BoSox Sweep Toronto In Three

Although they couldn’t pull off the sweep against Baltimore (due to a close 7-6 loss on Sunday), the Red Sox swept Toronto in the very next three game series.

On Monday night, the Red Sox traveled to Toronto to begin the exciting series against the Blue Jays.  The scoring went back and forth between the two teams, but eventually the Sox pulled out a 13-12 victory.  After a slow start, the only completely scoreless innings were the 2^nd, 7^th, and 9^th, with 18 hits for Boston, and 16 hits for Toronto.  Unfortunately for Beckett, who gave up 9 hits, a three run homer, and eight runs in the 4 innings he pitched, this game was meant to be a battle of the bats.  Our line up was able to back him up and outhit the Jays.  The major contributors were Jason Varitek with three hits and four RBIs, and Marco Scutaro with three hits and one RBI.  We eventually secured the win with much need help from the bull pen, including relievers Delcarmen, Okajima, and Bard, and our closer Papelbon.  Here are the highlights from the game.

Tuesday night ended in a better, but less exciting 2-1 win for the Sox against the Blue Jays.  This game was all about defense, which is why Clay Buchholz was the shining star with a great pitching start for Boston.  The game proved to be an epic battle between Buchholz and Shaun Marcum of Toronto.  Both pitchers gave up one run early on, but it was Buchholz who pitched 8 full innings, striking out 4 batters along the way.  Finally in the eight inning, with Kevin Gregg on the mound for Toronto, Mike Lowell drew a bases loaded walk to take the 2-1 lead for the Sox.  Click here for the highlights.

On Wednesday night, the Sox were successful in both taking the sweep, and also shutting out the Jays with a 2-0 win in the final game of the series.  This time the pitching champion came in the form of Jon Jon Lester, who had a season high eleven strikeouts, along with just one hit over seven innings on the mound.  His amazing performance was backed up by Dustin Pedroia scoring Darnell McDonald in the sixth, McDonald scoring Adrian Beltre in the seventh.  Bard and Papelbon filled in on the mound in the eighth and ninth innings to finish out the game and hold onto the win.  Check out the highlights here. 

Red Sox Win 4 Of The Last 5

Since the last miserable post about the Red Sox, they have actually won four out of the five games they played.  From Tuesday to Thursday they played a series against the Texas Rangers and won the first two games.  On Tuesday night, the Sox were down 6-2 in the bottom of the sixth against the Rangers.  Before the inning was over, Josh Reddick doubled on a fly ball to left field, scoring Victor Martinez and Jeremy Hermida.  Reddick was then replaced by pinch hitter Darnell McDonald,a substitution that would prove extremely influential for the Red Sox.  In his first at bat for Boston during the bottom of the 8th, McDonald hit a two run homer to tie the game at 6-6.  Closer Jonathan Papelbon did his job during the top of the ninth by not allowing the Rangers to score, which led to McDonald's even more amazing walk off single to end the game and win it for the Red Sox!! For some reason I can't embed the video, but click here to see the walk-off hit and the Fenway crowd go wild!

On Wednesday night the 8-7 victory was somehow even more exciting than Tuesday nights game.  This time the game was tied at 7-7 in the 9th, so the game had to go into extra innings.  Twelve innings to be exact.  In the bottom of the 12th, Kevin Youkilis became the hero of the night with another walk-off hit (this time a double) to win the game!! We did horrible last week and now have begun a walk-off winning streak...go figure with the Sox, right? Click here to see Youk's walk-off hit!


The boys weren't so lucky in the final game of the Rangers series on Thursday.  Poor pitcher Clay Buchholz had 6 scoreless innings, but lost it in the seventh when he gave up three runs to the Rangers.  That was all it took, and the Red Sox lost 3-0 in the end.  Rangers pitcher CJ Wilson shut out our offense in the 7 innings he pitched. 

Friday night began a three game series against the Baltimore Orioles, and the Red Sox took game one in a 4-3 win.  Big Papi hit his first home run of the season in the second inning to give Boston an early lead.  Then Hermida scored in the third and Beltre scored in the fifth to put the Sox on top 3-0.  Then all of a sudden the score was tied at 3-3 after a two-run homer from Orioles's Adam Jones in the seventh, followed by Julio Lugo (former Red Sox player) scoring in the eighth.  However, Adrian Beltre came through in the end by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the eighth.  Per usual, Papelbon did his job well pitching in the top of the ninth to finish the game. Click here for the highlights.   

Tonight the Red Sox beat Baltimore again in game 2 by a close 7-6 victory.  The Sox were down 3-1 (thanks to a homer by Varitek), but came back in an unbelievable fashion by Marco Scutaro and Kevin Youkilis hitting BACK-TO-BACK three run homers in the bottom of the seventh.  Papelbon actually showed his mortality with his shaky performance in the ninth, where he gave up three runs, but somehow made it out alive and still gave Boston a win.

Red Sox Rockin’ Spring Training

During the second of week of Spring Training in Florida, the Sox are proving that they will be a serious contender for the World Series this season.  During six games from March 8^th-14^th, the Sox won 5 out of the 6 games and are looking great for our die hard Red Sox Nation. 

