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May 5, 2008
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
YOU'RE RIDIN' HIGH IN APRIL, SHOT DOWN IN MAY: Ol' Blue Eyes could have been singing right to the Rays, whose sweep of the Red Sox at the Trop during the last weekend in April is yesterday's news after the Sox (above) returned the favor -- in far more convincing fashion -- at Fenway over the first weekend in May. It started with a rain-delayed 7-3 win Friday night that didn't end until 12:48 a.m, continued with a 12-4 thumping Saturday night that made a winner of Josh Beckett, and concluded with yesterday's 7-3 series wrapup behind more strong pitching from Jon Lester. (All stories projo.com.) That's a 26-10 runs differential, compared to the 10-5 combined scores that the Rays posted in their three wins in St. Petersburg. If a similarity strikes you -- the 10 runs scored by the Rays in both series -- you're right; the difference in the two weekends is that the Sox bats, silenced in the heat of central Florida, came alive in the cold and drizzle of the Northeast. Steven Krasner noted the offensive explosion in his Inside The Game feature Sunday, and it continued yesterday.
The Sox' fans, accustomed to far greater success than the long-suffering Rays followers, reacted a lot more sedately than the Tampa Bay crowds; no brooms, no gloating, no talk of redemption. (Even our old friend Steve Silva, who can be hilarilously over-the-top in times like these, kept it toned down.) As for the Rays themselves, they took the three losses in stride, saying in both the St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune that, in the words of manager Joe Maddon, they didn't see the weekend "being devastating to this group at all." Probably not; the Rays, in the words of Baseball Prospectus, are "swimming in prodigious young talent these days" and the long-term future is very bright. But the blog Shysterball thinks that, for this year anyway, "I have this feeling [the Rays] won't be getting much closer" to the Sox than the three games they trail by as we speak.
WELL-ARMED: Lost in the fireworks provided by the bats is the shutdown pitching of the Sox' starters, extending back well beyond this series. Sean McAdam takes a closer look at it all and some of the numbers are astounding: An overall 2.69 ERA for the starting pitchers (including emergency callups David Pauley and Justin Masterson) and a 1.92 ERA in the last eight games. Curt Schilling agrees with McAdam. (38pitches.com)
NOT SO WELL-ARMED: Good thing the starters are going go well, because -- as Sean notes -- the bullpen, save for Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, hasn't been nearly as reliable as the rotation. McAdam specifically mentions the struggles of Manny Delcarmen at the end of the column, which leads us to . . .
ANOTHER CHANCE: The recall of Craig Hansen, reported today in the notebook by McAdam and Paul Kenyon. His roster spot is that of Brandon Moss, who underwent an emergency appendectomy Saturday night and was reported yesterday to be comfortable and recovering. (projo.com) But the job Hansen may take is Delcarmen's. If you click back to the earlier McAdam column, you'll see where Sean notes the Sox are looking for an effective bridge to the Okajima/Papelbon tandem -- opponents are hitting .500 off Mike Timlin and Delcarmen has been scored upon in 9 of his 16 appearances this year, including 5 of his last 6 -- and Hansen will probably get a real shot to fill that role. On a transcript of his ESPN Radio appearance on the Hacks With Haggs blog, Peter Gammons says the Angels were raving about Hansen after he pitched against them two weeks ago.
The notebook also contains items on David Ortiz' ailing knee, the emergence of the stolen base as a Red Sox offensive weapon (who'da thunk?) and the continuing offensive struggles of Mike Lowell.
THE REAL MONSTER: Speaking of Papelbon -- which we were, a few steps back -- the Boston Globe's Nick Cafardo has a nice feature on the Sox' closer, whose dominance is sparking memories (among those, like me, old enough to rememeber) of Dick Radatz.
TOUGH TALK: He's a players' manager through and through, which means any problems he needs to address will be taken care of out of the public eye. Every so often, though, Terry Francona will send a message to his players via the media . . . and that's what he seemed to be doing Friday night, when he talked about the "responsibility" of playing through minor aches and pains. Krasner related his comments, which appeared to be aimed at J.D. Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury; coincidentally or not, both were soon back in the lineup.
