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September 11, 2007
PITCH FOR OPTIMISM: Optimism wasn't in big supply at Fenway Park last night, not after a 1-0 loss to Tampa Bay -- Tampa Bay! -- that reduced the Red Sox' lead in the loss column over the Yankees to four games. But Sean McAdam says the silver lining in the dark cloud was the pitching of Curt Schilling (above, Journal photo by Bob Breidenbach), who's looking more and more like the dependable starter the Sox need him to be in the postseason. Schilling's postgame entries on 38pitches.com, which used to consist of fascinating batter-by-batter, pitch-by-pitch breakdowns, have gotten shorter and shorter and now, whenever he actually posts something, are all but nonexistent; last night's consisted of ''Scott [Kazmir] pitched as good a game as I have ever seen him throw.'' That he did, throwing seven innings of five-hit shutout ball; Paul Kenyon has the details. (projo.com) But the Boston Herald's Rob Bradford notes the Devil Rays aren't the pushover they once were, having now won 13 of their last 17.
YEAH, BUT . . . The Sox are still No. 1 in SI.com's Power Rankings.
NOT SO FAST: McAdam talked to Red Sox owner John Henry, who says published reports of the Red Sox opening the 2008 season against the A's in Japan are premature; according to Henry, ''no formal invitation [has been offered] and no decision made.” (projo.com)
THE RIVALRY NEVER ENDS: The New York Post's Larry Brooks reports that the team with the best regular-season record in the American League will have the choice of playing the Division Series over eight days, or over seven. (Whichever option they don't choose will be imposed on the other series.) And Brooks speculates the Sox would ''jump at the chance to play the eight-day series if for no other reason than to require the Yankees to play the seven-day series so Joba Chamberlain would only be available for three games, instead of the four in which he'd be allowed to pitch in the extended version''
THE OTHER GUYS: Peter Gammons likes both the Angels and Indians and thinks it's possible either one could still be playing on Halloween. (ESPN.com)
MUTED CELEBRATION: Today is Jacoby Ellsbury's 24th birthday. It's also the sixth anniversary of the deadliest attacks ever staged on U.S. soil. Ellsbury admits that since that day in 2001, his birthdays ''have been a lot different.'' (Boston Herald)
PAL 'O MINE: Dustin Pedroia was surprised to hear Jay Gibbons' name surface in baseball's mushrooming drug scandal, since they work out together in Tempe, Ariz., and Pedroia says he'd never seen any evidence of Gibbons taking HGH. (Boston Herald) The Devil Rays' Carl Crawford, who also works out there, was similarly shocked.
PUT UP OR SHUT UP: FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal says it's time to end the charade. Baseball should either pour enormous resources into drug testing to get at the root of the performance-enhancement problem, or admit it's a losing battle and forget about it. ''Halfway,'' he concludes, ''is not good enough.''
OCTOBER MEMORIES: According to Doug Mientkiewicz, his current teammate on the Yankees and a high school teammate way back when, Alex Rodriguez' legendary season is being fueled not by the spectre of impending free agency and the riches that await, but by the embarrassment of his playoff pratfall last year. (New York Post)
IT'S THE SAME, BUT DIFFERENT: A-Rod's late power surge has put him in striking distance of Roger Maris' Yankee record for home runs in a season, and it's opening up a flood of memories for Phil Pepe, who was a young beat reporter when Maris hit 61 in '61. (YESNetwork.com) But the total number of home runs is about where the similarity ends, both in regards to the players involved and the chase itself.
RE-ENTRY: Roger Clemens is set to test his aching elbow this week in Toronto. (New York Post) The New York Daily News reports Clemens is tentatively slated to pitch against Curt Schilling Sunday night.
I CALLED IT: At a time when the Yankees looked like a 75-win team, Baseball Musing's David Pinto predicted they'd wind up with 90 to 95 wins. And it looks like he'll be right.
A.L. RACES: The Tigers rallied from a 4-1, ninth-inning deficit and beat the Blue Jays (Detroit Free Press) . . . They played into the wee hours thanks to a 2 1/2-hour rain delay, but the Indians still beat the White Sox (Cleveland Plain Dealer) . . . The Mariners' 9-3 loss to the A's should all but end their playoff hopes. (Seattle Times)
N.L. RACES: The Pirates beat the Brewers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . The Phillies beat the Rockies (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . The Mets beat the Braves (New York Post) . . . The Cubs beat the Cardinals (Chicago Sun-Times) . . . The Diamondbacks beat the Giants (Arizona Republic).
To see how all those games affected the races, check out the N.L. divisional standings and wild-card standings. (Projo Stats)
FAME-OUS: MLB.com's Marty Noble thinks Pedro Martinez is a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame.
END OF THE LINE? This has been a difficult season for the Cardinals, so difficult that Tony La Russa may walk away and try to find a new managing job when it's over. (USA Today)
THIS JUST IN: The San Jose Mercury News' Daniel Brown is the latest to discover that high-priced free-agent pitchers are a bad risk.
LOCAL BOYS: Ex-Providence College star John McDonald has agreed to a two-year contract extension with the Blue Jays. (Toronto Star)
QUICKLY: The Washington Times reports the Nationals may make a run at Andruw Jones . . . Jimmy Rollins is trying to convince the Phillies to trade for Dontrelle Willis (Philadelphia Inquirer) . . . Harold Reynolds says race played a role in his firing by ESPN (New York Times) . . . Brad Ausmus would like to return to the Astros (Houston Chronicle) . . . Tom Glavine says wants to come back for one more year with the Mets. (New York Post)
OLD FRIENDS: Orlando Cabrera won't come right out and say it, but it's obvious he thinks he deserves the Gold Glove (Los Angeles Times) . . . Wily Mo Pena is wowing them with his power in Washington. (Washington Times)
-- ART MARTONE
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