Francona to Schilling “Zip it”

And none to soon.  This has turned into a debacle not only for Schilling but for the Sox.  Francona told him to “zip it a little”, not only privately in a meeting he had with Schilling but also publicly on WEEI radio, the same station that Schilling spouted off on.  Francona went on to say when asked about reading Schillings blog “You know what? I don’t have that much energy.  I get tired of answering things that are not baseball, but I guess that’s my responsibility, too. I don’t care if he does it, but just stay away from certain things. If he wants to run for office someday and tackle the world’s problems, fine, but not while I’m the manager. I just think there are issues you stay away from. Listen, I’ve known Schill a long time and I think the world of this guy. I just told him to ease off on the gas pedal, and he will.”  Maybe Schilling should avoid he pedal all the time.

Schilling issued an apology, not on the air though, but rather his blog, 38 pitches.  “I am far from perfect and make more than my share of mistakes, which is something I have no problem with because that’s part of being a human being.  However, when mistakes adversely affect other people’s lives, that’s a big deal. It was a callous, reckless, and irresponsible thing to say and for that I apologize to Barry, Barry’s family, Barry’s friends, and the Giants organization, my teammates and the Red Sox organization, as well as anyone else that may have been offended by the comments I made.”

Sox win with Manny homer News and Notes for 5/4

The Sox won the rematch with the Mariners last night with an eigth inning Manny Ramirez homerun that broke a 7-7 tie and proved to be the winning run. That was Manny’s second home run of the night. Along with Manny’s two dingers Wily Mo Pena went 4-4. CoCo was the only Sox batter without a hit last night ending a semi hot streak for him.
Dice-K struggled with his control all night lasting only five innings, giving up seven runs, all earned, walking five and fanning only one. Clearly his worst outing of the season. Seattle’s starter Horacio Ramirez didn’t fare much better lasting only four innings giving up seven earned runs and eleven hits.

News and Notes:

Manny Ramirez’s two homers last night tied him for 27th on the career list at 475 with the two Hall of Famers, Willie Stargell and Stan “The Man” Musial.

Mike Timlin 24 hours removed from his first save of the season was placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to Thursday night’s game against the Mariners with right shoulder tendinitis. In a corresponding roster move, the Sox recalled right-hander Devern Hansack from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Jon Lester confirmed it was just a cramp that took him out of his Triple-A start after just three innings on Wednesday night. This will more than likely slow his return just a bit.

Tim Wakefield will open up a six-game road trip for the Sox when he takes the ball Friday night at Minnesota. He’ll be opposed by Carlos Silva, who is 2-1 with a 3.10 ERA. First pitch is slated for 8:10 ET.

Sox news and notes 5/3

Hideki Okijima was named the AL Rookie of the Month for April.  Okajima allowed only five hits in 12 appearances during the month and finished with a 0.61 era, one save and 19 k’s.  Okijima throws a sneaky fastball, a curveball and a changeup that has surprised some of Boston’s coaches.  Along with the other Sox signing from across the Pacific, Dice – K,  the Sox staff is one of the best in the majors this year.

Some what of a coincedence that while in town the Sox had talks with the A’s over starter Rich Harden who is currently on the DL. The A’s reportedly asked about Wily Mo Pena and pitching prospect Clay Bucholz. The Sox have been hesitant to trade away pitching prospects and with the injury to Mike Piazza in last nights game the A’s certainly need a hitter to replace him. Letting Pena go for another starter may not be a bad move, the only concern being Hardens health.

Julian Tavarez says the Sox don’t need Roger Clemens. “I don’t think we need him.” “I don’t think we need him. We don’t need him,” insisted Tavarez. “We’ve got some young guys down there who can do it, too. We’ve got Kason Gabbard, Jon Lester, a guy who is 22 years old who can bring it. This guy is going to be a Sandy Koufax some day.” I didn’t realize Tavarez was now GM. Clemens, if in top form, would be a welcome addition to any staff at this point.

Speaking of Julian Tavarez several teams may make a run at him soon. Tavarez would have value to several teams, particularly National League clubs looking for a middle reliever or a starter. The Mets, Cardinals, Phillies, Rockies, Marlins, and Reds would all be candidates.

