Did Tonight's Game Even Happen?

I feel like tonight's game was a blur...and it nearly was, lasting only 2 hours and 7 minutes. I'm not sure if I can remember a faster game in my life. Staying with the idea of brevity, here are some quick thoughts:

-JD is back! Drew got exactly what he wanted tonight, two solo shots and a very fast game. I'm sure that at this point he's sitting in the hot tub showing no emotion, thinking about when his next injury will hit.

-Nava continues to one-up himself, maybe Erin Andrews was in the house tonight. It's Nava's world and the rest of us are just living in it.

-The Sox are now only a half game behind the Yanks for first place in the AL East. Honestly, how is this possible?

-Old man Wakefield does it again. Between all the injuries and the bullpen's recent struggles, Wake recognized the need to go deep into the game and be effective, I know, it's the O's, but Wake seems to always eat innings when they need it the most.

-If the Sox are going to keep themselves in the mix over the month of July, this is exactly the type of baseball they need to play. Great pitching, timely hitting and good defense. They can't get into slug fests.

-The serious injury concern is slightly mitigated by a relatively weak July schedule.

-The Sox are without both of their major league catchers, and apparently both of their catchers up in Lowell got hurt last week.....an amazing run of bad luck.

-If Adrian Beltre is not an All-Star, I'm going to consider threatening anyone who'll listen. Or, more likely, I'll just write a pissed off post about it.

Details on the Wakefield Deal:

Below are the recently hammered out details of Wake's new deal. It comes as no surprise that it is incentive-laden, which will require the 73 year old knuckleballer to maintain some semblance of health in order to reach financial milestones. Thanks to EEI's Alex Speier for the specifics:

Base salary is $3.5m in 2010 and $1.5m in 2011.

Bonuses in 2010: Wakefield receives $50,000 each for starts 11-15; $75,000 each for starts 16-25; and $100,000 each for starts 26-30. (Max potential earnings: $5 million.)

Escalator clause for base salary in 2011: Wakefield’s 2011 base salary can increase, based on the number of innings he throws in 2010. If he throws 130 innings this coming season, his 2011 base salary increases to $2 million; he throws 160 innings in 2010, he would earn a $3.5 million base.

Bonuses in 2011: Wakefield’s potential bonuses for 2011 will depend on the base salary:
If the base salary is $1.5 million (after fewer than 130 innings in 2010): $100,000 each for starts 11-15; $200,000 each for starts 16-25, and $250,000 each for starts 26-30. (Max potential earnings: $5.25 million.)

If the base salary is $2 million (if he throws at least 130 innings but fewer than 160): $75,000 each for starts 11-15; $150,000 each for starts 16-20; $200,000 each for starts 21-30. (Max potential earnings: $5.125 million.) If the base salary is $3.5 million (provided Wakefield throws at least 160 innings in 2010), the bonuses are the same as in 2010: $50,000 each for starts 11-15; $75,000 each for starts 16-25; and $100,000 each for starts 26-30. (Max potential earnings: $5 million.)

This reminds me that y=mx+b. It also tells me that Wake is a warrior. I would have hung up the cleats 5 years ago if I were him, but he loves the game and is always a valuable member of the pitching staff. If you don't like and admire Tim Wakefield, then you might as well kick puppies for a living, because you're just a bad person.

Beat it Penny

There is nothing like flying home from your honeymoon and having the captain come over the PA to give us the awful score of the Sox/Yankee game.....did he want me to get arrested on the plane for threatening people's lives? Not only was the flight delayed forever, Brad Penny continued to showcase his inability to keep the Sox in a baseball game.

To say he's been bad would be an understatement...it looks like the Sox dropped the ball in early July when he was one of the most coveted pitchers within a thin market.

But don't worry Sox fans, Tim Wakefield has just replaced Penny in the rotation. After throwing a gem in Pawtucket and reportedly feeling fine, Wake will start on Weds. As for Penny, who really cares, all he's been good for over the last 12 starts has been crocked numbers and 97 mph fastballs high and outside of the zone.

