Building Dynasties in Boston, Part II

[BostonRS14]

Toronto Blue Jays v. Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park, Boston, Ma

The Toronto Blue Jays (48-74, .393) have tumbled in the divisional standings, currently sitting in 5th place, 29 games behind the Red Sox in the American League East. With a $98m payroll, the Blue Jays entered the season with hopes of competing for a Wild Card berth, but yet, let the trade deadline pass without unloading SP A.J. Burnett (4-10, 5.20 ERA, $24m, 2 years left), 3B Scott Rolen (.230 avg., 10 HRs, 37 RBIs, $22m, 2 yrs.), or CL B.J. Ryan (5-5, 19 Svs, 4.60 ERA, $20m, 2 yrs.).

Despite the continued star performance out of Roy Halladay (11-8, 3.01 ERA), the Jays have sturggled with their pitching staff. Burnett has yet to pitch to his contract and youngsters Casey Janssen, Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum have struggled in their first extended chances in the rotation. Offensively, Vernon Wells (.310, 18 HRs, 64 RBIs) leads a team that is capable of putting up runs, despite their struggles.

Pitching Probables:
8/15: Josh Beckett (12-5, 3.62 ERA) v. Casey Janssen (3-8, 4.50)
8/16: Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-6, 3.15) v. A.J. Burnett (4-10, 5.20)
8/17: Tim Wakefield (11-7, 4.15) v. Shawn Marcum (6-11, 4.98)

So far this season, the Red Sox have defeated the Blue Jays five out of six meetings.

[BostonRS14]

August 15, 2008

Ramirez' Blast in 12th Leads Sox Past Jays
Boston 5, Toronto 4 (12)

After failing to capitalize in his first three at-bats, leaving three men on base, Manny Ramirez's bat woke up when the Sox needed him, driving in three runs in extra innings to lead the Red Sox past the rival Blue Jays at Fenway.

With Shawn Marcum (7 IP, 4 Hs, 2 Rs, 6 K's) matching Josh Beckett (8 IP, 7 Hs, 2 Rs, 6 K's) for the majority of the game, the Sox bats looked lost.

The Blue Jays got on the board first in the fourth when Aaron Hill, after leading off with a walk, came around from first to score on a Lyle Overbay double to the right-field corner. Vernon Wells advanced Overbay to third on a groundout, but Matt Stairs lined out to left field to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the fourth, the Sox got on Marcum for two runs off the bat of Julio Lugo. With two outs and the bases loaded, Lugo slapped a single through the infield, allowing Rafael Furcal and Jason Varitek to score to put the Sox ahead 2-1.

Brad Wilkerson, batting just .214 against the Red Sox this season, launched a first pitch fastball by Beckett in the fifth to tie the game at two, where it would stand until extra innings.

With Hideki Okajima on the mound, pinch hitter Shannon Stewart slapped a double off the wall in left. Brian Wilson quickly replaced Okajima and David Eckstein and Scott Rolen followed with a pair of singles to put the Jays ahead by two. Wilson stayed in the game to retire Aaron Hill on a fly out before Manny Delcarmen replaced him and struck out Adam Lind to end the inning.

In the bottom of the tenth, with two outs and Coco Crisp on first, Manny Ramirez launched a deep two-run home run off of Toronto closer B.J. Ryan to tie the game at four.

After a scoreless 11th inning, the Sox were able to retire the Jays in order in the 12th. In the bottom half, Mike Lowell led off wth a single, but was retired at second on a failed bunt attempt by Crisp. With the winning-run on first in Crisp, manager Terry Francona did not give Craig Consell the bunt sign, instead allowing his weak hitting backup infielder the chance to swing the bat. Counsell was able to slap a slow roller to short that Hill wasn't able to field in time. With runners on first and third and one out, Jim Leyland pitched to Manny Ramirez, who responded with a double off the outfield wall in center, scoring Crisp with the game winning run.

w: Delcarmen (7-4) L: Downs (2-3)
Player of the Game: Manny Ramirez (2-5, 2B, HR (20), R, 3 RBIs)

Around the League:
...Cincinnati placed SP Johnny Cueto (9-6, 3.31 ERA) on the 60-day disabled list...Chicago Cub 2B Mike Fontenot went 5-6 against the Florida Marlins, with 1 RBI and 3 Rs...

[BostonRS14]

Well, thanks to SI no longer offering support/sale for the Mac version of EHM, my Bruins dynasty has hit the wall. Going forward, I'll be using the PC version, but that means starting over, as the saved games are not compatible cross-platform.

So, we start the Bruins anew at the beginning of the 2008-2009 season.

