaukee, who has led the division almost the entire season. With an excellent pitching staff that has allowed the second-fewest runs in the National League (San Diego), the Cubs certainly have the tools to make the playoffs.

2. 2 games, 2 runs: The Indians and Red Sox are two high-scoring teams, but the last two games of their series have been all about pitching. After a 1-0 win for Boston on Tuesday, Cleveland won 1-0 on Wednesday. Fausto Carmona, the most underrated pitcher in the majors this season, outdeuled Josh Beckett for the win. Beckett (13-4, 3.27 ERA) has received all the attention, but Carmona (13-4, 3.31) has been just as good. Carmona pitched eight shutout innings for his second straight start, and is 5-0 in the month of July. Beckett went eight strong but lost for the third time since June 30.

3. Nearing Milestones: This season in baseball has been highlighted by milestones, from Bonds’ homerun chase to Clemens’ 350th win to Biggio’s 3000th hit. On Wednesday, two players came closer to two of the game’s most important marks. Tom Glavine won his 299th career game, while Alex Rodriguez hit his 499th career homerun. Glavine improved to 9-6 on the season despite a 4.51 ERA. He has a 6.35 ERA since June 10 but is still 3-3 in that span. Glavine is now 299-197 for his career and remains one of the more underappreciated players in the game. Meanwhile, A-Rod hit his league-leading 35th homer of the year in the Yankees’ sixth straight win. He also now has 102 RBIs, becoming the first player in the league this season to reach triple digit RBIs. His 499 homers have come over only 12 seasons, and he now has ten straight years of 35 or more long balls. These players should reach 300 and 500 within the next week, well before Bonds hits 755.

Player of the Day: Ryan Raburn, Tigers: 4-5, 2 homers, 7 RBIs, 3 runs in the Tigers’ 13-9 win over Chicago. Raburn, who is playing in his first major league season since 2004, made good use of his fourth start of the season.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Dice-K outduels Sabathia



Can I get some run support?

1. Duel of the Day: Pitcher’s duels don’t get much better than the one on Tuesday, when Boston’s Daisuke Matsuzaka and Cleveland’s CC Sabathia were at their best. Both went seven innings, with Dice-K allowing no runs and Sabathia one. The Red Sox ended up winning 1-0, with the only score coming off a Mike Lowell RBI single. For Sabathia, it was his third loss in his last four starts, dropping him to 13-5. Matsuzaka, meanwhile, is now 12-7 with a 3.79 ERA. Now all the hype surrounding him earlier has all but vanished, even though he’s pitching much better than he did earlier in the year. Sabathia, with a 3.70 ERA himself, may no longer be a Cy Young candidate, but he’s still an ace on one of the league’s best teams.

2. Back on Top: The New York Mets are back where they should be: on top on the National League. They have regained the league’s best record at 56-43, thanks to a 7-4 record since the All Star break despite tough opponents. The Mets held their own last week in a brutal road trip to San Diego and Los Angeles, going .500. Now they face Pittsburgh and Washington at home, the former of which they defeated 8-4 last night. John Maine pitched seven solid innings for his 11th win. The underrated Maine has been the Mets’ ace this year, with a 3.04 ERA and .219 opponents’ average. He is part of a pitching staff that ranks third in the NL in ERA. Their offense, though nowhere as near as good as last year, is at least above-average. If their pitching can remain excellent, which it has been, the Mets will remain the league’s best team.

3. I’ll be there for you: Bud Selig, after way too much controversy for such a minor issue, has announced he will be in attendance when Barry Bonds breaks Aaron’s homerun record. Bonds, whose 43rd birthday yesterday was spoiled by the Braves’ 7-5, 13-inning win, remains at 753 career homeruns. He hit two out last week against the Cubs, but has gone 2-14 since then. Selig could be forced to attend the Giants’ games for two weeks while waiting for Bonds to break the record. It’s still the right decision, and one that shouldn’t have taken so long for Selig to make. While the other sports’ commissioners are dealing with huge issues right now (dogfighting, ref betting), Selig gets to watch a great athlete beat a greater record. What Bonds may have done to get there should remain irrelevant for the commissioner of baseball.

