Curt Schilling just shut up!

So Curt opened his mouth again and this time it was a doozy, Barry Bonds has admitted to using steroids. On radio station WEEI-AM Schilling said “He admitted that he used steroids, there’s no gray area” and continued on with “He admitted to cheating on his wife, he admitted to cheating on his taxes and he cheated on the game. I think the reaction around the league, around the game, seeing what it is, is an indication of what people think – Hank Aaron not being there, the commissioner trying to figure out where to be. It’s sad.” All the important quotes are here.

I defended Curt last week with the legitimacy of the sock he wore in the 2004 ALCS. And if you read this blog at all you know I really don’t like Barry Bonds and I in no way want him to have the record. However, Curt is way off base here. Where in any public record is it verified that any of these three situations occurred? Please show us Curt. Please. I am begging you. If you can prove he admitted to taking steroid show us, tell us, make it public knowledge and this debate goes away instantly. Not to mention the personal issues Curt eludes to. You don’t have the evidence to back up any of your words. Your opinions are your opinions but when you have no proof to back up your public words they come back to bite you in the ass. He deserves all the ridicule and public outcry he gets over this. Curt’s desire to be in the limelight has tarnished him just a bit here. How would he feel if any other MLB player came out and said these things about him or his family? I am sure he would be livid over this.

The Giants come to Fenway in June and I hope that Curt gives up the tying and record breaking home runs. Sad that a Sox fan feels that way but so be it.

Sox swept by Blue Jays and hit the road

Dismal, that is how I would describe last nights game against the Jays. Julian Tavarez lasts just 4 2/3 innings giving up seven hits and six runs. Kyle Snyder tried to keep it close but he allowed four unearned runs in the sixth inning and the game turned into a blow out. Offensively we just stunk getting only five hits, the only highlight was Mike Lowells 4th homer of the season. Manny, Julio Lugo and the bottom of the order posted yet another goose egg. It is going to be a long season if this does not change and soon. Defensively the Sox committed four errors on the night, with Wily Mo Pena dropping a liner in the sixth with two outs that opened the flood gates for the Jays and put the game out of reach for the Sox. All of this when Fenway hosted 37,161, the largest attendance at Fenway Park since World War II.

The Sox really need to find a fifth starter and quickly, Tavarez is just not getting the job done. He is more suited to coming out of the bullpen. Scary to think he is going to start against the Yankees this weekend. Jon Lester’s comeback is ahead of schedule but rushing him may not be the answer. We also have Devern Hansack who has been brilliant in the minors so far this year.

A clean sweep and an incredible final game

THE BEST RIVALRY IN SPORTS PERIOD!!!

And this series proved it without a doubt. If you dont think so you didnt watch the three games I watched this weekend.

The Sox came back in each of the games to win and swept the Yankees at Fenway for the first time in 17 years. After the five game sweep at the hands of the Yankees last year in Fenway this is a bit of redemption. This series had it all, come backs, key hits, good pitching, bad pitching and most of all home runs and more home runs.

I dont want to review each game, however, here are the box scores from each game: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3

The series came down to pitching and the Red Sox pitching was just plain better. Schilling, Beckett and Dice – K all took their lumps but came out with a win against a great Yankees line up. The Yankees pitching was mediocre to say the least. Pettitte had the best outing of the three starters for the Yankees. Where our pitching really shined was in the bullpen. Our pen was lights out and the Yankees just seemed to fall apart, especially Mariano Rivera who came apart in Game 1 for Yankees. We have owned him lately and that continued in this series. Torre even used Pettitte again in a relief role last night. Paplebon and Okijima are a dangerous duo to deal with along with Timlin and Donnelly out of our pen.

The Sox offense really came alive in the series, especially the bottom third of the order. Varitek and CoCo Crisp all had key hits and scored runs for us. But the one big piece that was missing seemed that came alive was Manny and finished the night with three hits and got his average above .200 for the season. Manny, Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek all homered in consecutive at bats for the Sox off of Yanks starter Chase Wright in the bottom of the fourth inning.  This is he fifth time in MLB history this has occurred.  Of note here is that J.D. Drew was one of the hitters on the Dodgers team that accomplished this last year, just not off the same pitcher.  The rest of the heart of the order also came up big, Big , Youkilis, and Alex Cora all had key hits for us and J.D. Drew continues to hit well.

