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PawSox top Braves in rain-shortened game

RICHMOND, Va. - A hot miserable day in Richmond gave way to a hot miserable night for baseball. With a game-time temperature of 93 the Pawtucket Red Sox survived the heat, a shaky first inning by starter David Pauley and a wicked thunderstorm to take a 7-3 win in eight innings at The Diamond.

The game was called in the top of the ninth with one out on account of a severe lightening that knocked out a section of stadium lights and the scoreboard.

Richmond put three runs on the board in the first inning. Back-to-back-to-back singles and a double gave the Braves the early lead before PawSox starter David Pauley finally found his rhythm and retired the next three batters.

Pawtucket got two of those runs back in the second. Bobby Scales one out single and a two out base-on-balls to Jacoby Ellsbury put runners on for Joe McEwing and David Murphy who came through with back-to-back RBI singles, bringing Pawtucket to within a run.

The PawSox got that tying run in the third and Brandon Moss was the catalyst.

Moss, who got off to a torrid start in the first two games of the series but went hitless in Thursday’s game, doubled leading off the third and later scored on an RBI single by Scales.

In the fourth Kevin Cash doubled and scored on a double by Moss to put Pawtucket in front 4-3. The bizzare double by Cash came about on a scary play involving Braves starter Dan Smith. Cash hit a comebacker up the middle that hit Smith on the back of his throwing shoulder and richocheted into the outfield. Smith left the field under his own power.

Ellsbury led off the sixth with a triple and came home on a RBI single by McEwing, his second of the game. Moss added more fireworks in the seventh with a lead-off home run his 11th of the year. Jeff Bailey doubled and scored to put Pawtucket in front 7-3.

The PawSox had runners on first and second with one out in the ninth when the storm hit.

Notes: Coming into last night’s game the PawSox had been receiving exceptional work from their starters thus far in June (all on the just completed road trip) as the starters were 3-1 in seven games with a 1.88 ERA (9 earned runs in 43 innings pitched). . . . Until their 2-1 defeat on Thursday, the PawSox had won 11 in a row versus Richmond. Including the final meeting of 2004, all of 2005 & 2006, and the first three meetings in 2007, the Sox have also won 17 of their last 20 games versus Richmond. . . . Tonight is PawSox Bat Night at McCoy Stadium. The Ottawa Lynx are in town with first pitch scheduled for 6:05. The first 4,000 fans age 14 & under entering the ballpark will receive a regulation Louisville Slugger Bat courtesy of Bank of America and NBC-10.

--BRUCE WELLS (Special to the Journal)

Posted by Corey Bourassa  at 10:58 PM to PawSox | Permalink

Sox Streakers for June 8

Info pulled from the team's official game notes

Who's Hot
-David Ortiz, eight-game hitting streak, going 13 for 31 (.419) during that stretch
-Manny Ramirez, 23 for 55 (.418) in last 15 games
-Josh Beckett, looks to become the sixth pitcher in Red Sox history to start a season 9-0

Who's Not
-Coco Crisp, 0 for his last 11, 4 for 32 (.125) in last 10 games
-J.D. Drew, 5 for 39 (.128) in last 12 games
-Mike Lowell, 2 for 18 over last five games
-Julio Lugo, 3 for 26 in last six games

Red Sox vs. Doug Davis
-David Ortiz, 1 for 3 (.333)
-Jason Varitek, 2 for 6 (.333)
-J.D. Drew, 1 for 4 (.250)
-Julio Lugo, 2 for 10 (.200)
-Manny Ramirez, 1 for 8 (.125)
-Mike Lowell, 0 for 3
-Dustin Pedroia and Coco Crisp have no career at-bats against Davis
-Davis is 3-1 with a 2.76 career E.R.A. against the Red Sox

Diamondbacks vs. Josh Beckett
-No active Arizona player has an at-bat against Beckett
-Beckett is 0-3 with a 6.97 career E.R.A. against the Diamondbacks

More Stuff
-This is the Red Sox' first ever trip to Arizona. The Diamondbacks swept a three-game series at Fenway Park in 2002. Curt Schilling won one of the three games.
-Beckett was 3 for 7 with a homer and 3 RBI during interleague play last year with the Red Sox. He is a career .149 hitter with two home runs in 139 at-bats.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 8:52 PM to Projo Sox Streakers | Permalink

Pedroia Returns

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia, who starred at nearby Arizona State University, was a focus of pregame attention for the local media.

