Atlanta - 200 220 101 - 8 11 1A horrific five-batter start from Matsuzaka put the Red Sox in a quick hole. Coupled with their weak offense -- Boston has collected only three hits in their last 14 innings -- it was a disheartening night from beginning to end.
Red Sox - 000 002 000 - 2 2 1
Boston got a two-run bomb to left from Jason Bay in the sixth, but that was the offense. Only one other Red Sox runner advanced past first base -- and that was Bay, as well, as he doubled in the second and took third on a passed ball.
How bad was Dice's first inning?
Nate McLouth: First pitch HR to right-center
Yunel Escobar: Ball 1, line drive single to left
Chipper Jones: First pitch double roped to right
Brian McCann: Ball 1, ball 2, ball 3, ball 4 (bases loaded)
Garret Anderson: Ball 1, ball 2, ball 3, ball 4 (RBI, bases loaded)
As Justin Masterson began throwing in the bullpen, Matsuzaka slipped a strike past Matt Diaz to a raucous cheer -- the first strike he had thrown that was not hammered for a hit. It was Dice's 13th pitch of the night. He lasted two batters into the fifth (4-8-6-4-2, 67) and saw his ERA rise to 8.23.
Matsuzaka did have a decent stretch after that bases-loaded walk gave Atalanta a 2-0 lead. He struck out Diaz and got lucky when Casey Kotchman lined into an unassisted DP to Kevin Youkilis. Dice walked the leadoff man in the second, but had no other trouble (11 pitches), allowed a two-out single in the third (12 pitches) and retired the first two batters in the fourth on three pitches.
Then a walk, double and single doubled Atlanta's lead to 4-0. And Dice allowed back-to-back doubles to start the fifth; both of those runners eventually scored, as well.
That 12-batter stretch was encouraging -- until the roof fell in. And so, the only question being asked is: How long can the front office keep sending him out to the mound?
***
Kenshin Kawakami (4.54, 93 ERA+) / Daisuke Matsuzaka (7.55, 62 ERA+)
Kawakami (who turns 34 next Monday) is a rookie right-hander from Japan. He made his debut on April 11 and has made 12 starts this year. In a spring training game back on March 30, Kawakami allowed two runs to the Red Sox in six innings.
Opponents are batting .372 against Matsuzaka, along with a robust 1.059 OPS. That OPS would be good for 5th best in MLB. His BABIP is .444! ... Beckett got his act together. So did Lester. Penny doing well, too. It's your turn, Dice.
IYI: On Wednesday, Dustin Pedroia became the first Red Sox second baseman since 1954 to log at least three hits, three RBIs and two stolen bases in a game. ... Derek Lowe is blogging.
168 comments:
I thought it was June. When I think of June, I think of the bus letting me out of school on that final day, and just running across the yard in the sunlight.
I want sun.
1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
2. J.D. Drew, RF
3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
4. Jason Bay, LF
5. David Ortiz, DH
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Nick Green, SS
1. Nate McLouth, CF
2. Yunel Escobar, SS
3. Chipper Jones, 3B
4. Brian McCann, C
5. Garret Anderson,. DH
6. Matt Diaz, LF
7. Casey Kotchman, 1B
8. Jeff Francouer, RF
9. Kelly Johnson, 2B
Why Daisuke should do better tonight, Braves aren't known for being patient.
Why he will struggle those BABIP numbers.
A lineup without Lugo is kind of like a sunny day, no?
Mr. Hanky even has a Twitter. "Anyone know how to get to the Marlins game from Tampa? Felix stole my GPS when I asked him to wash my car."
It may be damp and rainy and dreary outside but it really is a sunny day inside.
A lineup without Lugo is like an MLB lineup.
The sun is out!
Reading through Hank Steinbrenner's twitter profile I'm not entire sure if this is really him or not... But I don't care! It's hilarious.
His bio says: "I own the Yankees. I love cigarettes." Profile pic shows him smoking a cigarette.
He's also rather fond of dick jokes and bashing Brian Cashman.
