The Big Hurt snaps Sox seven game winning streak with a 3-for-4 night in Oakland’s 8-3 win

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RED SOX FALL TO ATHLETICS 8-3; MOVE TO 31-19
The Big Hurt snaps Sox seven game winning streak with a 3-for-4 night in Oakland’s 8-3 win

(May 23, 2008) – Like the Celtics in the post-season away from the TD Banknorth Garden, the Red Sox road woes continue with a late night 8-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics behind starter Rich Harden. In his third appearance against the Red Sox this season, the Oakland right hander continued his dominance over Boston leading to his third win of the season.

Harden began the game on fire, retiring the first 10 Red Sox batters before giving up second baseman Dustin Pedroia’s third homerun of the season to left on a 2-1 count. In six innings, the Athletics starter allowed two runs on four hits while striking out eight Sox before turning the game over to right handed reliever Joey Devine. Devine pitched two innings allowing one run on two hits while striking out two before handing the ball off to Oakland closer Huston Street in a non-save situation.

Oakland batters knocked the Sox knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield around early in the game. With one out in the bottom of the first, shortstop Bobby Crosby doubled down the left field line and scored on a base hit into center, just out of the reach of Pedroia, by left fielder Jack Cust. After beginning the season with the Toronto Blue Jays, Frank Thomas found himself back with Athletics, the team he played with last year. Once again, against the Red Sox, The Big Hurt did what he does best and lined a shot over Manny Ramirez’s head and into no-man’s land beyond the left field fence to give the A’s the 3-0 lead.

The Athletics knocked Wake around again two innings later when Jack Cust walked with one out in the third. After hitting a homerun in his last at-bat, Thomas lined a single a base hit into left field, sending Cust to second and bringing Ryan Sweeney to the plate with one out. Cust would advance to third on a passed ball that tipped off catcher Kevin Cash’s oversized catcher’s mitt and would score on line drive into right by Sweeney three pitches later. After Wakefield got right fielder Emil Brown to strike out for the second time in the game, Mark Ellis put the icing on the cake with a three-run homerun to cap off the four run inning and giving the A’s the 7-0 advantage.

The Sox tried chip away at Oakland’s lead with Pedroia’s homerun in the top of the fourth and a two-out RBI single in the top of the fifth by Jacoby Ellsbury. Two innings later Lugo led off the inning with a base hit to third, the Sox shortstop advanced to second on third baseman Jack Hannahan’s throwing error. Making the most of his opportunity in the majors, the rookie outfielder drove in Lugo with Boston’s third run of the game. With just one out in the fifth, Ellsbury on first and Pedroia at the dish, the inning looked very promising with the two big guys looming in the on-deck circle and in the hole. But the inning was wiped out when the rookie was snapped back to reality trying to steal his 20^th bag of the season.

Down by five runs the Red Sox needed base runners. Although Ellsbury has good speed, stealing second trailing 8-3 and the power hitters coming up was not the smartest idea in the world. With his speed he would have scored any way with a base hit into the spacious outfield of McAfee Coliseum and even if it was a base hit right at an outfielder, the Sox would have had first and third with Ortiz at the plate and one out. (Even though there was the chance Pedroia could have grounded into an inning ending double play, I have “identified the negative but [focusing] on the positive.”)

Wakefield would leave the game in the middle of the sixth inning after walking lead off hitter and first baseman Daric Barton and allowing a double to the number nine hitter Kurt Suzuki. Right hander David Aardsma came on in relief of Wakefield and got Hannahan to ground out to Pedroia at second and holding Barton and Suzuki. But they were not there for long, Crosby hit a shallow sacrifice fly to a charging Ellsbury. Even with Ellsbury’s momentum carry him to the plate, Barton was still tagging from third and would score standing up easily as Ellsbury throw came up well short of Cash, for the eighth Oakland run. The book was closed on Wakefield, eight runs on eight hits while he walked and struck out four.

At least look on the bright side, no one in the Sox bullpen will be traded for a bag of bats come July like 26-year-old minor league right hander, John Odom, was earlier today. In relief of Wakefield, Aardsma and Mike Timlin combined to retired the last nine Athletic hitters.

Josh Beckett steps on the Oakland mound tomorrow night in search of his sixth win of the season against Athletics right hander and former Red Sox prospect Justin Duchsherer. At 5-3 with a 4.67 ERA and 56 strike outs, Beckett is coming off an 11-7 victory against the Milwaukee Brewers last Sunday. Although he pitched seven innings, Beckett had one of his worst outings of the season against the Brewers. In seven innings he allowed six runs on six hits with four of the hits being homeruns. Against Oakland, Beckett is 2-2 in four career starts with an ERA over five and 18 strike outs.

