Another Rolling Rally: Building Dynasties in Boston

[BostonRS14]

Another Rolling Rally: Building Dynasties in Boston

2007-2008 was an exciting year in Boston sports.

The Red Sox won the World Series, the Patriots went 16-0, the Celtics won the NBA Championship, the Bruins made the playoffs for the first time since 2004, Boston College won the NCAA hockey tournament and made it to #2 in the polls in football, and the Revolution made it to their third straight MLS Cup final.

While impossible to replay such a year, we are going to go in depth in the Boston sports scene with the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins, Eagles and Revolution to see just how well these teams go do. I'm starting with four teams and will add the additional two once a good football sim is released (crossing my fingers for DDS: Pro Football)

The Boston Bruins (via NHL Eastside Hockey Manager 2007) started in Sept. 2006.
The New England Revolution (via Football Manager 2008) started in Mar. 2007.
The Boston Red Sox (via OOTP 8 for 2007/OOTP9 for 2008 season) started play in Apr. 2007.
The Boston Celtics (via Draft Day Sports: Pro Basketball) started in Jul. 2007.
The New England Patriots (tba)
The Boston College Eagles (tba)



We will pick up the action on August 14, 2007.

[BostonRS14]

mini team recaps coming

[BostonRS14]

The Boston Bruins
National Hockey League, Eastern Conference, Northeast Division
Home Arena: TD Banknorth Garden
Head Coach: Dave Lewis (2006-07 1st with team)
Captain: Zdeno Chara
Minor League Affiliates:

• Providence Bruins (AHL)
• Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL)

Last Championship: 1971–72 (Stanley Cup)

2006-2007: 30-45-7, 67 pts., 15th

Goals for: 241
Goals against: 302
Goals: 39 - Marco Strum
Assists: 43 - Paul Mara
Points: 76 - Strum
Plus/Minus:
Penalty Min: 229 - Zdeno Chara
Wins: 14 - Matthieu Garon
Losses:
Shutouts: 2 - Tim Thomas
Goals Against: 2.73 - David Aebischer
Save Perc.: .897 - Aebischer

The Bruins spent the 2006-2007 season tearing down their roster and starting anew. Veterans such as Tim Thomas, Glen Murray, Alexander Mogilny, Brad Stuart, PJ Alexson have all exited Causeway St for younger, cheaper talent and a chance to earn the #1 overall selection in the Entry Draft.

The Bruins finished dead last in the NHL last season with a record of 30-45-7 (67 pts). Marco Sturm lead the team in goals (39) and points (76), while Paul Mara led the team in assists (43). Unfortunately, the ping-pong balls did not fall their way, and St. Louis won the right to select first overall in the 2007 Entry Draft.
Bruins two first round selections:

• #1.2 - C Angelo Esposito
• #1.28 (via Buffalo) - D Stephen Lund

The Bruins offseason saw major upgrades made to the club. RFA Stephen Weiss was acquired from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Pascal Pelletier and a 2008 2nd round pick (via Tampa Bay). The 24 year old Pelletier spent the majority of 2006-07 with Providence while Weiss has been a fixture with the Panthers since being drafted in 2004. Weiss subsequently signed a 3 year, $6.2 mil contract with Boston. He is expected to fill the #2 enter spot behind Marc Savard next season. In addition to Weiss, Boston also added sharpshooter Paul Kariya for one season at $8.5 mil. Kariya is expected to add first line scoring to the Bruins after scoring 53 for Nashville.

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli also brought in a few youngsters to add to the organizations depth. Goalie prospect Tuukka Rask is expected to battle newly signed Mike Smith (Dallas) for the top spot in the Boston net after spending last season in his native Finland. Jordin Tootoo was acquired from Nashville on the eve of the NHL Entry Draft to bolster the team's scoring depth. In addition, Phil Kessel has been recalled from his junior team and is expected to compete for a roster spot along with youngsters Angelo Esposito, Daniel Ryder, Milan Michalek and Brad Boyes.

[BostonRS14]

Full name New England Revolution
Major League Soccer, Eastern Conference
Stadium Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA (Capacity: 68,756)
Coach Steve Nicol (2002-present)
Captain: Shalrie Joseph
Vice Captain: Taylor Twellman

The Revolution are the silent team in the Boston area, ranking somewhere far behind the four major professional sports but before and the local college football and hockey teams but ahead of the minor league teams (except Pawtucket during a Red Sox slump) . While the play in the same stadium as the Patriots and appeared in three straight MLC Cups, the love hasn’t been there. In the re-played 2007-08 seasons, the Revs made it to the semifinals of the North American Champions Cup before dropping to Chivas 0-1-1.

The team’s Board of Directors expects the Revolution to make the MLS Cup this season and have remained competitive, going 8-7-4 in 19 fixtures. Their 31 points are good for second in the Eastern Conference behind Columbus (10-4-6, 34)

Current Standings (win-draw-loss):

Eastern Conference			       Western Conference
Columbus 	        10-4-6, 34			Los Angeles	9-4-7	31
New England       8-7-4, 31			Houston	7-7-6, 28
Kansas City		9-4-5, 31			Chivas USA	6-8-3, 26
Chicago		8-5-6, 29			FC Dallas	7-4-5, 25
Toronto FC		4-9-6, 26			R Salt Lake	7-4-10, 25
D.C. United		3-5-9, 14			Colorado	5-4-6, 19
New York		1-7-11, 10

The Revolution have picked up a few players to bolster their roster. Coming to Foxboro has been Mopho Moloi (Houston), Christian Jiminez (Los Angeles), Gabriel Ferrari (Sampdoria), Francisco Mendoza (Chivas USA), Kieran McKenna (Tottenham) and Carlos Zambrano (Schalke). All are long-term additions mean to establish the Revs as a team to dominate the MLS.