"By the by, I won't let Cash DFA Veras until Veras finishes teaching me how to salsa dance. I wanna shake my hips like a young Ricky Martin." 6.12 3:21p
"It's good to know the power of the Mets Choke overrules the power of the Arod Choke. That 270 million was well spent." 6.13 12:29p
"Our $6 Nathans hot dog is packed with family value. That's only $1.50 per bite for a family of 4 sharing 1 dog! Service included!"
6.13 12:36p
"Thank God I overruled that dolt Cashman when he wanted to trade our best & brightest for Santana. Damn, you need me on that wall."
6.14 6:38p
"Girardi didn't appreciate the cartons of cigs I left in the players lockers for creaming the Mets. F him. I want a manager who smokes."
6.15 5:48p
"Cash just texted me "There's a new wang in the world!". If he thought about the bullpen as much as he did about peckers we'd be in first!"
6.16 3:38p
"If you're gonna lose a tough one, it's best to lose to a great team like the Nats. Villone, Nieves, Gonzales. That team is stacked."
6.18 2:11a
"Cash texted "wang looked solid tonight". Intervention time. The little dork's a sex addict. Where'd they send Duchovony? Anyone know?"
6.18 2:27a
Peter Abraham (LoHud): Is "fatigue" code for "no longer on steroids and/or HGH?" Only eight more years of this. 6.19 5:58p
Mr. Hanky: @PeteAbe It's all that darn Cashman's fault. I didn't want to resign him! I'm surrounded by incompetence. I wanted Apollo Crede for 3b. 6.19 6:09p
link, btw.
no way that is him.
It's still funny.
Not as funny, but it's still funny.
Okay, I'll try to begin to formulate these thoughts into one comment next time.
Is that BABIP bad luck or is he getting consistently pounded? Probably some of both ...
Extensive discussion on SoSH, including shit I did not understand, does indeed suggest some of both.
Well, that's the easy call. "Some of each!"
Now we need him to find some good luck and stop throwing flat fastballs.
OH FUCKING JESUS WHORE OF A CHRIST SHITBAG
Damn. It. All.
Alright .. where is the rain?
Allan it's a sunny day in Boston now...
YES!!!! That pitch wasn't hit!
It's inescapable at the moment to consider the possibility of McCann hitting a triple. Then Atlanta would hit for the cycle in the first four batters.
ATL needs a triple for the cycle.
Something must be very wrong with Daisuke. I forsee a long stay on the DL for him.
when will he throw a strike that isn't pounded all over the lot?
Dear me. This is bad.
and it's on pitch 13.
STRIKE! STRIKE!
donkey is up
lol We're counting his pitches for the wrong reason.
He just walked Garret Anderson on four straight pitches... Nobody has ever walked Garret Anderson on four straight pitches.
Dice-K! That was huge.
DP ball! Do it!
now dice will retire 24 in a row!
?
Ooops... I think my MLB.tv is way behind y'all.
YOOOKON GOLD!
3u DP!!! WOW! Only two runs! Charmed life.
only 18 pitches, not bad!
No offense Daisuke, but, ehh, you suck.
Nope. On pace for 5-6 innings!
Wow. Line drive DP = Godsend.
Do you even send him out in the second inning?
Well Zen if Dice has that much Houdini in him then yes.
fuckin' a, you send him out. yes.
FN!
So can we DL Daisuke yet?
So I see DiceK is doing his usual crap. I am going to get ice cream. Perhaps there will be pitching change before I return. I just don't want indigestion tonight.
My guess is, if Dice continues to suck this game, he ends up on the DL, and Smoltz takes his place.
Kawakami's mediocre, though somewhat tenacious. We should be able to score some runs off him.
I just wish "Daisuke" weren't Japanese for "Chien-Ming Wang".
well, *that* was encouraging.
He struck out the side, but it wasn't an immaculate inning. Small victories.
By the way, fuck Verizon and their failure to show up and do their fucking installation on the day it was scheduled.
Play a board game with Mike Lowell? I wanna win that shit!
I wonder if Buchholz is watching this game.
walked a guy with a .285 OBP
fuck me.
We had a similar issue with Comcast, Benjamin. They said they would be here between 11 and 2, but did not show up til 3. And did nothing when they got here. Guy says just a lot of traffic is the reason we are getting such slow service at night.
