And to make matters worse...

Jon Lester has been placed on the DL with a strain in his latissimus. With John Lackey pitching like he's throwing batting practice and Clay Buchholz already on the DL, the All-Star break cannot come soon enough. It's really unfortunate because Buchholz, Lester and Josh Beckett had formed an intimidating three-headed monster in the rotation. However, I think Boston is right to err on the side of caution. If they hope to make a run at a title they will need both of their ailing star pitchers. I guess we'll have to deal with the Kevin Millwood era for a couple of weeks.

Lester Outlasts Lincecum

Much to the chagrin of our friend Dennis, Jon Lester pitched a gem yesterday and the normally nasty Tim Lincecum managed just three innings against the Red Sox. Still I was surprised the Giants yanked him when they did. Even though Lincecum needed 78 pitches to get through his three innings of work he only gave up four runs. That's not great, especially if you're a two time Cy Young winner, but the Giants weren't out of the game by any means.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Lester was dominant again. He pitched his second complete game of the season while striking out nine. He even helped his own cause giving a Lincecum fast ball a long ride to the 420 sign and driving in a run with a sac fly.

Lester is emerging as a legit Cy Young candidate. Since his first couple of starts when he was pretty poor he is 9-1. His ERA on the season is 2.86 and he has turned into an overpowering strikeout machine. It's enough to make you forget about the oft injured and lately ineffectual Josh Beckett.

This road trip hasn't been all sunshine and blueberry lollipops for the Sox, however. It has produced some key injuries that they must weather if they are going to keep pace in the division. Dustin Pedroia has a broken foot after fouling a ball off himself Friday. He is now on the 15 day DL. Most maddening of all is Clay Buchholz hyperextending his knee while running the bases on Saturday. Every year in stupid interleague play some AL pitcher sustains a significant injury while running the bases. A professional athlete should be able to run 90 feet without hurting himself, but there's always this thought, this never would have happened if... Now the big fat cherry on top of this this crap sundae happened yesterday when Victor Martinez broke his thumb. Fortunately the All-Star Break is around the corner.

Sox Bust It Open Late

After Jon Lester and Jeremy Guthrie locked horns in a pitchers' duel for the first seven innings, the Sox bats finally pounced. The six run ninth turned things from a tight 2-0 contest to a 8-0 rout. The Sox held on to win 8-2 after the scrubs gave up some garbage time runs. Guthrie must have been pissed. He pitched his ass off, and his teammates couldn't get him a single run. Then the bullpen gets bombed liked Guernica.

The O's (or should be zerO's) definitely had their chances, getting runners in scoring position several times. But they were turned away at each opportunity by a determined Jon Lester. Lester needed a bit of help from Daniel Bard when Lester left the game with one out in the eighth and the bases loaded. Lester had avoided walking anyone all game, but walked the bases loaded in the eighth. Bard was able to keep those runners right where they were by inducing two harmless pop-outs as to end the threat.

The Red Sox seemed to have found a rhythm the past few weeks. They're winning two out of three most series and have settled into the playoff hunt. (Facing the A's, Orioles, and Cleveland next sure helps.) I do have one criticism though. As good as David Ortiz has been playing, I can't see him staying in the three spot. That spot in the line up should be reserved for your best, most versatile hitter. For the Sox, that is Kevin Youkilis. He is batting .312 with a .400+ OBP. He is consistent and can hit to all fields. Ortiz has been reduced to a three result player (HR, BB, K). My ideal line up at this moment would be Scutaro, Pedroia, Youkilis, Martinez, then Ortiz.

Lester Outlasts Liriano

While Francisco Liriano was chased from tonight's game after 4 2/3, Jon Lester pitched the 5th complete game of his career as the Sox won 6-2. Though he allowed a couple of runs late, Lester was untouchable throughout. All the off-speed stuff, particularly the change up, looked nasty. The most impressive sequence was when Lester struck out the side in order in the seventh. Among the victims were both Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Lester was incredibly efficient as well completing his start with only 103 pitches, 27 less than his no-hitter in '08.

