The Official Boston Sports Thread

Just a frustrating night last night: the Red Sox got 7 walks and a hit batsman from Oakland pitching, but they only managed 3 hits and hit into 5 double plays in losing 2-0, thus wasting a good outing by Dice-K. This is the first three-game losing streak for the Red Sox this season.

The series continues tonight with Tim Wakefield (5-6, 4.24 ERA) on the hill for the Sox against Joe Kennedy (1-4, 3.30 ERA) for the A's.

 

Hi Richie!

Rumors are abound saying that Asanti Samuel is looking in the direction of the Jets? Don't have anything concrete to report but, saw a headline on the back of the Herald today stating that they have him in their radar.

 

Hey Wifey

I heard something to that effect on WEEI, as well. Apparently, Asante's being offered somewhere around 8 years, $80M, and it would be a matter of two things...do the teams want to give up two first-round draft picks to sign Asante, and are the Patriots willing to match? The one sure thing is this: the Patriots and Asante have until July 15 to come to terms on a long-term deal on their own.

 

The Sox' woes with runners in scoring position continued last night, leading to a fourth straight loss, this time by a 3-2 score. I also heard Terry Francona got ejected after arguing a strike call against Dustin Pedroia. The series concludes with an afternoon game today (3:35 PM ET start), with Curt Schilling (5-2, 3.91 ERA) getting the call for the Sox against Joe Blanton (5-3, 3.81).

 

Curt Schilling came within one out of pitching the Sox' 18th no-hitter (and first since Derek Lowe's @ Fenway Park against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on 4/27/02), but the A's Shannon Stewart spoiled the bid by lining a clean single past second baseman Alex Cora on the first pitch. Schilling then got the final out for a complete game one-hitter, in which he struck out four and didn't walk anyone. The only other blemish on the game came when Dan Johnson of the A's reached on a Julio Lugo fielding error with 2 out in the 5th inning. David Ortiz had a solo homer in the first for the only run Schilling would need in a 1-0 win.

Baseball's amateur draft started today, and the Red Sox took LHP Nicholas Hagadone out of the University of Washington with their first pick (#55 overall). Hagadone has a plus fastball, above-average slider, and a developing changeup. He was mostly a reliever this season for the Huskies, but some feel he can move back into a starting rotation; failing that, he'd be a very good lefty setup man.

 

[image=http://www.amnesia-music.com/OakAslogo.GIF]



GO A's !!!!!!!

 

The Red Sox are in Phoenix this weekend for an interleague series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, who, after a tough start, seemed to have climbed back into the race for the National League West. Tonight, it's Josh Beckett (8-0, 2.95 ERA) going against lefty Doug Davis (4-6, 3.05 ERA) in a 9:40 PM ET start on NESN. The Red Sox will also have to decide who amongst David Ortiz, Kevin Youkilis, and Mike Lowell to sit each game, as the pitcher hits in the National League park; my guess is Ortiz sits tonight against the lefty, but likely each of the 3 players mentioned will have to sit one game this weekend.

 

JD Drew had easily his best game as a member of the Red Sox last night, smacking a pair of 3-run homers and adding an RBI double for a career-best 7 RBI on the night in a 10-3 Red Sox win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Josh Beckett gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 5 hits in 8 innings to get a major-league best 9th win (tied w/ the Angels' John Lackey and the Indians' C.C. Sabathia).

The interleague series continues tonight with Julian Tavarez (3-4, 5.33 ERA) facing the D-backs' Micah Owings (4-1, 3.86 ERA). The Red Sox will have Mike Timlin available tonight, as he was activated from the disabled list after the game last night. Lefty reliever J.C. Romero was designated for assignment to make room for Timlin. Also, Mike Lowell will sit tonight, while David Ortiz, who played last night, will sit tomorrow against Randy Johnson.

 

Wrapping up baseball's First-Year Player Draft yesterday, a couple of players with local ties were selected. LHP Jack McGeary out of Roxbury Latin School was taken in the 6th round (#190 overall) by the Washington Nationals. The Red Sox took a local college player in the 20th round, C Daniel Milano of Northeastern U.

 

The Red Sox got a 6th inning 2-run homer and an 8th inning RBI double from Jason Varitek to tie a 3-3 game, then Mike Lowell drove home David Ortiz from third on a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to give the Red Sox another interleague win against the Arizona Diamondbacks last night. The series concludes this afternoon with Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-4, 4.63 ERA) facing "The Big Unit", Randy Johnson (3-2, 3.78 ERA).

