The Rivalry Resumes: Sox/Yanks Holiday Weekend

[UNHWildCats]

They kick off a four game series this weekend. Saturday game should be on Fox here and usually Friday games are on WWOR so im hoping to be able to watch a couple of the games.

Both teams need to take atleast 3 of 4 in the series.

Tampa Bay meantime gets Kansas City this weekend, they should be able to keep rolling.

[UNHWildCats]

Coco Crisp will return from his suspension during the series.

[TwinTownBisonFan]

who cares what a couple of middle of the pack teams are doing...

*yawn*

I love the Rays in first... just love it.

[UNHWildCats]

who cares what a couple of middle of the pack teams are doing...

*yawn*

I love the Rays in first... just love it.
well enjoy it while it lasts... maybe a week? There a good young team, there just not there yet....

[UNHWildCats]

Mike Timlin will be activated from the DL tomorrow, Chris Smith will be optioned back to Pawtucket.

Just what we need, anothe has been, aint anymore reliever....


RECALL BUCHHOLZ!

[GannonFan]

well enjoy it while it lasts... maybe a week? There a good young team, there just not there yet....

That sweeping sound coming out of Tampa tonight just didn't happen with mirrors. Tampa's legit and either Boston or New York could be looking at an early start of the Winter Golf League come the end of September. You would think Boston would be the ones to keep playing, but you never know when injuries could strike.

[UNHWildCats]

umm inujuries have already struck Boston. Schilling gone for the year, Ortiz for several weeks, Matsuzaka, Buchholz, Lowell... If Lugo got hurt that would improve the team.

If Drew can stay hot when Ortiz returns watch out.

I think they should leave Drew #3 put Ortiz 4th and Manny 5th and Lowell 6th.

If Lugo keeps crapping it up with bat and glove he will find himself riding pine by August and Jed Lowrie playing SS.

[gmoney55]

umm inujuries have already struck Boston. Schilling gone for the year, Ortiz for several weeks, Matsuzaka, Buchholz, Lowell... If Lugo got hurt that would improve the team.

If Drew can stay hot when Ortiz returns watch out.

I think they should leave Drew #3 put Ortiz 4th and Manny 5th and Lowell 6th.

If Lugo keeps crapping it up with bat and glove he will find himself riding pine by August and Jed Lowrie playing SS.

Don't you want to break up the lefties and righties though? If you go Ortiz, Manny, Drew, Lowell it would be tough for a pen to deal with because it's left/right/left/right.

[UNHWildCats]

Don't you want to break up the lefties and righties though? If you go Ortiz, Manny, Drew, Lowell it would be tough for a pen to deal with because it's left/right/left/right.
Thats true, maybe put Ortiz 5th than.

All I know is Drew was horrible last year, and horrible before Ortiz's injury... he gets moved to 3rd and now he's putting up MVP type numbers.... not sure I would want to move him from there.

[bluehenbillk]

Who would've thought the Rays would be in control at this point.

The Sox need dome serious giddy-up in the pen, its Papelbon and pray for rain.

As for the Yankees, 210 million and still irrelevant, hahahaha.

[TheValleyRaider]

As for the Yankees, 210 million and still irrelevant, hahahaha.

If being irrelevant means everyone is still talking about you, then I wonder what being relevant would be like xcoffeex

Pitching matchups, per Pete Abraham:

Thursday: LHP Jon Lester (6-3, 3.48) vs. LHP Andy Pettitte (9-5, 3.98), 7:05, YES

Friday: RHP Josh Beckett (7-5, 3.65) vs. RHP Darrell Rasner (4-4, 4.22), 1:05, YES

Saturday: RHP Justin Masterson (4-2, 3.75) vs. RHP Mike Mussina (10-6, 3.87), 3:55, FOX

Sunday: RHP Tim Wakefield (5-6, 3.72) vs. RHP Joba Chamberlain (2-2, 2.22) vs. 8:05, ESPN


I won't get to follow the series much, visiting my girlfriend for the weekend. Fun stuff and all, but she's an Indians fan, so unlikely to let me watch...

Let's Go Yankees! xsmileyclapx xsmileyclapx xsmileyclapxxsmileyclapxxsmileyclapx

[bulldog10jw]

I won't get to follow the series much, visiting my girlfriend for the weekend. Fun stuff and all, but she's an Indians fan, so unlikely to let me watch...