On the offensive side, the Sox jumped all over Liriano early. Kevin Youkilis contributed with a three run homer and an RBI double as the Sox built up a 5-0 lead before Liriano left. Victor Martinez joined the party with three doubles scoring two runs as a result.

Finally the Sox really handle a quality opponent. The problem all year has been that the Sox fold when matched against a team that will directly compete with them for a playoff spot. They've been mediocre at best against the likes of the Yankees, Rays, Tigers, and until tonight and last night, the Twins. It's nice to beat up on the Royals and all that, but the Sox need success against the legit AL contenders.

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.

State of the Rotation: Sabathia vs. Lester

Last season my Spring Training comparison of the top two rotations in the AL East brought about a lot of discussion regarding the starting staffs of both the Yankees and the Red Sox, so I figured now would be as good a time as any for an encore.

Today we will start with the top of each rotation and coincidentally enough the two big lefties for each team: CC Sabathia and Jon Lester.

We'll start with Sabathia who really needs no introduction. The man is a beast among men and his huge frame allows him to maintain his velocity deep into games while his athleticism allows him to consistently repeat his delivery giving him excellent command. The big lefty led the Yankees with 230 innings pitched and a 3.37 ERA. While Sabathia wasn't that great in the first half, he went on a crazy tear in the second half to boost the Yankees and return his own numbers back to 2008-09 form. He was also great in the playoffs, dispelling any notion that he is "unclutch", whatever the hell that means.

Even though Beckett regained some of his luster after a substandard 2008, Lester held onto his title as the ace of the Boston staff. He cracked 200 innings for the second consecutive year and also finished third in the AL with 225 strikeouts. It is also worth noting that Lester went 5-1 in September. His only loss came after he was knocked around by the Yankees and took a line drive off his right leg, forcing him from the game.

It's easy to say Sabathia is the winner of this debate like I did last year, but Lester got even better last season. His K/9 jumped almost four all the way to 10 and he maintain the same walk rate, meaning that his K/BB rate jumped up to 3.52. So Lester has made a tough decision even more difficult.

Verdict: I'm inclined to give the edge to Sabathia because he can give his team more innings in a season and more innings per start. I suppose the question comes down to when the quality of those innings diminishes to the point that Lester's quality outweighs Sabathia's quantity. To me that point has not yet arrived, though it may in the next season or two. The first match up goes to the Yankees.

Sox Lose Game 1 to Angels.

Not much went right for the Bean Eaters last night. Lester didn't have his best stuff, but really only had one major mistake, the three run homer to Torii Hunter. I'm more concerned with the Sox bats actually. To me, they haven't looked good in months, and last night they looked lost.

Yes, the Sox had to overcome two bad calls at first base. Only one resulted in a run, but it effectively put the game away. But again, it's the offense that really looks terrible at this point. Give credit to Lackey, who is a very good pitcher and was excellent last night. The Sox will have an early exit if all they can manage is four harmless singles each game.

Perhaps Beckett can summon some more post season magic tonight. Going home 0-2 will almost certainly spell doom for Boston in spite of their history of comebacks.

Bring on the Halos

As I sit watching the Yankees and Twins knotted at 2 in the bottom of the first, I am contemplating the Red Sox first post season game against the Angels tomorrow night. (Though I am off work on Friday I will likely miss the majority of the game since it starts at 9:30, I am fighting a cold and will likely be zonked on Nyquil.) The Sox past post season dominance of the Angels has been well documented. This year could be different though as the Angels love to run and the Sox are downright inept at stopping it.

The key is keeping folks like Chone (god I wish maternity wards could spell check names) Figgins off the base paths to begin with. Of course he will probably get on at some point. But when he does, the pitcher needs to focus on next batter. Don't ignore the runner, but don't become pre-occupied either. You need to just concentrate on getting the next guy out. Figgins isn't going to steal second and third and home. Bottom line, if the Sox pitchers can just focus on getting hitters out, all of the Angels running will be for naught.

