June 28, Red Sox vs. Mets Game Blog

I am changing up the format tonight, so you will have to read from the top to the bottom as opposed to the bottom to the top and it will be under just this post.

They just played a video montage of all of Pedro's great moments with the Sox with a pretty good song behind it, but I don't know what is was, some song by a woman and it was kind of melancholy to listen to, but the lyrics fit perfectly.
Oh, one of my favorite commercials is on! It's this old man, who has been a Yankees fan since 1933, but he met Jonathan Papelbon and thinks that he's the All-American boy, so now he roots for Papelbon and the Red Sox and at the end of the commercial they took away his Yankee cap and replaced it with a Sox cap! You have to love that.
Still waiting for the first pitch here as I contemplate whether I start dinner now or not. BTW, the Celtics traded away their number seven pick tonight for Portland's Sebastian Telfair and Theo Ratliff. The C's also included Raef and Dan Dickau. Yes, they got out from under Raef's contract!

First Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Where available if you select the "SAP" button on your TV set this telecast will be in Spanish. Buenos Noches Amigos!
Beckett gets the leadoff guy, shortstop Jose Reyes to fly to left center to Coco.
Beckett just got the catcher Paul La Duca to pop up to Youk for out number two.
The center fielder Carlos Beltran just grounded out to Loretta at second on the first pitch as Beckett throws just eight pitches.
Here comes Pedro to take the mound. Pretty much a full standing ovation. Last night, they played a video montage following the end of the first inning and before the beginning of the second and Pedro watched it and the crowd got pretty whipped up and then he stepped out of the dugout and the place erupted for him. I couldn't believe it. They went nuts!

Youk takes a first pitch strike from Pedro and then Youk singles over short on the next pitch!
Here comes Loretta, who has a 10-game hitting streak going. Right now, Pedro's hitting 85 on the gun with his fastball. I didn't realize he had lost so much velocity, but ball two was just 86. Loretta singles to right on a 2-1 pitch to extend the streak to 11 and Youk goes to second!
Big Papi just grounded back to Pedro, Pedro makes the play, but then looks to third and doesn't throw it, then looks to second and doesn't throw it and has to go to first to make it second and third with one out. He's really rattled by this whole situation of pitching against his former mates.
He just threw a 1-1 fastball at 91 mph to Manny, so I guess he can dial it up when he needs to. 3-1 to Manny and he walks him, fastball outside to load the bases for Trot. Trot just hit a fly ball to the track in center field on a change up and Youk scores the first Sox run to make it 1-0.
Here's Tek. Pedro just dropped in a side-arm curveball at 73 mph to make it 1-1 to the Captain. Tek fouls it back to make it 2-2. Tek grounds a squeaker up the middle that just gets through into center field to plate Loretta to give the Sox a 2-0 lead. First and second with two outs.
Mike Lowell at the plate. Wow! Two nights in a row! The Mets' rookie left fielder just blew a fly ball that came down just in front of the wall and just popped out of his glove to give the Sox a 4-0 lead! Lowell stands on second as Coco steps in. Last night Milledge totally lost track of the ball in the wind and it landed beside him for a Manny double (would have been a triple for any other player, who hustles). Coco just grounded to Jose Valentin at second to finally get out of the inning. Pedro's thrown like 30 pitches already.
Teams R H E
Mets 0 0 1
Sox 4 3 0

Second Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Carlos Delgado leads off the second for the Mets and waves at a 2-1 fastball away from Delgado to even the count at 2-2. Beckett makes Delgado look pretty bad with an 85 mph change up on the outer half.
David Wright, who has just mashed this year in the NL is up. Ground ball to Alex Gonzalez' right, stabs and throws for the out.
Here's Jose Valentin. I can't believe this guy still has a job in major league baseball as Beckett gets him swinging to end the inning :-)

Gonzalez leads it off. NESN just showed a great stat. In Pedro's 15 starts this season, he's allowed just five first-inning runs. Tonight: FOUR A-Gon grounds out to Reyes at short.
Already back to the top of the order as Youk digs in. 2-2 to the first baseman. Pedro goes full with a breaking ball well of the plate. Wow, Lasting's Milledge is awful! Youk just hit a fly ball to left-center (more left than center) and Milledge just stood there, while Beltran ran all the way from center and had to dive to make the catch. I can't imagine the vets are liking this kid too much right now. This is the same guy, who after hitting his first major league homer a few weeks ago, was slapping five with fans after he scored and his teammates killed him for it.
True to form, Pedro just came too far inside to Loretta and hit him on the hand. Didn't look too serious.
Pedro just got Ortiz to hit into the shift with a ground ball to deep second base as Valentin (pronounced Valenteen) throws to Delgado to get the final out.
Teams R H E
Mets 0 0 1
Sox 4 3 0

Third Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Oh, NESN gimmick time. Ron Darling from the Mets broadcasting team has just changed places with Jerry Remy for this inning. Remy is now with Keith Hernandez and Gary Cohen and Don Orsillo is with Darling. You might remember that both Darling and Hernandez were on the '86 Mets.
Wow, Beckett just punched out the right fielder, Endy Chavez with a cut fast ball that cut from the inner half of the plate to the inside corner to get the lefty for out number one.
Ramon Castro, the catcher, just watched a 1-2 fastball that just missed the outside corner to make it 2-2. Beckett misses with a curveball for a full count, but his bender looks pretty nasty tonight. Castro must have been sitting on a fastball, because he just drove it back up the middle into center field on a line.
Here's Milledge, let's see what he can do with the bat. Two games at Fenway and two errors. He came into the game without an error on the season since being called up from Norfolk at the end of May. I should mention that Ron Darling is a local boy from Millbury, MA. Beckett just blew a 95 mph heater past Lastings and just froze him with an overhand curveball for strike three and out number two.
Reyes takes a fastball for a strike to make it 0-1. Beckett looks so good right now. Great velocity, great curveball and the one change I saw him throw was very good as he gets Reyes to ground into a fielder's choice as Loretta flips to Gonzo at second to end the inning.

I'll probably jinx them here, but the Sox haven't made an error in a club-record 14 straight games and the AL record is only 15 straight by Texas in 1996.
Manny leads it off for the Sox. Another little known Ron Darling note. He was in the movie "Shallow Hal" with Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow, which is hilarious, by the way. It's 2-2 on Manny right now as he fouls off a pitch. He just pulled the previous pitch just foul of the pole down the left field line. Manny ropes a change up down the left field line for a double and this outing really reminds me of the one when Pedro got owned by the Yankees at the Stadium when he called them his Daddy.
2-1 count to Nixon. Nixon lines it to center as Manny cruises around third base to score as Beltran's throw is off the mark on the third base side of the plate. 5-0 BoSox.
Here's Tek with Trot on first. 1-1 the count. Tek rips a single to right field just inside the bag at first to get Nixon to third. 56 pitches for Pedro in the third inning with runners on first and third and no outs.
Mike "I'm all about anything double" Lowell just sent a ground ball to Reyes as he dives to his left and shovels the ball with his glove to Valentin to turn the double play as Nixon socres to give the Sox a 6-0 lead. Man, Darling is going on and on about how the Mets haven't played a team as good as the Sox all year and that the Sox are head and shoulders above the Blue Jays, who they just finished playing.
Pedro just missed with a 3-2 offspeed pitche to issue a free pass to Coco.
Here's Alex Gonzalez, who has been red-hot with his average all the way up to .266 and as I'm writing he does it again! Two-run homer into the Monster Seats. Second straight night. He drilled a pitch over the Monster seats last night and the Sox now lead 8-0 and Pedro looks so hittable and if anyone had any doubts, I would say that the NL has a lot to do with Pedro's success as the crowd gives the slow "Peeeedro, Peeeedro" chant to taunt him. Guess the fuzzy reminiscing is over for Petey.
He strikes out Youk to end the inning, though.
Teams R H E
Mets 0 1 1
Sox 8 7 0

Fourth Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Lo Duca leads it off for Mets as he flies out to Crisp, who takes a few steps back, just short of the track. Remy's back with Don now and now Don can act like his dopey self again, instead of being all serious and polite to Darling.
Beltran skies a fly ball to Trot, just next to the Pesky Pole in right and after a few steps with a tricky wind, he makes the catch for the second out.
AFLAC Trivia Time! Who are the three Red Sox players, who have been named the All-Star Game MVP? I'm going with Clemens in '86, Pedro in '99 and let's just say Yaz for another one. I know that Lynn hit a grand slam in '83, but that was with the identity crisis Angels (California at that time).
Here's Delgado with a 3-1 count on him. Yikes. Just sat on a fat fastball and crushed it into the stands just behind theMets' pen. 8-1.
Beckett collects himself and gets David Wright to ground to Gonzalez at short, who throws him out to end the inning.

The Who must be hurting for money. They must lead all of Rock and Roll with most commercials using their music. Just saw a car ad with "Magic Bus"

Wow, Pedro's done and here comes Darren Oliver, who was awful when he pitched for the Sox a few years ago. Only the sixth time in Pedro's career he has given up eight or more runs in a game. Whoops. Mark Loretta to lead it off. Just fouled off a 1-2 pitch. You can tell that Don Orsillo really missed Remy while he was in the Mets broadcast booth. He is just lost without Remy as Loretta fouls another one off. Finally, another ball to Loretta and it's 2-2. Fouls another pitch on a slow curveball. AFLAC Answer. Yaz, Clemens and Pedro. Yes! Yaz won it in 1970. Loretta just blooped a soft grounder to short on a full count as Reyes throws him out. They just showed Pedro striking out five All-Stars in the first and second innings of the '99 All-Star Game.
Oliver looked pretty impressive striking out Ortiz on a 1-2 cut fastball.
Here's Manny. Wouldn't surprise me if he went deep here. So much for predictions. He just hit a big two-hop groundball to third and Wright throws him out to end the inning.
Teams R H E
Mets 1 2 1
Sox 8 7 0

They just showed the Ricoh copier commercial. I actually think those are pretty clever. This was the one where the guy needed to make the copies by noon and needed to make 100 of them and he set it for 100 at 11:50 and it takes nine minutes to copy. "I like to push the envelope" he says. I know, but it's not quite Richard Pryor, but there are no jokes from Dan Roche anymore either.