Is the sex THAT good? ;)

[FCS Preview]

Pitching matchups, per Pete Abraham:

Thursday: LHP Jon Lester (6-3, 3.48) vs. LHP Andy Pettitte (9-5, 3.98), 7:05, YES Advantage: YANKEES


Friday: RHP Josh Beckett (7-5, 3.65) vs. RHP Darrell Rasner (4-4, 4.22), 1:05, YES Advantage: RED SOX


Saturday: RHP Justin Masterson (4-2, 3.75) vs. RHP Mike Mussina (10-6, 3.87), 3:55, FOX Advantage: YANKEES


Sunday: RHP Tim Wakefield (5-6, 3.72) vs. RHP Joba Chamberlain (2-2, 2.22) vs. 8:05, ESPN Advantage: YANKEES

[UNHWildCats]

Advantage: YANKEES

Advantage: RED SOX

Advantage: YANKEES

Advantage: YANKEES


I think the 1st, 3rd and 4th games are all tossups with the matchups.

Jon Lester has been great this year and Justin Masterson will have an upperhand with this being his first appearance against the Yankees. Wakefield has been real solid of late

[Reed Rothchild]

I think the 1st, 3rd and 4th games are all tossups with the matchups.

Jon Lester has been great this year and Justin Masterson will have an upperhand with this being his first appearance against the Yankees. Wakefield has been real solid of late

The Yanks don't fare well against guys they haven't seen yet. I don't know if Masterson has a power arm or not, but if he is a "finesse" pitcher then the Yanks will get shut down as they seem to hit the fastball pitchers better. They have actually had some success against Beckett and can hit Wakefield IF he is having an off day.

[UNHWildCats]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=F2k2xa_bIUk

His velocity is around 89-92 mph and has an "ungodly" sinking action.

SoxProspects compares him to Derek Lowe.

[UNHWildCats]

The Yanks don't fare well against guys they haven't seen yet. I don't know if Masterson has a power arm or not, but if he is a "finesse" pitcher then the Yanks will get shut down as they seem to hit the fastball pitchers better. They have actually had some success against Beckett and can hit Wakefield IF he is having an off day.
Agreed.

They can hit Beckett some days and will hit Wakefield if he's off, but those arent certainties, thats why I would clasify games 1,3,4 as tossups. I aint labeling game 2 a tossup even with Beckett going cause Rasner is going for NY. This could end up being a very good series.

[Reed Rothchild]

Agreed.

They can hit Beckett some days and will hit Wakefield if he's off, but those arent certainties, thats why I would clasify games 1,3,4 as tossups. I aint labeling game 2 a tossup even with Beckett going cause Rasner is going for NY. This could end up being a very good series.

Hopefully, Tito will pitch Timlin as much as possible. xthumbsupx

[UNHWildCats]

Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. J.D. Drew, RF
4. Manny Ramirez, DH
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
7. Coco Crisp, CF
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS

Jon Lester, SP

Yankees
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Jason Giambi, DH
6. Jorge Posada, C
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Wilson Betemit, 1B
9. Melky Cabrera, CF

Andy Pettitte, SP

[UNHWildCats]

Ellsbury Ks to lead off then Pedroia and Drew follow with singles.

[UNHWildCats]

Jeter makes an error 1-0 Sox.

[UNHWildCats]

Lowell singles, Manny scores, Lowell to second on the throw.

[UNHWildCats]

Lester strikes out A Rod and Giambi after walking the first two 2-0 after 1 inning

[UNHWildCats]

Ellsbury hits a 2 run double 4-0 Sox

[UNHWildCats]

Lester strikes out two more 4-0 after 2

[UNHWildCats]

Drew Ks then Manny and Lowell walked.

Youk up two on.

[UNHWildCats]

Youk grounds into a DP

[UNHWildCats]

Pettitte doesn't make it out of the fifth 6-0 Sox runners on 2nd and 3rd with a pitching change.

[UNHWildCats]

7-0 Sox

[bulldog10jw]

You know Travis, if you just give the pitch by pitch account you'll be able to hit 19k tonight. xlolx

[UNHWildCats]

Lester gets a complete game 5 hit shutout.

He walked 2 (the first two batters) and then struck out 8 and improves to 7-3.

[UNHWildCats]

Advantage: YANKEES

Advantage: RED SOX

Advantage: YANKEES

Advantage: YANKEES
would you like to reevaluate the remaining games?

[Reed Rothchild]

Once again, the Yankees fail to execute in simple baseball situations. If they actually do that they might have scored in the first and made it a different game. They are a .500 baseball team.

