Jon Lester - Time to Step Up

Written by Michael Passanisi on Jun 18, 2013 18:03.

I'm getting a bit tired of Jon Lester's act. As Sox fans know, we thought the pre-2012 Lester was back earlier this season. He started the year 6-0 with a 2.72 ERA. Then it happened. The '12 Lester appeared again, falling behind hitters, yelling. glaring at umpires. The result has been a complete reversal- 6 starts, an 0-4 mark, an ERA of 7.20.

Sunday's game in Baltimore was a prime example. With Clay Buchholz probably headed for the DL, the team needed a stopper to gain a split against the tough Orioles. What we got was similar to last year- 5 innings, 9 hits, 5 earned runs, 106 pitches. He left trailing 5-0 and the Sox never recovered.

Despite individual seasons by Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Josh Beckett and others, the Townies have looked to Lester as their big-game guy since he became a regular in 2008. For the next four years, he was one of the league's most dependable starters. Les was twice an AL all-star and once finished high in Cy Young balloting. Unlike Buchholz, he avoided injury and averaged 32 starts per season. But since the team-wide fold of '11, he has lost something; it is hard to say exactly what.

The writers and fans seem to be losing their patience with their onetime golden boy. A Nick Cafardo piece in Monday's Globe quotes the lefty as saying "this team counts on me to throw innings, and I haven't done that...It's nobody's fault but me. I have to do a better job getting deeper into games, and do whatever you have to do...the last month has been a grind. It flat comes down to doing a better job." But quotes like this don't really say much. The fact is that with Buchholz on the shelf, they need a winner, and Lester is failing in that role.

As I have written here before, the stopper's role shouldn't fall to the 3-4-5 hurlers in the rotation. Though he is pitching well, John Lackey is coming off a season on the sidelines. Felix Doubront and Ryan Dempster are improving, but neither has the consistency to be the top man. Allen Webster and Rubby De La Rosa are probably at least a year away. Given Buchholz' history, his postion right now is questionable, despite an excellent record.

Lester has had some great moments in his 8-year career. As a rookie, he battled lymphoma, apparently successfully. He started and won a World Series clincher. He threw a no-hitter. He has been the team's perennial Opening Day starter. But if Lester wants to be a Hall of Fame candidate rather than just another pitcher, he has to start soon. This is a real turning point in his career. We need Jon Lester to step forward very soon.

no comments

Sox 88 - A Matter of Time for Mac

Written by Michael Passanisi on Jun 17, 2013 17:38.

It was rather boring to read about the Sox' exploits in the second week in June. Not only was the team still in free-fall, but it was very obvious that John McNamara's days were numbered. The Townies did take the rubber game in Yankee Stadium 4-3 behind Roger Clemens and Lee Smith, but low on the Globe sports page, a piece by the great Leigh Montville explored Jim Rice's sudden collapse. As of June 9, Jim had no homers and only five extra base hits. He had hit into eight double plays. The article was entitled "Rice's Slump Is Sad, Mystifying" and expressed bewilderment at what was happening to the longtime slugger.

The next series in Toronto saw the Jays again embarrass Boston, taking two out of three to make it 6 wins in 7 tries in a pair of weekends. The Sox first fell 3-0 to ace Dave Steib, as Jeff Sellers was again victimized by lack of support. The unlucky righthander allowed only one earned run in 5 1/3 innings, but saw his mark fall to 0-6. He again got no support, as the Bosox stranded 12 and were shut out for the seventh time. It got no better the following night, as the visitors fell in 10 innings by a 4-3 count. Bruce Hurst threw 7 good innings and left ahead 3-2, but Smith surrendered the tying tally in the eighth and Dennis Lamp gave up the winner on a run-scoring single by the immortal Sil Campusano. Though the team did salvage the final game 8-2 with a strong effort from Oil Can Boyd, a fan didn't have to read through the articles to realize the plight of the Sox. Some of the headlines read "On a Clear Night, You Could See the Sox Stumble," ''Feeling a Power Shortage", and "Sox are Pigeons for Blue Jays,". Things got so bad for Rice that Mac benched him temporarily.

Just when it seemed like it couldn't get any worse, it did. On Monday the 13th the Yankees buried the Sox 12-6 at Fenway. But even more crushing was the fact that it was against the Rocket himself, victimized for 15 hits and 9 runs, a career high for Roger. When McNamara came out to remove him, he was booed from every corner of the park. The loss put Boston 10 full games out of first, and it seemed only a matter of time before Mac was gone. Jean Yawkey and John Harrington were saying little, but it seemed obvious that they were looking for the right time to make the change.

