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PawSox close out eight-game road trip with 3-2 loss

The Pawtucket Red Sox had to settle for a split in the series with the Durham Bulls, but still head back to Rhode Island for their 2007 home opener with a 5-3 record after an eight-game swing through the Carolinas.

“I’m excited to get back home because it almost feels like we’ve been on a two month road trip,” Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson said after Thursday night’s 3-2 loss to the Bulls. He pointed out that the Pawsox had just one day at home between spring training and their opening eight-game road swing through the Carolinas.

“If somebody told me at the beginning that we’d be going back 5-3 after playing the games we’ve played … I’m real pleased with what’s been going on,” Johnson said. “Every game has been close.”

The veteran manager wasn’t even upset by his team’s close loss to the Bulls in the finale. The Pawsox were within one pitch of a 2-0 defeat, when Johnson’s team staged a dramatic rally to tie the game.

The Bulls appeared to have the victory wrapped up in the top of the ninth after shutting out the visitors for eight and two-third innings. Catcher George Kottaras, who had doubled, was at second base with two outs and two strikes on third-baseman Chad Spann.

The partisan crowd was standing, anticipating the game-ending third strike, when Spann rocketed Scott Dohmann’s pitch high off the wall in left-center for an RBI double. Moments later, pitch hitter Bobby Scales dumped a single into left, driving in Spann with the tying run.

“We battled back really well,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to look at their pitching staff -- they pretty much dominated us for eight innings. That’s what you want to see out of your club. You want to see situations where guys battle back in the end.”

Unfortunately for the Pawsox, the Durtham Bulls did the same in the bottom of the ninth.

Reliever Craig Hansen (0-1), who had already worked two scoreless innings, walked Justin Ruggiano to lead off the last inning. Ruggiano then stole second and went to third on Kottaras’ overthrow to second.

“They came right back and they executed a nice play on us,” Johnson said. “The guy did a nice job with his jump and the ball went to center-field. In the bottom of the ninth on the road, you’ve got a guy on third with no outs and you’re in big trouble.”

It didn’t take Durham’s Elliott Johnson long to put the Pawsox out of their misery. He bounced a single through the drawn-in infield to plate the game-winning run.

The Pawsox squandered several early chances against Durham starter Jeff Niemann, leaving five runners on in the first four innings.

The Bulls also had trouble converting base runners into runs against Pawktucket starter David Pauley. But left-fielder Chris Richard, who blasted his first homer of the season Tuesday, led off the fourth inning with a shot deep into the right-field bleachers. Designated hitter Jorge Cantu followed with a double high off the wall in left-center, then came home two outs later, when catcher Raul Casanova doubled into the right-centerfield gap.

Those two runs were all that either team could manage until the ninth-inning drama.

The Pawsox return home for their home opener Friday night when the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees visit McCoy Stadium.

--AL FEATHERSTON (Special to the Journal)

Posted by Corey Bourassa  at 10:25 PM | Permalink

New rotation

Due to tonight's postponement, Terry Francona has tweaked his starting rotation a bit.

Tim Wakefield will pitch tomorrow against the Los Angeles. Curt Schilling will work Saturday, Josh Beckett on Sunday and Julian Tavarez is scheduled to pitch on Monday. Daisuke Matsuzaka will be pushed back a day and throw on Tuesday in Toronto.

Because this weather could last through the weekend, the rotation could change again.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 4:40 PM | Permalink

Sox game postponed until May 3

A few hardy fans waited in the stands for the Red Sox to state the obvious.
-- Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach

Tonight's game has been postponed and has been rescheduled for May 3 at 7:05. Tickets for tonight's game will be honored.

-- JOE McDONALD

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 4:21 PM | Permalink

Sox game is still on

Despite the weather, today's game between the Red Sox and Mariners has not yet been postponed.

Because this is Seattle's only trip to Boston this year, and because the Mariners have three snowed-out games in Cleveland to make up, every effort is being made to get today's game in. The decision is in the hands of the umpires and Major League Baseball, and they may wait several hours to see if the weather will break.

