G162: Red Sox 8, Yankees 4

Yankees - 011 000 011 - 4  8  1
Red Sox - 200 023 10x - 8  8  2

Jed Lowrie hit two home runs, scored three runs, and drove in three runs as the Red Sox closed out the 2010 season with a win over the second-place Yankees.

Boston finished the injury-riddled season with a 89-73 record -- only the second time in the past nine years they have failed to win as many as 93 games. They scored 818 runs, their lowest total since 2001, and 54 fewer than last year. The 744 runs allowed was eight more than last season.

David Ortiz went 3-for-3, including a bunt single. J.D. Drew hit a two-run dong in the first.

The Red Sox stole four bases in the sixth inning on two double steals. With Daniel Nava batting, Ryan Kalish stole second and Bill Hall stole third. Then, with Eric Patterson at the plate, Nava stole second and when Dumbo's threw down, Kalish stole home.

Lackey (7.2-6-3-2-10, 118) pitched quite well (best stuff of the year?). Daniel Bard came into the eighth inning with the bases loaded (and the potential tying run on deck) and got Posada on a groundout. Jonathan Papelbon needed 29 pitches to nail it down in the ninth.

Dustin Moseley / John Lackey

Patterson, 2B
Lowrie, SS
Drew, RF
Ortiz, DH
Hall, 3B
Kalish, CF
Varitek, C
Nava, LF
Anderson, 1B

A win would give Boston a 9-9 tie in the season series -- for the third straight year! Also, if the Red Sox win, Lord Lynch wins the W-L contest.

Tampa Bay and New York are both 95-66. If they are tied after today, the Rays, because of their 10-8 edge against the Yankees during the season, win the East. The Rays/Royals play at 2 PM.

G161: Red Sox 7, Yankees 6 (10)

Yankees - 121 000 200 0 - 6  7  4
Red Sox - 101 101 020 1 - 7 11  2

Bill Hall doubled to dead center to start the 10th inning and he scored on Eric Patterson's single to center.

Boston had tied the game with two runs in the eighth, the second coming on an 11-pitch bases-loaded walk by Kevin Cash.

Matsuzaka (5-3-4-5-6, 104) allowed the leadoff runner to reach base in all five of his innings.

Since the first game went 4:18, the second game will not start at 9, as scheduled.

Globe, 8:53 PM: Start time will be 9:15. Between games, Terry Francona said that Mike Lowell will not play in the final two games of the season.

A.J. Burnett / Daisuke Matsuzaka

Patterson, 2B
Lopez, 3B
Drew, DH
Anderson, 1B
Kalish, CF
Nava, LF
Reddick, RF
Navarro, SS
Cash, C

(I did not make that up.)

G160: Yankees 6, Red Sox 5 (10)

Yankees - 003 020 000 1 - 6 11  0
Red Sox - 201 000 110 0 - 5 11  2

A check swing grounder by Derek Jeter in the 10th inning got past Jonathan Papelbon's glove and Bill Hall's bare-handed grab attempt, and Brett Gardner scored from second base.

The Red Sox -- Felipe Lopez, Ryan Kalish, Eric Patterson -- went quietly in the bottom of the 10th against Mariano Rivera. J.D. Drew, a better hitter than any of the three guys who actually batted in the inning, watched the end of the game from the on-deck circle; he was going to pinch-hit for Kevin Cash.

Dumbo Posada tried very hard to give the game to Boston -- the runs in the seventh and eighth both scored on wild pitches that the Yankee catcher botched. A third run nearly scored on Posada's throwing error after the eighth-inning wild pitch, but Josh Reddick was thrown out trying to score from second by Ramiro Pena, with Kerry Wood making the tag.

Mike Lowell hit a two-run double to right-center in the first, walked and scored in the third, and singled high off the Wall in the fifth.

Andy Pettitte / Tim Wakefield

McDonald, CF
Lowrie, SS
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Hall, RF
Nava, LF
Navarro, 3B
Lopez, 2B

First game of a Saturday doubleheader. Fox gets its broadcast at 4 -- and the nightcap will start about 9 PM.

Marco Scutaro will not play in the remaining games.

Also today: Rays (0.5 GB)/Royals.

October 2:

1953 - Carl Erskine (9-6-2-3-14) of the Dodgers sets a World Series record with 14 strikeouts in Game 3 against the Yankees at Ebbets Field.

1963 - Sandy Koufax (9-6-2-3-15) of the Dodgers breaks Erskine's record by striking out 15 batters in Game 1 at Yankee Stadium.

1968 - Bob Gibson (9-5-0-1-17) of the Cardinals breaks Koufax's record by striking out 17 Tigers in Game 1 at Busch Stadium. That remains the record.

