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PawSox edged by Scranton, 2-1.

The PawSox got quality pitching from Runelvys Hernandez, Manny Delcarmen and Javier Lopez, but were unable to generate much offense, losing in Scranton, 2-1.

Hernandez, fresh off the disabled list, pitched five innings. His only mistake was a two-run homer by Bronson Sardinha. Hernandez (0-2, 1.47) gave up just 2 hits. The Yankees managed just 3 hits all night.

The PawSox had ample opportunity to move ahead, but never cashed in. Chad Spann hit into a game-ending double play with the bases loaded.

The PawSox have lost 10 of their last 11 games. The series continues on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. David Pauley (0-0, 3.00) faces Steven Jackson (2-2, 7.15).

--PAWSOX.COM

Posted by Chris Venditto  at 10:43 PM to PawSox | Permalink

Must-hear radio: Suzyn Waldman blows a gasket over Roger Clemens' return

Yankee radio announcer Suzyn Waldman sets new standards for broadcast . . . ah . . . I guess excitement is the word for it as she responds to the news that Roger Clemens is returning to New York. (www.wcbs880.com)

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

Projo SoxTalk Rocket special

Today on Projo SoxTalk, Art Martone and Sean McAdam discuss Roger Clemens' return to New York, and what it means for the American League East race. Click here to listen to the full audio file.

Here is how Sean describes the reaction to news of Clemens' deal yesterday in the Red Sox clubhouse:

"You had a bunch of guys who were a little stunned by the timing of it. We had been led to believe that the decision-making process might not come to frutiion until later this month. I think some guys were privately astonished at the amont of the deal: $28 million prorated, which makes Clemens the highest-paid single-season performer ever in team sports, I think, at least in North America. And I think from a team standpoint the feeling was, well it would have been nice to have him, but we have a pretty good pitching staff here, and we can win without him. And you kind of got the sense that that might be something of a rallying point for the team as the season progresses -- that, you know, Roger took the big money to go to New York, but the Red Sox would like nothing better than to prove to him that he made the wrong choice."

And here's McAdam's assessment of the impact of the deal on the Yankees:

"It certainly provides a temporary psychological boost to them. You know -- they've been scuffling, they've been calling kids up from Double A to make their major league debut simply to have a starting pitcher. So the arrival of what is now or what will soon be the winningest active pitcher in baseball, and the eighth-winningest pitcher of all time, seven Cy Youngs and all of Clemens' pedigree has to I think boost the Yankees' chances and their morale. They can see that, you know, he's off in the distance and is coming to their rescue. But I think once you get past all the excitement, you have to ask how different will it be for Clemens pitching in the American League East again after pitching in what is arguably the worst division in baseball for the last two years."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:31 PM to Martone , McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Monday, May 7

Only one story today . . .

CLEMENS: Where to begin? How about with the New York tabloids, whose front and back pages -- the Daily News and the Post -- were restrained, far more so than the ones announcing he was ending his "retirement" and signing with Houston in 2004. ("Texas Two-Face" was the Daily News' entry, while the Post screamed, "What An Asstro!") The Post, as is its wont, painted yesterday's theatrics as a case of the Yankees beating the Red Sox and Astros to the punch ("I think when Roger Clemens says he's ready to play, teams should listen," they quoted Clemens' agent, Randy Hendricks, as saying), downplaying the facts that the Yanks bid $10 million more than the Red Sox and agreed to the come-and-go-as-you-please schedule that Yankee apologists always claimed would never fly in New York. The Daily News was more even-handed, and their quote from Brian Cashman -- "This is a huge statement. Don't count us out because we want to be in it for the long haul and we'll do everything we can to stay in it for the long haul." -- probably framed it all better than anything else.

THE GREEK CHORUS: Opinions, of course, run the gamut. The most interesting: The Post's Mike Vaccaro, who says Clemens now has the chance to redeem himself in New York since it was his 2003 departure "that started the dominos tumbling [with the Yankees], a calamitous mess that has thus far led to three-plus years of Yankee discomfort and discomfit, including a terrible collapse to the Red Sox in 2004 and losses in the first round of the playoffs the past two years". Colleague Kevin Kernan does the typical New York chest-pounding, while you can always count on the Daily News' Mike Lupica to take the anti-Yankee position. The Daily News' Bill Madden and the Post's Joel Sherman are more fair and balanced.

MATH NEVER WAS HIS STRONG SUIT: Perhaps the most interesting comment was made by Lupica, who wrote: "Clemens talked about how gosh-darned important it is to win one for 'the three or four guys down here that still don't have a championship ring.' '' Three or four?? By my count, 18 of the 25 active Yankees -- Brian Bruney, Kyle Farnsworth, Sean Henn, Kei Igawa, Mike Mussina, Scott Proctor, Darrell Rasner, Luis Vizcaino, Chien-Ming Wong, Wil Nieves, Miguel Cairo, Robinson Cano, Josh Phelps, Alex Rodriguez, Bobby Abreu, Melky Cabrera, Hideki Matsui and Jason Giambi -- have never won a World Series championship. Of the seven that have, almost as many won with the Red Sox (Mike Myers, Doug Mientkiewicz and Johnny Damon) as with the Yankees (Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Derek Jeter).

More than anything, that demonstrates that the Yankee dynasty to which Clemens hitched his wagon in 1999 is over. The Yankees could win, but they're not favored to win. Clemens makes them better, because Roger Clemens in any form is better than Kei Igawa or Chase Wright, or any of the others ne'er-do-wells masquarading as Yankee starting pitchers these days. But facts are facts: He'll be 45 years old in August and he hasn't pitched in the American League -- a.k.a. the major leagues -- in four years. We shall see what sort of savior he winds up being.

A BIG ONE, ACTUALLY: That what the New York Sun's Tim Marchman thinks: "Clemens's impact on the pennant race . . . should give the Yankees an advantage over the Red Sox roughly comparable to the Sox's lead in the standings. And none of this accounts for the impact he'll have on the bullpen. Last year, Clemens pitched at least five innings in every one of his starts. A horse like that makes it a lot easier to schedule days off for overworked relievers, which is one of the Yankees' main problems these days."

Five innings a start now qualifies you as a horse?? Saddle up and come on down, Julian Tavarez!

OR MAYBE NOT: MSNBC's Mike Celizic has a different take: "Don’t kid yourself. It’s not automatic that Clemens is going to climb into his pinstripes and into the winner’s circle.''

SHOCKED, SHOCKED I TELL YOU: The news about Clemens barely raised an eyebrow in the Astros clubhouse. " 'With this Rocket situation there's two kinds of people: people that are not surprised and morons,' Lance Berkman said." (Houston Chronicle)

OH, WELL: There was a bit more disappointment locally, but just a bit. As Sean McAdam points out, " The Red Sox wanted to add Clemens to their starting rotation; the Yankees, by contrast, needed to add him." It turns out the Red Sox met with Randy Hendricks Wednesday at Fenway Park, which, according to some New York reports, sent shivers down Yankee spines (and may have prompted them to goose their offer, since having already been outbid by the Red Sox for Daisuke Matsuzaka, they couldn't afford to get outbid again). In the end, the Sox say they're happy with what they have . . . though what else can they say?

AND NO ONE SAYS IT BETTER . . . than Curt Schilling, both in talking to reporters yesterday and on his blog, though the Clemens comments come at the bottom of his breakdown of yesterday's 4-3 win at Minnesota. Schilling has taken some pretty harsh shots at Dan Shaughnessy recently, thrilling the anti-Shaughnessys among the masses, but Dan's no punching bag; he fires back pretty harshly at the big guy today: "Ever the blowhard, Schilling declared, 'We don't need him' -- a comment of stupefying arrogance that is sure to come up a couple of million times between now and the 2007 postseason.''

BOTTOM LINE: As Steve Buckley points out, the Red Sox-Yankee rivalry is back in business.

DOG'S EYE VIEW: We knew our old friend Steve Silva on Boston Dirt Dogs would be all over this, and he didn't disappoint. (''Rogerk'' -- not bad!) But in the midst of it all, he hits the one discordant note for Red Sox Nation:

What Would the Red Sox Do With Roger Clemens?
Sincerely, Willie McGee

And with that . . .

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments 1