July 25, 2011

G100: Royals 3, Red Sox 1 (14)

Royals   - 000 001 000 000 02 - 3 12  1
Red Sox  - 010 000 000 000 00 - 1 13  0
Boston had (at least) two golden opportunities to win this game. In the bottom of the ninth, the Red Sox had runners at first and third with one out, but Carl Crawford (who has three walk-off hits this year) struck out and Josh Reddick flied to right.

In the 12th, Reddick singled and, after Jarrod Saltalamacchia flew out to left, raced to third on Royals pitcher Louis Coleman's errant pickoff throw. Marco Scutaro missed the squeeze sign on his first pitch and Reddick was easily tagged out 2-5. Scutaro singled to left, but was cut down trying to stretch his single into a double. So Boston sent only three men to the plate in the inning and scored no runs and left no one on base, but had two singles and a two-base error.

Unlike Boston's recent 16-inning game against the Rays, in which Terry Francona was able to save his best pitchers to pitch deep into the marathon, the Sox used their best arms (Matt Albers, Daniel Bard, Jonathan Papelbon) in the 7th-9th innings, and were forced to rely on Franklin Morales, Dan Wheeler, and Randy Williams in extra frames.

It was only a matter of time before one of them wilted. Kansas City scored two runs against Williams (in his second inning of work) and the Red Sox came up empty against Joakim Soria. Reddick doubled with one out, but Salty and Scutaro both struck out.

John Lackey had gone down to the pen in the 14th and was getting loose, and would likely have pitched in relief if the game had continued.
Example
Kyle Davies / Jon Lester

Lester returns from the DL (strained left latissimus) to make his first start since July 5. In that start, he threw four no-hit innings before being pulled. Lester will likely be limited to 80-90 pitches.

Terry Francona:
Now it's about building up endurance ... You try to balance winning the game and bringing him along where he can get on a roll. ... He's going to go out there and fire and try to win. And that's good, but we've got to keep an eye on him.
How did Tito celebrate his 1,000th win as a manager on Saturday night? "Had a grilled cheese sandwich."

John Autin, Baseball Reference Blog:
Through Saturday 7/23, Red Sox hold 4 of the AL's top 5 spots in Wins Above Replacement [BRef version] for position players:
#2 - Dustin Pedroia, 5.3
#3 (tie) - Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez, 4.8
#5 (tie) - Kevin Youkilis and Adrian Beltre (Texas), 3.9
All 4 hitters are on pace for at least 6.4 WAR. No team has had 4 position players at that level.

Only one team ever had 4 position players with 6 Wins Above Replacement (often called the threshold of "MVP level"): the 1902 Pirates, who went 103-36, a .741 W% that's 2nd best in modern history.

Dropping the threshold a bit, here are the nine teams with 4 position players >= 5.5 WAR ...
The 1902 Pirates had Honus Wagner (8.1), Tommy Leach (6.4), Ginger Beaumont (6.2), and Fred Clarke (6.2).

SoSHer redoctober3829 posted some stats:
Looking at some other stats among AL players, it boggles my mind just how good this lineup is.
OBP         - Red Sox players are 3rd, 4th, and 5th
BA          - 2 Red Sox in top 10
SLG         - 2 Red Sox in top 5
OPS         - 5 Red Sox in top 11
Hits        - 3 Red Sox in top 10
Total Bases - 2 Red Sox in top 5
OPS+        - 3 Red Sox in top 10
wRC         - 5 Red Sox in top 11
wRAA        - 4 Red Sox in top 10
wRC+        - 4 Red Sox in top 10
wOBA        - 5 Red Sox in top 10
WPA         - 4 Red Sox in top 10
Looking position-by-position, here is how the starters rank by OPS in the AL. We'll ignore Reddick because of his lack of ABs but we all know he's on fire right now. 5 of the 8 are ranked in the top 2 in their position and all but Crawford are in the top 10.
Salty     -  6th
Gonzalez  -  2nd
Pedroia   -  1st
Scutaro   -  8th
Youkilis  -  1st
Crawford  - 29th
Ellsbury  -  2nd
Reddick   -  [too few AB; 1.030 OPS]
Ortiz     -  1st
With Crawford starting to swing the bat well since returning from the DL, it's scary to think the lineup could get even better.
MFY: Mariners/Yankees at 7 PM.

