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Pregame Notes, Sept. 6

-- Eric Gagne, who hasn't pitched in a game since Aug. 26 because of tendinitis in his right shoulder, threw a bullpen session this afternoon. The Sox, said manager Terry Francona, are going to be patient with him.

"We're not going to force him to the mound when he's not ready. That doesn't make any sense," said Francona.

-- Bobby Kielty (lower back) is in the starting lineup, replacing impressive rookie Jacoby Ellsbury, a left-handed hitter, in left field. The Orioles are starting a left-handed pitcher, Garrett Olson. Kielty isn't exactly 100 percent, but he's good enough to play, said Francona.

-- Kevin Youkilis has gone 177 consecutive games without a fielding error at first base, one shy of the American League record, established by Mike Hegan, who did not make an error in 178 games in a row for Milwaukee and Oakland from Sept. 24, 1970 to May 20, 1973.

Youkilis has handled 1,499 chances in his 177 errorless games, which includes 165 starts. Hegan handled 787 chances, starting only 52 games during his errorless streak. Steve Garvey boasts the major league record -- 193 games -- while playing for San Diego from June 26, 1983 to April 14, 1985.

Yesterday Youkilis played in his 122nd game at first, edging past Tampa Bay's Travis Lee for consecutive errorless games in one season. Lee played 121 games in a row without an error in 2003.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 5:00 PM | Permalink

Matsuzaka: Pedroia Rookie of the Year

One day in Yankee Stadium last week manager Terry Francona crossed paths with Daisuke Matsuzaka and tossed a question Dice-K's way.

"I asked him about the rookie of the year, and he had an interesting answer," said Francona this afternoon. "He said, 'I've already been Rookie of the Year (in Japan, the Pacific League award in 1999). Then he pointed to (Sox second baseman Dustin) Pedroia and he said, 'That's the Rookie of the Year.' That's a pretty mature remark. I loved his attitude."

The Sox have three strong Rookie of the Year candidates -- Matsuzaka (14-11, 4.11), Pedroia (.329) and left-handed reliever Hideki Okajima (3-2, 1.79). Players from the Japanese League are eligible for the major league award because, even though they may have numerous years of professional baseball under their belts in their native country, this is their first year in the big leagues here.

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:53 PM | Permalink | Comments 2

The Wakefield-Mirabelli Battery Returns

Doug Mirabelli, who was forced to the disabled list because of a strained right calf on Aug. 17, is back in the lineup tonight, serving in his primary Red Sox role as personal catcher for knuckleballer Tim Wakefield.

Wakefield is making a return, as well. Wakefield was scratched from his previous start last Friday, opening the door for Clay Buchholz's no-hit glory, because of a sore back.

In Mirabelli absence, Kevin Cash came up from Pawtucket and did an excellent job catching Wakefield's floaters in two games, a pair of scoreless seven-inning outings. Wakefield enters tonight's game with a 22-inning scoreless streak.

Mirabelli caught Wakefield's bullpen session two days ago.

"I needed to do that so I could feel prepared (for tonight's start), or as prepared as you can be (catching a knuckleball)," said Mirabelli. "You never want to go into a game without feeling completely prepared."

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:46 PM | Permalink

Okajima Tired?

Last night, Hideki Okajima coughed up a game-losing two-run homer in the ninth to Vernon Wells.

The left-hander was quoted after the game as saying he was getting tired, a function of the longer season in the majors compared with the Japanese League season.

Boston manager Terry Francona, though, discounted that comment from Okajima.

"How many people asked him the same thing?" asked Francona moments ago in his daily meeting with the media.

"After 12 people ask you that, you throw up your hands (and agree with the question). I think he left a changeup up. No one asked him two days ago (when he turned in a scoreless outing) if he was tired. There needs to be some consistency in the questioning. He didn't all of a sudden run a marathon. He gave up a hit," said Francona.

"I think everybody gets somewhat tired at this time of the year. But his fastball is the same as it has been all year, not an ounce of dropoff. I am aware of where he pitched and the amount, but we can't stop the season. We have to try to use good judgment (on when to call on Okajima). He just left a pitch up," said Francona.

The manager also said that Okajima was suffering from a sore hip for a few days, but that "I think he's okay."