Taylor Twellman leads the team in goals with 14, followed by Pat Noonan with 11.

[BostonRS14]

Boston Celtics
National Basketball Association, Eastern Conference, Atlantic Division
Arena: TD Banknorth Garden
General Manager: Danny Ainge
Head coach: Glenn "Doc" Rivers (2004-present)
D-League affiliate: Utah Flash
Last Championship: 1986


Like the Bruins, the Celtics were in the race for #1 in 2006-2007, only there were not successful. Rather, after landing the fifth overall selection, GM Danny Ainge turned around and dealt it for Ray Allen. Later in the summer, the Celtics stunned the basketball world by acquiring PF Kevin Garnett from Minnesota for a handful of young players.

[BostonRS14]

Boston Red Sox
Major League Baseball, American League, East Division
Ballpark: Fenway Park (1912–present)
General Manager: Theo Epstein
Manager: Terry Francona
Minor League Affiliates:

• Pawtucket Red Sox, International League
• Portland Sea Dogs, Eastern League
• Lancaster JetHawks, California League
• Greenville Drive, South Atlantic League
• Lowell Spinners, New York-Penn League
• GCL Red Sox, Gulf Coast League

Last Championship: 2004

The Red Sox (68-51) have gone 3-7 in their last 10 games to drop a season high 9 games behind the first place Yankees (77-42). David Ortiz (.295, 37 HR, 89 RBIs) has just been lost for 2 months with a dislocated shoulder and, with the deadline passed, the Sox are scrambling to pick up the slack in his absence.

After leading the division for most of the first half, a late July slump led the Red Sox to make a major deadline pickup. Surrendering four players (OF Wily Mo Pena, MR Joel Pineiro, SS JJ Hardy, and SP Paul Maholm) to the Philadelphia Phillies, the Sox acquired SP Brett Myers and minor league IF A. Cardenas. In addition, the Sox sent 1B Casey Kotchman, OF Franklin Gutierrez and SP Josh Danks to San Diego fro OF Jose Cruz, Jr. and MR Cla Meredith. Myers will replace Brian Lawrence in the rotation, while Meredith went to the pen in place of Pineiro and Cruz replaced Pena on the Sox bench.

The David Ortiz injury has left the Sox with a huge hole in the lineup. Injured swinging the bat on Aug. 11th, the Sox were left with little options to replace his production. Cliff Floyd, recently shopped around by the Baltimore Orioles, was acquired via a waiver trade in exchange for minor league MR Jose Martes (GCL). Floyd is signed through the end of the season and it is hopefully he can provide some production for the Sox.

Boston Depth Chart:
C Jason Varitek, Jarrod Saltalamacchia
1B Kevin Youkilis, Eric Hinske
2B Dustin Pedroia, Chris Woodward
3B Mike Lowell
SS Julio Lugo
LF Manny Ramirez, Jose Cruz, Jr.
CF Coco Crisp
RF JD Drew
DH Cliff Floyd

Starting Rotation:
SP Diasuke Matsuzaka, SP Brett Myers, SP Curt Schilling, SP Josh Beckett, SP Joe Blanton

Bullpen:
MR Craig Hanson, MR Mike Timlin, MR Chad Qualls, MR Hideki Okajima
SU Manny Delcarmen, SU Cla Meredith
CL Jonathan Papelbon

Disable List:
DH David Ortiz
SP Tim Wakefield
SP Matt Clement

Transaction log:

Monday, January 1st, 2007
Traded 23-year old second baseman J. Natale to the Philadelphia Phillies,
 getting 20-year old minor league starting pitcher K. Drabek and 
22-year old minor league starting pitcher K. Kendrick in return.

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007
Traded 34-year old center fielder M. Tucker and 33-year old starting 
pitcher J. Tavarez to the Seattle Mariners, getting 23-year old minor 
league catcher J. Clement in return.

Thursday, January 4th, 2007
SP J. Danks was claimed off waivers from Chicago.
RF F. Gutierrez was claimed off waivers from Cleveland.
1B C. Kotchman was claimed off waivers from Anaheim.
C G. Soto was claimed off waivers from Chicago.
SP C. Marmol was claimed off waivers from Chicago.

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007
Traded 35-year old reliever B. Donnelly and 28-year old reliever 
D. Hansack to the Los Angeles Dodgers, getting 23-year old reliever 
J. Meloan in return. 

Thursday, February 15th, 2007
Signed free agent LF M. Maier to a 1-year contract worth a total of 
$420,000.

Sunday, March 4th, 2007
Traded 23-year old catcher G. Kottaras to the Milwaukee Brewers, 
getting 24-year old shortstop J. Hardy and 37-year old catcher 
D. Miller in return.

Sunday, April 15th, 2007
SP D. Purcey was claimed off waivers from Toronto.

Saturday, April 28th, 2007
Signed 3B M. Lowell to a 2-year contract extension worth a total of 
$2,920,000.

Sunday, April 29th, 2007
Traded 23-year old minor league catcher J. Clement to the Atlanta 
Braves, getting 21-year old catcher J. Saltalamacchia in return.

Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
Signed free agent MR B. Lawrence to a 1-year contract worth a total of 
$440,000.

Wednesday, May 30th, 2007
Released MR M. Burns.
Released MR T. Hughes.

Saturday, June 30th, 2007
Traded 23-year old minor league right fielder J. Johnson and 31-year old
 minor league shortstop A. Cora to the Atlanta Braves, getting 31-year 
old minor league first baseman C. Woodward in return.

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007
SP R. Hill was claimed off waivers from Chicago.

Monday, July 16th, 2007
Traded 29-year old reliever K. Snyder to the Houston Astros, getting 
28-year old minor league reliever C. Qualls in return.

Sunday, July 22nd, 2007
RF B. Moss (AAA Pawtucket) retires.

Monday, July 23rd, 2007
Traded 25-year old right fielder W. Pena, 28-year old reliever J. Pineiro, 
24-year old minor league shortstop J. Hardy and 25-year old minor 
league starting pitcher P. Maholm to the Philadelphia Phillies, getting 
26-year old starting pitcher B. Myers and 19-year old shortstop 
A. Cardenas in return.

Traded 25-year old minor league first baseman C. Kotchman, 25-year 
old minor league right fielder F. Gutierrez and 22-year old minor league
 starting pitcher J. Danks to the San Diego Padres, getting 33-year old 
right fielder J. Cruz Jr. and 24-year old reliever C. Meredith in return.

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007
Traded 37-year old minor league catcher D. Miller to the New York 
Mets, getting 18-year old minor league starting pitcher D. Guerra and 
32-year old minor league catcher R. Cancel in return.

Sunday, August 12th, 2007
CF W. Taveras was claimed off waivers from Colorado.

Tuesday, August 14th, 2007
SP J. Blanton was claimed off waivers from Oakland.

Wednesday, August 15th, 2007
Traded 20-year old minor league reliever J. Martes to the Baltimore 
Orioles, getting 34-year old left fielder C. Floyd in return.

Financials:

Ticket Price: $20
Focus: Win Now
Payroll: $147,471,000
Budget: $170,200,000
Budget Room: $156,126

Possible Free Agents:
SP Curt Schilling ($13m)
DH Cliff Floyd ($3m)
MR mike Timlin ($2.8m)
OF Jose Cruz Jr. ($650k)
MR Matt Clement ($9.5m)
2B Chris Woodward (850k)
SP Tim Wakefield ($4m)

[BostonRS14]

vs.

The Red Sox, coming off an easy three game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles (6-1, 12-7, 7-4), the Red Sox come up against the young Devil Rays (59-59, 4th AL East). Tampa Bay comes in with 4 straight victories and wins in eight of the last eleven games to close the gap with third place Toronto.

Boston need to win this series in order to keep its outside hopes of winning the division. The Sox currently sit nine games behind the surging New York Yankees (9-2 in Aug.)

Pitching Matchups:
8/13: Joe Saunders (5-5, 3.86 ) v. Josh Beckett (10-12, 4.69)
8/14: Adam Wainright (9-8, 4.71) v. Joe Blanton (8-9, 5.16 w/ Oak)
8/15: Jacob McGee (2-0, 2.84) v. Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-5, 5.01)

[BostonRS14]

Aug. 13, 2007: Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Boston Red Sox

Coming off a three game sweep of Baltimore, the Red Sox dropped the opening game of a pivotal series with division foe Tampa Bay, 12-10., in 11 innings. The Red Sox rallied late to tie the game in the ninth on a RBI-single by Jarrod Saltalamacchia with two outs. The teams traded two runs in the tenth before the Devil Rays scored twice off of Chad Qualls in the eleventh to score the winning runs.

W: Reyes (3-5) L: Hansen (2-1)

Aug. 14, 2007: Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox bounced back from the hard loss against the Devil Rays behind 6.1 innings from newly acquired Joe Blanton to win 9-3. Making his Sox debut, Blanton scattered 7 hits and only two runs to keep the Devil Rays off balance and allow the Sox to take the second game of the three game set. Dustin Pedroia paced the offense, with five hits and three runs scored. Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell each had three runs batted in to lead the offense.

W: Blanton (9-9) L: Wainright (9-9)

[BostonRS14]

Aug. 15, 2007: Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Boston Red Sox

Sox lineup versus Tampa Bay.

Cliff Floyd makes his debut in his second stint with the Sox after clearing waivers early in the day. Floyd will be the DH in David Ortiz’s absence and bat 7th tonight.



Boston needs a win tonight as New York has extend its win streak to 11 games with an afternoon victory over Baltimore, 7-4. The Sox currently are 9.5 games out of first with the New York victory.

tonight’s lineup:

2B Dustin Pedroia
CF Coco Crisp
1B Kevin Youkilis
LF Manny Ramirez
RF JD Drew
C Jason Varitek
DH Floyd
2B Mike Lowell
SS Julio Lugo

P Daisuke Matsuzaka

Matsuzaka works out of jam in 1st...

The Devil Rays got to Matsuzaka early with a two-run homerun by Carl Crawford in the first, scoring Navarro. That was followed by a walk to Rocco Baldelli, a fly-out by Elijiah Dukes, a single by Ben Zorbist and another walk to Josh Wilson before Johnny Gomes was jammed on the hands to induce a weak fly-out to center to escape a base-loaded jam. Daisuke has averaged 2.46 BB/9 this season.

Four more for Devil Rays in 2nd…

Matsuzaka looks out of synch tonight after surrendering four more runs in the second. An infield single by Carl Crawford was followed by a two-run double by Baldelli to give Tampa Bay a 5-0 lead. Two wild pitches later, Baldelli easily crossed the plate to push the lead to six. Terry Francona has to be thinking a change in pitchers soon.

6 Up, 6 Down for Sox

Lefty Jacob McGee has sat down all six Sox through two innings, the last three on strikeouts. Boston has not had a ball out of the infield against the rookie making just this third start.

Lowell breaks up shutout

Mike Lowell launched his eight homerun of the season off of McGee in the bottom of the third to put Boston on the board. The Sox still trail 6-1.

Matsuzaka tops 100 pitches

Daisuke just struck out Delmon Young for the second out in the 5th for this fifth strikeout of the night and his 105 pitch of the night, the tenth time in his last eleven stats has. After a season-high 132 in his complete game win against Baltimore last time out, you gotta wonder how much gas is left in the tank.

Boston looking for break through

The Sox have sandwiched two singles around a Cliff Floyd groundout to put runners on the corners with one out here in the 5th.

Lugo picks up RBI

Julio Lugo hit the ball to the far reaches of centerfield, but Baldelii was able to track it down and get it back into the infield to keep Lowell stuck on first. Varitek did tag up from third to score easily to cut the lead to 6-2.

Matsuzaka on the mound for the 6th

Diasuke is back on the mound, but Francona has Cla Meredith warming up in case there is trouble. The pitch count is up to 111 with Tampa’s 2-3-4 hitters due up.

Navarro ends Matsuzaka’s night

A tiring Matsuzaka failed to properly cover first on a grounder to Youkilis and Francona is quickly out of the dugout and summoning a new pitcher to the mound. Meredit, who began warming up last inning, is the new Boston pitcher with Carl Crawford up.

Dukes drives in Navarro to put Rays back up by 5

Elijah Dukes long single to right-center scored Navarro from second to end Matsuzaka’s line for the night: 5 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 3 BB, 6 K’s, 3 WPs.

McGee loads bases in 6th

Boston is looking to get back into this as Varitek just took a four pitch walk to load the bases. Cliff Floyd is the batter now.

Floyd scorched a liner back to the pitcher that almost cost McGee his head, but the pitcher was able to get his glove in front of it to get out of a bad situation. That’ll be on the highlight reel. Floyd’s game keeps getting worse, he’s now 0-3 with 4 runners left on base.

Sox threatening in the seventh

McGee is looking spent here in the seventh. After adding another run in the top of the inning, Tampa is poised to give up some here. Mike Lowell collected his third hit in as many atbats and lugo followed that with a four pitch walk. There is a conference on the mound as Pedroia digs in at home…
...Pedroia slapped a bullet into short right for his 100th hit of the season, loading the bases for Coco Crisp…….Crisp couldnt lay off the high heat and he is out number one in the inning...and like that, the inning is over. A double play, 5-2-3 to end the threat off of Youkilis’ bat.

New pitcher for Sox

Two innings from Meredith was enough for Francona and we see Mike Timlin throwing his warm up pitches here in the top of the eighth. Mike hasn’t been getting much work lately, having last appeared in a game back on 8.2.07 against Baltimore.

Floyd puts run across home plate

Cliff Floyd got a hanging curve from MR Edwin Jackson and put it into left field past a diving B.J. Upton at short to score JD Drew from third. Drew has hit a double off the Monster with one out before being moved over to third by Varitek...Floyd is on first awaiting Lowell stroll to the plate….A diving stop in the hole by Gomes at first ends the inning for Tampa. Lugo will lead off the ninth for the Sox.

Sox challenging with one out left

Down to their last out, the Sox have their fans on their feet. Dustin Pedroia broke up a potential inning ending double play at second and then proceeded to distract Zorbist in the hole on a grounder by Youkilis in order to give him time to get to first and beat out the throw...Runners are now on the corner for Manny Ramirez, who is hitless in 4 at bats...Upton dropped an easy out and allowed Pedroia to cross the plate. Looks like he had checked on Youkilis going to second before the ball was in his glove...Gary Glvoer enters to face Drew….Its a wild pitch, both runners advance...Drew grounds out to Wilson at second. Tampa 8, Boston 4.

[BostonRS14]

Couldn't get runs across the plate at all in this game. Offense struggling with Ortiz in the lineup as we shifted Youk from 2nd to 3rd in the lineup and Crisp is batting behind Pedroia after being in the bottom third for most of the season. Hope Floyd can produce as I have no faith in Cruz right now and Ellsbury was just 1-8 in his brief callup after the initial injury.
We do have Willy Taveras (.220/.238/.531), David Murphy (.276/.340/.459) and Mitch Maier (.271/.308/.452) hitting decently at Pawtucket. Lars Anderson is also a possibility (.320/.370/.473, 38 2Bs, 11 HRs, 73 RBIs), but he is only 20 years old and in his first season at AAA.

Plan on blogging atleast one game a in-season week but hopefully one per series.

[Loeffle]

Originally Posted by BostonRS14

Full name New England Revolution
Major League Soccer, Eastern Conference
Stadium Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA (Capacity: 68,756)
Coach Steve Nicol (2002-present)
Captain: Shalrie Joseph
Vice Captain: Taylor Twellman

The Revolution are the silent team in the Boston area, ranking somewhere far behind the four major professional sports but before and the local college football and hockey teams but ahead of the minor league teams (except Pawtucket during a Red Sox slump) . While the play in the same stadium as the Patriots and appeared in three straight MLC Cups, the love hasn’t been there. In the re-played 2007-08 seasons, the Revs made it to the semifinals of the North American Champions Cup before dropping to Chivas 0-1-1.

