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Should Red Sox Fans Give Up on Carl Crawford? Fan Take

SatGrooppypow — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:05:00 +0000

By now, everybody in Red Sox Nation knows that Bobby Valentine hasn’t been able to get in touch with Carl Crawford. In fact, as of December 29^th, the two apparently have yet to exchange a single word, which doesn’t exactly boded well for the Boston Red Sox’ 2012 season. Valentine is at the helm, whether Crawford likes it or not, and his resounding silence while Bobby V calls out “Bueller…Bueller…Bueller” only makes Crawford look bad.

Maybe I should say that it makes him look “even worse,” since the last image fellow fans here in Massachusetts have of the much-hyped leftfielder was that horrific blown catch and his “oh well, too bad” attitude in the locker room afterward. Would it have been too much to see some faint hint of emotion, the slightest glimmer of frustration maybe? Oh, that’s right, Crawford is kicking back and enjoying a 7-year $142 million investment from former GM Theo Epstein and company, which I guess leaves him unaccountable enough to feel like he can blow off the new BoSox skipper.

To be sure, there’s undoubtedly some bad blood between Crawford and Bobby V, which is what happens when a commentator speaks candidly about the guys out on the diamond. Josh Beckett will likely be equally tough to win over. But despite Beckett’s involvement in the chicken-gate scandal, he’s still held in pretty high regard by most fans I know, and many don’t doubt that he can be the ace of the rotation once again.

Meanwhile, all Crawford has done so far is live up to his goofy “perfect storm” nickname, but in all the wrong ways. There’s plenty of blame to go around for the Red Sox’ September collapse, and it’s far from clear that they would’ve survived for long even if they’d made it to the postseason. Nevertheless, Crawford’s blown catch is a perfect symbol of just how that season unfolded. Like Crawford himself, the sky-high potential of that season plunged into the depths of outright embarrassment.

Which is exactly why it isn’t encouraging that Crawford has yet to return Bobby V’s calls. Maybe he doesn’t realize that while he may not owe anything to Valentine the man, he owes plenty to Valentine the Red Sox manager, and he should be bending over backwards to show Red Sox Nation that he’s more than just one of the biggest disappointments in the history of Boston sports.

Maybe he’s on his way to do just that, at least if you take Pedey’s word for it. Dustin Pedroia recently went to bat for Crawford in the figurative sense, saying that he’s “texted Carl a few times” and insisting that he’s “working his butt off” and “on a mission…to prove a lot of people wrong.” We can safely assume that Valentine is one of the people he’s trying to prove wrong. Nevertheless, one can only hope that Crawford eventually realizes that he’ll have to be working with him to do that.

Taurus Londono has lived in Massachusetts for over ten years. He is a longtime fan of the Boston Red Sox.

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Five Great Boston Red Sox Hats to Give for Christmas

fingertip357472 — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:21:00 +0000

When it comes to showing your allegiance to your favorite baseball team, nothing is as important as the right hat.

As a baseball cap is part of the actual uniform, it’s makes the perfect gift because you can wear it every day of the year if you so choose.

The Boston Red Sox have had their fair share of hats in the more than 100 years of history, and Boston fans have probably been wearing an identical hats for nearly that long as well.

If you have a Boston Red Sox fan you’re buying a gift for this Christmas, then put one of these under the tree and hit a real home run this year.

Here are five great hats to get that diehard Sox fan in your life this Christmas:

’47 Brand Boston Red Sox Kelly Green Franchise Flex Fit Hat

We may be a few months away from St. Patrick’s Day still, but Red Sox fans can celebrate year long with this hat, which is similar as the one worn on the holiday. The hat sells for $22.95 with small through large sizes.

New Era Navy Blue On-Field 59FIFTY Fitted Hat

The classic fitted Boston hat with the red “B” seen atop the Sox players nearly every game. The hat’s price is $34.95 with sizes from 6 7/8 through 8 available. Be careful wearing it, however, you may be mistaken for Adrian Gonzalez(notes), Dustin Pedroia(notes) or Jacoby Ellsbury(notes).

New Era Navy Blue Authentic 59Fifty Fitted Hat

This navy hat with hanging Sox logo has been one of my favorites since it was introduced prior to the 2009 season. The fitted hat runs for $34.95 with sizes ranging from 6 7/8 through size 8.

New Era Navy Blue 2004 World Series 59Fifty Fitted Hat

Another copy of the official Red Sox game hat, but with a special twist. This hat includes a patch from the 2004 World Series, Boston’s first championship since 1918. The fitted hat costs $35.95, with sizes varying from 6 3/4 to 8.

New Era Red-Navy Blue 1975 Throwback Cooperstown On-Field 59FIFTY Fitted Hat

This throwback hat is another classic. Straight from the 1975 team, which featured Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice and Fred Lynn, that made it to the Word Series. The hat is priced at $34.95 with sizes from 6 3/4 through 8.

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Boston Red Sox pick up Scutaro’s option for 2012

Hypeversose — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 09:10:39 +0000

The Ben Cherington era is officially underway. The new GM of the Red Sox made his first official decision Sunday, agreeing to pick up the $6 million option on Marco Scutaro’s 2012 contract.

It’s not like this was an earth-shattering decision, certainly not one that carries the weight of re-signing a Jonathan Papelbon or a David Ortiz, because everything was in place for Cherington, put there by predecessor Theo Epstein. The deal was that Scutaro would get $6 million from the Sox, $3 million if he declared his intention to stay or a $1.5 million buyout.

Cherington viewed this as a no-brainer, however, after Scutaro’s year of redemption. Epstein had originally signed the veteran to a two-year, $12.5 million deal that seemed to make sense at the time. Scutaro was a strong fielder and a solid hitter, but he was getting older and he’d never exactly had a standout year. In 2010, the shortstop was a wreck, committing 18 errors in 132 games. By the end of the season he was playing second base in Dustin Pedroia’s absence.