Bruins poised to Make Stanley Cup Run

The Bruins have a good balance on offense and defense, but could obviously use some help up front. Marc Savard, Zdeno Chara and Tim Thomas anchor a team that has a good amount of veteran leadership to go along with a strong crop of young players looking to develop into a supporting cast capable of contending for a Stanley Cup.

A big question surrounding new coach Claude Julien's squad is where exactly will the scoring come from? Savard is unquestionably the number one center on the squad, but who will be skating on his wings is a big question mark heading into camp. While Julien hasn't tip his cards, it would appear that the Bruins will look at Marco Sturm and Mark Recchi to begin the season on the wings with Savard. On the second line, it appears the only guaranteed spot belongs to C Patrice Bergeron, who is fully recovered from a concussion that prematurely ended his season last October.

Third year forward Phil Kessel and second year winger Milan Lucic are two Bruins that are poised to have breakout seasons. Both are expected to challenge for a spot on the top two scoring lines, but must impress early in camp to move past veterans P.J. Axelsson, Michael Ryder and Chuck Kobasew. Also in the mix are C David Krejci and W Blake Wheeler, although neither are serious contenders for a top line assignment.

On defense, Chara leads a group that is long on grit and short on experience. Denis Wildeman, Mark Stuart, and Aaron Ward round out the top two groups, with the final two spots a toss up between Steve Montador, Shane Hnindy, Matt Hunwick and Aaron Ference.

In goal, the Bruins will rely heavily on the tandem of Tim Thomas and Manny Fernandez to lead the young group. It has been rumored all summer that Fernandez is on the trade block, so we expect the Bruins will try to showcase their backup netminder early in the season to drum up interest in the veteran.

What the Bruins lack in marque talent, they make up for in grit and determination, two key ingredients in Claude Julien's teams. The Bruins season will depend greatly on the ability of Thomas to carry the load in net and for the youngster to step up early and fill some key roles on offense and defense.

While the Bruins have relied heavily on free agency lately to plug some holes on the roster, it has not been at the cost of developing talent through the draft.

The Bruins are in a strong position with their development program to produce quite a few contributing players to their roster in the immediate future. With Kessel, Wheeler, Stuart, Krejci and Lucic all expected to break camp with the Bruins, the development program will take a hit in the near future, but with the likes of C Zach Hamill, G Tuukka Rask and C Vladimir Sobotka, the Bruins are well equipped in Providence (AHL) for the future.

[BostonRS14]

August 16, 2008

Matsuzaka Wins 16th, Sox Take Advantage of Jays
Boston 8, Toronto 3

It would seem that the Blue Jays just can't catch a break. Last night, the Jays watched Shawn Marcum battle Josh Beckett only to lose in extra innings when Manny Ramirez was not intentionally walked. And tonight, the Jays lose Casey Janssen to injury in the second inning and the Sox take advantage, scoring four runs of emergency reliever A.J. Burnett, on their way to an easy 8-3 victory.

Burnett, making only his fourth career relief appearance in 10 major league seasons, was greeted by J.D. Drew with a solo home run to put the Red Sox on the board first. After retiring Jason Varitek for the second out of the inning, Mike Lowell and Julio Lugo hit a pair of double to push the Sox lead to two runs.

With the two run lead, Daisuke Matsuzaka settled into a groove that has seen him dominate for most of the season. Over seven strong innings, Matsuzaka scattered eight hits while allowing two runs and striking out seven.

A pair of doubles by Vernon Wells and Marco Scutaro in the fourth cut the Sox lead to one run, but, in the bottom half of the inning, Boston came right back at Burnett, scoring two runs on a home run by Julio Lugo. Wells would later add a solo home run in the sixth inning to bring Toronto back within two runs.

In the seventh inning, though, the Sox finally broke through the Toronto bullpen, scoring four times to put the game out of reach. With Billy Tallet replacing Burnett, Kevin Youkilis led the inning off with a base on balls. Youkilis advanced to third on a Manny Ramirez single. Tallet loaded the bases with a David Ortiz walk brining up Rafael Furcal.

After taking a first pitch ball, Furcal slapped a hanging curve ball off the wall in left-center, scoring Youkilis and Ramirez easily. With Ortiz on third and Furcal on second, Jim Leyland called for an intentional walk to J.D. Drew. Pinch hitter Andruw Jones, batting in place of Jason Varitek, grounded into a double play before Mike Lowell doubled to bring home Furcal and Drew, pushing the Sox lead to 8-2.

Brandon League replaced Tallet and retired Lugo to end the inning for the Sox.

