It Was A Good Day. Dig if you will the picture ...

Angels     000 001 024 -  7 15  2

Red Sox    410 100 40x - 10 16  1

 

Cleveland  333 061 006 - 22 22  1

Yankees    000 000 000 -  0  5  0

Before tonight, the Yankees had never lost by more than 18 runs (24-6 at Cleveland on July 29, 1928 and 19-1 at home against Detroit on June 17, 1925) and had never been shutout by more than 15 runs (15-0 at home against the White Sox on May 4, 1950). Cleveland also set a team record for largest shutout win, topping its 19-0 rout of Boston on May 18, 1955. ... And George Steinbrenner was on hand to watch!

In Boston, the Red Sox won for the 19th time in 23 games. In the last 2 weeks, Boston has gone 13-1 while New York has won only 6 of 14.

August 16                       September 1

 

Yankees  75  42  .641  --       Yankees  81  50  .618  --

Red Sox  64  52  .552  10½      Red Sox  77  53  .592  3½

The Nation's rallying cry: 8791!

Monday, Monday. It was all I hoped it would be ...

Boston 6, Detroit 1
Toronto 6, Yankees 4
Anaheim 4, Minnesota 2
Oakland 9, Tampa Bay 6
Baltimore 7, Texas 6

AL East                        Wild Card

Yankees  81  49  .623   -      Red Sox  76  53  .589   -

Red Sox  76  53  .589  4.5     Angels   75  55  .577  1.5

                               Rangers  73  56  .566  3

Sox off Monday. Angels at Fenway Tuesday night.

For Starters ... Derek Lowe pitched a season-high eight innings last night and although the road got a little bumpy at the end, Boston fairly cruised to a 5-3 win. It was their fourth straight victory, 10th in the last 11 games, 13th in the last 16 and 16th in the last 20. I'm enjoying this team.

Lowe allowed a run and four hits in the first two innings, throwing 40 pitches. After that, he was sterling, throwing only 34 pitches over the next four innings and retiring 10 men in a row. It was the first time this season Lowe had three consecutive 1-2-3 innings.

Lowe says his confidence is "as high as it's been since I've been a Red Sox. I really believe every single time that I go out there that I'm going to win." ... Boston's starters have been credited with 58 of the team's 74 wins, a total exceeded only by St. Louis (62). In their last 17 games, Red Sox starters are 12-3 with a 3.44 ERA. In August, they are 16-6, 3.88. Lowe: I think this is the type of streak this city has been waiting for us to go on. I think this is the type of team everybody expected to see coming out of spring training."

As Bob Hohler wrote in the Globe: "One of the marvels of the recent stretch of success for the Red Sox has been their ability to overcome a seemingly unrelenting wave of losses to key players." In the fourth, Manny Ramirez fouled a 1-2 pitch off his left knee. He looked like he couldn't put much weight on the leg, but he finished the at-bat -- driving the ball hard to left (!) and then left the game. Ramirez suffered a contusion; x-rays were negative.

In the 3rd, Manny reached on an error, went to third on Jason Varitek's double and scored when Tiger catcher Brandon Inge couldn't handle an easy throw from shortstop on Kevin Millar's grounder. Ramirez, who would have been dead if Inge had caught the ball, tried to shove the catcher out of the way, then just went around him while Inge went looking for the ball.

Bill Mueller sat out Friday's game with a bruised right ankle/foot, so Mark Bellhorn moved over to third. Ricky Gutierrez started at second base and singled in his first three at-bats, driving in Boston's last two runs. ... An MRI taken on Doug Mientkiewicz's shoulder showed no structural damage, but he will likely miss the next two games. ... David McCarty will be in Boston this weekend, but will probably not be activated until rosters expand on Wednesday (good discussion of who may or may not be brought up).

Terry Francona couldn't use Keith Foulke, who had some back stiffness in his back. So in the 9th, he began with Timlin, who quickly surrendered a double and a single before striking out Craig Monroe. Alan Embree came on to whiff pinch-hitter Marcus Thames and Curtis Leskanic retired Inge on a fly to right.

