Red Sox - 100 100 010 - 3 8 1Smoltz (5.2-9-6-0-5, 96) was impressive through five innings, but allowed three home runs and five runs in the sixth. It was too deep a hole for the Boston bats.
Rangers - 000 105 00x - 6 10 0
Smoltz was at 75 pitches entering the sixth. He allowed a solo shot to Michael Young (who also singled and doubled off Smoltz) to tie the game at 2-2. Josh Hamilton doubled and after Andruw Jones struck out, Hank Blalock lined an RBI single to right. 3-2. Marlon Byrd struck out, but David Murphy golfed a two-run dong to right. 5-2.
Still, Terry Francona stayed with Smoltz. Jarrod Saltalamacchia followed Murphy's homer with a first-pitch blast of his own, to deep center. 6-2. Why Tito left Smoltz in to face Salty is a mystery. He's a 42-year-old guy in only his fifth major league start since coming off major shoulder surgery. And he was at 95 pitches. Manny Delcarmen had been warming up since Hamilton's double. Why such a long leash?
With two outs in the first, Kevin Youkilis singled to left and David Ortiz doubled to deep center. The Sox took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when Jason Varitek's double scored J.D. Drew. Mike Lowell tried to score from first and was a dead duck at the plate.
After Texas took a 6-2 lead, the only excitment came in the eighth. With one out, Jacoby Ellsbury singled, and with two outs, he stole second (the 41st SB of the year and the 100th of his career) and scored on Yook's single. C.J. Wilson came out of the pen to face Ortiz -- and got Flo on one pitch, a shattered bat foul pop to catcher.
The Yankees beat the Orioles 2-1 on Shemp's walk-off dong. Boston and New York are tied once again -- at 55-37 -- atop the AL East, with 70 games to go.
John Smoltz (5.40, 89 ERA+) / Kevin Millwood (3.46, 128 ERA+)Both Sean McAdam and Amalie Benjamin write about the poor performance the Red Sox have received from the leadoff spot this season.
McAdam says the Sox #1 hitters have a .309 on-base percentage, while Benjamin has it at .307. ESPN has it at .306. (WTF?) Whatever it is, it's bad.
ESPN's rankings have Boston next-to-last (13th) in the American League -- only Oakland at .298 is worse -- and 27th overall among the 30 major league teams (the Phillies (.285) and Cubs (.277) are also worse, but they also have pitchers batting a few times most nights).
Benjamin also notes that the Red Sox leadoff OBP is
tied with the ninth spot for worst in the lineup. In fact, the Sox also have a significantly worse slugging percentage out of the top spot than the ninth, giving the on-base plus slugging nod to the No. 9 spot.The slugging is .353 at leadoff and .398 at the bottom of the order.
From the leadoff spot:
Nick Green is hitting .115 (6-for-52) over his last 18 games. ... Jason Varitek played his 1,400th game in a Red Sox uniform yesterday, moving into 9th place on the club's all-time list. ... Dustin Pedroia has a career-best 10-game hitting streak. ... Jacoby Ellsbury's next stolen base will be the 100th of his career.GMS AVG OBP SLG
Ellsbury 49 .288 .320 .356
Drew 14 .190 .299 .414
Pedroia 24 .214 .264 .301
Lugo 3 .462 .500 .615
Baldelli 1 .000 .250 .000
Van Every* 1 .000 .000 .000
(*: did not start)
208 comments:
1 – 200 of 208 Newer› Newest»And: Laura and I met 24 years ago today!
concrats children!
Saw that on FB - congrats! As I said, 24 beers for 24 years. I just made the connection that you two met on the very same day my friend was born! (She turned 24 today as well)...cool!
Ellsbury to the top oatmeal, btw:
Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
4. David Ortiz, DH
5. Jason Bay, LF
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Mike Lowell, 3B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Jed Lowrie, SS
-- John Smoltz RHP
Glad to see Drew out of there! And Francona gets his R-L-R-L-R in the middle of the order there.
concrats children!
... and accudart was there that night!
Ray: and Happy 2nd Anniversary to you and Lindy tomorrow!
"... and accudart was there that night!"
*sniff sniff* I smell a back story. An interesting one.
Happy Meeting Day!....
I guess all those stats about the leadoff batter somewhat show it is overrated to have a over .400 obp guy at the top...
I understand the media has to always pick out the bad even if you have the best record in the A.L. , talk about doomers and gloomers..
And he met Laura about 2 minutes before I did. ...
Maybe we'll tell the whole boring tale for Year 25.