Tomorrow’s game two of the series will be the first start for the Oakland right hander against the team that drafted him. Duchsherer will be making his seventh start against Beckett and looks for his fourth win of the 2008 season. The 31-year-old is 3-3 with a 2.67 ERA, 26 strike outs and is coming off a 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves where he pitched five hits allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out two Brave batters. Against Boston, Duchsherer has appeared in 13 games as a reliever and is 1-0 with one save in 20.1 innings with 23 strike outs, a 2.66 ERA and a .181 opponent’s batting average.

WIN: Rich Harden (3-0)

LOSS: Tim Wakefield (3-3)

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Game Notes:

Those Weery Road Blues
The Red Sox are four games under .500 on the road at 10 wins and 14 losses and are 8-3 against the AL West. After getting off to a bad start Oakland is second in the West with a 13-11 record and is 6-6 against the East.

Kevin Youkilis is third in the American League in hitting with a .324 batting average behind Minnesota catcher Joe Mauer’s .333 and AL league leader Texas center fielder Josh Hamilton’s .335 average.

David Ortiz is third in the American League in homeruns and RBIs with 10 round-trippers of the season and 38 RBIs. Josh Hamilton leads the AL triple crown categories with a .335 average (as noted above), 12 homeruns (tied with Chicago’s Carlos Quentin) and 53 RBIs (most in MLB).

Manny Ramirez is still stuck at homerun #498. His last homerun came against the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome on May 12. Ramirez has hit a snag in his last 10 games hitting only .229 (8-for-35) with only two extra base hits.

Red Sox hitting coach, Dave Magadan, was ejected from the game in the middle of the top of the sixth inning.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Rich Harden, OAKLAND ---- 6IP, 5H, 2ER, 3BB, 8K

2. Frank Thomas, OAKLAND --- 3-4 Homerun, 2 RBIs

3. Dustin Pedroia, BOSTON ---- 1-4 Homerun, RBI

JACOBY ELLSBURY

In the top of the seventh inning Ellsbury managed to get himself thrown out trying to steal his 20^th bag of the season with the Sox down 8-3. He tried to argue that he was safe but second base umpire, Jeff Nelson, was having no part of the argument. Ellsbury clearly over-slid the bag and was tagged out by shortstop fellow Morman Bobby Crosby.

The Big Hurt’s fifth inning, 2-out Grand Slam completes the 3-0 sweep of the Red Sox

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RED SOX SWEPT BY BLUE JAYS 6-2; MOVE TO 3-4
The Big Hurt’s fifth inning, 2-out Grand Slam completes the 3-0 sweep of the Red Sox

(April 6, 2008) – Frank Thomas’s fifth inning grand slam off right hander Manny Delcarmen and Roy Halladay’s eight innings and six strike outs lifted the Blue Jays to a 7-4 win to sweep the series against the Red Sox.

Going into the bottom of the fifth inning both starting pitchers, Halladay and Josh Beckett, put on a masterful performance for the fans who flocked to the Rogers Centre on Sunday afternoon. Beckett, who was making his first start since coming off the disabled list, pitched methodically through the first 4.2 innings, striking out six Jays batters. Until the fifth his only mistake come off a two run homerun to centerfielder Vernon Wells, driving in Alex Rios who was Beckett’s second walk of the day.

Beckett’s day would be over after back-to-back walks to Rios and Wells in fifth inning to load the bases. Delcarmen came in, in relief of Beckett, to face the Big Hurt and that is exactly what he did to Delcarmen. Thomas wasted no time with a first pitch fastball and drove the ball into deep center field, way over the head of center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury. Three of the runs would be charged to Beckett. In 4.2 innings, he allowed five earned runs on three hits while walking four.

After the Blue Jays offense gave Halladay a four run lead in the bottom of the fifth, the work horse continued to pitch another three innings allowing four runs on six hits while striking out six Sox hitters. The heart of the Red Sox order was 3-for-14 against Halladay with four strike outs and the only hit coming from a double to left center off the bat of Manny Ramirez. But the bottom half of the Sox line up was productive against the Jays starter, amounting for all the Sox runs in the game. J.D. Drew, Jason Varitek and Ellsbury hit their second and first homeruns, respectively in the third, fifth and seven innings.

Shortstop Julio Lugo contributed to Toronto’s seventh run of the game with his third error of the game, when third baseman Marco Scutaro hit a ground ball to short that Lugo could not handle. Scutaro would come around to score on second baseman Aaron Hill’s double to right in the bottom of the sixth. In Scutaro’s previous at-bat he reached on Lugo’s second error of the game.

The Red Sox tried valiantly to make a come back in the top of the eighth inning when Kevin Youkilis hit a blooper in between Wells, Hill and shortstop John McDonald. Youkilis was able ended up with a triple on the play when Wells and McDonald collided while trying to make the catch on the pop fly ball. David Ortiz would drive in Youkilis from third with a base hit into center field to break up a personal 0-for-11 slide.