Toronto would add a single run in the eighth against Anthony Reyes, but Kason Gabbard was able to hold the fort and the Sox took the second of three games against the Jays.

W: Matsuzaka (16-6) L: Burnett (4-11)
Player of the Game: Julio Lugo (3-4, 2 2B, HR, 3 RBIs)

Around the League:
...Baltimore LF Luke Scott went 6-6 against the Detroit Tigers with 3 2Bs, 4 RBIs, and 3 R's...35 year-old MR Keith Foulke (2-6, 3 SVs., 3.24 ERA) signed a two-year contract extension with the Oakland Athletics worth $1.75m per year...Minnesota designed SP Livan Hernandez (5-11, 6.44 ERA) for assignment...

Bruins Miss Out on Grahame

Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli missed out on an opportunity to give his club some depth when former Bruin John Grahame elected to join the New Islanders rather than the Bruins yesterday.

Grahame, drafted by the Bruins in 1994, spent three and half years (1999-2002) with Boston before playing for Tampa Bay (2003-2006) and Carolina (2007-2008).

"It was a decision about playing time," Grahame's agent said in announcing the agreement. "We both felt John would get a better chance with the Islanders than the Bruins."

With New York, Grahame will be the primary backup to goalie Rick DiPietro, who has a history of injury problems. With Boston, Grahame would have competed with Manny Fernandez in training camp to backup Tim Thomas.

In addition to Grahame, the Bruins also missed out on adding Paul Coffey to the coaching staff, after the former Bruins defenseman agreed to join John Tortorella's coaching staff in New York.

Elsewhere around the league, Buffalo acquired center Mike Ribeiro from Dallas for a 2007 first round draft pick while F Keith Tkachuk and D Darien Hatcher were also on the move, joining Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, respectively.

[BostonRS14]

August 17, 2008

Varitek's Walk-Off Single Sweeps Jays
Boston 3, Toronto 2

Mere percentage points now separate the Toronto Blue Jays (48-77) and the Florida Marlins (48-78) from the coveted first pick in next summer's Entry Draft.

I don't think, however, it is quite the distinction that the Jays were hoping to earn this late in the season. And for the second time in three games, the Jays lost a heartbreaker to the Sox when the bullpen coughed up another gamer after a strong performance from the starter.

The two teams traded runs early in the game, with the Jays getting out to a 1-2 lead after two thanks to RBI doubles by Adam Lind and Aaron Hill. In the bottom of the third, the Sox tied the game at two on a pair of doubles by Coco Crisp and Kevin Youkilis.

Afterwards, the bats went silent and the pitchers took over.

Tim Wakefield and Dustin McGowan each pitched into the seventh inning, scattering nine hits a piece.

After trading zeros for five innings, B.J. Ryan coughed up the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Mike Lowell led off the inning with a double to right field. After an intentional walk to J.D. Drew, Willie Bloomquist was retired on a failed bunt attempt. Craig Counsell advanced Lowell to third on a fielders choice to the pitcher.

With two outs and the winnign run on third, Jason Varitek, an eight inning replacement in his first at bat of the game, dropped a bloop single to center that allowed Lowell to score easily with the winning run to complete the sweep.

W: Okajima (3-2) L: Ryan (5-6)
Player of the Game: Kevin Youkilis (3-4, 2B, RBI)

Around the League:
...WAS 1B Nick Johnson went 5-5 with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs against the Colorado Rockies...

[BostonRS14]

Boston Red Sox v. Baltimore Orioles
Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

Coming off a three game sweep of the Jays, which pushed the Sox winning streak to four, Boston heads to Baltimore to take on the Orioles.

Baltimore (68-57), currently in third in the American League East, has been a surprise all season long. While 12 games behind the division leader may be a disappointment for many teams, in the AL East, the Orioles are a surprise contender. Currently, the O's sit a mere four games behind New York for the American League Wild Card thanks to strong pitching from Radhames Liz (10-7, 3.66 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) and Daniel Cabrera (13-6, 3.70, 1.27). In fact, the Orioles have the fifth best starting rotation (4.05 ERA) in the AL. Their 549 runs allowed rank 3rd while their 856 strikeouts are 3rd best as well.

Offensively, the Orioles have been stung by the injury bug. CF Adam Jones (fractured knee), 1B Aubrey Huff (strained hamstring) and CF Nolan Remold (fractured rib) are all on the 60 day disabled list and are not expected back this season. In their place, Nick Markakis (.332, .378 OBP, .555 SLG) has emerged as a legitimate middle of the order slugger.

For the Sox, the sweep of the Jays pushed their division lead back up to 8 games over the slumping New York Yankees (72-53, 3-7 last 10).

