July 2, 2007

G81: Red Sox 7, Rangers 3

It was a night for three of the lesser lights on the Red Sox roster.

Gabbard: 5.2-3-3-4-5, 99

Eric Hinske: 2-for-4, with a 3-run triple that turned Boston's 4-3 lead to 7-3

Jacoby Ellsbury: 2 singles, 2 walks, 2 runs scored (including one on a wild pitch from second base), 1 stolen base

***

Brandon McCarthy (5.90, 77 ERA+) / Kason Gabbard (6.48, 69 ERA+)

Gabbard has never faced the Rangers. In two career starts and 12 innings at Fenway Park, he has allowed only two runs while striking out 13 batters.
            IP  H  R ER BB  K  Score
090506 CWS 7 3 0 0 2 6 Bos 1-0
052007 ATL 5 6 2 2 1 7 Bos 6-3
McCarthy returns to the mound after being on the disabled list since June 10 with a blister on his right middle finger.

Red Sox lineup:
Drew, rf
Pedroia, 2b
Ortiz, dh
Ramirez, lf
Youkilis, 1b
Lowell, 3b
Varitek, c
Ellsbury, cf
Lugo, ss

23 comments:

allan said...

Updated lineup:

Lugo, ss (WTF???)
Pedroia, 2b
Ortiz, dh
Ramirez, lf
Drew, rf
Lowell, 3b
Varitek, c
Hinske, 1b
Ellsbury, cf

Youkilis out -- strained left quadriceps.

Also: Curt Schilling threw the ball 35 times today.

Benjamin said...

Lead off walk, at least.

But just look at that lineup. Hinske. . . Ellsbury. . . Lugo.

Maybe it's so shitty we HAVE to win.

Benjamin said...

And a useful sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Maybe Lugo is just a prima donna who needs to be in the leadoff spot not to blow goats.

With Youk sitting, Pedroia's the only one in this lineup today who inspires confidence in me. But with three runs on five hits after three innings, I'm feeling at least somewhat hopeful.

9casey said...

phrenile said...
Maybe Lugo is just a prima donna who needs to be in the leadoff spot not to blow goats.

With Youk sitting, Pedroia's the only one in this lineup today who inspires confidence in me.

There are 2 all stars batting 3rd and 4th. ? . ?

Blow Goats?

Benjamin said...

9casey: had you seen how Papi and (especially) Manny have been hitting lately? I hope they sit out the ASG; especially with Papi's ailing hammies.

9casey said...

phrenile said...
9casey: had you seen how Papi and (especially) Manny have been hitting lately? I hope they sit out the ASG; especially with Papi's ailing hammies


I can't take that seriouslly....
That what have you done for me lately mentality.....

laura k said...

There is way too much gloom and doom on this blog lately. We're playing over .600 ball. Sometimes the losses come in bunches, but we're still breezing to the playoffs.

laura k said...

But just look at that lineup. Hinske. . . Ellsbury. . . Lugo.

And what was the OBP for those three tonight?

allan said...

And what was the OBP for those three tonight?

8-for-13

Hinske: 2-for-4
Ellsbury: 4-for-4
Lugo: 2-for-5

laura k said...

It's so cool to see Ellsbury. I look forward to seeing him play every day in the future.

9casey said...

L-girl said...
It's so cool to see Ellsbury. I look forward to seeing him play every day in the future.


Ditto ....The kid is exciting...Scoring from 2nd on a wild pitch...

Pandyora said...

Don't forget to vote for Okajima:
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2007/fv/ballot.html

Its a crime his 0.96 ERA isn't enough to earn him an all-star appearence.

Benjamin said...

It's hardly throwing them under a bus to notice that Papi's playing hurt (wincing, getting late cuts, etc.) or that Manny isn't yet being Manny this season. I hope the powers that be are taking it seriously.

allan said...

SG's Red mentions Roger Clemens's "baloney tits".

:>)

9casey said...

phrenile said...
I hope the powers that be are taking it seriously.


What do you mean....they should rest them more, or tell them , I know you are both right around or above .300 , so lets step it up a notch........

They have 50 wins the only thing that is wierd is that they got their 50 th win last year on July 2nd.....

allan said...

They have 50 wins the only thing that is wierd is that they got their 50 th win last year on July 2nd.

I trust that August 2007 will be a bit more enjoyable than August 2006.

50-31 x 2 = 100-62

Papi could stand a day or two off here and there. He has been just as productive as ever, but his power does seemed to have been sapped (bad hammies?). I was surprised his F9 to start the 5th tonight reached only to the edge of the track.

Zenslinger said...

To me there's a world of difference between the 2005 and 2006 winning Red Sox teams and this one. Maybe it's just because the Yanks are in the shitter, but last year I felt a sense of doom from having no bullpen. And in both years, from having to rely on constant go-ahead and walkoff HRs from Ortiz. When the injuries came last year, there was just no answer. (Ortiz still hit HRs but found he actually couldn't do it all himself).

Tonight we saw the big differences between this year's 50 first-half wins and last year's: a kickass bullpen instead of a one-man show. ERAs: Lopez, 3.05; Snyder, 2.40; Okajima, It Takes Scientific Notation to Count That Low. And as far as Lopez and Snyder's ERAs, that includes their having taken some lumps in difficult losses. Their ERAs aren't just those of relievers with small sample sizes that happened to have gotten out of jams but let every inherited score.

Second, there's the question of what if our big guys get hurt? Tonight we get decent pitching from a guy with a pretty big ceiling and a champ CF up from the minors looking unshakably confident at the plate. We've had some significant injuries at this point and I don't think it's hurt us that much, even though we lost our share of games in June.

Worry? Gloom? I think even if the Yanks had been playing decent ball and had come up four or five games in the standings, there wouldn't be much to worry about. 2007 Sox are built to go the distance.

Patriots Film said...

A question for everyone:
At what point does Okajima's near 500 ERA+ become the number one story in baseball? It's been half a season.

It seems like an obvious case of pitching biases as stated in Moneyball- his fastball is 87, he's got a funky delivery, so he must be a fluke.

Thoughts?

Zenslinger said...

He's a reliever who's not a closer. No matter how well he does what he does, he can't be considered all that important the way baseball reporting goes.

Patriots Film said...

True. More moneyball. Yay!

Ron said...

Anyone have a link to video of Ellsbury scoring from second last night? I've checked ESPN, Redsox.com and youtube, but no joy.

I'm in NY at my inlaws, and need a fix.

allan said...

Chief:

Are you able to get the clip from here?

NESN.com has an interview clip with Ellsbury talking about it, but no action clip.

Ron said...

Crap, how'd I miss that. Front and center on that article I'd already read.

Thanks Redsock.