Empyreal Environs

Game 161: September 29, 2007
Twins	2	BS, L: Nick Blackburn (1, 0-2)	78-83, 2 game losing streak 20-24-7 series record
Red Sox	5	W: Tim Wakefield (17-12) H: Javier Lopez (13) S: Hideki Okajima (5)	96-65, 2 game winning streak 33-14-5 series record 2007 AL East Champions
Highlights: Jacoby Ellsbury needs to brush up on his baseball rule knowledge. The rookie outfielder tried to advance to second when he had already grounded out. His insistence on standing on first while the Twins tried to snare Kevin Youkilis in a run down seemed to confound the Minnesota defense, so perhaps his gaffe yielded an unexpected benefit. Terry Francona, Brad Mills, and Coco Crisp were highly amused.

Tim Wakefield is the only player who experienced the previous AL East title still with the team. If the cost for his post-clinch carousing was two solo shots, it was a price the Red Sox offense could match and beat.

Especially with the regression of J.D. Drew to his expected levels of production. His poor performance in May and July are dragging down what has been an outstanding September (.342 BA, .454 OBP, .618 slugging). The right fielder fell a double short of hitting for the cycle, but more importantly his extra base hits provided the prelude and coda to the win that secured home field advantage throughout the postseason. (Later in the evening Cleveland would fall to Kansas City, leaving Boston with the best record in baseball and the edge in the season series against the AL Central champions.)

Drew’s fourth-inning triple soared over Torii Hunter’s head at the juncture of the left and center field walls. He was plated by Kevin Youkilis’s gap double that roped into left-center. It was Youkilis’s first extra base since his return to the lineup.

With two men on and two out in the seventh Drew got a hold of a hanging slider and deposited it into the bleachers for the lead.

Just before the game-breaker Coco Crisp had scored on a bloop single to shallow center off the bat of Mike Lowell. Had Hunter made a play like Crisp did against the Twins center fielder in the second, the inning would have been over. Hopefully managers and coaches voting on the Gold Glove took note.

Javier Lopez appeared to have broken up his tendency to allow the first batter he faces to reach on a walk or line drive. He sat three batters with consecutive ground outs to first. Although these easy outs came against the weakest part of the order, it was a step towards establishing some consistency and confidence in the sidearmer’s stuff.

With Jonathan Papelbon otherwise indisposed, Hideki Okajima was tapped to perform closing duties. Joe Mauer and Hunter both singled with alarming nonchalance.

With runners at the corners, Okajima rebounded by freezing Justin Morneau for the first out; the called final strike was open to interpretation. Michael Cuddyer rapped a comebacker to the mound and a 1-4-3 double play ended the threat and the game, the first win for the American League East champions.

30 September 2007 ∙ 9:24 AM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Drew (J.D.) ∙ Okajima ∙ Twins

29 September 2007 ∙ 10:57 PM ∙ Gallery ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: 2007 American League East Champions ∙ games in-person

The state of the Yankees/Orioles game when the Red Sox match-up went final.

With baited and sore necks we watched events unfold in Charm City. Eventually Jere, Matt, and I moved to the loges near Pesky’s Pole.

Wally was sent out to keep the peace.

Is three runs in the ninth against Mariano Rivera too much to ask for?

Not according to these fans.

It really happened.

It’s gonna be all right
’Cause I love you girl
Ain’t nobody gonna stop us now

I hope the scoreboard guys get overtime.

Celebration photos to follow.

29 September 2007 ∙ 10:20 PM ∙ Gallery ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: 2007 American League East Champions ∙ games in-person ∙ Orioles

Twelve years later. I had a feeling yesterday. This is the first picture I took.

Before.

Daisuke Matsuzaka bowing before taking the field.

David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez take turns at batting practice.

Mike Timlin, Royce Clayton, and others chewing the fat.

Dustin Pedroia, Alex Cora, and Doug Mirabelli discuss Navier-Stokes equations with regard to the gyroball.

Clay Buchholz was shut down for the remainder of the season.

Matsuzaka warmed up with a left-handed batter standing in...

as well as a righty.

The relief corps looking for their rhythm.

The K-Men commemorated Matsuzaka’s punchouts and noted his 200th strikeout.

Smiling yellow beach balls jounce through the crowd.

