July 12, 2008:
Guthrie Masters Sox Batters to Key O's Rout
Baltimore 7, Boston 1
Clay Buchholz put the Sox in a big hole early, but Jeremy Guthrie didn't need much help from his teammates.
A lead off double by Brian Roberts was followed by a pair of singles from Luis Hernandez and Nick Markakis to give the Orioles a quick 1-0 lead. Put it was Luke Scott that put the O's ahead for good. Still with no outs, Scott lifted a 3-0 fastball out to center that cleared the fences for his sixth home run of the season.
The Sox looked poised to cut into the lead real quick when Coco Crisp led off the bottom of the first with a triple to deep center field that escaped a diving Adam Jones. Kevin Youkilis brought Crisp home with a sacrifice fly to deep right that allowed the runner to score without a throw. After a David Ortiz pop out, Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell walked to bring the tying to the plate against a struggling starter. Looking poised to pounce on the opportunity, J.D. Drew worked a full count before meekly popping out to Kevin Millar to end the threat.
With such an exciting first inning, the Sox must have been confident in themselves that they could pull off a rally, but it wasn't meant to be. Jeremy Guthrie kept the Sox hitters off guard all night, allowing just the one hit to Coco Crisp to lead off the bottom of the first over seven innings of strong work.
Buchholz had to be a little disappointed in his performance. After allowing five hits to the first five hitters and falling behind 4-0, Clay kept the O's quiet with just two hits and a base-on-balls. But, Guthrie proved to be better on this night.
Lee Grokiewicz and Javier Lopez combined to throw the final three innings for the Sox, allowing three runs on four hits to the Orioles.
W: Guthrie (5-4) L: Buchholz (8-4)
Player of the Game: Jeremy Guthrie (7.0 IP, H, R, 6 BBs, 5 Ks, 113 PI)
Around the League:
...Oakland signed DH Frank Thomas to a 1-year extension worth $420k...
Revs Lose Early Lead, Hand on for Tie with Toronto
New England 2, Toronto FC 2
On their home pitch for the last time before the All Star break, the Revolution came out in a dominating fashion against their rivals from the north. But, they were unable to keep the momentum for the entire match, and a costly mistake late in the match cost New England a chance at a victory.
Wells Thompson, unused in the first twelve matches of the season, has continued to impress with his play with the first team, netting his first score of the season in the 10th minute to open the scoring for New England. The 24 year old, who has been seeing time up front with Edson Buddle and Taylor Twellman in place of Kieran McKenna, took a long pass from Marshall Leonard along the sideline before bearing down on the goal. After faking a pass to Budle, Thompson chipped the ball over an off-balance Odin Patino to put the Revs ahead early.
Edson Buddle and Nate Jaqua traded goals late in the firth half to put New England ahead 2-1.
In the 87th minute, though, a defensive miscue cost the Revs. Clamping down defensively, Michael Parkhurst missed an assignment, allowing Jacob Peterson to walk in alone on Matt Reis. A quick deke and the striker had the entire goal to himself, easily depositing the ball into the net for the tying goal.
"Michael and Khano [Smith] just missed their assignments there at the end, and we paid for it," coach Steve Nicols said afterwards. "We felt there may have been an offside when the ball was played up to Peterson, but the refs weren't going to hear that."
After the game, Nicols was handed a $1.2k fine for his comments. Although replays have subsequently shown the goal to have been perfectly legitimate, Nicols was incensed that the goal was not ruled out.
Over in Europe, the favored German squad fell to Denmark in the European Football Championship on penalty kicks, 3-1. Germany, ranked 6th in the world heading into the tournament, had been the favorites, alongside Portugal. Denmark, ranked 19th at the start, took home their first major championship since 1992.
Perry gets an offer from Bruins
Corey Perry has accepted an offer sheet from the Bruins. Anaheim have seven days to exercise their right of first refusal with a matching offer.
The offer is for 3 years around $ 4mil.
If the offer isn't matched, the Ducks will receive compensation of a second round pick from Boston.