Wow that lineup looks pretty damn normal!
thanks Allan. Wow 24 years...awesome!
Apparently Mike Kay just called Pettitte the starting quarterback for the Yankees.
8:00 = a possibility I'll get home from watching my buddies play before the end of the game........
Doubt it. I'll probably say "I've GOT to go after this set, then order another beer.
A good leadoff is a huge asset in my mind, but not a necessity. I'm just glad as hell this team is good enough to manage without that bonus.
Congrats to you 2 lovebirds. Here's to at least 24 more.
And, before I go, how does LBJ compare to some of the greats in terms of how quick they reached that 1st 100. Seems like he got there awfully fast.
"Thank you for taking my call, and I'll take my answer off the air."
SoSock with a pre-game comment!!
...
And to think -- furthering the intrigue -- it never would have happened without the punk band Redd Kross.
Hmmm, my holy grail of bootlegs may be: The Swimming Pool Qs at the Ritz on 7/20/85.
"... and accudart was there that night!"
*sniff sniff* I smell a back story. An interesting one.
Very interesting! To me, anyway. I met "Accudart" about 2 minutes before I met Allan.
I told Amy that we'll write the whole story on wmtc eventually. She's tired of getting the short version, "we met on the street in NYC".
See you all later, watching w/o threading for a while.
Lugo 3 .462 .500 .615
Why can't we get leadoff hitters like that?
Why can't we get leadoff hitters like that?
:>)
Lugo 3 .462 .500 .615
Why can't we get leadoff hitters like that?
Hinske just goes yard to tie the MFY's and O's at 1-1.
Why can't we get bench players like that?
Watching the MFY on MASN.
Gary Thorne says "That's why they got him!!" Jeez, if you grabbed Hinske expecting non-stop dongs -- 4 of his 5 hits for the Chokers have been HR, well ....
Damn 8pm starts....almost time for BASEBALL!!!!!
I've gotten caught up to date on all my "funny" blogs/websites in the past hour.
I've gotten caught up to date on all my "funny" blogs/websites in the past hour.
You're not a fan of African Jose Melendez, if I recall correctly.
Yay, I am finally getting to see a game after over a week of "family time." The "kids" and parents were all here. Now back to peace and quiet!
Fox on EI, but Rogers Channel 74 = NESN!
FY!
dave roberts ..... bah
what was the deal with kaat, was it just a few games?
preparations are being made for jos1 -- a week from tomorrow! there will be surprises.
BTW, I have threatened to get the back story out of Laura and/or Allan next week at JOS1. NEXT WEEK, GUYS!
Time for some good games fromt this sox team
there is one ticket left for next tuesday's game at fenway.
anyone reading this, even if it's your first time seeing the site, can grab it. email me.
0-2 to lbj looked like a strike, but gets called a ball.
shit - so did ball 2.
there will be surprises.
Ack! I purposely haven't been mentioning surprises. Oh well.
lyndon fans on the 0-4 pitch.
Was that the sun? The camera shot was blurred by the sun.
You're not a fan of African Jose Melendez, if I recall correctly.
I enjoyed the Keys to the Game, so when I clicked on there hoping to read some light-hearted humor, I was blindsided by some heavy shit. Just surprised, that's all. But now I know why that's there, thanks to good ol' redsock.
What a shitty camera view that was.
Wow, that looked like it was going all the way.
GOOD TIMES!!
i wanna see smoltz step it up a bit.
alright johnny. time to add to theo's 'genius' reputation.
OH! Not sure if you saw or anyone told you (redsock and L-girl) about the continued demise of MLB telecasts which occurred in the home run derby.
ESPN added a fucking comet tail to the ball, which turned green when it was a home run.
I was just as offended as I was when FOX came out with laser pucks for their NHL telecasts.
Fuck you Mike Young.
Comet tails?????????????
Ugh.
Though hearing Chris Berman saying "back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back back" was enough to get me to not watch.
I was shocked at the lack of backs from him. I almost bet on it, glad I didn't cause I surely would've went with the over.
Although I was watching with friends and our discussion overrode most of the moronic things that were said. Joe Morgan picked the winner though, so be on alert that hell is freezing over.
I watched the home run derby only once, when a young cousin was staying with us and wanted to watch. I was bored to tears.
John Smoltz, flyball pitcher.
Or maybe: FOTT.
who was it that hit like 30 HR in the first round a year or three ago, but lost the derby?
we watched that but can't remember. ... josh hamilton at the toilet? L says no.
yeah, he had 28 at the toilet last year. lost to morneau in the final tho.