Fifth Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Jose Valentin leads it off by hitting a high popup to third that starts foul and blows back fair for Lowell to squeeze it for the out.
Endy Chavez gets a rare hit for the Mets, but he was hitting over .400 against Beckett, so what do you expect? Hit number three for the Metropolitans as Ramon Castro comes up. 95 mph fastball to even the count at 1-1. Castro fouls off a pitch and the count remains at 1-2. Beckett gets him swinging as Tek hangs onto the foul tip for the second out.
Here's Lastings Millidge. No damage done after the hit as Milledge hits a weak fly ball to Nixon in shallow right.

Here's Trot to lead it off. Trot grounds sharply down the first base line, but Delgado leans down as he moves to his left, scoops it and beats Trot to the bag for the first out.
Tek steps in from the right side vs. the lefty Oliver. 2-2 to Tek and he fouls it back. This is mind boggling, but Oliver looks pretty good as he strikes out Tek swinging at a high curveball off the plate.
Here's Lowell, who has that in-between grey/dark goatee going on. He should just dye it one color or the other. He's like a skunk up there witht that beard. 2-2 the count. Lowell hits it high to left, but the wind knocks it down as it falls just short of the wall and.....Milledge catches it!
Mets 1 3 1
Sox 8 7 0

Foxwoods has brought back their commercial where the chip flies all over the room and then the woman finds it as it falls in front of her and she picks it up and says, "Ah, my lucky chip!" and tucks it into her dress. That's a good one.

Sixth Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Reyes just hit a soft little flair that landed a few hops in front of Loretta...this kid's fast....Loretta just barely threw him out!
Here's the catcher, Lo Duca, although tonight, he's the DH. Beckett just beemed him on the arm with a 1-1 count to put him on first base with one out.
Carlos Beltran steps in. First pitch is down for a ball. He's made easy work of Beltran as the center fielder pops a foul to third for Mike Lowell to put away.
Carlos Delgado comes to the plate and grounds the first pitch weakly to Beckett. He steps and throws and that's the Mets half inning.

Coco leads it off and just dropped a two hopper in front of Reyes as he comes across the diamond, fields it on the short hop, has trouble getting it out of his glove, then finally gets it to first like a shot put and Coco beats it by a step.
Here's Gonzalez with a 1-2 count. Fouls it off to stay alive. Slow curveball way off the plate for ball two. Gonzo checks his swing on a slow curve and runs the count full. Great at-bat as Gonzalez works the walk to put runners at first and second with no outs and Youk coming up.
Slow curveball for ball one that just went off the end of Castro's glove for a passed ball as the runners move up a base into scoring position. Youk blooops it into center field as Beltran was helpless to do anything and Coco scores to give the Sox a 9-1 advantage.
Loretta stands in and fists one in the air to Valentin at second for the first out.
Here's Papi, who has kind of struggled tonight. The struggles continue as he got under that pitch, but it's a fly ball that deep enough to center to score the run from third as Gonzalez comes in with the 10th Red Sox run.
Manny steps in and takes an inside pitch to make it 1-2. Ooh...he waves at a slow pitch to strike out and end the inning.
Teams R H E
Mets 1 3 1
Sox 10 9 0

Seventh Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

As is customary when the Sox get a big lead. Tito just put in some of the "B" team with Willie Harris in left and Gabe Kapler in right. David Wright leads it off by grounding to Lowell at third, who throws him out to keep Wright hitless in six at-bats in the series for the first out.
Jose Valentin hits one deep to right to give Kapler his first action and Kapler keeps going back and back as the ball just keeps on sailing into the pen for a homer as the Mets pull to within 10-2.
Endy Chavez just grounded to Alex Gonzalez for the second out and here's Castro to try and extend the inning with and 0-2 count. Beckett Ks him with a nasty 2-2 curveball to get out of the inning. He's really rolling right now. Onto the Sox seventh as everyone stretches.

Here's Chad Bradford in for the Mets. Of course, he has great numbers for the Mets. You might remember that the Sox traded Jay Payton to Oakland to get him last year and he was good just to get righties out. What a waste of a trade that was. Gabe Kapler leading off the inning. Bradford gets Gabe to ground out to first.
Tek is up for the Sox with a 2-1 count on him, make that 3-1 and he walks him to bring up Lowell. The third base ump just warned the Mets bench about Bradford not coming to a complete stop. I'm surprised he didn't just call a balk on him. 1-2 count as Lowell takes it way outside to even it up at 2-2. Lowell grounds to third for his second twinkilling of the night. Come on Mike! Luckily it's 10-2 and I can't get too upset.
Teams R H E
Mets 2 4 1
Sox 10 9 0

