Next Up: the Texas Rangers.

I can't imagine that anyone in the baseball world thinks that the Red Sox are any sort of a threat at the moment. The Rangers are probably strutting around town and Baltimore is probably giddy thinking "Oh boy! We get to play Boston this weekend. We might actually have a chance to win!" Unfortunately, even if they should go 4-158, the games have to be played.

So onward... The knock on Texas was always their pitching; they could hit with the best of them but their starting pitching was awful and their bullpen was terrible. They addressed it over the winter by bringing in Rich Harden and Colby Lewis, and moving CJ Wilson from the 'pen to strengthen their rotation. They also added Darren Oliver (from the Angels) and Chris Ray (from Baltimore) to a bullpen that already looked strong with Frank Francisco (who hasn't looked very good this year) and Neftali Feliz (who has).

They let Marlon Byrd go. They claimed Ryan Garko off of waivers from Seattle to fill the role they were going to give to Mike Lowell but, in limited playing time, he hasn't been fabulous at it. The big off-season acquisition for them was Vladimir Guerrero and while he hasn't huge amounts of power, he is hitting at a .348 clip.

Texas has been dealing with a string of injuries. Starting pitcher Tommy Hunter has an oblique problem and relief pitcher Warner Madrigal has a forearm injury. As for position players, they are without Jarrod Saltalamacchia because he is back on the disabled list with a back problem. As a result, Taylor Teagarden has started seven games for them; offensively, it hasn't gone well, he doesn't yet have a hit. Even more importantly, Ian Kinsler sprained his ankle back in March and has just started running on it.

Colby Lewis will be the first pitcher to go for Texas in the series. Lewis was originally drafted by Texas in 1999 and was in their rotation in 2003. He was claimed off waivers by the Tigers in 2004 and hung around there until 2006. In 2006 he signed with the Nats and was released in spring training 2007. He hooked on with Oakland as a relief pitcher in 2007, was claimed off waivers by Kansas City in November and released a month later. He's spent the last two years in Japan.

He throws a low-nineties fastball, a slider, a curve ball, and a change up. He's made two starts this season and would appear to be two completely different pitchers. In his first outing against Seattle, he allowed one run over seven innings and struck out three. In his second start (against Cleveland), he went five and one-third of an inning allowing only two runs. Impressively, he struck out ten in that game. He doesn't give up a lot of hits but the number of walks he allows might be a concern (four in each game so far). He's also more of a fly ball pitcher, so if Vic wants to ground into a double-play, he's really going to have to work for it.

Matt Harrison is slated to start on Wednesday. Harrison also throws a low-nineties fastball, a slider, a curve ball, and a change up. He has one career start against Boston (September 6, 2008). He allowed four runs on seven hits with one walk over six innings in that game. There are lots of balls put in play on Harrison (and with the slightly shaky defense shown by Texas so far, it might not be the best thing for him) but he does have good control.

CJ Wilson was their overly opinionated, jackass of a set up man (with a stupid beard) last year. Seriously, the man is a jerk; he has the chutzpah of a Curt Schilling, without the gravitas to back it up. He is supposed to be their starter on Thursday. His fastball which was in the mid-nineties when he was a reliever is in the low-nineties as a starter. He also throws a slider, a curve ball, and a change up. And over the winter he added a shiny new cutter. He does have a pretty nasty lefty/righty split, with lefties hitting only .118 against him while righties hit .313. He threw seven shut out innings against Toronto in his first start but gave up five runs (three earned) in six innings against New York.

Joaquin Arias (who is filling in at second base for Kinsler) and Elvis Andrus don't have a lot of power between them but they will, seemingly, single you to death. Vladimir Guerrero is also hitting well but not with a huge amount of power. And then there's Nelson Cruz, who is absolutely on fire at the moment with seven home runs. As a team, they don't run a lot but coming into Boston that's likely to change. And they strike out in really horrible numbers; they've played twelve games this year and have three players who have struck out thirteen times. (As a caution: lead by Messrs. Drew and Ortiz, Boston had the same total number of strike outs in twelve games.)

Oops.

Looks at score. Dusts off crystal ball. Hangs head in shame. I may have to retire from prognostication.

Prophecy.

I have consulted the local oracle, tapped into my inner soothsayer, used the magic eight ball, tasseographed my morning brew, and divined the following about the Red Sox performance today:



Let it be so.