"It's good to be back here. It's fun. It's exciting," said Pedroia, who was one of five finalists for the 2004 Golden Spikes Award at ADSU before being drafted by the Red Sox in the second round that spring.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 7:54 PM | Permalink

Familiar Faces

There are several familiar faces on the other side of the field from the Red Sox this series.

The Diamondbacks' general manager is Josh Byrnes and their assistant GM is Peter Woodfork, each of whom worked under Boston general manager Theo Epstein.

Boston manager Terry Francona had nothing but good things to say about the duo.

"I was thrilled to see them get this opportunity but not happy to see them leave," said Francona. "They're so special. They're awesome."

Arizona's manager, Bob Melvin, caught briefly for the Red Sox in 1993; one of their coaches, Lee Tinsley, spent time with Boston as a outfielder from 1994-1996, and Diamondbacks first baseman Tony Clark was a member of the Sox in 2002.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 7:45 PM | Permalink

Big Papi at First Base

David Ortiz is in the Sox' starting lineup tonight, which isn't news.

But he is starting at first base, which will be his home for the first two days of this interleague series in Arizona against the Diamondbacks because the pitcher hits for American League teams in road interleague games.

The designated hitter is not used, so Ortiz is at first and manager Terry Francona will find himself watching Ortiz with trepidation.

"I don't want him to be embarrassed, have a ball to him and (he) kicks it," said Francona. "He hasn't been there for two months. It's not fair. He's handled it before (in past interleague games) and no doubt he'll do it again, but I worry about it."

The interleague games here will force Francona to rotate three of his hottest hitters, starting each of them in two games. Tonight, Ortiz and third baseman Mike Lowell are starting with first baseman Kevin Youkilis replaced by Ortiz.

Tomorrow night, Youkilis will give Lowell a rest at third base with Ortiz at first. And on Sunday, with left-hander Randy Johnson on the mound for the Diamondbacks, Ortiz will sit out the start, with Lowell at third and Youkilis at first.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 7:33 PM | Permalink

Timlin Rejoins Sox

Veteran reliever Mike Timlin walked back into the Red Sox' clubhouse this afternoon, equipment bag in hand and locker waiting for him.

Timlin, who threw an inning for Pawtucket last night on his rehabilitation stint last night, is expected to be activated in time for tomorrow night's game.

The right-hander hasn't pitched for Boston since May 2, one inning at home against Oakland in which he coughed up two hits and a run. The next day he was placed on the disabled list because of right shoulder tendinitis.

"I feel good," said Timlin, who had two rehab outings for the PawSox this past week because the Boston brass didn't want to activate him prematurely.

"This is where I should be," he said. "But you have to take time to make sure I'm right. I just want to consistently throw strikes. Nothing's changed."

One thing that will change is the Sox' roster tomorrow when general manager Theo Epstein and manager Terry Francona have to make room for Timlin.

The obvious choice would be to send Javier Lopez back to Pawtucket because the side-arming left-hander has options. Lopez generally has been effective since being called up on May 11, but has surrendered four hits and a run over his last three outings, totaling 2 1/3 innings.

Otherwise, the Sox would either have to eat the contract of another reliever (J.C. Romero? Joel Pineiro?) or suddenly discover a reliever who needs to be placed on the disabled list.

"Some (decisions) are harder than others," said Francona. "This one isn't going to be case where a guy is called up for two days and is an obvious send (back to Pawtucket). It gets very difficult."

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 7:14 PM | Permalink

Starting Lineups, June 8

Starting Lineups, June 8

BOSTON

Lugo ss
Pedroia 2b
Ortiz 1b
Ramirez lf
J.D. Drew rf
Lowell 3b
Varitek c
Crisp cf
Becket p

ARIZONA

Byrnes rf
Young cf
Hudson 2b
Jackson 1b
S. Drew ss
Hairston lf
Callaspo 3b
Snyder c
Davis p

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 7:11 PM | Permalink

Local players taken in the MLB draft

A total of eight local players have been selected during the second day of the Major League Baseball draft.

Brown catcher Devin Thomas was taken by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round, the 241st overall pick.

Former Hendricken shortstop Matt Bouchard, who plays at Georgetown, was an 11th round pick of the New York Mets.

Another former Hendricken star Craig Stinson, a catcher at Texas A&M, was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 12th round.

The Oakland Athletics selected former East Providence High left-handed pitcher Brad hertzler with the 480th overall pick (15th round). Hertzler played at CCRI and the University of Maine.

