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April 18, 2011

G15: Red Sox 9, Blue Jays 1

Blue Jays - 000 000 001 - 1  2  0
Red Sox   - 201 023 10x - 9 13  0
Matsuzaka (7-1-0-1-3, 89) followed perhaps the worst outing of his career with one of his very best. He allowed only two base runners, a single with two outs in the first and a walk with two outs in the second. In each case, the next batter ended the inning.

And Jed Lowrie continued his recent assault on American League pitchers, going 4-for-5, with three singles, a home run, two runs scored, and four RBI. It was the second four-hit game of his career. Over his last seven games (10 days), Lowrie is batting .625 (15-for-24) and slugging .958.

Going down the box score:
J.D. Drew: triple, single, walk, run

Dustin Pedroia: single, two walks, run

Adrian Gonzalez: double, run

Kevin Youkilis: double, home run, two RBI, two runs

David Ortiz: single, two walks, run

Carl Crawford: double, RBI

Jacoby Ellsbury: home run (#4)
Matsuzaka had thrown only 89 pitches through seven innings and had mowed down the last 16 Jays (on only 54 pitches), but Francona went to the pen anyway. Alfredo Aceves kept the ball in the infield in a perfect eighth and Tim Wakefield gave up a one-out home run to Yunel Escobar that barely cleared the Wall (it actually hit a fan's glove, but looked like it would have landed over the line).

The Red Sox head to Oakland tonight with a 5-10 record, 4.5 GB the idle Yankees -- and only 1.5 games out of second place in the East.
Example
Ricky Romero / Daisuke Matsuzaka

Dice was cringingly bad in his last start, allowing eight hits, two walks and seven runs in 2+ innings (47 pitches). It was his shortest outing and fewest pitches thrown since April 14, 2009.

Terry Francona:
[W]hen we got into the second, everything went to the middle of the plate. ... seven balls hit right on the barrel. We love when guys throw strikes, but there were some balls that were middle-middle for the first seven hitters.
As Matsuzaka made the lonely walk back to the Fenway dugout after being yanked in the third, he was loudly booed.
Nobody really wants to be booed by the fans. The only way I can change this is to show good results in front of them. ... I watched a video after the game and I noticed a clear difference between when I pitch well and bad. There's something to fix.
Dice gets a chance to redeem himself (somewhat) in the annual Patriots Day game, as the Red Sox hope to take three of four from Toronto before heading west to Oakland.

Romero (1.66 ERA) threw a complete game last Tuesday in a 3-2 loss to Seattle. Romero has not allowed more than two earned runs in any of his three starts this year.

AL East: White Sox/Rays (6:30 PM); Twins/Orioles (7 PM); Yankees off (at Blue Jays Tuesday/Wednesday)

216 comments:

  1. Wish I could be there to watch the game (or maybe not, given who is pitching), but I will be busy getting ready for Passover. GO SOX!

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  2. Just got back from taking L to the airport. She's in NYC this week. Glad the prices worked out to fly from Pearson, the local airport, because if I had to drive to Buffalo and back, I would have missed a fair amount of the game. (This is also a slightly different border crossing, so we're curious if she will be detained.)

    Maybe Dice will oversleep and someone else will have to pitch.

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  3. Okajima is up and Doubront is down. Jeemer appeared in five games for Pawtucket: 5.2-2-0-0-5.

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

    Escobar SS
    Patterson CF
    Bautista RF
    Lind 1B
    Hill 2B
    Arencibia C
    Snider LF
    Encarnacion DH
    Nix 3B

    Drew -- who has faced Romero more often than any other Sock (26 times) -- has a .560 OBP against him (9-for-20, with 4 BB).

    Several other Sox are hitting over .400 vs Romero:

    FY is 6-for-11

    LBJ 5-for-12

    Flo is 9-for-22 (5 doubles and a dong)

    Yook is 4-for-10 (single, double, 2 home runs, 3 walks)

    Lowrie is 11-for-19 with five RBIs and six runs scored in his last six games.

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  4. OMFG - NESN!!!!!!!!!!

    No Buffyvision!!!!

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  5. Greetings from Pearson! My flight is delayed so I should be able to hear a fair amount of the game before boarding.

    No border problems this time!

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  6. Okay now we get lots of early runs.

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  7. early runs

    40 or 45 should do the trick.



    FIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  8. Crawford woulda had 4. Gonzalez woulda had 1.

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  9. I keep thinking this catcher is "Aaron Cebia."

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  10. I always think it's Aaron Sebia, too.

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  11. John Farrell would go with the double steal here.

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  12. No border problems this time!

    Yay.

    Forgot about Patriots Day. I was away for the weekend and just checked in to see we won two games. In a row.

    Maybe DJ should lead off more often?

    Allan, I love your writing, so it's as a friend I encourage you to think twice about using the word "cringingly" ever again. Beyond being horrid, it may be inaccurate. "Cringe-inducing" maybe?

    Sorry if this seems officious. About to teach class and I suppose I'm in the mood.

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  13. Gonzalez and Youk can't get a guy home from third?

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  14. Beyond being horrid

    like the pitching it describes?

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  15. I'm thinking "no DP"...and Youk K's.

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  16. Yes, like the pitching it describes!

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  17. This is setting up to be exactly what I wanted OR the ultimate squander.

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  18. Hah! Now Toronto can face Lowrie's hurrahingly great hitting with the bases loaded.

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  19. To get a triple, and two other baserunners, without a double play, and not score is almost impossible.

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  20. SAFE ALL AROUND!!!!!!!!!!!

    LOWRIE IS GOD!

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  21. I shoulda known it wouldn't be a squander--JED was coming up!!!!

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  22. oh that breaking pitch is too nasty to throw to craw at this point

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  23. Load them up again for Mr. Bases loaded...strikeout.

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  24. I give thumbs-up to crinchingly and thumbs-down to commenter-editors.

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  25. hey, didn't joyce use the term "scrotum-cringingly"?

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  26. Trying to make a (jedlo)WRIE "plays all the hits" reference involving the AM double-meaning since it's a morning game but it's just too...something. Maybe I'll just go with "AM Gold!"

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  27. rays using some classic james brown in their recent commercial. i don't approve.

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  28. Happy Patriots Day! I trust those Foreigner Birds will understand the significance of such a day and do what is right.

    Hooray for easy crossings and appropriately-timed delays.

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  29. Pre-game note from TC and Rice: Red Sox are 2-0 since Jim put on a Red Sox Snuggie.

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  30. Early runs! Wooo!! Just checking in before I have to go run some errands (that I can't avoid)! Argh!

    GO SOX!!

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  31. Hmmm, now we have another poster who somehow is able to refer to a comment that I have not yet put thru moderation!

    That happened last week also .....

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  32. The buzz is extremely local, however.

    (... as in a corner of my living room!)

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  33. How much do a pair of really nice sound-cancelling headphones run?

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  34. "The German name Dustin means - Valiant fighter"

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  35. strand a pair!

    don is on fire.

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  36. I was wondering if he said strand a pair. It's great when you're listening to the radio but can still guess what the TV guys are saying.

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  37. ""Matsusaka" is a fairly easy name meaning "Pine Hill""

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  38. Bah, Scott Brown on EEI talking about fundraising for veterans. Back to GDGD it is.

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  39. "[Nix] is of early medieval English origin, and is a patronymic form of the surname derived from a short, pet form of the male personal name Nicholas. The ultimate origin of the given name is from the ancient Greek "Nikolaos", from "nikan", to conquer, and "laos", people;"

    Pine Hill just conquered the People Conqueror!

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  40. "Pine Hill"

    (we) pine (for someone better on the) hill

    ?

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  41. I miss out on playing DO bingo. I still haven't decided to pay the extra $50/mo. for baseball, but I've been listening to the radio like the old-timers (though it's on my iDevice).

    Writing at work, so I even have the radio off. GDGD running to the side.

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  42. Noble K by Corey: "Patterson is a patronymic name meaning "son of Patrick." The given name Patrick is from the Roman name Patricius, which meant "nobleman" in Latin."

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  43. Jere, where are these name origins coming from? It's fun.

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  44. FUCK - i went downstaors to get some missed pitches from gdgd and i come back and it BUFFYVISION AND BUCK MARTINEZ ... shit

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  45. Gonzalez is derived from Gonzalo, which is derived from the Visigothic name Gundisalv meaning "battle genius" or "war elf."

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  46. Something tells me I might have a nightmare.

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  47. So we have back-to-back battle elves.

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  48. A, I was amazed you had NESN at all for a Jays game. Must have been b/c of the early start.

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  49. "[Kevin Youkilis's] Jewish great-great-great-grandfather [...] changed his surname from 'Weiner' to the Greek name, 'Youkilis', to avoid army and jail."

