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June 23, 2009

G70: Red Sox 11, Nationals 3

Red Sox   - 010 110 161 - 11 17  0
Nationals - 100 101 000 - 3 8 1
... and a tight, see-saw game became a laugher in a ten-batter eighth inning, thanks to two-RBI hits from both Jason Bay and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Those two guys were also the offensive stars of the game. Bay went 4-for-6, with three singles and his 19th home run (capping off a nine-pitch AB in the second), three runs scored and three RBI. Ellsbury was 4-for-4, with two singles, two triples, one walk, three RBI and a stolen base. He scored only one run, but was stranded at third two other times.

Dustin Pedroia had two doubles and a single and Kevin Youkilis had two hits, two runs and two RBI. ... The Red Sox scored at least one run of each of the six Washington pitchers.

Penny (5.2-6-3-3-6, 112) had trouble with two-out hits in the first and sixth innings and all three of his walks came in the fourth inning, but he was able to get out of jams when he needed to. Daniel Bard loaded the bases with one out in the ninth (a walk and two singles), but got a 3-6-1 DP from Nick Johnson to end the game.

Atlanta shutout the Yankees 4-0, so Boston is 5 GA in the East -- their biggest lead since September 15, 2007.

***

I forgot to mention: The Nats Can't Spell.

Winn.

***

Brad Penny (4.94, 95 ERA+) / John Lannan (3.38, 129 ERA+)

In nine starts since May 3, Penny has a 3.71 ERA over 53.1 innings -- and has not allowed an earned run in his last 11 innings of work.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka out of action for the foreseeable future and John Smoltz's health still a question mark, it seems unlikely (even with Clay Buchholz in Pawtucket and Justin Masterson's ability to rejoin the rotation) that the Red Sox will be trading Penny.

Lannan is a 24-year-old lefty in his second full season with Washington. He had a 3.91 ERA (112 ERA+) in 31 starts last year. In his last four outings this season, he has gone 28.1-17-10-15, with a 1.91 ERA.

Lannan grew up on Long Island and rooted for the Yankees. In his last start, he tossed 8.1 innings in a 3-2 win over the New Yorkers in the Bronx. What does he think about facing the rival Red Sox?
Not a big deal. I wasn't really into the whole Yankees-Red Sox thing. I liked the Yankees, but I didn't hate the Red Sox. ... Before that rivalry really heated up.
Lannan says he stopped going to games in 2000 and never saw the Red Sox play at Yankee Stadium.

****

Over in Yankeeland, Bob Klapisch says Joe Girardi is "entering a critical phase of his managerial career". Given Girardi's history of overworking his players, Klapisch wonders about CC Sabathia, who was pulled from his start on Sunday in the second inning with tenderness in his left biceps.

That injury comes after Sabathia pitched at least seven innings for eight straight starts (May 8 to June 16) -- and after he led the major leagues in innings pitched and batters faced in both 2007 and 2008.

The Yankees -- 4 GB -- are in Atlanta tonight. The Blue Jays are 5 GB and the Rays are 6 GB.

361 comments:

  1. I assumed that considering how much Sabbathia has pitched the past three years, and how long his new contract is, that the Yankees would be pampering him.

    It only made sense, to me at least, that they would want to protect their huge investment.

    They haven't done anything of the sort. In short, the Yankees suck.

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  2. Sox were at the Smithsonian today (Lucchino, Werner, Wakefield, and Wally) presenting 3rd base from the 2004 WS and Lester's jersey worn during Game 4 of the 2007 WS...

    I got a chance to chat with Lucchino for a few minutes afterwards, nice guy. Wake, on the other hand, looked grumpy the whole time - not sure why.

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  3. Stouts, do you work at the Smithsonian?

    Patrick, they pampered him by taking him out in the second even though he had not made a complete disaster of the game yet. That's as far as foresight was able to go for CC.

    In terms of their big signings, they should be riding very high on the hog this year, next year, maybe the year after. It's only after that that they should expect CC & AJ to break down. (Well, AJ could break down at any time.)

    So, now's the time the Yanks should be winning.

    D'ja hear that, Yanks? Now's the time.

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  4. 1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
    2. J.D. Drew, RF
    3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
    4. Jason Bay, LF
    5. Mike Lowell, 3B
    6. Jason Varitek, C
    7. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
    8. Nick Green, SS
    9. Brad Penny, RHP

    1. Cristian Guzman, SS
    2. Nick Johnson, 1B
    3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B
    4. Adam Dunn, LF
    5. Josh Willingham, RF
    6. Josh Bard, C
    7. Willie Harris, CF
    8. Anderson Hernandez, 2B
    9. John Lannan, LHP

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  5. The last game I was able to really watch was last Friday's craptastic loss.

    Let's destroy these fucksticks.

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  6. Kathryn Tappen and Tony Mazz in the studio today.

