G121: Red Sox 7, Angels 5

Angels  - 001 130 000 - 5 10  1
Red Sox - 100 120 21x - 7 12  0

The Red Sox tied the game on a bases loaded wild pitch by Kevin "George" Jepsen in the seventh inning, then (after pinch-hitter J.D. Drew was intentionally walked to re-load the bases) took a 6-5 lead when pinch-hitter Daniel Nava was plunked by an 0-2 fastball. Jane, stop this crazy thing!

In the top of the eighth, Nava made a diving catch in left field to save Daniel Bard's bacon. With Angels on first and second and two outs, Macier Izturis lofted a fly to shallow left. Nava sprinted in, dove forward, and gloved the ball.After the Sox added an insurance run, Jonathan Papelbon struck out the side in the ninth.

Lackey (7-10-5-0-5, 119) skated out of a few jams in the early innings, allowed a couple of single runs, then surrendered a three-run dong to Alberto Callaspo. LBL. After that, though, Adrian Beltre's two-run homer cut the Angels' lead to 5-4, and Lackey retired the last seven batters he faced.

Bill Hall crushed a home run over everything in left in the fourth. And: Marco Scutaro doubled and walked twice, Dustin Pedroia singled, walked, stole a base, and scored a run, Victor Martinez had two singles, a double, and two runs scored, David Ortiz singled, doubled, and walked twice, Beltre homered and singled and drove in three runs, and Darnell McDonald singled, doubled, and stole a base.

The Yankees beat the Tigers 9-5, so the East remains the same for another day: Tampa Bay and New York are tied for first, with Boston 5.5 GB. The Red Sox are 5.5 GB in the Wild Card race. And the White Sox, who were breathing down the Sox's neck, have dropped to 9 GB in the WC.

Scott Kazmir / John Lackey

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

Jacoby Ellsbury, on his examination in California:

It's a broken rib in the back, broken in the exact same place I broke them before. Let's see ... yeah, basically, when I come back I'll be, you know, stronger than ever when I do come back. Thank you. [Will he be back this season?] We're not sure yet.

Terry Francona spoke at length:

I actually got a chance to talk to Dr Yocum this morning ... and he said, "The only way you're going to know the answers that you're asking are if he had a scan everyday. ... It really doesn't matter. It's broken and he needs to let it heal."

My instincts tell me the kid was probably a little more sore than he was letting on. Probably for obvious reasons. He wanted to play and he was catching some heat from a lot of you and all you tough guys (laughs). He's probably a little more tender. Maybe he was more susceptible. Maybe he wasn't. Nobody really knows.

Tito also spoke in Ellsbury's defense on WEEI, when asked if he thought Jacoby was a soft player:

No. And I think for anyone to ever say that, especially for a radio host, is very disrespectful. Talking tough on the radio is a lot different than running into a wall or getting hit with a pitch. ... To get to this point in their career, they've had to -- I know a lot of people think they're pampered athletes -- but they've had to work pretty hard, and they've had to go through a lot.

Francona's comments regarding Ellsbury have not always been so supportive, so this is nice to hear.

AL East: Tigers/Yankees at 7. The Rays beat the Rangers 8-6.

August 18:

1909 - Giants player-coach Arlie Latham -- aka "The Freshest Man on Earth" -- steals second base in New York's 14-1 rout of the Phillies. At 50, he is the oldest player to swipe a base.

1940 - Daily News columnist Jimmy Powers suggests the Yankees' poor play this season -- after four straight World Series titles, the team is in fifth place -- is due to a "mass polio epidemic" contracted from Lou Gehrig. Gehrig files a $1 million lawsuit and the newspaper eventually retracts the story and settles out of court.

1967 - Boston's Tony Conigliaro is beaned by Angels pitcher Jack Hamilton. Conigliaro is hit on the left cheekbone, just below the eye socket, and will miss the rest of 1967 and all of 1968.

Ellsbury "Probably" Out For Season

Gordon Edes, ESPNBoston:

Tests administered in Los Angeles show that Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury has another fractured rib, according to an industry source who also said Ellsbury "probably" will miss the rest of the season.

It was not immediately clear whether the fracture was related to the five ribs he fractured in a collision with Red Sox third baseman Adrian Beltre on April 11.

My eyes/brain may be deceiving me, but is Steve Buckley actually defending Jacoby Ellsbury in today's column on Pedroia's return?

Dustin Pedroia was back in the lineup for the Red Sox last night, and you know what that means.

More proof that Jacoby Ellsbury is a wimp!

You know, we all know, that that's the way some people are playing it. ...

Somehow, some way, a whole lot of fans and media folks broke into the Red Sox medical files and took a long, hard look at the one marked "Ellsbury, Jacoby." They studied those so-called "fractured" ribs that have limited the kid to just 18 games this season. And then, in unison, they said, "Slacker!" ...

[Or], just maybe, everyone is just guessing when it comes to Jacoby Ellsbury. ...