I didn't see it, but apparently Ivan Rodriguez was in the on-deck circle, set to bat for Nook Logan if Inge kept the inning (and the game) going. Now if Rodriguez was hurt and simply could not play, fine, but if Tigers manager Alan Trammell was going to have him bat, why not do it for Eric Munson or Inge (the catcher) earlier in the inning? Truly a moron (non-)move.

Pawtucket split a double header with Scranton last night. Byung-Hyun Kim started one game, pitching five innings of one-hit ball, walking one and striking out six. Pedro Astacio started the other game, giving up eight hits and three runs (two earned) in 4.1 innings. He had 3 strikeouts and no walks. ... The Globe reported that Astacio pitched the first game and Kim went in the nightcap, while the Herald had Kim in first game and Astacio in the second. ?!?

Improved Link/Post.

Of Mice And Men. According to columnist Bernadette Malone, "people who hate Republicans plan to release swarms of mice in New York City to terrorize delegates to the National Republican Convention. Republican-haters plan on dressing up as RNC volunteers, and giving false directions to little blue hair ladies from Kansas, sending them into the sectors of New York City that are unfit for human habitation. ... Prostitutes with AIDS plan to seduce Republican visitors, and discourage the use of condoms ..."

I was able to obtain a top-secret photo of one of the mice in his terrorist lair.

More Scare Tactics. A sinister plot to bomb a New York City subway station? Maybe not. No verifiable connection to any terrorist organization, no explosives, no timeline and the two men arrested were not even working together. ... Republicans urge Bush to avoid talking about Iraq at the convention -- you know, 'cause of the 972 dead Americans, the billions of our tax dollars that are unaccounted for and stuff. ... Also: "Under growing pressure to ship Marines to Iraq, the Marine Corps is cutting in half the rigorous field combat training it gives units preparing to deploy, senior officers say."

The White House is stonewalling a FOIA request for records detailing administration contacts with the Swift Boat Veterans. But the Bush Gang has steadfastly maintained it had no contact, so there are no records to hide, right? Information and links regarding this bullshit are here and here.

What Would Dukakis Do?: "How [Kerry] allowed two Vietnam dodgers turn a war hero into a question mark with hardly a rebuttal suggests that he may be in way over his head in this campaign. ... There is no excuse for the Kerry campaign to have been so ill-prepared for the Bush garbage machine. It is has now been previewed in multiple campaigns over the last two decades, and a devastating preemptive strategy should have been implemented months ago."

Ben Barnes: "I got a young man named George W. Bush in the National Guard [in 1968] when I was Lt. Gov. of Texas and I'm not necessarily proud of that. But I did it. And I got a lot of other people into the National Guard because I thought that was what people should do, when you're in office you helped a lot of rich people. And I walked through the Vietnam Memorial the other day and I looked at the names of the people that died in Vietnam and I became more ashamed of myself than I have ever been because it was the worst thing that I did was that I helped a lot of wealthy supporters and a lot of people who had family names of importance get into the National Guard and I'm very sorry about that and I'm very ashamed and I apologize to you as voters of Texas." Video of Barnes.

Two articles that lay out logically how Bush has failed. The Seattle Times, which backed Bush in 2000, explains its endorsement of Kerry. More simply, he is incompetent.

Train Kept A-Rollin'. The Red Sox are 17-7 in August and have won 9 of their last 10 games -- and that one loss was to Ted Lilly. Everything -- hitting, pitching and fielding -- is falling into place. And the Yankees had to rally late in Toronto to avoid having their lead cut to 4.5 games. One of the local news broadcasts here in New York began its Yankees coverage last night with "And the Boston Red Sox simply will not go away ..."

On Wednesday, the Red Sox batted around twice, belted 3 home runs in the space of 8 pitches in the 4th inning, David Ortiz hit 2 bombs, Manny Ramirez scored 3 runs -- hell even Dave Roberts had a couple of singles. Schilling pitched into the 7th inning and was able to leave after 99 pitches. We received further confirmation that Terry Adams is useless. Ramiro Mendoza retired all four batters he faced.

