6/8-6/10 Sox vs. Diamondbacks

AutomatedTeller · 06-08-2007, 01:18 PM

I wouldn't have thought this likely two weeks ago - but the diamondbacks are tied for the most wins in the NL right now!! They have 2 more losses than the Padres.

This will be a tough series for the Sox, but I feel confident that they can take 2 out of 3.

Zen653 · 06-08-2007, 11:37 PM

Boston Red Sox (38-21)
SS Julio Lugo
2B Dustin Pedroia
1B David Ortiz
LF Manny Ramirez
RF J.D Drew
3B Mike Lowell
C Jason Varitek
CF Coco Crisp
SP Josh Beckett

Arizona Diamondbacks (36-25)

RF Eric Byrnes
CF Chris Young
2B Orlando Hudson
1B Conor Jackson
SS Stephen Drew
LF Scott Hairston
3B Alberto Callaspo
C Chris Snyder
SP Doug Davis

Zen653 · 06-08-2007, 11:41 PM

J.D Drew with 2 HR, 6 RBI tonight. Is he finally waking up?

Scary moment when Manny went down after the hit by pitch. I hope his wrist is okay. A similar pitch pretty much killed Nomar's career.

Ortiz fielded the ball quite well for someone making his 2007 debut at first base. I'm convinced he'd be a solid first baseman if the Red Sox wanted to play him there.

AutomatedTeller · 06-08-2007, 11:50 PM

It looks like Manny is ok, though they replaced him in LF.

Drew's looking good in this game.

Zen653 · 06-08-2007, 11:58 PM

Very poor rundown play by Varitek and Lowell, leading to Arizona's second run. With an error charged to Varitek, does the run go unearned, or does it still count towards Beckett's ERA because Hudson earned his way on base?

It's embarrassing to hear a "Yankees suck!" chant break out in Arizona. We're 10.5 games up on New York. The Yankees should be irrelevant in these parts until they get closer to us in the standings (which hopefully won't happen at any point this year, although I do expect them to make the playoffs.)

Do you think Beckett is going to throw one up and in next inning? Arizona has thrown at three of our batters, at least one of the instances being intentional (the 0-0 pitch behind Lugo's back.)

Zen653 · 06-09-2007, 12:07 AM

Make that 7 RBI for Drew. When was the last time a Red Sox player had 7 or more RBI in a game? I remember the 9 RBI game by Mike Greenwell awhile back. In 2004 (or maybe it was 03 or 05), Mueller hit two grand slams in one game at Texas. That would be 8 RBI. He's probably the answer to my own little trivia question.

Zen653 · 06-09-2007, 12:36 AM

Co-MVPs:

(3-4, 2 HR, 7 RBI)

(8 IP, 3 R...should have only been 2, and against the NL's best team)

LVP:

AutomatedTeller · 06-09-2007, 12:03 PM

2003, I think it was.

That 9 RBI game by Greenwell, if I remember, was also a game where he drove in all the runs in that game. It was in 1996 - 9 RBI in 1 game, out of 46 total. Sox won that game, 9-8, coming from behind all game, in extra innings.

Greenwell batted 8th that game.

Zen653 · 06-09-2007, 01:50 PM

I still remember the final graphic from that game. It read:

Greenwell 9
Mariners 8

That was great.

Zen653 · 06-10-2007, 07:24 PM

MVP:

(HR, 3 RBI)

LVP:

(0-4, 4 LOB, error)

Zen653 · 06-10-2007, 08:41 PM

Welcome back, Timlin.

MVP:

(6 IP, 1 ER, 9 K's)

Co-LVPs:

(0-4, 1 error, 3 K's, 4 LOB)

(1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2-run throwing error)

--------------

Tough road trip. We only went 3-4 and the Yankees picked up several games. In less than two weeks, we've gone from 14.5 games up on New York to just 9.5 games up. I think the Yankees will be ahead of us by August.

Our offense disappeared during most of this road trip. The only good news is the starting pitching. In all 7 games, our starters never gave up more than 3 runs in a game. Tavarez only gave up 3 runs the first night in Oakland. Wakefield only gave up 3 runs in Game 2. Matsuzaka gave up 2 runs in Game 3. With a half-decent offense, we would have won all of those games. It then took a complete game one-hitter from Schilling in order to win our first game of the road trip...and we only scored 1 run that day. Beckett finally received some run support in Game 1 of the Arizona series, surrending 3 runs over 8 innings. Tavarez followed that up with another game where the starter surrendered 3 runs or less. And now today Matsuzaka is once again a tough luck loser giving up just 2 runs.

I think Epstein needs to upgrade the offense, probably by acquiring a new center fielder (I don't see Lugo going anywhere too soon - not with his hideous contract.) I wonder if Ken Griffey Jr. could be available. He's enjoying a bit of a resurgence this year and might like to play for a team with the chance to make the playoffs. Although I think Griffey vetoed a deal to the White Sox last year.

AutomatedTeller · 06-10-2007, 10:54 PM

I have a hard time being as pessimistic as you are, Zen.

Sox were 3-4 against that currently have 71 wins between them and took a 5 hour plane ride to play the first of those games.

Yankees went 6-1 against teams that currently have 53 wins between.

The Yankees are winning - if they can keep it up against the DBacks and the Mets, then I'll be impressed.

