Boston Fights Back

With a 20-11 loss the night before and Junichi Tazawa facing A.J. Burnett Saturday afternoon, I was certainly pessimistic about the immediate future of the Red Sox. However, they broke out the sledge hammer and scored 14 runs in defeat of the Yankees yesterday. Tazawa, being a young pitcher with which the Yankees have no familiarity, baffled the bombers who ultimately scored only one run. The Yankees have such problems with these young pitchers, it makes you want to wheel out a new pitcher every time you play them.

Tonight we get to watch what we've all been waiting for; the match up between C.C. Sabathia and Josh Beckett. They have remarkably similar stats this season. In 24 starts and 162 1/3 innings, Beckett is 14-4, 3.38 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 149 K. Sabathia is 14-7, 3.58 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 140 K in 26 starts and 178 2/3 IP. Both pitchers have pitched well lately save Beckett's last start at Toronto; although, Beckett seems to play better in big games. In any event, these teams have combined for 46 runs in the past two games and today should be much, much different.

Although I am biased, I give the advantage today to Beckett. He loves the big stage, the Sox are at home, and the game means much more to Boston than it does to New York. I don't suspect the Sox will be a real threat in the division from here out, but a cushion in their wild card lead is of the utmost importance.

I will probably watch the game with the sound off though. I cannot bear Joe Morgan and Jon Miller. The last time they did a Boston vs. NY game they talked for 30 minutes without acknowledging the action on the field at all. In fact, ESPN wouldn't even show the field while they were talking. Baseball catered for the casual fan is absolute torture for those of us who actually follow the game.

Sox vs. Rangers

Game one was a great comeback that saw the bury the Rangers under an avalanche of runs in the top of the 9th. Boston's hitting in that inning with two out was phenomenal. Boston batted around and scored 6 in the frame, not only completing the comeback but putting the game out of reach.

Game two on the other hand was a travesty. The Rangers stole 8 bases. This also happened earlier in the season. That was the game in which Carl Crawford stole 6 bases on his own. Coincidentally, Brad Penny was the starting pitcher in both games. Ya think he's a little slow to the plate? Last night's game continues a disturbing trend of teams running all over the Red Sox. I for one have always thought that it's actually extremely hard for a catcher, any catcher, to throw out a good base stealer. However, Sox catchers are only throwing out about 10% of runners attempting to steal. Jason Varitek on his own has only caught 9 runners out of 101 attempts!

As I write, the Sox are up 1-0 on Texas. Junichi Tazawa was in big trouble in the first. He was saved by a double play when Dustin Pedroia caught a line drive and threw immediately to first with the runner already far off the first base bag. Right now the difference in the game is a David Ortiz solo shot. Oops, wait. Ian Kinsler just took Tazawa deep. Cripe. Maybe I should watch Discovery Sunday instead.

Youk Loses Mind

Kevin Youkilis has been hit by pitches one too many times in the past week, and some one had to pay last night. The recipient of Youk's rage was Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello. Charging the mound and throwing his helmet resulted in a five game suspension for Kevin.

This is going to be a significant problem for the Sox once that suspension goes into effect. Mike Lowell hasn't had to play five days in a row in the field in a long time. And although he hit two HR's once coming into the game for Youkilis, Lowell's hip is always a big concern. Youk has dropped his appeal; the suspension starts tonight.

A bright spot in the game was the play of Junichi Tazawa. After a first inning in which he looked over matched and gave up three runs, he settled down nicely. All told he pitched 5 innings, giving up just the three runs, and managed to strike out 6 in the process. If you told the Red Sox that would be his final line, I'm sure they would be pleased.