July 22, 2008

G102: Red Sox 4, Mariners 2

Red Sox  - 100 300 000 - 4  9  0
Mariners - 000 000 020 - 2 5 0
Drew donged in the opening frame and Dice (7.1-5-2-3-6, 99) mowed down the Mariners in the first seven innings, moving the Red Sox to only 0.5 GB the Rays in the East.

A bunt single from Ellsbury and a line drive down the left field line from Pedroia started the Boston fifth. Drew made it 2-0 with a sac fly to right. Manny singled and Lowell doubled home FY. After Yook walked, Lowrie lofted a sac fly of his own -- 4-0 Sox.

Matsuzaka ran into trouble to start the eighth -- a single from Lahair (his 1st MLB hit), a one-out RBI double from Ichiro (snapping Dice's string of 24.2 consecutive scoreless innings) and a run-scoring single from Lopez -- but Okajima got out of trouble and Bot pitched a perfect ninth.

Oakland whipped Tampa Bay 8-1 and the Yankees (now 3.5 GB) took care of the Twins 8-2.

***

Daisuke Matsuzaka (2.65, 164 ERA+) / R. A. Dickey (3.73, 106 ERA+)

In seven road starts -- only 37.2 innings, though -- Dice's ERA is 2.15. Opponents are hitting .152 and slugging .220.

In his three July starts, Matsuzaka has allowed only one run in 18.1 innings (though he has allowed 12 hits and 13 walks). Opponents, while hitting only .188 this month, have a .342 on-base percentage.

Matsuzaka has a lower ERA in his five no-decisions (1.59) than he does in his ten wins (2.14).

Dice's opponents' OBP: After 0-1 count: .255. After 1-0 count: .409.

Matsuzaka is at his best in high leverage situations:
          PA   AVG   OBP   SLG
High 61 .096 .213 .096
Medium 210 .207 .332 .310
Low 115 .253 .383 .432
Which explains (somewhat) why he can have a 1.38 WHIP and a 2.65 ERA.

Also: Twins/Yankees and Athletics/Rays, both at 7 PM

274 comments:

1 – 200 of 274   Newer›   Newest»
nixon33 said...

Dear DIceclay Buchholzaka,
Please throw strikes.
-nix

allan said...

Seattle has a team OBP of .313, the worst in baseball.

THROW STRIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Devine said...

Doesn't a team having a low OBP totally justify throwing them junk all night? It's Matsuzaka's dream!

(Unless their batting average is accounting for all of the shittiness of their OBP--I just checked--only the Angels and Royals have walked less often.)

9casey said...

Devine said...
(Unless their batting average is accounting for all of the shittiness of their OBP--I just checked--only the Angels and Royals have walked less often.)



Angels and Royals : at complete different ends of the spectrum record wise....Pitching does mean something, who knew?

A Conformer said...

I really like the whole theory of how Zaka's (sorry, but it's better than Dice-K in my book...) h/9 going down is intrinsically tied to his bb/9 going up. Reasonable, close to the strike zone nibbling= more balls, but also more weak contact. I think a lot of time people forget that BABIP doesn't equal luck. A pitcher that induces a lot of weak contact will have a much lower than average BABIP, so he's not undoubtedly headed for a regression.
Of course, I like this theory because it's an optimistic, 'he'll keep pitching well for the Sox', one. But that's no reason to think it isn't true.

allan said...

Why not stay with "Ofer"?

A Conformer said...

Well, just because Ofer is my actual name... wow, that sounds like a pretty stupid reason.
Anyway, A Conformer is an anagram of my full name, and is kinda funny for me. It's sort of a half-joking half-serious kind of thing.

Rob said...

In what other setting in life would you expect someone to say "BABIP doesn't necessarily mean luck?"

Patrick said...

Allan, nice compilation of Mat stats.

I feel like Dice-K could have a giant pepperoni stuck on his cheek, and everyone who saw him would tell him either subtly or very directly, "dude, you have a giant piece of pepperoni on your face", and Daisuke wouldn't acknowledge them, or he'd say, "sorry, I don't".

Similar to this

Patrick said...

oh, I'm good at these anagram things. Is your name, O, Draconian devil???

laura k said...

A Conformer is an anagram of my full name

Neat! Any anagram of my full name would be so weird, what with the Ks and all.

allan said...

OAK - 000
FKR - 001

sac fly scores a run but a baserunning gaffe ends the inning.

Rob said...

Yay Ray baserunning gaffe!

Rob said...

It'd be better if they didn't have any baserunners to have gaffes though.

allan said...

