April 8, 2009

G2: Rays 7, Red Sox 2

Rays    - 001 040 011 - 7 13  0
Red Sox - 001 000 010 - 2 8 1
Lester started strong -- five strikeouts in the first two innings -- though he did clearly miss his spots on several pitches. After that, things were fairly rough.

Tampa threatened in the third, with two singles and a throwing error by Kevin Youkilis, but Lester houdinied his way out of trouble, getting a double play and a grounder to second. Lester's only 1-2-3 inning came in the fourth.

The Rays got to him in the fifth. Gabe Kapler walked and when he took off for second, Iwamura poked a single through the spot that Jed Lowrie had left on his way to the bag. Jason Bartlett dropped down a bunt and Lester's glove-shovel pass to Jason Varitek was of no use, as Tek was pointing to first base. Tampa took a 2-1 lead.

Carl Crawford blooped a single down the left field line. Evan Longoria GIDP (a run scored), and Lester fell behind Carlos Pena 3-1. Then, seemingly fearful of a walk, Lester tossed in a 90 mph fastball, which Pena drove out to deep center for a two-run dong. Rays 5-1. Lester: 5-8-5-4-2-5, 94.

Boston's only real shot at a comeback was in the eighth. Facing J.P. Howell, David Ortiz and Youkilis opened the inning with singles. After Rocco Baldelli struck out, Jason Bay doubled into the left field corner and Tiz scored. Howell hit Mike Lowell with a pitch, which loaded the bases and brought the tying run to the plate.

Grant Balfour came in to face Jed Lowrie. Home plate umpire Bob Davidson, who had been giving wide strikes to Tampa's pitchers all night (doing the same for Boston's pitchers only intermittently), called strike two on an outside pitch, putting Lowrie in a 1-2 hole. (The first two pitches of the at-bat were in the same spot; Davidson called the first one a ball, the second one a strike.) Lowrie fouled off a pitch, took a ball that was well outside, then whiffed on a 95 mph fastball for the third out.

The night was not a total disaster: the Yankees scored three times in the top of the ninth, but still lost to Baltimore 7-5. Wang went only 3.2. At 0-2, New York is alone in the AL East cellar.

***

Scott Kazmir (2008: 3.49, 127 ERA+; Spring 2009: 19 IP, 3.79 ERA) /
Jon Lester (2008: 3.21, 144 ERA+; Spring 2009: 19.2 IP, 1.83 ERA)

Rocco Baldelli will start in right field tonight against the lefty Kazmir.

The man he is replacing, J.D. Drew, had this to say about yesterday's game:
What you saw [in the first game] is a good example of what you're going to see a lot of this year.
Kevin Youkilis added:
Our offense has come into question and I don't know where it came from, but I tell you what: We've got a pretty good offensive team.
Terry Francona did not use Takashi Saito on back-to-back days during spring training and he will continue that plan during the season. I imagine we'll see Saito tonight.

Wrap-around Herald:

275 comments:

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allan said...

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

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

9casey said...

Does Tito beleive Baldelli and Drew are interchangeable, suprised to see him batting 5th........I see baseball reference had a redesign..I love that site.

allan said...

yeah, i thought at least bay would move up.

gotta get used to the new bref.

allan said...

NESN!

9casey said...

Just saw this on boston.com

Why Drew instead of Jacoby Ellsbury?

"Millsy (bench coach Brad Mills) and I sat around and talked enough to know what we wanted to do - keep the lineup kind of intact. Ellsbury can impact the game with his speed. Put Rocco right in JD's spot," Francona explained

allan said...

heidi has a nice sweater.

Joe Grav said...

It's my JOS opening day.

L, I just remembered that I'm delinquent on paying for JOS1. Will write a check now that I'm thinking of it.

allan said...

Millsy
Ellsburyy
Roccoy

allan said...

she's out tonight, but i will pass it along.

Joe Grav said...

fantastic

nick said...

Thanks Joe Grav. I thought I was the last one to settle up! Really looking forward to it.

I think I'm gonna go to the Hudson River Revival with my mom and emma the weekend before. Used to go every year with my parents when I was a kid.

baseball!

Joe Grav said...

>I

allan said...

sit down

Zenslinger said...

K's = "Yay!"'s

allan said...

i want lester to say "eff that beckett the ace shit"

Zenslinger said...

Oh, yeah. Verducci has Lester "targeted" as an injury risk to due breaking his "rule of thumb" about innings increases for young pitchers.

At least Verducci didn't mention Lester's health issue.

nick said...

btw, the man in my profile pic turned 60 on April 1.

allan said...

lester -- first 12 pitches, 11 strikes

tim said...

Fucking Longo.