Before 1953, the record had been 13, set by Howard Ehmke of the A's in Game 1 in 1929 -- though not on October 2.

G160: Yankees at Red Sox, PPD

10:35 PM: Postponed. Doubleheader on Saturday.

4 PM: Andy Pettitte / Tim Wakefield
9 PM: A.J. Burnett / Daisuke Matsuzaka

Tickets from Friday will be honored for the 9 PM game.

9:50 PM: Still delayed.

Start of game delayed by rain.

Yankees -
Red Sox - 

Andy Pettitte / Daisuke Matsuzaka

McDonald, CF
Drew, RF
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Varitek, C
Hall, LF
Lopez, 2B
Navarro, 3B

Tampa Bay and New York will be in the playoffs, but the East is still up for grabs. Both teams are 94-65. Also at 7: Rays/Royals.

October 1:

1932 - Babe Ruth calls his shot against Cubs pitcher Charlie Root in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the World Series at Wrigley Field.2004 - Ichiro Suzuki breaks George Sisler's 84-year-old record of 257 hits in a single season. Ichiro will finish with 262 hits; from July 18 to September 4 -- 46 games -- he batted .490.

G159: White Sox 8, Red Sox 2

Red Sox   - 002 000 000 - 2  7  0
White Sox - 101 420 00x - 8 11  1

Lester's (4-9-8-5-5, 99) bid to grab his 20th win of the season was short-lived.

Juan Pierre (3-for-4, 3 runs, 3 SB) scored in both the first and third. With two outs in the fourth, Lester walked Pierre and Alexei Ramirez before giving up a grand slam to Paul Konerko. Lester started the fifth by allowing a single to Ramon Castro and a home run to Dayan Viciedo, and that was the end of his night -- and his 2010 season.

Victor Martinez's clubbed a two-run dong that gave Boston a 2-1 lead for a few minutes. Marco Scutaro and Mike Lowell both singled and doubled.

The game was delayed for 21 minutes in the bottom of the sixth when most of the light towers went dark.

Jon Lester / John Danks

Scutaro, 2B
McDonald, RF
Martinez, C
Beltre, 3B
Lowell, DH
Lowrie, SS
Kalish, CF
Hall, LF
Anderson, 1B

September 30:

1976 - The White Sox's lineup against the Angels is in numerical order by field position: C-1B-2B-SS-3B-LF-CF-RF-DH. They lose 7-3.

1988 - Toronto's Dave Stieb loses a no-hitter with one out remaining for the second consecutive start. In his last start, a 1-0 win over Cleveland, he went 8.2 no-hit innings before Julio Franco singled to center. Tonight, Jim Traber bloops a single into right field, but Stieb gets the next batter and wins 4-0.

G158: White Sox 5, Red Sox 2

Red Sox   - 000 100 010 - 2  4  1
White Sox - 000 100 31x - 5 13  0

Beckett (6-11-4-4-5, 105) escaped a few jams -- leaving two on in the second and sixth, and leaving the bases loaded in the fifth -- before falling apart in the seventh, as Chicago's first six batters reached base.

Boston finished the night with four hits. Marco Scutaro doubled leading off the fourth and scored on David Ortiz's two-out single.

Mike Lowell homered to start the eighth and Jed Lowrie singled. After one out, Daniel Nava walked, putting the potential tying runs on base. But Scutaro popped up to first (on the first pitch) and J.D. Drew popped up to second (on a 1-0 count).

Josh Beckett / Freddy Garcia

Scutaro, 2B
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowell, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Kalish, CF
Nava, LF

September 29:

1957 - At age 39, Ted Williams leads the AL with a .388 batting average. In his last 11 games, Williams hits .667/.813/1.611 for an OPS of 2.424! (Williams will win the batting title the following saeason, as well.)

1978 - Jim Rice becomes the first AL hitter to have 400 total bases since Joe DiMaggio (1937) as Boston beats Toronto 11-0.

G157: White Sox 5, Red Sox 4

Red Sox   - 012 001 000 - 4  9  0
White Sox - 000 200 111 - 5  9  1

The Rays beat the Orioles 5-0 and the Yankees beat the Blue Jays 6-1, officially eliminating the Red Sox from the AL East and the Wild Card, respectively. But Boston wanted to make sure they were totally dead, so they blew leads of 3-0 and 4-2 and lost to the White Sox.

Lackey (6-3-2-2-5, 108) pitched well enough to earn a win, but the six relievers used over the last 2.2 innings allowed 6 hits, 3 walks, 3 stolen bases, and 3 runs.

J.D. Drew and David Ortiz both hit solo home runs; Jed Lowrie and Adrian Beltre had the other two RBI. Boston had a couple of singles in the eighth (Ortiz and Lowrie), but left runners at first and second.

