nice little comeback yesterday.
lotsa bunts.
just how did coco's bunt stay fair?
divine intervention, me thinks.
walking wounded should be back for weekend series in texas...
beckett had a nice little pain-free outing last night -- 5 shutout innings, 4 hits, 7 K's.
lowell also looked healthy, going 3-fer-5 with a dinger and 4 rib's.
tampa's div lead over us is 2.5 games, and we have a 5.5 game wild-cod lead on the twins...
new-comer byrd quieted the ranger bats yesterday -- 6.2 shutout innings, 3 hits, 3 walks (strange for him), 4 K's.
papi went yard, but still has that clicking in his wrist.
thanx to tranna, the rays lead has shrunk to 1.5 games.
we lead the twins by 6.5 games... bring on the rays!
two jon's -- lester & pap -- combined on a 9-hit shutout of the sinking rays, who cling to a paper-thin 1/2 game lead.
the wildcard is almost in the bag -- twins are 7 games back...
last night's 456th fenway sell-out set a major league record...
we cooled off the jays this weekend, taking 3 of 4.
wake pitched a gem friday -- 8 shutout innings, 3 hits, no walks, 4 K's.
nice comeback win last night.
today lester made a case for being a Game One Stahtah -- 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, 6 K's.
MVPedey now has 200 hits & 50 doubles, and leads the AL in batting @ .327...
thanx to the yanx for beating up tampa bay.
their lead has shrunk to 1 game.
we lead the twins by 6 for the wild-card...
wow -- didn't see that coming!
we are now tied with tampa, thanx to an ol' fashioned beat-down at the trop last night.
we clubbed 6 dingers on route to a 13-5 rout.
bay lost one in the catwalk.
i understand it will be coming out of his next paycheck.
dice K (17-2) became the winningest japanese pitcher in a season.
he went 5 innings, gave up a run on 3 hits, walked 2, K'd 7.
pitch-count remains an issue...
@Region Philbis,
Kaz looked more like Yaz...
@Rockhead,
Looked a little like a home run derby last night....
I loved it!!
@Stormwatch,
Kazmir was my starter last night in FBB as well.
I was less enthused than you folks...
@Rockhead,
he looked like someone stole his lunch money...
@Region Philbis,
I'm guessin' his neck hurts...
(excessive swivelling)
@Rockhead,
Kaz was a good pitcher a coupla years ago when he was a Puppy. Heck, he's normally a very good pitcher. I do wonder if there was something off with him. He seemed so defeated, like he'd given up hope. I'll take the win, for sure, but I don't like seeing people being emotionally crushed.
Unless, um, they're Yankees.
@jespah,
He says he felt mechanically very off in warmups...
(I think he was correct)
dice (18-2) pitched maybe his best game in a sawk uni -- 7 shutout innings, 2 measly hits, 2 (count'em) 2 walks, 6 K's.
pap registered save #40, but has a looooong way to go to catch K-rod.
a NYY loss tonight = bahstin clinches wildcard... go O's!
.
................................................ clinch!
question is -- do we coast the rest of the week and allow the banged-up guys to get healthy,
or do we set our sights on those devilish Rays and the div?
@Region Philbis,
Well, I think Job One is to get Dustin outta that shirt. It looks weird. Then again, it's holding about a gallon of Champagne, I'm guessing.
another season in the books.
we finished 95-67, 4th best record in the bigs.
pedroia (.326, 17 hr, 83 rbi, 118 r, 213 h, 20 sb, 6 e) and
youk (.312, 29 hr, 115 rbi, .569 slug) had career years, and should be in the running for AL MVP.
big papi put up decent numbers (23 hr, 89 rbi) despite missing 53 games with a bad wrist -- something that continued to bother him after he came back.
jason bay made us forget a certain long-haired left-fielder.
youngster jed lowrie did a great job filling in for the injured lugo.
the pitching staff threw 17 shutouts this year.
lester (16-6, 3.21, no-no) became the ace of the staff, while dice-K (18-3, 2.90) became a dependable #2 starter.
pap had a career-high 41 saves.
going into the playoffs, the main concerns are the health of lowell & jd drew.
everyone else is more or less ready for the grind...
@Region Philbis,
Plus over this weekend we met a Rabbi who's a dead ringer for Dustin Pedroia. So, Dustin, if you're ever tired of the bigs, oy, perhaps there's a future for you in spiritual service?
@jespah,
I'm sure there will be some praying over the next week or so......
Maybe Pedroia can lead the way