Our pitching and hitting won the games but the Sox showed lot of heart and some grit in this series. Usually when faced with a deficit to the Yankees we seem to fold and die. Not this time, we came back in each of the games and showed some mettle that had not been seen in quiet some time – the 2004 ALCS to be exact. This is a good building block to the rest of the season for the Sox. There is definitely a buzz around this team this year.

We are now four games up on the Yankees with a big series coming against the Toronto Blue Jays starting tonight and an even bigger series at Yankee stadium this weekend. But take a look who is in second place in the division, the Baltimore Orioles who are only a game back of us. As fantastic as this series was there is still a lot of season left and the AL East could shape up to be one of the most contested division in baseball. We all know the Yankees pitching will come back at some point. I still believe that it will come down to the Sox and Yankees dueling it out for the division with the loser getting the wild card.

Sox vs. Yankees

What else can you say, this is the BEST rivalry in sports today no questions asked. And here we are late April and the first series of this rivalry for 2007 is upon us . The Red Sox and Yankees. The SOX, the Bronx Bombers. This is what baseball is all about. This is what Red Sox and Yankee fans live for. Fenway will be alive this weekend, filled to the brim no doubt.

Lets break the match up down and see what we can expect this weekend.

Pitching:
The edge has to go to the Sox here. Schilling, Beckett, Dice – K (taking away his two tough loses) and Wakefield have been lights out this year. Papelbon and Hideki Okajima have been dominate out of the bullpen this year. The Red Sox are second on the majors with a team ERA of 2.58. The Yankees pitching has been marginal at best. Both Carl Pavano and Mike Mussina are on the DL. Andy Pettitte and Kei Igawa have been shaky in two starts and they are throwing two rookies during the series this weekend. The Yankees are tenth in the league with a 3.67 ERA.

These are the matchup for the series:

Curt Schilling (2-1 2.84 ERA) vs. Andy Pettitte (1-0 1.50 ERA)
Josh Beckett (3-0 1.50 ERA) vs. Jeff Karstens (0-0 0.00 ERA)
Dice – K (1-2 2.70 ERA) Chase Wright (1-0 5.40 ERA)

Offense:
The edge has to go to the Yankees here. The Sox have struggled at times to hit and score runs. We have three starters, Varitek, Coco, and Pedroia all hitting under .200 and one, Manny of all people, is hitting .200 and has one – one – home run. The rest of our lineup is looking good, just not great. Papi has come around of late and, J.D. Drew is hitting very well and is well rested after the weather time off and sitting a game in Toronto. Lugo has done well in the lead off spot and Youk is coming around in the two hole. The Yankees line up is stacked, I have to admit. Up and down that lineup everyone can hit. The heart of the order is scary with Damon, Jeter, Abreu, A-hole, and Giambi are all capable of big things on any given day. I do have to concede that A-hole is having a fantastic April and I am interested to see if that continues in this series.

Pitching wins games and the Sox pitching is just better than the Yankees right now. We are coming off of a strong series against Toronto where we hit pretty well and hopefully Manny will build on the day he had yesterday and start hitting more. Papi, Manny and Drew will have to carry us offensively with spot help from Lugo, Youk and Lowell. I say we take two out of three in this series.

This not just about baseball, this is about two teams whose fans generally do not like each other and whose players don’t like each other as well. The Damon defection to NY, A-Rod pulling out of coming to Boston, the biggest collapse in sports history and yes Sox vs. Yankees are all subplots that will continue to play out over this series. This is what baseball is all about folks. Enjoy it.

Patriots Day 2007 Sox vs. Angels in Series finale

 

UPDATE:

The start of today’s game has been moved back to 12:05 due to weather concerns in the Boston area.

