G7: Twins 5, Red Sox 2

Red Sox - 000 100 010 - 2  7  0
Twins   - 210 100 10x - 5 12  0

Lester (5-9-4-3-5, 107) was off from the start, facing eight batters in the first inning (three singles, two walks) and five more in the second, throwing 58 pitches in the two innings. He ended up going through the order three times in his five innings.

A day after Clay Buchholz allowed the leadoff batter to reach base in all five of his innings, Lester put the first hitter on base in three of his five innings; all three scored.

Back-to-back doubles by Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz (off Pavano (6-4-1-1-4, 95)) gave Boston a run in the fourth. Flo's hit was to deep left and it was a fly that Delmon Young got twisted around on and tried to catch with his back to the infield; the ball hit off the heel of his glove.

The other run scored when Jeremy Hermida doubled, took third on Marco Scutaro's single, and scored on Dustin Pedroia's sacrifice fly to right.

Ortiz continued to look very bad at the plate, striking out twice and fouling out in his three other trips to the plate. Don and Jerry said earlier in the game that it sounds like Tito is already thinking about benching him -- and the fact that Ellsbury sat this one out was the only reason he was in there today.

Jon Lester / Carl Pavano

The Red Sox will help the Twins christen their new outdoor ball park this afternoon. Amalie Benjamin has some photos from the press box.

Lester was meh (5-5-4-3-4, 94) against the MFY last week, while Pavano had a 7-6-1-0-6, 102 line against the Angels. As expected, Jacoby Ellsbury has the day off.

Peter Abraham notes that his Kansas City cab driver told him "the government has Nazi scientists from World War II locked up on military bases in the desert working on advanced weapons". Hahaha, what a nut! ... What's that you say? The CIA admits, at length on its own freakin' website, that it did recruit Nazi scientists after the war while letting others escape and resettle in South America, and then covered up that information for decades? Gee, it sounds more like a fact, Peter.

L is in New jersey for the week. We had another delay at the border, though it was much shorter this time.

Blue Jays Fans Giddy With Success

American League East standings, 3:03 AM:

            W   L   PCT   GB 
Blue Jays   5   1  .833   --
Yankees     4   2  .667    1 
Red Sox     3   3  .500    2 
Rays        3   3  .500    2 
Orioles     1   5  .167    4

Nothing out of the ordinary for the first week of a season. If you check back in three weeks or so, things will probably look a bit more like they will in early October.

But up here in Canada, the strong showing by the Blue Jays -- after losing Opening Day, they have won five straight -- has some fans puffed up with pride, strutting around, and talking trash.

One of them left me a message:
Isn't that cute? Toronto's magic number is 156!

So Boston is actually 3-3, not 1-2, and "losses" is spelled with three "s". But when your team is 5-1 and you can't sleep because you know a playoff spot will be there in six months and those stupid Boston fans will be crying in their beer, you can be forgiven some slips of the keyboard.

All us Sox's fans are a bit more experienced with a winning baseball team -- the Jays have finished higher than 3rd place only once in the last 16 years -- so we know not to put a whole lot of stock in the first 4% of the regular season. After all, the Jays went 15-9 last April -- a superb 101-win pace -- but OOPS! they finished with only 75 victories.

Las Vegas oddsmakers put the team's final win total at 68, worse than all but one team in baseball. Mr. Holloway should get in on some of that action. He should be able to cash in well enough to grab a handful of box seats for every single Skydome World Series game.

Ellsbury: Rib Contusion, X-Rays Negative

Jacoby Ellsbury was initially worried he had broken a rib or two after colliding with Adrian Beltre in foul territory in the ninth inning on Sunday. Post-game x-rays were negative.

It's sore, but I'll be fine. He kneed me right in the ribs ... I'm sure there's quite a bit of swelling because it is tough to breathe but I think I'll be fine. ... As long as nothing is broken, I guess it's [a matter of] pain tolerance. ... I know it's going to be really sore tomorrow. I also hit my hip pretty good.

Tuesday is an off-day, so the cautious thing to do would be to give Ellsbury the day off tomorrow and see how he feels on Wednesday.

W-L Contest - Fun With Pythag

A little while after contest entries started coming in, I realized that everyone was submitting (mostly likely without knowing it) two W-L guesses.