Both teams have all-star arms going in game one; Jon Lester for Boston, John Lackey for Anaheim. Lester has no starts against the Angels this year. Lackey had one start against Boston, and although he lost, it was a good outing: 7 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 6 K. I can't envision anything but a tightly contested series. My prediction Sox in 5... why not?

The Case Against The One Game Playoff

Yes it's full of drama, one game for all the marbles and a chance at the World Series. But then what did we go through all these freakin' games for? When division opponents play each other 19 times, the season series should determine the division winner, whose in whose out. In a sport like baseball when the cumulative effect of 162 games is supposed to remove all doubt who the best team is after being tested for 5 months, it's totally unfair for one game to decide something as important and fundamental as a playoff berth. If we're going to allow one game to decide, then we may as well shorten the season to 100 or 50 or even 20 games. A team that wins a season series over 19 games has proven itself the better team and should be allowed to reap the benefits.

As the regular season ends, the leader boards are peppered with Red Sox. Jason Bay finished tied for 3rd in home runs behind Carlos Pena and Mark Teixeira and 2nd in RBI behind Teixeira. Had he been more consistent, Bay could have contended for the MVP. Dustin Pedroia finished 1st in the AL in runs scored for the second year in a row. In a most impressive feat Jacoby Ellsbury lead MLB in stolen bases with 70. This is also the second straight season he's led the AL. On the pitching side, Jon Lester finished 3rd in the AL in strikeouts. I personally didn't think he would develop in to the strikeout artist he became this season.

Well, let the playoffs begin. We'll see if the Sox can put their crummy finish behind them. Bring on the Halos.

Sox Sloppy But Victorious

Jon Lester was cruising along with a 2-1 lead against the White Sox in 7th last night when he got into a little bit of trouble. It looked like he was going to get out of it with runners at the corners with two out and two strikes on Alexei Ramirez. Lester got Ramirez to flail at a curve ball in the dirt, inning over, only it wasn't. The ball got past Jason Varitek who was unable to tag or throw out Ramirez. He was also unable to prevent the run from scoring. It was one of the weirdest runs I've seen in a long time. Another run scored on a line shot to third that Mike Lowell wasn't able to handle. Fortunately though Lowell was able to keep the ball in the infield and prevent a big inning.

Okajima came in after that and in the 8th mishandled a popup and let a simple throw back to the mound get by him allowing a runner to advance. Luckily those two gaffes didn't lead to any more runs. Starting with Jason Bay's homer in the bottom of the inning, the Sox took back the lead and won.

Back in the Bronx, just when you need the Yanks to win, they blow it. The Rangers beat the Bombers yesterday and kept pace with the Red Sox in the Wild Card. Let's face it. The Sox are out of the division. Go Yankees!

Lester's 9 K's Lead Boston to Win

A very strong outing from John Lester improved his record to 9-7 on the season. He got into a bit of trouble in the fourth, allowing two runs but cruised otherwise. Even in that inning, the Orioles basically cashed in on a couple of well placed, rinky-dink, infield hits. People have expressed concern about Lester's workload last year and the effect it would have on this season. I think Lester is proving that he is a horse in the mold of C.C. Sabathia, a power lefty with filthy off-speed stuff to compliment a dominating fast ball.

Adam LaRoche hit a homer in his Red Sox debut, not a bad way to endear yourself to the fans. It came with the Red Sox leading 5-2 in the seventh, but it put the game out of reach for Baltimore. I am curious to see how this move pans out. I have no feeling really for what kind of a player LaRoche is, but another lefty bat, this one with power the opposite way, is a nice option to have. If he can help spell Mike Lowell so he is fresh later in the season, great. I think the only way Lowell can remain an effective player at this point in his career is if he gets regular rest.

