A New Home for Julian.

People of Milwaukee: Lock up your daughters. Hide your trashbags and Japanese pitchers. Julian Tavarez is likely moving to town.

Villanueva v. Beckett (Game 46)

I suppose the best way to describe Beckett's performance today would be to call it uneven. He gave up four homeruns that scored six of the Brewers runs but he also struck out nine. He went seven innings on one hundred and six pitches and gave up six hits but walked only one.

Manny Del came in for the eighth inning. It wasn't a superb outing: he gave up two hits and allowed a run to score but it wasn't terrible. He gave up two hits to the first two batters he faced (a single and a double.) The next batter grounded out to second for the first out but also knocked in a run. He got the next batter to strike out swinging and the last batter flew out to left.

Papelbon finished off the Brewers in the ninth inning. The Brewers decided to be ultra-aggressive with him and the first two batters swung at the first pitch he threw and the first flew out to right. The second batter got a base hit. The third batter took a strike and then flew out to right. The fourth batter struck out looking on five pitches.

That was a couple of really weird games in a row; last night was an error filled game and tonight was a homerun filled game. The Red Sox combined for four homeruns (Pedroia had one, Ortiz had two, and Youkilis had one.) They also continued with the leaving men on base routine by leaving nine men on base throughout the game. And Ellsbury was caught stealing for the first time.

In the first inning, Pedroia walked and then Ortiz doubled to bring him in. In the third inning, Pedroia and Ortiz both hit homeruns. In the fourth inning, the first three batters reached to load the bases (on an error, a single, and a walk) but then Coco struck out, Lugo walked to bring in another run, Ellsbury singled to bring in two more runs, Lugo was caught in a rundown for the second out, and Ellsbury was caught stealing. In the fifth inning, Pedroia singled and Ortiz got a homerun. In the sixth inning, Lugo singled, moved over to second on a groundout by Ellsbury, and then scored on a single by Pedroia. And in the seventh inning, Lowell singled and Youkilis got a homerun.

Bush v. Wakefield (Game 45)

You almost feel badly for guys who've never faced Wakefield before. Especially if, essentially, it's the whole team that's never seen him or, most likely, seen a knuckleball; and the knuckleball is working well. You've got guys who are very good hitters (or, at least, were last year) just standing there or swinging at pitches that are no longer anywhere near the strike zone. Almost.

It was a very good outing for Wakefield. He used one hundred and eight pitches to go five and one third of an inning. He struck out five batters (including striking out the side in the first inning), walked three, gave up six hits and left the game with a five-one lead. (He gave up a home run in the sixth.) And then it got really strange.

Aardsma didn't have the easiest time when he came in to relieve Wakefield in the sixth inning. Wake left with one out and two runners on. Aardsma got a three pitch strike out from the first batter he faced. He went too far inside to the next batter he saw and hit him on the hip to load the bases. He gave up a two run single to the next batter he faced; then walked his fourth batter to reload the bases. Fortunately for him, he got the last batter to foul out to first to end the inning.

Hansen pitched the seventh inning and allowed three runs on two hits (but none of the runs were earned.) He gave up a base hit to the first batter but got the second to strike out swinging. Kap was next and reached on a throwing error by Lowell. The fourth batter of the inning reached on a fielding error by Cora. The fifth batter reached on a fielder's choice and knocked in another Brewer run to cut the Sox lead to one. With runners on first and third, Hansen threw a wild pitch that moved the runner on first over to second and then the sixth Brewer of the inning hit a double that brought in two more runs and gave the Brewers the lead. The inning ended, thankfully, with a foul out to the catcher.

Lopez pitched the eighth inning and while he wasn't exactly cruising through it, at least he didn't allow any more runs to score. He got the first batter to fly out to center. The next batter hit a ground ball back at him which he failed to scoop up and then booted for the error and for the runner to reach. He walked the next batter (the same batter he walked in the day game) but then got the inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

Timlin came out for the ninth inning and I've got to say that I'm not really digging the 'stache. But, I suppose if it means he continues to pitch the way he did tonight, then I can live with it. He got three quick outs, a pop out and two ground outs, to preserve the lead and end the game.

Mike Lowell was responsible for four of the seven runs scored tonight. In the first inning, he doubled to knock in Ortiz (who had walked) and Youkilis (who had gotten a double of his own.) Then in the third inning he hit a homerun over the wall that also brought in Pedroia (who had singled and stolen second.)

They got another run in the fifth inning. Ellsbury reached on the throwing error of the short stop, stole second, and moved over to third on the sacrifice by Pedroia. Ortiz grounded out but then Youkilis reached on the throwing error of the third baseman and knocked in Ellsbury. The inning ended with a fly out by Lowell.