But the World Goes 'Round.

I'll spare you the actual song but the relevant lyric: Somebody loses and somebody wins/ One day it's kicks, then it's kicks in the shins.

That was less fun.

For most of yesterday's game I sat here and for the first time this season thought: They've run into a team that's better than they are. They weren't playing poorly (as they are sometimes wont to do) they were just being outplayed. Then they had their ninth inning and everyone was happy and I could stop contemplating jumping ship for Yankee Universe. (It's a much easier group to be a part of: You don't have to know a damn thing about baseball. You don't have to care about the team. You don't even have to know who's on the roster. All that matters is winning and being as loud and obnoxious as you can be. I could root for Alex Rodriguez or *shudder* Derek Jeter--Stop laughing. I swear I could.)

Tonight, though? Not so much. Brad Penny wasn't too, too awful. The outfield defense was somewhat lacking tonight. And he would have been greatly helped by a catcher who could throw people out. And I may have to go back to threatening Ramon Ramirez with deportation back to KC.

The gauntlet has been thrown fellas. I certainly hope that they're up for the challenge.

Maybe Clay Will Lead the Way.

That said, I'm very zen right now. A week or two ago, losing four games in a row would not have gone over well at all. I'd be upset: they're gonna get swept. Oh my God! The Yankees! Disaster! Panic! Right now? It's just: meh. It's because I choose to believe that they can't play this poorly for that much longer, right? Or I may be a little bit tipsy.

And if the redemptive power of A Chorus Line can't set you straight, then I'm pretty sure there's nothing that can.

Moment 10: Charlie's Game.

It's the time of year that people start with top ten whatever for the past year. So here they are, my top ten Red Sox moments for the year.

August 12. Rangers at Red Sox.

Charlie Zink made his major league debut. David Ortiz hit two three-run homeruns in the first inning (and very nearly got a third homerun in the fifth inning.) Kevin Youkilis hit a two-run homerun in the fifth and a three-run homerun in the eighth. They scored nineteen runs in a long, wild game.

I rewatched this game yesterday and remember it a lot more fondly than I should have. I remember it as being a fun game, very exciting. Knowing the outcome, it was bad. It was really, really bad. Texas pitched at the level you would expect them to pitch at but they were met with a equal level of suckiness from the Boston bullpen. Lopez, Aardsma, Delcarmen, Okajima, and Papelbon each trotted out there and only Okajima managed to keep Texas from scoring. It was sloppy too. Youkilis had an error at first and an error at third.

That said, it was a very memorable game. So it gets spot 10.

Mea Culpa.

Please don't blame Timlin or even Lester for the Rangers hitting those home runs last night. It was my fault. Going into the eighth inning I began to think Lester might be able to throw another complete game shutout. Then I began to wonder if they'd been shut out this season (they have by the Twins on July 18, the Yankees on August 7, and the Orioles on August 9.) As soon as pulled up their game log, Kinsler got his home run. Forgive me.

Tonight's Game Was Brought to You by the Letter: W.

Woot! Weird. Wild. Whew! But most importantly: Win!

Next Up: the Texas Rangers.

Scott Feldman has tonight's game for the Rangers. He's primarily a sinker ball pitcher who mixes in a curve ball, a cutter, and very occassionally a change up. He has trouble throwing strikes and, consequently, is liberal with the walks. He doesn't have big strike out numbers (his season high is five in six and one-third of an inning.) Lefties and righties hit him pretty evenly. His problem has been inconsistency. He's done well against the tough offense offered by the White Sox but lasted only three innings (giving up eight runs) to the Angels. He's kept the Yankees in check (I know that the Yankee offense has had trouble scoring runs this season but you would think that they could do something against this guy) but struggled against the Mariners. So who knows what you'll end up getting. Last season they saw him once (in relief), he went two and two-thirds of an inning, gave up no hits, walked only one, and struck out two.

Luis Mendoza has the start on Wednesday. On April 18, Mendoza made a start against Boston. He lasted only three innings. He gave up seven runs on five hits. He has a decent sinking fastball, a cutter, a slider, a change up, and a curve ball. He doesn't walk too many batters but he does get hit pretty hard.

The last pitcher of the series is Vicente Padilla. Padilla throws a fastball, a cutter, and a change up. He throws strikes and gets a lot of called strikes. He does give up a good number of hits, though. Righties have a difficult time against him.