Lester Remains Hot

John Lester pitched 8 scoreless innings and Dustin Pedroia's RBI double in the bottom of the 8th allowed the Sox to eek out a 1-0 win vs. the Royals, who apparently had Bob Gibson pitching for them last night. I will refrain from complaining about the Sox bats any further and focus on their pitching. They did, after all, manage to get hits at a crucial time and push across the winning run.

In Lester's last eight starts he is 5-1 with a 1.49 ERA. During that stretch he also has two complete games, more than making up for his sluggish start. It's nice to see a young pitcher getting stronger as the season progresses instead of getting weaker. I just hope that he isn't peaking just prior to a let down.

We also got an encouraging sign from Jonathan Papelbon last night. He was starting to look like Jeff Reardon out there. Last night he had a very dominating ninth, the first 1,2,3 ninth inning I can remember in a long time. The fast ball topped out at 97. We haven't seen that in a while either.

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.

Great Weekend for the Red Sox

Sometimes teams can point to defining moments in their seasons when things turned around for better or worse. Friday night's 10-8 comeback victory over Baltimore could be one of those moments for the Red Sox. Although it was not encouraging to see Brad Penny gone after 3+ innings in which he gave up 8 runs, the Sox showed their mettle and came back to win. The bats came alive and the offense woke from it's season long slumber. Hopefully this is the type of game that galvanizes the team.

A similar situation arose on Saturday only the O's and Sox reversed roles. Josh Beckett, who had been sharp, gave up four runs in the fifth allowing the Orioles to close a 6-0 deficit to 6-4. However, instead of caving as Baltimore did the day before, Boston held on. Again the bullpen came through and saved the starter's behind by shutting out Baltimore for the rest of the game. Papelbon came up with a save for the second straight day.

After extensively using the bullpen two days in a row, the Sox needed Jon Lester to have a solid outing to save their arms. He made amends for a his previous subpar start by pitching seven shut out innings while striking out nine. What is most encouraging is the fact that the Red Sox were able to win three straight tough games under some adverse circumstances against a team whose offense was as hot as anyone's in baseball. The Sox can complete the sweep on Monday.

State of the Rotation: Part I

We have discussed the Red Sox and Yankee rotations a bit over the off-season but not at length yet. It should be a pretty fun discussion now that the Yankees have put together a rotation that on paper could edge the Sox starting five.

We’ll make this easy and start at the top. Both teams feature a strong ace and both happen to be left-handers. Some may argue with the order of which I’ve seeded these pitchers, but for further reference these are the match-ups for this week:

Jon Lester vs. CC Sabathia
Josh Beckett vs. A.J. Burnett
Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Chien-Ming Wang
Tim Wakefield vs. Andy Pettitte
Brad Penny vs. Joba Chamberlain


And now onto the first match up of Jon Lester vs. CC Sabathia:
Some may think that Beckett deserves to have this number one spot in the Sox rotation, but I disagree. If Lester is healthy during the regular season he is a superior pitcher to Beckett and his value as a left-hander emphasizes that point. You probably want to give the ball to Beckett in a big game, but you want Lester to lead the way through the summer.

Throwing out their salaries compared to the performance (Lester would win hands down) these two pitchers are just downright nasty. There is obviously a much smaller sample size for Lester over the course of his career since he is three and a half years younger than Sabathia and has missed significant time during his short major league career while dealing with his cancer.

But Lester has already made a significant name for himself during the 2007 playoffs and the 2008 regular season. He has quickly risen to the top of the Red Sox rotation and is on track to becoming one of the best lefties in the game.

Most of us already know the track record for Sabathia: Great 2007 and 2008 regular season performances, followed by post season flops. I am one who is less inclined to discount Sabathia in the post season because in both seasons he was forced to pitch a ridiculous amount of innings for teams that had shaky bullpens. Both instances wore him down to the point where his effectiveness in the post season was compromised.

