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Baseball Today: Monday, July 9

LOST WEEKEND: One was a blowout. Another was an extra-innings heartbreaker in which they wasted a sterling performance from their fill-in fifth starter by failing, time after time, to capitalize on scoring opportunities. Yesterday was a subpar afternoon from a man (Daisuke Matsuzaka, AP Photo at right) they've come to rely on over the last six weeks, whose five-inning struggle put them in a hole they tried to, but couldn't quite, crawl out of. Add it all up and you get three consecutive Red Sox losses in Detroit, a disappointing -- and somewhat disconcerting -- way to close out what has been a brilliant half-season of baseball in Boston. (All stories projo.com)

THREE DAYS CAN'T WIPE OUT THREE MONTHS: Still, the Boston Herald's Jeff Horrigan points out that ''the Sox [head] into the three-day All-Star break with plenty to be proud of in the first 87 games. They demonstrated enough resolve to overcome several hurdles and carry the largest divisional lead in the majors (10 games) into the second half.'' Colleague Tony Massarotti hands out a Honor Roll-level report card to the Sox, while noting ''the pitchers have done a disproportionate amount of the work.''

WHY, THEN, GO AFTER MORE PITCHING? Because no one is really sure what Curt Schilling will provide in the second half, says the Boston Globe's Gordon Edes, who thinks it's possible the team will pursue another starter between now and the trade deadline.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME: We haven't heard much from Schilling on his 38pitches.com blog since the injury but he returned yesterday, mostly to host a reader Q-and-A but also to assure fans that his recovery has ''gone great'' and ''the goal right now is to be back on the mound by next weekend.''

SECRET WEAPONS: Edes writes that the Sox won't part with Jacoby Ellsbury or Clay Buchholz in any deals, and SI.com's Jacob Luft, who saw them play in the Futures Game in San Francisco yesterday, says there's a reason: The Red Sox ''might be planning to use them both as secret weapons come playoff time.'' Luft also quotes Buchholz as confirming what we first reported here last week, that he apparently is headed to Pawtucket. (projo.com)

TAKING NOTICE: The New York Times, of all newspapers, profiles Ellsbury.

ONE FOR THE AGES: The Tigers' cause was aided immensely yesterday by Curtis Granderson's highlight-reel catch off Wily Mo Pena in the fourth inning, robbing the Sox slugger of a home run (and, as it turns out, costing Boston the game). (AP Photo, left) The Detroit Free Press' Michael Rosenberg said it deserved its own line in the box score under the title of ''GCTESIP: Granderson (1, ridiculous).'' That stands, incidentally, for "Greatest Catch They Ever Saw In Person," which is what most of the Tigers said it was. Postscript: Julio Lugo told Granderson that if he were Pena, he'd have run out to center field to punch him out for costing him a home run. ''I was like, 'Man, Wily Mo's a big guy -- so tell him I'm sorry about it,' " Granderson said. (Resist, resist, resist temptation to insert obvious joke -- just make believe you're a curveball, Curtis, and he'll swing and miss -- here. Must resist. Must resist. Must . . . )

QUIET SATISFACTION: The Tigers weren't strutting around boastfully after completing the sweep, but Jim Leyland seemed proud of the way his team played against the Red Sox. (Detroit News)

WHAT IF? On his Touching All The Bases blog, Chad Finn wonders how different life might have been if the Red Sox had Gary Sheffield and not J.D. Drew in right field, as seemed possible for a time last fall.

ONE FOR THE AGES: He probably never thought he'd get over the thrill of simply being called up to the big leagues. But career minor-leaguer Jeff Bailey topped that yesterday with his first major-league hit -- and a home run, to boot -- in what might have been his last game with the Red Sox. (Both stories projo.com) If Kevin Youkilis is healthy enough to return to the lineup when the season resumes Thursday, odds are Bailey will be shipped back to Pawtucket. Still, judging by his comments yesterday, he'll always remember his three days in what fellow career minor-leaguer Crash Davis called "The Show.''

THE THRILL GOES BOTH WAYS: Bailey doesn't have the most talent in the world, but his attitude and determination have earned him a host of fans in the Boston organization. One of them is PawSox manager Ron Johnson, who admits almost lost sleep because of the excitement he felt in finally being able to tell Bailey he was going to the big leagues. (projo.com)

AT THE OTHER END OF THE TALENT SPECTRUM . . . Alex Rodriguez completed a half-season for the ages with his 30th home run in the Yankees' rout of the Angels. (New York Daily News) Baseball Musing's David Pinto notes this is the 10th straight season A-Rod has hit at least 30 homers.

THE DREAM LIVES: The New York Post's Jay Greenberg lays out a scenario by which the Yankees can make the postseason. But it will only work, warns the Daily News' Lisa Olson, if they get off the win-one-lose-one treadmill and start consistently playing the way they played yesterday.

THE MELKY WAY (OR IS IT, THE MELKMAN DELIVERS?): Either absurd John Sterling phrase is fine with the Yankees, who look like they're handing their center-field job to Melky Cabrera. (New York Post)

ESPN CAN ONLY STIR IT BAD: The ESPN mini-series on the 1977 Yankees begins tonight, but it doesn't sound like Reggie Jackson will be watching. (Both stories New York Times)

ONCE MORE, WITH CLARITY: Joe Posnanski is starting a new feature on his Soul of Baseball blog entitled ''What in the hell is this manager talking about?'' The latest entry: Joe Torre's statement that Derek Jeter is ''as good as I’ve ever seen going out there and sometimes making acrobatic plays.'' Ponders Joe: ''OK, seriously, what the hell does that mean? I’ve read [it] 20 times, and I still have no idea.''

WHEEZING TO THE BREAK: The Mets are now 14-21 since June 1 after their 8-3 loss to the Astros yesterday. (New York Daily News)

STAR GAZING: FoxSports.com's Dayn Perry thinks this might be the National League's year in the All-Star Game.

STARRY, STARRY NIGHT: Tony La Russa is looking forward to managing the N.L. All-Star team. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

ONE UP, ONE DOWN: Two members of the Sox -- Julio Lugo and Hideki Okajima -- earn hardware in ESPN.com's Jayson Stark's first-half awards. You can probably guess which mention is positive and which is negative.

LATEST OF MANY: The Seattle Times' Larry Stone writes that Mike Hargrove isn't the first manager to be worn down by the pressures of the job.

BAD SIGN: Rich Harden said he didn't feel right in his return to the A's starting rotation Saturday. (San Francisco Chronicle)

WELL, THAT'S THREE WEEKS OF OUR LIFE WE'LL NEVER GET BACK: In the end, Mark Buehrle stayed with the White Sox. (Chicago Sun-Times)

WHISPERS: Torii Hunter says he'd consider signing with the White Sox when he hits free agency (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . The Mets have interest in White Sox outfielder Jermaine Dye, but the teams may not find a trade match (chicagosports.com) . . . Newsday reports the Mets are ''monitoring'' reliever Hector Carrasco, who was designated for assignment by the Angels . . . The Nationals thought that American League teams seeking a DH would inquire about Dmitri Young, but so far the only sniff has come from the Braves (mlb.com).

OLD FRIENDS: David Wells can 't figure out why he gets thrown out of so many games (San Diego Union-Tribune) . . . Tom Gordon could return to the Phillies as early as next weekend (Philadelphia Inquirer).

LINE OF THE DAY: From David Pinto of Baseball Musings, who, went noting shortstop Chin-Lung Hu was named MVP of the Futures Game, commented, ''I thought Hu was on first!''

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:56 AM | Permalink