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Photo: Safe on first at McCoy

Journal photo / Kathy Borchers
PawSox' Willie Harris gets safely back to first as first baseman Garrett Jones takes the throw from the Rochester Red Wings' pitcher. The Pawtucket team won today's afternoon game at McCoy Stadium, 5-0.

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 5:42 PM | Permalink

Manny, Francona race for 200; PawSox beat Rochester

From today's official club game notes:

Two hundred is the magic number tonight for two important Red Sox. Manager Terry Francona is looking for his 200th win as Boston skipper, and Manny Ramirez's next home run will be his 200th with the team. Ramirez, who is off to a poor start at the plate, hit 236 with Cleveland; he will become the fourth player in major-league history to bang 200 home runs each with two different teams (after Jimmy Foxx, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro).

Ramirez also has more home runs against Toronto than any other player in history; his 47 home runs give Manny the comfortable edge over Alex Rodriguez, the active runner-up, with 39. And David Ortiz has gone long against the Jays 19 times since joining Boston, the most by any player in that span.

At McCoy Stadium this afternoon, the PawSox beat the Rochester Red Wings, 5-0, to earn a split of the four-game series. Enrique Wilson hit a two-run home run and Matt Ginter pitched five shutout innings, extending his scoreless innings streak to 10, The Associated Press reports. Pawtucket is now 4-3 on the season.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 3:59 PM | Permalink

Don't expect a Yanks loss today

Their offense is humming after a rough patch on the West Coast. They have Randy Johnson scheduled to take the mound. But more than anything, the New York Yankees have the opposition decidedly in their favor today. When the Yanks clobbered the sorry Royals, 12-5, yesterday, it was the 13th consecutive time they have beaten Kansas City at Yankee Stadium. The teams meet again today at 1:05. The last time the Royals won in the Bronx was in August 2002, according to the Associated Press. The AP says that this is New York's longest home winning streak against any one team since they beat the Cleveland Indians 19 times in a row from 1960 to 1962. Strangely, Kansas City did sweep the Yankees during the teams' only series at Kauffman Stadium last year.

By the way, for all the talk about the Red Sox' great pitching and the Yankees' great offense, New York actually has a better team E.R.A. than the Red Sox so far (3.82 to 4.31). Yankee pitchers have given up fewer hits (77 to 65) in the same number of games, they've struck out more batters (50 to 46) and walked the same number (21).

Kevin Millar's two home runs weren't enough last night, as his Baltimore Orioles fell, 7-4, to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. They weren't even enough to give Millar the line of the night. That would have to go to Orioles starter Daniel Cabrera, the young fireballer who pitches like he's strafing the territory around home plate. He had 10 strikeouts and 9 walks in 5 innings last night (he didn't figure in the decision), and threw a remarkable 117 pitches. You may remember that Friday saw Cabrera walk 7 in less than 2 innings against the Red Sox.

Round 2 in the Pedro-vs.-Guillen battle was a clear victory for Pedro. His Mets now have the best record in the majors, 6-1. ESPN2 has the Phillies and the Braves tonight from Turner Field. The Braves, known for their pitching for so long, bring the National League's worst team E.R.A. (6.63) into the game. To reiterate: It's looking good for the Mets.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 10:06 AM | Permalink