Outside of Flo's dong in the sixth, the last man the Red Sox had at third base was with two outs in the third inning (that was also Ortiz).

John Lackey / Edwin Jackson

Patterson, CF
Drew, RF
Martinez, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowrie, SS
Reddick, LF
Varitek, C
Lopez, 2B

We still have a chance*! Gotta win the last six games while the Yankees go 0-5.

*: Somewhere around 0.07%, according to BP.

A seven-game winning streak for the Sox (including last night's game) would be the longest of the season. Can New York lose six in a row? They are 17% of the way there! But their longest losing streak of the year has been only four games (which they have done twice this month).7 PM:

Yankees/Blue Jays
Orioles/Rays

September 28:

1975 - Four Oakland pitchers combine to no-hit the Angels. Vida Blue (5 innings), Glenn Abbott (1), Paul Lindblad (1), and Rollie Fingers (2) share the honours in a 5-0 win on the final day of the season.

1988 - Orel Hershiser sets a new record for consecutive scoreless innings: 59.

1995 - Montreal's RHP Greg Harris becomes the first pitcher to pitch with both hands since Elton "Ice Box" Chamberlain (1888, American Association). Harris faces four batters, two from each side, in a 9-7 loss to Cincinnati. During his time in Boston (1989-94), Harris wanted to pitch lefty and righty, but GM Lou Gorman refused to allow it.

G156: Red Sox 6, White Sox 1

Red Sox   - 201 010 101 - 6 16  0
White Sox - 000 010 000 - 1  6  0

Adrian Beltre went 4-for-5, Marco Scutaro went 3-for-5, and Victor Martinez went 3-for-4 as Boston coasted to victory. Buchholz (8-5-1-1-5, 108) was in total command.

Both Beltre and David Ortiz collected their 100th RBI tonight. Beltre, Ortiz, and Martinez each drove in two runs. Scutaro scored three times.

The Blue Jays beat the Yankees 7-5 (A.J. Burnett: 2.1-7-7-1-1, 48!) and the Orioles beat the Rays 4-0.

Boston is 5.5 GB New York in the WC with six games to go. If they had held won last night, they might be a mere 3.5 GB right now.

Boston's playoff hopes are still alive ...

If, and only if, they go 7-0 this week and the Yankees go 0-6. That would give both teams a 93-69 record and force a one-game playoff for the WC!Clay Buchholz / Mark Buehrle

Scutaro, 2B
McDonald, RF
Martinez, C
Beltre, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Hall, LF
Kalish, CF

7 PM:

Yankees/Blue Jays
Orioles/Rays

September 27, 1940: Rowdy fans in Cleveland shower the field with fruit and vegetables during a game with the Tigers. At one point, a fan drops a crate of tomatoes on Tigers catcher Birdie Tebbetts*'s head while he sits in the bullpen, knocking him out. The police hold the offender until after the game and allow Tebbetts to beat him up. The fan later files assault charges, but Tebbetts is acquitted.

*: Born in Burlington, VT.

G155: Yankees 4, Red Sox 3 (10)

Red Sox - 001 000 002 0 - 3  6  1
Yankees - 000 000 201 1 - 4  9  0

The Yankees' magic number for clinching the Wild Card is now 1.

What we need:

Red Sox sweep 4 from White Sox
Blue Jays sweep 3 from Yankees
Red Sox sweep 3 from Yankees

That would give us a one-game playoff with New York on October 4 for the WC.

So...

Daisuke Matsuzaka / Phil Hughes

Scutaro, 2B
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowrie, SS
Kalish, CF
Hall, LF
Anderson, 1B

The Yankees have changed their minds, again. Hughes was originally scheduled to pitch tonight, but on Friday, Joe Girardi said the team wanted to keep Hughes's workload down before the playoffs began, and Dustin Moseley was tabbed.

Now, with the possibility of perhaps no playoff innings for anyone, the Yankees have decided that increasing Hughes's innings pitched is not such a big deal after all.

Over his last six outings, Hughes has a 6.28 ERA.

Dice has a 6.98 ERA over his last seven starts. He has allowed 4+ earned runs in seven consecutive starts, the longest streak for a Red Sox pitcher since Dick Newsome went nine starts in 1942-43.

This afternoon: The Mariners beat the Rays 6-2 as Small Game James came up small yet again.

September 26:

1906 - The Philadelphia A's finally snap their streak of 48 consecutive innings without scoring a run, but they still lose to Cleveland 5-3. The Cubs will tie this record of futility on June 15-21, 1968.

1912 - The Reds trail the Cubs 9-0 in the top of the ninth inning. But they rally! Chicago's Jimmy Lavender gives up five runs and is pulled with the bases loaded. Two Cubs relievers walk five straight batters and Cincinnati takes a 10-9 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Reds pitcher Ralph Works walks one Cub and hits another before Rube Benton comes in and walks three straight batters -- and the Cubs win 11-10.