Eighth Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

Here's Beckett to start the eighth vs. Lastings Milledge. Strike one, nasty curveball for strike two and nastier curveball for strike three. Milledge didn't have a chance.
Reyes just flew out to Willie Harris in left for out number two.
Beckett starts Lo Duca wtih a ball. Lo Duca takes the next pitch the other way into the right field corner as Kapler sprints over with his high red socks and slides to cut the ball off, hops up and throws to second as Lo Duca chugs in for a two-out double.
Here's Beltran as he fouls off a 2-0 pitch. He just fouled off another pitch to even the count at 2-2 and Mr. Met and Wally the Green Monster have both taken up residence in the booth just above Don and Jerry as Jerry wonders how Mr. Met got on the plane from New York with his huge baseball head. Beltran fouls off another on on a full count. Another foul. Ooh, big swing, but Beltran fouls it back against Tek's chest protector. He fouls a 95 mph fastball off as Beckett uncorks pitch number 103. The fans are all up on their feet looking for the strikeout as Beltran fouls it off his foot. Fouls another one off. Another foul! Are you kidding me!? He's fouled off seven straight pitches. Here's the 13th pitch of the at-bat, change up outside for ball four. Here comes Tito to pull Beckett after 7 2/3, who leaves to a standing ovation.
Here's one of the Sox newest pitchers. The lefty, who was acquired from Chicago for David Riske, Javier Lopez, not to be confused with the Orioles' catcher. He comes in to face the power-hitting lefty, Carlos Delgado and throws a strike to get ahead at 1-2. Evens at 2-2 with that side-armed delivery. His delivery is so hard for lefties to pick up, because he comes from the extreme left side as he slips a fastball by Delgado's swinging bat for strike three! Good pick-up, Theo.

Pedro Feliciano is now pitching for the Mets. It thought this guy was an opera singer or something. He must be moonlighting when he's not singing.
Coco leads it off from the right side against the southpaw as he takes a 3-1 pitch outside for ball four. Here comes A-Gon. This guy is now hitting .269! Who would have thought he would be even close to .270!? Fouls off a couple 0-2 pitches before slapping his bat out there to catch a Feliciano pitch and fly out to right field for the first out.
Here's Youk with Coco on first. Youk singles to center to push Coco up a base as Loretta steps in with one out. Feliciano, the best Pedro of the night so far, starts him off with two strikes. Feliciano comes in with a curve on the outside corner, but the ump didn't think it caught enough of the plate, so it's 1-2 now as Loretta fouls off a pitch. Loretta gets under it and flies out to deep left center field, where Beltran makes the catch.
Doug Mirabelli is pinch hitting for Ortiz as he takes a first-pitch ball. Dougie swings through a 2-0 pitch to make it 2-1. Fastball in on the hands ties him up as he pops up foul to Delgado at first for the final out of the eighth inning.
Mets 2 5 1
Sox 10 10 0

Ninth Inning - Red Sox vs. Mets

And it's Manny Delcarmen to pitch the ninth for the Sox, facing David Wright. Here's the 2-1 pitch...blew a 96 mph fastball by a swinging Wright for strike two. Strike three with a high fastball. Jose Valentin with one of the two runs on a solo homer. Flies out to deep left field as Willie Harris puts it away in front of the wall.
Endy Chavez won't let the game end, however, as he drives a pitch into the corner in left for a double. Here's Castro to try and keep it going. Delcarmen drops a nasty curve in for strike two to get ahead 0-2. Castro hangs tough, working three balls as any one of them could have been called a strike, they are just off the plate. 3-2 pitch, outside corner strike three! Game over! 11 straight for the Sox, longest streak since '95 and Beckett gets win number 10!

Final: Red Sox 10, Mets 2

Boston Red Sox
Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
K Youkilis 1B	5	1	3	1	0	1	0	.318
M Loretta 2B	4	1	1	0	0	0	4	.317
D Ortiz DH	3	0	0	1	0	1	2	.264
a-D Mirabelli PH-C	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	.154
M Ramirez LF	3	2	1	0	1	1	1	.302
W Harris LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.163
T Nixon RF	2	1	1	2	0	0	1	.330
G Kapler RF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.455
J Varitek C	3	1	2	1	1	1	0	.256
M Delcarmen P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
M Lowell 3B	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	.307
C Crisp CF	2	2	1	0	2	0	1	.292
A Gonzalez SS	3	2	1	2	1	0	1	.268
Totals	31	10	10	7	5	4	16

Boston Red Sox
Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
J Beckett (W, 10-3)	7.2	5	2	2	1	7	2	106-69	4.64
J Lopez	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0	5-3	2.08
M Delcarmen	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0	15-10	4.76
Totals	9.0	6	2	2	1	10	2	126-82

I'm not sure of my next game blog, so I'll have to keep you posted. Sorry I wasn't so quippy tonight, I think I am still disappointed that I wasn't at this game. My connection at MLB let me down! :-(
Oh well.

Next Game Blog

The next Sox game blog will be next Wednesday. Word on the street is that Pedro is pitching that game. I think Beckett goes for the Sox. I hope you enjoyed it. I have to eat!

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Final - Sox 9, Nats 3

Here's a box on the Sox

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
K Youkilis 1B	5	1	2	0	0	1	1	.319
M Loretta 2B	5	1	3	0	0	0	0	.308
D Ortiz DH	4	2	2	4	1	1	2	.267
M Ramirez LF	3	1	1	1	1	0	4	.288
G Kapler LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.571
T Nixon RF	5	2	3	2	0	0	3	.333
J Varitek C	4	0	2	1	1	0	3	.262
M Lowell 3B	4	0	0	0	1	0	1	.307
C Crisp CF	5	0	1	0	0	1	2	.280
A Gonzalez SS	4	2	2	0	0	0	3	.255
Totals	40	9	16	8	4	3	19

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
J Lester (W, 2-0)	6.0	3	1	1	2	10	0	107-69	2.76
R Seanez	1.0	2	1	1	0	2	0	20-12	4.50
M Delcarmen	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12-6	5.02
J Tavarez	1.0	2	1	1	1	0	0	20-12	5.94
Totals	9.0	7	3	3	3	12	0	159-99