OMGZ LOOK AT HOW OUR LEFT FIELDER DIDNT HUSTLE AND GIVE 150000% ON THAT!

allan said...

his play in the field doesn't matter, as long as his hair is short.

tim said...

his play in the field doesn't matter, as long as his hair is short.

Crazy hippies with their rap and roll music and marijuana use

allan said...

K-K-K-K-K-arlos

nick said...

bwa-ha-ha!

tim said...

Lester's got his conductor hat on...

Zenslinger said...

Well done.

allan said...

nyy and tb are both 0-1 and even though nyy is first alphabetically, fenway has ny in last place with tb above them.

allan said...

lets go dreamboat

tim said...

The ol' red dot.

nick said...

saw that RS. classy. I like it.

Zenslinger said...

Three doubles in a row vs. Wang. Birds up 2-0.

tim said...

Just had a mini-heart attack, as Pedroia with beard looked black/Renteria'ish on my little TV I'm watching.

nick said...

from my badvantage point I coulda seen that first strike, but not the second.

allan said...

local hero time

tim said...

Red dot better serve one up here.

nick said...

I was just wondering what his pitch count was. thanks!

tim said...

Yuck

allan said...

pitches to sox in first inning
27 yesterday
25 tonight

...

lester better get that expanded zone.

allan said...

he aint gettin the zone.

fuck you ump

Joe Grav said...

I find this ump's ball/strike decisions to be disappointing.

allan said...

molested by uncle charlie

Rob said...

I find Lester's pitching not to be disappointing.

Good evening, JoS!

Joe Grav said...

>I K >I K

Patrick said...

I'm gay for Lester, too.

Rob said...

Uncle Charlie is busy tonight.

Joe Grav said...

>I K >I K K

allan said...

josh who?

Patrick said...

Who's got an ace? We've got an ace! Who's got an ace? We've got an ace!

nick said...

oh well. I was just saying I'd be ok if kapler hit a solid fly out. For lester, I'll take the K.

Will he get more Ks than beckett last night?

tim said...

YES

nick said...

good. that's the answer I wanted.

time for the doctor.

allan said...

NYY - 00
BAL - 20

allan said...

why is scott kazmir throwing a no-hitter?

allan said...

better contest tiebreaker: how many promos will remy all season long read without fucking up?

i say 2. i'm being generous.

Rob said...

Yeah but will that show up on Baseball Reference at the end of the season?

allan said...

fook yook

Patrick said...

Oh eff

nick said...

ok. I'll accept one run. Now, let's deal with that no hitter.

tim said...

yook making a gold glove bid there i see. houdini'd out of that. (generous use of the term)

allan said...

two walks for wang in the 3rd, two outs for mora

allan said...

.SCOTT KAZMIR IS THROWING A NO-HITTER!!111!!11

allan said...

mora sucks

tim said...

lasers pls. kthx.

Patrick said...

Pedroia > Kazmir

allan said...

lil fucker can hit

tim said...

thank you fuck yeah

nick said...

I like that scrunched pain face papi just made.

Joe Grav said...

i'll take it

nick said...

did that rundown really help FY score? seemed like a byproduct more so.

allan said...

he was scoring anyway.

to stop my computer from being slow, i am not having gdgd also open -- so now i can't get pitches i miss when typing or the putout on that play, until a replay, which i hope they show

allan said...

and they don't show it.

wtf nesn?

Joe Grav said...

ROCCO

Patrick said...

Baldelli looks a little like Frodo to me.

Rob said...

You think Heidi could use someone to keep her warm?

allan said...

first she had a sweater on
then the coat
now the coat and hat

what next, a blanket over her head?

Patrick said...

You think Heidi could use someone to keep her warm?

It wouldn't be for lack of volunteers.

allan said...

mfy get 1 in the 4th, but wang in trouble in the home half, 4-1 now guy at 2nd with 1 out

allan said...

remy: "... can visit the frank webb's bath center






















showrooms."

Rob said...

I didn't watch the first inning on NESN so when I came home and saw Heidi for the first time I said, "That's not a sweater..."

allan said...

BAL 5-1

Patrick said...

I really dislike Iwamura.

allan said...

K or popup, then dp pls

allan said...

what a cock up

Rob said...

Pop up cock up.

Joe Grav said...

son of a titbag

allan said...

D FUCKING P!

allan said...

THIRD out, damn it

Patrick said...

poo

allan said...

fuck, he really served that one in there, trying to avoid a walk.

Joe Grav said...

@##@!#

Rob said...

Dagnabbit.

Rob said...

Yeah well... 5th inning. So Red Dot's got another... inning left in him? And then their bullpen. I think we're good.

Patrick said...

First hit for Pena. Ellsbury should follow suit.

allan said...

