April 7, 2009

G1: Red Sox 5, Rays 3

Rays    - 001 000 020 - 3  3  0
Red Sox - 103 001 00x - 5 9 0
Beckett -- 7-2-1-3-10, 93 -- began the season beautifully, throwing 11 pitches to three batters in the first, and striking out two Rays.

In the bottom half, after Ellsbury struck out looking, Pedroia gave Boston a quick 1-0 lead by clubbing an inside pitch over the Wall. Ortiz lined Shields's next offering into center for a single and after Youkilis flew to right, Drew went the other way, doubling off the Wall, and Bay walked. With the bases loaded, Lowell let Shields off the hook by popping out to Navarro on the first base side of the plate.

After a perfect second (on only five pitches) and with one down in the third, Beckett had retired the first seven Tampa Bay hitters on only 18 pitches, 15 of them strikes. But he then hit a bump or two. The 8-9 hitters walked (Gross was nearly thrown out while stealing second) and Iwamura singled to followed with a hit to left to load the bases. Crawford jumped on the first pitch and flew out to the track in center, bringing in Gross and tying the game. Longoria flew to right to end the threat.

The Red Sox stormed back immediately. Shields walked FY on four pitches and after Ortiz flew out to right, Yook singled to left (breaking an ugly 0-for-18 against Small Game James). Drew's hard grounder to first -- Pena dove towards the line, saving a hit and serious damage -- brought home Pedroia, Bay's single scored Yook, and Lowell's double to left scored Bay. Boston led 4-1.

Beckett was cruising -- striking out two batters in each of the fourth and fifth -- when he walked Iwamura to start the sixth. Crawford doubled to left-center. Beckett got Longoria to foul out to Varitek back by the screen and, with Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez warming, he caught Pena looking and got Burrell to ground easily to third.

Varitek homered down the right field line in the sixth, giving Boston a 5-1 lead. (That deserves its own paragraph.)

Hideki Okajima relieved Beckett and began the eighth by hitting Bartlett and walking Iwamura. He struck Crawford out on three pitches and was pulled for Justin Masterson. After an uncontested double steal put runners on second and third, Longoria sliced a single to right, scoring both runners and cutting Boston's lead to 5-3. Masterson slipped a strike three past Pena -- his fourth K of the day (he saw only 15 pitches) -- then got Burrell to fly to right. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth, striking out the final two batters.

***

The lineups that were expected (below) are the actual lineups. Terry Francona talks a little bit about his batting order here.

***

Let's begin again / Begin the begin ...

Opening Day!

James Shields (2008: 3.56, 125 ERA+; Spring 2009: 14.1 IP, 8.16 ERA) / Josh Beckett (2008: 4.03, 115 ERA+: Spring 2009: 27.2 IP, 3.25 ERA)


Lineups:
Rays                     Red Sox
Akinori Iwamura, 2B Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Carl Crawford, LF Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Evan Longoria, 3B David Ortiz, DH
Carlos Pena, 1B Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Pat Burrell, DH J.D. Drew, RF
Matt Joyce, CF Jason Bay, LF
Dioner Navarro, C Mike Lowell, 3B
Gabe Gross, RF Jed Lowrie, SS
Jason Bartlett, SS Jason Varitek, C
Red Sox against Shields / Rays against Beckett

***

Happy 91st birthday, Bobby Doerr!

***

355 comments:

1 – 200 of 355   Newer›   Newest»
allan said...

I saw them for the first time 10 days later in Burlington, VT!

tim said...

wooooooooooooooooooooooo

Jere said...

This is one of the years!

allan said...

Kilgore has the lineup:

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Kevin Youkilis, 1B
J.D. Drew, RF
Jason Bay, LF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Jason Varitek, C

Jere said...

Everybody: This timeline of the AL East is pretty cool. However, I immediately noticed an error in the team order for one of the years. Can you find it? Hint: it's within the last decade.

Patrick said...

I love that lineup. No Coco Crisp, No Julio Lugo. Guys with a lot of upside, and then the Captain in his rightful place at #9.

Time for Tampa to get ef'd in the A.

Jere said...

"I love that lineup". Me too. Yet instead of it being called "murderer's row" and people talking about them breaking run records, we have to hear all about how "suspect" and full of holes it is and how they'll have trouble scoring runs. I don't get it. Are people just jaded? I could see people having these worries if we were a team with absolutely no pitching that was counting on our O to pull us through. But we have possibly the best pitching staff top to bottom in baseball!

Benjamin said...

Time for Tampa to get ef'd in the A.

Fernando Perezed in the Willy Aybar?

Benjamin said...

Also, Vermont has marriage equality now. It's an awesome day to play baseball ("today").

nixon33 said...

LET'S FUCKING GO!!!!!

Jere said...