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Ninth Inning - Sox 9, Nats 2

Julian Tavarez is in for the Sox, just hoping that nobody gets hit.
Daryl Ward just hit a pinch-hit double to the base of the wall closer to the left field stands.
Royce Clayton now. If only this guy was any good, he could have been pitching elite cars. Who name's their kid after a car, anyway? Come to think of it, a lot of people. Mercedes, Ford, Lexus, Suzuki (I'm sure there's someone named that). Toyota has a nice ring to it. Maybe I can name my kid Volvo.
Oh, Clayton grounded to second. One out.
Brian Schneider just looked awful on a curveball to make it 2-2 with Ward on third now. Ball three. Full count. Could be a record for full counts in a single game by both teams.
He walked him, because everyone knows you can't possibly have an easy inning in the ninth from him. Anyone seen Steve Crawford?
2-0 to Damien Jackson. You guessed it...2-0 fastball right down the middle, single to center, 9-3.
Maybe we should bring in Jason Johnson here for that ground ball for the DP.
Okay, that wasn't Schneider, who walked, it was Fick. They both look the same, I swear.
Schneider just grounded to Youk's right, made a great back-handed stab and threw to Tavarez covering. Two outs.
Soriano just grounded to Loretta's right, makes the play to his backhand, whirls, jumps, throws, out! Game over!
Lester gets win number two!

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Eighth Inning - Sox 9, Nats 2

Wake just struck out Bernie from Bernie and Phyls furniture like eight times on one knuckleball. That crazy Bernie, he had to give him a free bed, because with Tim's salary, he's so hard up to buy a bed on his own.
Hyde Park's own Manny Delcarmen is in the ball game. The pride of West Roxbury High School, I might add.
Maybe they'll erect a statue near the bowling alley on Centre Street to honor him.
Vidro just grounded out to Loretta, one down.
Okay, now Orsillo is talking to Remy about fishing. Remy made a joke that was kind of funny, but not really and Orsillo is ready to call 911 because he's overcome with laughter. How corny is this guy?
3-1 to Guillen...I'm not sure what happened, but he made an out. The stove was beeping because my ziti is up.
Zimmerman flies out to Trot in right as Orsillo barely makes it through the inning through his laughter.
Manny just flew out to left.
Here's Trot. Two hits and two RBIs already. The guy is on fire! The Yankees are up, 5-0.
Trot singles up the middle as the new pitcher Gary Majewski almost has his glove taken off.
Tek up with one out and Trot on first with a 3-0 count. I don't think he's swinging in the eighth up by seven runs. Nope, ball four.
Lowell grounds to Zimmerman at third, takes a tough hop, off his shoulder, he gathers, throws high to first, Fick jumps up, comes up with it and down on the bag for the out. Runners on second and third with two outs and Coo Coo for Coco is up.
Ouch, swings at an outside fastball on a 2-2 count to end the inning.

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Seventh Inning - Sox 9, Nats 1

Gabe Kapler takes over in left.
I'm not sure why, but Lester is out of the ball game and here comes Rudy Seanez. Is this really necessary?
Shocking. Base hit by Clayton to lead off the inning.
Lester has 107 pitches. That's why. That's what happens when you strike out 10 guys...a lot of pitches.
Robert Fick takes a strike to make it 1-1. Clayton steals second, well, actually, the Sox allow him to move to second with a 9-1 lead as Fick's count goes to 1-2. Oops, wild pitch, Clayton to third. Okay, Seanez just turned a 1-2 count into a full one. Base hit to center and the Nats close to within 9-2. I don't think anyone's going to be chanting, "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy" anytime soon. Anyone know the whereabouts of Rich Garces? How about Bryce Florie?
Seanez is 2-1 on Damien Jackson and just got a gift call on a low curveball to even to 2-2. Ball three. Are you kidding me? Cut the cord, get rid of this guy! Wow, the ballpark is in shock as Seanez drops a curveball in for a strike out.
Fick takes second on the pitch.
Here's Brian Schneider. Just tried to jack an inside offspeed pitch out of the park and the count is 1-1. Rudy evens the count with another curveball at 2-2 and strikes him out!
Soriano bails out Rudy and pops a foul to first that Youk takes care of. On to the bottom of the seventh and I need to stretch.
Saul Rivera is now in for the Nats and has a 1-2 count on Youk. I missed the Dunkin Donuts musical montage because I was boiling some ziti on the stove....I know it's late, but this blogging is time consuming!
Youk just launched a 2-2 pitch that sent Soriano backpeddling against the wall, but he caught it! I wonder if he has bonuses written into his contract for every outfield putout he makes.
Loretta ground ball to Zimmerman at third, dives to his left, gets up, underhanded toss to first. Nice play.
David Ortiz takes a slow curveball for strike two in as many pitches. Ortiz just popped up high to right field, went through a hole in the ozone layer and came back down for the out. Seven innings in the books.