One half of the equation required for the clinching of American League East title was complete.

The final line.

Jere sees me seeing him.

More photos from Friday to come.

29 September 2007 ∙ 9:45 PM ∙ Gallery ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: 2007 American League East Champions ∙ games in-person

Game 160: September 28, 2007
Twins	2	L: Kevin Slowey (4-1)	78-83, 1 game losing streak 20-24-7 series record
Red Sox	5	W: Daisuke Matsuzaka (15-12) S: Jonathan Papelbon (37)	95-65, 1 game winning streak 33-14-5 series record 2007 AL East Champions
Highlights: Yūshōki means a championship flag or pennant; 優 symbolizes superior, skilled, or excellence, 勝 means victory, and 旗 translates to flag. After leading the division since April 18, the Red Sox prevailed in their division last night. The last clinching game I had attended was for the wild card; coincidentally it was a match-up against the Orioles. Until last night, September 25, 2003 was one of the best nights at Fenway I’ve had.

When I go to games after work I usually park at Wellington, the most convenient T stop between my office and home. The parking attendant there knows that I go to games and we chat about the team’s progress (or lack thereof) even though she is more of a basketball fan.

This past Tuesday the lot was packed. I wove through row after row until I found a guy I thought would be leaving shortly. It was a prime spot right in view of the station and kiosk. I paused behind his behind his truck for about five minutes. The attendant saw me from her booth and gestured as if to say, “What the dealio? Is that guy not moving?”

I shrugged in response and shifted into first to hunt for another spot, but she shook her head and made a stop sign. She walked over to the driver of the truck and asked him to leave. He hadn’t realized I had been waiting and left quickly. Before returning to her post she nodded at me. I smiled and waved my gratitude.

She was in the booth again yesterday. With her I don’t feel restricted by jinxes. “We’re going to do it tonight,” I stated.

As a Celtics fan, she was intimate with futility. Smiling skeptically she wished me good luck.

I arrived at Fenway around 4:30. The first picture I took was of the white 1988, 1990, and 1995 banners that signified winning the AL East pennant.

The timbre of the game was keenly intense. Having only been to one postseason game, this is the second-most rapt I had seen a Fenway crowd. There was an explosion of smiley faced yellow beachballs but it quickly subsided. A few people tried to start the wave but it thankfully never caught on. I was only distracted by text message updates from a friend observing the events in Charm City. After seemingly endless barrages of Bronxian RBIs I finally replied, “Ok just let me know if Os score.”

Polite Heckler™ Matt was so engulfed not even Nick Punto’s ramshackle performance at second diverted his attention. Cotton Candy Girl, formerly Diet Coke Girl, did, however.

Even the relief corps contributed to the ardor of the evening. While sitting on their benches they periodically pounded on the bullpen ceiling in a steady, menacing beat.

We 37,000 or so congregants were transfixed by Daisuke Matsuzaka’s eight-inning performance, especially since he came out for that final inning with 105 pitches already on the balance sheet. “Is Tito waiting for [Torii] Hunter to hit a two-run game-tying homer?” muttered the cynic behind me. Of course that man didn’t bother to stay for the entirety of the Yankees/Orioles game.

Mike Timlin and Javier Lopez had been warming since the seventh. In that frame Matsuzaka gave up two runs, one of them a solo shot to Justin Morneau who deposited a souvenir into the section next to mine. That will happen when facing MVP-caliber hitters.

Calling the Red Sox starter a rookie is something of a misnomer. This is a man who as a teenager pitched a 17-inning game, closed the ninth the next day for a win, and pitched a no-hitter in the championship game, all on his nation’s biggest stage. Matsuzaka’s eight-strikeout performance last night is just the first rung of the ladder as he elevates his game into postseason form.

The heart of Boston’s order beat as one last night to surge to an early lead. In the first David Ortiz smacked a two-out double off the wall over Jason Kubels’s head and was driven in by Mike Lowell’s liner to the opposite field. J.D. Drew golfed a shot to left that evaded Kubel’s pursuit to plate Lowell. Ortiz would tack on another run in the eighth with his 35th homer, a shot off majestic trajectory that soared through Fenway’s luster to land in the Monster seats.