Both pitchers have mid-90s velocity on their fastballs and both have a wicked breaking pitch to back it up. Each has stellar command of their pitches and in spite of Sabathia’s bad track record in big games, I’m going to say that those three starts he made on three days rest to personally deliver the Brewers to the playoffs give him some credits in the clutch department.

Verdict: Sabathia has an edge over Lester. Lester can pitch with the big guy any day of the week but Sabathia has the more established track record of dominance over the past eight seasons. Lester could pass him in the years to come but for 2009 CC is the better lefty to have on your staff. Yanks lead 1-0.

"I got a fever and the only perscription is more cowbell!"

Count me among the many disbelievers who didn't think the Rays stood a chance after that Game 5 debacle. But yet again the Rays proved that they are a team to be reckoned with on the big stage.

First and foremost; that was a great baseball game. Both starters were great and while the Rays provided some timely hitting the Sox provided the tightrope walking moments late in the game. Jon Lester had more left in the tank than I thought he would after he topped his career innings high by more than 50. Everyone knows it already but Lester is pretty damn good. Moving forward I think he is easily the ace of that staff.

On the other side is Matt Garza. Garza always seemed to me like he would be one of those pitchers who would never harness their ability due to their lack of mental fortitude, but he certainly showed that he is the one who deserves the moniker "Big Game" and not his teammate James Shields. (On a side note, how can you even give that nickname to someone who plays for Tampa Bay? Apparently he earned the name in single-A ball which is absurd. You can't hand out a nickname like that until someone does something in October.)

I didn't think the Rays would pull it out last night. It didn't seem like they would ever regain their footing after that ridiculous collapse in game five but I am glad I was wrong. Many will complain that most Rays fans are bandwagon fans but what team doesn't?

During the '90s the Yankees were carrying a lot of extra weight and now the ranks of Red Sox Nation are a little more bloated than they were ten years ago. Winning is what gets the fans in the seats and you can't get on the Rays fans until next season when the team can't draw 20,000 fans to a game in July against the A's.

For right now though, there is a World Series to be played and I can now watch it in peace with the Red Sox out. I like both teams and the series should be pretty competitive. The Rays have the deeper rotation but the Phillies lineup is better. Not by much but it is. The Phillies also have a better bullpen. I know, the Rays bullpen is the reason they are where they are but we all saw what happened in Game 5 when Joe Madden had no one to stop the bleeding late in the game. If Madden is smart then he needs to use David Price as the closer. He'll be their ace in a few years but right now Madden needs to learn something from Tony La Russa and Adam Wainwright and use Price as the closer.

Prediction: Rays in six. They have the starters, they have the bats and if they use him like they should then they have Price to close. Hamels could steal one for the Phillies early and then Philly might get to Sonnanstine for one more. After that there wont be much the Phillies can do to stop this magical season of the Rays.

Game 3: Rays Rout Sox

Damn, that was ugly. I don't think anyone was expecting what just happened tonight. At this point we all know that the Rays belong here. But of all of the games, this one figured to be competitive. Lester just didn't have it tonight, and Matt Garza did. I do have several complaints however. I will not make any excuses for the Sox poor play. These are just a few of things about game three that annoyed me.

What was up with the home plate umpire's strike zone? It was a wide strike zone, which is fine. It was just all over the place. Jason Varitek looked at a called strike that almost hit him in the shoulder during one at bat. The Rays had to deal with the same strike zone so I'm not blaming the umpire for the loss. It was just unbelievably bad officiating.

Jacoby Ellsbury looks terrible. Where is the guy from last year's playoffs blistering hits into the gap?

Why didn't the Sox try and do something to change the tone of the game? If B.J. Upton is killing you, throw at him. I'm not advocating hurting the guy, but he's way to comfortable in the batters box. Why not have Jacoby Ellsbury lay down a bunt or something to break Garza's rhythm?

