September 14, 2008

G149: Red Sox 4, Blue Jays 3

Blue Jays - 100 000 002 - 3  7  1
Red Sox - 110 000 11x - 4 7 0
Lester (8-4-1-2-6, 103) outdueled Halladay (7-6-3-0-5, 116) and an eighth-inning triple by David Ortiz and a sac fly from Kevin Youkilis gave Boston enough of a edge to withstand a rally against Jonathan Papelbon.

Lester's only blemish was a solo dong from Jose Bautisia in the first. Over the next seven innings, only three Jays reached second base -- and none of them got to third.

Boston tied the game quickly in the first on Jacoby Ellsbury's single and stolen base, a bunt from Dustin Pedroia and a groundout from Ortiz. Coco Crisp singled in runs in both the second and seventh innings. Halladay was working on three days rest and ended up throwing many more picthes than usual in the early innings (16-26-16).

The Yankees beat the Rays 8-4, so the Red Sox are 1 GB with 13 games remaining -- and the next three against the team they are chasing.

***

Roy Halladay (2.77, 154 ERA+) / Jon Lester (3.23, 140 ERA+)
Ellsbury, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Youkilis, 1B
Lowell, 3B
Bay, LF
Varitek, C
Cora, SS
Crisp, CF
Halladay and Lester faced each other on April 29, at Fenway:
           IP   H   R  BB   K   PIT
Halladay 8.2 5 1 1 6 112
Lester 8.0 1 0 4 6 97
Kevin Youkilis's single in the bottom of the ninth gave Boston a 1-0 win.

Last month, Halladay faced the Sox on August 16 (9-7-1-1-4, 111); he also had a start on April 6 (8-8-4-1-6, 107). Lester had a horrible outing against Toronto on August 23 (2.1-8-7-2-2, 78). It's the one truly dark spot on his 2008 resume, but in his three starts since that shelling, Lester has allowed only two runs in 19.1 innings (0.93 ERA).

Kottaras Watch: From the Globe:
Marie Kottaras was walking through the furniture section of a Sears in Toronto yesterday when she caught a glimpse of the Red Sox game on one of the televisions. It was at that moment that she saw her son, George, walking up to the plate. "They were there for an hour and a half watching the game," George said. "They said they were sitting on the recliners."
It was a doubleheader, so there was at least a decent chance Kottaras might see some action. Why were his parents wandering around a Sears?

SoSH has an interesting thread about Byrd and Beckett possibly tipping their pitches or the Blue Jays expertly stealing signs; most of the thread is from mid-August, but there is some stuff from yesterday as well.

***

The Rays split their doubleheader with the Yankees (7-1, 5-6) and the Twins swept the Orioles (12-2, 12-6). The White Sox's two games against the Tigers were washed out.

Rays/Yankees at 1
Twins/Orioles at 1:30
Tigers/White Sox at 2
Tigers/White Sox at 8
East
Rays 88 58 --- Magic #
Red Sox 87 61 2.0 14
Blue Jays 80 69 9.5 6
Yankees 78 70 11.0 5
Orioles 65 82 23.5 E

Wild Card
Red Sox 87 61 --- Magic #
White Sox 81 65 5.0 11
Twins 82 66 5.0 10
Blue Jays 80 69 7.5 7
Yankees 78 70 9.0 6

237 comments:

«Oldest   ‹Older   201 – 237 of 237
Jere said...

Dirty Water/Tessie/Joy to the World

Benjamin said...

So half a dozen gift ump calls this game?

Jere said...

one out in 9th in NYC

allan said...

Glug!

laura k said...

Dirty water, even on the radio!

nixon33 said...

awesome, yanks holding up their part of the bargain so far. only two more!

Rob said...

I guess you could say it evens itself out, re umps? Bad calls against the Rays against the Sox then, bad calls for the Sox now...? Oh well. Bottom line is the Sox win.

allan said...

TOR = 8.5 GB in WC.

Nighty-night Jays!

Jere said...

I didn't realize we were the TBS game. Wish I could've given that news to those who can't get NESN. Oh well.

allan said...

Pena K- 2 outs.

Jere said...

Pena K!

One out away from 1 game back

laura k said...

I guess you could say it evens itself out, re umps? Bad calls against the Rays against the Sox then, bad calls for the Sox now...?

We have to say that, but there's no way to know. The bad calls are ridiculous.

allan said...

"Dirty water" in the Toilet?

allan said...

not yet - longoria single

allan said...

.... and it's fruitbat time!

Jere said...

Minny trying valiant comeback in 9th, need one more runner to get tying run up, but 2 outs.

Jere said...

Mo in.

nixon33 said...

1 GB!!!!

allan said...

1 GB with 13 games to go

... and our next 3 games against the team we are chasing!

Jere said...

4/5ths of a 10-pitch at bat

Jere said...

ONE GAME BACK

laura k said...

Whoa.

Jere said...

And Minny loses, so we gain one in the WC regardless of Chicago's result

Jere said...

3.5 back of best record in AL (and baseball), but LAA up 2-1 in the 4th.

A Conformer said...

Good day at the races for the Sox today. 2/3 in Tamper makes it a 9-game season for the division. Interesting times.

And did anybody notice the Astros? After every baseball fan outside of Texas and half of those in it made fan of them for being buyers at the deadline, they're 2GB of the NL wild card.

Jere said...

TBS postgame dude says "tying run was 90 feet away." Talking about Papelbon getting the final out. No, it was 360 feet away, plus extra for wide turns.

Benjamin said...

And did anybody notice the Astros?

I don't pay too much attention to the senior circuit.

A Conformer said...

Hmmm... YED is almost upon us. My Sept. 23rd guess will almost certainly be pessimistic. Looks like the 20th at the very latest.

nixon33 said...

THANK GOD WE'RE NOT METS FANS!
the leads they've been blowing lately... yikes.

Benjamin said...

I wish we didn't have to give Papelbon three runs to work with every time we need him to save a game lately, though.

SoSock said...

Woo! Woo!
One game back!
Had to go to Durham today, about 2 hrs away, so missed the game. Sounds like I missed a good one.
I think we're in great shape as long as we don't get swept in TB.
Even if we leave there 2 back I think we'll end up winning the D.

Benjamin said...

Chicago beat Detroit 4-2, if it matters.

nick said...

boy. I saw the box on the 9th after the fact. that would've made me plumb nervous.

Looking forward to tomorrow's game.

Rob said...

Carlos Zambrano's got 8 no-hit innings.

Rob said...

Weird. The Astros and Cubs are both wearing away uniforms.

Rob said...

He did it! No-hitter for Carlos Zambrano! First no-hitter for the Cubs since 1972.

nixon33 said...

i will certainly pay closer attention the next time byrd pitches to see if this is true

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