Jonathan Papelbon defied the Sports Illustrated cover jinx and pounded out his 37th save of the season in flawless fashion. He would display less than chic fashion sense later in the evening after his Yankee counterpart Mariano Rivera failed where Papelbon succeeded.

As this situation was unprecedented, even as Papelbon pitched to Michael Cuddyer I nervously wondered where I could meet up with Jere, who was in the same section as me, to watch the rest of the Baltimore tilt. Red Sox management provided for us all by playing the game on the jumbotron. I tried to quell my propensity to yell obscenities at the screen while watching sporting events.

Do the tendrils of Red Sox memory extend so far as to still grow unknown in the souls of players like Jay Payton and Chad Bradford? Payton drove in the tying runs with a triple to right in the ninth against the Hammer of God, who lately has been more like the Doornail of a Minor Mesopotamian Deity.

Chad Bradford surrendered a leadoff double by Derek Jeter in the top of the 10th. When pinch runner Bronson Sardinha advanced to third on Bobby Abreu’s ground out to first, Dave Trembley walked two batters to get the force at every station. Oddly enough, the last two outs came by air.

The Orioles found themselves in a near-replica of the situation the Yankees did in the top of the frame. Tike Redman doubled with one out and Joe Torre gave the four-finger salute to Nick Markakis and Miguel Tejada.

Former ranch hand Kevin Millar froze on Edwar Ramirez’s change-up for the third strike, reminding the thousands remaining why he was not entirely missed.

Melvin Mora bunted towards third, a do-or-die tactic that actually worked. The remaining Fenway faithful erupted into frenetic euphoria as Redman crossed home. It was like going to your rich buddy John Henry’s crib for a game on his massive HDTV. And it would only get better.

Pictures and accounts of the championship-clinching celebrations to follow.

29 September 2007 ∙ 3:50 PM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: 2007 American League East Champions ∙ Japanese language ∙ Matsuzaka ∙ Twins

Game 159: September 27, 2007
Twins	5	W: Boof Bonser (8-12) H: Juan Rincon (14) H: Matt Guerrier (14) S: Joe Nathan (36)	78-81, 1 game winning streak 20-24-7 series record
Red Sox	4	L: Josh Beckett (20-7)	94-65, 1 game losing streak 33-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 2
Highlights: Faraway, so close.

Green light, 7-Eleven

David Ortiz must have had the green light in the bottom of the ninth, but Joe Nathan pitched to the slugger warily. Ortiz had already demolished a pitch in the fifth to tie the game. The Twins closer wouldn’t be the convenient one-stop spot to clinch the division.

Your wheels are turning but you’re upside down

The Yankees beat the Devil Rays as the Red Sox attempted to rally in the ninth. While the bats were not entirely stifled, Boston was unable to convert key scoring opportunities. Mike Lowell grounded into double plays in the third and seventh, neutralizing two of Ortiz’s four hits. In fact, Ortiz reached base in each of five plate appearances.

You say when he hits you, you don’t mind
Because when he hurts you, you feel alive

Josh Beckett may have slightly tarnished his Cy Young credentials by relinquishing two homers and taking a loss, but he struck out six and didn’t surrender a single base on balls. As the team heads into the playoffs, perhaps the frustration from dropping his final start will stoke the flame of his contained ferocity against their ALDS opposition.

Red light, grey morning
You stumble out of a hole in the ground
A vampire or a victim
It depends on who’s around

Jacoby Ellsbury, who had been replacing Coco Crisp while the senior center fielder has been battling a virus, left the game in the fifth after a few hard fouls off his legs that caused leg cramps. J.D. Drew shifted over to center and Bobby Kielty took over in right. Drew continued to build upon his recent success; the outfielder extracted two walks and drove in the first run of the evening with a shattered-bat single to center.

And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don’t feel a thing

Hideki Okajima retook the mound in the eighth, his first appearance since September 14. Beguiling batters with his precipitous head drop, he induced a fly ball out off the bat of Justin Morneau, gave up a single on a rope to Michael Cuddyer, and then whiffed Garrett Jones and Matthew LeCroy to complete his inning. He looked sharp and refreshed; the antidote to Eric Gagne’s toxin.

