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Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Ellsbury, Papelbon and Buchholz »
September 5, 2007
SWEET SEVENTEEN: It wasn't a playoff preview, not against a team that's just hanging on the fringes of the wild-card race, but it had a definite postseason tinge: Ace against ace, with the Red Sox' suspect offense needing to generate runs against a quality starter while their own pitcher had to shut down a potent opposition attack. In that light, the Sox had to be pleased with their 4-3 win over the Blue Jays last night, as Josh Beckett (above, Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach) outdueled Roy Halladay for his major-league-leading 17th win. (projo.com) Sean McAdam reports Beckett's only mistake was a hanging changeup that the white-hot Matt Stairs deposited into the bullpen for a three-run homer in the fifth; otherwise, he stifled Toronto on four hits over eight innings. One of the later items in McAdam's notebook details the third straight appearance of Jonathan Papelbon -- the first time all season he's worked three straight games -- as the Sox, after months of carefully monitoring his workload to protect his shoulder, begin preparing him for the intense demands of the playoffs. He certainly seemed none the worse for wear last night, retiring the Jays in order and striking out the final batter.
NEW KID IN TOWN: Jacoby Ellsbury is fast becoming a Boston folk hero, and Joe McDonald reports on his 3-for-4 performance last night, in which he was just a double shy of the cycle. It's worth a click on this link to Projo Stats to see Ellsbury's numbers after 31 major-league at-bats.
A GOOD SCOUT: The Boston Globe's Gordon Edes talks to Jim Robinson, the scout who discovered Clay Buchholz.
PROTECTING THE FUTURE: SI.com's Tom Verducci tells why the Red Sox -- and other teams with bright pitching prospects -- are so cautious with Buchholz. McAdam's notebook outlines the Sox' plans for Buchholz in the remaining weeks.
STILL THE ONE: The Sox remain No. 1 in SI.com's Power Rankings.
TIME FOR A CHANGE: McDonald reports that the Red Sox have fired PawSox hitting coach Mark Budaska and are reassigning Pawtucket's pitching coach, Mike Griffin. Jon Lester and Brandon Moss, who played for Pawtucket this year, comment on the changes.
RUBBER NECKERS: The Red Sox will be spending the weekend in Baltimore, and the Baltimore Sun's Rick Masse says the reeling Orioles have turned ''the September schedule into a massive freeway accident, each night's game serving as another crunched car added to the pileup.'' They did win last night, though . . . even if it only was against Tampa Bay. (Baltimore Sun)
YANKS ARE WILD: A 12-3 romp over the Mariners last night increased the Yankees' lead in the wild-card race (New York Daily News), and, even better, they say injuries to Chien-Ming Wang (lower back stiffness) and Alex Rodriguez (ankle) are nothing to worry about. The Daily News has more on A-Rod.
ROGER TALK: Some people speak English, some speak French, some speak . . . well, you get the idea. But there's a veteran right-hander -- you all know him; used to pitch here -- who speaks Clemens, which can be hard for the rest of us to decipher at times. That was the case yesterday, as reporters tried to pick through whatever it was Roger said about his elbow injury. One thing's for certain: He and the Yankees think he'll only miss one start. The New York Post's Joel Sherman says Clemens ''attempted to make the injury sound worse and himself sound bigger for it. He was setting up yet another -- everyone yawn now -- John Wayne moment when he comes strolling back into Dodge to save a pinstripe town. '' But teammate Andy Pettitte spoke in a more discouraging tone: ''There is going to be an end [to Clemens' career] sometime. And this could be it.'' (New York Post)
JOIN THE CHORUS: Peter Abraham thinks most of the criticism of Joe Torre is unfounded. But when it comes to how Torre uses his bullpen . . . well, here's Abraham on his game blog last night: ''[Why] he would use Luis Vizcaino in an 11-1 game is beyond me. It’s like he picks one guy every year and decides to use him as often as possible. With the rosters expanded, they could use most anybody in an 11-1 game. It makes no sense.'' (LoHud Yankees Blog)
PLAYING THE CARDS: FoxSports.com's Tracy Ringolsby says people may not like the wild card but it ''is serving its purpose. It's keeping interest in September.''
IN THE A.L. . . . That's not quite as true; in fact, Baseball Musing's David Pinto says the division races are settled, barring historic collapses by the Red Sox, Angels or Indians. In the wild-card hunt, only the Mariners and the Tigers have a chance to catch the Yankees. And the Tigers lost to the White Sox and continue to slide in both the A.L. Central and wild-card races. (Detroit News)
BUT IN THE N.L. . . . Virtually everybody's alive. The Dodgers beat the Cubs and are now three games back in both the N.L. West and wild-card races (Los Angeles Daily News) . . . The Phillies beat the Braves and are three out in the wild card and five back in the N.L. East (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Brewers beat the Astros and pulled to a half-game back of the Cubs in the N.L. Central (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . The Cardinals are right with them, one game behind Chicago, after beating the Astros (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Mets remained five up in the N.L. East by beating the Reds (New York Daily News) . . . The Diamondbacks routed the Padres and the teams are now virtually tied for the N.L. West lead. (Arizona Republic)
AGE WILL BE SERVED: ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick says the Diamondbacks will go as far as their veterans take them.
HEAR MY PLEA: It may be the frustration of the Braves' season swirling down the drain, but Chipper Jones blasted major-league umpires after Atlanta's 5-2 loss to the Phillies last night and all but begged MLB to install QuesTec, the automatic system for determining balls and strikes, at Turner Field. For those -- like me -- who think the quality of umpiring, after taking an uptick with the disappearance of Richie Phillips, has declined dramatically in recent years, it's an interesting read.
As for Chipper, however, you have to think MLB will lower the boom on him for this.
STILL WAITING: Speaking of having problems with umpires, the Devil Rays' Carl Crawford hasn't yet heard if he'll be disciplined after his Monday night ouburst. (AP via ESPN.com)
I'M SORRY: As we all suspected he would, Carlos Zambrano apologized to Cubs fans for his Tuesday outburst. (Chicago Sun-Times)
A RIDDLE, WRAPPED IN A MYSTERY, INSIDE AN ENIGMA: That's what the St. Petersburg Times' John Romano thinks of Rhode Island's Rocco Baldelli, who has missed 348 of Tampa Bay's last 486 games because of injury and whose uncertain status for the future casts a shadow over many of the Devil Rays' personnel decisions.
BIGGEST APPLE: SI.com's Jon Heyman thinks the two MVPs could come from New York this year. Click the link to see who.
QUICKLY: The Brewers have added reliever Ray King and catcher Mike Rivera for help down the stretch (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel) . . . Rhode Island's Jim Salisbury reports Cole Hamels thinks the Phillies need a full-time chiropractor; Hamels believes he'd be healthy if they did (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The White Sox may give Ozzie Guillen a contract extension (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Cardinals may take Kip Wells out of their rotation (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) . . . The Padres have picked up ex-Padre Brett Tomko. (foxsports.com)
OLD FRIENDS: Pedro Martinez felt ''perfect'' a day after his return to the Mets. (New York Post)
AND FINALLY . . . Dirk Hayhurst, a pitcher in the Padres' minor-league system, is writing a ''Non-Prospect Diary'' for Baseball America. His August 16 entry is a must read, on many levels, for people who want real insight into what baseball is truly like.
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 7:20 AM | Permalink
