Red Sox Win and Moving Week

The Red Sox were able to pull off a series victory of the hot Dodgers this weekend.  The Red Sox became the first team since mid-June that had beat the Dodgers in a series.  There were definitely some good things to take away from this series.

The Red Sox starting pitching was very impressive.  Even though he received the lost Friday, Lackey held the Dodgers to two runs (coming off a Hanley Ramirez home run).  He had a complete, eight-inning game with only 3 hits, 0 walks, and 6 strikeouts.

Saturday, Lester was back in top form to get the 4-2 win.  He pitched 7.1 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 run, 4 walks, and had 6 strikeouts.  He also lowered his ERA to 3.97. 

Sunday, Peavey pitched a complete game in a 8-1 win.  He was rolling too.  It only took him 111 pitches to get through the dangerous Dodgers line-up, and he only surrendered 1 run on an Adrian Gonzalez home run.  In his 9 innings, he had 3 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 5 strikeouts.

So, in the course of 3 games, the Red Sox starting pitching gave up a total of 9 hits to the hottest team in baseball.  I'd call that a successful trip.

Xander Bogaerts had his first Major-League hit on Saturday when he pinch-hit for Breslow in the top of the 9th inning.  He followed that up on Sunday with 2 hits, including a double.  In the small sample size, he's hitting .333.

The Red Sox have an off-day today, which is deserved after taking two series on the West Coast.

In other news, I will be starting my move to Connecticut on Saturday morning.  What does this mean to the blog?  This will probably be the only blog post for the rest of the week, as I still have a lot to do both at work and at home.  The hope is to post once I get semi-settled in Connecticut next week, either Monday or Tuesday.

This blog has seen a huge surge in views over the past couple months, and I really appreciate it.  Remember, you can also follow the blog on Twitter @BornIntoItInIA.  I'm sure I'll find a few minutes to tweet this week, so check it out.

Thanks again for finding the blog, and I'll let everyone know how the move (and Red Sox) went next week!

Twitter Friday

It's another Twitter Friday!  Red Sox take on the Dodgers this weekend, a year after making the blockbuster deal that sent Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, and Nick Punto to the Dodgers.  Let's hope for a series win- a sweep would be best!

Here are this week's tweets:

8/16

 

8/17

8/18

8/19

8/20

8/21

8/22

And the Tweet of the Week:

And the Red Sox Lose Again

The Red Sox lost to the Giants last night 3-2.  With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th inning, here's how the rest of the inning played out with Franklin Morales pitching:

Brandon Crawford strikes out swinging (1 Out)

Roger Kieschnick singles on a line drive to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (Runner on 1st Base)

Joaquin Arias lines out to center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury (2 Outs, Runner on 1st Base)

Offensive substitution: Pinch-hitter Andres Torres replaces Sergio Romo.

Andres Torres walks.  Roger Kieschnick to 2nd (Runners on 1st and 2nd Bases)

Offensive substitution: Pinch-hitter Hector Sanchez replaces Gregor Blanco.

Hector Sanchez hit by pitch.  Roger Kieschnick to 3rd.  Andres Torres to 2nd (Bases loaded)

Pitching change: Brayan Villarreal replaces Franklin Morale.

Marco Scutaro Walks.  Roger Kieschnick scores.  Andres Torres to 3rd.  Hector Sanchez to 2nd.

In summary, the Red Sox lost because of poor pitching (2 walks, 1 hit batter).  With the game on the line, John Farrell put in two pitchers (Franklin Moarales and Brayan Villarreal) who have been in Triple-A until this week because they've been on the disabled list.  To make matters worse, Junichi Tazawa gave up 2 singles and a sac fly in the bottom of the 8th inning to tie the game.

I haven't question Farrell very much (if at all) this season, but I have to question his use of Tazawa (who hasn't been very effective lately), Morales, and Villarreal in a such a crucial situation.  The Rays had already won their game last night, so the Red Sox knew they had to win this game in order to hold onto first place alone.  Why not use Koji Uehara for at least the 9th inning? 

Because they lost, the Red Sox and Rays are tied for first.  Actually, the Rays are points ahead of the Red Sox because the Rays have played less games than the Red Sox.

The Red Sox have not won consecutive games since August 6th-7th agains the Astros.  They have gone 4-8 since that mark.  Something needs to change.  I thought they were going to get back to their winning ways when the won the first game against the Giants handily (Lester pitching 8.1 innings like a master).  Not the case.

Pedroia is now hitting .290 for the season; and I believe his average since the All-Star Break is something like .210.  Xander Bogaerts was called up before Monday night's game and made his debut last night.  He went 0-for-3, left 5 men on, and was pulled in the bottom of the 6th inning.  The once solid bullpen is showing signs of cracks and wear.  

What needs to happen?  The Red Sox need to win if they want to stay in first place.  They play the Giants today at 2:45 CT time today and have tomorrow off before the weekend series against the Dodgers.  Let's hope they start to win again.

Dempster Beans A-Rod, But Red Sox Still Lose

This weekend's games were frustrating to watch.  Friday night's game kept getting worse for the Red Sox the longer the game went on.  The Red Sox ended up losing 10-3.  Saturday night's game was better for the Red Sox, as they won 6-1.  Last night's game went back and forth until the 6th inning when the Yankees scored 4 runs, and the Red Sox lost 9-6.

Now that the scores are out of the way, let's talk about the real story from last night's game: Dempster beaning A-Rod.  Alex Rodriguez was the first batter for the Yankees in the top of the 2nd inning  Dempster went behind him with the first pitch.  A few pitches later, Dempster succeeded in hitting Rodriguez, and the crowd went wild.  

Warnings were issued to each teams, which sent Yankees Manager Joe Girardi went ballistic and was ejected from the game.  ESPN broadcasted the game, and the commentators seemed to side with Girardi.  They seemed to think Dempster hit Rodriguez on purpose, and there are definitely reasons to say that's true (Dempster supposedly claims he was just trying to come in on Rodriguez).  

Whatever the case, Dempster seemed to lose his mojo after the incident.

Do I think Dempster hit Rodriguez on purpose?  Honestly, I do.  I understand why he's denying it, but someone had to be the first pitcher to bean Rodriguez after the circus A-Rod has created the past couple of weeks.  Chances were that the Red Sox were going to be that team to do it.

I don't think this will be the last time Alex Rodriguez is beaned... probably this week.  In my opinion, Rodriguez has dug his own grave.  Fans are angry at him.  The Yankees are angry with him.  Other players are angry at him.  I'm starting to wonder if the only people who isn't angry at him are his lawyers.

This weekend, there were reports that someone(s) from Rodriguez's camp was/were the one(s) who leaked the information about Braun and Cervelli.  The MLBPA is looking into this allegation, as this would violate the collective bargaining agreement.  

Baseball players are supposed to have their teammates backs, but I'm starting to actually feel bad for the Yankees players, as they have to have A-Rod's back.  The guy only seems to think about himself, and it has to be hard to rally around a teammate like that.

I watched one of Alex Rodriguez's attorneys on the Today Show this morning being interviewed by Matt Lauer.  Lauer asked the attorney why Rodriguez was the only player to not take the deal MLB presented when the Biogenesis fiasco started.  The attorney answered that there wasn't any proof that Alex Rodriguez did anything wrong.  

I'm tired of the whole Alex Rodriguez drama.  Luckily, the Red Sox's deal with the Rangers for A-Rod never went through after the 2003 season.  The Red Sox still will have to deal with the A-Rod drama this season, as the Red Sox play the Yankees 7 more times in the remaining 36 games.

Twitter Friday

It's been two week's since our last Twitter Friday.  I only went back to Monday for these tweets, as I didn't have wifi service on vacation and couldn't save my tweets as I am accustomed.

Red Sox take on the Yankees this weekend at home, and let's hope they play better than they did against the Jays and Royals.

And now the Tweets!

8/12

8/13

8/14

8/15

This week's Tweet of the Week: