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July 21, 2014

G99: Red Sox 14, Blue Jays 1 

Red Sox   - 024 260 000 - 14 18  0
Blue Jays - 001 000 000 -  1  3  0
Seven Red Sox batters had at least two hits in a rout of the Blue Jays.

Xander Bogaerts, Mike Napoli, and Daniel Nava each had three hits. ... Stephen Drew and David Ortiz both had 4 RBI.

Ortiz cracked two home runs (both off lefty Brad Mills), and passed Carl Yastrzemski on MLB's all-time list. Flo, with 453 dongs, is 36th all-time.

John Lackey: 7-2-1-0-3, 76. And zero 3-ball counts. ... Opposing teams have scored only six runs off Red Sox pitching over the last five games.

Boston has won five in a row and eight of its last nine games. Baltimore won last night, so the Red Sox remain 7.5 GB.
Example
John Lackey / Drew Hutchinson
Holt, RF
Pedroia, 2B
Ortiz, DH
Napoli, 1B
Nava, LF
Drew, SS
Bogaerts, 3B
Bradley, CF
Vazquez, C
Boston - winners of seven of their last eight games - begins a seven-game road trip in Toronto. After four games with the Blue Jays, the Red Sox play three in Tampa Bay.

By sweeping the Royals, the Red Sox gained two games in the AL East. They are now 7.5 GB the Orioles.
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9 comments:

  1. FenFanJuly 21, 2014 at 8:27 AM

    Boston's next 13 games are against AL East teams (seven with TOR, three each with FKR and MFY). Making significant ground in the division needs to happen in the next two weeks to give the Sox a shot at the post-season.

    True, this club has been hot of late, but they are still teetering on the brink. To win 90 games at this point, they need to finish 44-20.

    I remain "cautiously optimistic." :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura kJuly 21, 2014 at 8:33 AM

    I'm not at all optimistic about our chances of playing October baseball. But I am enjoying living in the moment, paying just enough attention so that I can immediately become obsessed if we get within striking distance of 1st place. If that happens, I promise not to pretend I never lost hope.

    ReplyDelete
  3. FenFanJuly 21, 2014 at 9:22 AM

    True that, Laura.

    I spent yesterday at Fenway Park with my wife and my two older kids and we had a BLAST together! Seeing the Red Sox win was great, but the experience of being at the old ballpark on a beautiful summer day, watching the game I love with my family, was what I enjoyed the most.

    How many more chances will there be to take my family to Fenway as my kids get older? To your point, sometimes you have to live for the moment.

    ReplyDelete
  4. allanJuly 21, 2014 at 11:37 AM

    Seems like the division is where our best chance lies. Too many other teams to elbow out of the way for a one-game WC spot. They have won 7 of 8, and they really need something like a 17 of 20 string to claw within a handful of games. I don't know if the Os will still be in first in September, but we play them 6 times in the final month.

    Elias: "Lester has allowed only one earned run in 31 innings over his last four starts while going 2-0 with a 0.29 ERA. That's the lowest ERA over any span of four starts by a Red Sox pitcher since Pedro Martinez went 4-0 without allowing a run in 31 innings from July 25-Aug. 10, 2002."

    ReplyDelete
  5. allanJuly 21, 2014 at 11:40 AM

    Hey, Colby Lewis: Fuck you.

    ReplyDelete
  6. allanJuly 21, 2014 at 11:55 AM

    Edes tweet:
    Brock Holt has a higher WAR (2.6) than Jacoby Ellsbury (2.2).

    ReplyDelete
  7. johngoldfineJuly 21, 2014 at 12:35 PM

    I don't see why the pitcher thought this was a baseball code violation: the score was still close. If the Rangers thought that a shift was called for, they were obviously hoping to keep the man off base and so can hardly be pissed that he then took advantage of their defensive tactic to try an offensive one of his own, the classic bunt for a base hit.

    I don't know who the next batter was or who the catcher was or what kind of stuff Colby Lewis has, but I'd think the chances of Rasmus eventually scoring from first would be a lot better than trying to steal, taking the chance of getting caught, and eventually scoring from second.

    Or not?

    In any case, with a mere two-run lead, I don't see why the batter should not try to "hit 'em where they ain't."

    In short, hey Colby Lewis, fuck you.

    ReplyDelete
  8. johngoldfineJuly 21, 2014 at 4:40 PM

    Laura wrote: "I promise not to pretend I never lost hope."

    Me too, Laura. My real desire and hope is that the children shall lead them out of the wilderness: BH, XB, CV, JBJ, RDLR, and whoever else is game.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Michael J. G.July 21, 2014 at 5:00 PM

    Finally! Justice is triumphing!

    ReplyDelete