It turned out that Scutaro was playing through a series of injuries, including an ailing shoulder that was keeping him from making strong throws from the hole. He went home, healed and came back with a solid shoulder, although he was forced to do a DL stint early on with an oblique strain, and missed scattered other assignments with various ailments (he hurt his back stepping off a curb in Seattle). Just when everybody thought that he’d be losing his job to Jed Lowrie, he went on a charge that would earn him his $6 million.

In 2011 he committed 12 errors in 109 games, all at shortstop, but what set him apart was his bat. In an Aug. 7 game at New York he went 4-for-4, hit a ninth-inning leadoff double against Mariano Rivera and scored the game-tying run. On Sept. 6, in the now infamous 14-0 win at Toronto, he went 4-for-5 with three doubles and four RBI. In that four-game series he went 11-for-17 with nine RBI.

Indeed, when the Red Sox were collapsing, going 7-20 in September, Scutaro over the last 28 days batted .398 with a .450 OBP, .602 SLG and 1.052 OPS. He certainly wasn’t perfect. In a game against Tampa Bay he got handcuffed when a broken bat headed his way, missing a ground ball that enabled four runs to score. And in a game at New York he failed to record an out on a routine ground ball. They were rare miscues in what had been a terrific season.

The re-signing of Scutaro makes sense for another reason: he serves as a bridge to the future. Turning 36 in 2012, he’ll plug the shortstop hole for the Sox while young Jose Iglesias continues to be groomed for the job. Iglesias spent some unimpressive days with the Sox during 2011 and needs another season to get his bat working to major league standards. The Sox do believe he’ll be ready for the 2013 season and hope he will be in the position for years to come. Scutaro helps make that happen.

Cherington now can turn his attention in other free agent directions. He’s looking at demands for huge money by Ortiz and Papelbon, he’s got to make decisions on re-signing Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield and also mid-season addition Erik Bedard.

The Sox have 10 other arbitration-eligible players: Jacoby Ellsbury, Alfredo Aceves, Daniel Bard, Andrew Miller, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Mike Aviles, Matt Albers, Jed Lowrie, Franklin Morales and Rich Hill. They likely won’t be in a hurry to offer Ellsbury the big-money contract he deserves after being named A.L. Comeback Player of the Year, but he, Bard, Aceves and Saltalamacchia should be in line for large offers from the club. Aviles and Hill might also be looking at strong paydays.

MLB teams have until Tuesday to sign their own free agents exclusively.

Running low on time today, i’ll be back tomorrow hopefully with some more news.

Source: Red Sox to promote Cherington to GM

awuslvh — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 09:11:15 +0000

Updated: October 21, 2011, 11:59 PM ET

BOSTON — Ben Cherington will have plenty to do when he follows Theo Epstein as the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.

He’ll also have plenty to work with.

A source confirmed to ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes that assistant GM Cherington will indeed be promoted. The Red Sox have scheduled a Tuesday news conference to introduce Epstein’s replacement. Epstein resigned from Boston to take over as president of baseball operations for the Chicago Cubs on Friday, and the teams said they would hold off on more announcements out of respect for the teams in the World Series; Tuesday is the next off day.

More On The Red Sox

Gordon Edes and the rest of the ESPNBoston.com team have the Red Sox covered for you. Blog

Cherington’s first job will be to find a manager to replace Terry Francona, a two-time World Series winner who admitted he lost the clubhouse in his eighth season and was let go after the team’s unprecedented September collapse. The coaching staff also will need to be rebuilt as pitching coach Curt Young left for the Oakland Athletics earlier Friday.

Cherington also will have to deal with the fallout from the team’s 7-20 September that left it one game short of the playoffs. The pitching staff disintegrated over the final month, followed by news reports that several starters were drinking beer and eating fast-food fried chicken in the clubhouse during games.

Among them was John Lackey, who was 12-12 with a 6.41 ERA in the second year of a five-year, $82.5 million deal. The Red Sox are unlikely to find a taker unless they eat most of Lackey’s remaining salary. Cherington also will be saddled with six more years of Carl Crawford’s contract, a seven-year, $142 million deal signed by Epstein.

But the Red Sox have reason to be hopeful with the core of the team that went 81-43 over a 4½-month stretch of the season and a payroll that is among the biggest in baseball. All-Star Adrian Gonzalez just finished the first year of a seven-year, $154 million deal, Jacoby Ellsbury developed into an MVP candidate, and Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis are locked up long term.

Josh Beckett was an ace for most of the year and Jon Lester remains one of the top lefties in the AL, but their performance in September was a key reason for the collapse. Clay Buchholz is expected to return from a stress fracture.

J.D. Drew’s contract is up, giving the Red Sox some payroll flexibility, and Daisuke Matsuzaka is at the end of the six-year deal that brought him over from Japan for a total of $103 million.

They’ll need the money to re-sign closer Jonathan Papelbon, who can file for free agency for the first time, and for designated hitter David Ortiz, who’s also a free agent.

Because Epstein’s move was in the works for a while, Cherington has been filling in as GM since the regular season ended.

Cherington also served as co-GM during the three-month period after the 2005 season when Epstein walked away from the Red Sox. He shared the job with Jed Hoyer. Now the San Diego Padres’ GM, Hoyer is expected to be Epstein’s top hire with the Cubs.

Because the teams were unable to agree to compensation for allowing Epstein out of the last year of his contract, Hoyer and Cherington will probably have to work on that, too.

Information from ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes and The Associated Press was used in this report.

There is the quick update of the day.

Top Five Red Sox Draft Picks During Theo Epstein’s Tenure

PriorEbsism — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:49:00 +0000

Departing Boston Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein did some of his best work for Boston in the amateur draft. Epstein and his staff worked wonders on rebuilding a minor league system that was top-heavy and shallow entering the 2003 season. During Epstein’s tenure, the Red Sox have integrated a wealth of young talent including several Major League stars. He leaves the Red Sox having drafted four players who have earned All-Star invites so far, plus a very deep system with a great deal of potential down the road.