NYY - 000 1
BAL - 200 5

allan said...

don showing he has no clue about poor W-L and a good ERA

allan said...

wang: 3.2 ip, 9 h, 7 r

Patrick said...

time for 2 out magic.

andy said...

Jacoby "Dave Roberts" Ellsbury

allan said...

Mirror with ALE teams - I canNOT imagine millar in pinstripes. I hope he can't either.

Patrick said...

Castig: "Pedroia is 15 for 26 against Kazmir career. That is...owning him"

amen

Rob said...

Damn. Petey almost owned the Dot some more.

I don't understand Don and Remy. I've been banging on about this for awhile. I like Remy but the duo isn't real fun.

Then the Bruins play on NESN and their broadcast team is fantastic.

Joe Grav said...

2 in the 6th
1 in the 7th
1 in the 8th
1 in the 9th

Joe Grav said...

Ish, Jack Edwards is obnoxious lol

Anonymous said...

We need to be carrying a long reliever in the bullpen b/c of situations like this. I'd send down Carter for Micheal Bowden

allan said...

Ramirez, Saito and Masterson will get us there. And Bot can get the save.

A Conformer said...

Hey there. Sort of following the game while writing an email. I hope I can send some comeback magic in Fenway's general direction.

tim said...

Aight...back from eating and homework. Comeback, commence!

Joe Grav said...

lets go my pisan

allan said...

hey ofer!

allan said...

Let's Go Canada!

Patrick said...

Oh please! Oh please plate some runs!

Joe Grav said...

come on baybay

Rob said...

Ish, Jack Edwards is obnoxious lol

Yes he is obnoxious but he's awesome! He's... enthusiastic. And Don.... isn't.

allan said...

Sleater-Kenney says "CALL THE DOCTOR"

Rob said...

I'm also saying CALL THE DOCTOR.

Patrick said...

That sucks.

tim said...

Solid avvy, Joe Grav! And I agree with Ish's point - obnoxious as he may be at times, he's still right into it and passionate. Don lacks the passion.

tim said...

Cock.

Balls.

Joe Grav said...

fucking son of a mother fuckbag! that's a big waste

at least kazmir's done now

Joe Grav said...

I just did a 'search on this page' for various swear words, to demonstrate the awesomeness of this blog to the person next to me.

In that search, I realized that nobody has used the word "cunt" yet in this thread.

Problem, solved.

Cunts.

A Conformer said...

Hey, Allan, how's it going?

Look at me, two days ago saying I'll probably not be threading and here I am, on the 2nd day of the season.

allan said...

9 outs to get 4 runs.

just hold the line.

allan said...

swear words, to demonstrate the awesomeness of this blog

bowl of dicks

Joe Grav said...

Here's our first look at Nomar Zerimar.

allan said...

oh just drill aww-key

Joe Grav said...

I'm hoping that nickname exists, given the popularity of Ococ

allan said...

we got him for ococ, so ...

allan said...

ram-ram and saito will be giving us boners all summer long -- yes, even the girls.

tim said...

Freewheeler warming for the Raymonds

tim said...

Yup, I just went from 6 to 12.

allan said...

no more ice tea - back to the grape -- rally wine.

Joe Grav said...

NOMAR ZERIMAR!

Patrick said...

a 6 to 12 hard curve?

allan said...

it's 10:45 here, but i'm older.

Rob said...

The fuck train did not have any trips scheduled for tonight did it.

tim said...

Let's go sox - COMEBACK - COMMENCE!

Rob said...

I'd like to see the bats hijack the fuck train and get it out of the station.

tim said...

Well played, mr. sock.

The fuck train did not have any trips scheduled for tonight did it.

Looked like Lester was getting his conductors hat on in the first couple, but hooligans Penyer and co quickly derailed it well short of fucktown.

Joe Grav said...

What is the "fuck train" - did I miss something yesterday

allan said...

TEK has got to show up here.

Joe Grav said...

Ump sucks

tim said...

LOW-rie

allan said...

yeah jerry consistently full of shit.

Joe Grav said...

Heidi Watney is driving Varitek's fuck train

tim said...

You must've joe...go to the game thread and do a search and find.

Joe Grav said...

i was working during yesterday's game so missed on the thread... i'll go take a look later

Joe Grav said...

goddamnit

Patrick said...

Kapler, damn you and your excellent defense.

allan said...

i want the nesn producer to fuck up and instead of showing tito or farrell during the conversation during a tek AB, they show heidi.

Joe Grav said...

BTW, for you Bostonians, you can read my crap in the Boston Metro sports section a few times each week. I write about soccer, hockey, and whatever else goes un-reported-on, basically

allan said...

with nesn for two games, i just know i'm due for a (joe) migraine tomorrow. i hope i'm wrong.

allan said...

joe, is that online?

allan said...

that 24 looks very weird.

tim said...