Posted by Art Martone  at 3:30 PM | Permalink

Scenes from the clubhouse

The Red Sox will wear green jerserys today to honor the Boston Celtics and Red Auerbach.

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon was having some fun with a few Japanese reporters who were interviewing Dice-K. Whatever J-Pap was trying to say, the pair of reporters ,and the newest Red Sox pitcher, got a laugh from it.

Dice-K is already a rock star in Boston. In fact, he was trying on some new shades in the clubhouse to fit the description.

The Red Sox just announced that Noah will be today's starting pitcher. Wow! I'm sitting in the press box and it is absolutely pouring out. The players who were working out on the field have gone to the clubhouse.

Terry Francona and Jerry Remy just had an interesting conversation during the manager's pregame scrum with the local media about Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan. Someone asked the manager to compare Seattle pitcher Felix Hernandez, who shut out the Sox last night, to Ryan.

Tito and Remy had some funny first-hand accounts about facing Ryan.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 1:59 PM | Permalink

News from the manager's office

Francona just met with the media and said "maybe it’s going to be a long day." As the post below explains, the weather conditions here are bad. It’s windy, cold and rainy and the tarp is on the field.

“I haven’t been here my whole life but I’ve been here long enough to know (the weather) can change in a hurry,” said Francona. “It doesn’t look real good, but for obvious reasons we need to try to play this game.”

There are a few pitchers from both teams on the field playing long toss. Both teams will take BP inside.

Francona also explained that the decision to play, delay or bang the game is solely in the hands of the umpiring crew because this is Seattle's last trip to Boston.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 1:44 PM | Permalink

Today's lineups

Seattle

Ichiro Suzuki, 8
Adrian Beltre, 5
Jose Vidro, DH
Raul Ibanez, 7
Richie Sexson, 3
Jose Guillen, 9
Kenji Johmima, 2
Yuniesky Betancourt, 6
Jose Lopez, 4
Jarrod Washburn, SP

Boston
Julio Lugo, 6
Coco Crisp, 8
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, 7
Kevin Youkilis, 3
Mike Lowell, 5
Wily Mo Pena, 9
Doug Mirabelli, 2
Dustin Pedroia, 4
Tim Wakefield, SP

You may notice a few changes in the Red Sox lineup. J.D. Drew has been given the day off and Pena will play left field. Boston manager Terry Francona said he wanted to get Pena into the lineup, and give Drew day off, which will be a common occurance throughout the season.

The manager explained Drew will be given a day off --if the schedule and matchups permit -- every 10 days in order to keep the outfielder fresh and healthy.

You may also notice Coco Crisp, who has been hitting in the bottom end of the lineup, is hitting second. As a result, Youkilis has been inserted into the fifth spot.

Francona said he thought of keeping the lineup the same it's been since the start of the season, but he tweaked it a little bit.

"I had it that way first," he said. "But the more I looked at it, Coco has such good success against (Washburn) and it just gives us a little better balance. If you're taking somebody out, the idea is to create the same production, while giving somebody a rest."

Youkilis is accustomed to hitting at the top of the lineup, but he’s versatile enough to hit anywhere.

"I thought today's lineup looked better doing it this way," said Francona.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 1:35 PM | Permalink

Red Sox: Rainy weather could affect today's game

It looks like they're going to wait, and wait, and wait some more . . .

"The current weather forecast (provided by the Red Sox private weather service, Meteorlogix) in the vicinity of Fenway Park calls for moderate to heavy rain showers throughout the afternoon today.

"The Fenway Park gates will open at the regularly scheduled time of 2:05 p.m., and the Red Sox will make every effort to play this afternoon’s game with the Seattle Mariners. However, the Red Sox want to alert our fans to the current forecast for the Fenway area and that the possibility of delays does exist.

"This forecast is of course subject to change as the day progresses. Further updates will be provided periodically.

"Since this is Seattle’s only scheduled trip to Boston in 2007, the decision whether to play the game is in the hands of Major League Baseball and the umpire crew chief."