    Maybe that's why he's such a hot dog.

    Wow, right off the top of the fence.

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  50. L: I'm just Googling, no one source.

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  51. shit - i thought we might have a god shot at bingo - we have not come close yet this year.

    we need

    down by way, framed by, equidistant

    or

    very gone, tardy, enamored

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  52. Google, I've heard of that.

    (What was I thinking? I have reference on the brain.)

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  53. I challenge your definition, Jere (at least for personal self-interest). I was given the name "Nicholas", at least in part, because it is often translated as "victory of the people" or similar.

    I wear the mantle as purpose.

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  54. Can Lowrie make an out...ever!??!

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  55. buck says lowrie is on fire 2x in that brief AB!

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  56. "Jed," from the Latin for "best April hitter"...

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  57. ""victory of the people" or similar."

    Well conquer is similar to victory so there ya go. I'm noticing with this exercise that all names basically mean "I'm great." Or "pine hill."

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  58. Maybe Lowrie could lend just one or two of those to Crawford, a little push to get him going.

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  59. Can Lowrie make an out...ever!??!

    We may have found something he cannot do.

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  60. It is SO good to see them playing again. What a relief.

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  61. oops - i meant crawford was on base, but he actually isn't. but the HEY works for the cactus too

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  62. I'd say there's a difference between a "People Conqueror" which implies a defeat of the people and a victory of/presumably by the people.

    I'm a great pine hill built on rocks of pure light.

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  63. Big difference, especially to us peasants. (All present company included, of course.)

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  64. Romero: "A pilgrim, one who visits a shrine."

    Ricky came to Fenway today! And is giving heartily.

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  65. PC:

    romero: 32-17-28 - 77
    dice-k: 19-22-11 - 52

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  66. Looks like Dice-K is getting help from that "improved defense" that we heard about in the pre-season. Good stuff.

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  67. I've thought for a couple years now that Daisuke and Wakefield should always pair together for games, because neither has tended to get in more than 5 innings.

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  68. 10 of last 11 for the dice man.

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  69. That maple leaf patch is a nice touch on the Jays uniforms.

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  70. Is there a name for getting the cycle plus a walk?

    Now I wanna know what's the most different ways a guy has gotten on base in one game. It'd be sweet if you got a 1B, 2B, 3B, HR, BB, HBP, reached on an E, reached on a FC, and got to first on a strikeout that gets past the catcher in one really long game. That is the true cycle.

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  71. PW, I like the Maple Leaf patch too.

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  72. Oo, boarding in a few mins. Finally.

    Go Sox! See you all from the U S of A.

    (Jere, some yummy Stella Marie products are waiting for me there.)

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  73. It's amazing what happens to a team when the pressure is off of them to win and they can just go play. This is a completely different team to watch. Wow.

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  74. cycle + BB has happened 38 times since 1919.

    we don't have data for all of them, but as far as we know, none of them also reached on an error.

    one guy was HBP though, harry craft, june 8, 1940:
    2 singles
    1 double
    1 triple
    1 home run
    1 walk
    1 HBP
    reds beat brooklyn 23-2

    he's the only HBP among the 38 cycles with a BB

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  75. it's beyond amazing that i can find that out in under a minute!!!

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  76. 14 of 15 for Dice-K. More of this please!

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  77. dice is rollin'

    retired 10 in a row and 13 of last 14.

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  78. Wow, so Harry Craft must have the most, all four hits, walk, and HBP. Or at least tied for the most with somebody who also got 6 but missed one of the hits. But even that would probably be harder than just a regular cycle.

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  79. The shift doesn't work when your pitcher doesn't cross the plate with the ball, Jays.

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  80. Harry Craft also caught the last out in Johnny Vander Meer's second consecutive no-hitter.

    And Jed Lowrie is indeed a deity.

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  81. I hope Amy's listening while she's rolling knaidlach.

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  82. crawford to lowrie: "teach me to be like you"

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  83. i think laura missed it,probably on the plane.

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  84. lowrie in last 7 games: 14 for 22 (.636)

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  85. Leo Durocher, the opposing team's manager in the cycle game, hit the ball Craft caught as the last out of the Vander Meer second no-no. I love this stuff.

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  86. BRef has 11 for 19 in 6 games since April 9, and he's 3 for 3 today.

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  87. 15 for 29 is the whole season.