The team’s Board of Directors expects the Revolution to make the MLS Cup this season and have remained competitive, going 8-7-4 in 19 fixtures. Their 31 points are good for second in the Eastern Conference behind Columbus (10-4-6, 34)

Current Standings (win-draw-loss):

Eastern Conference                   Western Conference
Columbus             10-4-6, 34            Los Angeles    9-4-7    31
New England       8-7-4, 31            Houston    7-7-6, 28
Kansas City        9-4-5, 31            Chivas USA    6-8-3, 26
Chicago        8-5-6, 29            FC Dallas    7-4-5, 25
Toronto FC        4-9-6, 26            R Salt Lake    7-4-10, 25
D.C. United        3-5-9, 14            Colorado    5-4-6, 19
New York        1-7-11, 10

The Revolution have picked up a few players to bolster their roster. Coming to Foxboro has been Mopho Moloi (Houston), Christian Jiminez (Los Angeles), Gabriel Ferrari (Sampdoria), Francisco Mendoza (Chivas USA), Kieran McKenna (Tottenham) and Carlos Zambrano (Schalke). All are long-term additions mean to establish the Revs as a team to dominate the MLS.

Taylor Twellman leads the team in goals with 14, followed by Pat Noonan with 11.

Whats the average attendance for the Revolution?
Do you run FM also as sim game only?
I mean normally a season takes quite some time ...

[BostonRS14]

Originally Posted by Loeffle

Whats the average attendance for the Revolution?
Do you run FM also as sim game only?
I mean normally a season takes quite some time ...

We are average 15,959 (21,000). I haven't been managing the game, just running from the GM position so to speak. I don't have a complete grasp of tactics and game play yet, but I think once I get the hang of it I'll try some out. maybe come exhibition season

[BostonRS14]

August 17, 2007: Anaheim 13, Boston 1
Angels rout Sox with 9 in Ninth; Yanks lose to Tigers

When is a loss not as painful? When the team you are chasing loses too. Of course, a win would have been nice, but John Lackey (7.2 IP, 5 H, 7 Ks, 1 R) held the Sox bats quiet and the Angels took advantage of ninth inning errors by Manny Ramirez and Jason Varitek to blow up a game that was closer than the final score showed.



John Lackey and the Angels continued to win games playing small ball, scattering twenty hits and four stolen bases against four Red Sox pitchers to win the series opener and stretch their winning streak against the Sox to five games. Boston’s only run of the game came in the second, when JD Drew launched his 17th homerun of the season 425 feet to center.

W: Lackey (12-9) L: Schilling (13-7) SV: Shields (4)

Around the League:

Yankee win streak halted at 12...Detroit 10, New York 5….Milwaukee first baseman Prince Fielder (.285, 25 HR, 83 RBIs, 83 Rs) has blurred vision, suffered while making a defensive play against the Reds. He’s expected to be out for 3 weeks….Dana Eveland (ARI, 10-7, 4.34) will miss 1-2 weeks with a tender elbow. Eveland suffered the injury throwing a pitch in the game against the Braves...Rumors circulating around town say right fielder Juan Encarnacion (.206, 5 HR, 12 RBI) is not happy at all playing in St. Louis and that the Cardinals are actively shopping him around. Encarnacion is owed $6.5m in 2008 and has yet to be palced on waivers by the Cardinals.


August 18, 2007: Anaheim 8, Boston 3

Another bullpen collapse has cost the Red Sox another well pitched game from their starting pitcher. Brett Myers left the game in the eight with runners on first and second and one out, but reliever Mike Timlin could not keep the inherited runners from scoring and the Sox dropped another game to the Angels at Fenway Park. With the game tied at three, manager Terry Francona tried to keep his struggling bullpen out of the game for as long as possible, calling Myers back out for the eight inning in hopes of bridging the back end of the 'pen that hadn't caught the bug going around.

Instead, Timlin gave up surrendered a pinch hit single to Gary Matthews Jr. that scored Chone Figgins and Mike Napoli to give the Angels the go-ahead runs. Hideki Okajima replaced Timlin after he failed to record any outs and promptly allowed two more runners to get on base before Jonathan Papelbon was summoned from the bullpen. Paps worked out of the inning, surrendering two sacrafice flies to finish off the scoring for the Angels.

Boston had rallied in the bottom of the seventh to ties the game at 3 runs a piece on a two-run homerun by Cliff Floyd over the Monster in left. It was his first longball with the Sox and just his third hit in eleven at bats.

W: Carrasco (7-3) L: Myers (12-7) SV: Johnson (2)

Around the league:
Mike Gonzalez of the Atlanta Braves was injured in today's game against Arizona and will miss up to 4 weeks with a strained elbow ligament. Gonzalez has racked up 30 saves in 47 appearances for Atlanta, who lead the NL Wild Card by 6 games over Cincinnati.

[BostonRS14]

Red Sox Schedule:

Aug. 19: Anaheim Angels, 2:05p
Aug. 20: @ Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10p
Aug. 21: @ Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10p
Aug. 22: @ Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 7:10p
Aug. 23: @ Chicago White Sox, 8:11p
Aug. 24: @ Chicago White Sox, 8:11p
Aug. 25: @ Chicago White Sox, 3:55p

Revolution Schedule:

Aug. 19: Chicago Fire, 9:00p
Aug. 22: D.C. United, 7:30p
Aug. 25: @ D.C. United, 9:00p

Bruins Schedule:

Aug. 19-Aug. 25: Offseason

Celtics Schedule:

Aug. 19-Aug. 25: Offseason

[BostonRS14]

Aug. 19, 2007: Boston 3, Anaheim 2

Kelvim Escobar and Scott Sheids combined to hold the Red Sox 4-9 hitters 0 for 17 with one BB. Hideki Okajima blew his sixth save opportunity of the season and the Angels loaded the bases twice against Josh Beckett. And yet, Dustin Pedroia would not quit. A two-run homerun in the second inning gave the Red sox the early lead and a solo homerun in the eighth broke a 2-2 ties to put them ahead for good. With Jonathan Papelbon warming up, Pedroia’s lead held and the Sox broke their their three-gam losing streak.

Pedroia has been nothing but hot of late, carrying what little offense the Sox have been able to produce through the month of August. In 17 games, the rookie second baseman is batting .432 with 4 homeruns, 8 doubles, 17 runs and 12 runs batted in.

Josh Beckett got the tough no decision after surrendering just 2 runs, one earned, on three hits over 7.1 innings. His personal losing streak still stands at 6 straight decisions.

W: Qualls (3-0) L: Escobar (8-8) SV: Papelbon (33)

[BostonRS14]

Aug. 19, 2007: Revolution 2 Chicago Fire 2

The Revolution entered the match with a clear advantage, having remained unbeaten in nine straight MLS games. Losing Taylor Twellman early in the eleventh minute was a blow to the Revs punch up front as he has been their leading scorer and sparkplug for most of the season. Twellman went up against Chicago defender CJ Bronw on a header and came down motionless on the turf for a few minutes before leaving the field under his own power.

After two early goals by Steve Ralson and Francisco Mendoza in the first 25 minutes, the Revs tried to lock down on the Fire and go defensive in their tactics. A bad clear by keeper Mark Reis in the 34th minute led to a steal by Willie Sims and an easy put away into an open net.

Chicago challenged often in the second half against the Revs, Jerson Monteiro put a goal in late in the second half to tie up the match for the Fire. Chicago keeper played a perfect 60 yard ball down the right sideline to Monteiro, who played a game of give-and-go with Sims around the Revolution backfield to get a inside the penalty box. Monteiro put a chip shot into the top left corner to tie up the score.

[BostonRS14]

Physio Report on Taylor Twellman

Mike Fritz has reported that striker Taylor Twellman has sustained a broken jaw following a strong challenge during the match against Chicago.



Fritz advises you that unfortunately the only course of action for a broken jaw is for the player to see a specialist.

It is likely that Twellman will be out for between 3 weeks and a month whilst he is treated.

New England will miss Twellman - The Boston Globe

Taylor Twellman got injured in the game today and it looks as if he might be out for a while. Manager Steve Nicol admitted that it is a blow to the team, but that he believed that Gabriel Ferrari ha what it takes to fill in.

“You never wanted to lose someone like Taylor, but our goal all year has been to mix in some of our depth and youth in case a situation like this came up,” Nicol said. “It’s a long year, guys get hurt and others fill in. We’ll adapt.”

[BostonRS14]

v
Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Tropicana Field, St. Petersburg, Florida

Team Records
Boston Red Sox: 70-54, .565 -9.5 GB, 1st AL Wild Card
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: 64-60, .516, -15.5 GB, 5th AL WC, -6 GB

Series Matchup
As the days on the calendar slip away, the Red Sox are getting closer to must-win baseball. Coming up against the tough Tampa Bay Devil Rays again, Boston is looking for atleast a series win to begin their difficult road trip that continues through four games in Chicago and 3 in New York.

Tampa Bay is coming off a three-game sweep of Cleveland and has won 9 of their last ten games to pull with six games of Boston in the Wild Card race. The Devil Rays have been led by Rookie of the Year candidate Evan Longoria (.289, 23 HR, 87 RBI). A series win here will put the Rays back in playoff contention for the first time in their brief history.

Season Series:
Boston 5, Tampa Bay 4

Pitching Matchups:
8/20: Joe Blanton (1-0, 2.84) v. Jacob McGee (2.42)
8/21: Joe Saunders (5-5, 4.08) v. Daisuke Matsuzaka (10-6, 5.21)
8/22: Scott Kazmir v. Curt Schiling (13-7, 4.10)

[BostonRS14]

Aug. 20, 2007: Offense Continues to Struggle as Tampa takes Opener
Tampa Bay 5, Boston 2


Jacob McGee proved once again that he is going to be a formidable pitcher in the major leagues by holding the Sox to just 6 hits and 2 runs over seven and one-third innings at Tropicana Field last night.

Tampa got on the board in the first when Joe Blanton allowed an RBI double to the second hitter of the game, CF Rocco Baldelli. BJ Upton, who led off the game with a single and moved to third on an errant throw to second on a steal attempt, scored easily on the play, giving Baldelli his 86th RBI of the season. Baldelli followed that up in the third inning with a two-run homerun to deep left that push the Devil Rays lead to 4-0.

“We just keeping putting ourselves in these holes,” Sox manager Terry Francona said after the game. “We can’t seem to get out early and get our starters some breathing room. Their pitching too fine, too tight to be effective.”

