Sox Fall to Rays in Series Finale

Written by shelley on Jun 20, 2013 02:53.

The Sox have had the Rays number in their matchups so far this series. The Sox already took the series by winning both games of the doubleheader, but were hoping for a series sweep to keep the Rays winless at Fenway this season. The Sox were sending Ryan Dempster to the mound while the Rays had Hellickson.

Dempster had another quality start, but that once again would not translate into a win. Dempster gave up a solo HR to Jennings and then a sac fly to Loney in the first to have the Sox down 0-2. In the 2nd the Sox got one of those runs back when Gomes hit an infield single to score Papi. Sox 1-2. In the 4th Gomes would hit another infield single to Longoria to score Salty and tie the game 2-2. Unfortunately the game did not remain tied for long. Dempster gave up the go ahead run with a 2 out RBI single to Zobrist. Sox 2-3. Dempster pitched 6 strong innings throwing 108 pitches. He hasn't gotten much run support this season, but he's continued to pitch well and give his team a chance to win.

Breslow took over in the 7th inning and that is when the rails fell off for the Sox in this game. Breslow has pitched well this season, but today would just not be his day. Breslow gave up an RBI single to Longoria to have the Sox behind 2-4. Breslow gave up a double to Loney and he would be out of the game and rookie Alex Wilson would be in. Wilson had runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Wilson wouldn't be able to strand them and gave up a 2 run RBI to Rays rookie Wil Myers. Sox 2-6. The Sox bats weren't able to rally against either Hellickson or the Rays bullpen in the late innings. Morales pitched a scoreless 8th and then Beato pitched a scoreless 9th, but the Sox fell to the Rays for the first time at Fenway.

Red Sox 2 Rays 6 BOXSCORE

WP: Hellickson (5-3) LP: Dempster (4-8)

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Red Sox Lineup vs. Rays 6/19/13

Written by shelley on Jun 19, 2013 19:38.

Here is tonight's lineup vs. the Rays:

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

Dempster SP

Game time is at 7:10pm EST.

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Doubront Dazzles and Gomes Walks Off in Sox Win!

Written by shelley on Jun 19, 2013 03:18.

The Sox had about 45 minutes between the close of the day game and the night game of the doubleheader because of the rain. The Sox had Felix Doubront on the mound and the Rays were sending Odorizzi who they just called up from AAA. The Sox already won the day game and were looking for the sweep for the doubleheader.

Doubront took the mound and had his best outing of the season by far. Doubront dominated the Rays lineup and just looked nasty all night. He kept putting zeroes up on the scoreboard and in the 2nd inning Daniel Nava would hit a solo HR to give him a lead. Sox 1-0. Doubront would still have that 1-0 lead when he left the mound in the 8th. This was Felix's first career start that he has pitched 8 full innings and it was a beautiful thing. Doubront's pitching line for the night was 93 pitches, 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB and 6 Ks. He was nothing short of amazing.

In the top of the 9th, Sox closer Andrew Bailey came into the game. Bailey didn't take long to blow the save and have the game tied. Bailey gave up a leadoff HR to Johnson to have the game tied 1-1. Bailey got the 3 outs he needed to get out of the inning, but the damage had been done. Bailey has been going through quite a rough patch lately and it seems to be continuing. Luckily for Bailey, the Sox bats had his back in the bottom of the 9th and took care of the game for him. Nava walked and then Jonny Gomes came to the plate. Gomes smacked a ball from Peralta over the Monster to give the Sox a walk off win! Gomes rounded 3rd and punted his helmet before jumping into the walk off celebration.

It may have rained today, but the water was dirty...twice!

Red Sox 3 Rays 1 BOXSCORE

WP: Bailey (3-0) LP: Peralta (1-3)

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Red Sox Lineup vs. Rays 6/18/13 Game 2

Written by shelley on Jun 18, 2013 23:51.

Here is the lineup for tonight's game vs. the Rays:

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

Doubront SP

Game time is at 8:05pm EST.

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Sox Take First Game of Doubleheader With Rays

Written by shelley on Jun 18, 2013 23:47.

The Sox and Rays were facing off in a doubleheader today even if the rain was gonna threaten this game for a few hours. Alfredo Aceves was brought up to be a spot starter for today's game and he's continued to show his value to this team by pitching well and grabbing another win.

Aceves was brought up to be the 26th man on the roster for the doubleheader and was making the spot start. Aceves had pitched well against the Phillies and the Rays previously, so we were hoping to see the same. Interestingly, Aceves almost didn't make his start since he was late to the ballpark because he was "stuck in traffic." The Sox had Morales out and almost needed him to make a spot start for spot starter Alfredo Aceves.

All the drama aside, Aceves once again pitched well. The Sox bats gave Aceves a single run of support in the 1st when Pedey hit a sac fly to score Ells. Sox 1-0. Aceves was a little shaky out of the gate and gave that run right back. Aceves gave up an RBI double to Luke Scott as well as walking 3 batters in the inning to have the game tied 1-1. In the 3rd inning Papi put the Sox back in front by hitting a 2 run RBI single. Sox 3-1. In the 5th Papi added another run on the board with an RBI single to score Victorino. Sox 4-1. Aceves settled down well and was trucking along. Aceves pitched 5 innings and in the bottom of the 5th the skies opened up and the game went into a rain delay.

Even though the game was official, the MLB has a rule that if there is a doubleheader that the first game must be finished before the second game can start. The rain delay lasted for 2 hours and 59 minutes and play resumed at just before 6pm. Aceves was done for the night with such a lengthy delay and Tazawa took the mound. Tazawa pitched a scoreless 6th inning. In the bottom of the 6th, Ellsbury and Victorino hit back to back triples and the Sox were leading 5-1. Andrew Miller pitched a scoreless 7th, Uehara pitched a scoreless 8th and then Breslow finished it off with a scoreless 9th inning. Once again the Sox bullpen got the job done.

Now the Sox will get ready for game 2 which will begin just a little after 8pm. Let's Go Red Sox!

Red Sox 6 Rays 1 BOXSCORE

WP: Aceves (4-1) LP: Archer (1-3)

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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.

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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)

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