Early last month in Toronto, Ellsbury came across as defensive when he discussed the injury with reporters. Why, the cad even had the temerity to use prepared notes to assure he had his facts straight! Why couldn't he pull a Curt Schilling and make wild statements he'd later have to back away from? ...

[I]s [Ellsbury] really that hurt?

We. Don't. Know.

But we call him a wimp anyway, just because.

I would have absolutely put Buckley in the category of the "some people" who are "playing" the wimp story, based on his past performances. ... Does anyone know if he has been on the side of common sense all along or has he now changed his tune?

G120: Red Sox 6, Angels 0

Angels  - 000 000 000 - 0  7  0
Red Sox - 001 410 00x - 6  8  1

Clay Buchholz (7-5-0-2-3, 113) lowered his league-leading ERA to 2.36 and Ryan Kalish hit his second career home run -- a grand slam -- in the fourth inning.

Boston began a nine-game homestand with a relaxing win. Darnell McDonald homered with two outs in the third to get the Sox on the board. In the fourth, David Ortiz singled -- one of his two opposite-field hits -- but Victor Martinez and Adrian Beltre both struck out. Weaver then walked both J.D. Drew and Mike Lowell on full counts and Kalish muscled a change-up into the Red Sox bullpen for the salami dong. Back-to-back doubles from Ortiz and Martinez in the fifth brought in the sixth run.

Buchholz got out of an early jam in the first inning, when Bobby Abreu doubled and took third on a groundout. Alberto Callaspo chopped back to the mound and Abreu was caught off the bag and tagged out 1-2-5. The Angels loaded the bases with two two-out singles and a walk in the sixth, but Buchholz got Erick Aybar to ground out to Lowell at first.

Felix Doubront escaped a bases loaded situation in the eighth. With one out and a runner on first, Torii Hunter and Hideki Matsui singled. After a visit from John Farrell, Doubront struck out Aybar on three pitches. (Aybar also GIDP in the second; thanks, Erick!)

Hunter robbed Beltre of a solo home run in the second inning with a leaping catch over the short bullpen wall in right-center, nearly toppling over into the pen. ... Pedroia went 0-for-4, with a strikeout looking, two groundouts and a pop to center, though he made a few nice plays in the field.

The Yankees beat the Tigers 6-2 and the Rays beat the Rangers 10-1.

Jered Weaver / Clay Buchholz

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

Dustin Pedroia returns to the lineup -- on his 27th birthday! -- after missing 44 games with a broken left foot. He went 1-for-6 in a two-game rehab stint with Pawtucket last weekend. Boston went 23-21 while he was out. Our other Dustin -- Richardson -- was sent down to Pawtucket.

Buchholz leads the American League with a 2.49 ERA. He also has the 6th fewest hits allowed per 9 innings (Weaver is 7th).

Since returning from the disabled list, Buchholz has allowed only four runs in 23.1 innings. On Wednesday in Toronto, he allowed five hits and one run in eight innings. He has faced LAA twice this season: May 3 and July 26.

Weaver started against Boston on July 27, pitching seven innings and allowing two runs.

Tampa Bay and New York are tied for first at 72-46, with Boston, at 67-52, 5.5 GB. Tonight: Tigers/Yankees and
Rangers/Rays.

August 17:

1900 - Reds pitcher Bill Phillips punches Roy Thomas of the Phillies after Thomas fouls off a dozen pitches in the 8th inning. Phillips is ejected, but the Reds win.

1923 - After 111 games, Babe Ruth is hitting .401. He'll end up with his highest batting average -- .393 -- and reach base a record 379 times.

1937 - In Cincinnati, the Cardinals beat the Reds with the final out being recorded at 12:02 AM, making it the first major league game ever completed after midnight.

1957 - Richie Ashburn hits spectator Alice Roth twice in the same at-bat. The first foul breaks her nose and the second one hits her while she's being removed from her seat on a stretcher.

1966 - For the second successive day, the Orioles score five runs in the top of the ninth and defeat the Red Sox: 6-4 yesterday, 8-4 today.

Box Scores

The baseball box score is the pithiest form of written communication in America today. It is abbreviated history. It is two or three hours (the box score even gives that item to the minute) of complex activity, virtually inscribed on the head of a pin, yet no knowing reader suffers from eyestrain.

Fred Schwed, Jr., How to Watch a Baseball Game (1957)

For 20 years, Tim Kurkjian clipped every box score of every baseball game and taped it into a spiral notebook.

He recalls one night back in 2002:

I went to bed at 11 o'clock, realized in horror I had forgotten to do my box score book, got dressed, clipped and taped my box scores, then lay down for a restful six hours of sleep as my wife looked at me and wondered how she could have married such an unfathomable geek.

Kurkjian mentions a few neat batting lines -- Ben Petrick's 3-0-0-4, for example -- and points out that on July 28 of this year, the Red Sox, for the first time in team history, had home runs hit by their first baseman, second baseman, shortstop, and third baseman in the same game.

I have had a few similar projects (naturally!). After keeping Red Sox box scores in a small blank book in 2003, I expanded the idea for 2004, adding hand-written comments every day and news from other teams, SoSH posts, jpgs of Boston and New York tabloid pages, etc.

Bill Lee To Pitch For Brockton Rox

Bill Lee, 63, has signed a contract with the Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League and is scheduled to pitch in the team's final game of the season on September 5, against the Worcester Tornadoes.

Lee pitched for the Red Sox for ten seasons (1969-78) and then spent four years with the Expos (1979-82). Lee has pitched in semi-professional and senior leagues since leaving MLB. The AP reported that Lee "still pitches over 200 innings per year in over-40 men's leagues in New England and Atlantic Canada".

Another former Red Sox pitcher, Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd, pitched for Brockton in 2005.

Big Day

I will be painting the bathroom.

AL East action, at 7 PM:

Tigers/Yankees and Rangers/Rays

August 16:

1909 - New York outfielder Red Murray makes one of the most amazing catches ever seen at Forbes Field. With two men on base in a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning, Pittsburgh's Dots Miller hits a long line drive to right center. With everyone straining to follow the ball in the growing darkness and pouring rain, a bolt of lightning flashes and Murray is seen making a bare-handed grab on the dead run to end the inning. Umpire Bill Klem immediately calls the game. Giants manager John McGraw calls it the "greatest and most dramatic" catch he ever saw. Five years later, on July 17, 1914, Murray will be knocked unconscious by a bolt of lightning after catching a fly ball for the final out in a 21-inning game. (Players getting struck by lightning happened a lot back in the Deadball Era.)

1920 - Cleveland's Ray Chapman is beaned by a pitch from the Yankees' Carl Mays. Chapman is conscious and is helped off the field, but he dies after surgery early the next day. Some teams initially refuse to play against Mays and a move to ban him from the game fails.

1948 - Babe Ruth dies at age 53.

1986 - Dale Holman becomes the first professional player to play for two teams in one game. He hit a two-run double for the Syracuse Chiefs (International League) on June 30 when the game against the Richmond Braves was begun and suspended. Holman was released and signed by Richmond and when the game is resumed today, he doubles and singles.

1990 - The visiting Twins trail Cleveland by four runs when Kirby Puckett moves from RF to SS for the bottom of the eighth. After Felix Fermin singles, Puckett moves from SS to 3B and Al Newman moves from 3B to SS. Alex Cole grounds out to shortstop and Fermin advances to second base. Now Puckett moves from 3B to 2B, Newman moves from SS to 3B, and Nelson Liriano moves from 2B to SS. Jerry Browne lines out to shortstop. Everyone stays where they are and John Manto flies out to center. The Twins score twice in the top of the ninth, but lose 7-5.

Cafardo Can't Get An Answer

Nick Cafardo, Globe:

It worked out for everyone, but years later, you wonder why Theo Epstein chose Terry Francona over Joe Maddon to manage the Red Sox before the 2004 season.

Nick: Theo ain't Thomas Pynchon. He answers his phone. You might even see him walking around Fenway Park. You've had more than 6.5 years* to get an answer to your question. What are you waiting for?

* In the fall of 2003, Jon Lester was still a teenager, looking forward to moving up out of A ball. David Ortiz had been a regular in the Boston lineup for four months. It was awhile ago.

Dustin Pedroia went 0-for-3 as Pawtucket's DH on Sunday -- 463DP, F9, F7 -- and says he's ready to rejoin the Red Sox lineup.

I hated [being the DH]. It's not fun. You sit around. ... We don't have time for [more AAA games]. We're in the middle of a pennant race. I've got to try to get back in there.

Pedroia last played for the Sox on June 25, a little more than seven weeks ago.

G119: Rangers 7, Red Sox 3

Red Sox - 000 000 030 - 3  6  1
Rangers - 010 000 42x - 7 11  0

Matasuzaka was sharp though 6.2 innings, allowing only five hits and one run. But with a runner on third base, Pedro Borbon singled on a drag bunt to the right side on the infield to give Texas a 2-0 lead. Elvus Andrus lined a single to center -- and in came Manny Delcarmen.

Michael Young crushed MDC's first pitch to deep left for a three-run homer and what had been a pitchers duel was suddenly a hefty 5-0 Texas lead. Boston came back with two outs in the top of the eighth, as Eric Patterson singled, Marco Scutaro doubled (5-1), and Darnell McDonald homered to right (5-3).

The Rangers scored two more, mostly off Michael Bowden, in their half of the eighth, and the Sox went down without much resistance in the ninth.

The Yankees (with 2 hits and 3 errors) lost to the Royals 1-0 and the Rays beat the Orioles 3-2. Tampa Bay is 1 GB New York; Boston stays 6 GB.

The Red Sox are off tomorrow, but the Yankees host the Tigers and the Rangers visit the Rays (Lee/Price).

