Sox Sweep Jays

It took some doing, but the Sox took three of three from Toronto in their building. Last night was the crowning achievement as struggling starter Jon Lester had a masterful performance striking out 11 on his way to seven shutout innings and a 2-0 win. Clay Buchholtz wasn't too shabby himself on Wednesday also going seven and allowing just one run.

Mike Lowell again played the hero two nights ago with the winning RBI on a bases loaded walk. He was pinch hitting for David Ortiz, which would have been a surprise move three years ago, but no more. Francona clearly has more confidence in Lowell right now and for good reason. Lowell seems very comfortable at the plate and content to contribute anyway he can whether it be as a pinch hitter or DH.

These wins were more like what the Red Sox Brass envisioned in spring training. The starter goes seven and renders the opponent's bats useless. The bullpen comes in and holds the lead (uneventfully). And the offense does just enough to win.

Monday Machinations

Since the Yankees were practically the only team that was stoking the hot stove last week I am sure that the rest of baseball was a tad bored. Well it seems that the rest of baseball decided all at once to get in on the act. Monday has been churning with rumors. From free agent destinations to possible mega-trades.

Here are a few story lines to follow for the rest of the week:

The Sox are looking to counter the Yankees big move from last week. Beantown is looking hard at free agent pitcher John Lackey. While it appears the deal isn't quite official, even though Lackey has already taken his physical, it would take a miracle for the Angels to slide in and outbid the Boston, especially considering how tight LA has been with it's cash. Why has Boston suddenly decided to start throwing their cash around? Perhaps Theo Epstein was one of the few who read Dan Shaughnessy's whiny column concerning the Boston front office's penny pinching ways to be a disgrace.

The more intriguing storyline for me is the rumored mega-deal between the Jays, the Phillies and a third team as yet to be named. I'm not sure why the Phillies would deal Cliff Lee to get Roy Halladay but that seems to be what the teams are edging towards. I understand how good Halladay has been and how good he would be in the NL, but really Lee is young, cheaper for next season and left-handed. I suppose the Phillies figure it would be easier to lock of Halladay to a long term deal since Lee will likely command a larger deal since he is three years younger, still it seems like a lot of energy and prospects expended to simply run in place.

Those are the dominant stories in the baseball world for today and probably a few more days.

Update 4:16 pm: It appears Hideki Matsui will get a little closer to home next season. The Angels are working on inking the Yankee DH to a one year deal worth $6.5 million deal. It would be a loss for the Yankees but likely one that will help them in the long run. Always better to lose a player with one year left in his prime than one year after.

Take a Penny, Leave a Penny

God help us. Brad Penny has been released. He started awful, was decent for a little while, and recently has played like hot garbage. What I don't get is that he asked to be released. Do you have fend off all of the suitors, or is the American League that scary? I for one will will not miss Bulbous Brad. (By the way he's listed at 6'1'' 200 lbs. C'mon! He's easily pushing 3 bills.)

My only question is, now what? Yes, Penny wasn't worth one cent, but who's going to pitch now? I suppose the upside of Tazawa, however small, was more enticing than another 3 inning performance from Penny. Wakefield is still fragile in spite of his successful return outing on Wednesday. Who else ya got? Maybe SS Nick Green can pitch. He did something in his relief appearance last night in a blow out that Penny hardly ever did, pitch two consecutive scoreless innings. Heck, he even touched 90 on the gun!

The Sox finish up their home stand with a series starting tonight against Toronto. This is a classic trap series. It would be very easy to look ahead to next week's games at the Trop against Boston nemesis Tampa Bay. Basically the Sox need to take care of business against the struggling Blue Jays and at least win 2 of 3. This is especially important considering that the Sox have been abysmal against Tampa these past two seasons.

Observation: Muscle bound meathead spotted in Moe's mexican restaurant Wednesday wearing an "I hate Johnny Damon" T-shirt. That was four years ago, brah. You have to get over it and move on with your life. By the looks of your camo fatigue hat and shorts you really hold a serious grudge. Might I suggest counseling. It wasn't even that big a deal to me back then. Essentially, he worked and performed well with one big company and got a better job offer from another big company. That's life.

Boston Gives Jays The Blues

Jon Lester overcame a shaky start by getting out of a couple of jams, then settled down to beat the Blue Jays and complete a three game sweep by the Red Sox. He pitched 6 1/3 and gave up only one earned run. All the innings he pitched last season may be a factor this season, but Lester is a big, strong guy and should be able to work his way through some trouble spots.

So much for first place Toronto. Granted, the Sox avoided facing Roy Halladay, but if all the Jays have to throw out there other than him are these milquetoast rookies, it doesn't matter. The Sox feasted on the youngsters all series. On the other side, the only one I fear in the Toronto line up is Vernon Wells, who seems to smack Boston around every time they face each other. Sorry my Canadian friends. It will probably come down to Yanks/Sox/Rays again this season.

Jason Bay is emerging as an early MVP candidate. He hit yet another dinger last night. Sorry to be all on his jock again, but his last 11 home runs have been with ducks on the pond. That's the way to man-up, folks.