The Boston Red Sox picked Cumberland native Dan Milano in the 20th round (624 overall). Milano, a catcher, just completed his senior year at Northeastern.

Warwick's Terry Doyle, a right-handed pitcher who played high school ball in New Hampshire, was chosen in the 21st round by the Los Angeles Dodgers (656 overall). Doyle is a junior at Boston College.

Another former Hendricken catcher John Mollicone, a senior at Fordham, was picked by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 27th round (815 overall).

In the 29th round, the Atlanta Braves selected Hendricken senior right-handed pitcher Gary Gillheeney with the 888th overall pick.

Posted by Corey Bourassa  at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments 1

David McCarty, and other players drafted ahead of Manny

Yesterday, as we were watching the televised (!) broadcast of the start of the MLB Draft, the Cleveland Indians selected Beau Mills, son of Red Sox bench coach Brad Mills, with the number 13 overall pick. It was noted that the last time the Tribe had the number 13 pick, they used it on Manny Ramirez.

So we looked up the players drafted ahead of Ramirez in that year: 1991. Let's just say that the Indians picked well. Here are the top 12 picks. Two of these guys, Taylor and Henderson, never even made the big leagues:

1. Brien Taylor, pitcher, New York Yankees
2. Mike Kelly, outfielder, Atlanta Braves
3. David McCarty, first baseman, Minnesota Twins
4. Dmitri Young, third base-outfield, St. Louis Cardinals
5. Kenny Henderson, pitcher, Milwaukee Brewers
6. John Burke, pitcher, Houston Astros
7. Joe Vitiello, outfield-first base, Kansas City Royals
8. Joey Hamilton, pitcher, San Diego Padres
9. Mark Smith, outfielder, Baltimore Orioles
10. Tyler Green, pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies
11. Shawn Estes, pitcher, Seattle Mariners
12. Doug Glanville, outifielder, Chicago Cubs

Two very good players were drafted soon after Manny in 1991: Cliff Floyd, by the Montreal Expos with the 14th pick, and Shawn Green, by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 16th pick.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:14 PM to Projo Mannybeingmanny | Permalink | Comments 1

Brown's Devin Thomas drafted by Tigers

Brown catcher Devin Thomas was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the seventh round (241st overall) of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft today. Thomas, the unanimous Ivy League Player of the Year, becomes the 17th Brown player chosen since MLB began having a draft in 1965, and is the Bears’ highest draftee since Bill Almon ’74 was taken first overall by the San Diego Padres in 1974. He becomes the sixth player drafted during coach Marek Drabinski’s 11 years at Brown.

Posted by Art Martone  at 12:16 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Super Schilling

Sean McAdam is Art Martone's guest once again on projo SoxTalk. Click here to listen to the full audio file. Sean and Art discuss Curt Schilling's terrific effort yesterday, they look ahead to interleague play and break down how the Red Sox did on the first day of the MLB Draft.

Here are some excerpts from what Sean had to say.

On Schilling's performance: "He wasn't overpowering, clearly. He only had four strikeouts, but he had incredible command yesterday. He seemed to be getting ahead of hitters, not going to a lot of three-ball counts, being able to throw several pitches for stirkes. And I think we're continuing to watch the late-career evolution of Curt Schilling. He's not a 95-96 guy anymore; he's more likely to be 91-92 and mix in the changeup nearly as much as the split-fingered fastball, which used to be his out pitch. So he knows he's not the prototypical power pitcher anymore at 40, but he's still smart enough and still good enough at locating his fastball that he can get good hitters out."

On interleague lineup changes: "Their three most productive guys all year have been Lowell, Youkilis and Ortiz, and starting tonight and continuing in Atlanta and San Diego in their nine interleague road games, no DH. And so that means they go into kind of that rotation, where those guys play two of three games. They're lucky that they have the flexibility to put Youkilis at third, so one night you'll have Youkilis and Ortiz, then you'll have Lowell and Ortiz, then you'll have Lowell and Youkilis. But clearly, not having your three best guys, or your three most productive guys, in the lineup at the same time is not your optimium scenario.

On top draft picks Nick Hagadone and Ryan Dent: "If there's a cliche in pro sports, it's a scouting director and general manager saying, 'We never thought he'd be there when our turn came up, and sure enough, we got that about the two guys they took. But they did say that when the day started, those were the two that they hoped to get at 55, or those were among the guys they were still hoping to be there at 55 or 62."