Daisuke Matsuzaka / C.J. Wilson

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

Afternoon baseball in Arlington, with a forecast of 104°.

That's not quite the outfield we expected to see in mid-August, though it's partially because LHB are hitting only .103/.186/.131 against Wilson this year. Righties are .245/.351/.365.

Starting on Tuesday, 15 of the next 21 games are at home.

Trivia: Which two players have the most 3-HR games since 1919?

Orioles/Rays at 1:30 and Yankees/Royals at 2.

August 15:

1916 - Babe Ruth outduels Walter Johnson at Fenway Park, as the Red Sox beat the Senators 1-0 in 13 innings.

1991 - Yankees captain Don Mattingly is benched and fined $250 for refusing to cut his hair. He asks to be traded for the second time in two months. "I'm overwhelmed by the pettiness of it." Four of his teammates -- Steve Farr, Matt Nokes, Pascual Perez, and Mel Hall -- have also been warned about the length of their hair.

Pedroia: "Jump On The Wagon"

Dustin Pedroia singled and walked in four plate appearances for Pawtucket on Saturday afternoon.

FY grounded to shortstop in the 1st, singled to the pitcher and scored on a sac fly in the 3rd, flied to right in the 5th, and worked an 8-pitch walk in the 7th. He handled four chances in the field.

It's been a while since I played. Later in the game I was a little tired, but overall, I felt fine. ... I told Tito that I don't plan to play just five innings on Tuesday.

Pedroia will be the PawSox's DH on Sunday afternoon and probably rejoin the Red Sox on Tuesday.

Everybody in that clubhouse feels we can win. We don't need to prove anything to anybody. We've had guys fight through it all year. Frankly, we don't give a shit what anybody thinks. ... Jump on the wagon now because it's going to be a fun ride.

The Red Sox are 4 GB the Rays in the Wild Card, with 42 games left to play. Between August 27 and September 8, Boston plays Tampa Bay six times. And six of the Red Sox's last ten games of the regular season are against the Yankees.

Terry Francona gave a capsule version of Jacoby Ellsbury's injury:

The results showed some edema to the soft tissue in the same area, suggesting new trauma from the fall. There's like a line, a faint line, at the fracture site. It's impossible to tell [whether it's] new [or] incomplete healing. ... [Could this be a while?] Yeah. ... He didn't want to [come out of Friday's game], but it was pretty obvious to me he was hurting.

The Red Sox lead all major league teams with 54 save opportunities (saves + blown saves) this season. Boston has also had 108 separate save situations; for example, both Scott Atchison and Felix Doubront had a chance for a save on Saturday. By contrast, the Yankees, who have played two fewer games than the Red Sox but have five more wins, have had 39 save opportunities and 89 save situations. Playing so many games that are close in the late innings increases the chances for more than a few gut-punch losses.

G118: Red Sox 3, Rangers 1

Red Sox - 000 100 002 - 3 10  1
Rangers - 000 000 001 - 1  7  1

Lester (8-5-0-0-5) did exactly what was needed -- shut down the Rangers and rest the bullpen. He allowed only one baserunner past second base (it came with with one out in the seventh) and the bottom of the order tacked on two important insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Felix Doubront got the save, but it also could have be awarded to Vladimir Guerrero.

After Lester had thrown 109 pitches in the 102-degree evening heat -- although he told John Farrell around the sixth inning that he was not feeling well, he retired 15 of the last 16 hitters he faced -- Scott Atchison started the ninth. Michael Young lined out to second, Josh Hamilton hit an opposite-field home run to left, and Guerrero beat out a single to the shortstop hole.

Terry Francona brought in Doubront to face pinch-hitter Mitch Moreland. On Doubront's second pitch, Vlad took off for second - WTF? -- and Victor Martinez gunned him down by five feet. Moreland watched a game-ending strike three curveball two pitches later.

Felix has made four relief appearances:

I'm enjoying it. I'm excited to be a reliever now. I like the challenge. Coming in for the seventh of eighth inning, that pressure makes me feel good.

Boston scored in the fifth when Ryan Kalish singled and scored on J.D. Drew's two-out hit to right. In the ninth, Mike Lowell doubled to left-center and Kalish got his second single of the night (he also walked). Bill Hall singled to left to make it 2-0. After a pitching change, Eric Patterson singled to load the bases and Scutaro lofted a fly ball towards left-center. Pedro Borbon tried to make a waist-high catch, but the ball clanged off his glove, and Kalish scored.

The Red Sox squandered a scoring chance in the second when they loaded the bases with one out. Hall struck out looking and Patterson flew out to left.

The Yankees beat the Royals 8-3 and the Rays beat the Orioles 7-3, so the East remains the same: Tampa Bay 2 GB; Boston 6 GB. We have 44 games remaining.

Jon Lester / Colby Lewis

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

Jacoby Ellsbury is on the disabled list for the third time this season, "with some swelling in the same area and a 'faint line' around the same area as a previous fracture".

I really wonder if he will play again this season. (And if so, has he played his last game in a Red Sox uniform?)

