Autumn Leaves

The Red Sox next game will be played in September. The Red Sox next game will be played in September. A phrase so nice I typed it twice. But like every year, a little frightening, too. September is when you want no more question marks, but inevitably you find them at every turn. We're not in it alone. The Yanks don't know what to do with Joba. The Rays are trading up aces and bringing up colts. The Rangers are wondering if their pitching can keep going this good. But the Sox have their own set of worries. Unfortunately, it's in the area that you really, really don't want to have to worry about this time of year - starting pitching.

Perhaps the Sox troubles aren't as bad as we think. The five-man rotation only needs to survive maybe four more passes until it can be chiseled down. But those four-passes are all important, and we're currently coming up at least two short. At least, I say, because while Buchholz was a magician against Toronto, he isn't up there as a sure thing. And Beckett is suddenly looking more than mortal.

That's all to say that this is going to be one hell of a meaningful road-trip. A make or break road-trip, really. The Sox kick off September with three in Tampa Bay and another four-setter at Chicago. After that, they have only one road swing left on the season. That's right, we're talking 'last of the seasons' now. And while that trip will involve a brutal finish in New York, it begins in Kansas City and goes on to Baltimore. So if the Sox can stay hot against the Rays and White Sox, and if they get a couple quality starts out of someone not named Beckett and Lester, we might start to talk realistically about the prospect of the proper fall baseball to come.

That means it's up to Paul Byrd - who was famously throwing batting-practice to twelve year olds a month ago - Tim Wakefield - who couldn't stand up after his return start - Daisuke Matsuzaka - who couldn't get through AA ball without giving up five runs in an inning - and Junichi Tazawa - a kid who was recently throwing in the Japanese Industrial League. The Sox probably only need one of them to really step up. And here's my handicap on it - Wakefield, Byrd, Matsuzaka, Tazawa. But here's my vote - Tazawa. Yeah he got hit pretty hard and likely he's got little chance of taking the fourth spot, but I can't help feeling the kid might be the answer. Pretty scary.

A final note in this Ode to Autumn, just to show you that we here at ITM aren't exclusively worry and negativity. Praise where praise is due. The Sox pulled it together on offense in August big time. They'd hit a collective .248 in July, with a .328 OBP and a .419 SLG, all numbers well below the AL average on the month. In August, the Sox cranked out a .274 average, with a .358 OBP and a whopping .494 SLG. At the beginning of the month, we were floundering, wondering where in the world four runs were ever going to come from. Then suddenly there was Victor, JD, and, of course, Ortiz. As has been pointed out here, if Papi replicates his numbers from the last three months (three months he's been doing it now), he'll finish the season with right around 30 HRs and 100 RBIs. I'm not saying it's gonna happen. I'm not saying JD will keep this up. I'm not saying Martinez will get a hit every time we need it. I'm just saying thank you, to them and to the front office, for righting the ship in August.

So there you have it: a quick preview. A whetting of the whistle. A flipping for real: hitting's up, pitching's down. The Sox are 3 games up, but questions abound. It's September baseball.

Lowell, JD Could be Back for Game One

Got your attention with the Jessica Alba picture didn't I?...we'll get to her later in the post.....

An associated press story broke tonight that both Mike Lowell and JD Drew could be back for Wednesday's game one of the ALDS against the Angels. Both took successful batting practice today with limited discomfort.

This is welcoming news for the Sox who continue to get hit with injuries like a Pedro fastball from 99' (come on, every batter he hit was on purpose and you know it). Josh Beckett appears to be on track for a game three start, but it is not sure how healthy he'll be for that start.

So while the Sox are not sure how healthy Lowell and JD will be, their names in the lineup alone forces the Angels to change their pitching strategy. David Ortiz publicly stated that he doesn't expect to see anything to hit in the playoffs (i.e., he's still in man love with Manny). Regardless, having Mike Lowell and JD Drew at 80 percent is better than having to shuffle Alex Cora, Mark Kotsay and Sean Casey into the lineup. If Boston can piece together a lineup and pitching rotation that is 80 percent of what it is fully capable of, they'll be in good shape.

Tito had a good quote today..."We've been able to win 95 games without everyone healthy"....imagine what this team can do if and when they get themselves some health.....but we're up against the clock. October baseball, nothing like it....... (still trying to decide if that's a better slogan than "there is only one October".....I'm pretty sure it's not, which is sad, but I'm thinking throw Jessica Alba up there and have her say it, and it's immediately better than that toolbox Dane Cook).

Lester Looks Sharp, Sox Win.

The Red Sox AL East hopes are still alive after at 6-1 win tonight against the Indians. The Rays did their part losing to the Tigers earlier in the day. Each team has 3 games left and for the Sox to finish in first they have to win out, and the Rays would have to lose their last 3. The Sox play the Yankees to close the season and the Rays finish up against the Tigers.

Jon Lester looked great tonight in his last start before the playoffs. Lester went 6 innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out 4 to improve his record to 16-6 on the year. I was thinking back to when Johan Santana was on the market and the Sox were willing to give up Ellsbury and Bucholz, but when the Twins asked for Lester the Sox said no way. Needless to say, Lester has been nothing short of a stud this season for the Red Sox. He is 16-6 with a 3.21 era if that has been updated correctly after the game.

The Sox bullpen also took another big step. Okajima, Masterson and Papelbon pitched 3 perfect innings to close out the game. If the Sox can get their bullpen in line for the playoffs Tito won't have to be worry about his starters going deep into games, which was a key to last years championship run.

At the plate tonight Ellsbury stayed hot going 2-4 with 2 runs at the top of the order, and Jed Lowrie snapped out of his mini slump also going 2-4 with 2 runs. Kevin Youkilis added his 28th round tripper of the year, count on him getting some MVP consideration along with Pedroia.

ITM notes from the game:

David Ortiz had the night off, and probably tomorrow too as the Sox announced Mike Lowell will DH tomorrow.

Drew had the night off as well, draw your own conclusions.

Alex Cora took a fastball off the thigh for the second straight night and left the game, probably just a bruise, DON'T RUB IT!

NL playoff chase updates:

The Dodgers clinched the with the Diamondbacks losing 12-3 today, and the Mets silenced their critics coming back to win 7-6 tonight. The Brewers and Pirates are tied 1-1 in the 10th inning, Milwaukee has to win to keep pace with the Mets.

Down the Stretch They Come...

The Rays, Red Sox, Angels, and Cubs have all clinched playoff spots, everything else will be decided this weekend. The Red Sox look like they will be the Wild Card team in the 2008 playoffs. With the Rays magic number at 1 a win or a Sox lose will clinch the American League East. Although I'll tune in to the game tonight it won't mean a heck of a lot, so I thought we'd take some time to check out some of the other playoff races around baseball this weekend.

The American League Central remains very close; the White Sox have a .5 game lead against the surprising Twins. The two teams play each other again tonight in Minnesota as the Twins go for the sweep and first place. In the off season when the Twins lost Tori Hunter to free agency and traded Johan Santana I don't think anyone thought they would be competitive in the AL Central, but here we are going into the final weekend. The Twins play the Royals this weekend and the White Sox play the Indians. Whoever wins tonight's match up will be in the driver’s seat, but this division is really up for grabs. Expect all hands to be on deck with starters coming out of the bullpen and pitching on short rest. Personally, I'm routing for the Twins, I like the underdog I guess.

American League playoff match-ups look like they'll shake out like this:

Red Sox vs Angels
Rays vs Twins/White Sox

Over in the National League the playoff picture is about as clear as the sky in Beijing, granted they cleaned things up for the Olympics, but you get the analogy.

In the NL East the fighting Phillies are up a game and a half over the Mets. I'm routing for the Phillies for two reasons; one I enjoy seeing the sports fans of New York experiencing pain, probably related to the Superbowl, but I'm still not talking about that. Secondly, if the Phillies win the east it will hopefully be with the help of Ryan Howard's big bat, huge fantasy implications for this guy. The Phillies have the night off and play the Nationals this weekend. The Mets will continue to torture their fans tonight as they play the Cubs at home, and then host the Marlins this weekend. If anyone caught the Mets meltdown last night it was tremendous. The score was tied in the bottom of the ninth and the Mets had a runner on third with no outs, needless to say there he stayed and the Cubs went on to win in extra innings. ESPN had one shot of a fan yelling at Mets relief pitcher Luis Ayala after walking off the mound in the 10th after giving up 3 runs. I couldn't tell if he was upset at Ayala and the Mets bullpen(surely they are so terrible we have to call it something else) or he was just reacting to the fact that the Knicks season was right around the corner. I don't really have anything against the Mets, it's just fun to watch them implode in September. If they blow it this weekend expect the fans to get an early start on tearing down Shea Stadium.

The Cubbies have clinched the NL Central and best record, all that remains to be decided is who they will play in October and if they will have to make up a game with the Astros on Monday in Houston.

The Red Sox west coast farm team, the Dodgers, look like they have the NL west wrapped up as the Diamondbacks, affectionately called the Snakes, are fading away. A Dodgers win tonight or a Snakes loss and the Dodgers win the west. If the Diamondbacks come back and win it, I'll say John McCain wins the election this November, if the Dodgers triumph it's Obama all the way! Gooo Dodgers!

The NL Wild Card is where all the action will be this weekend. The Mets and Brewers are tied and the Astros are hanging on 3.5 games out. The Brew Crew play Pittsburgh tonight and have 3 with the Cubs this weekend who have absolutely owned them this year. CC Sabathia has started the last 17 games for the Brewers, ok no he hasn’t but his last 2 starts have been on 3 days rest and he'll probably do so again on Sunday. Although each start has been impressive, I'll be surprised if his arm doesn't fall off during warm ups on Sunday. The Brewers have to go for it all with Sabathia and Sheets heading to free agency after the season.

Again, nothing personal Met fans, but I'm pulling for the Brew Crew. It would be nice for their fans to see some October baseball for the first time since...the internet doesn't go back that far. Word out of Chicago is the Cubs would like to play the Mets in the first round because of their weak bullpen (candy strippers?). Don't expect the Cubs to run their starters out there for 9 innings against the Brewers to accomplish this, and besides, beggars can't be choosers.

So if the Phillies win the east, the Dodgers win west, and the Brewers get the Wild Card we are looking at:

Dodgers vs Cubs
Brewers vs Phillies.

If the Mets when the Wild Card.

Mets vs Cubs
Dodgers vs Phillies.

If the Mets win the East, the Dodgers win the west, and the Brewers win the Wild Card.

Dodgers vs Cubs
Brewers vs Mets

And if the Phillies win the Wild Card

Phillies vs Cubs
Mets vs Dodgers.

There are a few scenarios I didn't cover, and if you're still reading you are probably thankful. The Astros and Diamondbacks could get in the playoffs, but then again the Mets bullpen could figure it out this weekend, and for comedy sake I really hope this does not happen.

Whatever happens this weekend it should be an extremely entertaining weekend for baseball fans. No matter who you are routing for this weekend enjoy the games and we'll see you in the playoffs.

Sox Clinch Playoff Spot

It never gets old does it; grown men wearing goggles showering each other in beer and champagne. No this isn't an episode of the Road Rules vs Real World Challenge, the Boston Red Sox have clinched their 5th playoff spot in the last 6 years. Now that the whispering of the Yankees not being mathematically eliminated from playoff contention has ended the Sox campaign to defend their World Series can begin.


The Sox took it to probable Cy Young winner Cliff Lee, scoring 5 runs on 9 hits in Lee's 7 innings of work tonight. Lee had won 11 straight games, dating back to July. Kevin Youkilis hit a two run home run and Dustin Pedroia had a two run double that tied the game in the bottom of the 5th. Jason Bay put the sox ahead 5-4 with a single scoring Dusty from second.


The Bullpen was shaky, loading the bases in the 7th and 8th innings. Okajima was able to bail out Delcarmen in the 7th, and in the process is returning to last seasons form with another solid outing. Masterson continued to struggle throwing strikes, however Papelbon came in for a 4 out save, his 41st of the year.


NESN covered the the post game celebration as players poured champagne and beer over one another in the locker room. Highlight of the celebration had to be Heidi Watney getting drenched during the celebration, things then spilled back out onto the field where some fans waited around for the players to come back out. Jonathon Papelbon rewarded some lucky fans as he gave out 1st, 2nd and 3rd base. I'm not sure those fans really deserved such a gift, hopefully we don't see those on ebay in the next couple hours.

The Sox still have a shot at the division however the Rays still control their destiny; at the very least the Sox will get the Wild Card and will head out west to play the Angels. The main goal is now to get everyone on the roster healthy, except maybe Lugo, and line up their pitching staff for the playoffs. JD Drew and Mike Lowell have been out with injuries and it will be important for the Sox to get these guys back in the lineup for October baseball.



One final thought; Jonathon Papelbon is not right in the head, and I like it.



ITM Notes from the game:

The Red Sox are retiring Johnny Pesky's number 6 this weekend.

Jed Lowrie continues to struggle at the plate, he was 0-4, although he did have several foul tips.

Johnny Bench took in the game tonight and Heidi Watney interviewed him...he's a very weird guy. Look for that interview on youtube.

Remy offered some dynamite analysis of the Red Sox defense in the bottom of the 7th. Ellsbury and Cora made key plays that didn't result in outs, but prevented base runners from moving up and potentially scoring later in the inning.



All furniture store commercials are just terrible, especially Bob and his 'no gimmicks' gimmick. I don't know if this is a northeast phenomenon or furniture stores across the country just make awful commercials. Perhaps some of our out of market fans can comment on this...



Congratulations to the Red Sox.

Looking Ahead to October...

Barring an unbelievable collapse (Pre 2004 I would have to knock on wood after typing that, actually I'm going to knock on some anyway just to be safe) the Red Sox will be in the 2008 playoffs, probably as the Wild Card. They still have a shot at the division, but I don't expect they'll catch the Rays. The Rays are up 3 games in the lose column with 12 to play and the Sox have 10 games left, so its possible to win the division won't be their main focus. The main focus will be lining up the pitching staff for the playoffs and resting the starters when they can.

So for arguments sake lets say the Red Sox have to go go Anaheim and play the Angels in a best of five series. The casual baseball fan is freaking out about this because the Red Sox are 1-8 versus the Angels this year. "WE HAVE TO PLAY THE ANGELS, THEY KILLED US THIS YEAR!!! MOM, HAVE YOU SEEN MY PINK RED SOX HAT???" Sure, there's some reason to be concerned about that record but lets break this down shall we?

Game 1 the Red Sox will have Josh Beckett pitching, the Angels will probably throw John Lackey. I give the edge in game 1 to the Sox. Josh Beckett was put on this Earth to do one thing, pitch in October. The IT department here at work has thwarted my attempts to look up Beckett's' career postseason stats, however I assure you his numbers are well beyond impressive. If memory serves me correct Beckett is 6-2 with an era hovering around 1.50. If you saw Beckett's last start against Tampa Bay you know he is in post season form. Games 2 and 3 the Sox will throw Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka. I'm not predicting a sweep but I give the Sox the edge in starting pitching. If Lester and Dice K can go 6 or 7 innings and keep the Angels in check, say 3 runs or less, I think the Sox can win those games.

If Dice K goes out in Game 3 and throws 60 pitches in the first 3 innings we could be in some trouble. The Red Sox bullpen has been suspect on more then one occasion this year, and an early exit by the Dice Man could lead to trouble.

Game 4 I think the Red Sox will have a 2-1 series lead, and its anyones best guess who will start that game. Bartolo Colon, Paul Byrd, Tim Wakefield? It will all depend on who is healthy and who pitches the best in these last 10 games. I imagine 2 of the 3 will be on the playoff roster so if Wake gets hit hard early in game 4 Francona can give him the quick hook.

If the series goes to Game 5 Josh Beckett will take the hill again, and that's when the curtain closes on the Halos' season. Beckett will not lose game 5 if it goes that far. My Dad taught me two things; pitching wins in October and be nice to your sisters...pitching wins in October was the one that stuck.

This isn't Inside the Monsters' official playoff preview, but I think the Sox beat the Angels in 4 games and move on to play the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS (who would have thought anyone would ever have typed that sentence). The best part about sports predictions is you're usually wrong, but that is completely acceptable. If calculus was graded on a curve like that I wouldn't have had to do an extra year at college, but here I am, still unsure how to calculate the derivative of anything.

One thing I am sure of though, the Red Sox are going to playing baseball this October.