202 comments:

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johngoldfine said...

it's scary to think the lineup could get even better

I can handle the added fear, Allan!

9casey said...

Salty - 6th
Gonzalez - 2nd
Pedroia - 1st
Scutaro - 8th
Youkilis - 1st
Crawford - 29th
Ellsbury - 2nd
Reddick - [too few AB; 1.030 OPS]
Ortiz - 1st





So what this tells me is that we need Jose Reyes....;)

Benjamin said...

Davies doesn't mind having his name misspelled. He's lucky to be noticed at all.

allan said...

Just trying to mimic the mainstream media, with careless, sloppy errors.

allan said...

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Youkilis, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Crawford, LF
Reddick, RF
Saltalamacchia, C
Scutaro, SS

Gordon, LF
Cabrera, CF
Butler, DH
Hosmer, 1B
Francoeur, RF
Aviles, 3B
Pena, C
Escobar, SS
Getz, 2B

allan said...

Daives is now Davies.

Buchholz: Good news, everyone!

allan said...

rain delay to start the evening

remy calls lowell "an arrogant athlete" - did not know his mic was on mid-inning - was he joking?

Jere said...

How could it be anything other than a joke?

Jere said...

Time to unveil my new avatar.

Jere said...

Tom Caron just said that next year there will be a first-round bye in the playoffs. Has this officially been decided? I thought we didn't know for sure yet.

allan said...

How could it be anything other than a joke?

His tone of voice? It did not sound jokey to me. I did not play this clip, but I assume it's the same one I heard elsewhere, with Remy suggesting that Lowell "go home" (something like, "the first pitch and now this?"). Someone thought that Remy might have taken offense at Lowell's on-air comments about not wanting to get into broadcasting and the paycut he would have to take from his baseball playing years.

allan said...

Unless it was announced this afternoon/evening, there has been nothing official.

Jere said...

It just sounded like Remy joking around. Even if he wanted to badmouth a guy, why would he call him arrogant for cameras filming him for the scoreboard? I missed the interview and didn't hear the thing about going home you mentioned.

Clue on Jeopardy tonight, word for word:

"In baseball statistics, these 2 letters represent stepping up to the plate one time"

The person said What is AB, and I laughed, knowing they were tricked....until Alex said "AB, yes!" WTF? How could they get that wrong? Am I crazy? Should that not be PA?

allan said...

KC TV says 9 PM (unofficial)

tim said...

9 PM in KC or BOS? Better be in 25 min!

allan said...

Probably Boston time.

Jere said...

"Unless it was announced this afternoon/evening, there has been nothing official."

TC's line was, "it doesn't matter if you finish first or second, until next year when there's a first-round bye." Eck didn't question it. I wonder if he knows something or was assuming.

Jere said...

9:30 start

Jere said...

nice start for wicked lester

Jere said...

The Melkman delivers an opposite field bloop from Jeter Dairies.

Jere said...

Davies' record is on the all NY streets team: "1 and 9"

allan said...

But he's 2-0 vs the Sox!!!OMG!!!

meunier said...

I doubt HH is going to tell us that we are all going to get laid.

meunier said...

oops it was actually "hey everybody" that Rodney said.

Jere said...

You'd think these guys were royalty. No call is good enough for them.

laura k said...

Stupid rain delay. I'm not going to see much baseball tonight. Considering I'm already falling asleep and am waking up at 5.

I'll miss FY22.

Jere said...

Available in Spanish, press the "Strand A Pair" button on your tv remote.

allan said...

Rangers have a "333 5" line going against the Twins.

laura k said...

Jere, you're on a roll tonight. :)

Jere said...

You'll be glad to know I stopped short of a forced "Davies vs. 'Goliaths' Ortiz" joke.

allan said...

ROPE from reddick!

SoSock said...

We have baseball!

And CC has Wheels!

3 hits in the 1st 2 innings for Wicked J.. Hope he settles down.

We have Run(s)!

Jere said...

I always wanna call Reddick "American Psycho" since he looks like Christian Bale, but I just realized Batman's a more obvious choice. But American Psycho's more fun.

SoSock said...

Salty K....

Jere said...

SoSock, I took some pics of Ackley at the plate yesterday. From the good seats.

Kathryn said...

Hey All, I won't be threading much tonight. I'll probably fall asleep listening to the game on the radio. Hopefully to another win.

Jere, nice avatar. Is that a real shirt?

allan said...

