The happy recap.
***
Josh Beckett (4.78) / Barry Zito (3.20), 10 PM
A Julian Tavarez-for-Ray King deal with Colorado is likely dead because the Rockies don't want to pay Tavarez's $3.1 million salary for 2007. Imagine that.
Trot Nixon is slugging .186 in July. Slugging. All 11 of his hits this month have been singles. His last extra-base hit came on June 27 (63 AB ago) and his last home run was on June 9 (121 AB). Terry Francona isn't worried: "He's putting the ball in play and hitting the ball to left field. I think it works."
Why has Gabe Kapler started over Wily Mo Pena in three of the four games the Red Sox recently played against left-handers? I'm pretty sure Theo Epstein did not think he was trading Arroyo for a 5th outfielder? Only in very extreme circumstances should Kapler ever start instead of Pena. Is this more of Francona's love for playing "his guys"?
Edes: "Besides being 1-for-16 lifetime against Mike Timlin before he hit his walkoff homer, Richie Sexson began the day as the worst two-strike hitter in the American League, batting .105 (19-for-181). On a 1-and-2 count, the count when he connected off Timlin, he was 4-for-46 (.087), with 27 Ks."
Sigh. Another day, another game.
Elsewhere: The Yankees (2.5 GB) are in Texas while the Blue Jays (4.5 GB) visit Seattle.
this game was perrrrfect....
ReplyDeletemanny and papi smashing the ball all over the place,
beckett pitching six solid,
hansen getting out of a jam,
timlin pitching a solid 8th
and PAP being his absolute FILTHY self
plus it was still <3 hours, perfect since it's such a late game
this gem was the perfect recipe for a 2006 red sox victory. lets repeat this many times the rest of the season ok?
hey -- gonzalez homered too!
ReplyDeleteI'm surpised your post was so gloomy. We bashed them last night, and although Hansen's and Timlin's innings might have looked good in the box score, and they did, they were (the 7th and 8th) nail-bitingly tense. And then.......the music swells as Paps comes in..less than 2 minutes later, the post-game show. Makes ya wonder why we didn't see him Sunday eve. That page has already been turned here in my CT household, Schill, in his personal head to head with Josh Baseball, goes for HIS 13th. Good stuff! And thanks for clicking on my blogs, the main one www.peteronall.blogspot.com OOPS, I forgot, no need to plug here. You are like family. Go Schill.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the question of the moment is: trade WMP? I don't have any inside source saying he's the most likely, just read the stuff about his possibly going to Cleveland (?) for Paul Byrd or another so-so starter.
ReplyDeleteI think that, the Arroyo trade being done, you have to put the idea that it would essentially be Arroyo-for-Byrd (crap trade) out of your head. It's a quetsion of what's best from here.
But I still don't like it. WMP has a high ceiling. An average starter -- and only a rental at that? Just not worth it. Can't even be sure if he'd be an upgrade over Synder or Gabbard.
Has anyone heard of a trade rumor that actually sounded good?
In a WMP (or whoever) for Redman scenario, we'd have control over him for a while. Not sure what Byrd's contract status is.
ReplyDeleteOf course, Trot is being flogged as trade bait. It makes sense, but I hate to see it as connected to his recent performance. Bad July, sure, but not too long ago he was hitting .330. Albeit without his signature medium-level power.