Comet tail????? OMFG my head would have exploded.
Earlier that day, in a nice used bookstore, Allan was reading to me the cover of an abridged version of "Moby Dick" and some Dickens "with overly long descriptive passages and meaningless minor characters omitted". So my head had already exploded once that day.
The comet tail would have been too much.
It was Hamilton at the toilet last year.
The Home Run Derby I'm thinking of was not at Yankee Stadium. It was 2 or 3 years ago. I'll look it up.
Abreu had 24 in one round in Philly (I think) and lost...
The Classics Comics edition of Moby Dick! Which minor character would they omit? Ridiculous.
lol, love the blasphemy that day would've ensued for you L.
it was bad. fucking awful. a bastardization.
The whale has no lines. Fuck him.
NESN's audio sucks balls tonight. Fuck you, NESN. TURN IT DOWN.
Oh, AND not only were the comet tails bad enough, they fucking WOBBLED when the ball was on the decline. AS IF that's the movement of a baseball.
That is...when they actually followed the ball. There were many instances where it was nowhere near the ball, and many instances of the camera losing the ball totally.
It was basically one of the worst telecasts I've ever watched in my brief baseball watching history.
The player I was thinking of was Abreu at Comerica. Stats here.
Tek took that pretty far for a swing that did not look that great.
NESN's audio sucks balls tonight. Fuck you, NESN. TURN IT DOWN.
Ahh, so that's not me or something to do with my computer/internet/slingbox/satellite receiver/other internet. Good to know. It's loud as fuck, all distorted.
Now, I love Classics Illustrated. I think they're brilliant. They helped me get interested in literature as a child. (Like I was gonna need help!) But THIS is a travesty. Book's too long for you? DON'T READ IT.
Oh shit, I will sip more vodka and try to calm down.
Watching CHC PHI on little TV. Alfonso Soriano dropped a can of corn in LF.
The player I was thinking of was Abreu at Comerica.
I win! Except the Detroit part. Thought it was at his home park in Philly. That was Ryan Howard winning it though, I believe.
And it's not the NESN channel. It's the broadcast at the park. The commercials are fine.
one of roberts's reasons why lowrie is a good young player: "he catches the baseball"
don must be rolling his eyes, thinking his sidekick's IQ has dropped by 2/3.
And they were cutting minor characters from DICKENS. His novels are all about minor characters.
I'm still fuming!
I remember summers at camp reading Classics comics, as well as Superman. I was a big comics fan back then. My parents used to complain, but I kept telling them that comics expanded my vocabulary (as well as my imagination). Where else would I have learned words like invulnerable at some a young age!?
Howard's win came in Pittsburgh. So it was Ryan Howard's team's home state!
Close enough!
By Dave's assessment of what a "polished player" is, Alfonso Soriano is not.
Well, Steph's class ends at 9 so I gotta go cook the tortellini to complete the tortellini-caesar salad we're eating for a late dinner. While watching the game, of course.
Bye for now!
Uriah Heep. One of my favories (though not sure he qualifies as minor).
Proof that I didn't start the whole what-am-I-eating thing. :>) Steaming spinach, anyone?
And they were cutting minor characters from DICKENS. His novels are all about minor characters.
You can't expect something as minor as that to interfere with their making money. The product is completely unimportant, as long as it sells.
If you guys want I could see if any of my twitter friends would want that last ticket. Put out a tweet on it. Let me know if that's okay before I do it, though.
Nasty pitch! K!
You may not have started, Ish, but you practice it with such passion!
Uriah Heep. One of my favories (though not sure he qualifies as minor).
The Magician's birthday is not bad, but I never got into any of their other stuff (-;
I take it there is a rock group named Uriah Heep??
I am more a 19th century literature person than as 21st century music person!!
I take it there is a rock group named Uriah Heep??
omg
Ish, sure, why not. Anyone who's interested can email me at movetocanada - gmail.
Re abridged books, obviously it's a marketing thing, but I can't help it, as a Dickens-head, I find it so offensive.
So have I missed the dinner report? I'll go check.
Dear Dave Roberts:
For the love of God, STOP SAYING "YOU KNOW"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm pretty sure the band and the character have slightly different spellings. Without googling, I think the band is Uriah Heap.
And the band wasn't in the 21st C. Definitely 20th.
Actually, Dave Roberts speaks better than Eckersley, so I am not complaining. So far no screwed up adverbs.
Never heard of them. Even if 20th Century. Must be after 1976. :)
Bassist John Wetton played with Uriah Heep for a while. Some poster on a prog rock board was reminiscing about how he asked Wetton for memorbilia for a show. Having been in King Crimson and other bands, Wetton generously provided a bunch of material.