McNamara continued to show hope publicly, but privately the man was suffering. In his book One Pitch from Glory, Lou Gorman, who liked and admired Mac, describes the manager's condition. "I was in McNamara's office....and as he came out of the shower to dress, I noticed his entire body was covered in red blotches. I asked (Mac) whether he had the mumps or an infection...I began to realize that it was probably the effect of the stress and the constant media criticism." The man probably should have resigned at this point, but, as an old baseball guy, he was probably too stubborn.

However, even the players must have known their skipper was on the way out. It seemed that John McNamara was the loneliest man in Fenway.

no comments

Lester Struggles Again as Sox Lose to O's

Written by shelley on Jun 16, 2013 22:36.

Jon Lester has historically been lights out against the Orioles, but today would not follow suit. Lester continued to struggle, give up a HR to the red hot Davis and get over 100 pitched by the 5th inning. The slide of Lester continues and it has to be a pretty big cause for concern for the Red Sox at this point. The Sox bats battled back, but it was too little too late.

Lester was able to keep the O's off the scoreboard in the first two innings, but he had to throw a lot of pitches to do it. In the 3rd Lester wouldn't be so lucky as he gave up an RBI double to Jones and then a 2 run HR to Davis to have the Orioles leading 3-0. All of the RBIs would be with 2 outs which has been a season long trend of Lester's. Lester gave up 2 more runs in the 5th and that would be it for him for the night. Lester gave up an RBI single to Machado and then an RBI double to Davis. Sox 0-5. The funny thing is that Davis has never had a hit off of Lester before today's game and tonight had 2 hits and 3 RBIs. Lester's pitching line for the night was 106 pitches, 5 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 0 BB and 8 Ks. It was not the version of Lester we were hoping to see.

Pedro Beato who was just called up from Pawtucket pitched a scoreless 1-2-3 inning in the 6th. In the top of the 7th the Sox tried to get back into the game when Will Middlebrooks hit a 3 run HR and knocked Orioles Gonzalez out of the game. Sox 3-5. That was Middlebrooks first HR in the major leagues since May 19th. Unfortunately, Junichi Tazawa gave one of those runs right back in the bottom of the 7th when he had an uncharacteristically bad outing. Tazawa gave up an RBI single to Hardy and when he gave up another double and had runners at 2nd and 3rd with one out, he was out of the game and Andrew Miller was in. Miller got out of the inning with no more damage when he got both Davis and Wieters to strike out to end the inning. Miller pitched a scoreless 8th inning as well, but the Sox bats were unable to get anything else going against the O's and fell in the final game of the series.

The Sox lost their first series in June and head home for a much needed off day on Monday before the double header against the Rays.

Red Sox 3 Orioles 6 BOXSCORE

WP: Gonzalez (5-2) LP: Lester (6-4) SV: Johnson (25)

no comments

Red Sox Lineup vs. Orioles 6/16/13

Written by shelley on Jun 16, 2013 14:34.

Here is today's lineup vs. the Orioles:

Ellsbury CF
Iglesias 2B
Nava RF
Ortiz DH
Gomes LF
Carp 1B
Saltalamacchia C
Middlebrooks 3B
Drew SS

Lester SP

Game time is 1:35pm EST.

no comments

Lackey Struggles Early But Pitches A Gem in Sox Win!

Written by shelley on Jun 16, 2013 12:29.

The Red Sox had lost the first 2 games of the series to the O's and really needed to rally to win the game yesterday to have any chance to split the series. The Sox had John Lackey on the mound and the O's were sending Freddy Garcia. Lackey has pitched well this season since recovering from Tommy John surgery and yesterday would be more of the season. Lackey struggled out of the gate, but hunkered down and ended up in line for the win.

Lackey looked dreadful in the beginning of the first inning. Lackey allowed 2 runs to score before he even recorded an out. Lackey gave up a lead off single to McLouth and then an RBI double to Machado. Sox 0-1. Lackey then gave up a single to Markakis and an RBI single to Jones. Sox 0-2. Sometimes clicked after that and Lackey got out the next three batters in order and didn't allow another run to score. Lackey kept trucking along and in the 4th inning the Sox bats tied the game. Dustin Pedroia looked like he struck out, but it was called a foul tip and then he singled, stole second and Carp brought him all the way with a 2 run HR. Sox 2-2. Later in the inning the Sox took the lead when Drew hit an RBI double to score Gomes. Sox 3-2.

In the 5th the Sox added another run when Ellsbury hit a single, stole 2nd, moved to third on a sac bunt from Victorino and then came home on a Pedroia sac grounder. Sox 4-2. Gomes added a run in the 6th by hitting his first HR in a Sox uniform. Sox 5-2. All the while Lackey kept on the mound and kept putting up zeroes on the scoreboard. He looked like a completely different person than the guy that started the first inning. Lackey finished 7 strong and his line for the night was 101 pitches, 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB and 4 Ks. I have a lot of respect for a pitcher who doesn't give in when everything is going wrong and is able to gut through and right the ship. Uehara came out for the 8th inning and struck out the side.