They scored again in the seventh inning. Ellsbury reached on a fielding error by the second baseman. Ellsbury took off for second and Pedroia hit into a fielder's choice but the throw to second was off-Ellsbury was safe and moved over to third, and Pedroia took second. Ortiz grounded out to the shortstop but knocked in Ellsbury. Youkilis then got a bloop single to right to knock in Pedroia. Lowell struck out looking and Youkilis was caught stealing to end the inning.

One thing to say about this game is that they only left five men on base. Not the best thing, considering how close it was, but at least an improvement. The game was sloppy though. The number of errors, on both sides, was ridiculous. For the Brewers (who had been pretty good defensively) and the Red Sox (whose most error-prone player was on the bench) to combine for seven errors in one game is impressive. I think it must speak to the fact that it was a late, long game after a long game earlier in the day. There's probably not too much to be made of it but man.

Suppan v. Matsuzaka (Game 44)

A nice game for Daisuke. He went six and two-thirds of an inning, allowing two runs on one hundred and three pitches. He struck out six and walked only two batters. For the most part, he was working efficiently and was throwing strikes.

He got himself into a tiny bit of trouble in the fifth inning. After getting two quick outs, he gave up a single, hit a batter, and walked a batter to load the bases but got the last batter to fly out to center with no damage done. In the sixth inning he gave up a single and a double but then got two swinging strike outs and a fly out. He very nearly got himself out of the seventh inning cleanly, as well. He got two quick fly outs but the third batter reached on fielding error by Youkils (who was playing at third), then he gave up a home run and a single before he was pulled.

Lopez was called in to face the lefty Prince Fielder and walked him. They replaced him with Manny Del and he did pretty well. Manny Delcarmen went an inning and a third. He got a force out at second to end the seventh inning. He did give up a hit in the eighth but he got a ground out, a foul out, and a fly out to get himself out of there.

Papelbon came in for the ninth inning and was done in seven pitches. He got a ground out and a foul out before giving up a home run to Ryan Braun. He got the last out thanks to a very nice backwards running catch by Alex Cora.

The scoring got started in the first inning. With two outs, Ortiz walked, Ramirez was hit by a pitch, Youkilis singled to load the bases, and Drew drew a walk to bring in the first run.

They scored again in the second inning. With one out, Lugo got a single and Ellsbury got a bunt single. Pedroia flied out but then Ortiz hit a three run homerun out to left, to give the Sox a four-nothing lead.

They didn't score again until the eighth inning. Varitek started it off by getting a double. But then both Casey and Lugo flied out to left. Ellsbury then doubled to bring in Varitek.

And while they won the game, they continue to leave lots of men on base. In the first inning, the bases were loaded when Varitek popped out to short. Casey had a double to start the fourth inning that they couldn't make anything off. In the fifth inning, both Ortiz and Ramirez had singles before Youkilis flied out and Drew hit into a double play. In the sixth inning, Varitek started off with a ground rule double and Casey hit a single before Lugo hit into a double play and Ellsbury flew out. In the seventh inning, Pedroia reached on an error and Ortiz walked before Ramirez fouled out, Youkilis flied out, and Drew grounded out. It's concerning.

I was a little concerned for Lugo at one point. There were a couple of calls that didn't go his way-he sort of fouled a ball off himself but was out of the batters box when it happened in the fourth inning and had a pretty clear tag-out at second where everyone, including the guy being tagged-out, thought he was out except for the umpire-and he doesn't always do well when things don't go his way and start to weigh on him but he seemed to be alright for the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings (it could just have been that they weren't hitting in his direction) but Francona brought out Cora for the ninth, so maybe I'm wrong about him being able to put it behind him.

Next Up: the Milwaukee Brewers.

Woot for the return of Gabe!

The scheduled pitcher for Friday night's game is Jeff Suppan. Suppan's fastball is slow and straight (one of which Manny absolutely mashed to start off game three of the 2004 World Series.) He does have an excellent curveball for an out-pitch. He doesn't walk too many batters but he doesn't strike out many either. He does give up a considerable number of hits because he tends to be predictable.

The pitcher scheduled to go Saturday night is Dave Bush. Bush has a decent fastball that sits in the low-nineties. He also throws a curveball, a slider, and a change-up. He has very good command but can become distracted with runners on base.

Sunday's pitcher is Carlos Villanueva (which I originally read as Charlie Villanueva, which was very confusing.) Villanueva is difficult to hit and, as a result, as a high strike-out rate. His fastball isn't overpowering (it sits in the low-nineties) but is deceptive. He has a very good change-up and throws a decent curveball. He has suffered from inconsistency, most likely resulting from a pitching delivery that has many moving parts that all need to be lined up for things to go well. Villanueva has the most hits and the most homeruns given up on the season so far.

The Brewers' defense is quite good (their third-baseman has a team leading five errors on a the season.) As for offense their biggest hitters are Jason Kendall, Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, and Corey Hart. Bill Hall and Ryan Braun lead the team in home runs (nine as I write this.) The Brewers don't walk much-of the good hitters Prince Fielder leads the team with 20.