Red Sox - 001 210 002 - 6 8 1It's time to take John Smoltz out of the starting rotation. He may still have value as a reliever, as long as he doesn't face too many lefties and never goes through a lineup more than once. But his days as an effective starter appear to be over.
Yankees - 001 821 10x - 13 18 0
Coming into tonight's game, lefties were hitting .403/.440/.662 against Smoltz. New York's lineup had seven LHB (CI and Slappy were the only RHB). Smoltz faced 16 LH batters -- and 12 of them reached base, including two doubles and two home runs. Smoltz's opponents' OPS goes up as he throws more pitches (not including tonight):
After three unimpressive innings -- 59 pitches -- the Yankees teed off on Smoltz in the fourth: Posada double, Cano RBI single, Swisher walk, Cabrera three-run home run, Jeter F8, Damon single, Teixeira double, Rodriguez BBI.PITCHES PA AVG OBP SLG OPS
1- 25 39 .281 .410 .313 .723
26- 50 47 .304 .304 .478 .783
51- 75 43 .349 .349 .488 .837
76-100 35 .353 .371 .882 1.254
Smoltz finished the night with a 3.1-9-8-4-3, 92 line. Sacrificial lamb/reliever Billy Traber actually recorded one more out than Smoltz did: 3.2-9-5-1-1, 70. But his seventh pitch was hit by Dumbo for a three-run dong to boost New York's lead from 6-3 to 9-3. That ended up being the final coffin nail on this game.
Joba has a Dice-esque evening (5-6-4-7-5, 108), but was credited with a "win". A quintet of Yankees pitchers issued 12 walks and allowed eight hits; the Red Sox were 3-for-21 with runners in scoring position and left 15 men on base (221 032 212).
Jed Lowrie left the game in the fourth inning with pain in his left forearm. In the post-game, Terry Francona said Lowrie felt pain shoot down his arm. He'll meet with team doctors tomorrow.
Lineup:
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Victor Martinez, C
Kevin Youkilis, LF
David Ortiz, DH
J.D. Drew, RF
Mike Lowell, 3B
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Jed Lowrie, SS
Mazz:
According to major league rules designed to prevent roster manipulation, a player must spend a minimum of 10 days in the minor leagues upon being demoted. Nonetheless, an exception can be made in the event of an injury to a player at a corresponding position – outfielder for outfielder, pitcher for pitcher, etc. – though it is unclear whether a team must place the injured player on the disabled list in order to exercise that right.Jason Bay has said his hamstring injury is minor, but a DL stint is a possibility.
Not much else to say -- these are the first critical games of the 2009 season.
Other starters:
SoSHer luckysox delivers the pep talk:Fri 7 PM - Beckett/Burnett
Sat 4 PM - Buchholz/Sabathia
Sun 8 PM - Lester/Pettitte
Fuck the pessimism and the whining, and the kvetching and the sour pussing and the "We only have 2 decent pitchers, whoa is us!" So fucking what? So the Sox aren't perfect? When have they been perfect? ...Back on the wagon. Get in the van. Everybody on the bus. Hop on the F-Train.
No team is perfect and the 09 version is far from it...but have some faith. We've learned this already...have some faith! THIS is why we follow and post and watch and curse and celebrate and lose sleep and wake up angry or wake up happy. It's why we care. THIS very part of the season when the bats quiet and pitching falters, this is when special things happen, folks. ... It's when hope is alive and the heart flutters a little bit more with every pitch. ...
Back on the god damned wagon, y'all. You don't want to accidentally miss something amazing.
Meanwhile, what are they saying in New York that the Yankees need to do?
Good luck with that.It didn't work then ...
It won't work now.
537 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 537 of 537Funny story, true story, about Phil Coke.
The family name was chosen after their favorite drug. Other finalists were Heroin and Ketamine. We could've had Phil Ketamine or Phil Heroin on the mound. But, the family loved the high of coke, so it won out.
OB has mentioned the sox being 3.5 Gb twice in the last 2 minutes.
fuck him and his slick wildly out of date hair
Ha ha, we were just talking about the All Drug Team.
Wonder if they can actually get more than one or two runs this inning with all these walks.
let's get some sweat power here
Show us the sweat power, Youk boy.
lets make this the longest fucking 11 outs of NY's history.
wtf? a-rod looked like a complete tool there.
what's girardi's argument there?