The second guess could be determined by the tiebreaker choices. With the runs scored and run differential, I could get a guess of runs allowed. Then, using good old Pythag, I could determine an expected W-L and compare it to the contestant's actual W-L guess. Fun!

Here is everyone's actual W-L submission, in the same order as posted before the season began, and the expected amount of Red Sox wins according to each person's RS/RunDiff guesses.

I predicted 98 wins, but my other guesses worked out to only 93 wins. Could that be seen as a "truer" measure of how I think the team will do?

          ACTUAL W-L    PYTHAG WINS FROM
          PREDICTION   TIEBREAKER GUESSES
Rick F      100-62            98.7
Jere S      100-62            98.7
  
Edward N     99-63           100.8
Justin M     99-63            93.5
Matthew K    99-63            99.1
  
Steve S      98-64            96.9
9casey       98-64            96.7
Tim B        98-64            97.5
Ofer C       98-64           101.9
Joe G        98-64            97.2
Sean O       98-64            98.3
Allan W      98-64            93.3
Geoffrey W   98-64            97.2
  
Jonathan A   97-65            95.6
Franco B     97-65            96.4
Rich G       97-65            95.4
James C      97-65            98.0
Andrew B     97-65            98.0
John Q       97-65            91.4
  
Tim L        96-66            97.0
Richard L    96-66            99.1
Jeff L       96-66            95.1
Matthew B    96-66           100.0
Steve T      96-66            95.9
Dan C        96-66            94.6
  
Joel F       95-67            91.7
Ignacio C    95-67           112.8
  
Philip H     94-68           101.9
  
Matt M       93-69           101.6
Lewis S      93-69            95.4
  
Jeff R       90-72            95.1
  
Peter L      89-73            89.4

G6: Red Sox 8, Royals 6

Red Sox - 410 300 000 - 8 12  1
Royals  - 111 000 03x - 6 10  1

Another fun day from the Supposedly Hitless Wonders.

Ellsbury singled, doubled, stole a base, and scored twice; Pedroia went 4-for-5, and hit his 3rd home run of the year; Martinez singled, doubled, walked, scored twice, and drive in one; Beltre singled twice, doubled, and drove in three; Hermida had a two-run single in the first inning; and Youkilis walked twice and stole a base.

Ortiz did not have a fun day. He walked and scored in the first, but then struck out in his subsequent four plate appearances, two swinging and then two looking. Flo is now 2-for-18, with nine strikeouts. In his last 11 plate appearances, he has fanned eight times.

Ellsbury collided with Beltre in foul territory in the ninth inning and left the game. He was sliding in to make the catch and Beltre's right knee struck him in the chest. If either player called the other one off, it wasn't loud enough.

Buchholz (5-7-3-2-1, 94) struggled and could not get into a rhythm. Delcarmen pitched two innings, allowing only a walk. Bard retired three in a row int he eighth after Ramirez allowed KC to come back within two runs. Papelbon's ninth was interrupted by the collision, but he set the Royals down in order.

Clay Buchholz / Gil Meche

Both pitchers are making their 2010 debut.

Back on September 24, Buchholz turned in a 6-5-0-0-8, 109 line against the Royals in KC. Meche is coming off the disabled list (shoulder bursitis).

G5: Red Sox 8, Royals 3

Red Sox - 000 020 213 - 8 12  0
Royals  - 100 000 200 - 3  9  0

For about five minutes in the ninth inning, Jason Varitek was the team leader in home runs. He had led off the inning with his second solo drive of the game. Three batters later, Dustin Pedroia hit Boston's fifth long ball of the night and joined Tek as the only two Sox with two dongs.

Jeremy Hermida and Varitek went back-to-back off Greinke in the fifth. Kevin Youkilis smacked a solo shot in the eighth. Jacoby Ellsbury was 3-for-5, with an RBI double and two runs scored.

Beckett (7-9-3-1-4, 105) had two rough patches: allowing a double, walk and single after two were out in the first, and allowing four hits and two runs (on 32 pitches) in the seventh. Hideki Ojakima and Ramon Ramirez set down all six batters they faced.

Josh Beckett / Zack Greinke

Greinke started against the Tigers last Monday (6-6-2-1-4, 96), leaving with a 4-2 lead. The Royals' bullpen promptly allowed six runs in the seventh inning and Kansas City lost 8-4. Same old story for Greinke, who had several leads tossed away last season; he posted a 2.35 ERA in nine no-decisions in 2009.