WHAT'S THIS? The Sox are now headed to Detroit for the beginning of an 11-game road trip, and they may not recognize what they see when they get there. Jim Leyland, "shocked" by his team's inconsistent offense, is promising a complete change in the batting order tonight. (Detroit Free Press)
THAT'S ONE ON ME: I didn't even know the Red Sox had Matt Miller. Well, they did, and they traded him to the Pirates. (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
MOVE OVER, ICHIRO: Jeff Bailey is hitting like a fiend since PawSox manager Ron Johnson made him the team's unlikely leadoff man. (projo.com)
A BEGINNING: Okay, says the New York Daily News' Bill Madden, it's time to face facts: The Phil Hughes/Ian Kennedy Era is over, at least for now with Hughes on the DL and Kennedy on his to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. (New York Daily News) But it didn't matter yesterday, as the Yankee offense continues its own resurgence and led the Yanks to an 8-2 romp over the Mariners in the first game post-Hughes/Kennedy (New York Daily News), completing a weekend sweep and making a winner of Darrell Rasner, who was summoned as one-half of the replacement team for Hughes and Kennedy. (New York Post) The other? Kei Igawa. (New York Post)
AN ENDING? Rhode Island's Jim Salisbury, the national baseball writer for the Philadephia Inquirer, thinks the Yankees' struggle could set in motion of a series of events that will culminate in Brian Cashman being named Phillies' GM.
CROSSFIRE: Willie Randolph is becoming a polarizing figure in Mets Nation. Some, like Tim Marchman of the New York Sun, think he should go; others, like the blog Mets Today, disagree. It's my experience that once a manager gets to this point in the public arena, his departure is only a matter of time.
CINCO DE MAYO: He actually wrote it on May 2, but what better day to highlight Chad Finn's Random Lists of Five, which includes the five Red Sox players he hated the most (and all of whom played for "the reprehensible 2001 team"). I also enjoyed the Five True Yankees Of The New Millennium. (www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases)
ADIOS, JULIO: Finn also has a love letter to Julio Franco, who finally hung them up -- at age 49 -- this weekend, but who "very likely [is] still a couple of years younger than Miguel Tejada."
WHAT A BABE: Tejada's been the butt of a lot of jokes lately, and not without reason. Even so, he deserves props for delivering on his Ruthian promise to hit a home run for a child with muscular dystrophy. (Houston Chronicle)
IT'S A START: Roger Clemens finally apologized -- to his "family and fans" for "mistakes in my personal life" -- but continues to insist he never used performance-enhancing drugs. (New York Daily News)
WHAT ABOUT THEM? Ozzie Guillen wonders -- in the purplest language imaginable -- why the White Sox, who won the World Series in 2005, are so criticized in Chicago while the Cubs, who haven't won in 100 years, get a pass. (Chicago Tribune)
PACK YOUR BAGS THEN, SORI: Lou Piniella compares Alfonso Soriano to Bobby Bonds. (Chicago Tribune)
WHADDYA WORRIED ABOUT? Stop fretting about the Rockies' 12-19 record. The Denver Post's Woody Paige points out that it's only one game off last year's 13-18 mark at this point, and the Rox made it to the World Series in '07. So I guess those 20 wins in 21 games at the end of last season is something we can expect every year, then.
TURNAROUND IS FAIR PLAY: The Miami Herald notes the off-center characters in the Marlins' bullpen aren't spooked by opposing fans. In fact, it's the other way around.
MEDICAL REPORT: The Giants' Matt Cain has a hamstring problem (San Francisco Chronicle) . . . The Rockies' Kip Wells will undergo surgery to remove blood clots from his pitching hand (Denver Post) . . . The Tigers' Dontrelle Willis has had a setback in his rehab from an injured knee (Detroit News) . . . The Royals' John Bale broke his hand after punching a door (Kansas City Star) . . . The Braves' Peter Moylan may need season-ending surgery. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
OLD FRIENDS: Joel Piniero has a bad back and may miss his scheduled start tonight (rotoworld.com) . . . Eric Gagne "has become a crap shoot when the Brewers summon him to close games," according to Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel; yesterday he suffered his fifth blown save of the year . . . Derek Lowe got hammered in Denver yesterday (Los Angeles Times) . . . But Bronson Arroyo was even worse, and Reds manager Dusty Baker suspects he may be injured (Springfield News-Sun) . . . Kason Gabbard made a strong rehab start for the Rangers Saturday and may start for Texas on Thursday night. (mlb.com)
-- ART MARTONE
Posted by Art Martone 
at 6:48 AM | Permalink