SEA - 001 0
MFY - 201 2

MIN - 000 10
TEX - 333 54
Rangers with 22 hits!

Jere said...

Allan happy that Texas is the home team. Or sad depending how you look at it.

Kathryn said...

I still like the name Rudolph for Reddick, but I don't think anyone else remembers that night he got the bloody nose.

Jere said...

Yes, real Muddy Chicken shirt! I caught American Psycho wearing it yesterday. Full pic here.

allan said...

When Texas beat the Orioles 30-3 a few years ago, they scored in only four innings.

Jere said...

Shit, Yanks pulling away from our old pals the Mariners

SoSock said...

OTT
Lester settled down

Jere said...

Carbo-ish swing there, get ready!

Jere said...

did not work out.

Jere said...

222 222
2 2
222 222
2 2
222 222

allan said...

Only 35 more games to go for the Muddy C.

SoSock said...

That was not very Jacoby-y

Thats cool Jere. I got some great shots of him in the Durham Bulls park a few years ago when he was playing in the ACC tournament with Carolina. Wish I had had the foresight to snap a few of him in the batters box at the good ol' Winston-Salem National Little League field!

nick said...

XXII

allan said...

2 on but 2 outs for Rangers in 6th

SoSock said...

Wow. I can't believe I missed a chance to ask - "Have I mentioned lately, that Ackley is a Tarheel?"
hehe

Jere said...

Well, Texas gave it a shot.

SoSock said...

From the Just Ask Joe desk -

Good thing he got a single and not a walk. Because we all know - A leadoff walk always scores!

allan said...

0 for TEX in the 6th.

SoSock said...

mmmmmmmm...........

SoSock said...

Wiggle, Jon, wiggle

Jere said...

The Red Sox actually called me today trying to get me to buy tix for that Cape League All Star Game.

allan said...

Craw almost interferes with the catcher again, but they nail Flo anyway.

Jere said...

When the Royals have men on base, they're the Mariners.

allan said...

Tim, Laura and I were going to go to Buffalo to see the PawSox tonight, but it did not work out ...

Kevin Millwood started for the Sox and Hector Luna hit a 3-run dong, but Buffalo won 8-7.

PAW - 101 000 140 - 7 9 0
BUF - 200 210 21x - 8 11 1

Jere said...

The broadcasts are trying to be more like a "TV show" now, it seems. A lot of telling us what's coming up next, more goofy sidebars, and that roving cam in the crowd. Like they're trying to appeal to a different audience.

Jere said...

that bad swing call was "fuckin' bullshit" according to Reddick.

allan said...

Jere: You are right.

Hey, NESN: How about getting the act of actually showing the whole game down with some consistency before you add other bullshit?

Jere said...

Remy says he doesn't like caviar, then says he's never had it.

allan said...

Coming up next inning, Heidi will tell us that some food sold by the Red Sox, who own this station and pay all our salaries, is really tasty!!!

Jere said...

Salty did a little instinctive jump to make sure he didn't the let the ball hit him, but he was already past it. Jumped over nothing!

tim said...

Damn, you beat me to the pawsox report. So I will just add that iggy had an RBI double!

allan said...

Diego is staring at the TV as the bullpen dudes play a tune.

Kathryn said...

Are her ears perked?

allan said...

I suddenly realized - that was tonight!

I wonder if the same guy is playing Chip this year!

allan said...

yeah, he perked up and turned to look at the tv for a few seconds. he's gone back to sleep now.

Jere said...

Still waiting for that 2,000th run vs. KC all-time. Sittin' on 1,999 right now.

allan said...

The dog reaction to a game I remember most is when Lowe broke that fucking mega-nasty pitch over the plate to Terrence Long to end the 2003 ALDS. I leapt up out of my chair and I swear I was fully airborne by the time the ump was just starting to call the strikeout (good thing he got the call right!) -- and I scared the shit out of Buster. He freaked out - and I had to calm him down for a few minutes while the Sox went nuts on the field.

tim said...

word is they stocked up on cherry lip balm for you.

allan said...

Jere: Forman at BRef thanked me for mentioning the Runs bug and he will check it out.

allan said...

i never used the first one!!

Jere said...

Crawford's first mistake worked as a lure for Melky to try and score, but then he made another mistake to negate it.

allan said...

don: "that happened fast"

it was ONE RUN! an RBI double! those happened fast. oy.

allan said...