Dustin Pedroia(notes):

Boston’s second round pick in 2004 and Epstein’s best pick, Dustin Pedroia has developed into the franchise player for the Red Sox. The Red Sox drafted Pedroia out of Arizona State where he won a national Defensive Player of the Year award and twice hit .400. Two years later, he made his Major League debut. Pedroia owns an MVP, a Rookie of the Year award, a World Series ring and three All-Star selections. Through 715 games in the majors, he has a career .305 batting average with a .373 on-base percentage, 479 runs scored, 344 RBI, 75 home runs, 82 stolen bases and 24.5 wins above replacement (WAR).

Jonathan Papelbon(notes):

In 2003, the Red Sox drafted All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon in the fourth round of Epstein’s first draft as GM. After working out of the bullpen at Mississippi State, Papelbon started for the next two-plus seasons in the minors. He debuted in the majors as a starter in 2005, but when Boston needed bullpen help he returned to his familiar role and never looked back. Over the last seven seasons, he has posted a 2.33 ERA with 509 strikeouts and 17.1 WAR in 429.1 innings. He owns Boston’s all-time saves record with 219 having recorded more than 30 per season every year since 2006.

Jacoby Ellsbury(notes):

2011 American League MVP candidate Jacoby Ellsbury was Boston’s top pick in the 2005 draft. The speedy Oregon State center fielder hit at least .298 at every stop in the minors en route to his 2007 Major League debut. He played so well during his initial call-up that he displaced Coco Crisp(notes) as the starter and was a key player in Boston’s 2007 World Series Championship. After missing most of 2010 with a lingering rib injury, Ellsbury broke out with an incredible 2011 season that included a .321 average, 32 home runs, 105 RBI, 119 runs scored and 39 steals.

Clay Buchholz(notes):

All-Star starting pitcher Clay Buchholz joined the Red Sox in the supplemental first round in 2005. Buchholz mowed down minor league hitters and climbed two levels per year until bringing his outstanding four-pitch arsenal to Boston in 2007. He made an early splash with a no-hitter in just his second MLB game before having to learn to cope with his first struggles in the pros. Since permanently joining the Red Sox rotation in mid-2009, he has posted a 3.10 ERA with a 9.2 WAR in 348.1 innings.

Daniel Bard(notes):

Fireballing relief pitcher Daniel Bard was Boston’s second selection of the 2006 draft. Bard overcame control problems as a starter and became a full-time reliever in 2008 when he began bolting up the minor league ladder. Since joining the Red Sox in 2009, he has proven himself to be an excellent setup man with stretches where he is virtually unhittable. Bard has a career 2.88 ERA with 213 strikeouts in 197 innings out of the Red Sox bullpen.

Honorable mentions: Justin Masterson(notes), David Murphy(notes) and Jed Lowrie(notes).

Sources:

Boston Red Sox Team History and Encyclopedia, Baseball-Reference.com

SoxProspects.com

William Menna is a native New Englander and longtime Boston sports fan.

More from this contributor:

Top five free agents signed by Theo Epstein

John Lackey’s future with the Red Sox is up in the air

Red Sox playoff hopes rest on health of pitching staff

Five things to watch for in the Bruins 2011-12 season

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

Not much else going on in the MLB planet today.

Arencibia, Romero help Jays take series against Red Sox with 7-4 win

julgkdlq — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:12:02 +0000

TORONTO – Ricky Romero used his curve ball to snap a string of tough outings against the Boston Red Sox.

Catcher J.P. Arencibia backed up Romero’s six effective innings with a three-run homer and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Red Sox 7-4 on Thursday night.

Romero came in 2-6 with an 8.08 ERA in 11 career starts against the Red Sox, including an 0-3 record and 10.62 ERA in five home starts.

From the first inning on, he established his curveball because Boston had been staying away from his change-up.

“I used (my curveball) a lot,” Romero said. “That was part of our game plan to come in and get that established right away from the first inning and for the rest of the game.”

Romero (14-10) held Boston to five hits, three walks and three runs while striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings. All the runs against him came in the seventh.

“I felt like I had good control of my fastball and my sinker,” Romero said. “And you know when you add a change-up and a curveball you add two pitches in their heads and now you’re kind of able to make more pitches and keep them off-balance.”

Edwin Encarnacion and Eric Thames also hit solo shots for the Blue Jays and Jason Varitek homered in the ninth for Boston against Frank Francisco.

“We kept throwing the fastball and throwing his hook,” Arencibia said. “If they’re going to eliminate the change-up we’re going to go somewhere else and his fastball was good enough to stay with it and his ball was really sinking and the hook was good, so when we started dropping change-up in there it was that much better.”

September call-up David Cooper had three hits, including two doubles, and two runs batted in.

Varitek hit his 11th homer Francisco, who entered in the ninth to protect a four-run lead.

An error by second baseman Kelly Johnson and Marco Scutaro’s single gave the Red Sox hope with two out in the ninth. But Dustin Pedroia struck out to end the game.

Andrew Miller (6-3) allowed five runs and eight hits including homers by Arencibia and Encarnacion over five innings. Michael Bowden allowed Thames’ homer in the seventh.

“I think at times when they hurt me I was behind in the count,” Romero said of his past against Boston. “I felt like at times I was trying to trick them and show pitches and try to kind of nibble at times.

“Today I kind of just went with my instincts. J.P. and I had a great game plan and we stuck to it all night and it worked.”

Romero breezed through his first six innings but had some trouble in the seventh as Boston scored three runs.

Varitek walked with one out, Darnell McDonald had a two-out infield hit and Jacoby Ellsbury drove in a run with a double. Casey Janssen replaced Romero and gave up Scutaro’s two-run single.

Scutaro finished the series 11-for-17.

Thames got one run back with his 10th homer in the seventh. Brett Lawrie of Langley. B.C. and Cooper hit consecutive one-out doubles in the eighth against Felix Doubront to bump the lead to four.

Arencibia’s 22nd homer was the fourth hit in a row to start the second for the Blue Jays (72-72). Johnson led off with an infield hit and Lawrie drove a single through the right side on a hit and run.

Cooper looped a sweeping breaking ball to left to score the first run. Arencibia followed by clubbing a 3-2 changeup deep to left for a 4-0 Toronto lead.