"i was in my bench 50 feet away from the play and you were 2 feet away from it so i saw it more clearly than you"
???
arod/tool
there's a surprise.
how's that? fair?
maybe joe thought he could get ejected and fire up his team, then he realized his team was ahead.
for the record, I was referring to youk's foul off posada's face. fuck the strikeout.
ugh yook.
2 out clutch hit please????
Ugh. Fucking big popup.
bleh
i haven't given up, and i'll be here til the final out, but srsly, we don't deserve to win this game.
A fucking clutch hit every once in a while would be really fucking nice
I'm totally open to a win, but damn if this sort of play--both offensively and defensively--deserves what it gets so far.
classic, l-girl. :-)
This is the Red Sox I never totally give up with them. It will take a lot of late inning magic to redeem the total suckage that has been this game so far though
we have given the mfy 15 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings.
jesus christ.
Nick, we are thinking alike.
Smoltz can take Ortiz* with him. I am grateful for whatever, if anything, the dh did that was not the product of some performance enhancing substance. As for Smoltz, the Braves fans can shed tears and see him in Cooperstown in 2015. I probably won't remember that he briefly played for us.
meanwhile pinata traber is in for another frame.
"Use every man after his desert, and who would 'scape whipping?"
We always deserve to win, no matter how badly we play (pretty badly tonight!) because we are the Boston Red Sox and they are the MFY.
I never give up. Never ever.
I am only making the incredibly obvious observation that our team is sucking harder than our Oreck Super XL.
This game has been puke. The defense has been normal, the pitching has been utter filth (the bad kind) and the offense has squandered many opportunities to keep this game close/tied. So yes, I agree, we don't deserve to win. But it would be nice. I think an 8 run comeback would make us deserving.
8-run innings aren't impossible (See: 4th)
LOLOL BARTH!!!
A-ROD*
BONDS*
2004*
OMG I SO REBEL LOLOLOLOLOL*
...*
I don't believe in any team's moral superiority. We don't deserve to win because we are playing such shitty baseball.
However, if we get really lucky and win anyway, this would be the coolest game of the season.
OK, defense hasn't been so bad, but pitching's been putrid and batting squanderous.
I need a vacuum. and a couch.
And I hope the NY POST gives us signs for tomorrows game that has an asterisk on it!!!! AHAHAHAH that will be so badass!
i heart tim.
I am grateful for whatever, if anything, the dh did that was not the product of some performance enhancing substance.
Wow. You suck. Remind me never to speak to address you again.
redsock, and feels like the Sox have about 15 walks and 4 hits, bleh
It's not moral superiority--it's the Hub thing, l-girl. Geographical superiority, let's say.
side note: MFYs have apparently acquired Chad Gaudin for the always-popular Player To Be Named Later.
Geographical superiority, let's say.
Then you root for the Yankees, do you? :)
A & I are New Yorkers, you know. Geographic superiority is a given.
good god, lowell sucks at third. maybe he can deflect the next hit with his walker.
It's like the ghost of Jack Marshall has returned.
i want to lose 19-8.
I'm a Boston/Mass chauvinist to the nth degree. Always willing to admit new blood like L and A to the city, of course.
I hope they win 78-19?
RS, yeah is set in motion a rather interesting chain of events last time that happened
And I remember that game as being rather similar to this one in its vomit-inducing suckiness too.
Which of course made the aforementioned latter events all the sweeter.
I honestly don't get how the MFY fans can stomach cheering for them. Not moral superiority but image superiority for the Red Sox, yes.
Always willing to admit new blood like L and A to the city, of course.
In all seriousness, I would never, for any reason, live in Boston or the Boston area.
There are very few places in the US I would care to live, but that is not one of them.
Glad you like your old town, tho. I know how nice that feels.
i'm sorry but with 9 freaking walks, why would you swing at the FIRST pitch?!?!?!?!?!
oh, here comes free swingy. let's ask him.
of course I'm sure their fans see it differently
free swingy ha ha, you are on a roll tonight, tim
From the CF camera Kotchman looks a lot like Trot Nixon,
joe larussa working his pen.
What???!!!
l-girl, lol and ready to cry too! WTF is wrong with the fricking Athens of America?
No, Tim. No asterisk for team accomplishments in my mind. I don't know who was doing what on the teams we were playing.
We were the first victims of this horseshit when Canseco* basically singlehandledly beat us in the 88 ALCS and we chanted steor-oids at him while he batted because Tom Boswell of the Wash Post reported it before the series started.
And, of course, Grady notwithstanding, it was 2 homers by Giambi* which beat us in game 7 in 2003 ALCS.
So, I don't go there. We were victims, too, even though some people who cheated were on our team, too.
3 in the 7th, 3 in the 8th, 3 in the 9th...easily doable!
Don't get me started. I lived in Philadelphia for 4.5 years, that was my run at second-rate cities. :)
I really should put emma to bed. it's like a day and a half past her bedtime.
she's going to have to do it all over again (except with out the crushingness. we will r001!).
Well if you want to talk about homers beating us, why don't we throw up the good ol' "Should've walked him" argument? Hear that one lately?
tim is my new hero
Can we PLEASE get a fucking clutch hit?!
Um, I'm really laughing out loud, lots--you guys live in Toronto!
Philadelphia is second-rate--I lived there for two years, but Boston is nothing like that!
Still laughing!
OB mentions the MFY getting x hits off "smoltz and company"
but it's only smoltz and traber -- say that, asshole.
Oh look, all the seats in the front sections are FREAKIN EMPTY! GO YANKEES!!!!!!111!11!!!1 FLAT BILLED HATS FTW
do we get a 5 hour GBA now?
I guess not...
Thanks LBJ, ruining my plans. I guess 6 in the 8th, 3 in the 9th will have to suffice. But I'll settle for 9 in the next two innings, regardless of how they're scored.
Apparently some of us are more tolerant of the use of PEDs than others. At least depending on the laundry?
A, we do not live in Toronto.
B, Toronto is the NYC of Canada.
C, your wonderful city is still in that crappy country. So even little Mississauga > Boston.
Sorry you lose!!1one!
But seriously, Toronto is a much nicer city than Boston. Way more diverse, more tolerant, more vibrant - more everything - but less corrupt, less racist, and most of all, less American.
Some of us don't give a shit about PEDs and realize that asteriks are beyond stupid.
Wait, remind me.
weird. my closed captioning just said the red sox were putting Roque Santa Cruz on.... then it deleted back and said Baldelli.
off with emma for a bit.
I'm with L-girl I loved Toronto when I lived there. Never been to Boston would love to visit and go to Fenway sometime though) not sure about living there.
In spite of all Boston's faults (I was afraid you'd bring up the racism...), I love her. Can't help it.
If we won this game, with a 90 year old pitcher starting, it would have been a steal. If we split this series, NY will have squandered their chance to get rid of us. We, of course, need Beckett and Lester to be what they usually are and, ummm, this would be a good time for Buchholz to stop telling us how he has gotten his groove back and actually show it.
Traber, make yourself useful and hit....
"A-Rod*"
...in the head.
(in case it doesn't come through, i've bolded and italicized the * in that)
saito up
Is this guy seriously only capable of throwing 83mph? Why and how is he a pitcher in this level of baseball?
In spite of all Boston's faults (I was afraid you'd bring up the racism...), I love her. Can't help it.
Now that I understand. I love NYC with all my heart, and always will. I relate to your city love.
And all kidding aside, Toronto is a great city - very vibrant and very liveable. (But we actually don't live there.)
I'm off the thread for the night. See you all for tomorrow night's WIN.
the whole asterisk thing is stupid IMO
Ruth corked his bat and didn't have to play against Black players, guys used to be allowed to throw the Spitball etc.
have you seen his career stats? he's not.
blow his arm out tonight; give him a ring in april.
and how do you asterisk a whole era. If it was only one or two guys maybe but where will it end?
If this were the 2004 or 2007 Sox I might have hope. Hell, maybe even the 2009 Sox at certain points. But the Tampa series showed us lacking in clutch hits and decent pitching.
Games like this make me sick. And what makes me sicker is that the team really doesn't have anything to look forward to two, maybe three times out of our rotation. Our struggling offense can't pick us up anymore.
If there's a live ball era and a dead ball era, there should be a steroid era. Sure, it wasn't MLB's mandate for the stats to come out the way they did, but it was still an artificial change to stats and outcomes of years of baseball that still count in the history books.
I mean, come on. A .301 batting champion??? ***************
Whew. This is some game.
I have to finish my grading tonight because I put it off.
Ugh.
Great. So if we don't go batshit loco with the bats, then even with a win in the next three we leave NY with us behind.
If this were the 2004 or 2007 Sox I might have hope. ...
No one knew those years would end up the way they did. Esp. 2004. Many times on this blog I called 2004 the most frustrating year as a Sox fan. Including in August.
HH and sabathia?
We should be good for the final 3 of this series. Whew, I thought HH was matched up against someone worthwhile, not donut man. He should be on the oxygen and insulin after 3 1/3 innings saturday, even if ol' buch goes only 4, both pens will be drained by sunday. and lester will dominate.
pedroia talkin some shit - i like!
FY walking down the line to first, to Posada: "that's bullshit, man..."
It's just one freakin' loss (barring a comeback)
It's discouraging but it happens
Has anyone ever charged the mound from first?
Cause that would be amazing right about now.
RS--for me, at least, near the end of 04 I felt a little magic. At least there was a spark--they never really felt this dead.
That may just be because I was too young to see the deficits we faced.
stay classy MFY!
FY is ready for tomorrow's brawl.
I know Tito is famously a player's manager and all, and that's great, but I'd like it if he sat the Sox down after this game and called for some accountability.
Of course, he might have already, as he is good at keeping team stuff behind closed doors.
Nah. They have to wait until Saturday for the brawl so it can be on FOX.
Maybe that Traber will be useful for something who even cares if he gets suspended?
The comeback in '04 started after a loss very much like this in case anyone needs reminding.
"Maybe that Traber will be useful for something who even cares if he gets suspended?"
I think at this point I'd prefer it
I'd like it if we even hurt the MFY ERAs a little bit. At this point I'll take what I can get.
As I said, we'll take the remaining 3 and be 0.5 up by sunday nite. Unless some magic happens tonight, never ruling that out.
Sat is cool. I'm taking a vac day to deal with the basement.
...
the 2004 sox played 500 ball for what seemed like the middle 2/3 of the year. in early august, i was totally fed up. then they went on a tear. you never know. that is the point. the 2009 sox could win the next 40 in a row. or come back from 0-3 again. improbable, sure, but YOU DO NOT KNOW.
this time the CC said:
Y *#* Y *#* Y *#* Y ....
weird. couldn't get my phone out of my pocket fast enough to snap a pic.
I too will note that it's just one game. sucky, sucky, but 1.
Tim--wouldn't we be .5 down if we swept the next three?
We're 2.5 down now, right? So after this we'll be 3.5 down.
smoltz: 3.1
traber: 3.2
sigh
I swear if I can somehow eke out enough time tomorrow to get by the computer store and get a new power supply for the laptop, I will come home and take a sledge hammer to this piss-poor, slow-ass, ancient PC!
It would be a little easier to deal with the fact that I've been home trying to get GDGD and the thread going for 45 minutes if we were winning.
As far as I can tell this game sucks huge. Tho I couldn't say for sure.
so basically if they sweep the next three they'll be back where they started last Sunday oh well
jerry hairston is a "dynamic player" - sez DR.
huh
SoSock,
The way this game has gone your computer is kind of doing you a favor.
redsock, I guess he must be "proactive on the bases".
10 runs -- here we go.
You saw it here first:
back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back!
0.5 down, fine, poor math. and i'm the accountant.
o well.
more dongs than a gay porn festival!
43.20 ERA for Anthony Clampett!!!! IT IS POSSIBLE!!!!!
"more dongs than a gay porn festival"
Good one
Anyone got an estimate on how much of the announced crowd is still there? I'd say 20%.
So, what did I miss...
Hey, this guy has a higher ERA than Smoltz, maybe we have a chance.
obviously you cant try to do you know too much
i see security guarding the moat.
This game may be ugly, but I was able to edit/winnow the gazillion photos we took at Joy of Sox I @ Fenway. Sent an email with the link to the threaders who were there.
If I paid $300 for a fucking bleacher seat in row Z i'd be the first one there and the last one to leave. Fuck the score, fuck the weather. more money than a goddamn fifth avenue hotel suite.
they called that an out? fuck off!
138 pictures uploaded out of over 400 taken. :)
maybe i can get to the not-so-epic jos1 post this weekend.
12 walks and without those two dongs they'd have *1* run. This is ugly.
12 walks...and we have 4 runs
heidi is like typhoid mary with our hitters
2nd greatest comeback in history - now
About time you fucking get on base.
quick joe - bring in fruitbat
Five consecutive dongs please?
now they get some clutch hits finally....
don't make me regret picking you in the beat the streak contest, vik-e-mart!
fuck.
TOMORROW.
oh well hopefully Beckett can beat the garbage man tomorrow and we'll be even in the series...
8-1....OMGtheyrule!!!1! bestest evaaah!
Well, that sucked.
fuuuuuuuuckk
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