 

What do you point to in yesterday's 5-1 loss to the Diamondbacks? The lack of hitting? Mike Timlin's throwing error? Tito's decision not to pinch-hit either Papi or J.D. Drew until the 9th inning? I don't know, but except for that three-game stretch starting with Schilling's one-hitter in Oakland, this was not a fun road trip.

The Sox have a day off today, then start a three-game interleague series against the Colorado Rockies at Fenway.

 

Good morning Richie!

I hear on the news last night that Lester is going to be working out at Fenway today with the pitching coach. That's good news.

 

Hi Wifey

Not necessarily, b/c Lester struggled in his rehab start Saturday, going just 2 2/3 innings. He'll make one more rehab start on Thursday, and depending on how he pitches in that, he could rejoin the active roster or be optioned to Pawtucket.

EDIT: Updating Lester's status, he was activated off of the 15-day disabled list today, but optioned to Pawtucket.

 

As part of their 25th anniversary celebration, USA Today recently put out a list of what they considered the top 25 sports stories of the past 25 years, and the Red Sox winning the World Series in 2004 was named the top story. Other New England stories named include Doug Flutie's Hail Mary pass in 1984 (#11) and Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series (#15)

 

I would have to say the Red Sox being number one is well fitting. Was Dale Earnhardt's death on that list?

 

I believe it was, DeathProof.

 

Yankees...they're coming!

 

Ok. Who let the Yankee fan out of the basement? Someone (the Red Sox) should put him back in the cellar where he belongs.

 

what once was 13.5 is now but 7.5
Bring on the Mets.

 

After losing 2 of 3 to Colorado after taking the opener, Barry Bonds and the San Francisco Giants come to Fenway for a weekend interleague series. Saturday's game should be interesting as Dice-K is pitching, with the question looming, "Is Dice-K's change-up good enough to keep Bonds in check?"

 

Got in late from the wedding rehearsal last night, so I missed most of the game (a 10-2 Sox win), but I did see that Dustin Pedroia had a great night...5/5 w/ a 2-run homer and 5 RBI total. Pedroia was the first Red Sox batter to go 5/5 since the man now known to some as "Johnny Demon" did it in 2004. As for Barry Bonds, he could only manage a single off of Hideki Okajima in the 8th inning plus an earlier intentional free pass, and I learned this morning that he had a possible homer in the first inning hook just in front of the Pesky pole. Bonds, of course, was greeted by a loud chorus of boos when he stepped to the plate, and there were many asterisk signs in the crowd.

Today's game is another game I'll miss at least most of, thanks to a 3:55 start for Fox and my being @ the wedding reception. Hopefully, I'll be able to give another synopsis tomorrow.

 

The Sox just seem to keep winning these 1-0 games. Manny Ramirez had a homer, Dice-K threw 7 strong innings, and good relief work from Jonathan Papelbon and especially Hideki Okajima, who struck out Barry Bonds with 2 on and 2 out in the 8th inning to end the inning.

The series ends this afternoon with Matt Morris (7-3, 2.56 ERA) taking the hill for the Giants against Tim Wakefield (6-7, 3.92 ERA). The fact that Wakefield's going will be interesting, as well, as he and Barry Bonds were teammates in Pittsburgh...we'll see how Bonds does against the knuckler.

 

Fenway did yield a homer for Barry Bonds in the end (solo shot in the 6th inning off Tim Wakefield), but the homer proved inconsequential as the Red Sox finished off the sweep of the Giants, 9-5.

The Sox begin a road trip tonight with the first of three at Turner Field in Atlanta. The trip will also see the Sox visit the west coast again with stops in San Diego and Seattle.

 

Curt Schilling continued to struggle since throwing the one-hitter in Oakland, only going 4 1/3 innings and giving up 6 runs on 10 hits on the way to a 9-4 Red Sox loss. He also didn't strike out anyone, which was his first start in 14 years in which he did not do so. On the bright side, Coco Crisp had 2 solo home runs for the first multiple-homer game of his career. Crisp is starting to get better swings of late, so he may be moving back into the lead-off mix as an option if JD Drew doesn't work out there.

Several published reports indicate that the Bruins will hire Claude Julien, formerly with the New Jersey Devils, to replace Dave Lewis, who was unexpectedly fired as Bruins head coach last week. Julien had his team in first place with a week left in the regular season before being fired near the end of last season.

 

WEEI reported this afternoon that Curt Schilling would be returning to Boston tonight for a precautionary MRI on his right shoulder, a development that has been confirmed by the Red Sox in a written statement. It is not known at this time whether Schilling will miss any time, but this cannot be good, as the Sox would have to call up Jon Lester if Schilling has to miss significant time.