Neat! Any anagram of my full name would be so weird, what with the Ks and all.

Kirk Era Manual
Ink, A Karma Lure
Mark Ruin A Lake
Make A Rural Kin
I Nuke Ark Alarm

allan said...

Hannahan 3-run dong for OAK!

Patrick said...

OO, there is some good ones for my name:

Tackle Prey Ilk
Carpet Key Kill
Lack Triple Key
Tacky Leper Ilk <---bonus ana!!
Yack Leper Kilt
Cap Likely Trek
Leaky Clerk Tip
Ale Kick Pertly
Realty Pick Elk
Relay Lick Kept

The very best fit for me is
Try Pickle Kale

I am always pushing sauerkraut..

Jack Marshall said...

I've always wondered...did Dice-K pitch like this in Japan? Are those stats available? If so, wouldn't that indicate that this is his, admittedly eccentric, style that has proven successful?

[My name is a rare palindromic anagram, which means it's EXACTLY the same as its source. Weird!]

laura k said...

As I said, any anagram of my name would be weird.

The very best fit for me is
Try Pickle Kale

I am always pushing sauerkraut..


Ha! Good one.

Last year I remember we did anagrams of player's names. Not to start that whole thing again, but I remember my favourite:

David Ortiz: Ditz or Diva?

laura k said...

And I am out of the thread for the night. Go Sox, while I sleep...

allan said...

Twins tie the MFY 1-1 in the top 6th.

allan said...

Ellsbury, LF
Pedroia, 2B
Drew, RF
Ramirez, DH
Lowell, 3B
Youkilis, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Varitek, C
Crisp, CF

Suzuki, RF
Lopez, 2B
Ibanez, LF
Vidro, DH
Beltre, 3B
Reed, CF
Clement, C
LaHair, 1B
Betancourt, SS

Rob said...

Cano knocks in the go-ahead run for the Yankees...

Rob said...

I see Lowrie's getting some love. Moved up to 7th.

Rob said...

Listening to the Yankees on the radio... They have a pitching change and someone forgot to hit the button to go to commercial. So it's MLB.TV style, listening to crowd noise (that crazy carnival song that used to be the jingle for Six Flags) for about 60 seconds. Funny.

Rob said...

I really meant the score was 4-2 Yankees.

allan said...

OAK - 000 300 0
FKR - 001 000

MIN - 000 002
MFY - 010 003
(still batting in 6th)

A Conformer said...

oh, I'm good at these anagram things. Is your name, O, Draconian devil???

Judging by this, I'd say you'renot good at this anagram things... (:

Amy said...

For some reason tonight I am getting MLB Extra on our cable. Am watching Oakland kill the Rays, but meanwhile the Yankees are blowing out the Twins.

allan said...

NESN again -- feeling lucky!

Rob said...

For some reason tonight I am getting MLB Extra on our cable. Am watching Oakland kill the Rays, but meanwhile the Yankees are blowing out the Twins.

Weird. Is it digital cable?

Amy said...

Gee, no posts getting through? A blogger problem?

Amy said...

Yes, digital. Is it possible it has been there all summer and we never checked? I thought you had to pay extra. Tonight I am here alone (Harv on the road), so I was surfing with the remote and, lo and behold, a whole shitload of baseball games!

allan said...

seems like an odd time of the season for a free promo week ...

Amy said...

Guess I am getting through now, but posted before a terrible anagram for my name and it seemed to have gotten lost (or barred by the moderator---it was pretty lame---but try finding a good anagram for cohen).

allan said...

blogger had a maintenance timeout at 8:30 for awhile. maybe that ate it. i wouldn't delete anything.

allan said...

Andrew Dice-K:
"Mother Goose .......... I walked her."

Amy said...

Nah, this was about 10 minutes ago.

Rob said...

Here's something that doesn't happen often. Red Sox facing a knuckleballer.

allan said...

hmmm, maybe when i changed the modding, it got caught in limbo. ... if so, it may appear in its rightful time spot after the game!

allan said...

final: oakland 8, tampa bay 1

allan said...

final:

yankees 8, twins 2

A Conformer said...

FKRs lose. Befire the night ends the difference will be a mere half game.

Jere said...

two outs before I can get my first comment in. ugh

Jere said...

dong drew. woo hoo!

Rob said...

ON FIRE IS ON FIRE AGAIN!

Amy said...

Fire in the first inning!

Rob said...

Amy, I just checked my digital cable and I can see MLB Extra Innings as well! Free previews.

I hope they'll still have it tomorrow!

Rob said...

Yeah On fire!!!

allan said...

dickey plays with fire - gets burned.