Reds - 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 0 10 - 10 13
Cubs - 1 1 2  0 2 0  3 0  2 - 11 11

Also on this day in 1912, the Red Sox beat the Yankees 15-12 at Fenway Park:

NYY - 0 2 1  0 4 5  0 0 - 12 16
BOS - 0 0 0  0 3 4  0 8 - 15 14

1926 - The Browns beat the Yankees 6-1 and 6-2 in a total time of 2:07, a major league record for a quick doubleheader. After the first game is played in 1:12, the second game takes only 55 minutes, the fastest game in American League history.

G154: Red Sox 7, Yankees 3

Red Sox - 003 010 201 - 7 12  1
Yankees - 000 000 021 - 3  4  0

Lester (7-2-0-3-8, 104) retired the first 12 Yankees and did not allow a hit until there was one out in the sixth. For those who care about such things, Lester is now 19-8, with one start remaining.

Boston battered Nova in the third, as Ryan Kalish was hit by a pitch, Daniel Nava walked, Lars Anderson singled, Marco Scutaro singled (1-0), J.D. Drew GIDP (2-0), Victor Martinez walked, and David Ortiz singled (3-0).

In the fifth, Drew doubled and Ortiz (facing Royce Ring) singled him home. Drew and Martinez hit back-to-back home runs to bnegint he seventh to boost the score to 6-0. The Red Sox got a run off Joba Chamberlain in the ninth as Jed Lowrie and Kalish hit consecutive doubles.

The win brought the Red Sox 5.5 GB the Yankees in the Wild Card, with eight games to play. The Rays beat the Mariners 9-1, increasing their AL East lead to 1.5 games.

Jon Lester / Ivan Nova

Scutaro, 2B
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowrie, SS
Kalish, CF
Nava, LF
Anderson, 1B

After being released by the Cardinals, infielder Felipe Lopez rejected a waiver claim by the Padres and signed with the Red Sox. He is in uniform today.

In 109 games with St. Louis, Lopez hit .231/.310/.340. Since Lopez, 30, will likely be a Type B free agent this winter, if Boston offers arbitration and Lopez declines, the team would receive a supplemental draft pick. I cannot think of any other reason to have him around.

At 7 PM: Mariners/Rays.

September 25:

1965 - Satchel Paige, at age 59, starts and pitches three innings for Kansas City. It is his first major league appearance in 12 years and he allows only one hit, a double to Carl Yastrzemski. The Red Sox win 5-2.

G153: Red Sox 10, Yankees 8

Red Sox - 030 430 000 - 10 14  1
Yankees - 001 002 401 -  8 10  1

Jed Lowrie went 4-for-4 and hit a three-run homer in the second inning. Darnell McDonald and Marco Scutaro each had two RBI in the fourth, and Bill Hall added a three-run dong in the fifth.

The Yankees hit six home runs (and four singles). It is only the fourth time since 1920 that the Yankees have hit as many as six homers against Boston. They hit seven on May 30, 1961, and six on both June 2, 1935 (also only 10 hits) and May 26, 2002.

(And hit six home runs in a nine-inning game and lose? This is only the 19th time it has happened in the last 91 years.)

The Rays beat the Mariners 5-3 and moved into first place in the East, 0.5 GA of the Yankees. Boston is 6.5 GB New York in the Wild Card race. Two wins this weekend would bring them within 4.5 with 7 games to go, including 3 head-to-head. Just sayin'...

Josh Beckett / Andy Pettitte

Scutaro, 2B
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Beltre, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Hall, LF
McDonald, CF

This series -- and the three games at Fenway next weekend to end the regular season -- have far less meaning that we had hoped. Now the job is to knock the MFY out of first place.

Since August 1, both teams have played at two games over .500 (Yankees 26-24; Red Sox 25-23). New York has lost 11 of its last 17 games, while Boston has dropped 13 of its last 23.

Also at 7 PM: Mariners/Rays.

September 24:

1921 - The Tigers lose to the Senators 5-1 and an angry Ty Cobb challenges umpire Billy Evans to a fight. Evans accepts and they brawl. George Hildebrand, the game's other umpire, reports the incident to AL president Ban Johnson, but Johnson does nothing. Commissioner Kenesaw Landis suspends Cobb, but allows him to continue as manager.

1931 - A round-robin playoff series between the Giants, Dodgers and Yankees raises $48,000 for charity. Between games, Babe Ruth bats right-handed (!) and wins the fungo hitting contest, hitting a ball 421 feet.