All is well.

Orioles/Rays, 4 PM
Yankees/Royals, 7 PM

August 14:

1919 - The Robins and Cubs split a doubleheader in only two hours and seventeen minutes. Chicago win the opener 2-0 in 1:10 and Brooklyn takes the nightcap 1-0 in 1:07.

1922 - Lizzie Murphy plays first base for an American League all-star team in an exhibition game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, making her the first woman to play for a major-league team.

1942 - The Yankees turn a record seven double plays in an 11-2 win over the Athletics. It looks like two of them may have involved a runner caught stealing.

Bowden On His Way To Arlington; Pedroia Cleared To Play For PawSox Today

Michael Bowden is on his way from Pawtucket to Arlington. There has been no announcement of a corresponding move, but Jacoby Ellsbury is scheduled for an MRI at Mass general today.

Dustin Pedroia texted Terry Francona "I'm back!" after getting the thumbs up to play ball. He will play second base with Pawtucket today and DH on Sunday and (if all goes well) be with the Red Sox on Tuesday night at Fenway.

Josh Beckett is frustrated:

I get into counts and try to do too much, and the ball flattens out and goes to the middle of the plate. It's frustrating. I've tried to work on it in between starts, and it obviously didn't do any good. It's a shame that we lose a game like that because we scored a lot of runs, and I couldn't hold it.

Beckett pitched very well in three starts after coming off the disabled list, but in his last two outings, he has allowed 13 runs and 21 hits in only 9.2 innings.

SSS and all, but last night's game-winning home run makes Nelson Cruz 5-for-5 (2 doubles, 1 home run, 5 RBI) against Tim Wakefield. ... Francona: "We go to Wake first and we get a lead and we bring in Pap, then we've got nobody behind him. Wake was going to pitch until we won or lost. The good news is he won't be tired."

The last time Boston suffered consecutive walk-off losses was on July 1-2, 2004 (5-4 to the Yankees in 13 and 6-3 to Atlanta in 12).

Daniel Bard, on the negative reaction to Jonathan Papelbon:

It just shows you how fickle some fans - some, not all - are. I think some fans realize what they have in him and how good he is ...

Bard has a point, but he's wrong to say the complaint is merely "one outing against arguably one of the best offenses in the game".

What They Said

Victor Solomon:

This is every single curse, from every single episode of The Sopranos, ever.

Ellsbury Headed Back To Boston For MRI

Jacoby Ellsbury collided with Rangers pitcher Tommy Hunter at first base on the first play of the game on Friday night and tumbled to the ground, landing on his left side.Ellsbury left the game in the middle of the fourth inning and the Globe's Peter Abraham writes that "it sounds like a possible return to the DL" as Ellsbury heads back to Boston on Saturday for an MRI.

Terry Francona:

Unfortunately he managed to fall right on the same spot. It's very concerning. The exam that [head athletic trainer Mike Reinold] did, it was very concerning. We'll get him looked as as quickly as we can so we can try and make a decision going forward.

Tito said LBJ was going to see Dr. Lewis Yocum in California, but that is wrong, apparently.

Since returning from the disabled list on August 4, Ellsbury is hitting .118 (4-for-34) in nine games. In 18 games this season, Ellsbury is batting .192 with an OPS+ around 30.

Also: Victor Martinez fouled a ball off his right foot in the top of the 11th. The trainer came out for a few minutes and Victor finished the at-bat. What else? ... Oh! Everyone on the 25-man roster went blind and their right arms fell off. Keep the faith!

G117: Rangers 10, Red Sox 9 (11)

Red Sox - 001 700 100 00 -  9 13  1
Rangers - 110 220 210 01 - 10 17  1

Nelson Cruz crushed Tim Wakefield's only pitch to deep left to give the Rangers the win in a game Boston at one point led 8-2.

After Boston scored seven times in the fourth -- the inning being kicked off by three consecutive home runs from David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, and J.D. Drew -- the Sox bats were pretty quiet.

Drew clubbed a second dong, in the seventh, but the Texas pen retired the last 11 Red Sox hitters and 14 of the last 15. At the same time, the Rangers' bats were clawing back to tie the game against Felix Doubront and Daniel Bard.

The Royals beat the Yankees 4-3 and the Orioles beat the Rays 5-0. So the night wasn't a total fucking waste.

Josh Beckett / Tommy Hunter

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

Following three nice starts coming off the disabled list, Beckett was mauled by the Yankees last Sunday. A few readers wondered why Beckett pitches so badly against the Yankees. I thought it might have been a matter of perception, because I know there have been some gems along the way, but Beckett has been the worst regular season starter against New York in the last half-century (minimum 20 starts). It's not even close.

But he is facing Texas tonight. So let's rebound.

Also:

Orioles/Rays, 7
Yankees/Royals at 8

L'Affaire Jacoby, Cont.

Here are some media comments on the healing of Jacoby Ellsbury's fractured ribs and his prolonged (according to some) rehabbing in Arizona.