Time for the Rock Brigade....

Jere said...

Watch out!

allan said...

They might, while they score 6 runs, even try to steal your sister!

allan said...

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

meunier said...

Fuck, youk is hurt

allan said...

red sox swung the bats like a one-armed drummer.

Jere said...

Seventh is our inning anyway.

allan said...

Someone poured some sugar into their gas tank.

allan said...

As is the 16th.

Jere said...

was gonna use sugar line for them being sluggish but that's salt you pour on slugs. well, not recently.

Jere said...

Royal Pain-ya

allan said...

TEX wins 20-6, with 27 hits.
a combined 7 errors in the game.

allan said...

SEA - 001 000 110 - 3 8 2
MFY - 201 501 01x - 10 11 0

16 straight losses for SEA.

Jere said...

Seattle HAS to beat them one time this week. They're due as fuck.

allan said...

WOTC.

Benjamin said...

Seattle HAS to beat them one time this week. They're due as fuck.

They were the same due as fuck when they played Boston.

allan said...

They're shitty as fuck, is what they are.

allan said...

They were the same due as fuck when they played Boston.

From 12 losses to 15, aren't they like 15% more due?

allan said...

Seventh is our inning anyway.

And by "seventh", you meant eighth.

allan said...

jesus wept - he stopped, ass holes.

allan said...

ugggg - now nesn showing twitter shit.

Jere said...

Dude, that wouldn't have even been called a balk in '88 (or whatever that year was when they focused on the full stop).

allan said...

it's calls like that that make me think the umps have some shit going on, where they NEED KC to score. (or i have been reading too much about the NBA refs scandal)

Jere said...

You could say every team is as due as any other on any night, like the way any roulette number could pop up regardless of past performance. But in a world where due-ness exists, the Mariners get due-er every day they don't win.

allan said...

time to make the royals eat some crow.

Jere said...

Sox looking to institute the Aaron Crow Loss

Jere said...

Orsillo's voice cracks, just like Joe Elliot in Rock Brigade, and it starts a rally!

Jere said...

If this guy goes to the Dodgers or Angels, it'll be The Crow: City of Angles

Jere said...

Normally we score 10 runs on July 25th vs. the Royals! What's going on??

Okay we were looking for a walk-off win to change things up a bit.

allan said...

Sox were just f-f-f-f-foolin'.

Jere said...

lady luck never smiles.... (huh?)

allan said...

equidistant - NOT on thecard!

Jere said...

Okay, who wants to be the hero?

allan said...

1 Good Times dong, pls.

Jere said...

Aaron on the side of caw-tion?

allan said...

BIG MAN -- if you please ...

allan said...

SNAKES THRU!!!!!!!!!!

Jere said...

That had Royal Disaster written all over it if ya ask me.....

allan said...

Ms. Luck is shining now ...

Jere said...

We never saw what the hell Melky did with that ball. Don seemed excited about his firing of it, and Navarro looked like he was thinking about scoring, like the throw got away or something.

allan said...

Craw vs Crow

(Carl looking for 4th (?) walkoff hit this year)

Jere said...

Carboesque.....

Jere said...

Carlbo

allan said...

BULLSHIT CALL

allan said...

COMPLETE HOSRSE SHUIT

Jere said...

That 3rd base ump needs to have fruits and things tossed his way

Jere said...

The Royals used the Girardi method. Complain all fuckin night over calls that weren't even wrong, then receive "make-up calls."

Patrick said...

Up late, looking for the W. In 10, I hope.

allan said...

if we win, do we get 1.5 wins for beating the royals AND the umpires?

allan said...

Shit. Unlike the TB game, we have used our best arms tonight. Now we are forced to rely on Morales, et al.

allan said...

REDDICK! and a shitty bunt = 2 outs!

Jere said...

Great catch by Puce Pud.

Thanks for the incredibly easy out, there, second guy.

allan said...

Puce Pud

I am LOL!

meunier said...

Extra fuck yeah!

Jere said...

Hey the guy's name is red dick, we're in for years of laughter....unless they trade him for two months of Beltran.

Jere said...

BTW, "puce penis" has a little more alliteration, but ya gotta go to pud in that spot.

allan said...

I agree. As does Pud Galvin.

Jere said...

They're stealing Seinfeld's umbrella twirl!

allan said...

fuck duh dud.