A Conformer said...

ON FIRE!

I know this has been said many times before, but the 'in play, run(s)' when noone's on base is great.

Amy said...

Thanks, Ish. I was starting to feel stupid---like this had been there all summer and we never noticed. Or that we were paying for it and didn't know!

Rob said...

I have to keep remembering this guy is a knuckler.

Rob said...

Thanks, Ish. I was starting to feel stupid---like this had been there all summer and we never noticed. Or that we were paying for it and didn't know!

Heh. You'd notice. I think it costs something like $199 for the season. They're advertising $129 for the rest of the season, I think.

I feel bad I hadn't noticed this earlier.

Jere said...

i believe a comment I wrote got eaten.....

nixon33 said...

FIRE!

Amy said...

The jaywalker walks.

Rob said...

He looks like he's throwing the knuckler too hard. 71-75

A Conformer said...

FKRs lose. Befire the night ends the difference will be a mere half game.

My subconcious called this dong.

allan said...

okay - after the 3rd sox out, no comments until i say so!

...

A Conformer said...

FKRs lose. Befire the night ends the difference will be a mere half game.

My subconscious called this dong.

Rob said...

I might have had a comment get eaten too. Or I might have deleted the text and typed something else. I don't remember.

Amy said...

Jere, me too. But my comment was worthless so no harm.

I will be at the game on 8/2, Jere. My school finally got tickets.

Patrick said...

He looks like he's throwing the knuckler too hard. 71-75

It's his style. Doesn't knuckle as much, but fits in better with his secondary pitches.

allan said...

ish, jere:
your comments are now up. they got caught in mod limbo.

allan said...

okay, chat away

Rob said...

Heh, since I started my blog, I know what you mean about mod limbo. When you turn off modding, the comments that you hadn't checked on won't be approved. So you have to turn modding back on, approve the comments, then turn modding off again.

Jere said...

amy, nice job on the tix. my next game is the Saturday Yanks game--anyone else going this weekend?

A Conformer said...

This Dickey guy can't be any good. A knuckleballer with no personal catcher? That means his knuckler doesn't dance.

Amy said...

Thanks. Guess mine really was eaten. Or maybe I forgot to publish.

allan said...

essackly.

Rob said...

It's his style. Doesn't knuckle as much, but fits in better with his secondary pitches.

And is probably easier to swing at.

Rob said...

I wonder if the movement of a knuckleball is less or more the faster it's traveled.

allan said...

essackly to ish re: modding, that is.

DICE looking nice.

Amy said...

I might have been able to go on Saturday, but it didn't work out. My brother will be there with his best friend who is a truly fanatic Yankee fan---she lives, breathes, dreams Yankee.

Rob said...

I am seriously hoping that free preview is on tomorrow. A's/Rays at 12:30, Twins/MFY at 1... And then the Red Sox at 4:40. Then of course, there are 7:00 games and a 10:00 game. Baseball overload.

allan said...

looks like ibanez was hanging out with posada the day chins were handed out.

Amy said...

Nice start for Dice.

Jere said...

Sox 1/9th of the way to a very special night, redsock. (delete if you feel it's necessary)

Patrick said...

I wonder if the movement of a knuckleball is less or more the faster it's traveled.

I saw an interview with Dickey, and he said (I think) mid sixties is the best ranger for the most movement on the knuckleball.

allan said...

cora is not amused.

Jere said...

What do you call a highlight reel consisting of just highlights from this Ms pitcher?

Amy said...

Tek batting 8th and starts getting hits.

Rob said...

Red Sox are open for business!

nixon33 said...

TEK'LL TAKE IT!

allan said...

a reel of dicks?

A Conformer said...

I saw an interview with Dickey, and he said (I think) mid sixties is the best ranger for the most movement on the knuckleball.

I'm more of an early seventies guy.

Jere said...

a reel of dicks. yes.

no-- A "Dickey - Thon."

allan said...

fuck -- i fucking hate fucking bunting in the fucking second fucking inning. fuck it.

Jere said...

bingle scores two, droy

nixon33 said...

come on lasershow

A Conformer said...

Did Crisp really sac bunt in the 2nd inning? Or did it look like he was bunting for a hit?

Rob said...

fuck -- i fucking hate fucking bunting in the fucking second fucking inning. fuck it.

Heh. Hasn't worked so far this go-round.

Jere said...

real blood. and shaking!

Rob said...

The ball hit his hand when it came down. Heh, yes it did. Hit his thumb.

allan said...

def. a sac attempt.

idiots.

allan said...