[UNHWildCats]

Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, LF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. J.D. Drew, RF
4. Manny Ramirez, DH
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
7. Coco Crisp, CF
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Julio Lugo, SS

Josh Beckett, SP

Yankees
1. Johnny Damon, LF
2. Derek Jeter, SS
3. Bobby Abreu, RF
4. Alex Rodriguez, 3B
5. Jason Giambi, 1B
6. Jorge Posada, DH
7. Robinson Cano, 2B
8. Melky Cabrera, CF
9. Jose Molina, C

Darrell Rasner, SP

[UNHWildCats]

6-3 Sox top 5th after a Mike Lowell 3 run homer

[UNHWildCats]

Sox take game 2 6-4

[UNHWildCats]

why are the Yankee fans sooo quiet :p

[Col Hogan]

I get the feeling they are in new territory...realizing the season is pretty much done, and it's just early July...:p:p:p

[Reed Rothchild]

why are the Yankee fans sooo quiet :p

I'm here to b!tch about this average team :(

[GannonFan]

And to think we thought the Yankees' only problem was lack of starting pitching sufficient to win in the postseason? They can't hit in the clutch (hmm, curse of Abreu maybe? You can mark the change in the Phillies fortune when they got rid of that cancer in right field), and again, the starting pitching is just not capable enough. That and they are old - guys like Damon and Matsui and company are just in decline. Giradi gets some serious pops if he's able to turn that team around and get them to the playoffs, even more so considering that getting past either the Sox or the Rays looks like too much of a tall order. Could New York see both their teams miss the playoffs this year?

[Reed Rothchild]

The Yanks have too many "numbers guys" who, god forbid, would rarely give up their stats in order to say, move a runner over or hit a sac fly. This team has very little baseball character.

This team looked lifeless back in May when I saw them play the Twins in Minneapolis and its no different now.

2/14 in scoring position is pathetic and once again AROD kills a rally. This time with the bases LOADED.

Torre was smart to get out when he did. Otherwise the blame would have been on him right now and now he can safely watch this team come apart from afar. I don't think Girardi has anything to do with it. He's doing the best he can with this joke of a roster. I'm not so sure how much the players care about what Girardi has to say.

[UNHWildCats]

Man that was a sorry assed group of ABs by Crisp, Tek and Lugo.

Bases loaded no outs trailing 2-1 and you cant deliver one ******ing run.


PATHETIC

trade Crisp, bench Lugo for Lowrie and I dunno let pitchers hit and use your DH for Varitek!

[UNHWildCats]

he ran Moss for Manny had already used Casey for Cora and only had Cash on the bench.

They shoulda tried a sucicide squeeze with Crisp.

[Reed Rothchild]

PHEW!!!!

[chantster]

Varitek had a 2-0 count, lets a shaky Riviera off the hook by swinging at a dumb ass inside pitch and gets jammed for a weak infield pop up. xmadx


I give Francona a D- for not having a big bat for the ninth.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Man that was a sorry assed group of ABs by Crisp, Tek and Lugo.

Bases loaded no outs trailing 2-1 and you cant deliver one ******ing run.


PATHETIC

trade Crisp, bench Lugo for Lowrie and I dunno let pitchers hit and use your DH for Varitek!

The other night you were trashing Delcarmen and Hansen, but let the hitters off the hook. I seem to recall a man on third with no outs against the Rays when once again no one could deliver a fly ball. There were also 10 LOB that game. Red Sox have had multiple games with an inability to get the clutch hit. That along with injuries and a complete reversal by Okajima, along with other bullpen failures (ex. Timlin), explains why the Red Sox reside where they do in the standings. Despite all that they are still in the running for the playoffs and they are ahead of the Yankees.

And exactly how much do you think they'd actually get for a trade of Crisp? IMO, the Red Sox have no depth in the outfield and Crisp at least plays a good center field.

Just think, if they hadn't made the trade for Gag-me, they'd still have David Murphy (10 HR, 52 RBI, .266) who would have been a capable OF reserve in Boston.

[UNHWildCats]

moss is capable to be the #4 OF. Bobby Kielty is still at AAA along with Jonathan Van Every who has 21 HR and Jeff Bailey who has 23 HR at AAA.

Ellsbury is capable of playing CF as effectively as Crisp, Drew and Van Every can also play CF if the need arose for a day off for Ellsbury. Crisp isnt needed and his bat is pathetic did you see that girly swing for strike three... ugh

The strenthening of the bullpen is easy to start RECALL Buchholz. They could even consider calling up Charlie Zink a knuckler at AAA.

[UNHWildCats]

789 is not gonna get it done for the sox down the stretch, they need someone who can bat in those spots, at least one.
Varitek gets a pass cause hes one of the best game callers behind the plate ever which is proven by his ML record 4 no hitters called.

Lugo is easily replaced with Jed Lowrie thought that means paying him a lot to sit the bench, it would also mean having to release Cora which I could live with.