On Monday, they faced the St. Louis Cardinals and pulled off a walk-off 7-6 win in the bottom of the 9^th inning.  Beckett was the star on the mound while young Josh Reddick was the clutch batter during this victory.  Beckett started for the second time this Spring Training and struck out 3 batters throughout 3 perfect innings.  Papelbon, Okajima, and Ramirez also threw hitless innings (the Cardinals didn’t score until the 7^th when Manny Delcarmen was on the mound).  J.D. Drew started things off with a triple and later scored off a single.  Josh Reddick tripled in a run in the 5^th, doubled in a tying run in the 9^th, and eventually scored the winning walk-off run to finish the game.  Jose Iglesias also hit a 3 run homer on 2 outs in the bottom of the 8^th to put the Sox on top.

On Tuesday, Tim Wakefield used his famous knuckle ball to shutout the Florida Marlins as the Red Sox demolished them 9-0.  Wakefield threw for three scoreless innings, only giving up 2 hits and striking out one.  He had complete control over his knuckleball, allowing him to throw 22 strikes in only 30 pitches.  The Red Sox scoring was very well rounded, with almost the whole lineup contributing to the win.  Hermida had an RBI single and a double, Reddick had two doubles, and Kalish, Brown, and Ellsbury all had singles.       

Can’t win ‘em all.  The Sox lost 8-6 to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Wednesday.  At the plate, Jacoby Ellsbury started strong for the Sox with two homeruns and 3 RBIs.  Youkilis helped out with two hits and an RBI double, along with Pedroia’s 2 hits and a run in.  On the mound, Jon Lester didn’t perform quite so well.  In just 2 and 2/3 innings, Lester gave up two hits and a run, and walked one batter.  However, he also somehow managed to strike out four Rays batters during his outing, so it sort of balanced out.  His hard work was destroyed when rookie Adam Mills took the mound and gave up seven hits and six runs in just one inning!!  Papelbon succeeded in cleanly closing out, but the damage had already been done.

Thursday turned out much better and the Red Sox beat the New York Mets 8-2.  John Lackey started on the mound and for the second time this Spring Training threw three shutout innings.  He allowed three hits but never walked anyone.  It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Mets scored their only points with back to back homers by Mike Jacobs and Jason Pridie.  Former Red Sox outfielder Jason Bay played against us for the first time since leaving as a free agent, and to the fans delight was 0 for 2.  Alex Cora, who also played for us, but way back when, hit a single for his new team.  Its interesting how different the fans will treat ex players depending on how/why they left the Red Sox.  The classic examples that come to mind are obviously someone like Nomar Garciapara (who was traded by the Red Sox) vs someone like Johnny Damon (who despicably signed with the Yankees as a free agent).  Now whenever Nomar plays against the Sox, our fans still cheer for him and show our appreciation, but Johnny Damon will forever be booed and despised for his complete lack of loyalty to Boston.  I still wear a shirt all the time that says ‘No Hair. No Beard. No Soul.’ In reference to Damon leaving the Sox for the Yankees who forced him to cut his hair and shave his beard to fit their required appearance.  Boston has the greatest fans in the world, but if you double cross us, don’t expect to still be loved. 

On Saturday the Red Sox had a 3-2 win over the Pittsburg Pirates.  Clay Buchholz was the starting pitcher and had an impressive outing allowing only one hit and one walk in 3 innings of work.  Papelbon once again showed off his closer abilities by pitching a single perfect inning.  At the plate, the Red Sox were quiet until the 7^th inning when Mike Cameron doubled and his pinch runner Darnell McDonald scored with Ryan Kalish off a single by Tug Hulett. 

Finally, on Sunday the Sox finished off the weekend with a 6-4 win against the Minnesota Twins.  Due to an unfortunate illness on game day, Josh Beckett was unable to start and was filled in for by Ryne Miller.  Big mistake.  Miller walked two and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits in just one inning of play.  Scott Atchinson, who has been in the Minor leagues for 3 years, stepped up and threw a scoreless inning for the Sox.  Dustin Pedroia hit a single in the 4^th and had an RBI double in the 5^th.  Jeremy Hermida double in the 4^th to knock in two runs, and Kevin Youkilis helped out with an RBI single in the 5^th.      

Sox Looking Strong During First Week Of Spring Training

The Red Sox are coming out strong in Florida this Spring Training, and so far are 5-2 after almost a full week of games.  They beat Northeastern on Wednesday 15-0, with a two-run homerun by Ortiz in the six-run fourth inning.  Later that day, they went on to defeat Boston College 6-1 with Youkilis, Julio Iglesias, and Ryan Kalish all contributing to the score.  

Thursdays game against the Minnesota Twins was a little closer, but the Sox pulled off a 2-1 win with the help of Dustin Pedroia and Mark Wagner at bat.  They suffered a couple losses on Friday and Saturday: a 0-5 loss against the Twins, followed by a 4-6 loss against Tampa Bay.  

However, they looked better again later Saturday with a 9-3 victory over the Twins, in which Tug Hulett pinch hit for David Ortiz to score a three run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning.  John Lackey looked great on the mound, retiring all six Twin batters he faced.  

Finally, on Sunday the Sox finished out the weekend with a 5-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles.  Lowrie had two hits, but Mark Wagner was the key factor with his go ahead home run in the top of the ninth inning.  Clay Buchholz seemed a little rusty on the mound, but was supported by Boof Bonser later on with 2 scoreless innings.