On July 30, Peter Abraham of the Globe answered some questions at SoSH:

absintheofmalaise: A few weeks ago Youkilis spoke out about Ellsbury spending most of his DL stint away from the team. From what you heard, was what he said the general consensus among the players or was it just Youkilis mouthing off?

PeteAbe: That was the general consensus by far. Terry Francona has all but come out and said the same thing. Jacoby has a lot of making up to do in there.

***

johnlimberakis: Lately chemistry has been the focus of several stories. There was a lot of media coverage on Jacoby Ellsbury being away from the team during his stay in Arizona. Why did it matter to the players where he was during his rehab? Or was this less of an issue to his teammates than it had been previously reported? Has/had anyone stood up for Ellsbury or, at least didn't care either way or was the whole team upset about his decision?

PeteAbe: The Ellsbury thing was two-fold: They questioned who it took so long for him to come back from hairline fractures in his ribs and they wondered why he had to do it in Arizona, where he lives. Why did every other injured player, every one of them, stay with the team? Jeremy Hermida had the same injury. His ribs seemed to heal fine in Boston. It wasn't a day to day issue because he wasn't there, just a lot of eye-rolling and "yeah, Jacoby, whatever." Nobody that I saw stood up for him.

A few days later, on August 5, Globe columnist Christopher Gasper wrote that Ellsbury is

in the equivalent of an 0-and-2 hole with many frustrated Red Sox fans, media and teammates who feel he dawdled in his return (for the second time) from five fractured ribs. ...

There is nothing Ellsbury can say, relay or explain that is going to change the belief of his detractors that he malingered the last couple of months with the rib injury. That might be unfortunate and unfair, but it's fact.

Gasper also noted that Ellsbury has "gotten a bit of a raw deal", pointing out that the recovery times for both Ellsbury and Jeremy Hermida were nearly identical.

It's interesting that Abraham mentioned Hermida since Gasper reported that the time it took Hermida to return from his rib injuries was no shorter than Ellsbury's, yet Ellsbury's time away was clearly perceived as longer. Abraham implies that the main issue was Ellsbury being away from the team -- which is a far different thing (and far less important, I'd say) than refusing to play in pain.

Also, didn't the Red Sox give their consent to having Ellsbury go to Arizona? There is no way in hell Ellsbury dictated his terms to management (regardless of who his agent is), so if the team signed off on Ellsbury-to-Arizona, then any disgruntled teammates should talk to Theo Epstein.

The following day, August 6, Amalie Benjamin of the Globe participated in an on-line chat. She was asked:

How's the Jacoby Ellsbury situation playing out? Is there tension amongst the team and management with him, or was this a media-created issue?

Her answer:

Not sure why people continue to think this was media created. I don't make things up, nor do any of my colleagues. This is stuff we're getting from being in the clubhouse, from talking to players. Sometimes we can't report who said what, due to off the record conversations, but we're not creating this.

Around the same time, team owner John Henry wrote in an email to AOL FanHouse:

It's frustrating to hear people question why a player doesn't come back as quickly as some would like. One of the problems we have is players trying to come back too soon. ... The questioning of whether or not Jacoby Ellsbury should have been back earlier hopefully was rooted in the desire to see him come back. No one should question his desire to compete. In fact, he came back too soon initially. We didn't realize he was as badly hurt as he was. No one was looking forward to this season more than he was.

My first impression was that this was classic CYA by Henry. These issues surrounding Ellsbury simply appeared in the media one day (May 28, to be exact) and everyone quickly picked up on it.

While I'm willing to believe that where there is smoke, there is fire, this entire controversy seemed orchestrated, most likely from a leak from management. A back-handed slap from an anonymous club source -- who declined comment, not wanting to make Ellsbury's sour relationship with his teammates any worse (paraphrase) -- did nothing to dissuade me from that opinion.

In his initial salvo, Tony Massarotti stated that Ellsbury always had issues with management about not playing hurt, including throughout the minor leagues -- he "required a great deal of maintenance" is how Mazz put it. I had never heard that before. Maybe I missed something. I'd love to see any reports since 2005 if they exist.

Tito's Choices

Boston led Toronto 4-2 in the seventh when John Lackey allowed a leadoff double to Adam Lind. Felix Doubront began warming up, but Lackey got out of trouble, retiring the next three hitters on a total of five pitches.

It was something Lackey had done all afternoon. In the fourth he walked Jose Bautista and gave up a single to Vernon Wells. But with two pitches, he was out of trouble, thanks to a double play and a fly out to right.

In the sixth, Fred Lewis doubled and Yunel Escobar singled. It took only three pitches this time; a double play (which scored a run) and a grounder to third had Lackey walking back to the dugout.

Daniel Bard was warming a little bit in the top of the eighth, when the Sox scored their fifth run. Lackey retired the Jays in order on nine pitches in the bottom of the eighth and had thrown 91 pitches going into the ninth.

