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Baseball Today: Monday, July 2

'SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF BASEBALL, GIVE OR TAKE 65 PERCENT': That's what Bill James once wrote about the hoary old saying that baseball 'is 75 percent pitching'. He has always asserted baseball is, in fact, a nearly 50/50 combination of offense/defense . . . and if one of those elements breaks down, you've got a problem.

The Red Sox have a problem. After yesterday's 2-1 loss to the Rangers, Sean McAdam notes the Sox have scored two runs or less 13 times this season, but 8 of those 13 instances have come in their last 24 games. (projo.com) Amazingly, they're 5-3 in those eight games thanks to their pitching, and yesterday it was good enough to steal another one; Julian Tavarez (who once again pitched well enough to win), Javy Lopez, Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima limited the Rangers to one earned run. (projo.com) But the struggling offense did next-to-nothing against five Texas pitchers and when that happens, games can turn on single plays. The one that turned yesterday's was a miscommunication between center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and right fielder J.D. Drew that allowed a well-hit but catchable ball to drop and a Rangers run to score. (Right, Journal photo by Mary Murphy). Steven Krasner breaks it down in his Inside The Game feature.

SMALL PAPI: It was the second time in the three games against Texas that they'd scored two runs -- they'd managed to win 2-1 Friday night thanks to a head's-up play by Kevin Youkilis (projo.com) -- and yesterday's ''goat,'' if there is such a thing, was David Ortiz (Above, Journal photo by Mary Murphy). He struck out with the go-ahead runs on base to end the seventh and popped up with the tying run on base to end the game. (He'd also flied to left with two men on and a run in during Boston's lone run-scoring rally in the fifth.) His frustration was evident after the game, as the normally affable slugger declined to speak to the media. (projo.com) On his Touching All The Bases blog, Chad Finn wonders where Papi's mojo has gone. FoxSports.com's Kevin Hench says Papi's ''power mojo'' is blowin' in the wind . . . and once the Fenway winds turn, it'll be back.

THANKS FOR TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF ME: Ortiz' struggles remove the spotlight from the drowning Julio Lugo, who compounded his two-month offensive slide with an abysmal baserunning decision Saturday night. He, too, isn't talking to the press, but Terry Francona's talking to him. (Both stories projo.com) One of the things he said: Lugo probably will return to the lineup tonight. ''We need to get him going. I told him that. That’s why we got him here,'' Francona told the media. Writing this time for FoxSports.com, Chad Finn says Lugo has been historically bad this season. Another disconcerting note: Since last July 31, when he was traded from the Devil Rays to the Dodgers, Lugo is batting .201 with a .265 OBP and a .545 OPS in 424 at-bats.

QUIET DEBUT: The Sox' struggles have overshadowed the surprising arrival of Jacoby Ellsbury. (projo.com)

A STARRY FIRST HALF: The good news from yesterday is that five members of the Red Sox (David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez, Mike Lowell, Josh Beckett and Jonathan Papelbon) were named to the A.L. All-Star team (projo.com), with a sixth -- Hideki Okajima -- a finalist in the fan balloting for the final spot. (That will be determined later this week.) A surprising, and disappointing, omission: Kevin Youkilis. (Boston Globe) Youkilis made SI.com's Jacob Luft's All-Snub Team.

FIVE FOR US, TOO: The Tigers also had five All-Stars. (Detroit Free Press)

AWARD TIME: And writing this time for Boston Metro, the busy Chad Finn hands out some midseason Red Sox hardware.

KEEP ON PUSHING: In his third blog entry, Youkilis says the Sox ''need to keep building on our lead . . . There’s no such thing as enough cushion in the AL East with the quality of our opponents.''

THAT'S OVERSTATING IT A BIT, DON'T YOU THINK? Their lead in the A.L. East remains in double figures, but the Boston Herald's Tony Massarotti says that's ''as much a part of opposing ineptitude as it has been of any Red Sox radiance. And truth be told, the Sox haven’t exactly shone in quite some time.'' True enough: They're 13-16 since May 30. But they had a 10 1/2-game lead after games of May 30, and they still have a 10 1/2-game lead today, which indicates the division race is . . . well, if not over, certainly not much of a race. The Sox handed their pursuers a month-long opportunity to whittle down the deficit, and they did nothing with it. Unless Boston continues to stumble long at the same sub-.500 pace for another month or so, it would appear the Yankees and Blue Jays missed their opportunity to insert themselves back into the chase.

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT: The always insightful Peter Abraham agrees, pointing out that if the Yankees had gone 5-4 on their recent road trip and won two of three from Oakland over the weekend, they'd be six games out. ''The Red Sox have been asking to get caught and the Yankees went the other way.'' (yankees.lohudblogs.com)

THE BRONX IS BURNING: At least it was Saturday, when Scott Proctor set fire to his equipment after yet another dismal performance and Jorge Posada accused his teammates of going through the motions in a 7-0 loss to the A's. (New York Daily News) The Yanks were still dealing with the aftermath of Posada's comments yesterday. (New York Post)

O-V-A OVA: The New York Daily News' John Harper thinks the Yankees are toast. The New York Post's Joel Sherman agrees and says they should start their rebuilding process by shopping A-Rod before the trade deadline.

YOU HAVE YOUR WORK CUT OUT FOR YOU, CASH: In another LoHud Yankees Blog post, Abraham writes ''This is a big mess. The bill has been coming due for years and now it has arrived. It’s going to take some slick moves by Brian Cashman to fix this for 2008, never mind 2007.''

IF ALL ELSE FAILS . . . Maybe the Yankees can turn to The Hexman. (yankeetradition.com)

AND IF EVEN THAT DOESN'T WORK . . . The Replacement Level Yankees Weblog gives 10 reasons to keep watching the Yankees this season.

GATHER UP WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR DIGNITY AND GET OUT: That's MSNBC.com's Bill Chuck's advice to Roger Clemens.

BAD DAY TO BE A MANAGER: Mike Hargrove resigned in Seattle (Seattle Post-Intelligencer), and Jerry Narron was fired in Cincinnati (Cincinnati Enquirer).

QUICK HITS: Brian Fuentes has lost his job as the Rockies' closer (mlb.com) . . . The Pirates' fan protest, not surprisingly, turned out to be much ado about nothing (yahoo.com).

TRADE TALK: Mark Buehrle trade speculation may resume soon; contract extension talks with the White Sox apparently have broken down over Chicago's refusal to grant a no-trade clause, so the left-hander could be making his final appearance in a White Sox uniform tonight. (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . Eric Gagne's performance at Fenway this weekend may have raised his trade value (Dallas Morning News).

OLD FRIENDS: Mike Myers can't get left-handers out this season, which makes him more or less useless in the Yankee bullpen (New York Post).

QUOTE OF THE DAY: When told that Baseball Prospectus had calculated the White Sox' postseason chances at 0.013 percent, Paul Konerko responded: ''So you're telling me there's a chance.'' (Chicago Sun-Times)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:55 AM | Permalink