Great night from Wake, he had them baffled all night long. Big night from Manny and Ortiz hit a bomb. Rookie night on Weds with Clay going, he has been in a grove lately hopefully it continues against the Tigers. Thursday night should be a pretty sweet game with Beckett against Verlander.
Just Manny being Manny..... http://ballhype.com/video/manny_ramirez_catch_high_five_and_throw_for_double/
That Manny catch was great. He's pure entertainment 24/7. As for the pitching, they're in a slump right now. It happens. Although I'm worried about Okajima, it looks like you can't bring him into games with runners on base, same thing happened with Timlin in '05. Bad bullpen coaching hurt us yesterday.
Was at the Sox game today, I was surprised by the number of Brewer fans there today. Beckett was definitely a mystery today. He was dealing (struck out 9 in 7 innings) but then he would hang curveballs and they were hit a long way (he hung curves to Braun twice and Hardy). But hey a W is a W. It's too bad Gagne didn't pitch this series that would have been fun. Some news: Masterson is pitching Tuesday then being sent down on Wednesday with Bartolo Colon making his Red Sox debut. 4 game series with KC coming up, a sweep would be great but we can't go less than 3 out of 4 especially at home.
JON LESTER!!!!!!!!! NO HITTER! No one in baseball deserved that more than him. Congrats Jon, no matter what happens to your career no one can take away your Game 4 WS title or your no hitter.
Congratulations to Jon Lester. What a calendar year he's had. (Where was that breaking news on ESPN when Anibal Sanchez had his no-hitter?)
Interesting fact: Jason Varitek has caught the most no hitters in MLB history with 4 (Nomo, Lowe, Buchholz and Lester) and just missed #5 with Schilling last year. Wow I'm still pumped up from this game. Maybe this is the game that turns Lester into the projected #2 starter in the MLB that scouts think he could be.
Been a while since I posted in this thread, congrats to Jon Lester on the no-hitter after everything he has been through the past couple years he deserves it. Lets hope this leads to many more great things from him.
Way to go Lester, what a great story. All in all it was a team accomplishment, with the veteran guidance of Tek and that amazing catch by Ellsbury. The talented youth on this team continues to amaze me, which of course leads back to an excellent job by the FO, especially Theo.
I can't believe people have forgot about Anibal Sanchez. He was involved in the most lopsided trade in baseball history. Yes Lester, what more can you say he is just a special kid. The whole team made it a point to give Lester some love. Hard not to say the Sox are just lounging in baseball heaven. World Series Titles, last 2 no-hitters by our two young stud pitching, one of the top 3, 3-4 combo's of all-time, and of course Manny being Manny. Masterson on the hill tonight, been alittle roughed up in the minors since his great start for the Sox, so hopefully he focuses and can put it together tonight.
I honestly forgot about the worst trade in the history of baseball. Wow what a difference 2 years makes huh? Anyway the Sox keep rolling and right now they have some serious pitching depth with Masterson showing he can handle big league hitters and now Colon is back from the DL. Anything we can get out of Colon is a bonus, I don't think he'll last the whole year but if he can give the team 10 to 15 starts and 7 wins or so I'll be happy. We just need him to eat innings so we can keep the younger guys fresh.
I thought he pitched pretty well. The Royals didn't hit one hard ball off of him, just a few bloopers (although it's the Royals). He threw strikes and was hitting 93-95 almost the whole game, only threw about 70 pitches. It will be interesting to see how he does in his next few starts because he was fine last year in his first 5 or 6 starts and then was just terrible. I'm not expecting much from him so whatever he gives the team is a bonus.
I saw that on Sportscenter,that's good news for Bart(and the Sox).I wasn't sure he was going to get his velocity back.It's only one start,but I'm hopin' for the best for Colon.
Another strong start from Colon, which we needed badly, we lost 7 straight on the road. The A's have really been a thorn in our back so far this year.
I'm not worried about the poor play on the road. It will even out. I am concerned about the bullpen minus Papelbon and Okajima. I mean they have some talented hard throwing arms in Aarsdma, Hansen and Delcarmen but they still scare me as does Lopez and Timlin.
