Royals - 000 000 000 - 0 4 0
Red Sox - 000 100 00x - 1 7 0
IP H R ER BB K PIT ERA
Beckett 8 4 0 0 0 7 110 4.78
Papelbon 1 0 0 0 1 1 21 0.54Beckett had a much better fastball today and, after the first time through the lineup, began mixing in his breaking pitches. Did having Mirabelli behind the plate change his game plan at all?Beckett pitched out of two jams. In the third, KC had a man on third and one out. Joey Gathright struck out (one of his three whiffs) and David DeJesus lined out to center to end that threat. And after getting two outs in the sixth (also Gathright and DeJesus), the Royals loaded the bases on a HBP and two singles. But Emil Brown flied out to Coco Crisp in right-center. Crisp, who almost ran into Trot Nixon last night, nearly collided with Gabe Kapler on that play.
Manny also made a nice tumbling catch on a sinking line drive to end the Royals fifth. ... Mark Loretta singled twice. ... David Ortiz laid down a perfect bunt in the first inning; the ball nearly rolled to a complete stop on the third base side of the infield.
The last time Boston won two consecutive 1-0 games? August 25 and 26, 1990, in Toronto. In the first game, Roger Clemens (9-5-0-2-6) beat David Wells (8-5-1-1-1) and Dwight Evans homered; in the second, Greg Harris (7.2-2-0-2-8) defeated Todd Stottlemyre (8-4-1-2-4).
Afternoon final from New York: Mariners 3, Yankees 2. ... The East lead is 1.5.
***
Mark Redman (5.38) / Josh Beckett (5.12), 1 PM
12 comments:
another great one. tho the quiet bats were worrying.
josh seemed to mix his pitches better, esp. the curve. there seemed to be only a couple pitches that could have been bad mistakes (like that high fastball to stairs in the 4th)
and he's signed a 3-year extension on his contract ;D
oh and the yankees just lost. sweet!
Redman came into today with just 32 K's on the season. He whiffed a season high 8, most of them coming on that changeup. The bats will wake up, but we made Hudson, Duckworth, and Redman look real good.
On the flip side, Lester and Beckett were both brilliant and Paps continues to be nails in the 9th.
The Royals had scored 26 runs in their first 5 games after the break so I don't want to hear the argument that our Lester/Beckett silenced a glorified NL lineup.
Final thought: I'm a little upset that WMP didn't get the start today. I know Kapler had good numbers vs. Redman, but facing LHP is why Wily Mo is on the team. He's a legit threat and a needed bat.
Re-upped Beckett for 3 more years
Wonder what the terms are on Beckett's extension. And did they wait until he had a good game to announce it? It's good news regardless.
and apparently the last time the red sox won two consecutive 1-0 games at fenway was on june 22nd and 23rd, 1916 when babe ruth and ernie shore went back to back to beat the yankees and the phillies.
About the quiet bats: sure, it sucks, but isn't it a sign of a good team that when offense is down, pitching picks it up -- and vice-versa?
Beckett signed the contract last night and also said it had been bothering him. Actually the deal looks like a win, win for the Sox and Beckett. A good piece of change with a 2 mil signing bonus.
i'm a SoSH lurker and it drives me a bit crazy to see so many of the regulars on there pulling their hair out over this offensive slump. it's baseball; it happens. does anyone really think the bats won't rise again? i think it's a testament to the pitching & defense that we just swept a three-game series (from an admittedly doormat team) with such anemic offense. it's a 162-game season; let's pace ourselves and not have coronaries too quickly. :)
suzy, it must have been the philadelphia a's, not the phillies.
Seriously though, I understand that on occaision an offense can slump here and there during the season... But I swear that the last half dozen +5 ERA pitchers the Sox have seen have made the Sox look pretty clueless at the plate. While I doubt it will continue, and may have been a result of the Sox hitters getting to feast on NL East pitching for so long. I do hope they snap out of it soon.
B
Of COURSE they'll snap out of it! This dip is just the law of averages catching up with a team that was hitting at an absurd clip for an extended period. The key thing is that unlike last season, the team has won when it hasn't scored. This is a great offensive club; less than great when Youk isn't getting on base, like now, and maybe better than it has been yet if JV turns things around.
Meanwhile, won't it be ironic if Wells turns out to be the forgotten hero riding into the battle in the last reel to save the day? And he'd better be, because Wakefield being out will stress the bullpen AND the rotation. Don't want to be a broken record, but you can't play .600 ball with minor-leaguers and retreads in two of 5 rotation slots. My favored solution is a matter of record here, but if Theo and Tito want to be stubborn about keeping Papelbon closing, then they better find a solid starter before the trade deadline and hope they get lucky like the Yankees last year with Chacon (and Small...grrrrr!).
I'd take my chances with Redman, Lopez (O's), or Hernandez (Nats).
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