Sean has a lot more to say about Hagadone and Dent, so be sure to check out the audio.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 11:29 AM to Martone , McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Friday, June 8

ONE OUT AWAY: Eric Hinske put it best when he told Mike Lowell, ''I’ve never seen our pitcher throw a one-hit shutout for a 1-0 win and we’re all disappointed.'' But that's the situation the Red Sox were in yesterday when Curt Schilling (AP Photo, above) lost his bid for a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth. David Ortiz was probably the only person paying the slightest bit of attention to the game who didn't know Schilling had a no-hitter in progress; the tension was building almost batter-by-batter, exacerbated by the fact that it was only a 1-0 -- and thus, a very-much-up-in-air -- game. In the end, Schilling became the eighth Red Sox pitcher since 1967 to lose a no-hitter in the ninth, and the third -- Billy Rohr and Rick Wise were the others -- to lose one with two outs in the ninth. Interestingly, he was also the third to lose one in Oakland, joining Marty Pattin (1972) and Steve Renko (1979). (All stories projo.com)

STILL WAITING: Schilling has yet to share his thoughts about his brush with history on 38pitches.com. We'll keep checking throughout the day.

HE'S BACK! Our friends at Sons of Sam Horn are celebrating The Return of The Schilling.

NOW THERE'S SOMETHING YOU DON'T SEE EVERY DAY: On the same play, David Ortiz bunted for a hit and Kevin Youkilis tried to win a footrace with a shortstop to third base (AP Photo, right). Click the link to find out more, because explaining why and what happened would take as long as the actual story. (projo.com) THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING: J.D. Drew has made another All-Disappointing Team, this time from Mike Pindelski on Beyond The Box Score. MULTITASKING: At the same time Curt Schilling was trying to nail down the no-hitter, the Red Sox were making their first pick in the amateur draft. Their first choice was left-hander Nick Hagadone from the University of Washington. (projo.com)

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: SI.com's John Donovan chronicles the evolution of the baseball draft from something held in almost complete obscurity to . . . well, I'm not quite sure what that spectacle we were watching on ESPN was, exactly.

UNFATHOMABLE MYSTERIES: In the middle of an interesting Q-and-A on the Yankees -- which includes items on Johnny Damon at first base, whether or not they should have re-signed Bernie Williams and Joe Torre's bullpen strategems -- the YES Network's Steven Goldman ruminates on how Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey reached the top of the pop charts in 1971.

BIG OLD RUBY RED DRESS (LEAVE HIM ALONE): Why did that piece of '70s pop schlock come to mind when reading Bobby Valentine's comments on A-Rod? (asahi.com)

STAND BY YOUR MAN: Apparently, Joe Torre's criticism of A-Rod over the ''Ha!'' incident in Toronto got him in trouble with George Steinbrenner. (si.com)

HOW TRUE: Mike Lupica uses the lessons of 2004 to remind us that this baseball season has a long, long way to go. (New York Daily News) Johnny Damon agrees. (The Journal News)

DAILY DISH: Today's Mark Teixeira trade rumor has him Baltimore-bound. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

MORE WHISPERS: Los Angeles Times staff writer Kevin Baxter thinks Florida's Miguel Cabrera would be a good fit for the Dodgers.

AND STILL MORE: The A's apparently have their eye on the Tigers' Nate Robertson. (detroit.tigers.com)

ALL TOGETHER NOW: ESPN.com's Jayson Stark provides a one-stop listing of potential tradees. Interesting tidbit: Todd Helton has told friends he won't approve a trade to the Yankees.

WON'T YOU PLEASE COME TO CHICAGO . . . and if you do, here's who's available on the Cubs and White Sox. (Chicago Sun-Times)

THE CURSE OF CARL EVERETT: That's what the Chicago Sun-Times' Joe Cowley says afflicts the White Sox.

BAD MOVE: FoxSport's Ken Rosenthal says the Giants would be making a mistake if they fire GM Brian Sabean.

ENOUGH! The San Francisco Chronicle's Scott Ostler says it's time for the Giants to bench Barry Bonds.

NO ONE LOVES YOU LIKE YOUR MOM: Barry's mother -- whom he calls ''about the only one who can kick me in the butt'' -- tells her son to get it in gear. (mlb.com)

WHAT I MEANT WAS . . . Gary Sheffield attempts to explain himself. (detroit.tigers.com)

LOCALLY: Dan Wheeler lost a game, and maybe the closer's job, in Houston. (Houston Chronicle)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:03 AM | Permalink