Beckett (4.2-8-5-3-1, 94) faced the Yankees last Sunday. It was only the second time in Beckett's career that he pitched at least 4.2 innings and did not record more than one strikeout. the other was June 14, 2007 against the Rockies.

Bad bullpen: In 13.1 innings, 21 men on base via hit or walk. Daniel Bard and Hideki Okajima have allowed 11 baserunners in six innings.

Red Sox And Yankees Comment On Joe West

Players from both Boston and New York offered their thoughts on umpire Joe West's comments that the length of Red Sox/Yankees games are "pathetic and embarrassing" and a "disgrace to baseball".

Kevin Youkilis:

I don't know if he got fined or whatever, but if we ever called an umpire pathetic and embarrassing, it would be the end of the world. We'd get fined and we'd deserve it.

Anonymous Yankee:

What would happen if we called their crew pathetic and embarrassing? We would get fined, big-time. I hope the league takes some action against him, because what he said was just out of line.

Terry Francona:

When you have someone in charge of running the game without bias, and then you hear those comments coming out pretty strong, it probably worries you a little bit.

Joe Girardi:

We're not going to ask our hitters to change their approach to speed the game up. ... We're trying to win games, not trying to see how quick we can play.

Dustin Pedroia:

Does somebody have dinner reservations? We're playing baseball. It's not a timed game. There's not a shot clock. ... If those guys have an issue with that, it might be time to pick a new profession or talk to the umpires' association about not working any more Yankees-Red Sox games.

Mariano Rivera:

It's incredible. If he has places to go, let him do something else. What does he want us to do, swing at balls? ... He has a job to do. He should do his job.

Derek Jeter:

You can't control the time. You can't do one thing because every game is different. ... If it's 20 minutes shorter, it's not pathetic or embarrassing? At what point is it not embarrassing? You'd have to ask him. If you go over 3:12, it's embarrassing?

Jacoby Ellsbury:

The biggest thing is the TV. [Nationally televised games require 2:25 for commercial breaks every half inning, roughly 30 seconds longer than a NESN or YES game, which adds about 10 minutes to every game.] I'll go up for an at-bat, and I'll have to wait a minute and a half. ... Leading off a game, I don't know how many times I've had to wait. The pitcher is ready, I'm ready.

Youkilis:

It seems every time we're ready to play the game, there's an umpire at second base holding a stop watch waiting for TV.

Bonus! Twins manager Ron Gardenhire:

Over three hours is pretty much normal in baseball. You want to cut it out? Cut out the 2:25 between innings for TV. See if that's going to happen. Ain't going to happen, right? That's where they make their money.

The Post's George King reveals that West himself unnecessarily delayed two of the three games in the series:

CC Sabathia confirmed that West made him change shoes in the second inning of the Opening Day game at Fenway Park. West told Sabathia he had to change his gray shoes because there wasn't any blue, a Yankees color, in them, even though the grey shoes matched the gray Yankees uniform.

The next night [actually, it was two nights later; the teams were off on Monday] West told Marcus Thames he had to take tape off his wrist because it didn't match the uniform. And West stopped reliever Joba Chamberlain on the way to the bullpen to check his shoes, but told Chamberlain his cleats were OK because there was blue in them.

Players' quotes from Herald, Globe, ProJo, Post, Daily News, and MLB.com.

G4: Royals 4, Red Sox 3

Red Sox - 000 300 000 - 3  9  0
Royals  - 000 002 02x - 4  8  1

J.D. Drew crushed a two-run bomb to dead center in the fourth -- following a Kevin Youkilis single, a David Ortiz double, and an Adrian Beltre RBI groundout -- but the bullpen crumbled in the eighth.

Hideki Okajima gave up a double to David DeJesus to start the inning and Scott Podsednik bunted him to third. Daniel Bard came in and walked Alberto Callaspo. Bard struck out Billy Butler for the second out, but pinch-runner Willie Bloomquist stole second. Rick Ankiel then flaired a broken-bat single over shortstop to bring in the tying and go-ahead runs. It was Bard's second blown save of the young season.

Ankiel went 4-for-4, with two singles, a double, a home run, and 3 RBI. He and Butler went back-to-back off consecutive Wakefield (7-6-2-1-6, 96) pitches in the sixth.

Mike Cameron singled off Joakim Soria in the top of the ninth. Marco SCutaro sacrificed him to second, but Jacoby Ellsbury struck out on three pitches and Dustin Pedroia battled through a nine-pitch at-bat (with six foul balls) before flying to right.

The Rays beat the Yankees 9-3; Mark Teixeira is 0-for-16.

Tim Wakefield / Kyle Davies

Elias Sports Bureau:

At 43 years and 250 days old, Tim Wakefield will become the oldest Red Sox pitcher ever to start a game when he takes the hill against the Royals tonight. He would pass David Wells, who was 43 years, 98 days old in his last start for the club in 2006.

The only Boston hurler to appear in a game at an older age is Dennis Eckersley, who was 43 years, 358 days old in his last appearance for the team in 1998.

Wakefield will pass Eck with his first start on or after July 27.

The Westmoreland family released a statement today.

Weekend starters:

Saturday: Josh Beckett / Zack Greinke, 7 PM
Sunday: Clay Buchholz / Gil Meche, 2 PM

In a Wakefield-related note, Japanese knuckleballer Eri Yoshida has signed with the Chico Outlaws of the independent Golden Baseball League. The GBL has teams in California, Arizona, and Canada; spring camps open early next month. In addition to being the first woman to pitch for a professional US team since Ila Borders retired in 2000, Yoshida will be the only woman to ever pitch in pro leagues in two countries.

Joe West Calls Lengthy Red Sox-Yankees Games "A Disgrace To Baseball"

Jeff Roberts, Record:

Umpire Joe West blasted the Yankees and Red Sox just before Wednesday's game, accusing the two clubs of being "pathetic and embarrassing" in dragging the pace of games and refusing to work with umpires. ...

"They're the two clubs that don't try to pick up the pace," said West, chief of the umpiring crew that worked the three-game series in Boston. He was the home plate umpire Sunday. "They're two of the best teams in baseball. Why are they playing the slowest?

"It's pathetic and embarrassing. They take too long to play. ... The commissioner of baseball says he wants the pace picked up."

West also said that umpires are evaluated on how quickly the games move. So that's it. It's been obvious that the accuracy of their calls has no effect on their job security.

The Globe's Peter Abraham (who is doing fantastic work at the Extra Bases blog) writes that it's "somewhat ironic that Joe West would be calling anybody out for being embarrassing. But that's another story."

I don't have anything noteworthy to say about this except there have been complaints about the excessive lengths of baseball games for at least 100 years. And somehow the game has survived.

Plus if the umpires called pitches according to the actual strike zone that is in the fucking rule book they supposedly have to follow, games would be at least 30-45 minutes faster. Calling nothing above the belt a strike is like calling a runner safe at first when the throw beats him by five feet. Or ruling a base hit if the outfielder makes a snow-cone catch.

The SoSH discussion includes strike zone plots for each home plate umpire. That is the disgrace.

Giving Ortiz A Chance - Being Reactionary Is The Media's Job

Terry Francona:

I'm not trying to be disrespectful but my goodness, it's the third game of the year; it's crazy. The thing I've learned here that's hard is you have to be patient ... Being reactionary in my job, especially here, that has a chance to set off things in a bad chain reaction as opposed to helping.

And "being reactionary" is, when you boil it down, the precise job description of the sports columnist. Something happens - and he reacts, usually in a vacuum, in the heat of the moment. A bad loss = the end in nigh. A blow-out win or two = we're unstoppable.

The columnist's job is not to inform, not to offer perspective or analysis of the situation. If no one reads the column (or clicks on the article link or turns on the radio), the writer is not doing his or her job. They want to - they have to - get your attention. Acting rationally is dull; explaining nuances takes time. In a sound-bite culture, where having a webpage take an extra four seconds to load is exasperating, blurting out something - anything, often more emotional than accurate - is not only easier, it's required.

And speaking of dubious accuracy, check out what John Tomase wrote in this morning's Herald:

[T]he resulting firestorm [over Ortiz's explicative-packed statement Tuesday night] made him a talking point on the radio and TV, and at the very least, betrayed his sensitivity to repeated questions over his struggles, questions that date back to this time last year.