And if you listen, I can’t call
And if you jump, you just might fall
And if you shout, I’ll only hear you

A homer into the Monster seats in the eighth by Jason Varitek kept the contest close, but the backstop didn’t carry his power into the ninth. With the bases loaded and one out Varitek flailed at Joe Nathan’s slider for the second out. Kevin Youkilis fared worse when he pinch hit for Kielty, striking out on three pitches to end the game.

Just the bang
And the clatter
As an angel
Hits the ground

If the local nine can reverse last night’s outcome, the battered Angels club will be in the offing. I’ll be there tonight in the same seats as I had Wednesday, hoping to witness a divisional clinch.

28 September 2007 ∙ 11:51 AM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Beckett ∙ Okajima ∙ Ortiz ∙ Twins ∙ U2

Game 158: September 26, 2007
Athletics	6	L: Jerry Blevins (0-1)	75-84, 3 game losing streak 22-24-4 series record
Red Sox	11	W: Mike Timlin (2-1)	94-64, 2 game winning streak 33-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 2
Highlights: Through the magic of Jerevision I learned that I made my regional cable network debut last night. Please, no autographs. Talk to my people; they can give you an address where you can order an official autographed 8x10 glossy.

Jon Lester’s outing wavered between brilliant and banal. He fell one short of his career mark of 10 for strikeouts in a game but also relinquished two home runs. In my mind he is neck and neck to get a playoff start with Tim Wakefield, but the latter has the edge in experience. Perhaps the best route is to consider them a starting dyad with the knuckleballer getting the first part of the game. That would hopefully render the southpaw’s arsenal all the more effective given the different angle of attack and velocity change.

The Red Sox batters bailed out the spotty pitching with potent offensive bombardments. Manny Ramirez’s reinsertion into the lineup, even in the second spot, sent a jolt of electricity through the batting order. The left fielder knocked in three sound singles and walked; after this base on balls in the sixth Brandon Moss replaced him as a pinch runner.

Dustin Pedroia all but nailed down Rookie of the Year honors with his 3-for-5 showing. His leadoff longball into the second row of the Monster seats sundered the 5-5 tie. His shot fractured the fragile remnants of Oakland’s pitching and defense.

Next Ramirez finagled a base on balls and Brandon Moss replaced him as a pinch runner. David Ortiz powered a fly ball off the left field wall that was far enough to get him to second but close enough to trammel Moss at third.

Who else but Mike Lowell would bring the two runners home, his single just missing the top of the Monster. The third baseman is the new single-season RBI leader for Red Sox playing the hot corner. He had already driven in three runs in the third and fourth innings. His fourth inning RBI single was distressing; he barreled down the first base line to beat the throw to first and came up hobbling. Visions of Eric Hinske and Kevin Youkilis at the corners thankfully dissipated as Lowell waved off the trainers and remained in the game.

To see how even seemingly minute defense substitutions can impact the game one need only look so far as Nick Swisher in center. Pressed into service due to the injuries to Travis Buck and Mark Kotsay, Swisher does not fit the lithe and limber profile of the typical middle ball hawk.

He went back on a can of corn off J.D. Drew’s bat, ball inevitably trailing into his glove. From my vantage point in front row of the center field bleachers he receded from view. Instinctively I stood up to peer over the wall to see what should have been the first out of the inning.

Instead I saw the ball slant away from Swisher’s glove to hit the warning track and bounce nearly as high as the wall.

Polite Heckler™ Matt was on hand to advise the hapless Oakland outfielder. Bob Geren pulled Jerry Blevins right after the miscue. “Nick! He’s not pulling that pitcher because he’s doing badly. It’s because he’s embarrassed for you.”

For once in the Polite Hecker’s life his quarry acknowledged the jibe. Swisher looked up at him and smiled. Thus encouraged, Matt followed with, “Nick! It’s okay! I don’t think anyone noticed.” During the warm-up pitches, Swisher was also counseled to visit mlb.com and peruse the instructional videos put forth by Harold Reynolds. This last rejoinder elicited another smirk from the outfielder, laughter from the bleachers, and a visit by the usher.

Because of the warning, an audience of only one was privy to the final barb. “I was going to invite Nick out for drinks after the game,” grinned Matt. “I invented a drink called the ‘Nick Swisher.’ The bartender would make the drink and then throw it over the patron’s head.”

Terrible posture, Empy. Matt has his thinking cap on.

Screen capture courtesy of A Red Sox Fan from Pinstripe Territory.

27 September 2007 ∙ 12:03 PM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 3
Tags: Athletics ∙ Lester ∙ Lowell (Mike) ∙ Polite Heckling™ ∙ Swisher

Before.

Behind the door that has a door in it there is a floating door.

Well-regarded prospect Daric Barton signed autographs before the game.

Houston Street chatting with a Fenway staff member.

The Jolly Roger in the bullpen.

Two of my favorite players: Kurt Suzuki and Dustin Pedroia.

He’s back, and he’s back medium-sized (so far).

Ramirez after his single.

Ramirez with an odd warm-up contraption.

Judging by Jonathan Papelbon’s sly smile something off-color was spoken between him and J.D. Drew.

Kevin Youkilis was back to his old ways... fouling shots off himself.

But he stayed in the game to field no worse for the wear.

“Pedro, you’re 5-foot-6, you’re balding and you’re not an athlete…how the hell are you in the big leagues? Figure that out and go get it done.” Arizona State baseball coach Pat Murphy.

Lugo duo.

Brother from another division.

26 September 2007 ∙ 1:27 PM ∙ Gallery ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Athletics ∙ games in-person ∙ Pedroia ∙ Ramirez (Manny) ∙ Suzuki (Kurt) ∙ Youkilis

Game 157: September 25, 2007
Athletics	3	L: Chad Gaudin (11-13)	75-83, 2 game losing streak 22-24-4 series record
Red Sox	7	W: Curt Schilling (9-8) H: Manny Delcarmen (11) H: Eric Gagne (4) H: Jonathan Papelbon (1)	93-64, 1 game winning streak 32-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 3
Highlights: Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis returned to action in the first game of the final home stand of the season. The team honed its postseason edge as the games, like the daylight hours of fall, dwindle. Judging by the performances last night, the chance for a few of the players to make the playoff roster also diminished.

Invariably when I talk with someone about my Red Sox fan credentials my sordid past as a Mets fan in Hawai‘i is uncovered. Since the islands have no professional sports franchises of their own, people there root for teams that have players with Hawaiian connections. Sid Fernandez and Ron Darling, both born in Hawai‘i, were on that 1986 team.

It is half a world, half a lifetime distant, but the same tendencies still color my perceptions. I could not help but cheer for Kurt Suzuki a little; he is from the island I grew up on and went to the high school I attended.

I revealed this parochial proclivity to the friend I went to the game with last night. As it turns out, he was an undergraduate at MIT in 1975 and had just moved to the Hub from Ohio. He was amongst the 20 or so people perched on the billboard on Lansdowne Street desperately peering into Fenway to catch a glimpse of the World Series. Back then he was not cheering for the same team he does today.

Our respective rehabilitations prove one doesn’t necessarily need to be born into Red Sox nation. There is a naturalization process that can be successfully completed with diligent study and steady devotion. If I recall correctly, one of the precepts of citizenship is to not boo the players on the team one follows.

It’s a lesson easily forgotten when J.D. Drew is at the plate. There are many strikes against him, and I’m not just talking about the ones he takes while in the box. His salary, his agent, his holdout, his seeming aloofness, the man who he replaced in right field: all these factors insinuated themselves into the collective unconscious of the fans to beget the ideal scapegoat.

We did not boo despite Drew’s strikeout in the first with two men in scoring position. “Perhaps he’s imagining everyone is yelling his last name,” my friend suggested hopefully.

Whether it be the power of positive thinking or regression to the mean, Drew ended the evening with three hits, three RBI, a walk, and an astute nab of a dying liner that could have been a hit but was instead a sacrifice fly and the first out of the ninth.

Curt Schilling gave up a homer to rookie standout Daric Barton in the first but tamped down the Athletics’ lineup for the remainder of the evening. The only other extra base hit allowed by the veteran righty was a double over the head of Brandon Moss and off the left field wall. Schilling can’t, or perhaps won’t, unleash mid-90s heat, but the stuff he did have was precise and studied. Perhaps the only reason why Barton was able to get to Schilling was because the pitcher hasn’t been able to analyze the newcomer’s tendencies yet.