Encarnacion, who drove in five runs in Wednesday’s 11-10 victory over the Red Sox (85-58), hit his 16th homer of the season, a drive to right, on a 3-1 fastball in the third.

Neither team could do anything with their respective leadoff doubles in the first. Ellsbury led off the game with a double. Then, in a mystifying move, Scutaro, who was 8-for-13 in the first three games of the series, sacrificed the runner to third.

“He was just trying to move him any way he could,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

Romero struck out Dustin Pedroia and retired David Ortiz on a grounder to end the inning.

Yunel Escobar started the bottom of the first with a double, but Scutaro was involved in all three outs at shortstop, two of them strong plays. He grabbed an over-the-shoulder catch on a bloop by Thames and a smart grab and throw on a hard grounder by Encarnacion.

Notes: Attendance at Rogers Centre was 17,189. … Dustin McGowan will start Sunday for the Blue Jays against Baltimore instead of Luis Perez who returns to the bullpen. McGowan came back from two shoulder surgeries and made his first major-league outing since July 8, 2008 when he pitched four innings of relief on Tuesday. … First baseman Adam Lind rested a sore right wrist for the second game in a row on Thursday. … Centre fielder Colby Rasmus took live batting on Thursday afternoon for the first time since injuring his right wrist on Aug. 23. … Brett Cecil (4-8, 4.60 ERA) opens a three-game series against Baltimore on Friday when he faces Jeremy Guthrie (6-17, 4.45 ERA).

Not much else going on in the MLB planet today.

Red Sox lose Beckett, fall to Jays in 11 (AP)

infednaisse — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 08:38:58 +0000

TORONTO (AP)—Brett Lawrie(notes) homered in the 11th inning to lift the Toronto
Blue Jays to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday.

Lawrie homered to center off Dan Wheeler(notes) (2-2) with two outs in the 11th,
his eighth homer since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 4.

Shawn Camp(notes) (3-3) pitched one scoreless inning for the win as the Blue Jays
snapped a three-game losing streak.

Boston lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Red Sox starter Josh Beckett(notes) left in the fourth inning with a sprained right
ankle. Manager Terry Francona and trainer Mike Reinold came to the mound after
the right-hander threw a ball to Lawrie. After a brief discussion, Beckett
walked off the field without assistance and was replaced by right-hander Alfredo
Aceves(notes).

An All-Star for the third time this season, Beckett came in having won his
past three starts. He allowed three hits in 3 2-3 scoreless innings with six
strikeouts and one walk.

Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez(notes) pitched six scoreless innings,
extending his shutout streak to 14 innings. Alvarez allowed four hits, walked
one and struck out four.

Alvarez retired the first eight batters in order before Marco Scutaro(notes)
singled in the third. Jacoby Ellsbury(notes) doubled him to third but Dustin Pedroia(notes)
grounded out to end the threat.

The Red Sox put runners at first and second with two outs in the fourth but
Josh Reddick(notes) struck out looking.

Scutaro hit a one-out double in the fifth but was caught in a rundown after
Alvarez grabbed Ellsbury’s grounder to the mound. Ellsbury tried to advance to
second but was thrown out, completing the 1-5-6 double play.

Carlos Villanueva(notes) replaced Alvarez and walked Kevin Youkilis(notes) to begin the
seventh. After Carl Crawford(notes) flied out, Reddick singled to right and both
runners advanced on Jason Varitek’s(notes) grounder. Scutaro ended the inning by
grounding out to shortstop.

Adrian Gonzalez(notes) hit a two-out double off Casey Janssen(notes) in the eighth and
David Ortiz(notes) was intentionally walked to bring up Youkilis, who struck out
looking.

Toronto put a runner at third base three times in the first four innings.
Edwin Encarnacion(notes) struck out to end the first, Jose Molina(notes) grounded out and
Dewayne Wise(notes) struck out in the second and, after Aceves walked Lawrie in the
fourth, Molina ended the inning by flying out to right.

Aceves left after walking Mike McCoy(notes) and hitting Eric Thames(notes) with one out in
the eighth. Daniel Bard(notes) came on and got Jose Bautista(notes) to fly out, then struck
out Adam Lind(notes).

Jonathan Papelbon(notes) struck out Lind on three pitches to leave the bases loaded
in the bottom of the 10th.

NOTES: Boston recalled C Ryan Lavarnway(notes) and RHP Kyle Weiland(notes) and purchased
the contract of INF Nate Spears(notes), all from Triple-A Pawtucket. … Red Sox LHP
Erik Bedard(notes) (left knee) will be skipped in his next scheduled start, Friday at
Tampa Bay. … Francona said RHP Bobby Jenks(notes) (back) is unlikely to pitch again
this season. … Blue Jays SS Yunel Escobar(notes) (left wrist) missed his second
straight game. … Toronto reinstated RHP Dustin McGowan(notes) (shoulder) off the
60-day DL. McGowan last pitched in the majors July 8, 2008. … Blue Jays
manager John Farrell returned after missing 10 games with pneumonia. … Wise
made a superb diving catch on Crawford’s sinking liner to center to begin the
ninth.

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Blue Jays drop Red Sox in extra innings; lose Beckett

FreetsMeela — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 03:29:53 +0000

Brett Lawrie homered in the 11th inning to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday.

Lawrie homered to center off Dan Wheeler (2-2) with two outs in the 11th, his eighth homer since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 4.

Shawn Camp (3-3) pitched one scoreless inning for the win as the Blue Jays snapped a three-game losing streak.

Boston lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Red Sox starter Josh Beckett left in the fourth inning with a sprained right ankle. Manager Terry Francona and trainer Mike Reinold came to the mound after the right-hander threw a ball to Lawrie. After a brief discussion, Beckett walked off the field without assistance and was replaced by right-hander Alfredo Aceves.

An All-Star for the third time this season, Beckett came in having won his past three starts. He allowed three hits in 3 2-3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez pitched six scoreless innings, extending his shutout streak to 14 innings. Alvarez allowed four hits, walked one and struck out four.