1939 - Johnny Cooney played 20 years in the majors and hit only two home runs -- and they came on consecutive days. He hits his first in the opening game of a doubleheader today and the second in tomorrow's game.

G152: Red Sox 6, Orioles 1

Orioles - 000 100 000 - 1  6  0
Red Sox - 000 312 00x - 6 10  1

Lackey: 7-5-1-0-4, 111.

Ortiz: Three-run homer (#31); 4 RBI.

Kevin Millwood/ John Lackey

Kalish, CF
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowell, 1B
Hall, 2B
Reddick, LF
Navarro, SS

Millwood has a shitty 3-15 record, but as we can see, he is not that much worse than Lackey, who is 12-11.

           IP     H    R   BB   K    ERA   W- L
Millwood  178.2  214  110  61  120  5.14   3-15
Lackey    194.1  219  108  68  137  4.63  12-11
   
           BABIP   AVG/ OBP/ SLG   RS/G   W- L
Millwood   .324   .297/.356/.468   5.03   3-15
Lackey     .329   .286/.349/.437   3.69  12-11

RS/G is run support.

Lackey: 5+ runs in 16 of 30 starts; 2 runs or fewer in 7 starts
Millwood: 5+ runs in 9 of 29 starts; 2 runs or fewer in 11 starts

Lackey's home/road splits offer a clearer example of why W-L should be avoided when looking at any pitcher's stats. (I wonder when, if ever, awarding W and L to pitchers will be scrapped.)

          IP    H   R  BB   K   ERA   WHIP  W-L
Home   101.1  118  59  30  76  4.71  1.461  9-5
Road    93.0  101  49  38  61  4.55  1.495  3-6

Also at 7 PM: Rays/Yankees.

September 22:

1925 - Brooklyn's Burleigh Grimes accounts for seven outs in only three plate appearances, hitting into two double plays and one triple play.

1936 - The Tigers sweep the Browns 12-0 and 14-0, the biggest double shutout in MLB history.

1968 - Minnesota's Cesar Tovar plays one inning at each position. At that time, Bert Campaneris (Oakland's shortstop in this game) was the only other player to have done it (September 8, 1965).

G151: Orioles 9, Red Sox 1

Orioles - 000 001 314 - 9 13  0 
Red Sox - 010 000 000 - 1  8  2

Marco Scutaro dropped an easy popup that should have been the final out of the sixth inning. Instead, the ball fell and Baltimore got an unearned run off Buchholz (6-4-1-3-5, 112) to tie the game.

The Orioles scored three quick runs against Scott Atchison in the seventh when Ty Wigginton's home run sailed just fair past the Pesky Pole. The game was pretty much out of reach at that point at 4-1 -- but Baltimore felt like having more fun, so they tacked on another four runs off Jonathan Papelbon in the ninth.

The Yankees beat the Rays 8-3, so New York leads the East by 2.5 games. Boston remains 6.5 GB Tampa Bay in the WC with 11 to play.

Brad Bergesen / Clay Buchholz

Scutaro, 2B
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowrie, SS
Kalish, CF
Nava, LF
Anderson, 1B

Also at 7 PM: Rays/Yankees

September 21:

1958 - The Red Sox complete a three-game sweep of the Senators, 2-0, 2-0, 2-0, at Fenway Park. In today's game, after being called out on strikes with two men on to end the third inning, Ted Williams throws his bat away. It sails into the stands and hits Gladys Heffernan, the 69-year-old housekeeper of Red Sox GM Joe Cronin, in the head. She is not badly hurt, but Williams is loudly booed in his next at-bat. This incident comes less than two months after Williams incurred his second spitting-related fine in less than two years.

1975 - The Red Sox beat the Tigers 6-5, but rookie Jim Rice suffers a broken wrist when he is hit by a Vern Ruhle pitch in the second inning. He will miss the rest of the season, the ALCS, and the World Series.

G150: Orioles 4, Red Sox 2

Orioles - 100 100 200 - 4  8  0
Red Sox - 100 001 000 - 2  5  1

Dice (6.1-6-4-5-4, 109) allowed a walk and a double to start the seventh inning. Daniel Bard, who had not pitched in a game since last Tuesday in Seattle, allowed a sacrifice fly and an RBI single to give the Orioles their two-run cushion.

Down by two, Boston did nothing in the last three innings. They went down in order in the seventh, a leadoff single in the eighth was immediately erased by a double play, and they went in order in the ninth. And so the Red Sox's playoff odds, which were 1.54% at the start of the day, took another hit.

The Yankees beat the Rays 8-6, to increase their division lead to 1.5 games. Boston is 6.5 GB Tampa Bay in the WC with 12 games to play.