Player of the Day: Craig Biggio, Astros: 2-4, Grand Slam (6) in the Astros’ 7-4 win over the Dodgers. This came on the day he announced he will retire after this season.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Aaron Harang goes OT


1. The 10-inning Start: Aaron Harang just kept coming back to the mound, inning after inning. In what is tied for the longest appearance by a pitcher this season, Harang went 10 innings, giving up just one run. He also struck out ten, and remarkably had no walks despite 121 pitches. Harang, however, didn’t even get credit for the win, as the Reds-Brewers game was decided in the 12th inning. Backup catcher Javier Valentin provided the winning hit, and reliever Jared Burton was credited with the W. Harang’s start was the longest in the majors since Roy Halladay went 10 innings on April 13. Halladay also had a ten-inning start back in 2003. Harang, by the way, is doing very well this season with a 3.45 ERA.

2. The Best of the Best: The Boston Red Sox became the first major league team to reach 60 wins after beating the Indians, but they don’t have the highest winning percentage in baseball. That would be the 59-38 Tigers, who beat the White Sox 9-6. Detroit, who has by far the best road record in baseball (33-17), crushed Chicago for 18 hits, including 14 off starter Mark Buehrle. Andrew Miller had his worst start so far this year, but it didn’t matter as Curtis Granderson went 3-3 with 4 RBIs. The 60-39 Red Sox beat Cleveland 6-2 in Jon Lester’s debut after fighting cancer. Lester went six strong innings, and Coco Crisp backed him up with four hits and three runs. The Tigers and Red Sox right now are the best teams in baseball, though many others, such as the Indians, Angels, and Dodgers, are pretty close. With all these elite teams, we should see some great playoff action this year.

3. The D-Train has Crashed: Whatever happened to Dontrelle Willis? A 22-game winner in 2005, Willis was average last year and has been flat-out bad this season. He lost his seventh straight decision on Monday, a career-high. He has walked too many people (57, fifth-most in the league) and given up too many hits (154, well over one per inning). This results in a dismal 1.65 WHIP, along with a 5.15 ERA. Willis hasn’t even won a game since May 29. Despite all the promise he showed over his first few seasons, Willis is now seemingly a below-average MLB pitcher.

Player of the Day: Aaron Harang, Reds: 10 innings, seven hits, one run, no walks, 10 K’s in a 2-1 win over the Brewers.

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MLB General

The Full Count: All-Star Game auditions


This isn’t Guys and Dolls, but if yesterday was an audition for All-Star pitchers to prove they’re worthy of starting next Tuesday in the Midsummer Classic, some passed with flying colors, while others just gave up big flys. And lots of them. Yesterday’s winners were Justin Verlander of the Tigers, Josh Beckett of the Red Sox and Jake Peavy of the Padres; while Brad Penny of the Dodgers and C.C. Sabathia of the Indians should have Leyland and LaRussa screaming “Next!” Verlander beat Sabathia head-to-head, going seven strong innings and striking out seven. Sabathia, on the other hand, was brutal, only lasting four innings and giving up three homers. Beckett dominated the D-Rays, but doesn’t everybody? Peavy, though, was a victim (again) of lack of run support, but still had a great outing going seven innings with 6 K. Penny, who has been the best pitcher in the National League, was a nightmare, lasting only four innings while giving up six runs in his worst outing of the year.

Maybe it’s the beer talking, but how pathetic is the NL Central? The Milwaukee Brewers were enjoying the most comfortable division lead outside of New England, but if they don’t improve their play on the road, they could be crying in their drinks come October. After losing three of four to the pathetic (if they improved) Pittsburgh Pirates, the Brewers road record stands at 18-24, worst of all the first place teams. Lucky for them, they’re 30-13 in the house of hops. It was a rough series for the Crew, as Ben Sheets and the staff couldn’t keep Adam LaRoche and Ryan Doumit in the yard. Those modern day Ruth and Gehrig clones combined for five HR and 10 RBI in the series. Even worse, star outfielder Billy Hall sprained his ankle trying to catch one of them. Hall is out indefinitely. Mmmmmmm….beer.