This afternoon's game is significant in many ways, perhaps the least of which being the team they're playing however. Get this team's pitching healthy and into the playoffs and I'm optimistic regardless.

Go Sox.

PS: this post came from my bberry, so it's quite possible it reads like a 7 year old wrote it. Nothing beats blogging about the Sox in the Trader Joes parking lot.

Wake Doesn't Play, But Still Manages to Have a Good Time

(Couldn't pass up posting this shot)

Nothing like using a 42 (nearly 43) year-old "Just For Men" sponsor to stand with chicks half his age and promote hard booze. Good for Wakefield for making the most out of his trip to St. Louis. Tim Wakefield may not have gotten into last night's all-star game, but judging by the photo above, he still had a good time.

Also, this picture looks like it was taken at a house party....I'm wondering how Pap convinced Wake to forget about hunting, throw on his Sunday's best, and party with him.

I can't say I wasn't disappointed to not see the ageless wonder get a shot at dazzling the NL with floaters....but at the same time, I'm sure as hell pumped Crawford was able to make that catch to preserve what I hope to be homefield advantage for the Sox come late October.

Lastly, Wake should consider it a win that he made it out of St. Louis alive....it's not exactly the safest city in America....and something tells me he doesn't blend in well there.

Pitching Pitching Everywhere

As John Smoltz prepares to make his debut with the Boston Red Sox the question on every one's mind is; what are the Sox going to do with all their starting pitching? Upon Smotlz return the Sox have 6 starting pitchers, 7 if you count Buchholz, and only 5 spots in the rotation. Smotlz was quoted this morning saying he thinks he'll start next Tuesday or Wednesday which gives the Sox a few more days to work something out.

Truthfully, we'll have to see how it plays out because no one knows what Theo and company are going to do, however here are my slightly less then educated opinions.

The Sox will not be going to a 6 man rotation, that takes starts away from Lester and Beckett. Although it would allow everyone an extra days rest, baseball players are said to be creatures of habit and messing with the pitching rotation is not something that's going to happen in June. Besides, does anyone really want to take starts away from Lester right now, he's in a groove.

There's been a lot of talk of kicking Dice K to the DL again, or possibly extended. That's the easy answer, but what hasn't been talked about is the fact that Dice K has to sign off on either of those plans. Certainly the Dice Man is pitching the worst of the 5 starters right now, but to write him off the DL skips a few steps, we'll have to see how Theo plays this scenario out.

Brad Penny looks like a different animal in his last few starts, particularly against the Yankees. It seems he's taken exception to everyone wanting to trade him when Smoltz was/is ready to pitch, and I love the fire he's pitching with. Penny was hitting 98 against the Yankees and he had a big enough pair to drill Arod. I was growing very tired of the Yanks pitchers buzzing and hitting Bay and Youk, good for Penny for standing up and telling Girardi to shut his mouth.

That said, depending on what the Sox get out of Smoltz, I wouldn't be opposed to trading high on Brad Penny. I think before July 31st if the Sox can get a bat and either Smoltz is putting up numbers roughly equivalent to Penny's and the right deal is out there, Theo pulls the trigger. Don't ask me what that deal is, but Penny is signed for a year and I think the lineup will probably need another bat before all is said and done.

Tony Mazz wrote about the possibility of moving Wake to the bullpen, he didn't take to that idea and neither am I. First of all, Wake is 54 years old, better that he's not throwing every day, even if it is a knuckle ball. More importantly, I'm not wild about messing with the bullpen right now, Tito seems to have an order worked out depending on the game of who he's going to use, throwing Wake in the mix mucks everything up.

Down on the farm you have Clay Buchholz and Michael Bowdin pitching out of their minds. I wouldn't rule out Bowdin being traded in the right deal, again we'll let Theo be judge and jury on that one and treat him with kid gloves if the deal is a disaster or revere him if he pulls another Bay deal off.