The Red Sox return to action on Tuesday April 8, when they face the disappointing 0-5, Detroit Tigers on Opening Day at Fenway Park. Daisuke Matsuzaka will get the ball on Opening Day and will oppose Tigers lefty Kenny Rogers. Matsuzaka is 1-0 on the season, coming of a win in Oakland where he went 6.2 innings allowing just one run on two hits while striking out nine Athletics. He leads the Sox in strike outs with 15. Rogers is coming off a 4-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals, that saw him pitch six innings allowing two earned runs on five hits while recording four strike outs.

WIN: Roy Halladay (1-1)

LOSS: Josh Beckett (0-1)

SAVE: Jeremy Accardo (3)

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Game Notes:

Jacoby Ellsbury hit his first homerun and second RBI of the 2008 season with solo shot to over Rios’s head in right field.

Mike Lowell made his first error of the season in first inning off the bat of lead off hitter Shannon Stewart.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Frank Thomas 1-3 Grand Slam HR, 4 RBIs
2. Roy Halladay 8IP, 6H, 4ER, 6Ks
3. J.D. Drew 2-4 HR, RBI

David Eckstein’s three RBIs and Alex Rios’s two doubles lead Blue Jays to a 10-2 win over Red Sox

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RED SOX OUTSLUGGED BY THE BLUE JAYS 10-2; MOVE TO 3-3
David Eckstein’s three RBIs and Alex Rios’s two doubles lead Blue Jays to a 10-2 win over Red Sox

(April 5, 2008) – In the first five games of the regular season, the Red Sox had not made an error but in Saturday’s afternoon matinee against the Blue Jays the Sox made two. First baseman Sean Casey’s, who got the start in replace of Kevin Youkilis, first error of the season on a Greg Zaun ground ball to first would prove to break the game open for the Jays.

Toronto would go on to take game two of the series 10-2 behind the pesky David Eckstein and starter Jesse Litsch. The former Angel and Cardinal provided the spark at the top of the Toronto line up. Eckstein went 2-5 with 3 RBIs as well as scoring a run. Litsch got his first win of the season, pitching five complete innings, before turning the game over to the bullpen, allowing two runs on five hits and striking out two Red Sox batters.

Manny Ramirez gave Sox starter Clay Buchholz a 1-0 lead before he even stepped on the mound. In the top half of the first inning, Ramirez he drove in David Ortiz from first base with a double to center field. It was Ramirez’s first RBI since March 26 against the Oakland Athletics.

Buchholz would hold the 1-0 lead until the bottom of the second when he would walk lead off hitter Vernon Wells and give up a base hit to left field, sending Wells to third. With runners at the corners and no outs, Overbay lined a single up the middle to score Wells for, only, his second RBI of the season. The Sox rookie pitcher would settled down to strike out the next to batters, Aaron Hill and Marco Scutaro, and Zaun to pop out to Dustin Pedroia, at second.

The Sox would retake the lead, 2-1, in the top of the fourth inning on a Casey’s single to right to score J.D. Drew, who doubled to lead off the inning. But in the bottom of the inning, the Jays answered the lone Red Sox run with three runs of their own. After designated hitter Frank Thomas flew out to Drew in right, Overbay started the Jays rally with single to right. Hill would lay a bunt-hit down the third base line and Scutaro would walk to load the bases before Zaun hit the infamous ground ball that one-hopped Casey that led to two Blue Jay runs.

The Toronto bats broke out in the sixth inning. In relief of Buchholz, who pitch five innings allowing three earned runs on six hits and seven strike outs, Kyle Snyder gave up lead off walks to Hill and Scutaro and a sacrifice bunt to Zaun before being replaced by the right handed Bryan Corey. Corey did not fair much better, giving up a two run RBI single to Eckstein as well as an RBI double to Alex Rios and an RBI single to Wells before giving up Thomas’s second homerun of the series. At the end of the sixth, the Blue Jays crossed the plate six times on four hits.

The marquis match up of the series takes place tomorrow when Josh Beckett comes off the 15-day D.L to try to salvage a game against Blue Jays starting pitcher, Roy Halladay. Beckett is making his first start after a 20-win season last year with a 3.27 ERA and 194 strikes in 200.2 innings pitched. Halladay is coming off a 3-2 loss to the New York Yankees that saw him go seven innings allowing three earned runs while striking out just three Yankee batters.

WIN: Jesse Litsch (1-0)

LOSS: Clay Buchholz (0-1)

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Game Notes:

Julio Lugo made Boston’s first error of the season trying to get David Eckstein after he grounded out to shortstop to begin the inning for the Jays.