Alvarez retired the first eight batters in order before Marco Scutaro singled in the third. Jacoby Ellsbury doubled him to third but Dustin Pedroia grounded out to end the threat.

The Red Sox put runners at first and second with two outs in the fourth but Josh Reddick struck out looking.

Scutaro hit a one-out double in the fifth but was caught in a rundown after Alvarez grabbed Ellsbury’s grounder to the mound. Ellsbury tried to advance to second but was thrown out, completing the 1-5-6 double play.

Carlos Villanueva replaced Alvarez and walked Kevin Youkilis to begin the seventh. After Carl Crawford flied out, Reddick singled to right and both runners advanced on Jason Varitek’s grounder. Scutaro ended the inning by grounding out to shortstop.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-out double off Casey Janssen in the eighth and David Ortiz was intentionally walked to bring up Youkilis, who struck out looking.

Toronto put a runner at third base three times in the first four innings. Edwin Encarnacion struck out to end the first, Jose Molina grounded out and Dewayne Wise struck out in the second and, after Aceves walked Lawrie in the fourth, Molina ended the inning by flying out to right.

Aceves left after walking Mike McCoy and hitting Eric Thames with one out in the eighth. Daniel Bard came on and got Jose Bautista to fly out, then struck out Adam Lind.

Jonathan Papelbon struck out Lind on three pitches to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.

NOTES: Boston recalled C Ryan Lavarnway and RHP Kyle Weiland and purchased the contract of INF Nate Spears, all from Triple-A Pawtucket. … Red Sox LHP Erik Bedard (left knee) will be skipped in his next scheduled start, Friday at Tampa Bay. … Francona said RHP Bobby Jenks (back) is unlikely to pitch again this season. … Blue Jays SS Yunel Escobar (left wrist) missed his second straight game. … Toronto reinstated RHP Dustin McGowan (shoulder) off the 60-day DL. McGowan last pitched in the majors July 8, 2008. … Blue Jays manager John Farrell returned after missing 10 games with pneumonia. … Wise made a superb diving catch on Crawford’s sinking liner to center to begin the ninth.

Not much else going on in the MLB planet today.

Lawrie’s HR in 11th lifts Blue Jays past Red Sox

ruxamensa — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 02:32:37 +0000

TORONTO (AP) — Brett Lawrie homered in the 11th inning to lift the Toronto Blue Jays to a 1-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday.

Lawrie homered to center off Dan Wheeler (2-2) with two outs in the 11th, his eighth homer since being called up from Triple-A Las Vegas on Aug. 4.

Shawn Camp (3-3) pitched one scoreless inning for the win as the Blue Jays snapped a three-game losing streak.

Boston lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Red Sox starter Josh Beckett left in the fourth inning with a sprained right ankle. Manager Terry Francona and trainer Mike Reinold came to the mound after the right-hander threw a ball to Lawrie. After a brief discussion, Beckett walked off the field without assistance and was replaced by right-hander Alfredo Aceves.

An All-Star for the third time this season, Beckett came in having won his past three starts. He allowed three hits in 3 2-3 scoreless innings with six strikeouts and one walk.

Blue Jays right-hander Henderson Alvarez pitched six scoreless innings, extending his shutout streak to 14 innings. Alvarez allowed four hits, walked one and struck out four.

Alvarez retired the first eight batters in order before Marco Scutaro singled in the third. Jacoby Ellsbury doubled him to third but Dustin Pedroia grounded out to end the threat.

The Red Sox put runners at first and second with two outs in the fourth but Josh Reddick struck out looking.

Scutaro hit a one-out double in the fifth but was caught in a rundown after Alvarez grabbed Ellsbury’s grounder to the mound. Ellsbury tried to advance to second but was thrown out, completing the 1-5-6 double play.

Carlos Villanueva replaced Alvarez and walked Kevin Youkilis to begin the seventh. After Carl Crawford flied out, Reddick singled to right and both runners advanced on Jason Varitek’s grounder. Scutaro ended the inning by grounding out to shortstop.

Adrian Gonzalez hit a two-out double off Casey Janssen in the eighth and David Ortiz was intentionally walked to bring up Youkilis, who struck out looking.

Toronto put a runner at third base three times in the first four innings. Edwin Encarnacion struck out to end the first, Jose Molina grounded out and Dewayne Wise struck out in the second and, after Aceves walked Lawrie in the fourth, Molina ended the inning by flying out to right.

Aceves left after walking Mike McCoy and hitting Eric Thames with one out in the eighth. Daniel Bard came on and got Jose Bautista to fly out, then struck out Adam Lind.

Jonathan Papelbon struck out Lind on three pitches to leave the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th.

NOTES: Boston recalled C Ryan Lavarnway and RHP Kyle Weiland and purchased the contract of INF Nate Spears, all from Triple-A Pawtucket. … Red Sox LHP Erik Bedard (left knee) will be skipped in his next scheduled start, Friday at Tampa Bay. … Francona said RHP Bobby Jenks (back) is unlikely to pitch again this season. … Blue Jays SS Yunel Escobar (left wrist) missed his second straight game. … Toronto reinstated RHP Dustin McGowan (shoulder) off the 60-day DL. McGowan last pitched in the majors July 8, 2008. … Blue Jays manager John Farrell returned after missing 10 games with pneumonia. … Wise made a superb diving catch on Crawford’s sinking liner to center to begin the ninth.

That’s all for today.

Red Sox aim to get on track versus Rangers

seo_specialista — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 20:29:51 +0000

Written by

The Sports Network

(Sports Network) – The Boston Red Sox try to get themselves back on track this
evening when they open a three-game set against the Texas Rangers at Fenway
Park.

Boston saw its lead atop the American League East standings dwindled to a
half-game on Thursday when it dropped a 4-2 decision to the New York Yankees,
who took two of three in the series and pulled even in the loss column with
the Red Sox.

Dustin Pedroia’s two-run homer was the lone offense for the Red Sox, who had
won three of four coming in. Alfredo Aceves (9-2) suffered the loss, charged
with two runs in 1 1/3 relief innings.