Posted by Art Martone  at 12:42 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with Art Martone: Felix's upstaging of Dice-K

Today, Steve Krasner explains how Seattle's young Felix Hernandez shut down the Red Sox and upstaged the debut of Daisuke Matsuzaka. Click here to listen to the audio file.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:03 AM to Krasner , Martone | Permalink

Baseball Today: Thursday, April 12

Still basked in the glow of a great individual performance . . .

TIP YOUR HAT: Now, that was pitching. (projo.com) The fact that it was Felix Hernandez, and not Daisuke Matsuzaka, shouldn't prevent us from appreciating it. For his part, Matsuzaka pitched well, but he'd have had to have been perfect. (projo.com)

(Interesting sidenote: We all saw the flash bulbs popping when Matsuzaka delivered his pitch to Ichiro and didn't think a thing of it. But Dice-K said ''it wasn’t easy to throw with all the flash bulbs going off,'' and Terry Francona added: "It’s got to be hard to hit like that.")

The Mariners were certainly happy with the win, and new Boston villain Jose Guillen, for one, delighted in rubbing it in (Seattle Post-Intelligencer). For the most part, though, the M's were suitably impressed with Dice-K (ibid). The Mariners were certainly aware of the no-hit bid, but it was impressive Hernandez kept his focus after J.D. Drew singled in the eighth. (Seattle Times) For what it's worth, Matsuzaka did win his personal battle with Ichiro. (Post-Intelligencer)

The hype surrounding last night was unfathomable -- it was April 11, the eighth game of the season -- but, somehow, it lived up to its billing. Just because the dominant guy wore the wrong uniform didn't make it any less worthy.

ONCE MORE, WITH FEELING: Bill Nye The Science Guy weighs in on the gyroball. (msn.com)

HOLD YOUR HORSES: Seth Mnookin wants to wait a bit before signing off on the notion that Josh Beckett is on the road to stardom. (sethmnook.com/blog) As he points out, "Beckett’s moments of brilliance have come against less than prodigious lineups."

JACKIE: The Twins' Torii Hunter is among those who think the growing number of players who will wear No. 42 in honor of Jackie Robinson on Sunday is "killing the meaning" of the gesture (USA Today). But one contemporary player who understands Robinson's impact on the game is the Padres' Chris Young (espn.com).

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST: Mike Mussina has joined the Yankees' list of walking wounded (New York Daily News) It could be worse; they could still have Jaret Wright (Washington Post).

GET YOUR CHECKBOOKS OUT: But the Yanks, and all other big-league teams, could find a more-than-able replacement on the market next winter. (si.com)

CAN'T GET ENOUGH 1967? There's a blog that will take you through that great pennant race, day by day. (www.1967alpennant.com)

THE NUMBERS GUY: Lou Piniella, sabermetrician. (Chicago Sun Times)

OF LOCAL INTEREST: Rocco Baldelli is back in the leadoff spot for the Devil Rays (Tampa Tribune) . . . But for how long? There are whispers he could be headed to Houston for Brad Lidge (St. Petersburg Times) . . . Byung-Hyun Kim said he's gotten over his anger about being sent back to the bullpen, but would welcome a trade (Denver Post). They're trying, B.K., they're trying . . . Jorge de la Rosa was once a Sox farmhand. He's now on the Royals, and Joe Posnanski's not happy about it (soulofbaseball.blogspot.com) . . . In that same post, Joe also goes over the all-time defensive teams for each A.L. East franchise. No real quibble with his Sox choices, except that I'd take George Scott at first base -- I know his defensive metrics aren't much, but it flies in the face of what we saw back when he was in his physical prime in the 1960s -- and, if we're looking at single seasons rather than careers, Alex Gonzalez at shortstop. If not, Rick Burleson is the pick.

IT'S NOT BASEBALL, BUT . . . If Imus is indeed fired, would WFAN replace him with either Mike, the Mad Dog, or both? (New York Daily News)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:16 AM | Permalink