August 9, 2011

G115: Red Sox 4, Twins 3

Red Sox - 000 021 100 - 4  6  0
Twins   - 200 001 000 - 3  6  0
David Ortiz's 40-foot infield hit with the bases loaded in the seventh brought in what ended up as the deciding run. Flo squibbed Phil Dumatrait's 0-1 pitch towards the first base line. Dumatrait went for the ball, got his bare hand on it, but then seemed to trip and fall forward. The ball ended up on the grass behind him, and Dustin Pedroia scored from third.

The Twins had Joe Mauer at second with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but Franklin Morales struck out Jason Kubel and Daniel Bard retired Jim Thome on a grounder to short. Bard pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Jonathan Papelbon needed only seven pitches to pitch a perfect ninth.

Minnesota scored twice in the first inning as Eric Bedard (5-3-2-4-6, 90) was charged with four walks. Home plate umpire Tim McClelland was squeezing Bedard as though the Boston lefty had defiled his daughter or run over his dog (or defiled his dog and run over his daughter). Actually, Bedard was not simply being squeezed; McClelland seemed to have absolutely no concept of the strike zone. ... Jesus, even the Twins announcers were raising their eyebrows at McClelland's shitty calls.

It's quite possible Bedard would not have walked anyone if he had been allowed to pitch to a rule book strike zone. Looking at Brooks's f/x site for the inning, Bedard could have possibly retired the side in order.

Ben Revere walked on a 3-1 pitch which should have been strike two:

McClelland blew pitch #1, meaning that Mauer should have been called out on strikes on pitch #5. But Mauer ended up singled on pitch #6:

Michael Cuddyer hit a sac fly on 0-1 and drove in a run. 1-0, Twins.

Kubel drew a full-count walk, but he should have been called out on strikes on either pitch #3 or pitch #6:

Thome walked on four pitches, but pitch #3 was a strike:

Valencia fouled off two pitches and then struck out swinging for the second out, so McClelland was not given an opportunity to fuck anything up.

Delmon Young walked on six pitches, bringing in the Twins' second run. McClelland made two bad calls. Young should have been called out on strikes on what McClelland says was ball 4:

Bedard faced eight batters in the inning and recorded (according to f/x) six outs. The human element -- my fuckin' ass.

I hope McClelland had a shit ton of money riding on the Twins tonight, because despite his sack full of early Xmas gifts for the home team, the Red Sox still won the game.

If McClelland is unable to call, or refuses to call, the strike zone as mandated by MLB's rules, then fire his fuckin' ass and get someone else in there who will do a proper job. Players are expected to follow the rules. Right? Why not the umpires?

Boston tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth off Liriano (6-4-3-7-4, 109) when Jason Varitek walked and Darnell McDonald donged into the second deck to left-center. In the sixth, after walks to Jed Lowrie and Carl Crawford, Varitek singled to left to give the Sox a 3-2 lead. (Matt Albers gave back that run in the home half of the sixth.)

Adrian Gonzalez singled, doubled, and walked; McDonald singled and homered; Varitek and Ortiz both singled and walked and had an RBI; and Pedroia walked three times.

The Yankees lost to the Angels 6-4. Losing pitcher Mariano Rivera gave up a two-run homer to Bobby Abreu in the top of the ninth and Curtis Granderson was picked off first base to end the game. Boston is now 2.5 GA in the East.
Example
Erik Bedard / Francisco Liriano

Bedard makes his second start for Boston. On May 25, when he was with the Mariners, he pitched six shutout innings at Minnesota.

Chris Singleton and Bedard were teammates in Baltimore and Singleton, now working for ESPN, countered some of the idiocy about the pitcher's mindset and ability to thrive in an intense baseball town like Boston.
Erik to me is a tough kid ... The one thing about him, I think he has the mindset and the mentality to be able to pitch in Boston. It is not an easy place to play whether you pitch or hit, I think he is a matter-of-fact type of guy, to the point. ... [B]eing in the atmosphere that he is in, if he can get that knee 100 percent healthy it will be a boost.
Dustin Pedroia (6-for-10) and Kevin Youkilis (4-for-11; 3 doubles, 1 HR, 6 RBI) have destroyed Liriano in the past. ... Twins vs Bedard here.

Peter Abraham, Globe: "Here's the cover of the new Sports Illustrated. Poor Terry Francona is never going to hear the end of this."
I expect Pedroia will be ordering a 10-foot high replica of the cover and having it bolted to the wall in Tito's office!

MFY (1.5 GB): Angels/Yankees at 7 PM.

109 comments:

allan said...