Just rub some dirt on it and LET'S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jere said...

foul ball screen injury. rare.

allan said...

so i see the ad for nesn's stat pack last night. stats n stuff emailed to you in the morning. sounds good. i go to nesn.

there is no mention of stat pack anywhere -- and the site is a mess to navigate.

anyone out there subscribe to this thing?

Rob said...

Psst. This is your invitation to steal loads of bases off this catcher when you can.

Benjamin said...

Who's injured?

allan said...

LOADED for the FIRESTARTER!

Rob said...

there is no mention of stat pack anywhere -- and the site is a mess to navigate.

No idea, but Boston.com publishes an article before the games that has a bunch of STATS in it. Same sort of thing I guess.

Benjamin said...

GDGD says Dickey's throwing knuckleballs. I assume GDGD's full of crap.

Rob said...

Who's injured?

M's catcher. He went back for a popup and he grabbed the screen with his throwing hand, and the ball, behind the screen, actually hit him in the thumb and drew blood.

Rob said...

GDGD says Dickey's throwing knuckleballs. I assume GDGD's full of crap.

Nope. Knuckleballer.

Amy said...

Ech, hate leaving them loaded. Dumb bunt.

allan said...

the nesn ad made it sound like you'd get stuff early the next morning, as opposed to late afternoon before the next game.

allan said...

I see GDGD has different pitches listed for Dickey. It has knucks 100% of the time for Wakefield.

Rob said...

Heidi rockin' the headband today. Looks good.

allan said...

BOS - 10
SEA - 0

DAMN YOU, Jere!

Rob said...

I see GDGD has different pitches listed for Dickey. It has knucks 100% of the time for Wakefield.

He throws a fastball rather frequently, too. 87ish. Probably has a change as well. Maybe a curve.

allan said...

Reed SASAHE!

Rob said...

Meanwhile, that low team OBP is making Dice-K look REAL good.

Rob said...

I see GDGD has different pitches listed for Dickey. It has knucks 100% of the time for Wakefield.

Re-read that. I got what you meant now.

Amy said...

Hot dice!

Rob said...

Johjima takes over for Clement behind the plate...

A Conformer said...

I see GDGD has different pitches listed for Dickey. It has knucks 100% of the time for Wakefield.

Probably has to do with the fact that Dickey's fastball is actually kinda fast. The PitchFX thing probably can't tell the fastball from the knuckler when they're in both in the 65-75 range.

Rob said...

The PitchFX thing probably can't tell the fastball from the knuckler when they're in both in the 65-75 range.

Especially seeing as Wake's fastball is slower than most pitchers' changeups.

allan said...

Dice fans WOBL.

Rob said...

5th K for Dice!

allan said...

Jeterian!

Jere said...

sock--you should've deleted. all blame waived.

Lowrie making that play his trademark.

Patrick said...

Yawn!!! Lugo who??

Jere said...

Batista's book.

allan said...

Dice PC: 13-11-12 = 36

Me likey.

Patrick said...

I don't know which is worse, the Kanye West concert Ad, or the Gloria Estefan one. I will grow to hate this current one just the same.

allan said...

i knew about the poetry, but must have forgotten about the book. i wonder if my library has it?

s1c said...

Dice is loooooking good!!!

Lets score some fragging runs.

Amy said...

Losing steam here. May just watch and not type. But still around.

Rob said...

I don't know which is worse, the Kanye West concert Ad, or the Gloria Estefan one. I will grow to hate this current one just the same.

That's a tough one. I heard that commercial too.

tim said...

Whats up Seattle!

allan said...

Stems lose. Ouch.

PHI - 100 000 106 - 8 13 0
NYM - 003 002 001 - 6 10 0

Rob said...

Saw highlights for that one, Allan. Mini-collapse. It had similar feeling watching that as when they collapsed down the stretch last September. On a smaller scale.

tim said...

Dice PC: 13-11-12 = 36

Apparently brought to you by some company, on FSN Northwest. WOW. Can't even get a goddamn pitch count anymore.

Jere said...

was it a microcosm, ish?

allan said...

i'll bet these dushbags won't bunt.

s1c said...

Need outs here boys.

s1c said...

That helps!!!

Jere said...

out of it

allan said...

2 pitches - 3 outs!!!

tim said...

Nice work getting out of that.

Amy said...

SCORE RUNS

allan said...

alright lyndon -- get on and RUN!

Amy said...

Bunt single for LBJ! That looks like the old LBJ

allan said...

YES!!!!

Patrick said...

Was that a high leverage situation for Dice? He decided to stop Fking around and maybe get the guys out.

Rob said...

The Red Sox are open for business again!