The Sox cut that lead in half in the sixth when Eric Hinske, seeing action for the first time in nearly a week sent a line-drive homerun to right-center off McGee. Manny Ramirez followed Hinske with a double to center. After retiring Mike Lowell and JD Drew, Coco Crisp squeezed a single down the first baseline to score Ramirez without a throw.

Wes Bankston added an RBI double in the bottom of the sixth to finish off the scoring for Tampa Bay.

W: McGee (4-0) L: Blanton (9-100 SV: Reyes (22)

Around the League:
Baltimore doctors confirmed that Adam Loewen will miss about seven months with a ruptured disc in his back. Loewen’s ability to return fully fit with an injury of this nature is in doubt….Miguel Cabrera of the Florida Marlins was named NL Player of the Week. He beat up on pitching for 11 hits in 24 at-bats, 3 home runs and 8 RBIs while hitting .458 and scoring 5 runs….Boston’s Dustin Pedroia stacked up numbers last week that were the ency of the league, as Pedroia came away with the American League Player of the Week honrs. He belted out 14 hits in 26 at-bats, 2 homeruns and 7 RBIS last week as he postd his .538 batting average...Texas Rangers released MR Ron Mahay (46 G, 4-2, a SV, 5.43 ERA, .281 OAVG, 1.72 WHIP)...

Aug. 21, 2007: Youk, ‘Tek sit as Sox come alive with easy 9-3 win
Boston 9, Tampa Bay 3

Jarrod Saltalamacchia knew when he got the call up to Boston, that his chances where going to come infrequently. Sitting behind an All Star, World Champion catcher isn’t easy, especially when that catcher is as loved in town as Jason Varitek is.

“I knew when I came over, ‘Tek is the guy,” Saltalamacchia said. “I need to be ready, working with the pitchers and get my swings in when I get the call. It isn’t easy, but we all want to win, that’s what we are here for and Jason gives us that best option right now.”



What Salty has been able to do is deliver when called upon and last night in Tampa was no difference. Sensing a need to switch things up, Terry Francona sat both Kevin Youkilis and Jason Varitek for the middle game of the three game series in favor of Eric Hinske and Saltalamacchia. Saltalamacchia went three-for-three with three runs scored out of the eight spot in the lineup to pace the Red Sox to an easy 9-3 win over Tampa.

“I try not to take two regulars out at once to not lessen our offense, but both have been in need to a day to clear their heads, rest up and enjoy the game from the bench. Their gamers, they’ll be back in their tomorrow.”


Boston was added by a strong performance from starter Diasuke Matsuzaka who threw seven and one-third innings of three-hit ball before exiting in the middle of the eight. Craig Hansen finished the night for the Devil Rays, securing the final five outs without surrendering any hits.

The Sox offense got off to a good start early, when Manny Ramirez hit a two run homerun, his 33rd of the season, in the top of the first off of starter Joe Saunders. Bostona added another in the fifth before blowing the game open with four runs in the eight when Saltalamachia hit his fourth homerun of the season, a two-run blast to right off of reliever Seth McClung.

The rubber-match of the three-game series is schedule for Sunday at Tropicana Field.

W: Matsuzaka (11-6) L: Saunders (5-6)

Around the League:
...Arizona Diamondbacks signed MR Randy Choate to a 1-year contract extension worth $420k...Radhames Liz of the Baltimore Orioles blanked the TExas Rangers 4-0 on 3 hits, registering 6 strikeouts and 3 walks...New York Yankees SS Derek Jetere was placed on the disabled list with a strained groin. It’s estimated he will be out 2 weeks..SS Chris Basak was recalled from SWB to make his major league debut…

[BostonRS14]

August 22, 2007 Boston Red Sox v. Tampa Bay Devil Rays

..We’re here in St. Petersburg, Florida for the third and final game of the series for the Red Sox and Devil Rays. Opening lineups forthcoming…

CF Coco Crisp	      SS BJ Upton
2B Dustin Pedroia	      CF Rocco Baldelli
RF JD Drew		      LF Carl Crawford
LF Manny Ramirez     3B Evan Longoria
1B Kevin Youkilis	      DH Jonny Gomes
C Jason Varitek	      2B Akinori Iwamura
DH Jarrod Salt.	      RF Elijah Dukes
3B Mike Lowell	      C Dioner Navarro
SS Julio Lugo	      1B Wes Bankston

SP Curt Schilling	      SP Scott Kazmir

..One surprise from Terry Francona. He sticks with the hot bat in Jarrod Saltalamacchia against Scott Kazmir, keeping lefty Cliff Floyd on the bench…...In his only outing versus the Red Sox this season, Kazmir last only 2.1 innings back on Jul 3 in Boston. The Devil Rays lost that game 10-3…

23,652 in the stands tonight and first pitch is scheduled for 7;10p…

Crisp opens it with a bang

Coco Crisp, back atop the lineup tonight launched a 2-2 fastball from Kazmir 447 feet from home plate to deep center field for an early 1-0 lead for Boston...Dustin Pedroia followed with a four pitch walk, but the 3-4-5 hitters failed to get the ball out of the infield…

Tampa leads off second with hit

...after an easy one-two-three first, Schilling was slow reacting to a roller up the line by Longoria which resulted in an infield single for the speed-challenged slugger...Gomes with a deep fly out...one away..slow roller to Lugo for a force at second, no throw to first for Iwamura...Dukes flails at a fastball away...three down, no runs…