Manny Ramirez electrified the crowd with his return to the lineup. It was the first time he had ever batted second and it seemed to suit him. He roped a single to right in his first at bat and scored the tying run on Mike Lowell’s double. While he popped out to second in his second at bat, he worked seven pitches out of Chad Gaudin in the fifth for a leadoff walk.

Kevin Youkilis was not as prosperous in his homecoming, going 0-for-2 and painfully fouling off yet another ball off of himself.

In the eighth Eric Gagne came in with a three-run lead. He gave up a leadoff single to Shannon Stewart but managed two fly ball outs. In an monumental at bat against Jack Cust, the reborn uberprospect earned a base on balls. While Gagne tumbled, the Devil Rays surged ahead of the Yankees on Jorge Velandia’s first home run, which also happened to be a grand slam.

It was the loudest ovation Gagne has heard on the mound as a Red Sox player since his debut, and it was not for him.

At last Terry Francona was forced to bring in Jonathan Papelbon for the the last out of the inning. One pitch, one pop out to short, and Papelbon notched his first hold of 2007.

When, not if, Francona at last abandons the notion of reforming Gagne, he need only look at the young man who nailed down the seventh inning with two strikeouts, a base on balls, and no hits. Manny Delcarmen may be the one to further prove his mettle for a spot on the postseason roster.

David Ortiz made his team’s lead bullpen experiment-proof with a two-run longball in the bottom of the eighth, adding to the sacrifice fly Bobby Kielty contributed. Kielty drove in Julio Lugo, who drew a walk from his brother Ruddy in their first fraternal face-off.

Francona used Bryan Corey as long as he could. Unlike Joe Torre, he did not need to burn through bullpen arms that he already knows would be seeing extra toil in October. Corey labored the bottom third of the order and surrendered two runs in the process.

Without the dazzling play of Dustin Pedroia, Francona may have had to resort to Javier Lopez, Mike Timlin, or even Hideki Okajima. The second baseman extended as far as his abbreviated frame could and was able to glove Stewart’s arc to shallow right. He didn’t resort to his typical tumble; instead he recovered to pivot and catch Jack Hannahan off the keystone bag.

As a reward, perhaps Francona will let Peewee win today’s cribbage match.

26 September 2007 ∙ 9:19 AM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Athletics ∙ Gagne ∙ games in-person ∙ Pedroia ∙ Schilling

Game 156: September 23, 2007
Red Sox	4	L: Tim Wakefield (16-12)	92-64, 1 game losing streak 32-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 6
Devil Rays	5	W: Edwin Jackson (5-15) H: Jon Switzer (1) H: Gary Glover (15) H: Dan Wheeler (18) S: Al Reyes (25)	64-92, 1 game winning streak 15-30-6 series record
Highlights: It’s peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly time! Peanut butter jelly! Peanut butter jelly! Peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat! Also, Jerry Remy has been watching too many Cialis commercials.

Tim Wakefield turned in his fourth consecutive non-quality start against a team he usually owns. He was also defeated for the first time in the aseptic dome in St. Petersburg.

Delmon Young must have been inspired by the internet meme that has slid its way onto Tropicana Field; he knocked in a two-run homer in the second inning against the pitcher that used to give him fits.

Big-time nerd Alex Cora homered in the eighth. The dancing banana exhorted his inner geek, unleashing an unlikely power surge. The adrenaline rush also gave him an idea for an uproarious caption for a picture of his polydactyl cat: “I can has Alfonseca awtograf? Hiz mi idle.”

Not only is Jacoby Ellsbury fast in relation to the usual plodding sluggers that were listed in Red Sox lineups of years past, but he is genuinely possessed of blistering speed. It’s not everyday you see a runner steal a base on a pitchout as he did in the third.

The Red Sox mounted a rally in the sixth. Edwin Jackson unraveled, relinquishing four singles and two walks. The visiting exacted three runs out of the scrimmage but fell one run short.

Boston is now 22-26 in one-run games, but they eked out a series win and postseason berth while on the road.

It comes down to six games in the Fens. Welcome home, boys.