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Sixth Inning - Sox 5, Nats 1

Okay, back to my rant on Jason Johnson. The Sox logic is that he's third in the league in groundballs. I guess I can see that logic in that the Sox infield defense is ridiculous and would probably eliminate a lot of hits that got through the Indians' defense, but come one, 31 more hits than innings pitched? Bobby Witt used to be among the league leader in Ks when he pitched for the Rangers, but the reason he wasn't that great was because when he wasn't striking guys out, he was giving up hits! When Johnson's not throwing ground balls, he's getting whiplash from giving up a hit every inning.
Vidro leads it off and hits a 2-1 pitch to right, Nixon back and squeezes for the out.
Okay, it's the sixth, so that means that Jerry and Don have lost interest. They're focusing on Bill Hassleman rolling up a huge chaw of tobacco in some gum. They just showed in camera. Anyway, Guillen just walked. Now, it's the proverbial shots of Remy and Orsillo in the booth as Remy promotes another one of his ventures...I've never seen anyone so shamelessly use a Sox telecast as a commercial. By the way, Zimmerman has a 2-2 count on him. Zimmerman just skyed one to Lowell at third...I think it hit a seagull, but Lowell makes the out. Two down.
Here's Lecroy, he's hoping that the game gets over fast...looks like he has to get up early to get to the work site for his construction gig. Lester just struck him out for number 10!
Oh, my favorite Southwest commercial. "Do you have a space shuttle?", "No", "Do you have a dinosaur?", "No", "What do you have?" "Well, we have an exhibit of the local gopher in it's natural habitat", "Uh, that's not a gopher" (As the stuffed squirrel chases a stuffed snake on a spinning wheel) "Yeah, it is"
Alex "Dustin Pedroia's going to have to wait" Gonzalez is leading off.
Just barely fouled off a 1-2 curveball waaay off the plate. It would have been a strike if the late Eric Gregg was behind the plate. A-Gon, hustle double down the line on a 1-2 pitch.
Youk flies out to right as Theo tells Tina Cervasio why Jason Johnson was signed. Low risk sign for depth. I guess I can buy that. Oil Can Boyd was available too, though. Just can't see the big picture!
Loretta just made an out! Grounded out to short.
Here's Papi...awe, intentional walk....to get to Manny!
Don't be surprised if Manny doubles to the right-center gap. Here comes Randy St. Clair the pitching coach. Another pitcher, who was terrible in his career. At least he's a former Expo. The only team named after a World's Fair, by the way. Manny first pitch swinging, single to left and Soriano fielded it cleanly! Gonzalez scores. 6-1.
Mike Stanton into the game for the Nats.
Good sign by the Sox last year. I think he pitched one inning in the final game of the season. Yeah, thanks.
The Yankees must be playing in the Bizarro World tonight. Jaret Wright started for them and owns a 1-0 lead into the seventh. How does that happen?
2-1 on Nixon. Full count. I love this team! Deep counts, working the pitcher. Double to the gap in left-center as Ortiz and Manny score. 8-1. Great at-bat.
First pitch strike to Tek. Double down the line just inside third into the corner and Trot scores. 9-1. Intentional walk to Mike Lowell.
Here's Coco from the right side. 2-1 count. Ground ball up the middle...base hit! Loaded again.
Gonzalez is the 10th man up in the inning and takes a curveball inside for a strike. Another curveball and Gonzo goes flailing after it for a weak fly ball to right. Inning over and the Sox are in control.

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Fifth Inning - Sox 4, Nats 1

I'm sorry, but there's no way that someone's just going to drop the anniversary cake when they hear the Southwest airlines ding sound, although, I do have to admit that in the other commercial, when the guy hear's the ding, and then falls over the office dividers, that's pretty funny.
Lester starts Fick off with a curveball for a strike. Wow, big curveball for strike two. Not a strike, by the way. Fastball, strike three looking. 8 Ks in 4 1/3 innings.
Oooh, dugout interview with Brad Mills. I'm always wondering what insight he has to offer.
Beachball on the field. Where's Bob Stanley with a rake?!
Here's Damien Jackson. 1-2 count. Lester just threw a great 91-mph fast ball at the knees and didn't get the call, 2-2. Remy's talking about how Brad Mills will be a manager some day...close-ups of him and then Tito on camera...at least Tito didn't pick his nose. Full count. High fastball and inside, ball four. First walk for Lester.
Sweeping curveball to Schneider for strike one. Strike two on a swing and miss. This kid isn't nasty like Paps, but he's like a surgeon just picking guys apart. It's really impressive. Lester has gone either 0-2 or 1-2 on 12 of 18 batters. Little NESN stat there for ya. Ground ball to second, Loretta takes care of it, Jackson to second.
First pitch fastball for a strike to Soriano. Strike two as he pulls the pitch foul. 0-2. This kid is great! That was a strike! Fastball on the outside corner called a ball. Come on! 2-2 Full count. Strike three, high fast ball, Soriano swings through it! Nine Ks in five innings. Nice.
By the way, the Sox traded a bag of balls for Jason Johnson today. At first I thought this was just plain stupid, especially after Kyle Snyder threw a decent game on Monday, now you replace him with a guy who is 40 games under .500 for his career. The guy has a 5.96 ERA this year and has allowed 108 hits in 77 innings. 108! What!
Okay, Nixon's up. Just doubled in the triangle to lead it off. *AFLAC Trivia Answer* Ugueth Urbina. Whoops...I wasn't thinking. The Expos wouldn't have played the Sox until interleague play. My bad.
Anyway, Varitek just singled to left for hit number 10 on the night for the Sox and Nixon goes to third.
Lowell just chipped in with a double-play ball to third...at least the run scored. 5-1, Goodguys.
Here's Coco. Crispy grounds to second, end of inning.