Dice deciding to get outs before the bases are loaded. Novel idea.
New England Telephone may not have offered FIOS, but at least they had a pentatonic jingle you could play on a piano's black keys.
"too much traffic"
fuck you .. then increase your ability to handle that internet traffic, you fucking idiots.
I can't believe he walked Anderson and Francououououeaeaour.
Coming into this game, Anderson and Francoeur had a combined 18 walks in 394 at-bats, and Matsuzaka walked 'em both.
Pedroia was doing an event with Wes Welker earlier today. New Englands favorite squirelly bastards. I like that duo.
hah! Benjamin, I somehow played that on my first try after you mentioned it. All black keys.
tie it up, l-father.
Fucking Ortiz.
Dustin keeps his MVP trophy under his pool table.
wow - ugly K from flo
Allan, that's exactly what I said to the guy (without the profanity), in addition to complaining about being 1-4 hours late....
Meanwhile, it probably means many nights I will be unable to thread. ARggh.
McCafe?
***
McFuckOff!
i heard the same thing from rogers cable up here.
"well, too many people are using the system".
wtf? upgrade!
also rogers has a program where you can have unlimited bandwidth usage for $X, but they cap (or had capped) it -- because somepeople with the unlimited plan use a lot.
unbelievable.
i wonder if dice is trying to pitch more to contact to lower his # of pitches, but is still working out the kinks.
meanwhile, mfy up 4-0 in the 2nd over the fish.
with that foul pop, dice has thrown 6 pitches to the last 4 hitters
Should parents who bring their little kids to watch Matsuzaka pitch be charged with child abuse?
Discuss.
I don't have problems here with internets at night. It's 200fricken9 they shouldn't be having this problem.
Btw make sure nobody's downloading things on another computer. I used to download using Bittorrent and everyone else in the house had sludge for internet speed.
If you bring your wife to a Dice-K game is it considered domestic violence? Spouse abuse?
If you bring drugs to Fenway for a Dice-K start is that drug abuse?
That took a bad hop! Damn.
Sorry but that was a funny looking play on slow-mo.
Btw make sure nobody's downloading things on another computer. I used to download using Bittorrent and everyone else in the house had sludge for internet speed.
Your bittorrent client should have settings for speed limits. Set 'em for about half of what your max is (on up and down) and it shouldn't bother anyone. Although if we're streaming video, I just turn it off.
Dice's WHIP is down to a tidy 2.33 for the game now.
Saberhagen in da house.
Speaking of abuse, I and strangely enough two other people I know have the problem of always ending up with Wakefield games. It's a curse.
Zen that's a good idea. For now I just wait to download things during off-hours for other people here.
We spend approx. 1/4 of our lives sleeping. Another 1/4 of our lives waiting and doing nothing. Whether it be at work or in a doctor's office or waiting for your mother at TJ Max for an hour...
We also spend approx. 1/4 of our lives watching Dice-K pitch.
and it's ooogle-the-wives time for eck!!!
Mrs. Oki and Mrs. Papi promoting picnic-in-the-park.
Eck: I don't use a hair dryer. I just let my hair... naturally dry."
They're gettin' on his moss.
No, that's what he wishes they were getting on. And you don't use a blow dryer for that.
/Andy
no dryer--
don: you mean it gets that way like that?!?
How about some lumber? seems like we haven't scored much in awhile.
HAHA Don: The ricochet is nasty!
Opinions: is Dice suddenly pitching well?
Question: am I the only person who cannot type "Dice-K" without first typing "Dick"?
why the fuck is lbj at the base of the wall? he has got to play the carom on a ball that hits that far up.
I had a similar thought about LBJ. Mine was more like: How many games have you played at Fenway?
Hah, that sounds like your mental text suggester thinks you use the word dick more often than dice-k.
Opinions: is Dice suddenly pitching well?
Scratch that.
Dice-K still walks a guy an inning and gives up at least one really hard hit ball per inning. It doesn't look like much of an improvement from where I sit. Really folks, this can't continue.
Red Sox should not be having to come back from down 4 runs every time Dice takes the hill.
DEE EL DICE KAY clap clap clap clap clap
STUPID FUCKING TWITCHEY COCK APPLE STREUSEL SHOW THE GAME!!!