24 September 2007 ∙ 2:42 PM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: Devil Rays ∙ internet memes ∙ Remy & Orsillo hijinks ∙ Wakefield

Game 155: September 22, 2007
Red Sox	8	BS: Javier Lopez (2) W: Eric Gagne (4-2) S: Jonathan Papelbon (36)	92-63, 2 game winning streak 32-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 6
Devil Rays	6	H: Dan Wheeler (17) BS, L: Al Reyes (4, 2-4)	63-92, 5 game losing streak 15-30-6 series record
Highlights: Outside of baseball seikan means to survive or to come back from the dead. The first character 生 in this context means life while the second symbol 還 means return. In the world of Japanese baseball, the word means to reach home plate. The Red Sox did both last night to bring baseball to Fenway in October.

Daisuke Matsuzaka’s line looks terrible in isolation: six and two-thirds innings pitched, six hits, five earned runs, three walks, seven strikeouts, and one home run. He was responsible Carlos Peña’s solo circuit clout in the fourth, an inning where the starter also gave up another run on consecutive singles.

After two quick outs in the seventh Matsuzaka walked two batters, prompting Terry Francona to call in Javier Lopez to face Peña. It was the correct move according to the book, but the small sample size of the resurgent slugger’s success against Lopez may rewrite that particular chapter. The book may also need an addendum about motivated players who exact a measure of revenge against a team that spurned them.

Lopez got ahead of Peña 0-2 but then wafted unappetizing pitches away that the Northeastern graduate would not bite. The count went full and the Devil Rays first baseman knew exactly what the southpaw side-armer would be serving.

With one swing Tampa Bay blazed ahead of the visiting team; Peña’s three-run homer enlivened the outnumbered Tampa Bay fans. As the Yankees had already won the second extra-innings tilt against the Blue Jays in as many days, any loss last night, let alone a late-inning comeback by one of the worst teams in the league, would be distressing.

That shot undid the lead built by perhaps the most unlikely of sources, J.D. Drew. The right fielder doubled in the fourth and homered in the sixth, providing three RBIs for his teammates.

Dan Wheeler assumed the mound in the eighth and dispatched the heart of the Red Sox order in order. David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and the rejuvenated Drew couldn’t retake the lead.

Meanwhile in Detroit, the Tigers were about to fall to their division’s cellar dwellers. A Motor City loss and a Hub comeback meant October baseball at Fenway.

Jason Varitek joined his Scott Boras stablemate in improbable clutch hits with a leadoff longball in the ninth to tie the game.

In his postgame interview Eric Hinske would say he never heard it so loud in a dome before. This is from a man who played most of his career in a dome. The amiable bench player contributed to the win with his ground ball skipped along the first base line.

Coco Crisp worked Al Reyes for eight pitches but ultimately popped out to third. His at bat may have fatigued the 37-year old closer and allowed Julio Lugo to get a bead on the pitcher’s repertoire.

Lugo turned his wiry frame on the first pitch he saw, a fastball in. The ball soared into the stands just a bit further than Varitek’s. The shortstop’s celebratory jaunt around the bases was premature since Tampa Bay would have three more outs to attempt another comeback, but the shortstop reveled with the knowledge that Jonathan Papelbon was warmed up.

There was no championship pile-up in Tropicana Field but rather restrained handshakes and hugs. Whatever postgame festivities there were the media were not privy to them. They were almost Patriot-like in their return to postseason baseball.

This is not a bunch of idiots; this may be something better.

23 September 2007 ∙ 8:48 AM ∙ September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: clinch ∙ Devil Rays ∙ Drew (J.D.) ∙ Japanese language ∙ Matsuzaka ∙ Varitek

Game 154: September 21, 2007
Red Sox	8	W: Josh Beckett (20-6) H: Manny Delcarmen (10) H: Javier Lopez (12)	91-63, 1 game winning streak 31-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 7 Postseason magic number: 2
Devil Rays	1	L: Scott Kazmir (13-9)	63-91, 4 game losing streak 15-29-6 series record
Highlights: The one thing old school about Tropicana is that the bullpens sit in foul territory without heed to safety or common sense. In the fifth, Jacoby Ellsbury hurtled his body into the Red Sox bullpen at full speed, blithely maneuvering over pitchers’ mounds, training equipment, and chairs. As he slid over the hills the ball precariously peeked out of his glove. He lay supine near the left field wall surrounded by relievers; the rookie outfielder was seemingly in shock over the rashness of his decision to pursue Greg Norton’s fly ball regardless of consequences. A few of the pitchers made the out sign; Ellsbury had held on for the second out.