Lyle Over hit a line drive up the middle to drive in Vernon Wells from third base, Thomas, who hit a bloop single in between Ramirez and Lugo, went to third.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

David Eckstein, TORONTO 2-5 3 RBI

Alex Rios, TORONTO 2-5 2 doubles, RBI

Frank Thomas, TORONTO 2-5 2-run homerun

Blue Jays defeat Red Sox behind Shaun Marcum’s eight strike outs and retiring 11 consecutive Sox hitters

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RED SOX FALL TO THE BLUE JAYS 6-3; MOVE TO 3-2
Blue Jays defeat Red Sox behind Shaun Marcum’s eight strike outs and retiring 11 consecutive Sox hitters

(April 4, 2008) – Long time designated hitter, Frank Thomas drove in the go a head runs to give the Blue Jays the 6-3 win against the Red Sox as well as starter Shaun Marcum’s first win of the season. Marcum went seven strong innings allowing just three runs on three hits while accumulating eight strike outs and walking just one.

After a J.D. Drew three run homerun to tie up the game in the top of the seventh inning. Thomas put the Jays back on top with a two run double to left field, in the bottom of the inning, off of reliever Manny Delcarmen. Shortstop David Eckstein, who took a walk from Red Sox reliever David Aardsma, and pinch-hitter, Shannon Stewart, scored on the play.

Early on in the game it looked as if it was going to be a pitcher’s duel. The elder statesman of the Red Sox, Tim Wakefield, was making his 338^th career start in a Sox uniform and matched Marcum every inning. It appeared, in the beginning, as if the first team to make a mistake was going to be the costliest.

The Blue Jays first got to Wakefield in the bottom of the sixth inning on solo homerun by left fielder Matt Stairs, to go up 1-0. Wakefield would go on to walk right fielder Alex Rios and Thomas with a strike out to center fielder, Vernon Wells in between. First baseman Lyle Overbay would hit a blooper that would fall between Manny Ramirez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Julio Lugo, to drive in Rios from third and score the second Jays run of the game and move Thomas to second. Thomas and Overbay would advance to third and second, respectively, on Wakefield’s wild pitch to Aaron Hill.

The wild pitch would prove to be costly when Hill hit a deep fly ball to centerfield that popped out of Ellsbury’s glove allowing Thomas to score and giving Hill a long single. Terry Francona came out to argue that his center fielder had possession of the ball before it fell to the Rogers Centre turf but too no avail. The call stood and the Jays led the Red Sox 3-0 at the end of six.

After a 28 minute wait in the dugout while the Blue Jays were on offense, the Red Sox finally were able to get to Marcum. Going into the seventh inning, Marcum was pitching at a good pace, retiring the last 10 Red Sox batters and four of them on strike outs. To start off the top of the inning he struck out Kevin Youkilis to make it 11 consecutive Sox hitters but would walk David Ortiz to end the streak. After getting Ramirez to strike out, he gave up a base hit to third baseman Mike Lowell before allowing Drew to tie up the score with a three run homerun to right field – his first of the year.

Wakefield pitched six innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits while striking out four Blue Jays and walking three. In the first inning, Wakefield got off to a rocky start by hitting Jays lead off hitter Eckstein. He went on to get Stairs to ground out into a fielder’s choice, second to first, and Rios to fly out to left before walking clean up hitter Vernon Wells on first straight pitches. Falling Thomas 3-0 was the turning point of Wakefield’s game by throwing three straight strikes for the final out of the inning.

The Red Sox battle the Blue Jays again tomorrow at 1:07pm in Toronto when they send rookie Clay Buchholz to the mound to face the young, 23-year old Toronto pitcher, Jesse Litsch. Buchholz was called up to the big club late in 2007 and in four games he had a 3-1 record, with a 1.59 ERA and 22 strike outs. Litsch started 20 games for Toronto last year and ended up with a recorded of 7-9, a 3.81 ERA and 50 strike outs.

WIN: Shaun Marcum (1-0)

LOSS: David Aardsma (0-1)

SAVE: Jeremy Accardo (2)

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Game Notes:

Kevin Cash recorded the first Red Sox hit with a double in the top of the third inning against Jays pitcher Shaun Marcum.

Since Cash’s double in the third, Marcum retired eleven consecutive Red Sox hitters, five on strikeouts. Ortiz’s walk in the top of the seventh broke up the streak.

Coco Crisp pinch hit for Jacoby Ellsbury in the top of the eighth and popped out to Eckstein.

Jason Varitek pinch hit for Kevin Cash in the top of eighth and became Brian Tallet’s first strike out victim.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Frank Thomas, TORONTO 1-3 2-run double
2. Shaun Marcum, TORONTO 7.0 IP, 3H 3ER, 8K, 1BB
3. J.D. Drew, BOSTON 1-3 HR, 3RBIs