Pedroia/Ortiz/Muddy Chicken update! (see comments)

Ellsbury, CF
Pedroia, 2B
Gonzalez, 1B
Youkilis, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, SS
Crawford, LF
Varitek, C
McDonald, RF

Revere, CF
Mauer, 1B
Cuddyer, 2B
Kubel, RF
Thome, DH
Valencia, 3B
Young, LF
Nishioka, SS
Butera, C

allan said...

Nick Cafardo is always the last to know: "Last week was a bit strange for Ortiz. He interrupted a Terry Francona press conference to moan about a scoring decision that cost him an RBI. It was very unbecoming and out of character for Ortiz. Players who moan about scoring decisions are usually self-centered and statistically driven. While Ortiz is playing for a new contract, did he need to fight that hard for one RBI?"

Benjamin said...

Papi apparently won his appeal, suggesting he was right to fight.

fusionmouse said...

All I can say is...

FY!

andy said...

another head scratcher from nick...

well, spread by nick.

originally tweeted by Steve Berthiame from ESPN...Nick appreciated enough to re-tweet:
"Albers gave up key run last night. Aceves tonight. #RedSox bullpen just can't be counted on to get critical outs before Bard & Papelbon"


It's such a pile of nonsense, I almost have to think that S.B. was sarcastic...

(source:http://twitter.com/#!/SBerthiaumeESPN/status/100742827914428416)

tim said...

Alright LBJ, blow this one open right here.

Kathryn said...

I love the SI cover. I love the FYMC prankster.

allan said...

Re FY:

EVIL! (/SirSimonMilligan)

tim said...

McDonald, RF - wonder if puce pud is ok or if this is just a regular day off. I think Tito said some people were going to get days off this series, Youk yesterday, Pedey tomorrow.

allan said...

prob. the old LH starter thing.

allan said...

AG hitting with evil gas.

tim said...

while i can appreciate tito's logic somewhat, it makes no sense looking at the stats. macdonald has been atrocious at the plate this year, and reddick has hit lefties well.

2011:

reddick ops vs. lhp = 1.005 (granted, a limited 25 PA)

macdonald = .720 (only 63 PA)

allan said...

jedi bat trick, pls

tim said...

a hat trick's worth of runs would be appreciated. or maybe a baker's hat trick.

tim said...

RATS

stranded.

allan said...

dp pls

allan said...

fucking squeeze-a-thon

Kathryn said...

Getting squeezed.

tim said...

meanwhile in NY...

AJ BURNETT IS PITCHING A SHUTOUT!!!!!!

laura k said...

Hi thread, just saying hi. Mom visit Day One.

Maxwell Horse said...

I would love to see Bedard charge the homeplate ump right now.

allan said...

HOLY FUCK - RIGHT DFOWN THE MIDDLE - BALL 4

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

allan said...

I am livid.

Kathryn said...

Ridiculous.

L, enjoy the visit.

Maxwell Horse said...

That guy who struck out just now is a fool. If the Twins had not swung at anything I guarantee you we'd be sitting here at 10:00 PM looking at a 25-0 game with Bedard still out there sweating bullets, trapped in first-inning limbo.

tim said...

FUCK YOU UMP!!!!!

allan said...

i am not sure i want to click tim's link.

tim said...

if you were livid before.....its best not to click.

but if you want to vent in the post game recap, then i advise saving the image for later.

andy said...

re: that chart....
Green = ball
red = strike?

does min/bos = when min/bos is pitching or hitting?

SoSock said...

It's safe :)

SoSock said...

The link that is

tim said...

10! 10 shitty ball calls.

tim said...

the green triangles = all of the bedard ball calls. look at all of them in/around the strike zone!

SoSock said...

That glaring red square in the middle of the box tells me that is when Sox are pitching

allan said...

LAA tied it up, 1-1 vs MFY in 6th

allan said...

HEY - ump CAN call strikes with bedard pitching!!! yay!

Maxwell Horse said...

Bedard seems unflappable. He's like a boy-band version of JD Drew.

Kathryn said...

Heidi doesn't say anything about the 12 second rule and men on base.

tim said...

OTT! now we're rolling. RSVP, tie this thing up!

allan said...

K - i just said that. state the full rule, Heidi. L says do not expect her to be accurate.

maybe bos-nyy are playing slow to drive joe west to suicide. ... i will keep my opinion of that to myself

tim said...

3-1 LAA.

Jere said...

Heard inning 1 in car. O'Brien (along with not saying how many outs there were for a really long time and once just saying Tek got crossed up without telling us if it was a ball or strike) and Castig didn't seem mad about the calls, just said how you're not gonna get strike calls when you throw a lot of balls, etc. I see from what you people are saying that they should have been more pissed about those calls.

allan said...

Muddy BB

Jere said...