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Fourth Inning - Sox 4, Nats 1

Ryan Zimmerman leads it off. The Yankees are scoreless in the fourth. D.O. just said that Youk is all miked up at first. Gotta love those innocuous (sue me, I don't have an online dictionary here) conversations that go on at first. Zimmerman pops up the 3-2 pitch.
Okay, riveting conversation at first base between Youk and Soriano from a previous inning. Youk asking him how he likes left. Probably should have asked him what it was like to play for the Rangers in 1000 degree heat, while his pitchers gave up 10 runs a game and then get traded to the Nats, who play in a park that should be condemned.
Matt Lecroy just struck out. This is the guy that had seven guys steal on him a few weeks ago (I'm not making that up) and Frank Robinson actually had to pull him in the middle of the inning.
Royce Clayton up. He replaced Ozzie Smith in Saint Louis. Ozzie's a Hall of Famer, Royce is working on being remembered with greats like Spike Owen, Buddy Biancalana and U.L. Washington. Clayton just looked foolish on a curveball.
Here it is! Just like the sun rising every day. "Not too close, what you think I got that insurance?" "What insurance is that Yogi?" Can't go a night without that one. A night, that one has been running three straight seasons! How much dough is Yogi raking in in risiduals! Oh, here's a new one with that guy from American Idol, the one who has Steve Martin disease and has grey hair at age 35 or whatever he is.
Okay, Sox up.
Alex Gonzalez leads it off. Ground ball to Zimmerman at third, almost eats him up, but he recovers and throws A-Gon out. I know, dumb nickname, but I didn't come up with it.
Here's Youk. Now hitting .323. Schneider is wearign this stormtrooper colored chest protector with matching shin guards and it looks really dumb. Just thought I'd throw that in there. Youk just struck out on a 3-2 pitch.
AFLAC Trivia Question. Who was the Expos' winning pitcher in their first-ever meeting with the Sox. I'm guessing Steve Rogers. Who the hell knows.
Mark "I'm a machine" Loretta just singled again. Opposite hit. 3-3
Here come Big Giant Papi. I'm in shock that the Fenway Faithful aren't giving him a standing ovation for the grandslam. Doesn't take much when he's up. He just roped one into the seats on the right side (like I had to say which side), 1-2 count. 2-2 count. Just laced a single off Vidro's glove, or maybe it was Clayton's or maybe it was Zimmerman's...could have been anyone with that dopey shift on. Anyway, it's a single and Loretta goes to third. Heeeere's Manny!
Just in case you were wondering, Red Sox baseball is brought to you by your local Subaru dealers. 2-0 the count. If this kid throws a fastball, it's on the pike. Nope, breaking ball. 3-0. Green light? It's Manny, he's not swinging. Curveball drops in for a strike. Shawn Hill the only person in the park that thought he would swing. Another curveball. Full count. The crowd getting loud, as usual. Manny smokes one to right, but Guillen hails it in.

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Third Inning Sox 4, Nats 0

I just noticed that I have a bump along the underside of my jaw. Yeah, that's what happens when you don't feel for the fence. I ran into it trying to rob a homer in softball after work today. Needless to say, the fence won...I had the ball and then helped it over.
Speaking of not looking where you're going, Damien Jackson leads off the third. Lester starts him off 3-0, but I thought the first pitch was a strike. Yep, looked just like the fourth pitch that was called a strike. 3-1. Full count. Gotta love how he battles. Jackson just tattooed the wall in left. Didn't carom off the wall...bounced off it and over Manny, who took his sweet time to pick it up and lob it in as Jackson coasts into second for the leadoff double.
Here's Brian Schneider. This is the guy that the Sox were rumored to be looking at if they didn't re-sign Tek. Yeah, he just fanned on three pitches. Thanks for coming.
Soriano just hit a flare over Youk's head at first as Jackson scores. It looked like someone just threw it over Youk's head like an overthrow on a screen pass or one of those fake fly balls over Roy Hobbs' head in The Natural.
Jose Vidro up. Man, Lester's curveball just sets all of his other pitches up. 0-2 to Vidro after he fouls one off and Lester comes right back with a fast ball on the inside corner. Two dead.
Here's Jose Guillen. This guy was just a ray of sunshine that the Angels actually released him in the last month of a pennant race in 2004, when he was having a really good year. That really says something. First pitch, first strike fastball. *Jerry Remy playing days story alert* How many times have we heard about how Dick Williams was RemDawg's first manager and how hard he was? Everyone knows he was a hardass to play for! Why not tell the story about how the cops found him in his underwear a few years ago at a hotel. Kind of brought the Hall of Fame support to a screeching halt. 3-1 on Guillen, by the way. Deep fly to left at the wall and....Manny just kind of sticks his glove out as he's trotting to the wall, chewing his gum and the ball lands in his glove, kind of like when you get lucky and toss a sugar cube into your coffee from 15 feet away. Well, maybe you don't do that, but I'm sure that someone does. Onto the bottom of the third, Sox lead 4-1.
Tek leads it off. Nipper's in the dugout talking to Lester. I always wonder what big time stud pitchers think when they have a pitching coach, who was mediocore (sp) at best or just plain stunk, talking to them. Tek grounds out to second.
Here's Tina Cervasio, the anti-Hazel Mae. Tito talking about Lester and being young and blah, blah, blah...how cliche is this? We know he's young, we know this is all new to him. Sheesh.
Oh yeah, Lowell, just grounded out to short. Two outs.
Here's Coco. I wonder if he learned how to hit by watching video of Carl Everett. Everytime he bats lefthanded (he's a switch hitter), he always jerks his head toward the Sox dugout, like he's trying to get some mustard off of his chin. Ground out to second, inning over. Oh, here's Hazel. At least she's looking G-rated during the promo for tonight's NESN sportsdesk, but we all know the Red Sox Rewind commercial is coming.