Jon Lester’s start last night in Pawtucket was cut short by a cramp in his forearm. Lester allowed three hits and two earned runs, while walking three and striking out four. H threw just 63 pitches, 39 for strikes, before being removed from the game. “Obviously, I’m frustrated,” said the 23-year-old, who successfully battled lymphoma over the offseason. “It’s one of those things that happened. It happened for a reason.” Lester said he felt his arm tighten after throwing a pitch in his final inning.“It was in the third inning,” said Lester, who indicated he had never experienced a similar problem. “I threw a pitch and it tightened up. It was a freak thing. I hope it’s not a setback. Like (manager Ron Johnson) said, it’s just a cramp. In five days hopefully, I’ll make another start and we’ll go from there.”

Sox split series with the A’s – Mariners return for make up game

 

Boston won last night 6-4 to earn a split against the Oakland A’s in the two game series after losing 5-4 in ten innings the night before. Josh Beckett improved to 6-0 on the year and is the first pitcher to get 6 wins this year. Also worth noting is each starter got at least one hit last night, the first time that has occured this season. Papi, Manny, V-Tek, and CoCo all went 2-4 last night. Beckett went seven innings giving up six hits, three runs and fanning seven, another strong outing for him. Hideki Okijima pitched the eigth inning and Mike Timlin came on in the ninth to get the save. Papelbon did not pitch last night after blowing the save in the ninth inning the night before wasting a solid outing by Curt Schilling.

Dice – K pitches tonight against another AL West team, the Mariners.  This is a make up game from the first series that was rained out.  Dice gets a chance at some redemption after being matched up with Felix Hernandez in his home bebut for the Sox a few weeks back.  Dice pitched well, but Hernandez was lights out.   The Mariners are starting Horacio Ramirez.

Sox news and notes 4/30

With a two-run shot in the eight inning of a 7-4 win over New York, Boston’s Manny Ramirez became only the fifth player to hit 50 career homers against the Yankees, joining Jimmie Foxx (70), Ted Williams (62), Hank Greenberg (53) and Carl Yastrzemski (52).

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, who is Boston’s best position prospect, is off to a sizzling start at Double-A Portland. In the first 15 games of the season, Ellsbury is hitting .455 with 13 runs, 10 doubles, two triples and six stolen bases. This is good motivation for CoCo…

Jon Lester will make at least one more start for Pawtucket on Wednesday after turning in another strong rehab outing — this one at Pawtucket. Though the rehab clock expires after that outing, Terry Francona cautioned the media not to simply assume Lester will rejoin the Red Sox after that.

Terry Francona was impresed with Mike Timlins outing on Friday night. He pitched a scoreless 7th innin and threw nine if his eleven pitches for strikes. Francona said “Timlin’s a huge part of our bullpen.” “We want him to be a huge part of our bullpen. He didn’t have much of a Spring Training, and he’s coming off kind of the first time since I’ve known him, a tough second half of the year. We’re trying to get him into a little bit of a rhythm. We’ve all seen what he can do when he’s good. He threw the ball very well last night.”

Sad to hear of Josh Hancocks death. He started with the Sox and made his first MLB appearance in 2002 with them. He died in a car accident early Sunday morning.

Sox news and notes 4/27

Dice – K (2-2, 4.00 ERA) opens the three-game series at Yankee Stadium against left-hander Andy Pettitte (1-0, 1.78 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. ET.

Heading into this weekends series with the Yankees David Ortiz holds the highest career slugging percentage amoung active players at Yankee Stadium at .675.

Mike Lowell carries a 12 game hitting streak into tonights game while J.D. Drew is 1-12 and is just 4-for-22 in his last five games, dropping his average from .375 to .314.

Sox take series from O’s with Pena slam

The Red Sox took the series from the O’s last night with an 8th inning grand slam from Wily Mo Pena that was the game winner sending the Sox to New York for their weekend series with the Yanks on a winning note. Pena showed his promise with two hits and the four RBI, if he could just do this on a regular basis. Youkilis, Drew, Ortiz and Lowell were the other Sox hitter with a hit. With his hit Lowell extended his hit streak to twelve straight games last night. Sadly, Manny went hit less again. Adam Loewen, the O’s starter, held the Sox in check for the most part but Chris Ray out of the pen in the eigth inning let the game slip away after walking the bases loaded before surrendering the grand slam to Pena.

