July 7, 2011

G87: Red Sox 10, Orioles 4

Orioles - 200 100 010 -  4  8  1
Red Sox - 003 112 30x - 10 13  1
Six different Red Sox players hit home runs -- the 25th game in team history* with 6+ homers -- and, thanks to Tampa Bay's 5-1 win over the Yankees, Boston reclaimed the top spot in the AL East.

[Baseball Reference's data goes back only to 1919. But because Boston's first 6+ HR game in that span came in late 1940, and home runs were scarce throughout the Deadball Era, I'm assuming the Red Sox had no 6+ HR games from 1901-1918.]

Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run shot over the Wall and Monster Seats in the 3rd, Adrian Gonzalez hit a solo shot to center in the 5th, Jacoby Ellsbury had a two-run blast down the right field line in the 6th, and David Ortiz (dead CF), Josh Reddick (RF), and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (LF) hit back-to-back-to-back dongs in the 7th.

In the first inning, Miller (5-6-3-4-0, 98) was helped out by a double play after allowing singles to the first three Orioles batters. Baltimore left six men on base in the first four innings. ... Alfredo Aceves retired all six batters he faced in the sixth and seventh innings, throwing only 15 pitches.
Example
Jake Arrieta / Andrew Miller

The Red Sox are in second place, 0.5 GB the Yankees. Seven of Boston's next 10 games are against the lowly Orioles (36-48, 14.5 GB), while the Yankees play eight of their next 12 games against the third-place Rays (48-39, 4 GB). This is an ideal chance to make a move in the East.

Boston has won all three of Miller's previous starts. Two of them were routs, but the lefty turned in a solid outing of six innings each time (6, 6, and 5.2, actually), well enough to give the team a chance to win even if the bats were not on fire.

While Miller's ERA is only 3.06, he has the highest strand rate (82.6% LOB, a tick above Josh Beckett's 82.5%) of any Boston pitcher with over eight innings pitched this year. His xFIP (park-adjusted Fielding Independent Pitching, a more accurate ERA-esque measure of a pitcher's ability to control what he has control over) is 4.10. xFIP is also better than ERA in predicting a pitcher's future performance.

Opponents have a .351 OBP against Miller, which is far too high; the AL average is .319. Miller has walked seven and allowed 19 hits in 17.2 innings. Walks have been his biggest liability in the past.

Arrieta, 25, has been remarkable consistent, if not particularly successful, this season. The righty's ERA has been between 4.03 and 5.06 since April 19 (14 starts).

AL East: Rays/Yankees at 7 PM.

106 comments:

allan said...

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

allan said...

Here why I like Peter Abraham:

"[A]s soon I get named Supreme Ruler of All Thing Baseball, I'm outlawing the save statistic. Jonathan Papelbon has allowed three runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batter the last two night and has two saves. That's a useless stat."

&

"[S]houldn't Congress and the federal government have better things ... I'd rather my tax dollars help a homeless guy outside a baseball stadium than figure out what Clemens did inside the park. ... I feel like a fool. ... I believed the narrative that Clemens was successful because he worked so hard. Like a sheep, I followed along and wrote about what a big hero he was."

allan said...

Carl Crawford will begin a minor league rehab assignment after the ASB and could return to the Sox on Monday, July 18.

Francona: "It's not etched in stone. As important as his legs are, I think this gives us a chance to really not mess this up."

Crawford: "They want to make sure I'm OK before I come back. They want to see me explode out of the box and do everything like that. It makes sense to go somewhere and play for a few games."

Jere said...

100 years ago today: Red Sox 6, future Baltimore Orioles 1. Smoky Joe Wood takes a no-hitter to the ninth.

We never lose to this club on 7/7/11.

Jere said...

"When the Red Sox traded for Josh Beckett before the 2005 season..." --TC.

Get yr head in the game, guy!

meunier said...

Why no blog on Dick Williams?

allan said...

I did not know he died until now. Plus, I had no connection to him. So no post is likely.

laura k said...

In tonight's episode of The Unstoppables, we re-take first place.

Amy said...

Hello, JOSers. I am here to thread until the goddamn laptop gets too hot and I cannot stand it.

Kathryn said...

Almost another assist from the orioles outfielders.

Maxwell Horse said...

Whenever Ortiz slides he reminds of the bird in The Rescuers Down Under coming in for a landing.

Kathryn said...

Hey Amy. Good to see you. I've been without my laptop since Friday. It's hard to thread from my phone.

meunier said...

fuck, wasted

Amy said...

Yeah, I tried to thread on the Ipod I stole from Harvey now that he has a smartphone, but it was too hard.

Amy said...

Why do laptops have to get so HOT?

And why can't we drive in a run?

Kathryn said...

Oh my. That was hilarious.

Kathryn said...

They can't talk!!!!!!

Amy said...

What the hell are they so hysterical about? I wasn't paying attention until I heard the Orsillo snort.

laura k said...

Allan and I each have our laptop and netbook on a table, not on laps. Have you tried that?

Kathryn said...

If you can, back it up to their intro into the third inning. Heidi is even trying to keep it together.

meunier said...

OMG double error!

laura k said...

Yeesh, nice D there boys.

Amy said...

Do you sit at a table while watching TV? At home we only have a coffee table---too low to type on. And here on the Cape, we have nothing so it's the lap or nothing.

In the winter it's a nice source of extra warmth. Not so much in July on the Cape on a hot day with no AC.

Amy said...

Let's make them strand a runner on third also.

Kathryn said...

Put something between your legs and the computer.

Am I the only one who thought that was funny? Or did no one else see it.

laura k said...

I lie on the couch with the coffee table in front of me, Allan is in an Ikea "poang" chair, kind of reclining, with his laptop on a small table beside him. I occasionally put my netbook on my lap, but as someone who is always overheated, I don't do that very often!

Amy said...

Kathryn, that sounded sort of risque!

And I asked what was funny---I missed it. What were they laughing about?

Zenslinger said...

My Lenovo runs pretty cool. But I keep it offa my junk.

laura k said...

We have the Baltimore station and (of course) listening to Castig on MLB Audio.

Amy said...

Laura, I am trying to visualize that description, but I am having a hard time imagining it! You and Allan must have (1) very long arms and (2) multiple sets of eyes!

Amy said...

Zen, the Acer used to run cooler also, but it is almost three, so it seems the fan is not as effective.

Good, they have a LOB issue also.

laura k said...

Ha ha, well, you've met me, you know I could not be described as long. :)

The coffee table is next to the couch, I lean over a bit to type.

Kathryn said...

Ha. Between your legs. Sorry.

They were coming back from break and panned in on two couples holding hands. They kept the camera on them while remy and don talked about two sweet couples enjoying the game. Just about that time, one of the guys reached over and grabbed his gf's boob. It was hilarious. There was a very long silence and you knew they were cracking up.

Amy said...

Our coffee table is too far from the couch. I'd end up falling on the floor and also missing half the game as I squinted to see what I was typing.

laura k said...

Yes, but can't you move the coffee table?? I pull the table closer to the couch for threading. So it's almost right up against the couch. You can't do that?

Amy said...

I so rarely watch or listen to the announcers' off topic rambling that I missed it. I heard them refer to this being a "family program," so I knew something inappropriate had happened.

laura k said...

Wish I had seen that!

Amy said...

Well, at home the coffee table is heavy, but we do have a little one here, though I tend to sit on the chair, not the couch. Perhaps I will see if that works once I start sweating from the laptop. It sounds like a good challenge!

Amy said...

Tie the game, LBJ!

Kathryn said...

L, maybe Jon can figure out a way to capture it and I'll send it along. It was priceless!

Amy said...

FUCK YEAH!!!

laura k said...

FUCK YEAH BABY!!!!

meunier said...

FUCK YEAH

allan said...

whatever coming in
whatever X 2 going out

!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy said...

How the hell does that little guy DO that?

Dr. Jeff said...

Earl Weaver style!

Kathryn said...

Well I missed the scoring as Jon was taping the incident. It looks like a Pedey homer?? Woo hoo!

allan said...

once the game is over and archived at mlb, we can see it.

Amy said...

Do you think his parents were thinking of Nolan Ryan when they named him?

Amy said...

That was annoying.

Amy said...

Arggghhh

allan said...

so that WASN'T an error on scutaro???


FKR - 102 0
MFY - 000 0

allan said...

dear mr. miller:

kindly get your shit together.

sincerely,

allan said...

Rays 5-0 in 5th

laura k said...