Brian Matusz / Daisuke Matsuzaka

Scutaro, 2B
McDonald, RF
Martinez, 1B
Beltre, 3B
Lowell, DH
Lowrie, SS
Hall, LF
Varitek, C 
Kalish, CF

A few of Peter Abraham's Sox factoids:

The Red Sox are still second in the majors in runs scored (755) and first in OPS (.791).

The Sox have used 133 batting orders in 149 games. The most common order was used a grand total of five times.

The Red Sox have used 43 different combinations of players in the outfield, their most since 1996.

The Sox have used 25 pitchers, tied for the most in the AL with the Royals.

Also at 7 PM: Rays/Yankees

September 20:

1919 - It's Babe Ruth Day at Fenway Park and the Colossus ties the single-season home run record when he hits #27. No one in the crowd knows it, but this is also the last game Ruth will play for the Red Sox in Boston.

1927 - Ruth hits his 60th home run of the season, breaking the record (59) he set in 1921, which broke the record (54) he set in 1920, which broke the record (29) he set in 1919. With the 60 homers, Babe out-homers 12 of the other 15 MLB teams, including all 7 AL teams. (In 1920, he out-donged 14 of the other 15 teams.)

1998 - Cal Ripken, Jr. is not in Baltimore's lineup, ending his consecutive games played streak at 2,632. The streak began on May 30, 1982.

G149: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 0

Blue Jays - 000 000 000 - 0  5  1
Red Sox   - 000 150 00x - 6  9  0

Lester (7-4-0-4-4, 112) was brilliant -- though he did escape two bases-loaded jams, in the third and fifth -- and Victor Martinez got the Sox on the board with a solo dong in the fourth.

Boston opened the fifth with four straight hits (Jed Lowrie, Bill Hall, Daniel Nava, and Yamaico Navarro) and J.D. Drew capped the scoring with a two-run homer.

The Orioles beat the Yankees 4-3 in 11 and the Angels beat the Rays 6-3.

Shaun Marcum / Jon Lester

Kalish, CF
Drew, RF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Hall, 2B
Nava, LF
Navarro, 3B

Adrian Beltre was taken to Mass General this morning to have his left wrist examined.

Yarrrr. Make these scurvy dogs walk the plank!AL East, 1:30 PM:

Yankees/Orioles
Angels/Rays

September 19:

1945 - The Red Sox sweep a doubleheader from Philadelphia 11-10 and 3-0. In the top of the third inning of Game 1, Boston CF Tommy McBride mistakes a pigeon for the ball and Sam Chapman's double bangs off the Wall about 30 feet away. In the bottom of the inning, Skeeter Newsome doubles and A's RF Hal Peck's throw into the infield kills the pigeon. (However, redsox.com states that while the bird was hit with the ball, it was not seriously harmed. I wonder if McBride's "I thought it was the ball" incident is also not quite true.))

1972 - Oakland uses 30 players, including six second basemen and 10 pinch-hitters, in an 8-7, 15-inning loss to the White Sox.

G148: Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3

Blue Jays - 100 102 000 - 4 10  1
Red Sox   - 010 002 000 - 3 11  1

Crappy game. Beckett (7-10-4-2-4, 111) pitched like poop and the Sox wasted a number of scoring chances. They left the bases loaded in the second, stranded two men in both the sixth and seventh, wasted a leadoff single in the eighth, and left the potential tying run at third in the ninth.

One huge gaffe was Ryan Kalish getting picked off first base by Jose Molina with one out in the ninth. Victor Martinez followed with a stand-up triple to left-center, though there is no guarantee that would have happened had Kalish been able to get back to the bag.

Another error was the Globe's Julian Benbow reporting that Jays closer Kevin Gregg "caught [Kalish] napping". I guess Benbow was also snoozing. Maybe if he wasn't busy thinking of ways to slyly insult various Sox players ("a well-rested JD Drew"), he could have actually followed the game.

The Yankees beat the Orioles 11-3 and the Rays beat the Angels 4-3 in 10 innings. ... Boston is 8 GB in the East and 7.5 GB in the WC with 14 games to play.

Ricky Romero / Josh Beckett

Scutaro, 2B
McDonald, CF
Martinez, 1B
Beltre, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, SS
Drew, RF
Hall, LF
Saltalamacchia, C

Beckett's only start against Toronto this year was back on April 26, on my only trip to Skydome this season. He faced 21 batters in 3+ innings, allowing nine hits and eight runs. The Red Sox won the game 13-12.

AL East, 7 PM:

Yankees/Orioles
Angels/Rays

September 18:

1977 - Boston's Ted Cox goes 4-for-4 in his major league debut and the Red Sox beat the Orioles 10-4. Cox starts the next day's game with two hits, setting a record for the most consecutive hits at the start of a career. (I can remember listening to this game on the radio. I would have sworn it was on a weekday night, but it was played on a Sunday afternoon.)