They like us! They really, really like us. As expected, starting pitcher Chris Young of the Padres and reliever Hideki Okajima of the Red Sox won the online voting for final roster spots on the All-Star team. Over the last few years, the race to be Mr. Irrelevant on the squad has taken on a life of its own. According to mlb.com, over 23 million votes were cast for ten players, with Young and Okajima winning with about 4.5 million each. Even more interesting is the campaigning that goes on for a guy who might not even get into the game. Brandon Webb’s hometown of Ashland, KY held “Vote for Brandon Webb” day and in Pittsburgh, the Pirates set up laptops in the PNC Park concourse so fans could cast an online ballot –or 25– for lefty Tom Gorzelanny. In the American league, Red Sox Nation proved again to be the most nerdy (and far reaching, as we’re sure all of Japan clicked on) as they voted a Sox player in for the third time in five years.

Player of the day: Mike Lowell, Red Sox 5 for 6, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R against the Devil Rays

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NBA General

Odds and Ends: Behind the scenes of the NBA Draft with Stephen A. Smith

The hilarious videos just keep on coming as we’ve now gotten our grubby little hands on a clip of a puppet named Stephen A. Smith giving us an inside look at the NBA’s coming out party (via the fellas at Awful Announcing). In addition to the back stage discussions with some of the league’s newest stars, S.A.S. was gracious enough to give up the commentary on, well, the actual, real life, super annoying Stephen A. Smith. Now, we never have liked the guy, but thanks to this video, we like him even less than Slava Medvedenko and Rasho Nesterovic.

Watch out Triumph, there’s a new insulting sock in town.

In other news…

[ADN.com]: What the hell is in the waters of Alaska to produce 350+ pound fish!?!?

[NBC12.com]: Danica might be going Britney Spears on us.

[The Big Lead]: Woody Paige got a vasectomy. Uh, TMI.

[Our Book of Scrap]: Red Sox fan chugs a cup of mustard. Mmmmmmm, mustard.

[WISTV.com]: Another day, another f’d up twist in the Chris Benoit story.

[WAVE3.com]: NFL Europe finally folds; now we’re just waiting on the WNBA to go under.

[OrlandoSentinel.com]: Tiger Woods’ guest house goes up in flames. Don’t worry; we’re sure he has another one somewhere.

[SI.com]: Greg Oden wants to clean up the number 52’s ugly image.

And finally, for all your drunken sports fans out there who hate drinking warm beer, we’ve got one word for ya: Hopsicle!

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Kansas City Royals

The Full Count: Bring out the brooms


1. Surprising Sweeps: Multiple teams completed unexpected sweeps on Wednesday. The most shocking was the Royals’ sweep over the Angels, who have the most wins in the majors. KC beat them with pitching, allowing just 7 runs the entire series and none yesterday. Jorge De La Rosa, who came into the game with six straight losses, outdeuled the Angels’ Jered Weaver for a 1-0 win. The majors’ second-best team was swept too as the Mariners dominated the Red Sox. Their 2-1, 11-inning win yesterday was capped off by Jose Lopez’s game-winning RBI double. One of Dice-K’s best starts of the year, an eight-inning, three-hit gem, was blown by the bullpen. The Braves busted out of a slump to crush the awful Nationals for three much-needed victories. They annihilated them on Wednesday 13-0, bringing them to a tie with the Phillies in the process.

2. No Support for the Rocket: Roger Clemens isn’t pitching very well, with a 5.32 ERA through four starts. However, the Yankees’ offense isn’t helping him out much. In his last three starts, all losses, Clemens has received three runs of support from the offense. On Wednesday, Clemens allowed 4 runs in 6 innings, but the Yankees were shut out by the Orioles. Erik Bedard was fantastic, with 7 innings, 2 hits, and 8 strikeouts in the win. With another loss, Clemens was denied his 350th win yet again. The Yanks have now dropped four games in a row.

3. Older is Better: A record-tying six 40-year-old pitchers took the mound on Wednesday. Clemens, Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, Woody Williams, and Jamie Moyer all took the mound. They went a combined 3-1, with Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine picking up the victories. For Glavine it was his 297th career win. Maddux pitched seven strong innings to gain career win number 340. Most of these pitchers are having excellent seasons, and perhaps there have never been as many excellent 40-year-old pitchers as there are this year. Kenny Rogers was scheduled to start as well, but the Tigers game was rained out.