Speaking of Garza, is there a more irritating player to watch than him? All baseball players fidget and have their idiosyncrasies. But I for one can't stand his glove flapping before every pitch or the non-stop spitting. You can actually see him scrape the loogey off of his tongue with his teeth before every expectoration. C'mon, dude. That's freakin' gross.

One inconsequential thought related to Dodgers/Phillies: what the hell has Manny Ramirez started chewing on since he moved to LA? It appears to be a red and blue mouth piece or perhaps wax lips. He better be careful he doesn't choke on it. You know Jeff Kent won't rush to give him the Heimlich.

ALCS Rotation

The Sox have set their rotation for the ALCS, which starts tomorrow evening. They will begin with Daisuke Matsuzaka followed by Josh Beckett and Jon Lester. Presumably Francona made this decision because he wants Beckett to start a potential game seven. That's not a bad idea, I suppose, given his well known playoff track record. But in my opinion, you have to throw history out the window. Lester has been the ace this season. I think you have to set him up to go in game seven if necessary.

All three starters have good stats against the Rays. They have a combined 6-1 record and each has an ERA of 3.00 or less. Lester is 3-0 with a minuscule 0.90 ERA, another reason perhaps you would want him to start game seven. I know he's young, but he was money in the playoffs last season and pitched brilliantly in the World Series clincher.

Tim Wakefield will pitch game four. His stats against Tampa are much less impressive than the other pitchers I've mentioned; 0-2, 5.87 ERA. Wakefield has always been a streaky pitcher. He can look like a Hall of Famer then ready for retirement in back-to-back starts. Francona should have a short leash on him and have Paul Byrd ready to go if Wakefield's knuckle ball ain't dancing.

Angel Comback Sets Up Lester-Lackey Rematch

I did not expect the Red Sox to sweep this series, but last night's game was very disappointing, especially the way that Beckett pitched and allowed the Angels to come back. I was watching in the 10th and was so hoping that the Sox would beat K-Rod again. They loaded the bases to no avail. I feel good about Lester going tonight. It will probably be another low scoring duel with Lackey matching up again on the other side.

Beckett pitched ok, I guess. I just think he is too banged up to be the dominant ace he has been in playoffs past. I hope he can dig deep and keep the Sox in games when he's out there. My expectations have been lowered. On the bright side, the bull pen, which has been another season long problem, held the Angels scoreless until Javier Lopez got in the game. Papelbon looks like he's out of whatever funk he's been in. He looks ready to pitch two more innings tonight if necessary, but I'm sure Francona will avoid that if he can.

I just don't want the Sox to squander this opportunity after winning the first two games in Anaheim. The road has been Boston's Achilles heel all season. Taking those first two games was a big deal for them. It's time for the Sox to do what they have done all year and take care of business at Fenway.

Lester is a Beast

John Lester continued his excellent season last night going seven innings and giving up one run. Lackey matched him until the sixth when Jason Bay hit a two run blast to put the Sox up 2-1. As Lester continues to mature, Jason Bay continues to answer questions as to whether he can handle the pressure in Boston. His inexperience in big spots due to floundering in the black hole that is Pittsburgh was the biggest reservation about his trade to Boston. From the his first game, Bay has passed every test. He did it again in his first playoff game.

Another good sign for Boston is the performance by Jacoby Ellsbury last night. Jacoby had a good season, leading the AL in stolen bases, and his glove in the outfield has been invaluable at all three positions. At times, he didn't get on base enough though. Some how last night, he continued where he left off in the World Series, going 3-for-5 and stealing two bases.

In other games, did anyone else see that ridiculous homerun by Manny Ramirez last night. He chased a pitch around his ankles about a mile out of the strike zone and golfed it to dead centerfield. I'm still glad that Manny is gone, but I'm not a hater. That homer was just sick.

Random Thought: Does anyone else think that Al Davis resembles the bad guys from the Dark Crystal? The skeksies, I think they were called.