Jere said...

O-fuckin-le

allan said...

looked out

allan said...

safe call > balk

so ...

& wheeler time.

Jere said...

Sox still partying like it's 1999 runs scored all-time vs. Royals. Time to take it to the 2000s.

Jere said...

Rocket. Yeah.

Jere said...

i say it goes 3-2, AG running on pitch, gapper, and he huffs it all the way around, barely scoring.

allan said...

scamper!

allan said...

Clock on the wall says it's CRAW time.

Jere said...

There goes that idea. Bingle wins it now.

Jere said...

Clock about to strike WON

Jere said...

single WILL win it

Jere said...

g-dammit

allan said...

my clock is 2 minutes faster than FP's clock.

williams up --

allan said...

aviles: .249 obp!

Jere said...

I was thinkin' they recorded the 1:00 clock change during the break then showed it when they got back--both my clocks were at 1:02 at that moment too.

allan said...

hmmmmm - they probably did.

shit, we can't hold them back for long with this morales/wheeler/williams dreck. shit.

allan said...

BIG ASS K!

Jere said...

Just confirmed! In that last shot I could see their scoreboard clock at 1:07, both mine were at 1:08.

allan said...

so they *could* be 2 minutes ahead.

Jere said...

I don't think so, because at the change, ours were 2 ahead. So if they're 1 ahead, it would mean at the change, they'd.....wait, I think I have this right...I still say it was too perfect!

allan said...

remy doing a "homer inning"? seems half-hearted so far

Jere said...

Yeah you have to overdo it or people will think you're really like that.

allan said...

he;s gettin' there!

allan said...

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Jere said...

Now a wild pitch and it's over

allan said...

COCK FUC JING SHIT ASSHOEL SQUEEZE FUCK

allan said...

okay - marco dong

Jere said...

my lord

allan said...

JESUS FUCKING WHORE - WTF????

Jere said...

All we needed was a fly ball. And we get cute? This is wacky.

allan said...

No runs, no one left, 3 batters in the inning -- but we had 2 hits and a two-base throwing error

Jere said...

Getz up, Getz down

Jere said...

Royals baseball, it's catching.

Jere said...

Okay--if it changed to 1:00 and ours said 1:02, that means it had been 12:59 for them, 1:02 for us. Then later, one of mine was one minute off of theirs. You can't be three off then one off.

allan said...

lackey offering to pitch?

errr, ...

allan said...

the only other homer inning I heard was during the day and remy was accusing the other team of conspiring with the sun/shadows to get the sox to swing and miss. it was hilarious.

Jere said...

Just starting to rain??? True Yankee Time!

allan said...

SB + E2, pls

Jere said...

Squeeze!

allan said...

scorcher from bert, short hop missed by 9, lbj to 3rd, inf/of both in

allan said...

FLO TIME!!!!!!!!!

pitch to him

Jere said...

This is a dream right?

Patrick said...

This game is still happening.

Jere said...

Twice winning run on third with less than 2 outs, and we get botched squeeze and popout. And then don't get the hit with 2 outs.

allan said...

we are supposed to go to check out some wolf puppies at a wolf preserve tomorrow, but i backed out because i wanted a day to myself after a busy day of errands today. laura has to leave at about 5:30, so will be getting up at 4:45 maybe. that is in three hours. i am glad i am not going!!!

(it will be very funny if the game is still on when she gets up, though ...)

allan said...

shit.

allan said...

big balls time, williams.

Jere said...

Drinkwater finally goes home...

allan said...

Drinkwine is still threading ...

Jere said...

If Adrian coulda jumped and caught it, how sweet it woulda been

Jere said...

Get two here, then get 2 in bottom 14

Jere said...

He bunted at it. Clearly. But they called a ball.

I hope we blast three straight home runs in a row to win this.

Jere said...

Dong > sac

allan said...

dunk and a dong
bloop and a blast

Jere said...

Carl you looked like dick there.

allan said...

yeah, running into the opposite batters box to offer at a pitch -- and missing it -- is not a strike, apparently.

Jere said...

There ya go! Tying run up.

allan said...

PUD POWER!

SALTY - it's time to pepper a dong

allan said...

i would like to propose, pls

Jere said...

On deck: Scutaro!

allan said...

fucking 71 curve

Jere said...

Send one deep in to the night, Marco.

allan said...

a dong will wake that kid up!

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