The other day Buchholz was asked point blank about how he feels about not pitching for the big club, rightfully so Clay was frustrated. His response received a little press because it wasn't the standard "whats good for the club is good for me". I do not think Buchholz was pushing for a trade or trying to stir up trouble, he was just being honest. After last year he has to be patient and continue to pitch well in Pawtucket, at some point his time will come.

One thing I do know is not everyone is going to remain healthy for the rest of year, as I said Wakefield is 54 years old, okay 42. Count on a starter going down with an injury at some point this season, and we'll all be happy when Smoltz or Buchholz can make a spot start or 2 at the time, it's a long season

As the old adage goes, you can never have too much pitching. Anyone who is complaining about the current situation should remember back to 2005 when David Wells was our number 1 starter. This is not a bad problem to have.

Terrible 5th Inning Sinks the Sox Again

What is with the Red Sox pitching staff and their inability to get outs in the 5th inning of games? Tim Wakefield followed Jon Lester's lead and could not get through the 5th without turning what looked to be a quality start into a disaster.

It was classic Wakefield tonight, who just seemed to lose complete control of his knuckle ball in the 5th. When Wake is on, he's nearly unhittable, but when he's off, you might as well have a slow pitch softball hurler out there. Over his last four starts, Wake has a 2-2 record, a 7.40 era, and 13 walks. In three out of his last four starts, he's given up five or more runs. The good thing about Wake, he can turn it on as quickly as he can turn it off, you just don't know what you're going to get when he returns to the mound.

For the third game in a row, the Red Sox lineup couldn't muster much in the way of offense. David Ortiz put together a few good swings tonight, but only showcased warning track power with the bases chucked in the 1st. Hit the weights Papi, but at least you didn't strike out tonight. Perhaps the timing is coming back.

I look at the Toronto's lineup and say to myself....how the hell are they the best hitting team in baseball? How is Marco Scutaro lacing the ball all over the park? With a name like that, shouldn't he be doing bicycle kicks somewhere in Europe? It must be something in the Canadian water, because the names and numbers just don't line up to me. I still believe their bats will come back to reality, much like their pitching has over the past two weeks.

The lone bright spot of the Sox....my boy, Daniel Bard. Bard threw 2 1/3 innings, walking one, but striking out the final 5 batters he faced. He dominated on a night when the radar gun indicated he may have been holding back at times. He was consistently around 96 mph, but did touch 99 at one point. Scary to figure those high speeds may not be his best stuff.

Sox take first off Jays

Tim Wakefield pitched 8 innings, giving up only 5 hits and 1 run in a pitcher's duel that the Sox squeaked out for a 2-1 victory. The win moved Wakefield to 5-2 on the season, breaking his tie with Ramon Ramirez for the club-high in wins. That's right. That's how bad the Sox starting pitching has been this season. Going into the night, only Wake and Ramirez had reached the 4 win plateau. Wake has, of course, been the rotation's rock. He brought his ERA down to 3.59, and of those 5 wins, 4 have been Quality Starts. Wake has just been an inning-eating machine, averaging almost 6 2/3 per outing.

The efficiency was on full display last night. It was one pop after another, hardly any of them leaving the infield. (Except Kevin Millar's home run, which, since it's retroactively harmless, you can kind of be happy about. Boy that guy has got Sox loyalty. Before the game he met with Papi and tried to help talk him out of the slump. That's right, before the game, Millar went to the opposing club and tried to pump up the opposing slugger. I love that guy. He doesn't care about the imagined animosity that fans and writers build up. He's just about everyone having a good time.) And because Brian Tallet was no slouch himself, cruising through most of the Sox lineup, the game came in at just a little over 2 hours total. In the 9th, Wake handed it right off to Papelbon, who finally had a stress-free save, his 11th in 11 tries, and everyone got to bed at an early hour.

The Sox lineup was not exaclty potent, but they should get a boost tonight with the return of Youkilis. The question now is how will the lineup be jiggered. Will Ortiz remain in the 3 spot with Youk coming back?

Francona has shown no inclination to bump Papi down, but after another disappointing night, he may soon find his hand forced. Ortiz went 0 for 3 last night, striking out twice. The current Sox 1, 2, 4, and 5 hitters (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Bay, and Lowell) are all hitting over or right around .300. (Not to mention the returning Youk.) How many rallies have been killed because Ortiz is in the middle of that stretch? How many runs have been lost? Is this all for a man's ego? Can't he get himself going just as well from a less vulnerable spot in the lineup? Won't he feel just as good about himself if he starts hitting in the 8 spot?

If there's any news on the Ortiz story, ITM will come back with it after Francona talks to the media today. If not, let's just sit back, enjoy the return of the prodigal Youk, and thank our lucky stars we're not gonna see Halladay this go around.

Angels Win With Heavy Hearts: 6-3

The Angels couldn't lose this game. Not after all they have been through over the last 48+ hours, not after an emotional pregame dedication to Nick Adenhart whose 22 year-old life came to a tragic end two nights ago. The Angels were not going to lose this game, it was written.

As big of a Sox fan as I am, I can't help but being totally ok with the Angels dominating the Red Sox last night....well, maybe not totally, but you get the picture. As we all know by now, Tim Wakefield can be a hit and miss pitcher, last night, he missed. It was a struggle all night for Wake, meanwhile the Sox lineup made Jared Weaver look like the second coming of Cy Young. The Sox made it somewhat interesting in the late innings against the Halos bullpen, just interesting enough to keep me awake and frustrated until 1:30 am when I should have been in Faneuil Hall watching all the drunk people fight. The Sox lost 6-3, and I didn't get to see kids from the north shore fight each other, tough night all around.

So the Sox have lost three in a row, that's called a losing streak (please pick up on the Major League quote, please). Naturally that requires us here at ITM to call each other and hash out our thoughts on all things Red Sox. I'll spare you all the gruesome details and senseless movie quotes that make no sense....but here is one item we're contemplating:

The strike zone. Yes it's early in the season, and we're likely overreacting to a difficult start and trying schedule out of the gate, but hasn't the strike zone seemed much bigger thus far this year? Boston has certainly benefited from some of the calls, but for a team built on plate discipline, they appear to be struggling with what seems to be an expanded strike zone (see Jacoby and Jed Lowrie especially). The Sox have struck out 27 times in 4 games, 7 of which have come from the short stop. The offense clearly isn't clicking, but they've faced a combination of tough pitching and interesting umpiring, it'll all even out in time.

-ITM note, the Sox get the Rays and the Angels while the Yanks play the O's and KC? It would've been nice for the Sox to build some momentum and confidence with early series against those cupcakes.

(thanks to ESPN for the pic).

Red Sox Pitching Takes Form

After having a rough spring training with an ERA above 8 Tim Wakefield settled down and pitched 5 2/3 good innings last night against the Yankees and their projected opening day lineup. Wake pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing one run on 4 hits.

Catching Wakefield was George Kottaras who received great praise from his pitcher and manager Terry Francona. “He showed a little more assertiveness, calling some slow ones and mixing in different speeds on his call, not mine,” Wakefield said. “He just did a fabulous job.”

It puts my mind at ease to hear that Kottaras can handle Wake's knuckle ball; zero passed balls last night. After Kevin Cash left for the Bronx and Josh Bard was brought back many were having flashbacks to the 2007 season when Bard had an incredibly difficult time catching the knuckle ball.

Francona was happy with Wake and Kottaras' performances last night saying that he could see that, "They're starting to build a relationship which is good, because that’s not going to happen overnight.”

Coupled with Penny's start yesterday the Sox look to have all 5 of their projected starting pitchers on track for the start of the regular season. The beginning of the season is littered with days off so the Sox have the option to skip Penny in the rotation the first time through, or plug in someone like Masterson in for a spot start.

Dice K arrived in Fort Myers fresh of the WBC Championship and his 2nd WBC MVP. The plan is to have Matsuzaka throw one inning tomorrow and make a start against the Braves on Monday. There is a little apprehension surround Dick K after he throw 98 pitches against team USA on Sunday in only 4 2/3 innings.

Watching a Matsuzaka start tests the truest and most passionate of Red Sox fans, 100 pitches in 5 innings is enough to make anyone change the channel to Law and Order. The hope from the Red Sox was that Dice K would return more to the form everyone saw in the 2006 WBC, challenging hitters more with his fastball. We'll have to see what changes the Sox attempt to make with Dice K to get him pitching deeper into games. Last year the Dice man averaged 5 1/3 innings/start.

John Smoltz, who is on track to make his debut June 1st, is pitching off the mound for the first time this spring. Francona said Smoltz would throw 30 pitches, although Smoltz would probably want to throw 100. I can't wait for Smoltz to make his debut with the Sox, the guy is a warrior.

Baring any health problems the Sox starting rotation projects out as: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, and Brad Penny.

Change: Yes We Can......lineups

The lineups are out and Tito has made some changes in an effort to spark the Sox to a game 4 victory. JD "don't call me Sally" Drew is batting leadoff and Coco is playing center as Jacoby, and his 0 for forever stats are on the bench tonight. Sure JD has been an OBP guy in his career, but it is the Sox hope that he'll see some fast balls as a lead off hitting and get on base for the only guy that has been hitting all series (and season), Dusty P. Naturally, with Wakefield pitching Kevin Cash will be catching, and in a somewhat surprising move, Jed Lowrie will be batting behind him in 9th. My initial thoughts are that Tito is looking for Jed to continue innings for the top of the order to knock him around the bases. We'll see how it shakes out, but here is the lineup:

1. J.D. Drew, RF

2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

3. David Ortiz, DH

4. Kevin Youkilis, 3B

5. Jason Bay, LF

6. Mark Kotsay, 1B

7. Coco Crisp, CF

8. Kevin Cash, C

9. Jed Lowrie, SS

-- Tim Wakefield -SP

ITM Pregame notes:

-My how fast the national (and local) media has gone from loving the Sox in this series to hating them.

-For the first time in my life I saw Rays fans in the city today, still odd.

-Apparently Tek is pissed about being lifted for pinch hitters....dude...generate some bat speed for once and Tito might leave you in there.

-Tim Wakefield is under a lot of pressure to keep the Sox in the game, but it'll be up to the offense to put some crooked numbers on the board to win tonight, Wakefield hasn't pitched in 16 days.

-Screw Pacman Jones, throw his ass in jail for good (this is completely random I know, but I have strong feelings on that topic)

Rays Rake in Series Finale, Win 10-3

Tonight's match up was billed by many as the most important game of the season, one that would shape the AL East landscape as the season rounds out. Well, it may have indeed been exactly that, but it was sure over quickly. The Red Sox jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning off a David Ortiz "no doubt about it" tater to right center, from there however, it was all down hill.

Tim Wakefield, who until recently had a flawless 9-0 record at the Trop, got lit up by a Rays lineup that was aggressive from the plate to the base paths tonight. Wake gave up three taters and only lasted 2 1/3rd innings, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits. Deveran Hansack came in to try to limit the damage long enough to keep the Sox in the game.....he managed to get one out.....one. The 30 year old (still can't believe he's "30") gave up two runs and the Red Sox were effectively out of the game for good after three innings. Luckily for the Sox, with the off day tomorrow, they had the luxury of being able to empty the bullpen without cause for concern. You know it's bad when the camera turns to the bullpen pitcher warming up and you don't have a clue who it is (sorry Chris Smith...I had no idea). The Ray's bullpen however?...allowed only one hit.....one. The Red Sox were able to win a total of one game out of nine in Tampa this season....one.

Going into the game, after looking at the lineup, I knew the Sox were in for trouble if Wakefield couldn't hold the Rays to 4 runs or less. Unfortunately I was right. Tonight's lineup, without Lowell, Drew, and Bay, simply wasn't deep enough to put together the big inning the Red Sox needed to get back into the game. The Rays made a statement early and often tonight, and the Red Sox could not respond (ITM note: their 8 and 9 hole hitters went back to back for god sake!). Not only could Boston not respond, but they helped the Rays by throwing the ball around the infield like my West Wareham little league team did so well back in 94'. I blame Tim Murphy's wrap-up post from last night where he noted the Sox were now the best fielding team in the league....figures.

The Sox are now 2 games back in the East on paper, but are essentially 3 games back since the Rays have the tiebreaker advantage. So with the biggest game of the season behind them, and the Rays now in charge of the AL East, the Red Sox need to worry about getting themselves ready and healthy for the playoffs. If that means they somehow manage to take the division, great, if not, that's fine with me too...so long as the Sox are in a better position to be successful in October than we are right now.


ITM game notes:

-It was a "sell out" for the Rays tonight, 36,048 strong. The 6th of the year. How can they count it as a sell out when they had 8,000 seats covered by tarps in the outfield??

-I don't want to get all fired up about it, but Mike Lowell went to see a specialist today for the torn Labrum in his hip.....someone should tell JD Drew to go see a specialist for the "I'm a big sally" injury he's currently suffering from.

-Performances like this make me wonder if we'll see Wakefield on the playoff roster...it may come down to him or Paul Byrd. Since it's Tito managing the team, my money is on Wake making it.

-Anyone else notice that Remy simply can not get Ruggiano's name right? Remdawg, you played with enough Italian-American players in your time that you should have this nailed.

-The Red Sox 2009 schedule is out....April 6th opener at Fenway...bring your winter hats.

-Lastly, if you didn't hear the "Curt in the car" call into WEEI this afternoon to talk/bash Manny, it's well worth the listen. Great stuff with Lou and Dauber on the show as well.

Wakefield Throws a Gem Against the Jays at Soggy Fenway

I was "this close" to throwing Wakefield under the bus in my post describing the series earlier today. "This close" (just so you know, I'm putting about an inch worth of distance between my thumb and my index finger right now). Wake was coming off a terrible outing, but for some reason I couldn't do it, not to the veteran, not to the guy who has been left off post season rosters, not to the guy who "stays in the game" with just for men hair color...I just couldn't do it. Tonight he was "this close" to making ITM look real dumb, "this close".

Wakefield was dominate through 8 innings of work in a rain-soaked Fenway Park tonight. In a game that, under normal circumstances would not have even been played, Wakefield gave the Red Sox exactly what they needed, a deep, painless outing in route to an important win. The knuckleballer gave up only 3 hits, struck out four and retired the last 13 batters in a row to hold a hot Toronto lineup scoreless (the Jays were batting .315 in the month of September as a team coming into the game). Manny Delcarmen closed the door to a 7-0 victory with a 1-2-3 9th. It was the Red Sox 15th shutout of the year, the most in the Majors.

The Red Sox banged out 7 runs on 8 hits in what was a close game until a 5 run 8th inning. It was nice to see Jed Lowrie break out of his mini slump, going 2 for 2 with 2 runs scored and 2 rbi. I was beginning to get concerned that pitchers had begun to "figure him out" but he's bounced back well lately. David Ortiz hit a 2 run double to right and Kevin Cash hit a 3 run homer to round out the Red Sox scoring.

The story of the night however remains the pitching. Since the Red Sox have 3 more games to play in 36 hours, Wakefield's performance becomes that much more significant. Thanks Wake, I'm sorry for almost tossing you under the ITM bus. The thought will never even cross my mind again.....unless you get shelled in your next start....then maybe I'll give you 2 inches of clearance.


ITM notes:

- The Sox are now 2 games behind the Rays who were rained out in New York....which ends up helping the Sox since they themselves have a double header tomorrow.

- JD Drew received an injection into a sore spot in his back, but also got the bad news that his grandmother had passed. He has left the team to be with his family and will likely be back with the team for the Tampa series.

- Doubleheader tomorrow.....game on.