Josh Beckett improved to 5-0 and joined an exclusive club in Red Sox history. He joins Babe Ruth (1917) and Pedro Martinez (2000) as the only Red Sox pitchers to go 5-0 in April. Beckett was previously unaware of Ruth’s pitching ability, however, he was aware of Pedros saying “I don’t know how elite Babe Ruth was as a pitcher, but he was an elite hitter. Pedro Martinez was, maybe for seven or eight years there, the most dominant player.” Beckett went eight innings allowing two earned runs and striking out three. Paplebon came on in the ninth for his seventh save of the year.

Sox news and notes 4/26

The Red Sox sent the bat that Jason Varitek used to hit the Sox fourth consecutive home run Sunday to the Hall of Fame. ESPN also announced the 7-6 victory over the New York Yankees Sunday night was the most-viewed ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecast ever.

Mike Timlin has yet to throw on back-to-back nights, but that’s largely a function of him still trying to get over the oblique problems that plagued him in spring training.

CoCo Crisp, who was expected to return from a strained left oblique for Wednesday’s opener of a two-game series at Camden Yards, remained sidelined. Crisp hit Tuesday, but reported some discomfort Wednesday.

Second baseman Alex Cora found himself in the lineup Wednesday because of his stellar numbers against Orioles right-hander Daniel Cabrera, against whom Cora is 9-for-16 (.563) in his career. Cora launched a solo home run in the third inning off Cabrera.

Jon Lester’s scheduled Triple-A start for Pawtucket on Wednesday was washed out by rain. Lester will return to Boston for routine medical tests Thursday, then face Buffalo in Pawtucket on Friday.

Josh Beckett (4-0, 2.55) faces Adam Loewen (2-0, 3.72) today at Camden Yards

Sox cruise past O’s and Gary Thorne causes a stir

The Sox scored three runs in the seventh and two runs in the ninth to win the first of a two game series at Camden Yards against the Orioles. Curt Schiling went 7 innings giving up 5 hits, one run (earned) and striking out three. Hideki Okijima looked great in middle relief striking out two. As of yesterday the Sox pen has the lowest era in the majors. That is quiet a statement as the pen was the biggest cause for concern going into the season. Okajima has certainly been a star so far this year for the Sox. Both Manny and Mike Lowell had two RBI’s and Kevin Youkilis went three for four and an RBI. Here is the boxscore.

The real story of the game though was not on the field but in the announcers booth. In the fifth inning while the Orioles were batting Gary Thorne a nationally known broadcaster said:

“The great story we were talking about the other night was that famous red stocking that he wore when they finally won, the blood on his stocking,” Thorne said to his on air partner Jim Palmer, the Hall of Fame pitcher, in a conversation that had begun with a discussion of Schilling’s blog of all things.

“Nah,” Thorne said. “It was painted. Doug Mirabelli confessed up to it after. It was all for PR. Two-ball, two-strike count.”

Palmer: “Yeah, that was the 2004 World Series [sic].” Thorne: “Yeah.”

During a break two innings later, Thorne confirmed that’s what he said, and that Mirabelli had told him so in a conversation “a couple of years ago.”

“Go ask him [Mirabelli],” Thorne said.

Mirabelli was shocked, then angry, when relayed Thorne’s comments.

“What? Are you kidding me? He’s [expletive] lying. A straight lie,” Mirabelli said. “I never said that. I know it was blood. Everybody knows it was blood.”

The sock has been scrutinezed previously before making its way to Cooperstown and into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The performance Schilling had that night was one of the greatest in MLB history. Thorne has thrown into question the validity of the injury and in some respects the performance itself. Where and when did Thorne get this statement from Mirabelli? And why did it just come out now? The Sox have indicated they will seek a retraction from Thorne. Unless Thorne can come up with concrete evidence that the substance on the sock is not blood an apology is in order as well.

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.