Fenway Bound

Gone Fishin' at the Trop

Taking two out of three games against the Red Sox did a lot for the Tampa Rays last week. Nevermind that the Sox gift wrapped the pivotal middle game, and were outplayed in the finale. The Rays were well on their way to an AL East title by winning at Fenway and putting distance between themselves and the Sox.

But when all was said and done, we were right back where we were a week ago with the chance -- one last chance -- to capture the AL East against the division leaders. To do it, we've got to sweep, plain and simple.

Sure, two out of three would be great. We would leave Tampa in better position than we came. But it would be awfully nice to go to Tornoto two games clear.

Not only would we be in the drivers seat for the division, but the Rays would hit the panic button. For them to lose the division now would be catastrophic from a confidence standpoint. Plus, it would put them up against the Angels in Anahiem. And that's not a good thing if you're Joe Madden.

On the other hand, the Sox would have to play the Twins or the White Sox. Both teams we've beaten this year. Both teams we should be able to plow under and get to the ALCS.

and if you'd told me that we could get to the ALCS without Manny, without Buchholz, without Schilling, at the start of this year, I wouldn't have believed it.

These three games are important for another reason. If the Rays sweep, they have a clear shot at home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Same goes for the Sox, although we need to rip off a couple of wins in Toronto as well. Either way, both of us need the Angels to fall off if we're going to go into the postseason with all the cards to play. That's the real high stakes in this three game showdown.

Lester Gets It Done

I think it's about time to admit that Jon Lester has defied all the critics -- myself included -- and broken out this year.

Lester (15-5, 3.15 ERA) wasn't supposed to be this dominant. When the Sox were considering trading him for Johan Santana, I was all for it. He was a feel good story, had a couple of solid outings, won the clinching game of the World Series, but there questions about his consistency and whether he could ever be a front line pitcher.

Here we are, closing in on the final two weeks of the season, and Lester has gone toe to toe with Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettitte, rookie sensation Nate Blackburn, Scott Kazmir, need I go on?

He's the antithesis of Clay Buchholz. The odds were, starting the season, that Buchholz would rack up 10-15 wins and Lester would struggle to put up steady numbers.

Look where Buchholz is now, and look where Lester is -- on the cusp of being a major player in the Sox 2008 World Series drive.

And let's not forget about that no hitter.

Devil Guppies After All

Remember all the talk about how the Devil Guppies are for real and that there was no possible way they could squandor a five or six game lead?

I mean, they beat the Anahiem Angels. They guaranteed themselves a .500+ season. They appeared poised to go down as "Baseball's Greatest Story Ever" simply by making the playoffs.

And then there was that three game sweep the Jays put on them. And the series loss to the Yankees. And last night's goose egg against Jon Lester.

All the while, the Red Sox have been lobbing off games faster than McCain has made up ground on Obama. They rallied from 4-0 to beat the Os last Wednesday. They've lost one game in the past week. They've pitched. They've hit. They've overcome injuries to Drew, Youkilis, Lowell, Beckett. They've proved why they are the World Champions.

The Sox are essentially a Tim Wakefield knuckleball out of first place fellas. A Tim Wakefield knuckleball and the Rays/Guppies would be making cameos in those "Legal Seafood" commercials that run on NESN all the time.

Now I know the Sox have a tough road ahead of them. They got four against the Jays, three in Tampa, but the Gups got a set in New York, and Skid Row Joe might be playing to save his job, so you could see an AL East blowout if Boston stays hotter than smoked smelts!

Red Sox Hitting Their Stride

Is it just me, or are the Red Sox hitting their stride at exactly the right time?

They went into a nine game road trip with their backs to the wall. The Ozzies and the Twins were tighter than a Papelbon fastball. The Rays were running away with the division. Injuries were piling up everywhere, and the Sox looked like they were going to hit the golf course early this year.

And then they go to Baltimore, Toronto and New York. They go 6-3. They chalk up gobs and gobs of runs. They gain ground on the Twins, they put themselves a couple games clear in the wild card chase, and almost forget about the Gups and their miracle season.

The injuries keep piling up. Beckett gets scratched from another start or two. He might have a bum elbow. He's pushed back another week. This going into a Wild Card Showdown with the Ozzies.