David Ortiz went 1-for-3 in the loss to extend his hitting streak to 15 games.
He is batting .500 with seven doubles, seven homers, 16 RBI and nine walks
during the run, which is his longest with the Red Sox. He had a 19-gamer with
the Twins in 2002.

“They played better than us,” said Pedroia. “Long games — we’re all tired.
Tonight, we just didn’t swing the bats that well. We move on and try to win
tomorrow.”

That starts with left-hander Andrew Miller, who had perhaps his finest outing
with Boston his last time out on August 25 against the Rangers. Miller
scattered three hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings of that one and improved to
6-1 to go along with a 4.42 ERA.

“We’ve always seen glimpses, and he just kept going out and repeating,” Boston
manager Terry Francona said after that start. “Man, he threw fastball,
breaking ball, changeup. Again, against a lineup that is pretty dangerous and
he really did a good job.”

This will be his second-ever start against Texas.

The Rangers, meanwhile, have played well since losing three of four to Boston
last week. Texas won for the fourth time in six tries since that series on
Thursday, as Ian Kinsler hit a pair of solo home runs to back C.J. Wilson’s
quality outing, helping the Rangers defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-2, in the
rubber match of a three-game series in Arlington.

Wilson (14-6) retired the first 15 hitters he faced and struck out eight over
six-plus frames. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk to bounce back
from a forgettable five-inning, six-run effort against the Angels on Saturday.

Michael Young also went deep for AL West-leading Texas, which welcomed back
Adrian Beltre from the disabled list

Beltre, who was 1-for-4 with a run scored, will be back in Boston tonight for
the first time since leaving for the Rangers as a free agent this past winter.
He hit .314 with 13 homers in 75 games last season for the Red Sox, but left
for a five-year $80 million deal with Texas.

Getting the call on the hill will be lefty Derek Holland, who is 12-5 with a
4.30 ERA. Holland beat the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim last Friday, as he
allowed just a run and eight hits in 6 2/3 innings.

He is 1-1 in two starts versus the Red Sox with a 4.76 ERA.

Texas has won four of its seven matchups with Boston this season. Tonight,
though, will be its first trip to Beantown since it went 4-3 there last year.

The Sports Network

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Red Sox increase AL East lead to 1½ games with 9-5 win over Yankees

MolchanovVasi — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 08:07:01 +0000

BOSTON Jacoby Ellsbury hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the sixth inning, Josh Beckett improved to 4-0 against the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox came from behind for a 9-5 win on Wednesday night.

The Red Sox, who lost the series opener 5-2 on Tuesday night, extended their AL East lead over the Yankees to 1 ½ games and improved their record to 11-3 this season against their division rivals.

David Ortiz and Jason Varitek also hit two-run homers for Boston.

The Yankees scored four runs in the sixth off Beckett (12-5) — the same amount they managed in his other 32 innings against them this season — and went ahead 5-4.

In the bottom of the inning, Phil Hughes (4-5) retired the first batter. Then he went ahead of Josh Reddick 0-2 before walking him, and Reddick scored the tying run on Varitek’s double. After Marco Scutaro flied out, left-hander Boone Logan came in to face lefty Ellsbury. On a 3-and-1 count, Ellsbury hit his 24th homer into the left-field seats above the Green Monster.

Beckett allowed four earned runs and six hits through seven innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched a scoreless inning and the Red Sox improved to 62-3 this season when leading after six.

The Yankees had taken a 1-0 lead in the third on Derek Jeter’s RBI single. The Red Sox went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning, scoring on Dustin Pedroia’s groundout with runners at second and third and on Jed Lowrie’s RBI single.

Jeter got his second single in the top of the fifth, moving into 20th place all-time, ahead of Craig Biggio, with 3,061 career hits. He was left stranded.

Boston made it 4-1 in the fifth on Ortiz’s homer deep into the centre field bleachers after Adrian Gonzalez singled. It was Ortiz’s 28th homer of the year and extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

The Yankees regained the lead in the sixth, helped by an error by right fielder Reddick.

Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, took second on a wild pitch by Beckett and scored on a double by Robinson Cano. Nick Swisher then walked and Eric Chavez followed with a liner down the right field line. It got by Reddick and Chavez was credited with a double. The error allowed him to take third and Swisher to score. Eduardo Nunez’s sacrifice fly put the Yankees on top 5-4.

Varitek gave the Red Sox a four-run cushion in the eighth with his 10th homer.

NOTES: Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez missed his fourth straight game with a sprained left thumb. … Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis, on the DL since Aug. 18 with a low back strain, played his second straight rehab game for triple-A Pawtucket and can be activated on Friday. … Boston RF J.D. Drew missed the second game of his scheduled two-day rehab assignment at Pawtucket on Wednesday night with a sprained middle finger. He was hurt Tuesday night when he went 3 for 3. Plans for the Red Sox to activate him on Thursday may change. He went on the disabled list on July 26, retroactive to July 20, with a shoulder injury. … Yankees C Russell Martin of Chelsea, Que., with a sore left thumb, missed the game. Manager Joe Girardi said he planned to use him Thursday night in the finale of the three-game series. … Struggling RHP A.J. Burnett (9-11) faces LHP Jon Lester (14-6) on Thursday night.

The Associated Press

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Red Sox improve to 11-3 against Yankees (AP)

unurioutsk — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:45:29 +0000

BOSTON (AP)—Jacoby Ellsbury(notes) hit a tie-breaking two-run homer in the sixth
inning, Josh Beckett(notes) improved to 4-0 against the New York Yankees and the Boston
Red Sox came from behind for a 9-5 win on Wednesday night.

The Red Sox, who lost the series opener 5-2 on Tuesday night, extended their
AL East lead over the Yankees to 1 1/2 games and improved their record to 11-3 this
season against their division rivals.

David Ortiz(notes) and Jason Varitek(notes) also hit two-run homers for Boston.