"Do you have anything left over from your Uriah Heep days?" asked the fan.
"Brain damage," said Wetton.
I looked them up. They spell it the same way. I've still never heard of them.
Nope, I'm wrong, band was spelled Heep. Uriah Heep the band. Formed 1969.
I was going to guess 1970. Pretty good.
millwood grabbed that like someone soft-tossed it to him.
jeez, that comment took a long time to get thru the tubes.
So I guess my "cool quotient" is now in the negative numbers? Ah, well, I never was cool.
Millwood's got 60 pitches.
I figured him washed up, but he's had an impressive year. We looked at him as a free agent...would not have been a good signing. He's really only had three good years before this one -- two for Atlanta, and his year in Cleveland ('05).
Jesus, Millwood got 5 years / $60m from Texas coming off that year in Cleveland.
Phew.
Meh. He didn't look into that catch enough.
So I guess my "cool quotient" is now in the negative numbers? Ah, well, I never was cool.
It's really cool to admit that.
Thanks, Ofer, I think. :)
tim, if drew truly cared about winning, he would have caught that behind his back.
lol, fuckin drew.
Safe!
whew, glad that wasn't lowell.
tim, if drew truly cared about winning, he would have caught that behind his back.
Did Drew make one of those awful standing up catches?
Fuck Jay Ray Bay.
Show some passion JD! Argue that called strike!
GODDAMN IT -- there's drew getting on base again. ASSHOLE!
Too bad Bay got thrown out.
Tek!
Oh, man, Lowell, what WERE you thinking???
Oh Mikey what WERE you thinking?!
(Sorry for the things we were saying about you Capt)
Love u tek! Fuckin lowell....
should i do it? ok.
what WERE you thinking?!??
Too bad Bay got thrown out.
You can say that again.
It doesn't matter anyway. Smoltz is gonna take care of these fuckers.
Um, did we just do that What WERE you thinking independently?
Very weird. Perhaps we are all starting to think alike.
Where was the damn third base coach? Why the hell was Lowell coming home?
great minds and all that. can't comment now, am working on the frozen yogurt and blueberries. /food report
Frozen yogurt and blueberries. Yum.
Andruw Jones v Smoltz. That must be strange. All those years on the same team.
vanilla fro-yo and berries is our big summer treat.
millwood and smoltz were teammates, too.
Damn, I get up to get some tea and THAT happened?
Fucking young.
I saw your two "what WERE you thinking" and decided to play along.
So far I am not too impressed with LBJ as leadoff.
I understand that our leadoff hitting has been shitty but fuck man, take some pitches!
you know he used to be our leadoff hitter, right? /ducks
i was asking amy, of course. i figured tim remembered.
Smoltz should be good for 7, hopefully. Bard 8th, Paps 9th.
Yes, my memory of his role in leadoff is unfortunately clear. Great when he first came up, not the best recently.
Funny that we both commented on his inefficiency at the same time though.
Well, I guess with my terrible memory, I earned that remark. I do, however, tend to remember things that happen with the season!
John Smoltz - #29 RHP
1-2, 4.68 ERA
75 Pitches - 50 Strikes, 25 Balls
redsock said...
i wanna see smoltz step it up a bit.
I assume mission accomplished?
Fucking asian porn star with the walkoff in new york.
withIN the season, I meant.
I in fact tend to have a pretty good long term memory. I just have this long blank for the 80s and 90s which I attribute to being too preoccupied with my kids to remember details of baseball or music.
But only because you always comment on your bad memory. I would never notice it otherwise. I can barely remember my own name.
nyy run in bottom 9th, 2-1 win
BAL: 100 000 000 - 1 6 0
MFY: 010 000 001 - 2 4 0
Fuckin' Shmep.
oops, should have refreshed first, tim already got that one.
OMFG
IT'S 1978 JR.!!!!!
shmep?
I assume mission accomplished?
s1c, there is a saying in Hebrew: don't open your mouth to the devil (it sounds better in the original form), which means, basically, don't speak too soon.
fuckety
I am hating Michael Young.
fragging young
Young is a motherfuck. Triple away from the cycle too IIRC.
wtf kind of bush league shit was that?
get it...bush league...texas rangers...i dunno, thought of that after i wrote it.
Uch, hating Blalock also.
Shut the fuck up Don Orsillo!
Yes, Young is a triple away.
HH must be yelling all kinds of shit at his TV.