So naturally, Daisuke comes on and pitches eight shutout innings in his best performance of the year. The following night an unknown stiff comes up and gives Francona five. Bango! The Sox have taken two of three.

Even Sunday's loss -- a game the Sox should not have lost, given all the men left on base -- seemed like a blip on the radar.

And sure enough, last night Francona's men took on the Os, picking up where they had left off a couple of weeks ago.

Youkie was back from the sickbed. Coco was back from the sickbed. Pedroia grabbed a couple more hits and a pair of game changing RBI. Varitek clobbered another homer. Jeff Bailey cold cocked a homer!

Paul Byrd gave up a pair of gophers, but otherwise pitched extremely well, even though it looked for a time the Os were going to hang a loss on him.

And now, look at the standings, and you'll see two things:

1. The Gups have likely won the division.
2. The Sox have likely won the Wild Card.

Let's be perfectly blunt. The Sox aren't going to make up 5.5 games any more than the Twins are going to make up three with 25 remaining.

Sure, the Sox have six against the Gups. Sure, we could shave a few games off the margin. But the Gups have done enough to get to the playoffs, as bizare as that sounds.

And the Twins/White Sox? They better focus on each other rather than worrying about beating us out for the Wild Card. Neither of 'em is going to make up three games, especially if we reel off wins the way we have been for the past two or three weeks.

The Wizard of Ozzies

The Boston Red Sox have torn the Tin Men to ribbons. They've made the Cowardly Lion cringe. They've knocked the stuffing out of the Scarecrow, and they've exposed the Wizard of Ozzie as Chicago's South Siders hit a Yellow Brick Road full of Potholes.

Putting the allegory aside, if you're a Chicago White Sox fan, it's just plain gory the way the Red Sox have humiliated your ballclub this past weekend. How's 16 runs on 30 hits sound? How does being dominated by the Dice Man and a call up from Pawtucket sound? How does out burlying Buehrle sit with everyone in the Emerald City?

Pedroia is on fire. He's 8/8 this series. The Wizard, Ozzie, actually passed on walking Papi last night to intentionally walk Pedey, a guy who had never hit in the cleanup hole in his life!

And let's not forget about Mark Kotsay, a guy who came into Boston hitting 1 for his last 17, and has done nothing but clobber the stuffing out of The Scarecrow's head.

We can't forget about Jason "an RBI a game" Bay either. They picked the guy up on July 31. Here it is August 31 and he's driven in 30 runs since he came to Boston. Nobody ever saw him replacing Manny, but the guy has proved an astute pick up.

This was a pivotal series for the Sox -- both pairs -- and the Reds have come out wonderfully, while the Whites just stink like smelly feet after their 16-2 trouncing Friday/Saturday nights.

It almost doesn't matter what happens today. Ozzie can salvage a game, but the damage has been done. His Tin Men are nothing but unglorified scrap metal. Or is that more like Cowardly Lions headed out of town with their tails between their legs?

Bowden Things Together

Is there any doubt that Theo has built the best minor league system in baseball after last night's call up of 21 year old starter Michael Bowden handed the Chicago Ozzies an 8-2 defeat?

Bowden was playing with house money. Nobody knew him. Nobody knew what to expect. Nobody really expected him to give up two runs in five innings and leave the game with things well in hand.

Really, there are only so many Lesters and Lowries and Pedroias and Ellsburrys and Mastersons and Youkilises that you can lean on, right?

Bowden's start wasn't particularly amazing in and of itself. The guy got into some jams. He didn't have an easy inning all night. And he had to make big pitches to keep the Ozzies arrears.

But he did. He got out in front of batters. He made big pitches. He got into trouble, but he also got out of it. He did all he had to do, and may have bought himself some time at the big league level.

That being said, I've learnt from the Buchholz situation, and I'm not about to get ahead of myself by calling him The One. It's unfair to put that much pressure on a young man being asked to fill in for one of the game's elite pitchers. It's just simply unfair.

Beckett DL Bound

Well, it's a good news/bad news situation for Red Sox fans today as word came down that Josh Beckett was headed to the disabled list retroactive to August 18.

That's the bad news.

The good news is that Boston's ace got a clean bill of health from Dr. James Andrews yesterday and could be ready to pitch in Texas Friday.