Eck: "What's a 5?" In reference to McCann's signs.
"Oh. I guess it's a changeup." He sounded really disappointed. And just weirded out.
TOM BRADY GOT A BABY MA-MAAAAAAA!
TOM BRADY GOT A BABY MA-MAAAAAAA!
Third time through, we'll be banging dongs left and right.
Okay that's just wrong. Tiny kids with mohawks.
WOOOOOO!!!! RSN has a new partnership with Bermuda!!! This is big news! NEWS I TELL YOU! HUGE!!!!H!KLHlashlerdlLASKLERKLELKEKLJKLKKJEKJE!!!!
Yes Heidi get on one of those trips so we don't have to have the game in the lower left hand corner and talk to some douche from Bermuda YOU STUPID FUCKING ASS HAT CLOWN DOUCHE FACE IN A CRAFTS STORE.
DEE EL DICE KAY, CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP CLAP
eck on dice: "it's really kind of a bad outing..."
Boooooooooo!
See ya in 15 days, you puke.
I see a big donkey.
NESN stays with the game to show the boos as Dice walks off.
Glad I went to get ice cream instead of staying here and watching DiceK suck again.
Ish, just read your comment about someone else downloading and making the internet slow. Harvey does watch MLB.com for NYY games...could that do it?
7-for-16 BABIP-wise tonight: .438
I wonder wheter we just saw Daisuke walk off the mound in a Red Sox uniform for the last time.
DiceK is starting to take on the Timlin/Gagne role in my life as a Red Sox fan. I shudder when he pitches and can barely get myself to watch.
Nice play, Bay!
Wow! That was a great catch there by Bay. Too bad it was a scrotum fly.
And NESN puts their ad graphic over Bay's glove so you couldn't see him actually catch it.
I wonder what Tazawa is thinking about his idol right now.
Red Sox: 2 hits in their last 9 innings.
Amy, yes I think it could slow things down. But just because I think it can doesn't mean it does. Unfortunately it would pose a bit of a conflict for you two as you follow your teams.
His MLB.tv is running fine isn't it?
Let out a shudder
What just tickled my nutter?
It's just a sac fly.
Anyone else find it funny that the Marlins couldn't play in the rain?
email from laura:
subject: see? he does walk!!!!
say hi to the thread for me. i am watching on breaks while folding laundry. cannot join thread tonight, tho.
Actually, Ish, we know things are starting to crash when he can no longer get the ballgame on the computer or starts losing resolution. Usually some time between 9 and 10 pm, things go to hell.
Hi, Laura. Folding laundry may be more satisfying than watching the game tonight.
I guess if Dice-K is going to put the team in a giant hole it may as well happen on the same day as our offense not hitting. Ugh... this game sucks shit through a straw.
Amy that doesn't sound good. But what I don't buy is it's just Comcast's high traffic. Yes your speed will go down if you have cable and there's high traffic but it won't go down by that much. Often times you won't even notice it. If it was a Comcast issue then you'd hear of many more people complaining about it, I think. Stupid cop-out answer by the techs eh?
Hmm.
Why couldn't Dice-K have pitched last night?
Yeah, the tech said, "Even I have been having the problem at night." I said, "That's crazy. We live in a much more populous area year round, and we never have this problem."
His suggestion: some superduper cable package for $350 a month. HAHAHA.
So I am waiting to crash again and then figure out what letter to write to Comcast.
Meanwhile, so far so good tonight. But not yet 9 pm.
So there is something called Infinite Summer starting this weekend, where thousnads of people all over the world (?) are going to be reading Infinite Jest from June 21 to September 22 (75 pages a week).
I still cannot decide if I want to do it. I fear getting caught up in the many blogs/boards discussing it and having it suck away my time.
If there was no baseball this summer, it would be an easy choice.
Maybe I'll read it over the winter, but then the community won't be there.
Arrrgh.
Hey everyone, look who's pitching. it's Masturbate!
yook.
Yoooook! That was a cool play.
damn, yook shoulda tried for his second unassisted DP of the night
So, question for the thread: what do we do with Dice-K?
