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The tarp is on the field

With rain expected to hit Fenway Park just around 1 p.m. tomorrow, the grounds crew here just finished putting the tarp on the field.

Josh Beckett (2-0, 1.50) faces Ervin Santana (1-1, 6.35)

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 8:12 PM | Permalink

What they're saying from the clubhouse

Eric Hinske on his performance:
“Any time I get in there I just try to help the team win. All I can control is what I do on the field, so I just prepare like I’m going to play every day and hope for the best.”

Hinske on Curt Schilling:
“That was vintage Curt. He had all his pitches working today. He got ahead in the count and threw all his breaking stuff for strikes. It was a good win for us and he gave us a good performance.”

Jason Varitek on Schilling:
“He basically utilized all five of his pitches. . . It’s important for all of our starters [to pitch deep]. He’s had two huge quality starts in a row and both of them we needed very much.”

Varitek on Ortiz:
“David is starting to feel a little better. It’s good and it was another big day for the big man.”

Schilling on Schilling:
"I absolutely thought I was going to finish that game right up through the seventh inning. Having that long seventh probably took more out of me than it should. No extra day, if we had an extra day I would have loved to have gone back out there, but then a 5-0 game becomes an 8-0 game and ends up being probably the best decision for everybody involved.
"At the end of the day, going back out for the ninth would have been me trying to get a shutout as opposed to me trying to make 33 or 34 starts and be as healthy as I can for every one."

Francona on offense heating up:
"I never say that. If I say that, we'll come out tomorrow and not do anything. It's early and with the weather like this, I don't think you'll ever see a team in it's stride, any team, until it warms up. There's just too many inconsistencies, but for right now at least we are having good at-bats for the most part."

Francona on Schilling:

"Good pitchers smell wins and Schill has been like that for a long time. That's why you have guys like that on the ballclub. They know how to win games. Sometimes with real good stuff, sometimes with not real good stuff, sometimes in between. He certainly knows how to make adjustments."

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 7:55 PM | Permalink

Red Sox 8, Angels 0

BOSTON -- With each passing day, Felix Hernandez' handcuffing of the Red Sox Wednesday night gets more and more impressive.

The Sox routed the Angels, 8-0, today, their second straight one-sided win. Curt Schilling led the way with eight shutout innings, allowing just four hits -- the first time he'd shut out a team over eight innings since September 2004 -- and David Ortiz' three-run homer highlighted an eight-hit attack.

The Sox are now 3-1 on the homestand and have outscored the opposition 32-4 in the three victories. That they could have been one-hit by Hernandez in the game they did lose only drives home how dominant the Seattle right-hander was on that night.

Click here for the box score.

Joe McDonald, Paul Kenyon and Steven Krasner will be back momentarily with postgame reaction.

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:03 PM | Permalink

More from the clubhouse

Tomorrow Major League Baseball will honor the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier. Selective players around the league will wear the retired No. 42 as a tribute, including Boston's David Ortiz, Coco Crisp and third-base coach DeMarlo Hale.

Crisp, Alex Cora and Terry Francona spoke about Robinson legacy and what he means, not only for baseball, but to society.

"We’re trying to be respectful of everybody," said Francona. "I get a little torn because I want to make sure we're respectful and the players are respectful. I don't want it to get lost in all the celebration of Jackie Robinson, which he deserves. It’s somewhat of an embarrassment day also. It’s a little bit of a shame that we have to have this day because 60 years ago the color of somebody skin, they weren't treated the same. To me, that’s humiliating and I hope that message doesn’t get lost either.”

Tito said he can't even imagine what it must have been like for Robinson and other African-American atheltes 60 years ago.

" I can't (imagine) and I'm thankful for my parents," said Francona. “Until I got out of the house did I realize that wasn’t really how the world worked completely. I don’t ever remember thinking twice, because it wasn’t part of my growing up. Then you get out in the real world and you see how it is different, so I’m grateful for my parents I was raised that way."