Back home last night, Bronson Arroyo continued his work as the team's #3 starter, allowing 6 hits and 1 unearned run in 7.1 innings. He struck out eight batters with a breaking ball that was hellish on Detroit's right-handed hitters. The Tigers scored their only run when, on an attempted pickoff throw to third base, Doug Mirabelli's throw glanced off Ivan Rodriguez's bat (!!) and sailed over third base into foul terriorty. Omar Infante, who had begun the inning with a double, walked home.

That tied the game at 1-1. In the 4th, Bill Mueller doubled and scored on Dave Roberts's sac fly. Ramirez began the next inning with a double of his own and after Ortiz singled (and Manny was held at third!), he scored when Kevin Millar grounded into a double play. In the 8th, Mirabelli walked and came around on Mark Bellhorn's single.

Boston forced Jason Johnson to throw a ton of pitches: 30 in the first inning, 28 in the second, and 109 through 5 innings. And they ran. Roberts and Damon both swiped second base -- and both of Rodriguez's throws were short and skipped into center field for errors.

Terry Francona managed the bullpen correctly, pulling Arroyo with one out in the 8th, after Bobby Higginson's double. Mike Timlin came in and struck out Rodriguez and got Dimitri Young on a first-pitch line out to Manny. Keith Foulke then set down the side in the 9th on only 9 pitches. Francona also put Bellhorn in the #2 spot, dropping Roberts down to the 9-hole -- where he belongs.

Francona has been more focused with his bullpen management. His usage patterns have certainly improved, and with the starters often going 7+ innings, the moves have been pretty timely and logical. On Wednesday, Boston led 11-1 when Adams relieved Schilling after only 99 pitches. Adams got the next two batters, but was hideous in the 8th, allowing 3 consecutive singles, getting two outs, then allowing a 4-pitch walk and another single before getting the hook.

Obviously, the big lead gave Francona the luxury of seeing if Adams could work out of trouble. He could not. With Williamson a huge question mark for the rest of the season, Mendoza will be pitching a lot of high-leverage innings. So far, he seems up to the task. The main arms of LH Embree and Myers and RH Timlin and Mendoza setting up Foulke looks pretty solid right now.

Derek Lowe faces Mike Maroth tonight. Then it's Pedro/Bonderman on Saturday and Wakefield/Ledezma on Sunday. After a day off, a tough stretch begins with three games against the Angels and Rangers in Fenway and three in Oakland. Right now, Boston leads Anaheim (8 straight wins, off last night) in the wild card by .5 and Texas by 2. Oakland leads the Angels in the West by 1 game.

In the world of SoxBlogs, Surviving Grady is essential reading. Great stuff the past two days, including Steinbrenner's sock puppets and a muffin shoppe in the bullpen.

Two New Blogs. Jose Melendez's Keys To The Game and Kelly at The Miserable Red Sox Fan Speaks.

Last night, Mike Timlin turned back the clock to (the good part of) October 2003 when he got out of a based-loaded-zero-outs situation in the 6th inning. He struck out Reed Johnson and Orlando Hudson and retired Alex Rios on a routine grounder.

In the top half of that frame, Doug Mirabelli, filling in for the suspended Jason Varitek, launched a three-run rocket to left. There was excellent bullpen management by Francona, who used Ramiro Mendoza and Keith Foulke to nail down the 5-4 victory. However, he erred by batting Dave Roberts 2nd and Orlando Cabrera 6th. And he's made the same mistake tonight. Boo. Curt Schilling vs Josh Towers.

An Off-Day With Manny. Last Thursday, Manny Ramirez took a trip to the small town of Manteno, Illinois, to work out the details of the complete restoration of a 1967 Lincoln Continental convertible he's giving his father for his 65th birthday in October. The Globe's Stan Grossfeld tagged along (and took photos, 7 of which are online). This highly entertaining article is exactly the kind of stuff we should be getting from the Boston media. When Ramirez says he's worried the car won't be ready in time, the negotiations for a rush job are hilarious.

Ramirez: "Boston is the best city ever. The fans are great. They love me. Oh my God. You go out to eat, they don't let you pay for nothing. You win it there and people will go nuts. I'm going to party for a month." ... A month?!? Lightweight. They'll have to delay spring training so the players can get over their hangovers.