If the Rangers can't beat you with their pitching (it would seem like they couldn't), then their plan must be to out-slug you-which is something they could do. They have big bats in Milton Bradley and Josh Hamilton. They have slightly smaller (but still really good) bats in Ian Kinsler and Chris Davis. Ian Kinsler is the most likely player to steal a base. As a team, they are somewhat error prone. Both David Murphy and Hank Blalock are on the DL (Blalock could be looking to come back quite soon.)

And the Moral of the Series (Texas: Games 18-21) is...

The majority of these games (three out of four) were won by beating up on the Texas bullpen. Good starting pitching definitely had something to do with it-mostly by keeping their own bullpen out of harm's way-but good offense late in the game got them the wins.



Daisuke's start (game 18) was the odd man out. It was just offense that won them the game. They did score against the Texas bullpen in that game but Papi's grand slam was enough to get them the win.



Some other good things to come out of this series were Jed Lowrie's continued success at major league ball. He's shown himself to be versatile, a defensively sound player, and an offensive force. Thurston also showed that he had use as a defensive replacement.

Gabbard v. Buchholz (Game 21)

It's good to win one out right; none of those late inning heroics, just an old-fashioned beat down-with a less than stellar offense no less. Manny and Sean Casey had a vacation day. Varitek wasn't feeling well and so Cash was in the lineup again today. Lugo also didn't play. Some guy showed up in his place-looked just like him but knew how to hit.

Buchholz pitched pretty well. He pitched six shut-out innings with one hundred and three pitches. He walked two, allowed five hits, and struck out six. In the first inning he gave up double sandwiched between a pop up and a strike out; he finished the inning with a fly out to left. In the second inning, he loaded the bases with two outs (a hit, a bunt, and a walk) but got the last out on a pop out. He started the third inning with a lead off walk. He followed that up with a strike out, a fly out, a base hit, and another fly out. He then had 1-2-3 innings in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

David Aardsma started off the seventh inning and had a rough going of it. He gave up a lead off walk and then allowed the runner to advance to second on a wild pitch. The next batter doubled off him and knocked in the first Texas run. He did strike out the next batter but walked the one following him. He got the next batter to strike out swinging but that was it for the day. He was replaced by Lopez. Lopez didn't have much more success than Aardsma. Lopez gave up a double and allowed the second Texas run to score before he struck out Bradley to end the inning.

Lopez also pitched the eighth inning. He got a fly out, a strike out, gave up another double, and finally the ground out to end the inning. Manny Del finished off the game in the ninth. He got two quick ground outs but the third out proved to be a little elusive. He gave up two doubles and allowed the Rangers to score for the third time of the game before getting the last batter to ground back to him to end the game.

The offense, for what it was, was really clicking this game. To be fair though, they essentially played the whole game against the Texas bullpen after Gabbard was out following the second inning due to a back injury. The Sox scored all of their runs in the fourth and the fifth innings.

The fourth inning started off with Drew drawing a walk and then taking second on a balk. Lowrie bunted successfully and Drew moved over to third. Lugo singled and knocked Drew in and Lowrie moved to third. Cash hit a sacrifice fly to get Lowrie in and Lugo moved up to second on an errant throw to keep him at first. Thurston popped out to third for the second out of the inning. Ellsbury hit a single and Lugo moved to third. Ellsbury stole second and then Pedroia hit a double to knock in both Lugo and Ellsbury. Ortiz then hit a double to get Pedroia across the plate for the fifth run of the inning. Youkilis drew a walk and then Drew repeated the way he started off the inning by drawing another walk (this time to load the bases) but Lowrie struck out swinging to end the inning.

Julio Lugo started it off with a first pitch double. Cash hit a single and beat out the throw to have men on first and third. Thurston fouled out to third. Ellsbury got a base hit and Lugo scored. Pedroia flied out for the second out of the inning. Then Ortiz doubled off the wall, knocking in Cash and Ellsbury. Youkilis walked but then Drew flied out to end the inning.

While Joe Thurston was pretty useless at the plate, he did make a very nice play in left that Manny would have never made.

Millwood v. Wakefield (Game 20)

That was a stressful win. From lead off homeruns to Manny getting ejected from the game in the second inning, it was actually a lot of fun.