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:38 PM | Permalink

Starting Lineups, Sept. 6

BOSTON

Lugo ss
Pedroia 2b
Ortiz dh
Lowell 3b
Youkilis 1b
Kielty lf
Drew rf
Crisp cf
Mirabelli c

Wakefield p

BALTIMORE

Roberts 2b
Patterson cf
Markakis rf
Tejada ss
Millar 1b
Huff dh
Mora 3b
R. Hernandez c
Payton lf

Olson p

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 4:35 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Tired Okajima; Jacoby's the man

Click here to listen to the full audio as Sean McAdam joins us for today's edition of projo SoxTalk. The topics: the worn-down Hideki Okajima; Curt Schilling's up-and-down night; why Jacoby Ellsbury is a better option (for now) than J.D. Drew; Manny Ramirez's health; and the possibility of Matt Clement pitching again in a Red Sox uniform.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On bullpen fatigue: "Certainly the unavailability of Gagne for the about the last 10 days now has impacted things. His very acquisition was designed to take some of the workload off Okajima in the second half, and because he was in turn ineffective and then unavailable, they've had to run Okajima out there on a pretty regular basis, and that's something they wanted to avoid. I think that, should Gagne come back -- and he will have a bullpen [session] today and probably be, I would imagine, available starting tomorrow night -- if he can come back and be healthy and effective, that probably straightens it out."

On Ellsbury: "I think he has really caught [the team's] attention with his poise and ability to fit right in, and not be overwhelmed by circumstances. And correspondingly, Drew -- I think everyone has waited for that explosion ... and it hasn't happened, and you start to wonder if it's going to happen this year. And if you start comparing the two, I'm not sure that J.D. Drew, with about eight years in the big leagues, has all that much over Jacoby Ellsbury beyond than experience right now."

On Ramirez: "Frankly I would be surprised if you saw him any earlier than that next road trip, which goes to Toronto and Tampa. I guess it's possible he might be available for the Yankees series next weekend, but clearly he's not ready to partake in the Tampa Bay series when they come back home if he hasn't even started baseball activities. ... I think the important thing right now is that he gets his timing down at the plate when he comes back enough to get himself into the postseason feeling ready, and having faced some live pitching, and most importantly healthy again."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:05 PM to McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Thursday, September 6

'THAT'S THE WAY THE GAME IS': But it hasn't been the way many Red Sox games have been this season, which is why last night's 6-4 loss to the Blue Jays -- in which the normally airtight bullpen blew a 4-3 lead by allowing three runs in the final two innings -- seemed so stunning. The quote was from Terry Francona, who dismissed the failures of Manny Delcarmen (game-tying homer to Troy Glaus in the eighth) and Hideki Okajima (game-losing, two-run homer to Vernon Wells -- above, Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach -- in the ninth) as just one of those things. Joe McDonald, however, reports Okajima gave a disconcerting answer (''As you see, yes'') when asked if he was tired in this, his first major-league season, which is longer than the seasons in Japan. One member of the bullpen who did pitch well was recent callup Bryan Corey; Paul Kenyon has the details.

ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE THINGS: While the Sox' bullpen failures last night were surprising, their lack of clutch hitting was all too familiar. They got only one run out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the first, only one run out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the fifth, and nothing at all out of a bases-loaded, one-out situation in the seventh; one big hit in any of those spots could have given them a comfortable enough lead to withstand a late hiccup by the bullpen. That J.D. Drew was in the middle of two of those failed innings (the first and the seventh) was probably no surprise to anyone, and Sean McAdam speculates Drew's playing time may be in jeopardy when Manny Ramirez comes back, because Jacoby Ellsbury is proving to be a better offensive option than Drew. Julio Lugo thinks Drew is still''a good player. He's just going through a bad time.'' (Boston Herald)

'STUPIDITY ON MY PART': Curt Schilling left the game after six with a 4-3 lead, but it would have been 4-0 had it not been for a string of four consecutive two-out hits in the fifth that pushed across all three Toronto runs. The uprising started when, with nobody on and one out, he walked No. 8 hitter Gregg Zaun on a 3-and-2 curveball, which the Herald's Tony Massarotti notes could be ''indicative of the transformation he is trying to achieve as a pitcher.'' Still, throwing a 3-and-2 curve to a bottom-of-the-order hitter was the stupidity Schilling talked about since, as he said, ''The law of averages if he puts the ball in play is that it’s going to be an out. Instead, I try to get cute. I still can’t believe I did it.''