Flaccid as fuck.

Patrick said...

Ow, that hurts. Just kick me while I'm down, Longoria.

Joe Grav said...

God damn Mongorians awrays breakin down mah shitty warr!

allan said...

flaccid.

Rob said...

with nesn for two games, i just know i'm due for a (joe) migraine tomorrow. i hope i'm wrong.

You're wrong! Migraine's doing MLB Network tomorrow.

Joe Grav said...

redsock, they post every issue in .pdf format on www.readmetro.com, but most of the articles aren't available online.

tim said...

that 24 looks very weird.

That's what I thought.

Oh the Metro paper - that's the one in all the trains and stuff, isn't it? We have that here as well.

allan said...

A healthy Saito = Bot 2.0

I blame Tek for that dong.

Rob said...

You'll never guess who you're going to be watching on Rays TV...



...Kevin Kennedy!

Joe Grav said...

Yeah, Tim, there are Metros everywhere. Most of the stuff is off wires and runs nationally/internationally, but there are local features in each Metro.

allan said...

I think it's different. the train Metros are right-wing birdcage liners whose articles are so small they make USAToday look like the New Yorker.

tim said...

I still can't get over that 24.

Rob said...

If Jeemer is any indication... Saito should have a very good year this year. Giving up a home run to the first guy he faces this year.

allan said...

KK? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

allan said...

i'm just waiting on a friend ... and 5 runs.

tim said...

Same logo as the metros on the go train, redsock. I dunno, I don't read them, just see them.

I don't learn 'news' facts from corporations.

Rob said...

Sorry to be the first to deliver the bad news, Allan... I genuinely do feel bad. Poor poor Rays fans.

Who would you rather have, Remy or Kennedy?

Anonymous said...

On a nicer note than this game--

What the FUCK is going on in Birdland? 7 to 2 Orioles? Really?

Wow.

allan said...

i did always want manny to pitch at least once.

allan said...

good god

remy -- 11 times out of 10.

Joe Grav said...

I think it's different. the train Metros are right-wing birdcage liners whose articles are so small they make USAToday look like the New Yorker.


Sounds like the paper I work for ;)

I don't try to claim the crap in there is any good. But I'll take the bylines and the connections and whatnot.

Plus, the perks! I get to sit in the press box at Fenway on Monday!! Granted, it's for the Baseball Beanpot between UMass and Northeastern. But still! The Fenway press box!

And I covered a Bruins game last week. Since the stories are bite-sized, I only had to work for about 10 minutes, but I got to enjoy the view from press row. Good stuff.

allan said...

FY
Flo
Y-Fu

let's do it

allan said...

i thought it was a diff paper, maybe i am thinking of OT.

sound slike a good gig though!!!

Joe Grav said...

I smell a big inning

It wouldn't be a Sox game without a tease anyway

Joe Grav said...

rally heidi?

Joe Grav said...

It is a solid gig. I'm also writing for eagleinsider.com, which is an independent online magazine covering Boston College sports. I get paid for that ($50 per story, $100 for gridiron pointyball stories).

Good stuff.

tim said...

MO-JO RI-SIN...

Rob said...

That DOES sound like an awesome gig. Especially covering the Bruins!

Joe Grav said...

Yeah, Ish. I met Jack Edwards in the media dining room thing. He drinks tea during intermissions! That makes him awesome.

PAPI. Let's go boys.

tim said...

Nice Papi....if only it went into the hole in the wall.

Rob said...

I was just watching the Celtics game... Actually forgot the Red Sox came back (The Celtics game is almost done.. CRUNCH TIME)... Tim says "MO-JO RIS-IN) and I turn back and..... bases empty.

Rob said...

Bases empty no more!

Joe Grav said...

COMEBACK TIME BABY!

tim said...

MO-JO RI-SIN....

Joe Grav said...

YOOK. they don't ask how, just how many...

tim said...

key word ish - RI-SIN...not RI-SEN!

allan said...

L home - says HI!

nick said...

I put emma to bed and come back with a big what the fuck. good to see papi on and youk kicking tuchus.

off to radio land in a minute.

Rob said...

key word ish - RI-SIN...not RI-SEN!

Ohh! My bad. I have a lot of things going on.

Celtics won so it's back to Fenway. I watched pretty much none of the C's until the final minute. So much Baldelli's mojo risin.

Joe Grav said...

Celts win.

Time for some SOX MOJO

tim said...

FUC-KIN HOW-WELL

allan said...

bay time

Rob said...

L: HI!

Joe Grav said...

CANADA MOJO

Rob said...

First "Conflicting Edits" of the new season...

Joe Grav said...

i smuell a doung

tim said...

Baldelli hitting in front of bay? How the hell did I miss that?

tim said...

JBAY!

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