stevenlourie's Boston Red Sox fan blog

The Red Sox took on the Rangers today looking to win their 5th in 6 games and avenge their loss to the Rangers last night. Also, because the Rays were shutout by the red hot Blue Jays earlier today, losing 1-0, a win by the Red Sox would mean that they would be only 1.5 back of the Rays heading into an intriguing matchup in Boston between the Rays and Sox which begins Monday. The Yankees lost today as well and fell into 4th in the AL East, below the Jays, showing once again that a big payroll does not equal success. They are all but out of it.

So the Sox sent recent acquisition Paul Byrd to the mound tonight to face off with young Rangers' starter Brandon McCarthy. Byrd has proved to be a very good pickup as he has stabilized the end of their rotation and provided a locker room presence, exactly what the Red Sox acquired him to do. Early 2nd inning RBIs from Alex Cora and Coco Crisp gave the Sox an early 2-0 lead. A David Ortiz two run shot, his 18th, in the 5th pushed it to a 4-0 advantage. 6th inning RBIs from Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, as well as a 7th inning solo shot from Jason Bay, his 27th, made it a 7-0 lead.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/7"

Be careful what you predict because it might come true. Due to an unfavorable matchup, I predicted a poor start from Tim Wakefield in tonight's game against the Rangers and a poor start was what we got. Wakefield gave up 7 runs in the 2nd, an inning which he did not finish. The final line for Wakey, is 1.2 pitched 7 earned and his 10th loss of the season. Even worse is the fact that Red Sox officials think Wakefield possibly reinjured the shoulder that put him on the DL a couple weeks in tonights game and the last thing they need right now is another longterm injury. They should play it safe with Wake and use Michael Bowden to spot start for him his next time around. It would be smart to have caution with Wakefield and a good chance to let Bowden prove that his last start wasn't just a fluke.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/6"

The Red Sox took on the Rangers today. I'll get to that in a moment, but first, some other happenings that could effect the Sox in the long run. The Rays won yesterday over the Yankees. The Red Sox thus gained a half game on the Yankees but fell a half game to the division leading Rays. The Twins ended their long road trip by losing again as they were swept by the Blue Jays. Boston now leads the Twins by 5.5 in the Wild Card. The Jays then helped the Red Sox some more today. They extended their winning streak to 6 in a win over the Rays. The Twins won and the Yankees currently trail the lowly Mariners 3-0 in the 7th as Brandon Morrow has a no hitter going for the Mariners. On to today's game.

Because of the Rays' loss, if the Red Sox were to win over the Rangers, not only would it be their 7th straight win over Texas, but it would move to Red Sox within 2.5 games of the division lead, the closest they would have been in a while. Helping the cause is the return of Mike Lowell and Josh Beckett. Lowell started at 3rd for the first time in over 3 weeks and Beckett made his first start since his return from the DL as well.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/5"

The Red Sox are off today, but plenty of things that are happening that could affect the Sox playoff chances. The Yankees beat the Rays yesterday which put the Sox back within 3 of the Rays in the AL East. The Twins lost to the Blue Jays as the Red Sox allowing the Red Sox to take a commanding 5 game lead in the Wild Card. As of right now, the Twins are losing 1-0 to the Jays and the Rays have a commanding 5-0 lead over the Yankees in the 3rd.

This might actually be the first them that I, as a Red Sox fan, have wanted to see the Yankees win. If the Yankees beat the Rays, they are actually helping the Sox. Right now, the Yankees look to be too far out to do any damage to the Sox, 7 back now, but the Rays are a legitimate threat because of the fact that they are the ones the Sox are chasing.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/4"

The Red Sox were in action tonight, looking for the sweep of their interdivision foes the Baltimore Orioles and looking to perhaps gain some ground on the elusive Rays in the AL East standings. These games are especially big for the Red Sox because, with the Rays and Yankees playing each other, if the Red Sox win, it would guarantee that the Red Sox either gain a game on the Rays in the AL East or add a game to their lead over the Yankees for the Wild Card.

The Red Sox looked sluggish to start the game, most likely because of their injuries. Injuries have ravaged the team over the past few weeks as the Red Sox were without three of their biggest bats in the lineup, Mike Lowell, Kevin Youkilis, and JD Drew once again in tonight’s game. Recent acquisition Mark Kotsay filled in for Kevin Youkilis at first. Rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie played third base once again in place of Lowell, while utility man Alex Cora played in place of Lowrie at short. Coco Crisp filled in for Drew in the outfield. However, injuries are excuses, and their injuries are not an excuse for the fact that after 6 innings of play, the Red Sox were losing 4-0.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/3"