Texas started the game with an aggressive gameplan of attacking Wakefield by swinging at any viable first pitch. It worked pretty well to start the game. They ended up getting seven hits off him (including two homeruns) and five runs in the first six innings. Coupled with their excellent starting pitching, it looked like the Rangers might walk away with the game.

Wakefield went eight innings, throwing only eighty-six pitches (sixty-eight of them for strikes.) He faced thirty-one batters and struck out five of them. He had ten fly ball outs and nine ground ball outs. Surprisingly, Wakefield didn't end up walking anyone. Papelbon ended the game with a foul ball caught by Youkilis, a fly ball to deep center caught by Ellsbury, and a fly ball to shallow left caught by Lowrie.

In each of the innings, except for the first, they had at least one base runner but they weren't able to get anyone across the until the seventh inning. Both Youkilis and Casey each had a base hit in the second inning. Ellsbury walked, stole second, and took third on a throwing error in the third. Youkilis had a base hit in the fourth. In the fifth inning, Cash had a base hit but the Lugo grounded into a fielder's choice for the force out at second. Ellsbury got a base hit and then he and Lugo pulled off a double steal. They loaded the bases with an intentional walk of Ortiz and Thurston grounded into a Fielder's choice. In the sixth inning they loaded the bases again with three base hits but nothing came of it.

Their luck finally changed in the seventh. Lowrie started off the inning with a double and then came around to score on a base hit by Ortiz to put the Red Sox on the board for the first time. Millwood was then pulled from the game to be replaced by Littleton. Littleton hit Thurston by a pitch but then Youkilis grounded into a double play. Drew got a base hit and knocked in Ortiz but then Casey grounded out.

Littleton came back out to start the eighth inning and got two quick outs (a put out and a strike out.) Ellsbury then got a base hit and then made his way around to score on a double by Lowrie. At that point they pulled Littleton from the game hoping that their closer, Wilson, would bring an end to the inning. Ortiz started it off by getting a base hit off him and by barely beating the throw distracted the players long enough for Lowrie to get across the plate to make it a one run game. Francona had Pedroia pinch hit for Joe Thurston and it was a move that paid off. Pedroia hit a double, which knocked in Ortiz and tied the game, and then took third on a throwing error. They then intentionally walked Youkilis. Drew fought off six or seven pitches from Wilson before he got the walk to load the bases. Casey also battled with Wilson for seven or eight pitches before he also drew a walk and knocked in the go ahead run. Having batted around, Cash came up to the plate again and grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

Jennings v. Lester (Game 19)

First, how cool was it to have Lance Armstrong throw out the first pitch? He may not be the greatest "person" but he is possibly one of the most physically perfect human beings in the world. I guess I'm just in awe of him and his resting heart rate of 38 bpm.

Anyway. Lester pitched pretty well. He made it into the seventh inning, which in and of itself is pretty impressive, and only walked two batters. He did give up ten hits (including a home run to Josh Hamilton) and three runs but it was really good to see him display some control. He also struck out five.

In the post-game press conference he seemed to say that he was making more of an effort to trust himself to be able to get guys out. He set out with the purpose of getting every guy he faced out and trying not to be afraid that the next guy he faced was going to sink him. I'd never thought of it before (and this is pure conjecture on my part) but one could infer from the sentiment that in the past when he got behind in the count, he gave up a little bit. Probably figuring that he'd have better luck with the next guy. The new philosophy seemed to work well for him. Hopefully, he can stick with it.

The bullpen pitched well tonight, as well. They held the Rangers scoreless over two and two-thirds innings. Manny Del walked one and stuck out two. Timlin gave up two hits but also got a ground out and a pop-fly out. Javier Lopez got a line-drive out on a very nice running catch by Ellsbury. And Papelbon gave up a base hit, got Botts to ground into a fielder's choice for the force out at second, a pop-up to shallow left, and a fly out to deep center to end the game.

This game wasn't as run-tastic as the last couple of games have been. In the first inning, Ellsbury started off the game with a double, moved to third on a sacrifice hit by Pedroia, and then scored when Ortiz grounded into a double play. Then Manny walked and scored on a double by Youkilis. And that was it for scoring until the eighth inning.

In the eighth inning, Pedroia hit a one-out double and then came around to score on a base hit by Oritz to tie the game. Then came Manny. Manny who proceeded to knock number 496 out to Lansdowne Street-a two-run shot to give them the lead and eventually the win.