1993 - New York's Mike Stanley flies out to left field, ending the game and giving the Red Sox a 3-1 win in the Bronx -- but the umpires rule that time had been called because a fan had run onto the field. Stanley gets back in the box against Greg Harris, and singles to left. Wade Boggs singles, Dion James walks, and Don Mattingly singles, and the Yankees win 4-3. (I was at this game. In fact, I had moved down to the third or fourth row on the third base side, past the dugout, and was sitting on the aisle when he came running down past me. If only I had stuck out my left foot...)

G147: Blue Jays 11, Red Sox 9

Blue Jays - 020 053 100 - 11 17  0
Red Sox   - 200 003 022 -  9 12  1

We actually had a brief lead in this one, thanks to the first of Victor Martinez's two home runs. But to no one's surprise, Lackey (4.1-8-7-2-3, 83) gave it back, immediately -- and then some.

Boston trailed 10-2 in the sixth, but clawed back and had the tying run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was Martinez, who had driven in the Sox's third run with a groundout in the sixth, then belted another two-run dong in the eighth. He came up empty this time, however, ending the game with a pop-up to shortstop.

The Yankees rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth and beat the Orioles 4-3, while the Angels broke a tie with a run in the top of their ninth and beat the Rays 4-3.

Boston lost a half-game in both standings, and are 7 GB in the East and 6.5 GB in the WC. 15 games to go.

Brett Cecil / John Lackey

Scutaro, 2B
McDonald, RF
Matinez, C
Beltre, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowell, 1B
Lowrie, SS
Hall, LF
Kalish, CF

Boston is 11-4 against Toronto this season. Two of those four losses were in games started by Lackey, who has allowed 24 hits and 10 walks in 18.2 innings (three starts, 7.71 ERA) to the Blue Jays this year.

Toronto has lost seven of its last eight games.

AL East, 7 PM:

Yankees/Orioles
Angels/Rays

G146: Red Sox 5, Mariners 1

Red Sox  - 000 101 210 - 5 10  0
Mariners - 100 000 000 - 1  6  1

Buchholz (7-4-1-3-6, 109) bounced back from his one-inning debacle last Friday in Oakland and the Red Sox swept three games from the Mariners with relative ease. As the Yankees and Rays were playing each other on the same nights, Boston gained ground on someone every single night.

Adrian Beltre's dong in the fourth tied the game at 1-1 -- and NESN had some good shots of Victor Martinez and Marco Scutaro attacking AB's bald head (with ice!) in the dugout. David Ortiz doubled and scored in the sixth on Chone Figgins's infield error. Facing the Seattle pen in the seventh, Scutaro singled, Ryan Kalish doubled, and Martinez doubled them both home. With two outs in the eighth, Scutaro walked and scored on Kalish's first career triple.

The Rays beat the Yankees 4-3. Dan Johnson drove in all four of Tampa's runs with two two-run home runs.

Boston is 6.5 GB the Rays in the East. The Red Sox are 6 GB New York in the WC -- and 7 of their remaining 16 games are against the Yankees (who have lost 8 of their last 10 games).

Clay Buchholz / David Pauley

Scutaro, 2B
Kalish, CF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Nava, LF
Reddick, RF
Anderson, 1B
Navarro, SS

&: Yankees/Rays (Hughes/Shields), 7 PM (box)

September 15:

1901 - The most lopsided score in AL history is 21-0 22-0. (See comments for some info.) As far as 21-0 games go, here are two -- and neither of them went the full nine innings!

September 15, 1901
CLE - 000 000 00 -  0
DET - 202 436 4x - 21
Game called so CLE could catch a train.
  
August 13, 1939
NYY - 055 215 03 - 21 23 0
PHI - 000 000 00 -  0  3 3
2nd game of DH; probably called for darkness

1971 - Making his debut in the top of the ninth, Houston pitcher Larry Yount hurts his right elbow during his warm-up pitches and has to leave the game. He never gets the chance to pitch in the majors again. His younger brother Robin will have a much longer career.

G145: Red Sox 9, Mariners 6

Red Sox  - 021 100 032 - 9 10  1
Mariners - 101 020 101 - 6 12  0

David Ortiz's three-run homer gave the Red Sox the lead in the eighth inning and RBI from Ryan Kalish and Josh Reddick added some insurance in the ninth.

Jed Lowrie hit two home runs -- a two-run shot in the second and a solo blast to begin the fourth. Adrian Beltre singled twice and doubled and Victor Martinez had two singles. His second hit came after two blown calls by home plate umpire Kerwin Danley*. Brandon League should have struck Martinez out to end the eighth inning with Seattle up 5-4, but strikes 2 and 3 were instead balls 2 and 3 -- and Martinez then blooped a hit to left. Beltre smoked a single to left and Flo cranked a 1-0 pitch to deep right-center for his 30th dong of the year.