I love watching Yankees failing sobriety tests.

allan said...

Rays

Akinori Iwamura, 2B
Carl Crawford, LF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
Pat Burrell, DH
Matt Joyce, CF
Dioner Navarro, C
Gabe Gross, RF
Jason Bartlett, SS

Jere said...

Answer to above question: Globe lists Jays behind Red Sox in 2006. (Now with correct link.)

Zenslinger said...

I love that lineup.

I like having a rookie SS batting 8th who had a 1.057 OPS in spring training.

I like having the league MVP in there and the 2nd runner up two spots behind him, and who's in between? Middling good player named Ortiz.

I like everyone in the lineup except Varitek, and he's going to improve offensively this year.

You might worry some about the health of our lineup, but it's difficult not to like the lineup. I think Lowrie's going to have a near-Pedroiaesque year, that Dusty and Youk will fall off only minimally if at all.

And I have to work through Opening Day. Fuck!

tim said...

ONE HOUR!

allan said...

Also, Vermont has marriage equality now.

Equal rights for everyone.
What a concept.

tim said...

Equal rights for everyone.
What a concept.


Not if you had the unfortunate circumstance of being born in a different country.

allan said...

Jere: Drunk Tank Yank

allan said...

Not if you had the unfortunate circumstance of being born in a different country.

Well, that's your own fault, isn't it?

allan said...

Any commentary on pre-game stuff would be welcomed by those of us outside NESN range. EI will presumably click on at 4.

tim said...

Well, that's your own fault, isn't it?

Precisely my point.

tim said...

CHB was on NESN, I wasn't paying attention to him. He said that the fun's been sucked out of opening day because of the rainout. I then cut my ears off so I can't provide any more updates.

Caron, Eck and Cafardo discussing CC's shitty start yesterday

tim said...

Ceremonies beginning

tim said...

Rays being announced...."Cultural assimilation rep"

tim said...

Castig and Orsillo doing the introductions.

tim said...

Good applause for Kapler.

allan said...

Watching Royals/White Sox -- Ococ up.

tim said...

Rays done, Orsillo now announcing the Red Sox. All the other positions going on now, trainers, clubhouse managers, other coaches etc.

allan said...

Crisp GO, Royals led 2-1 in the 6th.

tim said...

Speaking of crisp, some coach is wearing 10 now. Not sure who though.

tim said...

Here they come through the grandstands. Baldelli up first, great applause

tim said...

Good applause for Smoltzy as well.

tim said...

Pedroia's got a beard goin on.

tim said...

Too much applause for Varitek.

Sarah Haendler said...

YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!

(sorry... had to get that out of my system.)

I'm at Thom's today, so I'll NOT be keeping the laptop open at the bar, but I wanted to check in with everyone just to say...

GO SOX!

tim said...

Annnnnnd here come the mandatory pre-game group rights of submission.

Mute on.

allan said...

Ten minutes!

Time to make tea.

Amy said...

Damn, still at work, but 10 minutes or so to go til the game starts. Hope to join you all later! GO SOX!!!

laura k said...

Hi all. :)

tim said...

G'day L. Ready for another fine year I trust?

tim said...

Ted Kennedy and Jim Rice coming in on a golf cart from CF to throw out the first pitch(es)

tim said...

Rice driving with Kennedy riding shotgun.

Jere said...

I like how Rice is actually driving the cart.

Amy said...

Pissed off I cannot see this. GRRR.

Zenslinger said...

Hello, everyone who said hello!

Hello, 2009 Red Sox.

tim said...

Hello Zen!

Benjamin said...

I like how Rice is actually driving the cart.

You're just begging for a Chappaquiddick joke, aren't you.

tim said...

Kathryn Tappen telling me I need to take care of my teeth.

Jere said...

I just meant usually when guys get driven out, they're not actually at the wheel, like Rice was. I thought that was cool.

allan said...

NESN IS ON!

andy said...

Thank god for my horribly injured back. I had to leave work early. Upside to my backside.

allan said...

tamper.

andy said...

Allan are you watching on MLB.tv?

tim said...

Ugh, exam at 9am tomorrow. Haven't started studying. Oh well - BASEBALL!

Benjamin said...

I'm still at work, but it's opening day in New England and I'm psyched.

tim said...

NESN with the shitty camera.

andy said...

Well if the rest of the season is to go as the first pitch did then good.

allan said...

no, NESN on tv.

Lord Lynch said...

Hello from London, England, where MLB TV is sucking more than Jaws after a visit to the dentist! We have no sound. Some would say this is a blessing.

I'll probably be half an hour behind you lot, as the new MLB TV is a joke. According to them Curt Schilling is a real doubt for Game 6.

tim said...

At this rate he'll have 27 K today!

allan said...

HEAT!

Jere said...

