After nearly two months of writing about baseball and football and everything else I am returning to my roots, the place I call home, and the team I am the most knowledgeable about. From here until whenever I will be writing what amounts to a Red Sox beat...I will try to do it every day and it will include game recaps and also other news that I think you might want to hear...enjoy!
Brett Gardner hit a soft single up the middle past Johnathan Papelbon to score Robinson Cano from 2nd base and give the New York Yankees a 5-4 victory and allowed them to salvage a split with the Red Sox.
Gardner, a Yankee outfielder who is actually healthy, was 1-18 before he singled in the 6th inning right after manager Joe Girardi was tossed from the game for arguing balls and strikes. One day later he is probably still savoring what is the crowning achievement in his young career.
Alex Rodriguez tied Mickey Mantle for 13th on the all-time home run list with his 536th four-bagger, a bomb to left off of Tim Wakefield. It had been a rough week for A-Rod as he got grilled by the tabloids for his friendship with Madonna and reports that his marriage was on the rocks (his wife filed for divorce this morning).
The Red Sox didn't break through against Joba Chamberlain until the 5th inning when two singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Kevin Youkilis scored on a wild pitch and then after Kevin Cash and Julio Lugo both struck out and Jacoby Ellsbury walked, red-hot Dustin Pedroia drove in two with a Texas-league single into right-center.
Cash doubled in the other Red Sox run to give them a 4-2 lead they promptly lost when Cano hit a two-run triple off of Javier Lopez, setting the stage for Gardner's heroics in the 10th.
Spout Offs:
The All-Star game rosters were announced yesterday, and to nobody's surprise the Red Sox landed seven players on the team. The four starters are Dustin Pedroia, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Kevin Youkilis.
Paps was the lone pitcher, and Varitek and J.D. Drew were announced as reserves. The only real surprise was Varitek, who was named to the team by Terry Francona despite the fact that he could hit better if he went to the plate armed with a fish instead of a bat.
.218/.300/.658 (avg./obp/ops) is not the line an all-star catcher should have. As ESPN's Keith Law pointed out, his value over a replacement player is actually negative, because a AAA would have better numbers, by average.
Today's Must Reads
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I think I speak for all Red Sox fans when I say that I came out of this Yankees-Red Sox series with a bitter taste in my mouth. After Friday the Sox took the first two games of the series and looked like the Sox would be able to put a little distance between themselves and the Yankees.
The Sox had our chance to go for the jugular against a team that was slumping but instead they suffered back-to-back frustrating losses and allowed the Yankees to salvage a split in the series. Now we are five games back on the Rays, and just as important remain only four games ahead of the Yankees.
An opportunity was lost this weekend, and Red Sox fans can't help but be frustrated.
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The consensus from Boston fans is that the Red Sox should eat Julio Lugo's contract and just be done with him. The team is obviously not going to do that, but I can't say I don't agree with the people calling for Lugo's head.
The shortstop is hitting just .263 with 1 home run and 19 RBI's. While his OBP is markedly better this season (.351) than it was last season (.294) but his OPS is still abysmal (.679) and he looked really bad last night, getting overpowered by Joba twice before being lifted for Alex Cora.
If he is being lifted for a defensive replacement in the late innings it really begs the question, What purpose does Lugo serve? Wouldn't the Red Sox be better served with a duo of Cora and Jed Lowrie?
I don't care how much money he makes. He can't hit, and he can't field, so why not just move him over and clear room for Lowrie who, with enough at-bats, could usurp Lugo as the team's starting shortstop.
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Another thing is becoming clear after last night's game and that is that the Red Sox are going to need to make a move before the trade deadline to solidify their bullpen.
Don't be worried about Papelbon despite his recent struggles, he is still one of the best closers in baseball. Instead the team should be worried about how to get to him. The best options on the team right now are Hideki Okajima and David Aardsma, neither of whom inspire a lot of confidence.
Okajima was incredible last year, and has been good again this year, but he is not unhittable. He has been around the league long enough at this point that hitters know how he pitches and have seen his stuff so they are drawing a better bead on the pitches. His ERA is a respectable 2.92, but his batting average against (.262) and his WHIP (1.37) are way up from last season.
Aardsma has been great so far but he still worries me. He hasn't pitched since July 2nd against Tampa Bay, but Terry Francona said a lot about his confidence in Aardsma when he brought in Manny Delcarmen last night despite Delcarmen's recent struggles. I have a nagging doubt that Aardsma has been lucky this season and opponents will eventually figure him out.
But behind those two the cupboard is bare.
Delcarmen has been streaky, and has been getting bombed lately as well, but he is probably the next best option after the aforementioned players.
You can go ahead and stick a fork in Mike Timlin, the cagey veteran now sports an ERA of 6.75, and before Saturday hadn't been used by Terry Francona since the middle of June.
Craig Hansen is still young and hasn't quite figured out that he can't just throw gas and get major league hitters out.
Before last night Javy Lopez had only allowed 1 run in his last 15 innings, yet he still walks a ridiculous amount of people (14 BBs in 34 innings) and opponents are still hitting the ball hard, Lopez has just been getting lucky.
Brian Fuentes of the Rockies or maybe Heath Bell of the Padres would be good options and play for teams that will be selling at the all-star break rather than looking to add players. Neither of those guys would cost the Red Sox a top prospect, and both would add another option to Terry Francona's arsenal.
Quick Hitters:
- The hit by Gardner off of Papelbon last night was the third walk-off hit the Red Sox closer has given up this season....He had given up only two walk-off hits in his career before the season.
- It is good to see someone other than JD Drew finally start to carry the team. Pedroia's hit last night extended his hitting streak to 14 games...he is hitting .500 during that span with 5 home runs and 12 RBI's.
- The team finished the road trip 3-7 and are reeling. It appears the stagnant offense and shoddy relief pitching are too blame. But David Ortiz should be back not long after the break.
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