    Kathryn sez there's a power outage affecting the TV broadcasts on both sides in Washington but the game is scheduled to start on time.

    Um... Power up the GDGD? I'm going to check in on the radio - maybe they're able to broadcast.

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  7. MASN on EI, but .... Rogers has NESN!

    Yay Rogers!

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  8. Hooray for gamethreads in which my mother is not. :)

    We're having a great time, but I need a bit of a break. Plus I haven't been at the computer all day, so I'm good to thread.

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  9. I hear Don... So I guess the power's back? Just in time!

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  10. I'm sorry but Dave sounds like a fourth grader.

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  11. NESN still manages to miss the first pitch as the screen went white as the first pitch was delivered.

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  12. full name for everyone in the infield, but dave called the 2B "hernandez" - must not know his first name.

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  13. Hmm this Natinals Park place looks a lot like hmmm... Yankee Stadium! You know. The empty seats behind home plate, etc.

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  14. We saw the first pitch, so it might not have been NESN's fault that time.

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  15. The radio somehow missed FY's AB.

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  16. whoa - is the infield camera on the roof? serious angle there on the dp

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  17. The Nationals may be the fattest team in baseball, especially when Belliard is playing 2nd. Guzman's fat, Johnson's kind of fat, Dunn's kind of fat, Austin Kearns is kind of fat...

    You have to like a team that lets people of my build play professional sports.

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  18. James, I agree, it's endearing, in a goofy kind of way.

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  19. Get David Wells in the announcing booth and you're laying on some serious fatback.

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  20. We should trade them Brad Penny.

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  21. Tony Gwynn can be hitting coach.

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  22. Nats score first. Red Sox got 'em right where they want 'em!

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  23. On the skinny side of things, TB's David Price is getting thrashed by the Phillies in his first frame...it's 3-0 with no outs (E-Longoria, BB, 2B, 2B). Then again, Philly has Moyer pitching, so they may need all the runs.

    Hopefully young Tommy Hanson can stuff the Yanks. Wang's pitchin'...

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  24. And, I'm...gloatin' a little too early.

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  25. guess what dave - that single turned out not to be "harmless"

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  26. DO waits too long to clear his throat; he does it on camera, and his voice cracks.

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  27. you've been

    THUNDER (bay) STRUCK!

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  28. Gamethreaders: there is now a jos gamethread FB group. It means nothing and does nothing, but if you want to join, friend me.

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  29. I love things that do and mean nothing!

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  30. It's good to have a few things in your life that do and mean nothing. Too much meaning is such a burden.

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  31. oooh, strike 3 was quite the ball, acc. to amica.

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  32. ahhhhhhh

    the willie harris era!

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  33. RS, I listened to Murmur the other day with my wife. I don't think I'd ever listened to it in sequence before and did not count myself much of a fan of very early REM.

    It's freakin' good. Really good. You can tell they had a) plenty of songs ready to go, so they could pick the best and b) their songs were well road tested, so no problem to record.

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  34. Tommy Hanson's gotten a little wild in the second - a HBP and two BB's. Two outs, bases loaded, and up to bat is...

    Wang.

    He grounds out to the pitcher and presumably does not reinjure his ankle jogging toward first.

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  35. Murmur! I discovered it from a friend a few months after it had been out.

    It's an amazing debut -- the 5-song Chronic Town EP that came out before it is also fantastic!

    Listening to boots from then, they had several songs for the next album (Reckoning) going strong too.

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  36. Murmur is great.

    My favourite album of theirs will always be Reckoning, but Murmur is amazing stuff.

    Also the first thing Allan ever bought me. On LP. :)

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  37. Yeah, leaving a pitch up and over the plate against Pedroia... not good pitching.

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  38. Is anyone slightly off-put by how much arm there is in Penny's motion? Like, half of his power that normally would come from the hips/legs/etc. is coming from his throwing arm.

    Anybody with medical knowledge wanna tell me if I'm wrong? Because that's what it seems like to me.

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  39. roberts: "elevated fastball"

    replay shows it below the batter's belt.

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  40. Nick Green just keeps on keeping on!

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  41. lugo is going to out to strangle a kitten!

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  42. Benjamin, when I saw Green being interviewed in street clothes, I agreed w/ you (and Amy). He's hot.

    For some reason that doesn't come thru for me when I see him in games.

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  43. green is not gonna stop until L builds a statute of him in our backyard!

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  44. kerry?

    SHOW THE FUCKING GREEN REPLAY

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  45. ...Seriously? John Kerry? Fuck you, NESN.

    I saw Kerry once leaving a cantina in Portsmouth, NH in the very early stages of the '04 campaign.

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  46. ... not ish's kitten, though.

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  47. I like that they have Kerry in the booth, since they're in DC.