Mendoza v. Matsuzaka (Game 18)

Woot for David Ortiz! A grand slam and the return of that giant smile!



It wasn't all that bad of an outing for Daisuke. He continues to throw too many pitches (he couldn't get out of the sixth with 101 pitches) but his control was much better today. He only walked two batters in the five and one third innings he pitched and neither of those came back to hurt him. He struck out four, had six ground ball outs, and six fly ball outs. He allowed five hits and three runs.

He was relieved in the sixth inning by Javier Lopez. Lopez went an inning and two thirds and did pretty well. He didn't allow any hits and only walked one. Aardsma came on for the eighth inning and got two quick outs (a ground out and a strike out) but then gave up a base hit. His confidence or concentration must wane a lot when there are men on base because he proceeded to walk the next two batters to load the bases. He pulled it together passably well though by striking out the last batter. Timlin came on to finish off the game with a fly out and two ground outs.

This game was all offense, though. Mendoza went once through the batting order (getting all but one out) and then they seemed to figure him out. Lowrie, the ninth batter, started off the night with a double down the left field line. The next two batters walked and then Ortiz came up for his two out grand slam. Manny got a base hit and then Youkilis grounded out.

The next inning started off with Mendoza walking Drew, followed by Varitek hitting a double and batting Drew in. Casey then got a base hit and that was the night for Mendoza. He was replaced by Rupe who gave up a sacrifice fly to Lowrie, a triple to Ellsbury, a homerun to Pedroia, and (sort of) hit Ortiz with a pitch before getting Manny and Youkilis to both ground into a fielder's choice for the force out at second.

After that, the bats went quiet until the eighth inning. Casey started off the inning with a double and then Lowrie struck out (which he was absolutely stunned about and it was very endearing.) Ellsbury walked and Pedroia struck out. Ortiz got a base hit and Casey and Ellsbury came around to score. Joe Thurston grounded out to first to end the inning.

Both Lowrie and Ortiz did really well tonight. In his first at bat Ortiz grounded out to first, in his second he hit the homerun, in his third he convinced the umpire that he was hit by the pitch, in his fourth he flied out to left, and in his fifth he got a base hit. Ortiz is back and in a big way. Lowrie also impressed with his performance tonight. In addition to his offensive success (a double, a sacrifice fly, a base hit, and the strike out), he showed defensive prowess at short.

Next Up: the Texas Rangers

Luis Mendoza is supposed to take the mound for the Texas Rangers first. Mendoza is a baby pitcher from Mexico making his eighth major league appearance. He made three starts last year-the last one ending when he took a line drive to the knee in the second inning and was done-and has made one, so far this year-a loss to Toronto. He's got a good sinking fastball but that's about it. He also has trouble with his command, fatigue, and keeping his composure.

Jason Jennings is scheduled to go on Saturday. It's Jennings' first year in the American league (after seven in the National) and it hasn't started off that well for him at all. He's lost all three of his starts this season. He has a very good sinker (that he can throw in the low nineties), a slider, and a change-up. Endurance has generally been a problem for him and so far this season he hasn't been able to get past the fifth inning (going only four and two-thirds in his last two starts.) He's given up at least one home run in each of his starts this year and has been easier for lefties to hit.

Kevin Millwood is Sunday's pitcher and the Rangers' ace. He's got a fastball with a lot of movement, a slider, a change-up and a curveball. He's very purposeful in his pitching and likes to challenge hitters. In the past, he's had trouble getting lefties out. His attention hasn't always been what it should be and as a result he gets run on a lot and appears to be distracted when there are runners on base. He's started off this season really well though. In his first three starts he went six, eight, and seven innings never allowing more than two runs. His last outing, however, wasn't as good. He went only five innings and gave up four runs (all of them earned.)

Although not official, Kason Gabbard is the likely starter for Monday's game. So far this season he's had a win and two no-decisions. He's got a fastball, curveball, change-up, and a slider. He doesn't, however, have a strike-out pitch and, as a result, the ball is put in play off him a lot. He also tends to miss high when he misses.

The two best hitters on the team are probably their center fielders, Josh Hamilton and David Murphy. So far this year Hamilton has twenty hits, five doubles, a triple and three homeruns. He's walked eight times and struck out seven. He also has fifteen RBIs and eight runs to his name. Murphy has eighteen hits on the season, seven doubles, one home run, six RBIs, three stolen bases and thirteen strike outs.