Sock killing

SoSock said...

Wow. Just went back and scrolled through the GDGD summary of 1st inning. Seeing that chart and then realizing the 2nd run was walked in - man that makes your blood boil a bit

allan said...

I am *shocked* AJ did not keep his shutout.

allan said...

Fly out on the 0-4 pitch.

Jere said...

Count's 3-1 but it's really 0-4. Got him anyway.

allan said...

mcclelland either has $ on the twins or bedard ran over his dog.

allan said...

LAA - 000 004 0
MFY - 100 000

tim said...

twins TV trivia: four red sox pitchers to throw no hitters to varitek.

lester, HH, lowe and...

allan said...

UPPER DECK MICROWAVE!!!!!!!!!!!

tim said...

MICROWAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I should rag on players more often.

Maxwell Horse said...

I actually know the Twins TV trivia answer, and I know virtually nothing about baseball.

Kathryn said...

WooHoo. The microwave is on fire.

Benjamin said...

Maybe he's got a convection oven built in.

tim said...

4-2 LAAA.

laura k said...

Microdong !

tim said...

I cheated and looked up the answer. All I can say is wtf?!

allan said...

Tito interview - says SI article may bring FY out of his shell.

Benjamin said...

Microdong

Which Steinbrenner?

tim said...

tied at the toilet. useless angles.

SoSock said...

Cool. On our way to more dirty water.

Goota scoot. Go Sox!

Maxwell Horse said...

Tim, it's easy to remember because his name sounds like no-no.

allan said...

fatt albers up

Benjamin said...

I remember years ago watching some documentary about a guy in Texas whose face was burned off in a pipeline explosion. He eventually mostly recovered (after lots of skin grafts) except for his eyes (which were irreparably blinded).

GDGD's Bedard photo reminds me of him.

Maxwell Horse said...

It's become apparent that Crawford is not the most intelligent baseball player.

Benjamin said...

You can't spell "baserunning" with "CC".

Kathryn said...

TEK!!

Maxwell Horse said...

Man, Wakefield is NEVER gonna get his 200th win!

Jere said...

Angels have go-ahead run on third, 2 outs, 9th

Dr. Jeff said...

abreau bomb, 6-4 angels!

Jere said...

Woohoo, Mariano pulls a "himself vs. the Red Sox"! Gives up 2-run dong, Angels lead 6-4.

tim said...

a 6-3 win would be ideal at this point.

tim said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

allan said...

HAHAHAHHAAA!!

Jere said...

I had that same hit in softball tonight....big swing, little roller right of pitcher, everybody's safe

Dr. Jeff said...

Error, right?

tim said...

Lowrie's goin deep tonight!

allan said...

NICE GAME, DUMATRAIT!!!!!!!!!

Kathryn said...

How did he do that?

Patrick said...

He did throw 100% strikes. That's something.

tim said...

that was scored a single? LOL!

flo should be happy about that RBI!

tim said...

Hopefully this A. Burnett channels the other one.

Jere said...

Yanks have tying runs on one out

tim said...

squanderrific.

Jere said...

Fuckin Angel gets ball stuck in his glove for a second and Grand barely beats out DP. Still, 2 outs.

tim said...

Jeter becomes Mr. 26.

tim said...

doucheface at the bat for MFY.

tim said...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

GRANDERSON PICKED OFF!!!!!

THEEEEEEE YANKEEEEEEES LOOOOOOOSE!!!!!

Patrick said...

YANKS LOSE! BAHAHAH

Dr. Jeff said...

Hilarious ending to NY-Angels game.

Jere said...

HA HA HA HA HA. Yanks fans boo the "fake-to 3rd, fake to first" move repeatedly. They do it again and it actually works to END THE GAME.

tim said...

steady morales in i see. grrrreat.

Kathryn said...

Good news! Thanks Tim

allan said...

LAA - 000 004 002 - 6 10 0
MFY - 100 000 300 - 4 9 0

2.0 GA!

Kathryn said...

Nasty

Jere said...

I disagree with Remy, I think he had it all the way

allan said...

I disagree with Remy

There's a shocker!

Jere said...

They got Bedard then they got Barded

Jere said...

Well it's rare that Remy even has an opinion to share.

allan said...

don: "he's blown just one save, in 26 tries"

ha!

allan said...

A guy named Revere should be playing for us.

YOOKKK!!

Jere said...

Really good slo-mo shot of that ball staying barely fair.

Amy said...

one more....

tim said...

DIRTY WATER! 2.5 GA!

Amy said...

Dirty water!!

We are truly unstoppable!

Jere said...

Quick work! 2.5

allan said...

Up by 2.5 with 47 to play.