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Baseball Today: Thursday, August 2

Journal photo / Kris Craig

WHEW! For a while last night, it looked like the Red Sox were back to their old, bad tricks -- failing repeatedly to come up with a big hit off soft-throwing Steve Trachsel. Then came the uprising in the seventh inning (projo), puncuated by Kevin Youkilis' two-run double off tough sidearm right-hander Chad Bradford. Jonathan Papelbon had one of his more dominating efforts to cap the 5-4 victory.

DREW'S DILEMMA: J.D. Drew was once again not with the team (Boston Herald), staying with his 17-month-old son, who recently had extensive surgery. It is not known when Drew will return to the Red Sox.

GLAD TO BE HERE: Before the game, Eric Gagne explained why he was happy to waive his no-trade clause (projo) to come to the "best sports city in America." Gagne warmed in the bullpen in the ninth last night, but was never needed on the field. Depending on how this afternoon's matinee goes, this might be the day for Gagne's Red Sox debut.

NOT SO FAST: Gene Orza, the number-two official of the players union, made it sound like the Red Sox were likey to open the 2008 season in Tokyo. But baseball operations people with the club, and owner John Henry, are still not sold on the move (Boston Globe), with early-season player fatigue being atop their list of concerns.

BUCHHOLZ REPORT: Clay Buchholz struck out nine batters while giving up two runs in 6.1 innings last night at McCoy Stadium. He got a no-decision as the PawSox fell to Buffalo in extra innings (projo).

ALMOST EVERYONE'S IN ON THE ACT: Alex Rodriguez can't get any colder (0 for 21 since hitting his 499th home run), while one would hope that the Yankees offense can't get any hotter. A night after hitting eight home runs against the White Sox, the Yankees hit five more last night, including one by cult hero Shelley Duncan, to move within two games of the Cleveland Indians for the American League wild-card playoff spot.

UNHAPPY DAMON: One guy who wasn't happy (at least last night) about Duncan's hot streak: Johnny Damon. Unhappy about being left out of last night's lineup while Duncan was in it, Damon reportedly hinted to a reporter that the Yankees should consider trading him when Jason Giambi returns (N.Y. Daily News). Damon calmed down later on, after having a conversation with Joe Torre.

YES, IT'S FOR SALE: Fortune magazine reports that the YES Network is for sale, and wonders if the Yankees themselves might be next. But George Steinbrenner's son Hal says the answer is no.

ONE LAST LOOK: Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr, 89 years old, is making what he believes will be his last-ever trip to Fenway (Boston Globe). Doerr says the cross-country flight from Oregon is too much for his aching back.

COME ON OVER: David Ortiz, who never sounds too sad to no longer be with the Minnesota Twins, believes that Johan Santana will soon join the fraternity of former Twins (Boston Herald), and he fantasizes about Santana in the Red Sox rotation.

NOT A BOSTON GUY: Torii Hunter also appears to have one foot out of Minnesota. Hunter, who can become a free agent after this season, also told the St. Paul Pioneer Press he's "not a big Boston guy," saying he's heard racial slurs here ("It happened like a hundred times. It was terrible.") and, more importantly, he's afraid of the Green Monster: "I like to catch the ball and hit the wall. I catch the ball and hit the wall there, I die."

THE GAME GOES ON: The deadly collapse of a Minnesota freeway bridge happened minutes before the first pitch of last night's Twins-Royals game. Although some players did not want to play after seeing accounts of the tragedy, the game went on, and keeping the 24,880 fans in the Metrodome and off area roads was probably a very good thing (Minneapolis Star Tribune). Today's scheduled game has already been postponed.

NOT IN OUR HOUSE: No, there is no conspiracy to keep Barry Bonds from tying Hank Aaron's home-run record in Los Angeles, according to Paul Oberjuerge of the L.A. Daily News. "It's more like an unspoken but clearly understood corporate policy."

END OF STORY: The Chicago White Sox have finally decided to take Jose Contreras out of the rotation, at least for now (Chicago Sun-Times).

SORRY STATE: Interviewed by the Philadelphia Daily News before yesterday's Double-A game, new Phillies acquisition Julio Mateo said he deserves a second chance. Mateo, as we mentioned here yesterday, is facing charges of punching, choking and biting his wife in a Manhattan hotel room. He appeared not to deny that something happened, but said he is working to improve his behavior.

GRAND ENTRANCE: Mark Teixeira hit a three-run home run in his Braves debut (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), as Atlanta routed the Houston Astros.

DEFICIT ERASED: The Chicago Cubs have completely erased an eight-and-a-half game deficit (Chicago Sun-Times) and now share first place in the National League Central with the fading Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs beat the Phillies last night on a walk-off wild pitch.

HOW THE SHORTSTOPS STACK UP: Justin Zeth, on the athomeplate blog, gives some statistical support for Barry Larkin's Hall of Fame candidacy, and throws cold water on Omar Vizquel's.

IRONIC, PERHAPS? Pitcher Matt Morris popped off to reporters about the Giants, just a day after being traded to the Pirates. He said that the Giants had learned to accept losing (San Francisco Chronicle). Mr. Morris, welcome to Pittsburgh.

TICKETS HERE: That's the attitude of major league baseball, which long frowned on ticket scalping, but now has an agreement with the Web site StubHub to direct fans who need tickets to the secondary marketplace's Web site. The New York Times reports on baseball's embrace of ticket reselling.

FUNNY STUFF: And finally this, from The Onion: "Craig Biggio blames media pressure for stalling at 285 hit-by-pitches."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 9:08 AM to Projo Sox Crawl | Permalink