* - Danley and 3B ump CB Bucknor screwed Matsuzaka (6-8-5-4-3, 105) on several pitches in the fifth and sixth innings, though those shitty calls did not lead to any additional runs. ... 2B ump Dana DeMuth botched a call in the fifth, calling Chone Figgins out on a steal attempt when he had beaten the throw. The score was 4-4 and Dice's next pitch was hammered for a double. ... And I have no doubt Doug Eddings blew a few calls at 1B, but nothing springs immediately to mind.

It was Ortiz's sixth season with 30+ homers for the Sox, tying Manny Ramirez for second place in franchise history. Ted Williams tops the list with eight seasons.

Ichiro Suzuki singled twice, doubled, walked, stole two bases, drove in one run, and scored four of the Mariners' six runs. Figgins singled four times and Franklin Gutierrez had three hits, including two doubles.

The Yankees beat the Rays 8-7 in 10 innings to re-take first place in the East. ... Boston is now 7 GB in the East and 6.5 GB Tampa Bay in the WC. They have shaved two games off the WC standings in three days.

Daisuke Matsuzaka / Luke French

Scutaro, 2B
McDonald, RF
Martinez, 1B
Beltre, 3B
Ortiz, DH
Lowrie, SS
Varitek, C
Hall, LF
Kalish, CF

Jason Varitek makes his first start since June 30. ... Matsuzaka celebrated his 30th birthday yesterday.

Up top: Yankees/Rays (Nova/Garza), 7 PM

September 14:

1935 - The Cubs beat the Dodgers 18-14 for their 11th straight win. The game also ends Chicago's string of 10 straight games without using a relief pitcher.

1990 - Ken Griffey, Sr. and Ken Griffey, Jr. hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the first inning of a 7-5 loss to the Angels. They were the first father/son to play on the same team. Tim Raines Sr. and Tim Raines Jr. were both in the Orioles' starting lineup for two games in October 2001.

1998 - The Royals score in all eight of their innings at bat -- 113 113 24x -- as they rout Oakland 16-6. .. And in Detroit: White Sox 17, Tigers 16 (12).

G144: Red Sox 5, Mariners 1

Red Sox  - 030 000 020 - 5  6  0
Mariners - 000 000 100 - 1  4  2

Lester (8-3-1-3-12, 112) struck out 10+ batters for the fourth consecutive start and the kids in the lineup carried the offense.

Lester has now posted double digits in strikeouts 14 times, all but one of them coming in the last two seasons. He struck out 10+ in three straight starts last year (May 31, June 6, 12). Before tonight, he had fanned an even 10 on each of August 27, and September 1 and 6.

In the second inning, Adrian Beltre singled and took third on Jed Lowrie's double. Josh Reddick's groundout scored one run, then Daniel Nava and Lars Anderson each hit RBI doubles. After Marco Scutaro walked to begin the eighth, Ryan Kalish homered to right-center.

The Rays beat the Yankees 1-0 in 11 innings to move into first place in the East. Reid Brignac led off the bottom of the 11th with a home run off Sergio Mitre to give the Rays their first ever 1-0 walk-off and the team's first extra-inning victory by that score. The expected duel between Sabathia (8-2-0-2-9, 119) and Price (8-3-0-2-4, 114) lived up to its billing. The Yankees have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight games.

Boston is now 7.5 GB Tampa Bay in the East and 7 GB New York in the WC -- with 18 games, including six against the Yankees, to play.

Jon Lester / Doug Fister

Scutaro, 2B
Kalish, CF
Martinez, C
Ortiz, DH
Beltre, 3B
Lowrie, SS
Reddick, RF
Nava, LF
Anderson, 1B

Lefty Rich Hill is up from Pawtucket and will join the Sox in Seattle. Hill pitched in 19 games for the PawSox, including six starts, and had a 3.74 ERA. Hill has played five seasons, four with the Cubs and one with Baltimore.

Up top: Yankees/Rays (Sabathia/Price), 7 PM

September 13:

1946 - The Red Sox clinch the pennant by beating Cleveland 1-0. Boston gets its run on the only inside-the-park home run of Ted Williams's career.

1993 - The Astros/Rockies in Colorado is postponed when the Denver area gets between 5-8 inches of snow. The day before, it was 92 degrees. The snow melts the following day.

1997 - The Mets are down to their last strike in the bottom of the ninth, trailing the Expos 6-0. But they rally and tie the game when Carl Everett hits a grand slam. In the 11th, Bernard Gilkey hits a three-run dong for a 9-6 Mets win.