Pitching Matchups:
8/18: Josh Beckett (12-5, 3.55 ERA) v. Brian Burres (10-9, 4.65)
8/19: Daisuke Matsuzaka (16-6, 3.13) v. Joel Peralta (7-1, 3.83)
8/20: Justin Masterson (0-0, 1.46) v. Radhames Liz

[BostonRS14]

August 18, 2008

Liz Stymes Sox, Steals Opener for O's
Baltimore 6, Boston 2

Radhames Liz's breakout season continued last night against the Red Sox, holding the first place Red Sox to just two runs over seven and one-third innings, with five hits and nine strikeouts. Overall, Liz has emerged as one of the few bright spots for the O's this season, compiling eleven wins in twenty-three starts.

The Orioles jumped out early in the third when Alex Cintron launched a wind-aided two-run homerun off Sox starter Clay Buchholz.

In the sixth, the Sox were able to tie the game up. A lead off double by Kevin Youkilis was followed one batter later with a two-run home run by Manny Ramirez.

In the bottom half of the inning, however, the Orioles jumped on Buchholz and grab the lead right back. Luis Hernendez led off the inning with a single, and advanced to second when Rafael Furcal misplayed a potential double play ball by Nick Markakis. After Luke Scott took a four pitch walk to load the bases, Scott Moore singled home Hernandez to reclaim the lead. After a pop out by Kevin Millar, back-to-back bases loaded walks to Ramon Hernandez and Jay Payton pushed the lead to three for the O's.

In the eighth, Markakis added a solo home run off reliever Hideki Okajima to close out the scoring for the Orioles.

The loss snapped Boston's modest four game wining streak, and moved the idle Yankees back within 7.5 of the Sox.

W: Liz (11-7) L: Buchholz (10-6) SV: Sherrill (31)
Player of the Game: Radhames Liz (7.1 IP, 5 Hs, 2 Rs, 8 Ks, 105 PI)

[BostonRS14]

August 19, 2008

Beckett Tames O's, Puts Sox Back in Winning Column
Boston 6, Baltimore 2

The Orioles may have taken the first game of this three game series, but the Sox were not about to panic. not with their ace coming up in the second game having won eight of his previous nine decisions.

"We always feel good with Becks on the mound," manager Terry Francona said afterwards. "You give him a run or two and he's determined to make it stick."

And make it stick he did. Beckett picthed six and one third innings, holding the Orioles to just one run on eight hits while walking one and striking out seven.

Despite the final score, however, the game remained close until Boston was able to open it up in the sixth. Tied at one, the Sox loaded the bases with a string of three straight singles by David Ortiz, Manny Ramirez and J.D. Drew to lead off the inning against Baltimore starter Joel Peralta. Rafael Furcal followed with a double to deep center that scored Ortiz and Ramirez easily to put the Sox ahead by two.

Furcal and Drew were stranded in scoring position when Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek and Julo Lugo all failed to advanced the ball out of the infield.

In the seventh, the Sox padded the lead on a two-run home run by David Ortiz off former Red Sox Chad Bradford.

Brian Wilson pitched the final one and two-thirds to complete his third save in ten appearances for the Sox.

W: Beckett (13-5) L: Peralta (7-2) SV: Wilson (24)
Player of the Game: David Ortiz (2-5, HR (26), 2 RBIs)

Around the League:
...John Thompson (PIT) pitched a 3 hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals, striking out 10...

Short-handed Revs Battle to Tie Rapids
New England 2, Colorado 2

Coming off a pair of 1-0 defeats, New England looked sluggish out of the game against the Rapids. Playing without four starters, the Revs fell behind by two goals in the first 10 minutes of the game before battling back to squeak out the draw.

With Taylor Twellman back in the lineup, but partner Edson Buddle out injured, the Revolution struggled to muster scoring opportunities for most of the game.

In the twenty-six minute, Rudolph Austin broke free on a bad pass by Rapids midfield Eddie Gaven. Breaking in alone, Austin easily beat Srdjan Djekanovic one on one to cut the Rapids lead in half.

Shortly afterwards, Austin got the Revs attack going again. After a New England corner was deflected away by Djekanovic, austin corraled the loose ball and found Gabriel Ferrari alone in the penalty area. With the goal at his mercy, Ferrari scored for New England to retrieve the two goal deficit.

With the draw, the Revolution (10-7-4, 34 pts.) were able to manage to hang onto their second place position in the Eastern Conference over Toronto FC (9-9-3, 30 pts.). New England trails Kansas City (14-6-1, 43 pts.) in the Eastern Conference.