Pedroia thrown out at second to start third

...A missed run-and-hit sign has put the Sox in a bad position, Dustin Pedroia was gunned down by a mile at second by Navarro as Drew never took the bat off his shoulder. Navarro is 36/106 on the season in throwing runners out...An easy stand up double for JD...The Rays are intentionally walking Manny to face the cold Kevin Youkils. Youk is batting just .127 in 18 games this August...A weak flyout to shallow left doesnt move the runners along...Varitek is retired on three strikes to kill the threat…
Drew robs Crawford at the wall

..After surrendering back-to-back singles to BJ Upton and Rocco Baldelli, Carl Crawford sent Schilling’s first pitch of the at-bat for a ride to the gap in deep right field. A perfectly timed leap by JD Drew robbed Crawford of a game-turning homerun. Drew got on his horse and scaled the wall to save Schilling. Sox still ahead 1-0…

Iwamura puts Devil Rays ahead in 4th

..Living on the edge almost cost Schilling against Crawford and it came back to bite him against Iwamura. With Gomes on first, Schilling grooved a first pitch fastball down the heart of the plate and the light-hitting middle infield said thank you and deposited it 438 feet from home plate for a souvenir...

Infield single gets Sox going in 5th

...Sox looking to get the lead back, lead things off with an infield single by Crisp.,,Pedroia at bat, looking to move Crsip along to second...Deep in the hole to second, Iwamura with the grab, to Gomes...out...Crisp to second...Drew walks, Manny to bat, first and second one down….Weak pop out to left-center, two down, runners don’t move up...Youkilis takes five pitch walk, bases loaded for Varitek...Called third strike by the home plate umpire has Varitek upset, but he heads back to the dugout. Kamir out of a jam, still 2-1 Tampa.

Salty stays hot

Salty has led off the sixth inning with a stand-up double, his sixth straight hit. He has raised his batting average from .226 to .268 at this point between yesterday and today...Mike Lowell due up next against Kazmir… A sharp drive down to third...past Longoria into left...Saltalamacchia held at third...Lugo up next. He’s hitting .298 with RISP...Short flyball to left doesn’t move anyone up...Crisp next...Linedrive single to left...It drops in front of Crawford, Saltalamacchia comes in to score, Lowell takes second. It’s tied up, Crisp with his second RBI of the night...2-2...Still one out..Kazmir settled down and retired Pedroia and Drew on strikes. Sox tie the score thanks to Crisp.

Kazmir done for the night

Manager Joe Maddon has called upon Edwin Jackson to start the seventh, ending Scott Kazmir’s night. He went 6 innings, allowing two runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out five. Kazmir will not factor into the decision tonight…

Schilling sharp through 7

...Curt Schilling has just sent down Rocco Baldelli to end the seventh inning. The trio of Devil Ray hitters didn’t get the ball out of the infield as Schilling is still topping out at 94mph on his fastball...Francona doesn’t have anyone warming up in the bullpen yet…

Lugo on second, Sox threatening against Jackson

...A one-out double by Julio Lugo has the go-ahead run on second with Coco Crisp at the plate...Looks like Francona is going to get the bullpen going quickly, both Meredith and Okajima just started loosening up...Crisp to Iwamura, Lugo advances to third on the ground out...Pedroia rips a liner into the corner, Dukes is over and it gets past him. Lugo in easily, Pedroia pulls into second with an RBI double...Drew pops out to Bankston at first, Sox ahead 3-2…

Schilling done, Okajima in

Curt Schilling is done for the night, in line for the win. Francona has called upon Hideki Ohajima to face lefty Carl Crawford...Lefties are hitting .230 against Okajima this season...Crawford puts a drive into a 1-1 fastball...Drew backing up, he snags it on the track…

Meredith is coming in to face Longoria...Longoria checks his swing...ball four...he takes his base...Gomes up next… Groundball to Lugo...6 to 4 to 3..perfect execution...Meredith is pumped coming off the mound…

Papelbon entering the game for Sox

Jonathan Papelbon has been called into the game to save the win for Curt Schilling...First up, Akinori Iawamura. He’s one for two with a two-run homerun in the 4th...It’s a lead off base on balls for Iwamura...A hard grounder into the hole between second and third...Lugo has it but he doesn’t risk the throw to first...Dioner Navarro bunts it down the first baseline...Papelbon fields it, let’s it fly...safe! Navarro barely made it...Bases loaded...Blankston due up next…

Bankston delivers

Tampa Bay has tied the game up on a RBI single to center by Wes Bankston...Papelbon is struggling, bases still loaded, no outs...BJ Upton up next...Swung on...weak grounder to first...Youkilis fields it...no chance to get Dukes from third...Tampa Bay wins it...4-3.

W: Jackson (2-2)L: Papelbon (1-3)

Around the League:

The Pittsburgh Pirates have traded 26 year-old catcher Ronny Paulino and 22 year-o;d minor league third baseman Nick Petty to Milwaukee for the services of 26 year-old reliever Jose Capellan and 20 year-old minor league starting pitcher Charles Hill...Chi-Hung Cheng of the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the Oakland Athletics 9-0 on 4 hits and posted 6 strikeouts and 1 walk...Josh Hamilton was removed from the game against the Atlanta Braves as a precaution after being hit by a pitch. The Reds had their worse fears confirmed when it turned out to be more serious. The center fielder will miss at least 5 days with a fractured finger….Indians starting pitcher Fausto Carmona will be sitting out a few days after he was injured against the Detroit Tigers. He sustained a tender shoulder and will be listed day-to-day for about 1-2 weeks...Seattle signed MR Chris Reitsma to a 1-year contract extension worth a total of $420k...