Wasting an 0-2 on first batter. Good sign of things to come. ANd then Ks him swinging!

andy said...

World Series, pffft. These guys suck.

Jere said...

sweet play on the short hop by Jed

tim said...

Jedi!

tim said...

Great curveball.

tim said...

Great start! Now lets put up 10!

allan said...

man, that was a beautiful half inning.

Jere said...

sit down E-rod! Beckett looking fucking awesome. I can't believe I'm watching real baseball!!!!!

Benjamin said...

!!

Zenslinger said...

Yeah! 2k OTW inning to begin!

GDGD is reporting Josh's fastball at 94-96.

allan said...

Time for say HI to Big Game James!

laura k said...

So far I'm liking the 09 season.

laura k said...

HI!!!!!!

*sigh*

I missed him.

laura k said...

(I was saying hello to the TV, of course.)

laura k said...

Peewee Dong!

Benjamin said...

The shadows are weird on FY's GDGD photo.

Lord Lynch said...

And here was me thinking it was me you were saying hi to l-girl..

We now have a high pitched beep instead of Remy.

Damon is coming up to bat in Game 7... we are catching up...

Jere said...

just as I suspected......Pedroia hits a dong.

andy said...

speechless

Benjamin said...

FY!

allan said...

NO MVP, HUH? FY begs to differ

Zenslinger said...

Fuck fuck FUCK Yeah!

laura k said...

Fuck Yeah!

nick said...

Hello all. I'm at work and setting up camera for a meeting. no game for me for now. but after 5....

later.

Lord Lynch said...

MLB TV - You Star. You froze....

Jere said...

Papi with a solid hit. Pile on. I don't wanna be behind in any game this year.

Jere said...

twoney

Jere said...

for Drew-ny

Lord Lynch said...

Firestarter...

Zenslinger said...

Was DJ's hit a wall ball?

Jere said...

yes Wall

allan said...

twoney
for Drew-ny


careful, that's close to sterling territory.

laura k said...

Sorry, Lord, it was Ellsbury My Love. But hello to you too. :)

Wall ball, yes.

Zenslinger said...

GDGD has a thick, fuzzy outline of a strike zone this year...I suppose to not show up the umps when they don't call one that seems like a strike (or vice versa).

laura k said...

Walque!

Jere said...

honestly, Bay was coming up, and I was thinking of him when I said twoney. So I quickly tried to cover it up by doing a rhyme, acting like I'd done it on purpose.

Lowell with bases loaded.

Zenslinger said...

Loaded for Lowell.

Benjamin said...

Bay's GDGD photo is a pile of pale atop a spindly neck.

Jere said...

really god change, Lowell thought he was goin' yard but missed

Jere said...

shit. 3 stranded.

I didn't see Drinkwater OR Kapstein behind the plate.

Benjamin said...

Squander.

27 pitches, though.

laura k said...

Ha, Jere, I was wondering about that!

Maybe we should spell it Jasoun Bay.

allan said...

expanded GDGD says for lowell:

hates to face: four-seamer
loves to face: four-seamer

...

thanks!

Lord Lynch said...

I still have silence on my feed, and dread looking at this board as we are about an hour behind...

Jere said...

I saw that love-hate relationship on the four-seam on somebody yesterday in the O's game.

Jere said...

Drinkwater now there.

Jere said...

Pena tried to check on the high heat, but K

allan said...

becKKKett!

expanded gdgd is $20. doubtful purchase, but it apparently comes with no ads.

Jere said...

thanks for the one pitch out, Burell.

andy said...

Cy motherfuckin Young

Jere said...

thanks for ANOTHER 1 pitch out! Ha! OTT

laura k said...

$20 for no ads is a great deal. $20 for the whole season? Do it!

Benjamin said...

I love it when we pitch five-pitch innings.

Zenslinger said...

5-pitch inning.

Beckett has two perfect innings, 3K, 16 pitches, 13 for strikes.

Is it too early to say, "Goddamn!"

allan said...

LOOK OUT Bob Feller!

andy said...

Come on Jed lugo coulda done that. Hell, he woulda done that.

allan said...

good to hear remy in mid-season form in his inability to read the ads.

Jere said...

encouraging. Line shot by Tek, but caught.

allan said...

don says tek hit 5 dongs so his stance work paid off.

come on, don, you were in florida, you saw tek hit .216 with a .241 OBP lasr month. he sucked.

Benjamin said...

Yay, we get real batters next inning.

Jere said...

another quick out for Josh

Benjamin said...

Fuck. 7 pitch walk.

Jere said...

oh please....now ads in game cut away from the park to show pics of bathtubs. FUCK THAT!

Jere said...

meaning during-inning ads

Amy said...

