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.

Yanks Fall to Hapless O's

I always worry when the Yankees have to play a team like the Orioles. Not because I think the Yankees will drop their guard and play down to the level of their competition, but because the Orioles are so bad, that mathematically they have to win sometime and when they come in 3-14, well, it seems like they are due when the Yankees come to town.

The bats let the Yankees down last night. Especially in the third when the Yankees loaded the bases with one out and failed to drive in a run. They were already gifted with the tying run on an error by Miguel Tejada, but both A-Rod and Cano just missed on mistakes by Millwood. That allowed the veteran to settle down and in the surprise of the season so far, the Baltimore bullpen out pitched the New York bullpen.

While last night was difficult to watch when the Yankees hit, I still enjoyed Phil Hughes rough start. Of course it was hard to watch him walk Macier Izturis on four pitches with the bases loaded, I was surprised and happy to watch him gut out the start and make it into the sixth. In prior seasons he might have just folded, but he made it out of the inning relatively unscathed, and came back to pitch 3.2 solid innings after that.

With the rotation turning over, the Yankees need to take these next two games. Sabathia and Burnett need to right the Yankees before they head home. The Rays and the Red Sox are not going to lose series to the Orioles and New York cannot afford to. they aren't must-win games, but games given away in April always come back to bite you in September.

Weekend Miscellany

As I watch Josh Beckett get pounded by the Blue Jays and give away a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the third, a few thoughts are running through my head.

• The Red Sox finish their home stand by going 4-2 in the final six games after folding like a cheap suite in a four game sweep by the Rays. Sounds like a nice recovery, but Boston had to work their asses off to get those four wins against two pretty decrepit teams, teams that are supposedly vastly inferior.
• Boston desperately needs to take care of business against Toronto and Baltimore on this road trip. They will have the Angels and Yankees waiting for them when they return to Fenway.
• Off the topic of the Red Sox, what does everyone make of Mark Teixeira crushing Bobby Wilson over the weekend? Clearly it's a legal play. But everyone is debating as to whether it is "necessary." Baseball is weird. In no other sport would anyone care about the necessity of the act. There doesn't exist the same unwritten rules or protocol. Also, baseball is 99% of the time a non-contact sport (unless you count contact with a baseball). I think when contact happens, however legal, no one is really sure what to do or how to react. Players are unaccustomed to contact and often get hurt as a result.

The Sox just tied the game on a wild pitch with bases loaded. It's the top of the fourth. This is gonna be a long one...

Boston Bounces Back

The Rangers and Sox both entered this series riding losing streaks, so something had to give. Fortunately for Boston it was Texas who buckled under the pressure of two close games that ended in walk off wins for the Sox. Last night saw Kevin Youkilis bust out of his slump. He is 4-10 in the series including a double for the game winning RBI last night.

I think there is a trend happening with the Red Sox that has revealed itself in this series. With little offense coming from the some positions, Francona is going to have pinch hitters late in games based on match ups. Hall, Hermida, McDonald, Reddick, and Cameron will all see action. This is something Sox fans are unaccustomed to. There were more substitutions in game one of this series than in all of 2009 it seems.

I like the fact that Mike Lowell is getting some at bats now. At this point he is making a much more effective DH than David Ortiz. He may not be able to move, but he can still hit a little. Hey, Ortiz can't move either so what's the difference. Lowell has been making the most of his opportunities and making it very difficult to take him out of the line up (or put Ortiz in). It's a small sample size, but Lowell's line looks pretty good: .375/.474/.563. Ortiz has a larger sample of at bats and the disparity is staggering: .146/.222/.268 plus 17 strikeouts in 41 AB's. Boston is lucky that trade to Texas didn't go through.

Sox Sucking Wind

I'm not sure if the field was more wet from the rain or Matt Garza's nonstop spitting, but at the end of it all the Red Sox had lost three in a row at home to the Rays. They lost in every conceivable way, the weird suspended game completed in two days, then the come back that fell short, and finally today, the good old fashioned butt whippin'.

The first game is the one that really hurt. In the bottom of the 11th, Boston had the bases loaded with no outs and couldn't push the winning run across. Clearly this disappointment carried over to game two. Boston came out flat and quickly fell behind.

Today Matt Garza just flat out schooled the Red Sox. He may be fidgety, nervous, with scraggly goatee and have an overabundance of saliva, but the kid can pitch. He owned the corners and changed speeds very effectively. It was the 6th before the Sox got a hit (which resulted in bupkis as Beltre got thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double. These new guys have to learn which wall balls are sure doubles and which aren't.) It's plain to see. Garza owns the Sox at this point.

Side Note: So much for run prevention. The normally reliable Marco Scutaro has 4 errors. Adrian Beltre has had a couple of flubs at third. Mike Cameron dropped a relatively easy liner the other day. And today the Sox missed out on three potential double plays. They have one more shot at the Rays tomorrow night.

Yanks Take Rain Shortened Opener From Texas

The Texas Rangers rolled into Yankee Stadium for a three game set and they ran into a brick wall in CC Sabathia. Coming off of his almost no-hit start in Tampa Bay, it looked like Sabathia was even better tonight. He had a rough first inning, but he quickly settled down and began the strikeout parade.

The big lefty struck out nine in six innings and even had an impressive six in a row. It was good to see Sabathia get some strike outs. Something that seemed missing from his debut season with the Yanks was the strikeouts. While his 7.7 K/9 was more than adequate during 2009, it was down a tick from his rate over the last three seasons before he joined the Yankees.

The bats did their thing against C.J. Wilson. Wilson is no match for a team like the Yankees. He just doesn't have the control to go up against a patient lineup like New York's. It is curious that Texas thinks he can be an effective starter again simply because he seemed to do well enough as a closer unless he was hurt.

The Ranger defense didn't help Wilson either as Chris Davis made a two-run error to give the Yankees the lead and there were a few other plays that could have been made to lighten the load on Wilson that weren't made. Of course there was one where Wilson hurt himself too.

But back to the big man. Last Year it took Sabathia until the second half, more specifically August and September, to go off and put together a dominant run that saw him win nine of his last 12 starts. Sabathia could easily eclipse his 19 wins from last year if he puts everything together sooner rather than later.

Speaking of big win totals, I don't know about anyone else, but I am very closely watching Roy Halladay in Philadelphia to see how much he embarrasses the National League. He has won his first three starts with vicious efficiency and I wouldn't bet against him to be the first pitcher since Bob Welch in 1990 to win 25 games or more.

Those Devilish Rays

Starting tonight Boston has a four game (sheesh!) home stand with Tampa Bay. I tell you what, I'm starting to hate them more than the Yankees. At least I can respect the Yankees while hating them. Rivera and Jeter are class acts and clear Hall of Famers. I am unabashedly jealous that they managed to get Mark Teixeira when the Red Sox had first crack at him.

But the Rays, what's to respect about them? They finally managed to put together a couple of winning seasons after getting years and years of high draft picks due to their ineptitude. They have some awesome young talent that is well documented, but let's face it. They have no fan base to hang their hats on, and they're a bunch of skinflints. The team will slowly be dismantled as they gradually let free agents get away and trade players that they're too cheap to try to re-sign. Scott Kazmir was traded last year. Now they have Carlos Pena and Carl Crawford to deal with this season. There is no way they will keep either. Crawford is going to want $100 million I'm sure.

This is why get so aggravated when they keep beating the Sox. There is no commitment, no tradition, and no fan base. In five years they will be back to losing 90 games a year.