The Yankees scored four runs in the sixth off Beckett (12-5)—the same
amount they managed in his other 32 innings against them this season—and went
ahead 5-4.

In the bottom of the inning, Phil Hughes(notes) (4-5) retired the first batter.
Then he went ahead of Josh Reddick(notes) 0-2 before walking him, and Reddick scored
the tying run on Varitek’s double. After Marco Scutaro(notes) flied out, left-hander
Boone Logan(notes) came in to face lefty Ellsbury. On a 3-and-1 count, Ellsbury hit his
24th homer into the left-field seats above the Green Monster.

Beckett allowed four earned runs and six hits through seven innings. He
struck out eight and walked three.

Daniel Bard(notes) and Jonathan Papelbon(notes) each pitched a scoreless inning and the
Red Sox improved to 62-3 this season when leading after six.

The Yankees had taken a 1-0 lead in the third on Derek Jeter’s(notes) RBI single.
The Red Sox went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning, scoring on Dustin
Pedroia’s(notes) groundout with runners at second and third and on Jed Lowrie’s(notes) RBI
single.

Jeter got his second single in the top of the fifth, moving into 20th place
all-time, ahead of Craig Biggio, with 3,061 career hits. He was left stranded.

Boston made it 4-1 in the fifth on Ortiz’s homer deep into the center field
bleachers after Adrian Gonzalez(notes) singled. It was Ortiz’s 28th homer of the year
and extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

The Yankees regained the lead in the sixth, helped by an error by right
fielder Reddick.

Mark Teixeira(notes) was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, took second on a
wild pitch by Beckett and scored on a double by Robinson Cano(notes). Nick Swisher(notes) then
walked and Eric Chavez(notes) followed with a liner down the right field line. It got
by Reddick and Chavez was credited with a double. The error allowed him to take
third and Swisher to score. Eduardo Nunez’s(notes) sacrifice fly put the Yankees on top
5-4.

Varitek gave the Red Sox a four-run cushion in the eighth with his 10th
homer.

Notes: Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez(notes) missed his fourth straight game with a
sprained left thumb. … Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis(notes), on the DL since Aug. 18 with
a low back strain, played his second straight rehab game for Triple-A Pawtucket
and can be activated on Friday. … Boston RF J.D. Drew(notes) missed the second game
of his scheduled two-day rehab assignment at Pawtucket on Wednesday night with a
sprained middle finger. He was hurt Tuesday night when he went 3 for 3. Plans
for the Red Sox to activate him on Thursday may change. He went on the disabled
list on July 26, retroactive to July 20, with a shoulder injury. … Yankees C
Russell Martin(notes), with a sore left thumb, missed the game. Manager Joe Girardi
said he planned to use him Thursday night in the finale of the three-game
series. … Struggling RHP A.J. Burnett(notes) (9-11) faces LHP Jon Lester(notes) (14-6) on
Thursday night.

If anybody needs tickets to games, remember to click the tickets link at the top.

Red Sox increase AL East lead to 1½ games with 9-5 win over Yankees behind Beckett, 3 homers

SuperOlgaPoland — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:41:30 +0000

David Ortiz and Jason Varitek also hit two-run homers for Boston.

The Yankees scored four runs in the sixth off Beckett (12-5) — the same amount they managed in his other 32 innings against them this season — and went ahead 5-4.

In the bottom of the inning, Phil Hughes (4-5) retired the first batter. Then he went ahead of Josh Reddick 0-2 before walking him, and Reddick scored the tying run on Varitek’s double. After Marco Scutaro flied out, left-hander Boone Logan came in to face lefty Ellsbury. On a 3-and-1 count, Ellsbury hit his 24th homer into the left-field seats above the Green Monster.

Beckett allowed four earned runs and six hits through seven innings. He struck out eight and walked three.

Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon each pitched a scoreless inning and the Red Sox improved to 62-3 this season when leading after six.

The Yankees had taken a 1-0 lead in the third on Derek Jeter’s RBI single. The Red Sox went ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the inning, scoring on Dustin Pedroia’s groundout with runners at second and third and on Jed Lowrie’s RBI single.

Jeter got his second single in the top of the fifth, moving into 20th place all-time, ahead of Craig Biggio, with 3,061 career hits. He was left stranded.

Boston made it 4-1 in the fifth on Ortiz’s homer deep into the center field bleachers after Adrian Gonzalez singled. It was Ortiz’s 28th homer of the year and extended his hitting streak to 14 games.

The Yankees regained the lead in the sixth, helped by an error by right fielder Reddick.

Mark Teixeira was hit by a pitch leading off the inning, took second on a wild pitch by Beckett and scored on a double by Robinson Cano. Nick Swisher then walked and Eric Chavez followed with a liner down the right field line. It got by Reddick and Chavez was credited with a double. The error allowed him to take third and Swisher to score. Eduardo Nunez’s sacrifice fly put the Yankees on top 5-4.

Varitek gave the Red Sox a four-run cushion in the eighth with his 10th homer.

Notes: Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez missed his fourth straight game with a sprained left thumb. … Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis, on the DL since Aug. 18 with a low back strain, played his second straight rehab game for Triple-A Pawtucket and can be activated on Friday. … Boston RF J.D. Drew missed the second game of his scheduled two-day rehab assignment at Pawtucket on Wednesday night with a sprained middle finger. He was hurt Tuesday night when he went 3 for 3. Plans for the Red Sox to activate him on Thursday may change. He went on the disabled list on July 26, retroactive to July 20, with a shoulder injury. … Yankees C Russell Martin, with a sore left thumb, missed the game. Manager Joe Girardi said he planned to use him Thursday night in the finale of the three-game series. … Struggling RHP A.J. Burnett (9-11) faces LHP Jon Lester (14-6) on Thursday night.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Gotta run!.

Series Preview: Boston Red Sox Vs. Texas Rangers

SetwhortHeene — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:11:12 +0000

By Grant Brisbee

– Editor

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Aug 22, 2011 – This year’s Red Sox team might be their best since the days of Ted Williams. They’ve got a .611 winning percentage right now, which would be the franchise’s highest since 1949. And if that’s true, what does that say about the Yankees, who are a half-game ahead of the best Red Sox team in over sixty years? Probably that the Yankees are good. You read it here first. Actually, that’s probably how a lot of folks see the AL.