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  48. My dad and I were going into a little mexican place next door. We looked at each other and said, "Hey that's John Kerry." Couple of seconds pass and we both said, "Eh. Whatever. Let's eat."

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  49. A big fat ugly kitten who is really old.

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  50. Well, what are you supposed to do? You see someone famous, you look, you move on.

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  51. now if i saw him *after* the 04 election, i would have had something to say.

    LYNDON

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  52. it's a good thing US senators are working on important issues, getting nesn to out of town fans!

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  53. me in booth: "so, senator kerry, are you guys in the senate also working with congress to put roger clemens in jail?"

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  54. I love this dead prez race!! Excellent.

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  55. Where was prez. Lyndon in the race? xD

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  56. Watching the slo-mo replay of Nicky's dp reminded me how very athletic Green is. Nice roll by Nick.

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  57. Lyndon in the prez race, ha ha :)

    Who was it? Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt... who else?

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  58. Brad desires to give this baseball game as a gift to the Nats. He will do all in his power to accomplish his goal of forcing the Red Sox to keep him by decreasing his trade value to nada.

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  59. Dear Mr. Penny,

    What the fuck?

    And BTW, these are Nationals.

    Pat

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  60. One more out...

    Can I get a five-inning Masterson Cameo?

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  61. That Nationals are a respectable offensive force.

    Doesn't excuse Penny, but, still.

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  62. ATL 3, NYY 0.

    Go, Bravos.

    Or, uh, Spiders South.

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  63. Kiddo and I are having parallel play, threading on 2 laptops across the living room from one another.

    Major geek family. :)

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  64. Same here!

    When Ofer was here, all three of us watched the game w/ our laptops. Fun. :)

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  65. Drew, that thing on your shoulder, occasionally swing it.

    thank you

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  66. most likely the first mother and son both posting in a game thread!

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  67. LOL, Laura. My younger son actually met the sweaty bald man himself a few years ago at the elementary school playground. It was when he was dating Enza and brought her little boy to the playground during my son's recess time.

    There was a lot of rejoicing that day.

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  68. I don't remember Ofer staying with you guys...

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  69. Yeah, but the reason the rest of the family even cares about baseball is because of me. :)

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  70. ofer was here for 2 of the 2007 alcs games.

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  71. Wow, very cool, Lisa.

    ***

    Ofer didn't stay with us, but he was in Toronto for work during the 07 playoffs, so he came over to watch 2 games.

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  72. Apparently ococ's done for the season. Shoulder surgery's upcoming.

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  73. So I've met Joe and Ofer from the thread. Allan has also met EFD.

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  74. Oh that's right. Jeez that seems like so long ago in a way. Recent at the same time.

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  75. I am so looking forward to the JoS Fenway game in July!

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  76. I even blogged about the fun of meeting up with folks from internet communities. I'm pretty active in a bunch of net based writing groups and I've met probably more than a dozen of the peeps in real life now. Not an ax murderer among them.

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  77. Well, somebody's got to do it. (Get the family interested in baseball.)

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  78. The meet-up game is going to be pretty amazing.

    On another note: If Smoltzy is good,can we sell high on Benny and give HH a chance? He's got nothing to learn in AAA.

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  79. For a long time, 100% of our friends in Canada were ppl we met online.

    Now I know a lot of ppl thru activism, but for a good 2 years it was all internet-met friends - thru my blog.

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  80. Vrictare, I agree! We're really psyched about it.

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  81. I can't believe the Umps let Penny rub his hair so much .....he does it so often....

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  82. Has anyone else here read "Theo-logy"? It was a very interesting book on Theo, and it raised some interesting questions--it casts Lucchino as quite the bad guy. I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.

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  83. I was looking at the Sox schedule posted up on my fridge, and I noticed that things looks pretty easy until August.

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  84. having a good night, my boy is

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  85. Calling a Lyndon SB right here.

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  86. 'bout time he gets some hits!

    :>)

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  87. Man--that's pretty damn good, kiddo!

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  88. vrictare said...
    Calling a Lyndon SB right here.


    Brave man :) Next you'll call Wang suckage.

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  89. I of course don't know your actual gender, so any apologies due are offered.

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  90. "Brave man :) Next you'll call Wang suckage."

    Or Dice K walks!

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  91. the meet-up/dinner before the game should also be fun! once i figure out where to have it.

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  92. Benjamin: Yeah,the two happen with the same relative frequency. Calling a Pedey hit here. (*Crosses fingers*)

    Nice to see old friend Julian Tavarez in the pen for the Nats.

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  93. Damn,I was wrong on Pedroia.

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  94. i don't think i have heard of this book?

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  95. LBJ probably thinking he should've just stolen home.

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  96. Maybe Allan will get a review copy of that. Who wrote it?

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  97. Just don't pick a bar for dinner--the kiddo is underage, even though he doesn't look it. :)

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  98. The boy is running upstairs to check on that author. . .