This little blurb from the AP story on the subject caught my eye, after speculation Thursday that the Sox were going to rest Beckett for a few weeks and bring him back for the stretch run:

"...Now Francona hopes to have Beckett back for the stretch drive for a playoff spot.

“There were a number of tests and Josh came through with flying colors,” he said. “Obviously, we hoped for that. We needed to get some closure....”

I'm not altogether convinced that Beckett is going to be 100% by the time this season is over. Do I think they'll bring him back? It sounds that way. And it sounds like they're going to let him warm up for the playoffs.

I still say however, that they're going to re-examine Beckett after the season is done, and that I wouldn't be surprised if he did have to have surgery like Papi did.

It's not the same thing, but arm injuries rarely resolve themselves. I suspect that if everything were truly fine, Beckett would be out there throwing long before the club hits Texas on Friday. The pitching situation isn't exactly at its best right now, and they need every arm they can throw out there.

Daisuke Dominates in Sox Showdown

How could anyone still be doubting Daisuke after last night's performance, arguably his greatest effort in a Red Sox uniform?

The Dice Man dominated the Chicago Ozzies, tossing eight innings, fanning seven, walking two, and divvying out two hits to the AL Central leaders.

I guess we shouldn't be surprised though. Daisuke has owned the Ozzies this season, besting the South Siders 9-2 in Chi-Town a few weeks back, posting a 1.71 career ERA and a .121 OBA against them.

It's even more important given that Beckett has gone on the DL today, and the Sox need strong starting pitching from the Dice Master and Lester. They need everything Wakey has. Same for Byrd.

It's not over-stating things to say that Daisuke's career will be defined by how he pitches these next few weeks, and in Red Soxtober should we make the playoffs.

Beckett To Miss Pivotal Start

Even as the Red Sox headed back to Boston with a 6-3 road trip behind them, the news wasn't all roses and sunshine as ESPN reported that ace Josh Beckett will miss his second start since being roughed up by Toronto nearly two weeks ago.

In lieu of Beckett, the Sox will be throwing the Dice Friday night as they try to put a little distance between themselves, the Ozzies, and the Twins in the ever fluid Wild Card Chase.

Francona insists that Beckett's trip to Alabama (sans a banjo on his knee) and Dr. James Andrews is purely precautionary, however it's a bit unsettling when you consider that the Sox playoff hopes, much less World Series hopes, ride on a healthy Beckett.

I suspect they are going to do one of two things. They're either going to shut Beckett down for the season, or they're going to give him a couple more weeks off and try to tread water. At that point, he'll probably try and soldier through the stretch run/playoffs and then have offseason surgery like Papi did last year.

That's pure speculation, I'll confess, but if his situation hasn't gotten markedly better at this point, it's not going to get better without medical attention. You can only rest so much afterall. 

I also think that if Beckett were remotely healthy, he would be out there tossing rocks at Ozzie's boys tomorrow night, or over the weekend. The stakes are high, and our fellas need all the help they can get in what could be the team's biggest series all year.

Mission Accomplished: Sox Take 6 of 9 on Road Trip

Despite their 3-2 loss to the Hankees today, the Boston Red Sox did everything they had to do to keep themselves in the chase for Red Soxtober.

I know, Francona could've swept Skid Row Joe's Bronx Water Bombers if he'd gone with Masterson instead of Oki in the seevnth. I know, he probably could've gone with Pappy to start the ninth instead of bringing the closer in with the bases loaded.

Having said that, the Sox never beat Mussina. We already stole a game against Pettitte, and we thoroughly whacked Ponson & Friends last night.

In short, Francona's men did what they had to do. They took two out of three in Baltimore. They took two out of three in Toronto. And they took two out of three in the A-Rotten Apple.

With the exception of today's contest, the Sox have become a greatly improved road team. They chalked up 18 runs in the first two games of this series. They put up 14 runs in their two Toronto wins, and they put up 13 in their two Baltimore victories.

Yeah, there were some rotten eggs. Getting smoked 11-0 in Toronto; getting blistered 11-5 in Baltimore, and losing today after leading into the seventh.

But I'm being consistent. The Sox had to win six games this trip. They had to win each of their three series. They had to dominate, and they did.

Look on the bright side. We're headed back to Boston having totally knocked the Yankees out of playoff contention, having put our own club 1-2 games clear of the Twins/White Sox, and having gained a game on the Guppies as of this moment.