75 pages a week doesn't sound too onerous, especially since you have read it several times already, IIRC. So you just have to limit your time on the blogs/chat. I'd go for it. You can always stop if it gets overwhelming.
burn him!
You don't want to hear what I would do to DiceK.
I think we leave him in the rotation with the question remaining forever of what do we do for him.
Seems like we've been asking this forever anyways.
My honest opinion is I think he should see a sports psychologist who might be able to get him into the right mindset because HE DOES HAVE THE STUFF.
He just seems like he feels he has to outsmart everyone and that he is smarter than everyone. That whatever he does he is outsmarting them.
But tonight was it just me or did it seem like his velocity was down?
I wonder wheter we just saw Daisuke walk off the mound in a Red Sox uniform for the last time.
Why would this be the case?
yeah, it's not bad. though one of those 75 pages may have an endnote that goes on for another 40 pages at the back of the book!
and there are so many places discussing it, i would just poke around at the main website, i think.
anyone else wanna read it?
Amy's got a thing for Japanese guys.
if most of the people reading IJ this summer have not done so -- that seems to be the point, this is your chance to do it -- they are not going to offer much in the way of insight
maybe i could just read and enjoy the book myself!
BAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bay dong!! We are on the board!
It's always sunny in Thunder Bay! They love their doungs and homres.
Honestly, I think Daisuke needs a month off from pitching. That arm has ton of miles, and needs some rest...
Bay, more like an oasis.
there is a RH dong, where is the LH?
bay has:
looked at 4 balls
looked at 1 strike
swung at two pitches: 2B, HR
JB! (MLB.tv is like three batters behind y'all)
i'm watching mlbtv.
??
I'll answer my own question about Dice-K: I'd DL him. I know that probably wouldn't be popular with him, but these beatings just can't continue. He's been terrible each and every start, and there are too many good pitchers waiting for a turn for the Red Sox to just get their butts kicked every fifth day.
Red Sock: I guess my MLB.tv is three batters behind everyone else.
bard up
Things have gotten very quiet at Fenway.
Mrs. Garret being Mrs. Garret
fuckin mrs garrett
L:
Amy,
I am watching the game *when* I am folding laundry. And I am folding laundry on breaks from transcribing grueling testimony of an Iraq War deserter. I have been doing this since 7:30 this morning.
:(
***
Wow, what a rotten game.
feels like we're just playing out the string of this one.
***
leaning against IJ. i have other things i'd like to do this summer -- and i think i'd enjoy it more in the off-season.
Transcribing since 7:30 this morning?? My hand gets cramps after typing for an hour. Yikes.
The game IS better than that.
Eck, obviously, did a good job on Daisuke. There is this Japanese guys in their third year in the major leagues thing (Nomo, etc.) but what has stood out since we first saw him in our uniform is his refusal to throw the ball over the plate. Once hitters realized this, they would take his pitches, get him in a hole and then hit the vaunted fastball. This is not major league pitching.
To have hm pich this way, while Buchholz is wasting pitches in PawSox games is really infair to the Red Sox major league team.
It does feel like there is no one expecting the Red Sox to come back in this game.
I meant, of course, unfair, but infair might work, too.
Bard has a tendency to lose one up and in once in awhile.
I don't remember the last time a game thread was this dead. Must be a reflection of how dead the Sox seem. They must hate playing when DiceK starts.
Derek Lowe pitching tomorrow? OK, that should be interesting.
game eck was talking about versus clemens was may 6, 1987.
it was his 9th game of the year and just like he said, his first start after being in the pen.
he said he went 6.2 and got an L
he went 6.1 and got an L
eck > morgan
Morgan: I did not...have...sexual...relations with that woman.
last chance, sox.
At least we are out of our misery soon.
Morgan: I did not...have...sexual...relations with that woman.
white water.
Clean water. Yuck.
What a pitiful game. This man cannot continue to pitch like this. Something needs to happen, but I don't know what it is. (Do you, Mr. Jones?)
DL and Pawsox rehab stint seems the most reasonable, sticking him in pen seems less rational but I could see it - it may piss off Japan though.
But really, the man is a professional athlete, and with the way he's performed, he should be ecstatic with any decision the front office makes that doesn't involve a shotgun and out back.
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