BASEBALL! Can't really thread because the laptop is in the shop and this is Harv's netbook which is too small to thread with. But wanted to say hi. Enjoy the game!

Zenslinger said...

Lincecum's first inning of the year includes a walk, HBP, and wild pitch. No one scores.

Benjamin said...

I don't like this inning as much.

Benjamin said...

Well shit.

laura k said...

Hi Amy, get that laptop fixed !!

Jere said...

sack lunch

Benjamin said...

Throw strikes, asshole.

Jere said...

just the one for TB. I'll take it.

s1c said...

Well, that could have been a lot worse. Time to get some runs boys!!!

Hey all!!!

Lord Lynch said...

I'm having such fun with the wonder of MLB TV... We now have sound!

Jere said...

4 pitch BB to Dustin

Benjamin said...

Shields is giving Pedroia nothing.

Jere said...

5 balls in a row to start inning

Jere said...

6

Jere said...

and Papi swings after 6 balls in a row. not a big fan.

allan said...

wow kennedy's still got a better arm than eckstein.

Jere said...

foist and thoid

s1c said...

Youk!!!

time for some fire!!!

allan said...

yook now 1-for-19

Jere said...

Shields went to the mouth. Free ball for us!

Jere said...

2-1 us on the groundout

s1c said...

Got the run home at least.

Jere said...

3-1

tim said...

Back to see Bay knock Yook in!

Benjamin said...

Siungle!

Jere said...

If Pena was playing anywhere near a normal 1B, that's a groundout, instead, RBI single

Jere said...

Lowell with a good ol' double! 4-1!!!!!

tim said...

The doctor is in for 2009!

Benjamin said...

!!!!

s1c said...

Big game (not) Shields!!!

Zenslinger said...

All right, Mike!

Was there a play at the plate?

allan said...

pedroia on pace for 324 runs scored

doctor!

Jere said...

no way, two outs, high fly ball, scored easily

Amy said...

DESTINY CALLING!

Man, I hate typing on this thing and I have small fingers....

Anyway, we are on a roll!

Zenslinger said...

And what's with this automatic ball business?

Jere said...

Lowrie gets a line drive (in the boxscore)--a faster man MAY have had a shot at scoring, but not Lowell

tim said...

That looked painful for Lowell...

allan said...

pitch count ..... rising

tim said...

Tek dong please.

Jere said...

you can't blow on your hand/lick fingers on the rubber. Or it's a ball. Sometimes the umps allow going to the mouth on a very cold day, in which case they tell you ahead of time.

tim said...

At least he's hitting it well...

Benjamin said...

Bleh. 67 pitches.

Rob said...

Happy Opening Day, everyone! Stopping in to say hello, see how the game thread is going and.... This is too much for me to go back and recap. Good to see, though!

Zenslinger said...

Isn't that a difficult habit for pitchers to have to break?

Right off it seems like a goofy rule to me but I haven't read about it or anything.

Zenslinger said...

Sheilds pitch count: 67-41.

tim said...

aww. that red sox NESN commercial has the papelbon jerk-off celebration in it.

Jere said...

Pena Ks swinging at the curve

Benjamin said...

Josh'd better have composed himself during all that.

allan said...

HOCP!

Benjamin said...

And a K. Much better.

Jere said...

Beckett back on the fuck train. Or whatever.

Zenslinger said...

8-pitch inning.

Hmmm...maybe we can say that having more than one 12-pitch or less perfect inning in a row is known as being "on the fuck train".

Rob said...

It's nice to have a new, fledgling JoS term here on Opening Day. On the fuck train. Provided it sticks.

tim said...

Time for the laser show.

Jere said...

Willie Mays Hayes here

Jere said...

6 Ks for JB

Jere said...

7 K

Rob said...

Hello Seven.

andy said...

What is fuck train? I like it.

I hate these losers. I wonder if the media will hype the rays as much after today.

s1c said...

Liking that change so far!!!

GK said...

Big Game Jackass

Jere said...

OTT

Benjamin said...

Dealing.

Rob said...

Beckett's barking at himself walking off the mound after a good inning. Mid-season form!

Zenslinger said...

Now that perfect inning did take 14 pitches from Beckett...but I still feel like he's on the fuck train.

Zenslinger said...

Maybe he thinks that last fastball was a rather good pitch for Bartlett to hit and that he's lucky he didn't get all of it.

allan said...

no one picked them to go 162-0, andy.

allan said...

time for a tough inning then

Patrick said...

This is so exciting. I fucking love baseball.

tim said...

Keep on walkin'

Zenslinger said...

Strike one to Bay looks waaaay outside on GDGD.

Benjamin said...

Bleh.

Benjamin said...

Feh.

Patrick said...

Crawford is arguably the best fielding left fielder...

Jere said...

NOthin Youk could do there

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 355   Newer› Newest»