So Tomase claims that Ortiz's outburst "made him a talking point" in the media, and then immediately says repeated questions about his struggles at the plate are 12 months old! Talk about writing in a vacuum. Each thought exists in its own reality, divorced from all other context.

Chad Finn (Globe) notes that April is traditionally Ortiz's

worst month for batting average (.259 career) and on-base percentage (.348) and second-worst (to, of all months, August) for OPS (.855). In 2003, he began the season 0 for 6. In '04, 1 for 6. In '07, 3 for 19. In '08, 0 for 11. Last year? Well, you know. ...

Judging him on seven at-bats? That's not a [giving him a] chance. That's an agenda.

Ortiz is 1-for-11. Mark Teixeiria is 0-for-12. Grady Sizemore is 1-for-9. Alex Rodriguez is 2-for-15. ... Vernon Wells is 5-for-7, with three home runs. And Edgar Renteria is batting .727.

G3: Yankees 3, Red Sox 1 (10)

Yankees - 000 000 100 2 - 3  6  0
Red Sox - 001 000 000 0 - 1  7  0

Chan Ho Park allowed only one single in three innings of relief (7th-9th), while Jonathan Papelbon, in his second inning of work, allowed a solo home run to Granderson and two one-out walks before being yanked mid-inning

David Ortiz's line drive single to right brought in Dustin Pedroia with Boston's only run. Flo also grounded out hard into the shift in the first.

Lackey (6-3-0-2-3, 100) pitched very well. After they scored a run in the third inning, the Red Sox got only one runner past first base -- and that was thanks to an accidental HBP with two outs in the fifth.

Andy Pettitte / John Lackey

The concern or panic or anger over David Ortiz's weak bat began (or was rekindled from last June) in spring training and now that he has gone 0-for-7 in the first two games of the season, it's getting louder.

... how long can the Red Sox afford to wait?

There was even a SoSH thread bright and early on Monday morning about how Ortiz should not have started on Opening Night. (It looks like that thread is (for now) where discussion of Ortiz/playing time/DH platoon will happen.)

Terry Francona, who wisely doesn't give a shit what the fans and media think, says Flo will start tonight against Pettitte. And it's worth noting that Tiz does have better slugging numbers against the large-beaked lefty than Mike Lowell does:

Ortiz:  18-for-49  .367/.431/.551
Lowell: 10-for-29  .345/.429/.379

Last night, Ortiz showed that he is already pissed off about having to answer questions about a slump:

(Expletive) happens. Then you guys talk (expletive). Two (expletive) games already. You (expletives) going crazy. What's up with that, man? (Expletive). There's (expletive) 160 games left. Y'all (expletive) go ahead and hit for me. ... Ain't that a (expletive).

He is absolutely correct -- divining anything meaningful from two games of data is complete nonsense. At the same time, his level of frustration right out of the gate is also a bit disconcerting.

G2: Yankees 6, Red Sox 4

Yankees - 010 030 011 - 6  9  3
Red Sox - 102 010 000 - 4  9  1

With the game tied 4-4, Terry Francona went with Daniel Bard to face New York's 2-3-4-5 hitters in the seventh inning, a Jamesian decision (aka the nearly universally misunderstood "bullpen-by-committee") that had his best available bullpen arm on the hill at the most important part of the game.

Bard started by walking Nick Johnson, but then came back to get Teixeira on a pop to left (Ellsbury made a back-hand diving catch) before buckling Slappy with a nasty slider for strike three and fooling Cano on a change before jamming him with a fastball for an easy 4-3.

In the eighth, Posada hit a ground rule double to right off Okajima, but he could not advance to third as Gardner singled softly past shortstop and Granderson flew to the track in left. Scutaro should have closed the inning on Jeter's grounder, but his throw was low for an error that loaded the bases. Jeemer then walked Johnson on five pitches to force in the go-ahead run, dropping Boston's chances of winning from 47% to 26% (according to Fangraphs, above). Suddenly, Scott Atchison was in the game -- and it felt like the pen was simply punching the clock.

Youkilis singled to start the bottom of the eighth and moved up on an errant pickoff attempt, but the Sox could not move him past second base. Ortiz flew to center and Joba came on to fan Beltre (who had singled twice and lined out earlier, but here lunged at a pitch way outside) and Drew. Scutaro doubled off Rivera with one out in the ninth, but Ellsbury was caught looking and Pedroia flew to right.

Victor doubled, homered, walked, and drove in three runs. Ellsbury singled (with a stolen base) and doubled in his first two trips.

A.J. Burnett / Jon Lester

Burnett had a rough time in his three Fenway starts last season: 22 runs in 12.2 innings. He did quite well in his one Bronx start, but overall Boston worked him over for 16 walks, 23 hits (7 doubles and 6 dongs) and 23 runs in 20.1 innings. His WHIP was 1.918 (omg!!!).

Jacoby Ellsbury's glove was stolen during spring training last year. He borrowed one of Mark Kotsay's gloves for awhile, then bought a new one. Before Sunday's game, two MLB officials arrived at Fenway with a present. Someone tried to sell LBJ's glove on e-bay and MLB was able to get it back. Portland Press Herald: "When Ellsbury held his glove, he looked at it like it was a runaway dog come back."

So ... are the sports radio airwaves burning up yet? OPS+: J.D. Drew (36), David Ortiz (-25). And both with 0 RBI!

Minor league rosters: Pawtucket, Portland, Salem, Greenville.

Right out of the gate: one of the plays of the year.

Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz Locked Up For The Next Five Seasons

With Josh Beckett avoiding free agency and signing an extension yesterday, the Red Sox has four-fifths of its current rotation under contract or club control for the next five years.

Theo Epstein:

Knowing we have Josh and Jon Lester and John Lackey and Clay Buchholz all signed through 2014, there's no guarantees in baseball, but it should mean that we have outstanding starting pitching for that period. That's the building block on which we can go about finishing off the rest of the club.

In addition, Daisuke Matsuzaka is signed through 2012 and top pitching prospect Casey Kelly is starting the year in Portland (AA).

Dustin Pedroia and Daniel Bard are under contract through 2015 and Kevin Youkilis and Jacoby Ellsbury are under contract for the next four seasons (through 2013). It's a hell of a foundation!

Theo, on going four more years with Beckett:

No change in philosophy. I still believe shorter (contracts) is better. I still believe in avoiding risk, but I also believe we operate in the real world, not some fantasy world where you can pick the type of player and contract that you want to sign. You don't get to pick and choose.

A few days after spring training began, Kevin Youkilis yelled out to his teammates:

Can we score a bunch of runs on Opening Night so we don't have to hear about this [alleged unavoidable offensive drought] anymore?

Yook did his part, becoming the first Red Sox player to have three extra-base hits (two doubles, one triple) on Opening Day in almost three decades. Carlton Fisk hit two home runs and a double on April 6, 1973, also at Fenway and also against the Yankees (a 15-5 win).

Pedro Martinez said when the Red Sox suggested having him throw out the first pitch of the season, "right away I got turned on by it. I guess they wanted to give a surprise gift to the fans and to the Yankees, and they felt I would be one of the biggest surprises."

Jerry Remy is doing well:

I feel like myself again. I put the weight back on that I lost. I feel strong, and mentally I'm doing well. ... [2009] was just a year I'd like to forget ...

Ryan Westmoreland attended Opening Night with his parents in Theo Epstein's luxury box. A club press release stated Westmoreland has made "significant gains" since his surgery on March 16. His father, Ron: "[H]e's trying to get back to a point where he can live a normal life. If baseball is in the cards, it's a bonus. Right now, we're just concentrating on quality of life."

Pawtucket: Boof Bonser gets the ball in Pawtucket's season opener on Thursday. Matsuzaka will start on Saturday.

NYY Infield Earning More Than 16 Teams

The Yankees' starting infield will earn $85.2 million this season.

That is more than the entire payroll of 16 teams: Atlanta, Rockies, Orioles, Brewers, Rays, Reds, Royals, Blue Jays, Nationals, Cleveland, Diamondbacks, Marlins, Rangers, Athletics, Padres, and Pirates.

New York also has the four highest-paid players in the game this year: Alex Rodriguez ($33 million), CC Sabathia ($24.2), Derek Jeter ($22.6), and Mark Teixeira ($20.6). John Lackey ($18.7), at #12, is the only Boston player in the Top 25. Last year, the Yankees had six players in the Top 25, while Boston had none.

Beckett Signs 4/68 Extension

It's official:

It'll be four years and $68 million. Press conference will be this afternoon at Fenway Park as many predicted.

Back with more in a little bit.

(SoSH discussion)

Pedro!

More pics (and NESN video clip). It would have been a completely perfect three minutes if not for the unnecessary and utterly insipid music. And not surprisingly, ESPN botched the entire thing, showing only a short snip of the pitch after the fact.

Schadenfreude 94 (A Continuing Series)

John Harper, Daily News:

Opening Day losses don't get more exasperating than this. When your ace can't hold a 5-1 lead, when your bullpen spits up a two-run lead quicker than you can say Chan Ho Park, your first thought is that 2009 suddenly seems like a long time ago. ...

Perhaps Sabathia needed to do a few more wind sprints in Florida. ... [He] seemed to run out of gas in the sixth ... Either that or the Sox aren't going to be as offensively challenged as we've all been led to believe. ...

Damaso Marte once again seems to have lost his way. ... Joba Chamberlain wasn't exactly the dominant reliever of old, either, allowing a vital insurance run in the eighth on a walk and two singles.

Matt Gagne, Daily News:

Is Jorge Posada having early communication problems with the pitching staff?

George King, Post:

On a wonderful spring night to open the season, the World Champions flushed a three-run lead in the sixth and a two-run bulge in the seventh and watched the Red Sox stumble out of New England's living room with a 9-7 victory that was witnessed by 37,440.

[Sabathia:] "It was the season-opener and we got five runs off Beckett. It just got away from me." And from David Robertson, Chan Ho Park, Damaso Marte and Joba Chamberlain.

Brian Costello, Post:

Last year [on Opening Day] in Baltimore, [Sabathia] allowed six earned runs in 4.1 innings and did not strike out a batter. So this year was a step in the right direction.

Last night's stinker comes after a rough spring for Sabathia. He allowed 15 earned runs in 18.2 innings in Florida ...

Ben Shpigel, Times:

The Yankees cruised into Fenway Park on Sunday night as the defending World Series champions. They left on Monday morning thankful for a day off. ...

To dethrone the Yankees, the Red Sox spent the off-season focused on improving their pitching staff and their defense. Questions abounded about their offense, but Boston battered 12 hits over all and scored four runs against the Yankees' bullpen.

The Yankees consider their bullpen a strength, but each of the four relievers surrendered a run or allowed an inherited runner to score. ...

G1: Red Sox 9, Yankees 7

Yankees - 020 300 200 - 7 12  1
Red Sox - 010 013 31x - 9 10  0

After retiring the first five batters on 13 pitches, Beckett gave up solo dongs to Dumbo and Granderson -- and then singles to Swisher and Gardner. CI tangibly grounded out to end the second.

Youkilis doubled to start the second and Beltre brought him in with a one-out sac fly to deep center.

The bottom of the order got to Beckett in the fourth. Cano doubled and two outs later, Swisher walked. Then Gardner and Jeter singled -- and pulled somewhat of a surprise double steal. Beckett couldn't get the third out in the fifth and was pulled with two men on: 4.2-8-5-3-1, 94/54.

Two-out singles -- all crisp line drives -- by Drew, Cameron, and Scutaro brought in a fifth-inning run. An error moved the runners up, but Ellsbury struck out looking with runners at second and third. CC lost his command in the sixth. FY walked, Victor doubled into the left field corner, and Yook smoked a triple over Swisher's head into the right field corner. With one out, Beltre's single to Cano's right tied the game at 5-5. But New York came right back in the seventh. Ramirez put two guys on and Okajima let them come around to score.

The Sox took the lead after the stretch. Scutaro singled off Park and Pedroia homered to left. When Yook doubled, Marte came in and wild pitched him to third. Then Dumbo's passedballa (!!) gave Boston its first lead of the night.

In the eighth, Bard allowed a two-out walk, but retired Teixeira on an FC. In the home half against Joba, Cameron singled with one out and Scutaro walked. With two outs, Pedroia singled to right to make it 9-7.

In the ninth, Papelbon retired Slappy and Cano, then allowed a two-out single to Dumbo. He got Granderson to ground to third for the final out.

Beckett, RamRam and maybe Jeemer were shaky, and there were no real fielding gems. Damn shame we can't hit/score.

CC Sabathia / Josh Beckett

Yankees                 Red Sox
Derek Jeter, SS         Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
Nick Johnson, DH        Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Mark Teixeira, 1B       Victor Martinez, C
Alex Rodriguez, 3B      Kevin Youkilis, 1B
Robinson Cano, 2B       David Ortiz, DH
Jorge Posada, C         Adrian Beltre, 3B
Curtis Granderson, CF   J.D. Drew, RF
Nick Swisher, RF        Mike Cameron, CF
Brett Gardner, LF       Marco Scutaro, SS

2010 W-L Contest

Here are the entries. Good luck!

             W - L   RS  DIFF
  
Rick F      100-62  920  +184
Jere S      100-62  899  +180  jere
  
Edward N     99-63  889  +196
Justin M     99-63  882  +127
Matthew K    99-63  819  +167  mattymatty
  
Steve S      98-64  893  +161
9casey       98-64  880  +158  9casey
Tim B        98-64  869  +163  SoSock
Ofer C       98-64  866  +201  aconformer
Joe G        98-64  844  +156  joe grav
Sean O       98-64  840  +165
Allan W      98-64  835  +120  redsock
Geoffrey W   98-64  822  +151
  
Jonathan A   97-65  900  +150
Franco B     97-65  857  +150
Rich G       97-65  856  +142
James C      97-65  855  +165
Andrew B     97-65  854  +164  seawolvesfan
John Q       97-65  850  +103  The Omnipotent Q
  
Tim L        96-66  889  +162  tim
Richard L    96-66  873  +178
Jeff L       96-66  868  +141  zenslinger
Matthew B    96-66  855  +182
Steve T      96-66  818  +139
Dan C        96-66  801  +126
  
Ignacio C    95-67  876  +298
Joel F       95-67  800  +100
  
Philip H     94-68  845  +197  vrictare
  
Lewis S      93-69  856  +141
Matt M       93-69  843  +194
  
Jeff R       90-72  775  +125
  
Peter L      89-73  720  + 72  Lord Lynch

Check out that consecutive string of RS in the 97 group -- and James C's and Andrew B's picks are nearly identical!

Predictions: Globe, Herald, MLB, SI, NYDN

Globe:

AL East
Abraham     Red Sox, Yankees, Rays
Benjamin    Yankees, Red Sox, Rays
Ryan        Yankees, Red Sox, Rays
Gasper      Rays, Red Sox, Yankees
Mazzarotti  Yankees, Red Sox, Rays
CHB         Rays, Yankees, Red Sox
[Everyone picked 2nd-place ALE team as WC]

World Series
Abraham     Twins over Phillies
Benjamin    Cardinals over Yankees
Ryan        Phillies over Yankees
Gasper      Phillies over Angels
Mazzarotti  Cardinals over Yankees
CHB         Phillies over Yankees

Herald:

           East     Wild Card  World Series
Silverman  Yankees  Red Sox    Yankees over Atlanta
Tomase     Red Sox  Yankees    Yankees over Rockies
Lauber     Yankees  Red Sox    Yankees over Phillies
Borges     Yankees  Red Sox    Phillies over Yankees
Callahan   Yankees  Red Sox    Mariners over Phillies
Buckley    Yankees  Red Sox    Phillies over Yankees

MLB.com (Mike Bauman, Hal Bodley, Jim Duquette, Peter Gammons, Jeff Nelson):

              Bauman    Bodley    Duquette  Gammons   Nelson
AL East       Yankees   Red Sox   Yankees   Yankees   Yankees
AL WC         Red Sox   Yankees   Red Sox   Red Sox   Red Sox
AL Pennant    Yankees   Red Sox   Red Sox   Red Sox   Yankees
NL Pennant    Phillies  Phillies  Cardinals Rockies   Cardinals
World Series  Phillies  Phillies  Red Sox   Red Sox   Yankees
AL MVP        Mauer     Mauer     Teixeira  Upton     Rodriguez
AL CY         Hernandez Hernandez Lester    Hernandez Hernandez

SI's Joe Lemire previews the AL East:

Yankees     100-62
Rays        95-67
Red Sox     93-69
Orioles     76-86
Blue Jays   64-98

Bill Madden, New York Daily News:

Red Sox     96-66
Yankees     93-69
Rays        88-74
Orioles     78-84
Blue Jays   71-91