In tomorrow's Sunday Journal we'll have a centerpiece focusing on Jackie Robinson.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 2:02 PM | Permalink

Scenes from the clubhouse

You may have noticed that Kevin Youkilis is not in the lineup today. According to manager Terry Francona it has nothing to do with the fact Youk was hit by a pitch on Friday. The Red Sox skipper planned on getting Eric Hinske into the lineup and give Youkilis the day off.

"There's never a perfect day," said Francona of giving guys an off-day. "It comes and goes with weather and Hinske is swinging the bat pretty well and we want to keep that going. We can’t play 10 guys."

Francona explained one of these days Youkilis will play third to give Mike Lowell a day off, which would allow Hinske to play first a little more. Plus, Wily Mo Pena needs to play, too.

"You don’t want to do it all in the same day," said Francona.

Red Sox reliever Mike Timlin worked the ninth inning in Friday’s blowout over the Angels. The veteran followed the team’s closer Jonathan Papelbon, who worked 2/3 of an inning. Timlin, who began the season the DL, and had a brief rehab stint with the PawSox, needed the work last night.

"First game I thought he had the normal jitters," said Francona. "In a perfect world we would want to get him a couple of games just like we were fortunate to have. We want to get him into that routine where we can pitch him in the seventh and eighth. But, I don’t think that's fair to expect that until a guy gets his legs under him, which he seems to be doing."

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 1:55 PM | Permalink

Lineups from Fenway

Angels
Gary Matthews, 8
Orlando Cabrera, 6
Vlad Guerrero, 9
Garret Anderson, 7
Shea Hillenbrand, DH
Casey Kotchman, 3
Howie Kendrick, 4
Jose Molina, 2
Maicer Izturis, 5
Hector Carrasco, SP

Red Sox
Julio Lugo, 6
Eric Hinske, 3
David Ortiz, DH
Manny Ramirez, 7
J.D. Drew, 9
Mike Lowell, 5
Jason Varitek, 2
Coco Crisp, 8
Dustin Pedroia, 4
Curt Schilling, SP

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 1:27 PM | Permalink

Sox Streakers for April 14

From the Red Sox official game notes:

-Boston has scored 24 runs on 29 hits in the last 3 games -- despite being one-hit by Felix Hernandez on Wednesday.

-The Red Sox' 3.12 team E.R.A. is second in the American League. It is the team's lowest E.R.A. through nine games since 2001.

-J.D. Drew has hit safely in all nine games, and is one of only seven major leaguers to hit safely in every one his team's games so far. The others: Ray Durham (San Francisco), Delmon Young (Tampa Bay), Alex Rios (Toronto), David Wright (N.Y. Mets), Derrek Lee (Chicago Cubs) and Alex Rodriguez (N.Y. Yankees). The last Red Sox player to hit safely in the first 10 games of a season was Shea Hillenbrand, who is now with the Angels, in 2002. Drew's batting average (.419) is second in the major leagues to Florida's Miguel Cabrera.

-Mike Lowell already has five doubles and four errors.

-Curt Schilling is 25-8 all-time at Fenway Park, the best winning percentage for any pitcher who has pitched at least 300 innings at Fenway over the past 51 years (he edges out Pedro Martinez for the distinction). Schilling's 4-1 lifetime with a 3.44 E.R.A. against the Angels.

-The Red Sox have a three-game winning streak against the Angels.

-Jonathan Papelbon is a perfect 12-for-12 lifetime in save opportunities in April.

-Manny Ramirez is 7-for-14 lifetime with a home run against Angels starter Hector Carrasco. But Ramirez is only hitting .118 over the last five games.

-Gary Matthews Jr. is 4-for-21 lifetime against Schilling.

-Coco Crisp is 0 for his last 8.

-Julio Lugo is hitting .333 over the last seven games.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:41 PM to Projo Sox Streakers | Permalink