For guess who? ON FIRE.

Amy said...

Fair? Well, I will take it.

Rob said...

I find it funny we're not calling FY On Fire. He's the most on-fire of almost anyone in the league.

Rob said...

Drew is right on this guy tonight.

allan said...

2 on, 0 outs, 1-0 score. Seems hi lev to me.

Not sure how they measure that in earlier innings ....

s1c said...

2-0 thanks to ON FIRE!!!

allan said...

hey manny, run faster, okay?

Benjamin said...

I love that Manny came back.

Patrick said...

You don't need to be called 'On Fire' when your nick name: FUCK YEAH, sums it up perfectly.

Amy said...

Now that's the way I remember LBJ and FY starting things off last summer.

Amy said...

Now that's the way I remember LBJ and FY starting things off last summer.

allan said...

ameeker and the ump are full of shit.

Amy said...

Stupid blogger double posted.

Amy said...

YES! This is waking me up!

tim said...

The doctah!

Rob said...

YES DOCTOR DOUBLES!!!

He's had a pretty bad go of it at the plate lately. Got that double not a moment too soon!

Patrick said...

Doctah, Doctah, gimmie the news! I got a bad case of loving you!

s1c said...

Rx is filled!!!

Keep the line moving boys.

allan said...

Time for the Sultan ...

... the Sultan of Sweat

allan said...

LOADED for the Jedi!

allan said...

let's bust this fucker open

Patrick said...

This is not the strike zone you're looking for....

tim said...

... the Sultan of Sweat

Doooo, do-do-do, do-do-do-do, bwow-wow-waa-waaaaa

s1c said...

4-0!!!

Keep the line moving ocoC!!!

Rob said...

This is more like it. Two sac flies in the fifth inning.

tim said...

goddamn that was delayed. f'in blogger.

Amy said...

Blogger having issues again?

Patrick said...

Let us keep these sacs flying. No need restricting the flow.

Rob said...

FUCK YEAH!!!!!!!!

allan said...

FY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

range

Rob said...

He almost stepped on the broken bat! Think about it from Dice's perspective. The head of the bat flies well over Dice-K's HEAD.

A Conformer said...

Could Seattle's catcher position be even worse than the Sox'? I mean, Clement is supposed to have a bright future and all, but right now it seems they're not getting anything out of the C spot.

(This isn't very good schadenfreude, though- it;s easy to be better than the very worst team)

tim said...

FY with the swass play....more runs pls!

s1c said...

Time to get some more runs, so lets get started here ocoC!!!

Rob said...

I wonder how the M's catchers stack up against the Yankee catchers...

Rob said...

Is that a webgem if he couldn't make that play last time?

allan said...

Jacoby: L is asleep, but I know I can speak for her when I say: "Shave."

Jere said...

I'm announcing right now...if anyone needs something to put them to sleep

Amy said...

Allan, if the whiskers help him get on base, let him keep them. I am sure Laura won't mind.

allan said...

Don, on Ichiro's 3000 carere hits: "IT'S BOGUS!!!"

:>)

...

L is not a fan of facial hair.

Rob said...

Allan, if the whiskers help him get on base, let him keep them. I am sure Laura won't mind.

Wind resistance!

Dice-K's have a lot of control issues.

s1c said...

It doesn't matter how many hits he has, because Ichirio will be the first Japanese player to be in the HOF. First ballot.

tim said...

I'm announcing right now...if anyone needs something to put them to sleep

I'm there. Beats FSN Northwest

Rob said...

Surprised those Dice-K K cards are allowed up at Safeco. If not by security, then by the M's fans.

tim said...

Youcastr - Woops!

"We're sorry, but something went wrong.

If this problem persists, please let us know by reporting the bug here. "

allan said...

Surprised those Dice-K K cards are allowed up at Safeco. If not by security, then by the M's fans.

Terrorists could use them to inflict paper cuts!

A Conformer said...

It doesn't matter how many hits he has, because Ichirio will be the first Japanese player to be in the HOF. First ballot.

And Matsuzaka the second...?

s1c said...

I'm liking this Daisuke!!!

Jere said...

i actually had people responding to me, so I know I was on air before....just go to their main site and click the game and then click "GedMan." You can see if that works.

s1c said...

And Matsuzaka the second...?

If he goes like 80-20 over the next five years then probably so.

Benjamin said...

82 through six. As many games as we've been losing lately, our starters have been going deep.

allan said...

Don says Dickey at 103 thru 6, but GDGD and I have 101.

Benjamin said...

Dickey's back out with 101. Love it.

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 274   Newer› Newest»