AT LEAST SOMEONE WAS HAPPY: Vernon Wells loves the big stages of Boston and New York, and he was all smiles after his game-winning home run. (Toronto Star)

WHAT YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, TAO . . . is that the bunt is about the only offensive weapon at Coco Crisp's disposal. (Click the link to our good friend Tao of Steib to find out what I'm talking about.) Or does it just seem like approximately 81 of his 126 hits this year have been bunt singles?

COMEBACK KID: Matt Clement threw a 20-pitch simulated game yesterday, the first time he's faced hitters since last year's surgery, and tells McDonald and Kenyon he'd like to pitch in a game before the season ends.

IN THE LEAD: The Herald's Rob Bradford says Dustin Pedroia is the favorite to win the A.L. Rookie of the Year award.

WHAT IT'S LIKE ON THE INSIDE: The Rev. Anne Gardner, an Episcopal priest, is a game-day worker at Fenway Park and gives a glimpse into a job many people in Red Sox Nation would no doubt love to have. (Boston Globe)

ONE MORE TIME: Journal columnist M. Charles Bakst -- Charlie, to those of us who know him -- was at Fenway Park for Clay Buchholz' no-hitter and he writes about it in today's column. (And, yes, he can thank me for staying until the end; the tale he tells about me coming along and assuring him I'd drive him home so he wouldn't have to leave to catch the train is entirely accurate.) I posted my own out-of-focus cell-phone pictures, taken from Charlie's seat, to the blog when I got home; if you missed them, here they are. Seth Mnookin also catches up with the no-hitter and reminds us that the angst of losing Pedro Martinez could pale compared to the years of pleasure Buchholz may provide Red Sox Nation; the Sox, need we remind you, drafted Buchholz with the compensation pick they received when Martinez signed with the Mets. Just another reminder that letting go of nearing-the-end-of-the-line free agents is, more often than not, a good thing, since you miss the player's inevitable decline and the draft choice you receive for them can be quite valuable.

WHICH WOULD EXPLAIN . . . why the Red Sox don't seem to plan on bringing back Mike Lowell, no matter how good a year he's having. (Boston Globe)

HAVEN'T GOT TIME FOR THE PAIN: Alex Rodriguez ignored the ankle injury he'd suffered the night before and clubbed two home runs in the same inning as the Yankees exploded late for a 13-2 whipping of the Mariners. (New York Daily News) FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says that, because of heroics like this, A-Rod's price is going up by the minute. The Mariners, losers of 12 of their last 13, are just plain exploding . . . with frustration, at themselves and, last night, at plate umpire Greg Gibson. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

NUMBER ONE: Joba Chamberlain recorded his first major-league win in relief of fellow rookie Phil Hughes. (New York Daily News)

NUTTY: The New York Times quoted a piece of Norse mythology in putting forth the theory that the squirrel who seems to have found a home on the right-field foul pole in Yankee Stadium would be bad luck for the Yanks, but they're 4-0 in games in which he appears publicly. (New York Daily News)

THE GOOD AND THE BAD: The Yankees say Chien-Ming Wang is over his back stiffness and will start Sunday in Kansas City, but -- surprise, surprise -- reliever Luis Vizcaino has a sore shoulder and will miss the weekend series. (New York Daily News) It was just yesterday that Peter Abraham, on the LodHud Yankees Blog, was wondering why in the world Joe Torre was bringing Vizcaino into an 11-1 game. Yesterday Abraham noted ''Nobody beats the Viz, except the manager''.

A.L. RACES: There aren't really many of them, but the Tigers kept pace with the Yankees in the wild-card hunt by beating the White Sox.

WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CHEESE WITH THAT WHINE? The blog Crashburn Alley has no use for Chipper Jones' complaints about the umpires, saying it's typical of the Braves' ''sore loser'' mentality.

N.L. RACES: Ted Lilly pitched the Cubs over the Dodgers (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Braves delivered a gut punch to the Phillies by overcoming an 8-2, eighth-inning deficit for a 9-8 win (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Diamondbacks beat the Padres to take over first place in the N.L. West. (Arizona Republic)

QUICKLY: Carl Crawford was handed a two-game suspension for his Monday run-in with the umpires (FoxSports.com) . . . The Mets will be without Carlos Delgado for about a week because of a hip injury (Newark Star-Ledger).

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 7:24 AM | Permalink