Safe! Ha ha ha ha

allan said...

redduck: another blown call goes our way!

allan said...

CBS: "Saltalamacchia singled to right, Reddick scored on right fielder Markakis fielding error."

???????

Amy said...

Oy. A bad call, a bad hop. But who cares? We are ahead.

Zenslinger said...

Ours is the only game being played that isn't a shutout at the moment.

allan said...

LBJ jerkin' the berkin

Kathryn said...

Laura's boy!!!!

Amy said...

I gave up in laptop after comments stopped going through for some reason. Trying iPod now.

LBJ!

allan said...

blogger glitch - we all got "conflicting edits"..

Amy said...

I figured it was a Blogger issue.

Anyone know how to refresh a page on the iPod? This is all new to me.

johngoldfine said...

Hey everyone--

Amy said...

Never mind. I figured it out. Not so easy to scroll or refresh on this thing.

Amy said...

Hi John!

Kathryn said...

Amy, tap at the top of the screen (where the time is). That will take you back to the address bar. Hit the arrow in the address bar and it refreshes.

allan said...

FKR - 102 020 00
MFY - 000 001 0

we should be back in first in an hour or so...

johngoldfine said...

Hi y'self, Amy!

Amy said...

Thanks, Kat! How do I scroll to the bottom?

allan said...

FLORIDA EVANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amy said...

Papi!!

johngoldfine said...

Papi! Dongggg!

Amy said...

Holy shit!

johngoldfine said...

Wooof--one of those nights!

allan said...

pedro viola

nothing in common with either namesake!

Kathryn said...

Homers all around. Man it's good to be back home and back in the AL

laura k said...

Dongathon!

I left the thread b/c of conflicting edits problem.

OMG!! BACK TO BACK TO BACK!!!!

johngoldfine said...

Yikes! WTF!!!

allan said...

SOX taking batting practice DURING the game!

Amy said...

Oh my god!! B2b2b!!!

Maxwell Horse said...

I had no idea Chase Wright made it back to the majors .... and became a black man, I guess.

allan said...

O's pitching coach: "Ummm, stop doing that ... if you can."

laura k said...

This is why there's no need to worry about a few LOBs early in the game. This is Baltimore and we are Unstoppable.

Kathryn said...

Amy. No easy way. You can pinch the screen size down and scroll faster with your fingertip. Then double tap to get back to regular size.

b2b2b!!!!!!!

Amy said...

Ok it looks like we won't have to see papelbon tonight.

Amy said...

Thanks so much, Kat. That first tip helps a lot. I am surprised Apple hasn't figured out a way to scroll down also.

laura k said...

Yay fun inning

Kathryn said...

Just consider it bulking up your index (or scrolling) finger.

allan said...

CUBS - 000 006 2
NATS - 007 100 0

!

Jonny said...

Link to video my mom was talking about.

Amy, you can scroll to the bottom of the page by using a bookmarklet such as this one Alternatively, you could use an third-party browser such as iCab Mobile (my preference).

Amy said...

How many runs will he give up tonight?

laura k said...

Wow, that's a cool line score. You score 8 runs, your opponent scores none, you think you're safe. But noooo...

laura k said...

First place, here we come

SoSock said...

Liking what I see on the score ticker!

allan said...

FKR - 102 020 000 - 5 12 0
MFY - 000 001 000 - 1 6 0

allan said...

MASN Viewer Player of the Game Voting

Gonzalzez - 20%
Ortiz - 13%
Weiters - 67%

Weiters walked 3 times, and stole a base (the only time he advanced past first); he also grounded out. WOW!!!

Amy said...

Thanks, Jonny, for the video and the syggestion for the bookmarklet. Those instructions are a bit hard to grasp but I will give it a try once we are in first place!! Thanks so much.

SoSock said...

Amy. Saw your q about the I-pod. Using my I-phone now. And yes, it's a bit of a pain. But the fact I can sit here at the bar and participate at all is kinda cool.

Kathryn said...

Mr. 27 made the last out for the yanks.

laura k said...

Dirty First Place Water!

allan said...

Back in first.

Amy said...

Dirty water!! And first place!!!

SoSock said...

Dirty water and made even more drinkable by the mfy loss.

Back in the saddle!

Amy said...

Jonny, I think I did it!! Thanks!