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  99. It's likely to be a bar/pub place, but it shouldn't be a problem if we're all eating. There'll be other (so called) minors with us.

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  100. Theology was written by John Frascella.

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  101. Brew pub, etc is fine. Mom likes a cold one now and again. :)

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  102. Nice to see old friend Julian Tavarez in the pen for the Nats.

    It's nice in a couple of ways.

    We should call him J-Lo.

    Yargh, yoga calls...go go Sox.

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  103. Zen--Yeah, that quote is probably the only reason I survived the hot stove period.

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  104. I wonder where Amy is tonight. I hope it's not that her internet is down.

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  105. sexy lips also up for the gnats

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  106. What kind of a season is Sexy Lips having? (I know I can look it up, but does anyone know offhand?)

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  107. I can't help it. Those of us glued to Red Sox baseball even in 1971 remember how hard it was to watch and root against a team managed by Ted Williams. But this the link to the box score of our last game in Washington before 4,000 plus fans: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/WS2/WS2197109190.shtml

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  108. Sexy Lips has thrown 28 innings with a 3.84 ERA and 1 Save,with 27Ks and a .194 BA against.

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  109. thanks vcritare, for doing what i should have done :)

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  110. I love the commercial they show on NESN with Ortiz' first HR of the season and Tek's 2 HRs. We were at that game.

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  111. So an interesting note on Julian Tavarez: his ERA is nearly identical to last year, but the BA against has dropped .100 points.

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  112. Don: "And look who's coming in."

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  113. And heeeeeeere's Sexy Lips!

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  114. sexy lips! nice to see you, now please suck.

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  115. I switched to MLB Tonight in the commercial break--they were looking in on a Manny AB and the Mayor was struggling to explain what an isotope was.

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  116. Hahaha Tavarez directing traffic.

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  117. MASN announcers are really full of shit. Lips is totally pumped right now.

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  118. Haha does that turny twirly thing whirlybird to second base.

    Just like old times!

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  119. Did tavarez always look at center before pitching like tiant?

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  120. Lots of yoooook chants at Natinals Park.

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  121. Ahh I remember this pitcher.

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  122. Haha I love Youk holding onto third base for dear life like if he let go he'd die.

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  123. Love the LETS GO RED SOX chants too.

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  124. C'mon cap'n! Make 'em pay!

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  125. fingernails for yook

    loaded for tek -- villone?

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  126. duh - of course they want toast to bat LH

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  127. Veeeery tight strike zone tonight.

    Not that I'm complaining right now.

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  128. Manny's batting for Nashville or Albuquerque in Isotopes land and too much of a big deal is being made about it.

    You could see the AB live on MLB Network!! OGOGMOPGMOGMOGMOGMOMGOGMOGMOG!!KHWKHRKJTHKJ.

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  129. Yeah I thought something was wrong when the MASSN guys said they were bringing in a lefty.

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  130. check out dunn doing his laundry and having a smoke before he throws home

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  131. Ish,yeah the hype is dumb, but it let me hear Sean Casey's iffy definition of an isotope. That's priceless.

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  132. Yeah it looked like he was more concerned with making a point that it was his ball then actually playing the ball.

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  133. manny playing in that game is kind of a big deal. it would be cool to see.

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  134. we're having a big isotope crisis in canada right now, so everyone knows what they are.

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  135. How do you have an isotope crisis?

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  136. Lyndon jack now?

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  137. What's up with Tek's shoulder?????

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  138. roberts says lbj has used the whole field tonight

    single by ss
    triple to lcf
    single off 3b to lf

    errr okay dave

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  139. I understand the interest in Manny playing in AAA, etc. I still think it's over the top a little. But that's the media...

    MLBN guys taking 10 minutes defending Manny striking out. Not that they're wrong. I just think it's funny.

    Manny Parra was the pitcher who struck out Manny.

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  140. Sigh. If they asked me, I'd work on it.

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  141. Purely professional interest, of course--physical therapist here.

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  142. Hope Manny Parra can contribute for my slumping boys in Milwaukee.

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  143. Poor Who was robbed there.

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  144. linescore fun

    7 total runs but no more than 1 in any half inning

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  145. Another one into Tek? Huh. Mysterious to me.

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  146. Dammit, MDC. Get it together.

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  147. :lisa whistles, looking totally innocent:

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  148. Joel Zumaya struck out Cubs Milton Bradley on a 104 mph fastball, clocked by WGN. Word is the gun is good. But who knows.

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  149. right out of commercial, roberts sounded EXACTLY LIKE MICHAEL KAY

    i tell L and she agrees, says she was confused.

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  150. I also heard this is the largest crowd ever at Nationals Park.

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  151. John Danks just escaped bat-related death.

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  152. Just as long as Dave doesn't yell, "See ya!" I'll be okay.

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