Early word is that Masterson will take the ball on Monday or Tuesday for Matsuzaka. I hope his injury isn't serious and really just is a tired arm. With the pitching depth the team has it would be nice if we could rest all of the starters sometime during the year ala like they did with Beckett and Schilling last year.
MLB Power Rankings http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/john_donovan/05/30/donovan.PRs530/index.html?eref=T1
It was nice seeing Manny hit #500 now maybe he will get back on track and start pounding the ball again. Hopefully Ortiz's wrist injury isn't serious. Nice to see the team win 2 games in a row on the road.
Bad news for the Sox today, first Okajima blows tonight's game and now Ortiz is out for at least 1 month, possibly more. I think the Sox should call up Moss and put him in LF/DH. The Sox can't afford to have Coco's bat in the line up everyday.
This is awful news he could possibly miss the rest of the season if the tendon doesn't get any better in a month span. If the worst does happen I expect a move from Theo at the trading deadline. Hope for the best otherwise this season just became much more difficult for the Sox.
I think it's much to early to think about trades. The last thing Theo and Co will do is panic and make a move without knowing for sure how long Ortiz will be out. The good thing is the Sox have some options they can turn to like Moss or even Chris Carter who is pounding the ball at Triple A right now. I think you'll see them give both guys a shot first. It is also nice that the DH spot is open for guys like Manny, Youkilis, Drew and Lowell can use it to rest but still keep them in the line up. Don't get me wrong this injury really hurts but the good thing is its in June and now August, Sept or Oct..... (yet).
3-4 weeks is the thing I am hearing right now. Masterson had another strong start last night, and the offense showed up too. Masterson won't get much pub. for his start last night because of Joba's great 2.1 innings and thats ok with me. Any Yankee fan want to revisit this debate right now. Lester, Buchholz, Masterson >> Joba, Hughes, Kennedy
I think it's pretty amazing what a job the front office has done drafting players lately. The talent is off the charts. They do an excellent job picking players that have good strong make up and can handle the pressure of Fenway. Before the season the Sox were ranked #2 by Baseball America and some of the guys still in the minors like Bard, Bowden, Lars Anderson are putting up big numbers in the minors. If you factor in the way the Sox develop players and also the cash they can throw around for free agents, this franchise is going to be good for a long long time.
No debate at this point in time...hands down the scale is heavily on the Sox side. Question, what do you think they do with the Rotation if/when Schilling returns? He is starting to throw off the mound correct? Figure July timeframe, right?
Schilling is suppose to throw off the mound next week I believe, June 10th I want to say. As for if/when Schilling comes back, who knows. It all depends on who's pitching well, if someone is hurt etc. Personally I'd be shocked if Colon was still in the rotation by August, so maybe Schilling takes his spot. Depending on how big a lead they have if they're in first or how far out there are of the playoffs you might see a 6 man rotation once or twice a month. Plus I'm almost positive every member of the Sox rotation will take a mini-vacation (like what Beckett did last year in June) so they can limit their innings pitched to keep them fresh for October. If i had to guess I'd say on September 1 a rotation of Beckett, Matsuzaka, Lester, Buchholz and Wakefield with Masterson as set up man in the pen.
Interesting....CBS site: News: Boston right-hander Curt Schilling took a significant step in his effort to return from an injured right shoulder when he threw 25 pitches off a bullpen mound at Fenway Park. The session Wednesday was the first time Schilling had thrown off a mound since he was placed on the 60-day disabled during spring training. Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Schilling's sole complaint was that only 22 of the 25 pitches were strikes. Francona said the 41-year-old veteran will head back to the mound Friday planning to throw 35 pitches. Analysis: Schilling signed a one-year, $8 million, incentive-laden contract with the Red Sox before being diagnosed with right shoulder weakness. He has been steadily building toward throwing off a mound in the weeks before the first formal session, including shoulder and arm exercises. Barring setbacks, we could see Schilling return to the Red Sox rotation in July.
Well then I stand corrected. Thanks for the update. EDIT: I misunderstood what they said in the Sox pregame show, I guess his next schedule pitching session will be June 10th.