06-08-2007, 01:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
AutomatedTeller Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 544	6/8-6/10 Sox vs. Diamondbacks I wouldn't have thought this likely two weeks ago - but the diamondbacks are tied for the most wins in the NL right now!! They have 2 more losses than the Padres. This will be a tough series for the Sox, but I feel confident that they can take 2 out of 3.

06-08-2007, 11:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	6/8 Lineup Boston Red Sox (38-21) SS Julio Lugo 2B Dustin Pedroia 1B David Ortiz LF Manny Ramirez RF J.D Drew 3B Mike Lowell C Jason Varitek CF Coco Crisp SP Josh Beckett Arizona Diamondbacks (36-25) RF Eric Byrnes CF Chris Young 2B Orlando Hudson 1B Conor Jackson SS Stephen Drew LF Scott Hairston 3B Alberto Callaspo C Chris Snyder SP Doug Davis

06-08-2007, 11:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	J.D Drew with 2 HR, 6 RBI tonight. Is he finally waking up? Scary moment when Manny went down after the hit by pitch. I hope his wrist is okay. A similar pitch pretty much killed Nomar's career. Ortiz fielded the ball quite well for someone making his 2007 debut at first base. I'm convinced he'd be a solid first baseman if the Red Sox wanted to play him there.

06-08-2007, 11:50 PM	#4 (permalink)
AutomatedTeller Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 544	It looks like Manny is ok, though they replaced him in LF. Drew's looking good in this game.

06-08-2007, 11:58 PM	#5 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	Very poor rundown play by Varitek and Lowell, leading to Arizona's second run. With an error charged to Varitek, does the run go unearned, or does it still count towards Beckett's ERA because Hudson earned his way on base? It's embarrassing to hear a "Yankees suck!" chant break out in Arizona. We're 10.5 games up on New York. The Yankees should be irrelevant in these parts until they get closer to us in the standings (which hopefully won't happen at any point this year, although I do expect them to make the playoffs.) Do you think Beckett is going to throw one up and in next inning? Arizona has thrown at three of our batters, at least one of the instances being intentional (the 0-0 pitch behind Lugo's back.)

06-09-2007, 12:07 AM	#6 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	Make that 7 RBI for Drew. When was the last time a Red Sox player had 7 or more RBI in a game? I remember the 9 RBI game by Mike Greenwell awhile back. In 2004 (or maybe it was 03 or 05), Mueller hit two grand slams in one game at Texas. That would be 8 RBI. He's probably the answer to my own little trivia question.

06-09-2007, 12:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	Co-MVPs: (3-4, 2 HR, 7 RBI) (8 IP, 3 R...should have only been 2, and against the NL's best team) LVP:

06-09-2007, 12:03 PM	#8 (permalink)
AutomatedTeller Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 544	2003, I think it was. That 9 RBI game by Greenwell, if I remember, was also a game where he drove in all the runs in that game. It was in 1996 - 9 RBI in 1 game, out of 46 total. Sox won that game, 9-8, coming from behind all game, in extra innings. Greenwell batted 8th that game.

06-09-2007, 01:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	I still remember the final graphic from that game. It read: Greenwell 9 Mariners 8 That was great.

06-10-2007, 07:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	MVP: (HR, 3 RBI) LVP: (0-4, 4 LOB, error)

06-10-2007, 08:41 PM	#11 (permalink)
Zen653 Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 6,580	Welcome back, Timlin. MVP: (6 IP, 1 ER, 9 K's) Co-LVPs: (0-4, 1 error, 3 K's, 4 LOB) (1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 2-run throwing error) -------------- Tough road trip. We only went 3-4 and the Yankees picked up several games. In less than two weeks, we've gone from 14.5 games up on New York to just 9.5 games up. I think the Yankees will be ahead of us by August. Our offense disappeared during most of this road trip. The only good news is the starting pitching. In all 7 games, our starters never gave up more than 3 runs in a game. Tavarez only gave up 3 runs the first night in Oakland. Wakefield only gave up 3 runs in Game 2. Matsuzaka gave up 2 runs in Game 3. With a half-decent offense, we would have won all of those games. It then took a complete game one-hitter from Schilling in order to win our first game of the road trip...and we only scored 1 run that day. Beckett finally received some run support in Game 1 of the Arizona series, surrending 3 runs over 8 innings. Tavarez followed that up with another game where the starter surrendered 3 runs or less. And now today Matsuzaka is once again a tough luck loser giving up just 2 runs. I think Epstein needs to upgrade the offense, probably by acquiring a new center fielder (I don't see Lugo going anywhere too soon - not with his hideous contract.) I wonder if Ken Griffey Jr. could be available. He's enjoying a bit of a resurgence this year and might like to play for a team with the chance to make the playoffs. Although I think Griffey vetoed a deal to the White Sox last year.

06-10-2007, 10:54 PM	#12 (permalink)
AutomatedTeller Moderator Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 544	I have a hard time being as pessimistic as you are, Zen. Sox were 3-4 against that currently have 71 wins between them and took a 5 hour plane ride to play the first of those games. Yankees went 6-1 against teams that currently have 53 wins between. The Yankees are winning - if they can keep it up against the DBacks and the Mets, then I'll be impressed.