Even though Jason Varitek is unavailable until Friday, the Red Sox chose not to call up another catcher. So who's Mirabelli's backup? Doug Mientkiewicz, who says he caught in high school, college and the minors, adding, "I'll be a lot more comfortable behind the plate than at second."

Theo Epstein was in Portland (AA) on Sunday watching Pedro Astacio and Lenny DiNardo. Astacio started and went 4 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 walk and 0 runs; he had 4 strikeouts. DiNardo allowed 3 runs on 4 hits but got credit for the win. ... Pokey Reese took "20 swings at 60 percent" on Friday and then hit again on Sunday. He also took some grounders.

Tonight: Tim Wakefield vs. Miguel Batista, 7:05 pm
Wednesday: Curt Schilling vs. Josh Towers, 7:05 pm

Pitches Of Lilly. There were 126 of them last night and only a handful missed their mark. Ted Lilly threw a masterful 3-hitter and struck out a career-high 13 as Boston lost to Toronto 3-0. Lilly had pinpoint control and a sweeping 12-to-6 curve that fooled everyone all night long. In the sixth, when he struck out both Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, it was plain to see that as long as Lilly stayed in the game, the Red Sox weren't gettin' nothing. Put this game beside the gems thrown this year by Jason Schmidt and Johan Santana and look forward to Wakefield tonight.

In the top of the first, Orlando Cabrera hit a line shot off the left center wall for a double and took third on Ramirez's long fly to right center. But he was stranded there and Boston would get only one more runner as far as second base (Mark Bellhorn, whose triple in the 5th hit the very top of the right centerfield wall and bounced back onto the field). ... After Lilly struck out Ortiz to end the first, he struck out the side in the 2nd and he struck out the first two batters in the 3rd -- six consecutive punchouts (a new team record). It was going to be a long night.

On the other side of the field, Pedro Martinez's final line looked pretty good nice - 7 innings, 4 hits, 3 runs, 3 walks, 10 strikeouts -- but he was not sharp in the first three innings, when Toronto scored all of its runs. Reed Johnson hit Martinez's second pitch for a home run. Orlando Hudson followed with a triple and scored on Vernon Wells's sac fly. Pedro walked two batters in the 2nd, but escaped further trouble. In the third, he walked Hudson and surrendered singles to Carlos Delgado and Eric Hinske. That made the score 3-0, which seemed surmountable, but was actually 2 more runs than Lilly needed.

After Hinske's single, no Blue Jay batter reached base, but it was too late. ... Pedro retired the next 14 batters (only 3 of them hit the ball out of the infield). Curtis Leskanic and Alan Embree retired the side in order in the 8th. ... Because Doug Mirabelli had such good numbers against Lilly (5-for-9 with 3 home runs; now he's 5-for-13), Jason Varitek began his suspension last night. Varitek will return to action on Friday night.

The Yankees won 6-4 in Cleveland, so Boston slipped back to 6.5 in the East. Anaheim beat Kansas City 9-4, Minnesota topped Texas 7-4, and Oakland edged Baltimore 4-3. In the wild card race, the Red Sox are tied (actually .001 ahead) with the Angels (who trail Oakland by .5 games in the West); Texas is one game behind the Red Sox.

This was pointed out during the NESN broadcast last night:

2003 after 122 games: 70-52, 4 GB NYY, 1 game ahead in WC
2004 after 122 games: 70-52, 5.5 GB NYY, 1 game ahead in WC

August. Day-by-day in the East.

New York  W   L W W W W W L L W W W W L   L L W L L L

Boston    L W W L   L W W L W W W L W L W W W   W W W

7 days -- 5 games closer in the standings.

Tangible. In today's SoSH game thread, a few of us were posting updates of the Angels-Yankees game. One Red Seat noted: "Earlier, the MFY radio announcers were talking about Jeter's sacrifice bunt to move a runner to 3rd. They made it sound like he just donated one of his kidneys or something." The inning in question (the 3rd) went like this:

Lofton (b) singled softly to right.
Williams (bbf) doubled to deep right, Lofton scored (Yankees 1-0).
Jeter (bf) sacrificed to pitcher, Williams to third.
Sheffield (fbs) doubled to left, Williams scored (Yankees 2-0).
Rodriguez (f) flied out to center.
Matsui (c) grounded out to first.

I wondered what the expected benefit for the Yankees from Jeter's "productive out" [sic] would be. It didn't take long before The Napkin posted the dope (2001 data):

Man on 2nd, 0 out = 1.138 expected runs
Man on 3rd, 1 out = 0.920 expected runs

So, far from deserving of praise, Jeter's bunt actually lessened the chance that the Yankees would score in the rest of the inning. And New York ultimately lost the game 4-3.

Finally, a Red Sox win tonight would be huge; cutting the Yankees' lead to 5½ games (the lowest since June 27) would definitely raise the decibel level in the Bronx front office.

Six In A Row? The Red Sox won six consecutive games on April 23-29. They have a chance to match that nice, but relatively modest, streak tonight. With Derek Lowe showing his best sinker of the season in his last start, confidence is high.

Anaheim beat the Yankees 4-3 (Percival retired the side on 4 pitches in the 9th to complete the sweep), so Boston is now only 6 games back. The Red Sox are tied with Texas for the wild card, but the Rangers trail the Royals 8-0 in the 5th. Tampa Bay beat Oakland 2-1.

Bronson Arroyo said he "felt really sluggish, like I was throwing underwater" against the White Sox Saturday. He said that during one mound visit, pitching coach Dave Wallace "asked me if I wanted him to smack me in the side of the face. He went, 'You need to wake up and get things going.'"

Gordon Edes on the Sox-claiming-Clemens story: The Astros "never discussed a trade with the Sox or Yankees involving either pitcher, according to a source with direct knowledge of the process." Edes says the Yankees claimed Andy Pettitte when the Astros placed him on waivers the same day. "As for reports that the Clemens 'trade talks' broke down over Kevin Youkilis, the Sox did indeed throw out Youkilis's name to the Astros, but that was last year when the target was lefthanded closer Billy Wagner."

Bob Hohler reports that Jason Varitek will serve his four-game suspension "within the next couple of days". His appeal is scheduled for Thursday the 26th and the Red Sox begin a nine-game stretch against the Angels, Rangers and A's beginning August 31. Hohler believes Varitek will catch Pedro on Monday in Toronto, miss the next 4 games and return on Saturday to catch Pedro again at home against Detroit. ... Varitek has been hot, hitting .371 since the All-Star break and .444 in August. But the team has scored 10 runs in each of its last two games without David Ortiz's bat (0-for-15 with eight strikeouts in the last 4 games), so the slack should be picked up.

Manny Ramirez's first-inning home run was his 379th tying Orlando Cepeda and Tony Perez for 50th all-time.

Red Sox Keep Rolling. Everything is clicking for the Red Sox. They came out swinging against Chicago for the second day in a row, taking a quick 7-2 lead en route to a 10-7 victory. Last night, they scored six times in the first two innings off Mark Buehrle and coasted 10-1.

Boston has won 5 straight, 9 of 11, and 11 of their last 14. The Angels beat the Yankees today 6-1 -- New York has now lost 5 of their last 6 games -- so the Red Sox are 6½ games behind in the East, New York's smallest lead since July 10. In the wild card race, they are ½-game ahead of Texas (who plays in Kansas City tonight).

There simply isn't much to complain about. In these two games against Chicago, Damon has reached base in 5 of 9 plate appearances. Orlando Cabrera is 4-for-9 in the #2 spot and clearly becoming more relaxed in the field. Manny Ramirez has caught fire once again, belting his 16th career grand slam last night and launching a 3-run shot (#31) in the first inning today. Jason Varitek singled twice last night; he doubled and hit two home runs today. Ricky Gutierrez got two hits last night. Mark Bellhorn returned from the DL today, walking on four pitches in his first appearance; he later singled and stole a base.

Curt Schilling threw only 78 pitches in 7 shutout innings last night and Francona was right to take him out with a 9-0 lead and save his arm for October. Tito also managed the bullpen just right today, yanking Bronson Arroyo before the lead vanished, sticking with a rusty Mike Timlin in the 6th and 7th, taking a look at Terry Adams in the 8th and giving Keith Foulke some work in the 9th.

Yesterday, Francona said he made a mistake in using Foulke Wednesday night with a 4-run lead. It was Foulke's third consecutive day of work and he was not sharp. ... Alan Embree has been getting some necessary rest. He has pitched in only three of Boston's last 17 games.

Curtis Leskanic pitched a scoreless ninth last night. "I don't think I've ever been this nervous in a major league game, other than my major league debut. ... I didn't know what my stuff was going to be like." ... Jason Varitek may drop his appeal of his four-game suspension for the July 24 brawl with the Yankees. A hearing is scheduled for next Thursday.

Alan Schwarz, whose new book "The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination With Statistics" looks great (an entertaining review from George Will; Schwarz's website), writes about Ichiro, who is making a run at George Sisler's record of 257 hits in a single season.

Tomorrow night, Derek Lowe faces Freddy Garcia in the ESPN Sunday night game.

Whew. It's true. The Red Sox claimed Roger Clemens when the Houston Astros put him on waivers on July 29. When the waiver period ended, Boston had two days -- until August 4 -- to work out a deal. When nothing could be finalized (Kevin Youkilis was a sticking point, apparently), Houston pulled Clemens back.

There is little/no chance of the Astros putting him on waivers again, because this time it would be irrevocable, and whoever had the claim could have Clemens simply for the cost of his salary. ... I would have found it impossible to root for Fat Billy, so while I understand why Boston put in a claim, I'm relieved a deal was not made.

Now Hear This. Every day, our democracy recedes a little further into the distance ...

Reuters, March 9, 2004:

"The US military is about to add a controversial new weapon to its huge arsenal in Iraq. ... A defence contractor announced securing a million dollar deal to supply the First US Marine Expeditionary Force with a so-called Long Range Acoustic Device, or LRAD ... [which] deliver[s] a shrill 145-decibel tone over a distance of more than 300 metres, causing splitting headaches, pain, panic and even hearing loss. The sound is about twice as powerful as the scream of a standard smoke detector. And earplugs will not be of any help. ...

At the time, more than a few people on the left semi-joked that the Bush administration was using Iraq as a testing ground for this weapon and its real use would be on protestors during its late-August convention in New York City. Pretty loony, huh?

Well, guess what?

AP, August 19, 2004:

Authorities to turn up the volume for GOP convention - a 150-decibel 'megaphone'

Police will have a much more high-tech -- and louder -- option to make themselves heard over the din of Manhattan traffic and noisy protesters outside the Republican National Convention. It's called the Long Range Acoustic Device, developed for the military and capable of blasting warnings, orders or anything else at an ear-splitting 150 decibels. ...

The department recently bought two of the 45-pound acoustic sound machines for $35,000 apiece, and plans to mount them on Humvees posted outside Madison Square Garden. It would mark the first time the instrument -- which can beam sounds for 300 yards or more -- has been used by a civilian force. "We believe we'd be able to use them in a number of scenarios," said Paul Browne, the police department's chief spokesman.

My YLP offers another perspective:

I've read about these weapons before. There's been much talk about all the high-tech devices the NYPD has at its disposal, for use against "anarchists" "if necessary". I feel strongly that this kind of talk is designed to frighten us into staying home -- to intimidate us into not protesting.

It goes hand in hand with not letting us use Central Park to rally, the FBI visiting potential protestors in their homes, and stories about how anarchists are planning violent protests. Will those anarchists be real protestors - or RNC plants? Let's not give in to fear-mongering. Let's not spread the leftist version of terror alerts.

March!

Help Is On The Way. Mark Bellhorn played six innings for Pawtucket last night, going 1-for-3 with a double. He might play again tonight and then join the team Friday night in Chicago. ... Trot Nixon could return in early or mid-September. He hopes to begin baseball activities later this month.

Epstein is still holding out hope that Byung-Hyun Kim could help the bullpen in September. Kim had an easy two innings for Pawtucket on Tuesday, but surrendered eight runs in the third. ... Pedro Astascio's velocity is around 86-87 in the Gulf Coast League and Epstein says he "could move up the chain fairly quickly." ... Youkilis is now in Fort Myers beginning his rehab. ... Scott Williamson was originally scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, but decided against it after getting a third opinion. Williamson will opt for a 10-to-14-day rehabilitation. If he does have surgery, he would not be able to pitch until 2006.

Good pitching performances by everyone this week: strong starts from Lowe and Wakefield, Pedro and Schilling battling without their best stuff, and Arroyo pitching well again in a losing effort.

Doug Mientkiewicz on the collision with Carlos Delgado: "[T]here was nothing dirty about it, but I just didn't appreciate being hit like that in my first game at second base ... [H]e knows I'm a first baseman and he took advantage of that."

The New York Post says the Yankees are close to a deal that would send Esteban Loaiza to the Rangers. The paper notes: "Moving Loaiza so soon after he was acquired and less than a week after [Joe] Torre and Mel Stottlemyre devised a six-man rotation to get a better look at him is an admission that getting him was a mistake."

Dale Sveum -- He's Actually Getting Worse. Three days after third base coach Dale Sveum waved Kevin Youkilis home and into a collision that left the rookie with a severe bone bruise in his right ankle, Sveum sent Bill Mueller on what could quite possibly be called his worst decision of the season. The Red Sox have had eight runners nailed at home in their last 16 games.

It was the bottom of the 8th and Boston led 6-2. Mueller was on second with 2 outs. With the Fenway crowd standing and chanting his name, newcomer Earl Snyder drove the ball through the infield for a single. Toronto LF Gabe Gross charged the ball and was in his throwing motion as Mueller rounded the bag. NESN was using its camera high above the plate, so it was easy to see the play develop.

With Sveum windmilling his arm, Mueller was about half way to the plate when Gross's throw skipped once on the infield grass. Catcher Kevin Cash got the ball and actually had to wait for Mueller to come sliding in. ... Boston held on to win the game 6-4.

Sveum claims he would not have sent Mueller if there were fewer than two outs or if the Red Sox were leading by fewer than four runs. He said he wanted to test Gross's arm and "I wanted to get the kid [Snyder] an RBI in Boston." It's a nice thought -- Synder has been a Red Sox fan since childhood -- but how could Sveum risk another injury to a key player -- who, by the way, had knee surgery earlier this year?

It's mind-boggling that the Red Sox continue to tolerate this idiot at third base. Isn't having a competent coach at third more important than not dumping one of Francona's buddies? With Theo Epstein making the following comments to Mike Lupica:

We do not have the right as a team to pat ourselves on the back for small victories. There's no time for that. We have put ourselves into the position where we have to out-grind the teams we're fighting for the wild card. ... We still might only win the wild card by a game or two. That's how little margin for error we left ourselves by being the kind of dysfunctional team we were for those three months. ... Listen, this season has tested us, no question. We're trying to survive the injuries we've had, and all the highly questionable baseball we played, all the terrible defense we played and the terrible time we had somehow turning our offensive stats into runs, and victories."

there is NO rationale for having a liability like Sveum in the organization.

Let me repeat: Eight Red Sox runners have been thrown out at home in the last 16 games. Like the situation with last year's manager, it is no longer a question of "if" Sveum will hurt this team in its playoff drive, but "when" and how many games it will be. He must be replaced immediately.

Stop Me If You've Seen This One Before. Sunday's 5-4 loss to Chicago had a bit of everything:

* Lots of Red Sox left on base, including the bases loaded in the 1st and 8th innings and two men on in both the 3rd and 9th innings

* Speaking of the 3rd inning, another runner waved home by Dale "EZ Pass" Sveum who was gunned down, ending the inning (Eric Van examines The Baserunning Outs Litany)

* More injuries; Kevin Youkilis hurt on the play (bruised right leg, x-rays negative, day-to-day) at the plate, adding injury to insult

* Poor run support (again) for Bronson Arroyo (who pitched another great game)

* Poor plate discipline and wasted at-bats; after making Mark Buehrle throw 74 pitches in the first 3 innings (37-22-15), he then threw only 36 in the next four frames (8-10-11-7)

* The continued overuse of Alan Embree and Mike Timlin (both of whom have been sucking mightily, especially Timlin) and the avoidance of better pitchers like Keith "Hey Tito, Whatever Happened To Those 2-inning Saves?" Foulke, Mike Myers and Ramiro Mendoza (did I just write that?)

* Bad lineup decisions; batting Orlando Cabrera 6th, who ended the 1st inning and tapped out weakly to the pitcher to end the game (although to his credit, he did get 3 hits, singling on the play that Youkilis was thrown out on, doubling and scoring in the 6th and keeping a rally going in the 8th with another single)

The Red Sox, Angels and Rangers are tied for the wild card. Toronto faces Derek Lowe at Fenway tonight.

(What) Is Tito Thinking?. While discussing the various bullpen moves during last night's rainy loss, Francona said: "We were getting a bunch of rain and we're trying to get through that inning. Usually, when Timlin comes into the game, he comes in for more than one hitter. But with the way the game was going and Perez behind him. ... We had Embree up and just had to go hitter by hitter at that point. When you're not sure you're going to finish a game, you might as well unload the bullets then."

Okay, it was the 7th inning. The game was tied at 4-4 when the inning began, but Wakefield had given up a 1-out home run and a double. Timlin came in and walked Joe Crede. Francona says he would normally have left Timlin in to face the lefty Timo Perez, but because of the rain and knowing the game could be delayed/called at any moment, Francona went with a "better bullet" in Embree. Perez struck out, but Juan Uribe doubled and the White Sox took a 6-4 lead. Francona then made another move (this also looked like he was stalling for time, hoping the rain would get worse). Terry Adams came in and got Carlos Lee swinging to end the inning.

Boston scored one run in the home half of the seventh (an Ortiz sac fly that was almost a 3-run quadrangular) and Adams was back out on the hill for the 8th. He allowed a single, a double and an intentional walk before giving way to Ramiro Mendoza. After getting a clutch double play, Mendoza allowed a two-run single to right, and despite a 2-run blast by Kevin Millar in the 9th, Chicago held on to win 8-7.

My question is if Francona was "unloading the bullets" and taking the game batter by batter in the rain, where in the hell was Keith Foulke? He hadn't pitched since Tuesday. Isn't Foulke a better choice than either Adams or Mendoza? What happened to that bullet?

Some posters at SoSH have taken to calling Francona "Gump 2.0." I'm not ready to go that far, but he does need to get it through his bald head that every one of Boston's remaining 48 games must be managed with an urgency that I've yet to see this season.

I'm Keeping You Safe, But You Should Remain Terrified. White House officials claim Al Qaeda is showing new signs of life and may conduct a massive preelection attack in August or September. Or they could assassinate a US or foreign leader. But these officials also say they have no evidence of any such plans and no evidence of plans to attack financial buildings, although startling warnings about that very threat were issued about two weeks ago. ... (P.S. I guess Kerry is leading the polls in Ohio.)

Bush flip-flopped this past week on a national sales tax, first saying it's "an interesting idea that we ought to explore seriously" and then having an aide quickly deny that Bush was seriously considering such a tax. By the way, I wonder how that "man to Mars" project is coming along. ... In Albuquerque, Bush praised an American Indian housing program, but forgot to say that he was cutting its funding from $5.3 million to $1 million. ... Bush also said higher taxes on the wealthy don't work because "the really rich people figure out how to dodge taxes anyway."

Congressman Porter Goss, nominated as the new CIA director, told Michael Moore last March: "I couldn't get a job with CIA today. I am not qualified." The White House dismissed the interview as "ridiculous hearsay". What they meant is that you can click and hear him say it. ... I have a question for Goss: Why were you and Bob Graham meeting with the Pakistani ISI general on 9/11? The FBI determined very quickly that this general (Lt. Gen. Mahmood Ahmed) had wired $100,000 to Mohammed Atta, but was then allowed to quietly retire about three weeks after the attacks. What did the three of you talk about?

The Washington Post admits that it underplayed stories questioning White House claims regarding Iraq's alleged WMDs. Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks: "Administration assertions were on the front page. Things that challenged the administration were on A18 on Sunday or A24 on Monday. There was an attitude among editors: Look, we're going to war, why do we even worry about all this contrary stuff?"