[BostonRS14]

Auguust 20, 2008

Sox Go Extras to Defeat O's
Boston 5, Baltimore 4 (11)

Jonathan Papelbon is closing in on his career mark of 37 saves in a season, but his dominant self hasn't been as dominating this season. His ERA is up almost one full run from 2007 (1.85 v. 2.78), his ovag is up from .146 to .188 and his ERC is up from 1.29 to 1.59.

Despite his struggles, the Sox are still fortunate to have a force such as Papelbon closing games for the perennial playoff contenders. Last night, however, the Orioles made Papelbon look average, hitting the All Star closer for two runs on three hits in an inning of work, as the Orioles rallied back from a two-run deficit in the the tenth to tie the game before the Sox pulled out the win in the eleventh.

Daisuke Matsuzaka continued to pitch well for the Sox, throwing seven and one-third innings of work, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out six. Brian Burres matched Matsuzaka for the majority of the game, lasting six and a third while allowing two runs on five hits and four walks.

The Sox got on the board first in the second when David Ortiz led off the inning by reaching base on an error by second baseman Brian Roberts. After Burres retired Mike Lowell, Adam Dunn and Andruw Jones sandwiched a pair of walks around a Craig Counsell strike out to load the bases for Boston. Backup catcher Josh Bard singled home Ortiz and Dunn to put the Sox ahead 2-0, but Burres was able to retired Rafael Furcal on a fly out to center to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the second, Scott Moore and Jay Payton launched a pair of solo home runs off Matsuzaka to tie the game, before both pitchers settled into a duel over the next few innings.

In the tenth, the Sox jumped ahead on a pair of pair of bases-loaded walks by George Sherrill to Dunn and Julio Lugo to force in the go-ahead runs for the Sox. Unfortunately, Papelbon blew his fourth save opportunity in the bottom half of the tenth when he failed to get out of the inning after retiring the first two batters. Chris Roberson, Scott Moore and Kevin Millar each lined first pitch fastballs into the right-center gap to tie the game at four.

In the top of the eleventh, with one out, Bard lined a double to left to put the go ahead run into scoring position. Orioles manager Dave Trembley elected to intentionally walk Rafael Furcal, to create the force out for Coco Crisp. Unfortunately for Baltimore, the move backfired when Crisp slapped a single to center, allowing Bard to score from second to put the Sox ahead once again. With the runners on second and third, Manny Ramirez was intentionally walked to load the bases, setting up the southpaw Sherrill to face David Ortiz.

Sherrill, being hit at a .370 rate by lefties, managed to handcuff Ortiz, forcing the slugger into a weak broke bat grounder back to the mound, that managed to catch Furcal at the plate for the second out of the inning. With the bases still loaded, Sherrill took the count full against Mike Lowell before retiring the thirdbaseman on a called third strike to end the inning for the Sox.

In the bottom of the eleventh, the Orioles were unable to manage to get a batter on base against Hideki Okajima, who recorded his fourth save of the season for the Sox.

W: Papelbon (1-2) L: Sherrill (2-6) SV: Okajima (4)
Player of the Game: Scott Moore (3-5, HR (21), RBI, 2 Rs)

Around the League:
...San Francisco traded MR Billy Sadler (29g, 4.95 ERA w/ Fresno) to the Cleveland Indians for 1B Jared Goedert...St. Louis CF Rick Ankiel (.271, 26 HRs, 94 RBIs) suffered a fractured hand and is expected to miss 5-6 weeks...

[BostonRS14]

Boston Red Sox v. Toronto Blue Jays
Rogers Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Toronto Blue Jays (49-79) have come to the point in their season when playing spoilers is about the only thing that can motivate a team. The dog days of summer are upon us, and, as the Jays faithful look forward to September call-ups and the promise of 2009, the current crop of players are playing out the schedule, hoping to grab some attention here and there.

Opening a three game set at home against the Red Sox, Toronto is mired in a rough patch, having dropped 14 of their last 20 games, including three against Boston last weekend. The Sox (82-46), on the other hand, have won six of their last seven and enjoy an eight game lead over the New York Yankees (74-54) in the AL East.

For the season, Boston has won 8 of 9 meetings between the two clubs.

Pitching Matchups:
8/22: Justin Masterson (0-0, 1.46 ERA) v. A.J. Burnett (4-11, 5.37)
8/23: Clay Buchholz (10-6, 4.61) v. Roy Halladay (12-8, 2.93)
8/24: Tim Wakefield (11-7, 4.03) v. Dustin McGowan (8-12, 4.88)