The OF isnt so much an issue Crisp is a starter and we have 4 starting OF's They have been DHing Manny with Ortiz out and have been using Crisp and Ellsbury everyday in the OF... But Ortiz comes back after the All Star break unless he has a setback.... even if he doesnt come back, Chris Carter can fill the DH spot while putting Manny back in LF.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

Varitek gets a pass cause hes one of the best game callers behind the plate ever which is proven by his ML record 4 no hitters called.

No need to bring any "best ever" stuff into this discussion because he gets a pass just on his game calling skills in today's game.


Lugo is easily replaced with Jed Lowrie thought that means paying him a lot to sit the bench, it would also mean having to release Cora which I could live with.

Actually, I'd just as soon have Cora as Lugo because he's more versatile and right now is throwing the ball better than Lugo. But I seriously doubt they'd dump Lugo and eat the salary. How many more years on Lugo's contract? xrolleyesx


The OF isnt so much an issue Crisp is a starter and we have 4 starting OF's They have been DHing Manny with Ortiz out and have been using Crisp and Ellsbury everyday in the OF... But Ortiz comes back after the All Star break unless he has a setback.... even if he doesnt come back, Chris Carter can fill the DH spot while putting Manny back in LF.

Crisp, Ellsbury and Drew is the best defensive outfield the Red Sox can put on the field, especially on the road. Manny has actually developed into a pretty good LF at Fenway but that is more about playing the wall than covering ground. Crisp covers more ground on the larger left fields. And at least his defense isn't an issue like Lugo's has been. Same issues though with Crisp, I don't think he's on the last year of his contract and the Sox aren't going to eat his contract. You didn't answer my earlier question about what the Sox could get for Crisp. I'm not sure they'd get much because of the contract. Don't you think they would have moved him by Spring Training if they had a fair deal? And if they don't get another starting outfielder or at least a top reserve you can play multiple positions, do you really think greenhorns like Van Every and Bailey can lead the Sox to the World Series?

I'm not a big Lugo or Crisp fan and think those long term contracts were two of the biggest mistakes that Boy Wonder GM has made. Just don't think the pockets are deep enough in Boston to swallow those contracts. I'd compromise and dump Lugo for Lowrie. Maybe next year when they don't have Schilling's big contract. xwhistlex xpeacex

[UNHWildCats]

Crisp, Ellsbury and Drew is the best defensive outfield the Red Sox can put on the field, especially on the road. Manny has actually developed into a pretty good LF at Fenway but that is more about playing the wall than covering ground. Crisp covers more ground on the larger left fields. And at least his defense isn't an issue like Lugo's has been. Same issues though with Crisp, I don't think he's on the last year of his contract and the Sox aren't going to eat his contract. You didn't answer my earlier question about what the Sox could get for Crisp. I'm not sure they'd get much because of the contract. Don't you think they would have moved him by Spring Training if they had a fair deal? And if they don't get another starting outfielder or at least a top reserve you can play multiple positions, do you really think greenhorns like Van Every and Bailey can lead the Sox to the World Series?

I'm not a big Lugo or Crisp fan and think those long term contracts were two of the biggest mistakes that Boy Wonder GM has made. Just don't think the pockets are deep enough in Boston to swallow those contracts. I'd compromise and dump Lugo for Lowrie. Maybe next year when they don't have Schilling's big contract. xwhistlex xpeacex

Crisps contract is tradeable. He's due 5.75 next year which isnt bad at all especially for someone with gold glove caliber D and speed.

Lugo's contract isnt tradeable unless Boston pays atleast 50% of whats still owed for the final two years after this year, they have done that before though with Edgar Renteria.

Manny's going back into the OF anyway when Ortiz comes back so the part about best defense with Drew, Crisp and Ellsbury doesnt matter. Besides Boston learned in 2006 that a defense first attitude doesnt work, a little less defense and more offense is still better.

[JoltinJoe]

What the heck was the deal on the Ellsbury swing? If your bat is hanging over the plate when the ball goes by, that's called a swing and miss.

Lousy call.

[Reed Rothchild]

Thanks Tito, for taking out Wakefield and having Lopez pitch to Posada. Even I know that Jorge can't hit Wakefield for *****. Not to mention Jorge had looked foolish during 2 previous ABs vs the knuckleballer.

[UNHWildCats]

that was pathetic Shoulda been a 4 game sweep....

[TheValleyRaider]

Looks like I missed a bunch of doozies this weekend...

[Reed Rothchild]

Thanks Manny, for leaving the bat on your shoulder.

[SunCoastBlueHen]

that was pathetic Shoulda been a 4 game sweep....

"Shoulda" swept the Rays, "Shoulda" swept the Yanks, yadda, yadda, yadda...

"Reality" is that the Sox currently find themselves five games back. xwhistlex