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - Second Inning - Nats 0, Sox 0

Ryan Zimmerman leads off the inning. 10 pitches in the first for Lester. 1-2 count. I love that this kid gets ahead of the hitters all the time. Big curve ball for a 2-2 count. His bender is kind of like Bruce Hurst's. Full count. Zimmerman was a first round pick of the Nats last year and he's already up and has over 40 ribbies. Not bad for a rube. Battling here...seven pitches he's seen. Fly ball to Manny and he hauls it in for the out. At first when he looked up, it was also like he was inconvenienced that a ball was coming his way.
Matthew Lecroy is up. This guy is pretty fat. Fly ball to Manny, he puts it a away. He's on pace for the gold glove at this rate. Two down.
Strike one to Clayton. Make that two. His cutter is nasty on righties. Comes in on them and by the time you realize it's a ball, you're already swinging. Ground ball to Lowell, dives to his left, gets up on one knee, high throw...safe! Wow, you're actually in shock when he doesn't throw a guy out, even on a tough play. That's an infield hit, no error on that one. Bill Mueller doesn't even get to that ball.
Clayton steals second. 3-1 count on Robert Fick. This guy used to hit bombs at the old Tiger Stadium when he first came up. 3-2 count. Lester just dropped a sweeping curveball on the outside corner for strike three and Fick wonders why he even came to the ballpark on that one. Sox coming up.
So far, all of the commercials have been like professional, high quality, real commercials. What the heck is going on here? Has NESN sold out?
I just realized that my blog is on Pacific Time, so no, I didn't time travel to three hours ahead.
Lowell leads it off. Big hop ground ball to Clayton at short for out number one.
*Promo alert, Promo Alert* Remy just did a promo for that Webb plumbing outfit that's on the Monster.
Here's Coco. Slow grounder to Fick at first. Thanks for coming Coco, that swing was awful. Okay, now they're showing some dopey signs that some fans made with Remy and Orsillo's pictures.
Back to the game. Alex "I just set the Sox record for consecutive errorless games at shortstop with 49 straight games" Gonzalez just hit a squeaker up the middle for a single. Seems like it doesn't really matter, Cora, AGon, whoever they play at short is hitting now.
Youk with another hit! First and second, two outs.
Loretta first-pitch single. They're loaded for big Papi!
Big Papi! GrandSlam! and the Red Sox lead, 4-0. and NESN just showed 15 replays from every angle.
Johnny Pesky is in the house.
They just showed Ortiz giving Johnny Pesky a bear hug. I hope they have a defibrilator on hand. Manny just walked.
Trot grounds to Clayton at short, who throws a frisbie to first to get the out and the inning's over.
Guess what? A Foxwoods commercial. That's the NESN I know. I can't wait for the AFLAC commercial!

June 21, Red Sox vs. Nationals - First Inning

First pitch of the game, Lester gets Soriano to foul it off, then follows with two more strikes for the K and the dominance begins! Vidro grounds to third for out number two and Guillen strikes out on four pitches. Pretty economical, I must say.


Okay, having trouble figuring out what the heck I'm doing here..never blogged before. Youk rips a single to left field as the crowd yells YOOOOUK!
Loretta takes the count to 3-2...I love how the Sox make EVERY pitcher throw a million pitches in the first three innings. Loretta drives a ball to left for a single and Soriano actually fielded it cleanly!
Here comes big Papi. No outs, first and second. There's this old guy sitting behind home plate that looks like he's really puzzled, like he can't figure out why the pitcher throws the ball to home plate...oh, wait, that's Jeremy Kapstein, the guy that was rumored to take over as GM for Theo. Ortiz just struck out. I'm not enjoying that.
Here's Manny. I was actually late getting home, but I did see the first pitch, but before I came in Jerry Trupiano said on the radio, "and here's comes Manny out to left field"...except that he was the ONLY player who came onto the field. What planet does this guy think he's on? Oh, just flew out to center. It drives me nuts when these guys get the first two hitters on and then get two outs.
Trot has to get a hit here. The guy's been on fire! He's only hitting .395 at Fenway this year, by the way. This kid Shawn Hill throws a lot of soft junk for the Nats. Ground ball to short...Royce Clayton bobbles it...Nixon's safe! Loaded for Tek.
Dinky ground ball to Vidro at second..inning over. I can hear Joe Castiglione calling this one now, "Ground ball to second, Vidro has it, and he throws to first and the Red Sox squander an opportunity in the first" and you know when he says it, he says it like he just lost his house in the stockmarket. It's the first inning, Joe! Relax.