I'm curious to know what kind of losers are following this right now, just waiting to see a loss so they can post their jackass messages about "TIED FOR FIRST!!!!!"
I know you're there, and I hope you die.
I'm curious to know what kind of losers are following this right now, just waiting to see a loss so they can post their jackass messages about "TIED FOR FIRST!!!!!"
Too early to be saying that, Sox will take the lead again.
" Fucking asian porn star with the walkoff in new york."
Makes sense......
Triple's the tough one, tho.
I know Tim, I think of that too. Worst part is, most of them are Sox fans!
ugh
Fucking hell.
OK, what is Francona waiting for? Take him out already.
Thanks Gagne.
fuck this shit.
Fragging Murphy, Why can't we get players like that.
That didn't take long.
Um, like I said....
might be time to take him out tery.
Smoltz having himself a little meltdown, eh.
Too late now, Tito.
Glad you're showing your sorry, profileless ass around here before its over.
Fuck you Smoltz, fuck you Francona for not pulling him before that jack.
Not Terry's fault - Smoltz's.
I assume full responsibility for this inning. Fucking hell.
I don't get the pile on Francona. There's no reason to be playoff assassin every night. One more run is going to make such a difference?
L - they better not lose 6-5....haha
*cracks open another beer*
Alright, lets go fuckers.
21 pitches and 5 runs, ugh
But you know, there are other considerations for the manager.
no reason to keep him in to face salty.
The calls for Francona were well before that, I think. But I don't think facing Smoltz facing Salty is going to make the difference in the game or the season.
If I'm wrong, everyone will let me know. :)
Future gameplans: Keep Smoltz from coming unglued.
i blame lugo --
and varitek.
RSVP
This little chubby fellow should be good for a few runs.
I blame Drew's lack of enthusiasm.
Anyway gonna go the rest of this one threadless. Have a good one and enjoy the comeback.
And still. The Smoltz experiment is ongoing. He's not going to be Superman. Shouldn't have stayed in so long but whatever. Oh look! The Red Sox bats have only scored 2 runs!
i see this on the nesn promo:
"jim rice speech update"
what can they say?
"nope, still can't talk"
That's how I see it (what Ish said). I think Francona has to see what Smoltz has in all different situations. He drove us crazy leaving Gagne in, but he was right. When decision time came, there was no doubt.
Not that Smoltz is Gagnesque.
I just thought that once the score went to 5-2 and Smoltz had already given up three runs that inning, it was clear that he had lost his stuff and should come out. One more run isn't a huge difference, but who knows? Of course, if Bay wasn't thrown out and Lowell didn't think he could run, we would not be four runs down right now.
I Sucked - J. Smoltz (expected quote when asked by our sterling sideline reporter).
Oh, by the way, anyone wanting to look at the erin keyhole photos, be aware, most of the sites are full of viruses.
I have no idea what s1c is referring to, but I'm pretty sure that's ok. What, nude photos of someone were leaked, I'm guessing?
Somebody video taped Erin Andrews through a peephole at her hotel. Posted it on the web and then sites started posting it on their sites loading the video with viruses.
I am pretty sure that Erin has been a hot topic in the past when the threads have been mostly stag.
Oh well, I'll never know. Watching the rest sans computer, like Tim. Go Sox, let the comeback begin!
jesus.
Truly mad at Michael Young.
Oops, there's my answer.
A peephole? Yeesh. I don't even know who Erin Anderson is. But whatever, enjoy your viruses!
Andrews. Sorry, Erin, whoever you are.
I have never heard of Erin Andrews OR Erin Anderson. But then I had never heard of the band Uriah Heep, so what do I know?
6-3 feels better.
PAW-PEE chant at the park.
All I know is you don't wanna see the members of Uriah Heep naked.
Woo Woo!
On the comeback trail!
Got home and pulled up GDGD just in time to see "Stolen Base".
Was that 100? Or had he done it earlier?
Castig: "And Ortiz is looking at the three or four inches of wood he has in his hand..."
Not exactly a dong, that.
that was 100 -- first time on.
fuck -- 1 pitch, flo out.
Keyword to the Erin Andrews thing is VIRUS. I'm not touching that shit.
As much as I know that often the first pitch you see is going to be the best pitch you will see, it drives me freaking batso when my hitters swing at the first pitch and pop up.
9th:
bay
drew
lowell
varitek
how hard would it be to score 3 runs?
Time will tell...
How hard can it be to score 3 runs with 2 out?
I am thinking...too hard.
Argh, tied for first again.
We need to win a damn game.
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