Josh Beckett (2-0) will get the Patriots Day start for the Red Sox against Angels right-hander Ervin Santana (1-1) in Monday’s contest. Beckett has been particularly good in the early going of 2007 starting 2-0 with a 1.50 era. He was masterful in his last start, against Seattle, allowing one run in seven innings and striking out eight. In that start he threw 61 of his 84 pitches for strikes and mixed an assortment of breaking pitches, a curveball and a mid-90s fastball with ease. To say Beckett looks sharp is an understatement. He allowed exactly two hits in each of his first two starts.

If you get a chance to watch the game check out Julio Lugo who is quickly fitting into the lead off role nicely for the Sox. He is hitting .316 with the three steals, 3 RBI and has scored 8 runs.

Sox Notes:

Julian Tavarez, who was slated to start Sunday, was bumped back in the rotation again and will now start Thursday’s series finale against the Blue Jays. Dice – K will start Tuesday’s game in Toronto, while Tim Wakefield is still slated to pitch Wednesday. Gates at Fenway are going to open at 8:05 am for a scheduled 10:05 am start.

Not to get to far ahead of our selves here but take a look at the schdule and guess who is coming to town this weekend, The New York Yankees. Curt Schilling is slated to start the opener Friday night at Fenway.

A great game followed by a rain out

 

Curt Schilling pitched a fantastic game yesterday scattering four hits over eight scoreless inning and stretching his scoreless innings streak to 14. Big Papi added a three run home run, two hits and 4 RBI to cap off another convincing win against the Angels yesterday at Fenway. Erick Hinske got the start for Youkilis at first and had two hits and scored three runs. Hee is the complete boxscore.

The third game of the series was to be played today but was rained out by the Nor’easter moving up the eastern seaboard. The Sox have announced that the game will be made up later in the season. I was hoping for a Patriots Day double header tomorrow. The Sox are still undecided if they will go forward with the planned events celebrating Jackie Robinson as all of MLB had events at each stadium today.

Sox Notes:
Wily Mo Pena, hitless in three pinch-hit appearances, was scheduled to start Sunday in center instead of the struggling Coco Crisp. Pena was the only position player yet to start a game this season. With Sunday’s rainout, Pena start Monday.

The Angels are planning to pitch Ervin Santana, Sunday’s scheduled starter, in Monday’s game.

The Blue Jays are scheduled to start southpaw Gustavo Chacin in Tuesday’s opener to the three-game series at Rogers Centre.

Schilling to start today against the Angels

Curt Schilling is going to take the mound today against Hector Carasco. This is Schilling’s first start of the year at Fenway. Schilling is coming off of a great start at Texas after a poor opening day performance in Kansas City. In 43 career starts at Fenway, Schilling is 25-8 with a 3.99 ERA and 291 strikeouts in 302 innings. Against the Angels last year, Schilling was roughed up yielding six earned runs and 10 hits in a five-inning start. For his career against the Halos he has a 3.44 ERA in 34 career innings. One hitter to watch is Former Red Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera has a .294 average in 34 appearances against Schilling, the best among current Angels with at least 10 at-bats. One other thing to watch is how Schilling throws his changeup. This is a new pitch for Schilling, he has added this to his arsenal since he has seen his fastball drop off a bit in the last year.

Hector Carasco, a former Red Sox, gets a rare start today against the Sox because Kelvim Escobar was placed in the 15 – day DL with right shoulder irritation.

Dice – K throws a damn good game

Dice – K was impressive in his MLB debut, scattering six hits, one earned run, one walk and a home-run over seven innings and striking out 10 – that’s right 10. He is one of a select few pitchers to strike out 10 batters in their MLB debut, one being teammate Tim Wakefield. Dice had command of all of his pitches and really the only mistake was the home-run to David DeJesus. Most impressive was his poise and confidence on the mound. Nothing seemed to shake him, even the home-run after which he went back to work. Red Sox fans should be extremely pleased with this outing. Dice has the making to be a special pitcher for a long time for the Red Sox. I cant wait to see him pitch next Wednesday at Fenway. The first batter he will face – Ichiro. Irony rears its head.

In other pitching news Jon Lester continues his rehab and comeback in Class A Greenville. Lester had a great start to the season last year going 7-2 before being diagnosed with anaplastic large cell lymphoma last August. Lester is one of the many promising pitching prospects GM Theo Epstein has been reluctant to give up in trades recently.