In Lackey's 23 starts before Thursday, he had thrown 105+ pitches in 18 of them, and he had topped 120 four times. Having him start the ninth was obvious. Pulling him after giving up a dong to Bautista, who leads the majors in dongs, was not.

If Lackey can be trusted with a 5-2 lead at 91 pitches, why not a 5-3 lead at 98 pitches? Also, how long had Papelbon been warming up for? He may have been rushed and was unable to settle into a groove on the mound. Bard was likely more ready (and the better pitcher). (This SoSH thread has some evidence that Papelbon has serious trouble when brought in mid-inning.)

As we saw, Papelbon had absolutely nothing. He faced six batters and allowed two singles, two doubles, an intentional walk, and a strikeout. It was foolish for Francona to stay with him and hope he lucked into another out or two before Toronto tied or won the game. After he allowed a double and two singles and been hit by Aaron Hill's batted ball, Tito should have gone to Bard. It was 5-4 and there were runners on first and third, with no outs. But it seems that Francona will not pull his closer while the Sox are still ahead.

Papelbon:

It just seemed every one of my pitches today was up in the zone in a pressure situation ... You want to finish games -- that's my job. ... I didn't have much power or energy in my delivery today. It was just kind of a groggy day for me.

Honestly, it's a tough call all around: Lackey should have been given a chance to finish the game. And Papelbon should have been able to save a 5-3 game. And Francona should have seen that Bot had zip and gone to Bard earlier.

It's a win the Red Sox should have had -- and every win is precious at this point. The Yankees held off a ninth-inning rally from the Royals and won 4-3, pushing Boston 6 GB. Tampa Bay was off, so the Red Sox are now 4 GB for the WC, with the White Sox 5.5 GB.

Boston has 46 games to play.

G116: Blue Jays 6, Red Sox 5

Red Sox   - 002 020 010 - 5 11  0
Blue Jays - 000 101 004 - 6 12  0

John Lackey (8-8-3-1-4, 98) was on his way towards a complete game victory when he allowed a home run to Jose Bautista start the bottom of the ninth. With a 5-3 lead, Terry Francona called on Jonathan Papelbon.

Papelbon had nothing: Vernon Wells doubled to deep right, Adam Lind singled up the middle (5-4), and pinch-runner DeWayne Wise stole second -- those were Bot's first three pitches, by the way.

Aaron Hill singled; the line drive hit off his Bot's right foot and rolled onto the infield grass, but he stayed in the game. (I was hoping an injury (or "injury") would give Daniel Bard, who had been up in the eighth, time to come in and get warm.) Travis Snider struck out, but Edgar Encarnacion doubled down the left field line (5-5). Lyle Overbay was intentionally walked ... and out came Tito.

It was up to Bard, with no margin for error. Fred Lewis lofted a fly ball to center field. Bard instinctively stuck up his finger, as pitchers do on pop-ups, and then it slowly wilted and his arm sank. There was no chance Jacoby Ellsbury could throw Hill out -- and the Toronto's comeback was complete.

Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie pulled off a double steal in the third and both eventually scored. J.D. Drew and David Ortiz hit solo home runs in the fifth. In the eighth, Salty hit his second double of the afternoon and Darnell McDonald followed a triple, his second in two games.

John Lackey / Brad 'N.R.' Mills

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

Jarrod Saltalamacchia makes his first start for Boston after five games in Pawtucket and two innings as a sub last night.

Peter Abraham, Globe:

Red Sox fans buried Theo Epstein for standing still at the trade deadline. ...

I was away at the end of last month, but is this true? Buried him? Really? Considering the players coming back from injury need some positions to play, there was very little Epstein could have done. And even for probable helpful hands like Scott Downs, the price was insanely high.

Tonight: Yankees/Royals, 8 PM.

August 12:

1903 - Joe Stanley of the Boston Nationals hits his first major league home run‚ a grand slam off Chicago's Jock Menefee. Stanley will hit his only other home run on September 26, 1905‚ and it will also be a grand slam.

1990 - After a rain delay of 7:12, the White Sox-Rangers game is finally postponed.

1995 - In a 10-10 tie in the 11th inning, the Dodgers have the potential winning run at third and LA's Mitch Webster swings at a pitch in the dirt. Pittsburgh's rookie catcher Angelo Encarnacion scoopes up the ball with his mask. When Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda cites Rule 7.05, which awards a runner two bases if a fielder uses his mask to touch a thrown ball, the umpires allow the winning run to score.

Two Linescores From 1901

May 23, 1901

Washington - 050 130 202 - 13
Cleveland  - 000 040 019 - 14

The Cleveland Blues scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth after it had two outs and no one on base!

Facing Senators pitcher Casey Patten, Bill Hoffer struck out and Ollie Pickering grounded out. Patten had two strikes on Jack McCarthy -- he was one strike away from a 13-5 win -- but McCarthy singled to right.

Bill Bradley singled. Candy LaChance fell behind 0-2, but he also singled, driving in McCarthy. Bob Wood was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Frank Scheibeck cleared them with a double, making it 13-9.