The drama would come in the 9th inning with shaky closer Andrew Bailey on the mound. Bailey had 3 runs to play with and it's a good thing because he would need them all. Bailey gave up a single to Jones and with one out gave up a 2 run HR to Wieters. Sox 5-4. Gulp. Bailey then gave up a single to Hardy and the O's made the mistake of having Casilla pinch run for him. Flaherty hit a fly out to Victorino and Casilla just kept running. Victorino made the throw over to 1st base and the game was over. Thanks for the game winning base running blunder O's! We'll take it!

Red Sox 5 Orioles 4 BOXSCORE

WP: Lackey (4-5) LP: Garcia (3-4) SV: Bailey (8)

no comments

Red Sox Lineup vs. Orioles 6/15/13

Written by shelley on Jun 15, 2013 20:36.

Here is the lineup for today's game vs. the Orioles:

Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Shane Victorino RF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
David Ortiz DH
Mike Carp 1B
Jonny Gomes LF
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Stephen Drew SS
Jose Iglesias 3B

Lackey SP

Game time is at 4:05pm EST.

no comments

Sox Trade Pedro Ciriaco

Written by Matt O'Donnell on Jun 15, 2013 15:59.

The Red Sox have traded speedster and Yankee killer Pedro Ciriaco to the Padres on Friday in exchange for a player to be named or cash considerations.

no comments

Sox Fall to O's Again

Written by shelley on Jun 15, 2013 11:48.

The Red Sox hoped to bounce back from their extra inning loss to the O's with a win, but came up short. Ryan Dempster pitched well, but suffered from no run support in his effort. The team looked tired and the Sox bats went cold in the 2nd game of the series.

Ryan Dempster had himself a quality start, but it would still end up being a loss. Dempster only gave up 2 runs during his outing and ending up pitching into the 8th inning, but the Sox bats didn't give him any runs to work with. Dempster would give up a single run in the 2nd with a solo HR to the red hot Davis and then another run in the 3rd with an RBI single to Jones. Sox 0-2. Dempster did what the team needed from him though, he gave the bullpen a much needed rest. Most thought that Dempster was done after 7 innings, but he came back out for the 8th and got 2 outs in the inning. Dempster gave up a double to Machado, intentionally walked Davis and the unintentionally walked Wieters to have the bases loaded. Farrell went with Uehara for the final out of the inning which he got with ease. Uehara struck Hardy out with 3 pitches. Dempster's pitching line for the night was 122 pitches, 7.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 BB and 4 Ks. It's a shame that effort ends up being a loss.

As for the Sox offense, there isn't a lot to write about. Tillman basically dominated the lineup. The Sox have played two long extra innings games this week and it looked like it. The team just looked tired. The bats only got 3 hits during the whole game, one by Victorino and two by Iglesias, who is continuing to have his season of destiny. The Sox were never able to stage a rally against Tillman and the O's and went down without much of a fight.

Red Sox 0 Orioles 2 BOXSCORE

WP: Tillman (7-2) LP: Dempster (4-7) SV: Johnson (24)

no comments

Red Sox Lineup vs. Orioles 6/14/13

Written by shelley on Jun 14, 2013 20:54.

Here is tonight's lineup vs. the O's:

Ellsbury CF
Victorino RF
Pedroia 2B
Ortiz DH
Carp 1B
Nava LF
Iglesias SS
Middlebrooks 3B
Ross C

Dempster SP

Game time is at 7:05pm EST.

no comments

AL East Standings 6/14/13

Written by shelley on Jun 14, 2013 13:10.

It's time again to check in on the standings in the AL East:

The Red Sox are still sitting pretty on top of the AL East standings. In the last week the Sox won series against the Angels and the Rays while dropping the game last night against the O's. The Yankees have fallen to 3rd in the AL East with their loss and the O's win yesterday. The Sox and the O's play 3 more games this weekend, so there is a chance that the O's could overtake the lead in the AL East, but they would have to sweep the Sox to do it. So far in the season the Sox have been more consistent and played better baseball than they have in years. They are hitting and pitching well, other than figuring out what is wrong with Jon Lester.

The next week coming up the Sox play the O's 3 more times, have an off day, play the Rays 3 times in 2 days and then face daunting Tigers. As with most weeks in June, the Sox are facing a tough week ahead of them. If they are able to continue to look to take series wins then I think they are in good shape, however it wouldn't take much of a slump to see the Sox out of 1st place this time next week. Buchholz was going to pitch on Sunday and now it looks like it might not pitch til Tuesday. If he is unable to go on Tuesday, the Sox will probably have to put him on the DL. With Jon Lester struggling on the mound that could be bad, bad news. I guess it's a good good thing that the Sox stashed Alfredo Aceves in Pawtucket instead of just releasing him a while back since it looks like we might need him.

no comments

12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »End