The Doc Stumps the Sox, 6-3

Jon Lester never throws well against Toronto, especially away from Fenway Park. Lester struggled through the first two innings of the game, giving up 5 runs, which was enough for Roy Halladay to bring home the victory for the Jays. While Lester settled down nicely after the rough start (ultimately going 7 innings), he put the Sox in quite a hole by giving Halladay a 5 spot to work with. Halladay himself did not have his best stuff, and when Jason Bay (who was celebrating his 30th birthday) hit a tater in the 3rd to cut the score to 5-3, I thought we had a good chance to steal a victory. Doc and the Jays bullpen however quieted the Red Sox bats for the remainder of the game as Halladay went 6 innings (by far his shortest outing of the season against Boston). He recorded his 200th strike out of the season for the second time in his great career while moving to 19-11 with the win (Lester falls to 15-6 with the loss).

Marco "red sox killer" Scutaro continues to play well against the Red Sox....(does he play well against anyone else though???). I was pretty sure Scott Rolen was living in a van down by the river, but it turns out he still plays for the Jays and took Masterson deep in the 8th for an insurance run. The loss means the Red Sox magic number to clinch the wild card remains at 2, but they will be scoreboard watching as the Rays take on the Twins this evening. I did hear an ESPN highlight that said (in all seriousness) "Toronto's win pulls them within 7.5 of the Red Sox for the wild card"...dude...the Jays have 7 games left, the Red Sox 8...give me a break. The playoffs are in sight, we just need to get healthy and ready for the Angels.

ITM Notes:

-JD Drew had his back stiffen up on him last night while swinging....he will be reevaluated in Boston on Monday. It's time realize Mark Kotsay will be our starting right fielder in the playoffs.

-Jason Bay is a 30, 100 guy this year after today's performance (.288, 31, 100)...I don't care what Manny is doing out there in make believe land, that's pretty impressive (especially when you consider how "down" power numbers are this year league wide).

-Halladay has thrown a major league leading 237 innings this year...guy is a horse year in and year out, he needs to come to a real baseball town.

-Somehow, Jacoby Ellsbury has a 11 game hitting streak.

Bartolo to Save the Day....?

After a rough game one lost, the Red Sox are looking to the big man, Bartolo Colon to avoid a double header sweep. Colon hasn't pitched since June, 16th, since then he's struggled with a lower back strain. The el guapo nuevo was 4-2 in six starts with the Sox before going on the DL, while sporting a 4.10 ERA. Keep your fingers crossed for a quality start tonight.

I really don't want to post about game 1's 8-1 loss, but I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by Devern Hansack. The 30 year old pitcher threw 3 hitless innings in what amounted to insignificant baseball, but it was 3 hitless innings nonetheless....just trying to look at the bright side of a dark afternoon game.

ITM Note: Hansack is 30??...I was ready to write "the 23 or 24 year old Hansack" but when I decided to look him up I had to check two different sources to be sure....turns out he is indeed 30. I'm so used to every Sox arm out of the minors being a 25 year old or younger major league ready stud....but hey, we'll take whatever arms we can at this point.

The Big Series Keep Coming....Insert Toronto

The playoff-like series continue, and don't look now, but the Toronto Bluejays may be the toughest of them all. The Sox have struggled all year with the Bluejays (4-7) but more importantly, have whiffed against nearly all the good pitching staffs they've faced (keep in mind, the Bluejays, Rays and Angels have the top three pitching staffs in the AL....we're a combined 12-23 against those teams). This series has seems to have a lot of commonalities with what Boston is likely to see in the playoffs; great pitching balanced with good hitting and a team that always keeps its opponents on their toes (see the Angels). Cito Gaston has turned this team around, they've won 11 of their last 12 but still sit 7 games out of the wild card in the loss column. That said, Toronto has 7 games left with the Red Sox (4 at Fenway, 3 in Toronto), so they are not yet completely out of the picture.

The Red Sox have the opportunity to do two things in the four game series. They can show that their lineup is good enough to hit good pitching in the playoffs, and they can lock up the wildcard while inching closer to the Rays in the East (the Rays have a series against the 4th place Yanks). Not to go back in time, but the Red Sox dropped the ball last series against the Rays. They had the chance, with all pitching match ups in their favor, to close the gap and send a message. They didn't. The Bluejays however don't make things any easier.

A key component will be getting JD Drew back.....if JD decides he still wants to play baseball and not take up horse-raising in Georgia (what?). JD was expected back in the series finale against the Rays but his back tightened up yet again. There is no word yet if he'll be in the lineup tonight. The Sox will need all the bats they can get in their lineup this weekend. This will not be an easy series, it may be too little too late for Toronto, who seem to be king of the insignificant victories lately, but this is important for the Sox.

Series Match ups:

Friday
Tim Wakefield (8-10, 4.11 era)

vs:

David Purcey (3-5, 5.23 era) * Keep in mind that he blanked the Rays for 7 innings in his last start.


DOUBLEHEADER Saturday (gotta love doubleheaders)
Game one
Paul Byrd (4-1, 3.82 era) *Numbers are since joining the Sox.....you're welcome Paul.

vs:

AJ Burnett (17-10, 4.31 era)

Game two
The return of Bartolo Colon (4-2, 4.09 era)

vs:

Jesse Litch (11-8, 3.70)

Sunday
Jon Lester (14-5, 3.23 era)

vs:

Roy Halladay (18-10, 2.77 era)


and oh....once we're through with this series, we travel to Tampa for 3.....keep the faith, go sox.