Frank Genins singled and Scheibeck scored to make it 13-10. The few fans that had remained at League Park through the afternoon rout were getting rather excited at this point and crowding onto the field. Senators captain Bill Everitt demanded the umpires restore some order.

Patten fell behind Truck Eagan 2-1 and was relieved by Watty Lee. Eagan worked the walk. Erve Beck, pinch-hitting for Hoffer, doubled to deep left. The ball glanced off Pop Foster's glove at the wall, and two runs scored. Pickering singled past shortstop Billy Clingman and Beck scored to tie the game at 13-13! The fans now swarmed onto the field, tossing hats, umbrellas, canes and cushions into the air.

When the field was cleared, Pickering took second on a passed ball and when McCarthy's second single of the inning was bobbled by Foster in left, he scored the winning run!

According to historian Joe Dittmar, the entire rally -- even with the various delays -- took only 15 minutes.

The American League was only two days old when the Detroit Tigers played their first ever game:

April 25, 1901

Milwaukee - 025 000 33 0 - 13
Detroit   - 000 210 0110 - 14

G115: Red Sox 10, Blue Jays 1

Red Sox   - 110 250 010 - 10 14  1
Blue Jays - 100 000 000 -  1  7  0

Bill Hall went 3-for-5, with two home runs and four RBI, and Clay Buchholz limited the Blue Jays to one unearned run over eight innings (8-5-1-2-4, 109).

Hall's dongs broke a 1-1 tie in the second and extended Boston's lead to 4-1 in the fourth, respectively. Boston broke the game open with no outs in the fifth, as J.D. Drew homered, Victor Martinez and David Ortiz singled, and Adrian Beltre homered, ending Marcum's (4-7-8-3-3, 92) night. Brian Tallet came in and allowed a double to Mike Lowell and a one-out RBI single to Hall.

In the eighth, Darnell McDonald, who had subbed for Drew in right, tripled and scored on Victor's single. ... Lowell had a big night, with two singles, a double, and a bases loaded walk.

The Yankees beat the Rangers 7-6, keeping Boston 5 GB in the East. The Rays lost to the Tigers 3-2, so the Red Sox are 3.5 GB Tampa Bay in the WC.

Clay Buchholz / Shaun Marcum

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

Buchholz has allowed more than three runs in only one of his 13 starts since May 14. In that time, he has a 2.14 ERA.

Marcum has started against Boston twice this season, April 27 (outdueled by Buchholz) and May 12, allowing six hits, four walks, and one run in 14 innings.

Of Interest: Rays/Tigers at 1 and Yankees/Rangers at 8.

Also: If a foul ball is heading towards you and your girlfriend, (a) do not act like a stereotypical 1950s housewife on a stool shrieking at a mouse and (b) try to come up with a better excuse for your behaviour than this guy.

August 11:

1864 - Now that's run support! The Atlantics of Brooklyn finish a four-game series sweep in Philadelphia: 64-10, 65-10, 58-11, 43-16.

1961 - The Vancouver Mounties of the Pacific Coast League steal nine bases in one inning against the Salt Lake City Bees, including two triple steals.

Lowrie Back With A Bang

In 15 games since rejoining the team on July 21, Jed Lowrie is hitting .311/.426/.444, with a hit in nine of his 12 starts.

He has a 1.020 OPS in his last 10 games.

I'm going to give them everything I've got when I go out there, but my legs are still getting back underneath me being able to play every day. I like where I'm at right now and the way everything is going.

Felix Doubront was brought into a tight spot in the sixth inning and escaped a bases-loaded situation, keeping Boston's lead at 5-4. When he was sent to the pen, he was unsure about adjusting, "but I kind of like (relieving) now. ... I was excited. That's pressure, a little bit."

Francona:

You know what? Tonight was like our whole season. It wasn't perfect. But we kept playing. I mean, we did a lot of good things. We did some other things that also weren't real conducive to winning a close game. We found ways to come back and win.

Notes: Jason Varitek has increased the intensity of his workouts; he is roughly 7-10 behind Dustin Pedroia's progress. ... Mike Cameron took BP on the field. ... Hideki Okajima has started a throwing program. ... Pawtucket's Josh Reddick was named the International League Player of the Week and Portland first baseman Anthony Rizzo was named the Eastern League Player of the Week.In New York, Andrew Marchand calls Curtis Granderson a "colossal failure" for the Yankees, who "essentially gave up [Austin] Jackson and [Johnny] Damon for a guy who is not even going to play in big playoff games".

Wallace Matthews lists several things that went wrong for the Yankees in their 4-3, 10th-inning loss to Texas last night: "Nick Swisher's non-slide into home, Derek Jeter's rally-killing double play ... Mariano Rivera's failure to hold the line". The MFY lineup was missing Robinson Cano (head cold), Jorge Posada (shoulder trouble), and Mark Teixeira (maternity leave).