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  88. Yeah I was highlighting his stellar performance over the whole season. Slightly over .500 is like the anti-Crawford.

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  89. and it's his #!

    12 of 18 first pitch strikes.

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  90. Dice-K has as many strikeouts as Crawford in this game.

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  91. and it's romero with the diceian line:

    4.1-8-5-5-4, 109

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  92. Dice-K has somewhere close to 51 strikes for his 70+ pitches today. That's impressive.

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  93. Looks like the Jay's are getting impatient, Allan.

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  94. Crawford's OPS+ was -10 at game time. And he's ohfer3.

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  95. and yet crawford's current batting average (.121) is nearly twice as high as varitek's (.067)

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  96. it's snowing out my window ...

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  97. Checking in between classes. Who do I love better right now, Jed or Dice-K?

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  98. And this time Youk clears the same fence!

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  99. FY messing with Youk in the dugout. Hahaha!

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  100. scutaro is curled up in a fetal position, quietly sobbing in the clubhouse.

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  101. WALL BALL !!!!!!!!!!!

    alright!!

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  102. CC!!! Welcome to the club!!! WOOOOO!!!!

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  103. I believe we are on our way.

    I think what we're seeing here is a "statement game". As in, "We're going on the road and this is what we'll be doing."

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  104. Lowrie's so hot it looks like Dustin Pedroia will never play again!

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  105. This series is how I pictured the Sox season going. This feels right.

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  106. Jed is so awesome, he'll play SS & 2B!

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  107. yep, it'll be good to get the ol' record up to .333!

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  108. Wow Curt Young earned his money this week.

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  109. 89 thru 7, will tito let him go?

    2 baserunners in 7 innings
    both got on with 2 outs
    both times the next guy ended the inning

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  110. Dice-K has only gotten to three balls three times at this point. That's crazy!

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  111. Opps, Scutaro will not play again ... messed that up.

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  112. Not on ESPN.

    Even if you set the minimum PA to 10, nobody in baseball is within 50 points of Jed in BA. He's also your OBP and OPS leader.

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  113. watching him flinch on the replay is amusing.

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  114. Poor Patterson, he's not having a good day out there in CF. But I think he could be a good one.

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  115. jed with 4 hits in a game only once before today: september 24, 2010 vs mfy

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  116. I'm surprised that Tito yanked Dice-K. Any ideas why?

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  117. i remember the game damon ran into that part of the wall. the next day there was tape on the wall like a chalk outline of a body.

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  118. Man, I wonder what Scutaro is going to do with all of his free time? Work on the stock market? Crochet? Play cards with Tek?

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  119. The Force is so strong it may even overpower Tito's blind spot of playing the "solid" veteran over a younger (and probably better) player.

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  120. "jed with 4 hits in a game only once before today"

    That's still ahead of (for example) Yaz's pace.

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  121. 4 hits in 3.2 innings and 1 SO for Janssen? Sounds like a guy that we want in the game!

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  122. This is the Jedi we all got so excited about a couple years back. If we continues this and we get another FY caliber infielder, I'm just glad we are not Yankees fans.

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  123. if lowrie ends up being like cesar crespo and we finish the year 5-157, i'll still be glad i'm not a yankee fan.

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  124. Okay, admittedly Jed's behind the pace of most guys on the Top 20 4-hit games list, Yaz had a ton of ABs....

    How does Carl not beat that out?

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  125. Almost got that hit right there by CC. Hell of a hustle on that one. Very close.

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  126. Bad placement for the hop, Jere. Bautista was able to bare hand it.

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  127. "we finish the year 5-157,"

    I like how this mythical worst-case-in-history scenario squad still wins today's game...

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  128. buck martinez: wakefield "is the long man out of the bullpen"


    that's what she said.

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  129. Boy, it's easy to tell that Tek is really thrilled to be catching knucklers from Wake. Hahahaha!

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  130. win puts us 4.5 GB and a mere 1.5 games out of second place

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  131. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    long man allows a dong

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  132. pat tabler says that ball was "smoked" -- barely got over the wall.

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  133. "Bad placement for the hop, Jere. Bautista was able to bare hand it."

    I'm just wondering if he slowed up thinking the pitcher was gonna have it--and I'll be rewinding to check!

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  134. Might not have been a dong if that fan hadn't tried to glove it.

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  135. it was mcdonald that fielded cc's grounder. bautista was out in rf.

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  136. Ladies and gentlemen, your streaking Red Sox.

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