Good teams in the American League

Yankees
Red Sox
Other

Part of that is because the Yankees and Red Sox really are good. It also probably has something to do with people on the east coast going to bed at noon Pacific time, drunk on both a) the power of controlling the media, and b) several martinis, so they rarely watch the other teams in baseball. The Yankees and Red Sox are exceptional baseball teams, but they’re just part of a big three in the American League. The Rangers are right up there, too.

Madness, I know. According to Baseball-Reference, the Rangers don’t have Dustin Pedroia or Curtis Granderson. The team flies completely under the radar, rarely appearing on a national stage, save for that little-watched reality show that FOX broadcast last late October. But the Rangers might have the most complete team in baseball. I know that Bud Selig doesn’t hand out a special ribbon for that, but if you think of baseball as being made up of three distinct parts — hitting, starting pitching, bullpen — Texas might not have the best in any single category, but they’re near the top in all three.

And over the past two months, the Rangers have been the one of the best teams in baseball, going 30-16 since July 1st with an obscene 271/175 ratio of runs scored/runs allowed. They’ve been winning and winning big. Of course, as long as we’re playing around with arbitrary end points, the Red Sox during that time have gone 31-15. As good as the Rangers have been, they just can’t shake the popular conception that the class of the American League is atop the AL East, mostly because those two teams are really freaking good. So are the Rangers, though.

Here, then, is the Rangers’ chance: a four-game series against Boston at home. It’s still a small sample — it’s not like four games is ever going to convince the world of anything — but this is the focus of the baseball world for the next week, with two playoff-bound teams beating each other over the head in a possible postseason preview. And while it’s nothing like a make-or-break series for the Rangers, who hold a four-game lead over the Angels, it’s the start of a particularly brutal stretch: of the remaining 34 games on the Rangers’ docket, only 12 of them aren’t against teams who are still actively competing for a playoff spot.

It starts with Boston coming into town, all haughty and arrogant as if they’re an elite team. Which they kind of are. It’s not exactly a secret. But the Rangers are a surprisingly elite team too, and now it’s up to them to prove it over the next month or so. Though if they don’t, they can keep getting fat off the carcasses of the A’s and Mariners, which they’ve been good at this year. That’ll be enough to fool us until playoff time, at least.

Probable starters

Mon: Erik Bedard v. C.J. Wilson
Tue: John Lackey v. Colby Lewis
Wed: Josh Beckett v. Matt Harrison
Thu: Tim Wakefield v. Alexi Ogando

Read More: Texas Rangers

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Editor

Grant Brisbee has been the lead writer for McCovey Chronicles since 2005, when the San Francisco Giants-themed site became the second blog on the SB Nation network. He graduated from San Jose State… Read full bio

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Pedroia’s 3 RBI Lead Red Sox to 4-3 Win Over Royals

Souffnexupe — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:55:04 +0000

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs with a pair of well-timed singles, Josh Beckett survived a shaky start to go seven innings and the Boston Red Sox got back on the winning track with a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Jason Varitek drove in the other run for the Red Sox, who had lost five of their last seven games after getting shut out by the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday.

Beckett (10-5) and the Royals proved to be the perfect matchup to turn things around. The right-hander allowed all three runs in the first three innings to improve to 7-1 in his career against them — his only loss came July 28 in Boston.

Beckett also reached the 10-win plateau after failing in his four previous attempts.

Daniel Bard worked the eighth for Boston, and Jonathan Papelbon made it through a perfect ninth to extend his career-best streak to 24 consecutive saves. It was his 29th of the season.

Luke Hochevar (8-10) labored through 114 pitches in just six innings for the Royals. The former No. 1 overall draft pick allowed all four runs on eight hits and two walks, despite getting some help from his defense.

The Royals threw out three Red Sox base runners: Varitek was nabbed at second trying to stretch a single in the second inning; Crawford was thrown out by center fielder Melky Cabrera trying to score from third base on a shall flyball in the fourth; and Pedroia was thrown out at second base by catcher Salvador Perez, who made an alert play after a late throw to the plate on Pedroia’s RBI single in the fifth.

Alex Gordon hit a tying two-run homer in the third inning for Kansas City, and he also scored on a sacrifice fly by Billy Butler in the first, playing a significant role in all the Royals’ runs.

Boston didn’t waste any time matching Kansas City in the second. Josh Reddick doubled leading off and came home on Varitek’s two-out single. The Red Sox then pulled ahead in the third when Mike Aviles singled against his former team, Ellsbury walked, both advanced on a groundout and came scored on Pedroia’s single.

Alcides Escobar led off the bottom half of the third with a single, and Gordon followed by slapping a pitch from Beckett over the left-field wall to tie the game. His 16th homer matched a career high.

The Red Sox nearly pulled ahead in the fourth when Crawford reached on a single, swiped second base and then stole third — replays showed he should have been called out. Aviles lofted a shallow fly to center moments later, and Cabrera caught it on a jog and unloaded toward home in one motion. Perez fielded the throw, turned and braced himself as Crawford barreled into him at the plate, holding on for the out.

It was the 21st time a Royals outfielder has thrown out someone at the plate, leading the major leagues.

Undaunted, the Red Sox pulled ahead in the fifth. Jed Lowrie doubled with one out and came around to score on a two-out single by Pedroia, who added a double in the eighth inning for a three-hit game.

Beckett and the bullpen made the lead stand up the rest of the way.

NOTES: The Red Sox placed 3B Kevin Youkilis on the DL with a sore back. C Ryan Lavarnway, called up from Triple-A Pawtucket, made his major league debut as DH and went 0 for 4. … Boston designated LHP Randy Williams for assignment to clear roster space for Lavarnway. … Butler finished 3 for 3. … Jeff Francis (4-13) takes the mound for Kansas City on Friday night. He goes against Boston’s Andrew Miller (4-1).

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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