Player of the Day: Jack Cust: 2-5, HR (13), 5 RBIs as the A’s beat the Indians 13-7.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Yankees are creeping up


1. Make it 9: The Yankees extended the longest winning streak in the majors to 9 games after sweeping the Diamondbacks. They won 7-1 on Thursday thanks mainly to Andy Pettitte’s eight-inning, one-run start. Pettitte has quietly posted a 2.93 ERA this season, the best mark on the Yankees’ staff. The Yankees’ offense and pitching are on a roll as they’ve outscored their opponents 67-24 during the streak. Alex Rodriguez drove in two runs to give him 21 RBIs in his last nine games. Hideki Matsui’s three RBIs give him 12 during the nine-game win streak. The Yankees took advantage of another loss by the Red Sox to move within 7.5 games. They will face the Mets, who are on a five-game losing streak, over the weekend.

2. Start Wasted: Tim Hudson outdeuled Johan Santana, but the Braves wasted his efforts with a meltdown by the bullpen. Hudson pitched seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk. Santana went seven strong as well and struck out nine, but he allowed two runs. The pitcher’s duel didn’t decide the game though, as Bob Wickman gave up three runs in the ninth inning to lose the game for Atlanta. The 3-2 win completed a sweep for the Twins, who have won four in a row and are just 5.5 back of the Indians. The Braves moved behind the Phillies for the first time all season, albeit by just a half game. The road won’t get any easier for the Braves, as they travel to Cleveland, who has the second-best home record in the majors.

3. How `bout that Royals offense!: In a bizarre occurrence, the Royals of all teams have scored 17 runs in two of their last four games. After beating the Phillies 17-5 last Sunday, they topped the Cardinals 17-8 on Thursday. Mark Teahen had five RBIs and leads the team with 35 on the year, and Alex Gordon homered as the Royals destroyed St. Louis. They scored 8 runs in the second inning, then 6 runs in the fourth. What a powerhouse! The Cardinals’ Kip Wells had six earned runs in one-plus inning and extended his major league lead in losses to 11. Now the Royals rank 22nd in runs scored, leaving their usual last place in that category. Now the White Sox can be considered the league’s worst offense.

Player of the Day: Justin Germano, Padres: 6 innings, no runs, in a 7-1 win over Tampa. The nearly unknown Germano is 5-0 with a 2.36 ERA on the year.

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MLB General

The Full Count: Curt Schilling knows what he’s doing



What could have been

1. No No-No: Curt Schilling was so close to a no-hitter against Oakland, but he just couldn’t make one final out. Schilling was near-perfect through 8.2 innings, with only one baserunner reaching on an error by Julio Lugo. But when it came time to get his name added to the history books, Schilling shook off his catcher like Nuke LaLoosh and allowed a single to Shannon Stewart. He still pitched a great game, with no runs or walks allowed and just the one hit. He also gave the Red Sox a much-needed win after four straight losses. David Ortiz homered in the first inning for the Red Sox’s only run of the game. They will face the Diamondbacks next in an unusual interleague matchup, while the A’s will take on cross-bay rival San Francisco.

2. Break out the Brooms: The Phillies may be a contender after completing an unlikely sweep of the New York Mets on the road. After winning the first two games of the series 4-2, the Phils won 6-3 in extra innings on Thursday. The Mets had three straight solo homers in the sixth inning by Carlos Delgado, David Wright and Paul Lo Duca, which turned out to be their only runs of the game. The Phillies tied it up in the ninth thanks to Pat Burrell’s homerun, then won it in the tenth with three runs. The pitching matchup between Cole Hamels and John Maine was excellent, as both pitchers threw seven strong innings. However, it was the Mets’ bullpen that failed them in this contest. The Phillies are just five games back of New York now, closer than they’ve been most of the season. The Marlins have also been streaky lately and are 6.5 back themselves.

3. The League’s Worst Starting Rotation: Many teams around the league have pitching problems, but none of them even approach the crappiness of the Rangers’ starters. Everybody in their rotation has an ERA above 6.00. Robinson Tejada has been the `best’ with a 6.28 ERA and 1.55 WHIP. The others have struggled even more. Brandon McCarthy (6.35 ERA), Vicente Padilla (6.45), Kameron Loe (7.40), and Kevin Millwood (7.57) have all wasted an above-average offense and bullpen. Yesterday it was Loe who got shelled, with nine runs allowed in less than three innings to the Tigers. Detroit’s major-league leading offense feasted on Texas during their series, with 25 runs in three games. The Rangers are one of those teams that just needs to rebuild from the ground up.

Player of the Day: Rich Hill, Cubs: 8 innings, three hits, one run, 11 strikeouts in a win over the Braves.