Josh Beckett became the 27th man to win 20 or more regular season games for the Red Sox in a season. Early in the game it didn’t seem likely that Beckett would endure for the required innings for a decision. He threw 34 pitches in the first, eight of which were to Delmon Young for an epic standoff that resulted in a game-tying double to right.

It wasn’t one of his longest outings of the year, but it may have been one of the most pivotal collectively and individually. The Red Sox ended their four-game schneid and Beckett tallied his first 20-win season. The worries over his chronic blister problem and disappointing inaugural Boston season have dissipated and reformed into a Cy Young-caliber year.

The Red Sox bats that were silenced in Toronto made a statement in this contest, although Dioner Navarro amplified the noise with his two errors. Jacoby Ellsbury, who had doubled to lead off and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt, so unnerved Tampa Bay’s backstop with his feints to home that Navarro threw galley-west to third. By the time Akinori Iwamura caught up with the ball Ellsbury had crossed home for the first score of the evening.

Scott Kazmir struck out David Ortiz and Mike Lowell to finish off the first, proving Navarro should have just kept the ball in his pocket. Navarro also hurled badly to the keystone sack in the second in an effort to stop Coco Crisp’s steal, but instead the ball pranced into shallow center. No runs would come of that error, but in the next inning Kazmir unraveled.

The bounty on Red Sox first basemen must be high. Eric Hinske was hit by Kazmir’s first pitch of the third inning. Dustin Pedroia walked without swinging while Ortiz took the opposite tack; the designated hitter was all over the first pitch he saw, lining it far enough into right to plate Hinske. Young missed the cutoff man and Pedroia advanced to third.

Given Bobby Kielty’s splits Kazmir was cautious, but overly so. He pitched wildly, allowing Pedroia to score and Ortiz to proceed to second.

That was all the breathing room Beckett and the relief trio of Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez, and even Eric Gagne needed, but Jason Varitek, Ortiz, and Lowell homered in the late innings for more cushion.

There could stand to be more cushion in the AL East division race, but at last the Yankees provided some padding with their 14-inning defeat by the Toronto Blue Jays last night.

Every milestone a member of this year’s club attains leads inevitably to an appreciation of Red Sox history. The highest ERA+ of any Red Sox pitcher with 20 or more wins was Pedro Martinez’s 1999 campaign of 245, and that wasn’t even his career high ERA+. In 2000 Martinez’s racked up an inhuman 285, the highest in history.

Wins are a misleading statistic to gauge starters, but in the context of his team’s recent woes and the playoff drive, the importance of Beckett’s win cannot be diminished to simple numbers. This is a mere “W” as Ellsbury’s catch was “FO7.”

22 September 2007 ∙ 10:45 AM ∙ History & September 2007 Game Comments ∙ Permalink ∙ Comments: 0
Tags: 20-game winners ∙ Beckett ∙ Devil Rays

Game 153: September 19, 2007
Red Sox	1	L: Clay Buchholz (3-1)	90-63, 4 game losing streak 31-14-5 series record Divisional magic number: 9 Postseason magic number: 3
Blue Jays	6	W: Jesse Litsch (6-9) H: Casey Janssen (24) H: Scott Downs (22) S: Jeremy Accardo (28)	77-75, 3 game winning streak 22-20-7 series record
Highlights: Buchholz looked sharp for the first four innings of his third major league start. Rookie magic was replaced with rookie mishaps in the fifth, however, as Gregg “Superfluous G” Zaun led off with a double. Adam Lind and Russ Adams followed with consecutive singles to tie the game. The lanky starter panicked when Ray Olmedo bunted, flailing an errant toss to Mike Lowell.

Fortunately, Bobby Kielty backed up the play in foul territory and relayed the ball back to Mike Lowell. Rather than immediately returning the ball back to the pitcher, the third baseman tarried around third base, shoulders slumped, feigning dejection. In the split second Russ Adams lifted his foot off the sack Lowell swatted him with his glove, ball still ensconced within.

Joe West was on top of the play and immediately called Adams out. It was the