From Worst to First

10.20.2008

RED SOX FALL TO RAYS 3-1; RAYS WIN ALCS 4-3

From worst to first, the Tampa Bay Rays go to their first World Series after 10 losing seasons

(October 20, 2008) – With their first ALCS series loss since 2003, the Red Sox sent dozens of college seniors flocking to the library to get a head start on their 30-page Senior Seminar paper that is due at the end of the semester. Why? Because the Sox taught them that procrastination can be costly and for the first time in four years the Sox were unable to rally from a 3-1 deficit.

“We battled a lot of adversity the whole year,” B.J Upton told Craig Sager after the game. “But we stuck together as a team.”

Congratulations to the new American League Champion, Joe Maddon and the Tampa Bay Rays as well as ALCS MVP Matt Garza. Garza pitched an incredible 13 innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits while walking four and striking out 14 Sox batters in the Championship series. Minnesota and New York are kicking themselves for trading away the pitcher the best pitcher in the series, Garza, and the pitcher gave the Rays home field advantage in the All-Star Game, Scott Kazmir.

You could almost feel it. 2008 was the year of turn-a-rounds and there was this aura in the air that the Rays were going to pull out the victory. And, although, they have been a pain in Boston’s rear-end all year you have to tip your cap to them. They played like a team all year and have a similar story line to another 2008 championship team.

In April 2007, the Celtics the only thing they and their fans were thinking about were ping-pong balls. After a 24-58 record that season and the fifth pick in the NBA Draft, the Celtics had no shot at acquiring Greg Oden or Kevin Durant and it looked like another sub-.500 year and another wasted year for Paul Pierce. But thanks to a draft day move by Danny Ainge, the Celtics acquired Ray Allen and then later that summer they brought the Big Ticket, Kevin Garnett, into town. The trio of Pierce, Garnett and Allen turned around the second worst team the previous year and turned them into the best team in the league with a 66-16 record and bring Championship number 17 back to Boston.

The Red Sox were in the driver’s seat heading into Game Seven and they had their best pitcher of the year on the hill for the biggest game of the series in Jon Lester. The Sox Southpaw was trying redeem himself from a horrible performance in Game Three, where he allowed five runs – four earned – on eight hits in 5.2 innings of work.

Before Lester stepped on the mound in Game Seven, he already had a 1-0 lead thanks to “The Little Pony” Dustin Pedroia. After getting Coco Crisp to hit a week chopper back to the mound, Garza gave up line drive homerun that just barely made it over the left field wall to the Sox second baseman. But that was the only run the Red Sox would get against the Rays right hander. Garza settled down and retired the next six Boston batters before hitting Pedroia on the right elbow in the top of the third.

For the first three innings Lester was unhittable, retiring the first nine batters of the inning before relinquishing his first hit to Akinori Iwamura to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. The Rays took advantage of their first base runner against Lester. After Upton struck out to for the first out of inning, Carlos Pena hit a weak grounder to Pedroia. As slow as the ball was rolling everyone at The Trop thought he was going to go to first with the out but he turned and got the lead runner, Iwamura at second. Nice heads up play by the Sox gritty little second baseman. In those instances you could really tell Pedroia reverted back to his Little League roots by already determining where he was going to go with the ball should the ball be hit to him. A lesson to all the second and third graders out there playing after-school ragball: think about where you are going with the ball if it is hit to you.

Lester was close to getting out of the inning unscathed but Evan Longoria would come through once again with two outs. The rookie third baseman laced a ball doubled down the first baseline and scored the hustling Pena from first base to tie up the score in the bottom of the fourth.

The next inning Tampa Bay would get to Lester again as designated hitter Willy Aybar led off the top of the fifth with scorching line drive double that just barely missed being a homerun. Catcher Dioner Navarro hit a slower roller to Alex Cora at shortstop who bobbled the ball and had no play at either second or first. With no outs, the pride of Woonsocket, RI, Rocco Baldelli, gave the Rays their first lead of the game with a base hit to left scoring Aybar from second. It was the second time this season that the former Sox fan broke the hearts of current Red Sox fans.

Since giving up the homerun to Pedroia in the first, Garza settled down and at one point retired eight consecutive Sox hitters between the top of the third and sixth innings. Throughout the Championship Series, Garza was the Rays top pitcher and was nothing less than spectacular in Game Seven. He went seven strong innings and took the mound for the eighth before he was taken out after Cora reached on bouncing ball to shortstop that ate up Jason Bartlett. In seven innings, Garza allowed just one run on two hits while walking three and striking out nine before turning the game over to Dan Wheeler in the bullpen.

Once Garza left the game it took for Tampa Bay four pitchers to get three outs in the top of the eighth inning. Wheeler came on and gave up a base hit to right field off the bat of Crisp and then retired Pedroia on a fly ball to left field before handing the ball over to the left hander J.P. Howell to face Sox slugger David Ortiz. Known for his notorious clutch play, Sox fans were praying Big Papi would come through once again but Howell got the clutchest player in MLB history to ground into a fielder’s choice, second to shortstop. Maddon went out with the hook once again and elected to bring in the submariner Chad Bradford to face the right handed Youkilis and would walk the Sox third baseman to load the bases. In a tough situation, Maddon elected to go to the rookie left hander, David Price, to get the final four outs of the ALCS. In dramatic fashion, Price caught Game Five’s hero, J.D. Drew trying to check his swing for the final out of the inning and stranding three inherited runners.

Lester pitched a remarkable game but unfortunately, Garza just pitched better even after giving up a first inning homerun to Pedroia. Once again, Lester was a work-horse for the Red Sox by pitching seven strong innings allowing three runs on six hits while striking out eight – yes Teddy eight – Tampa Bay batters. This young left hander has his whole career in front of him, something he can say this year as opposed to two years ago, and he will only get better. The next Mark Mulder when he was with the Oakland Athletics in 2003.

RAYS 3, RED SOX 1

WIN: Matt Garza (2-0)

LOSS: Jon Lester (0-2)

SAVE: David Price

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The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Matt Garza, TAMPA BAY --- 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 9 K

2. Willy Aybar, TAMPA BAY --- 2-3, HR, RBI, Run-scored

3. Jon Lester, BOSTON --- 7.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 8 K

Been There, Done That, Bought the T-Shirt

RED SOX DEFEAT ANGELS 3-2; WIN SERIES 3-1
Political Science major Jed Lowrie drives in Jason Bay as Sox defeat Angels 3-2 to win ALDS

(October 6, 2008) – Five years ago, the Red Sox were in a similar predicament as the Los Angeles Angels. Down in the series 1-2 to the Oakland Athletics heading into Game Four at Fenway, the Sox were looking for the win to tie up the series and send it back to California for the sudden death, winner-take-all Game Five. The A’s, on the other hand, did not want to go back to the Bay Area. They wanted to end it in Boston to advance to face the Yankees in the ALCS.

Down one run heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Sox rallied against former A’s and Sox closer, Keith Foulke, to take a 5-4 lead. Oakland had one last chance to end the series in Boston but were shut down by Scott Williamson, pitching his second inning of relief, in the top of the ninth, forcing a Game Five.

Now five years later, the roles are reversed. The Red Sox were the ones who did not want to make the trip back to California while the Angels were pulling for it. Hoping to end the series on their home turf, the Sox sent their Southpaw, Jon Lester to hill to end the Angels season. Besides a healthy Josh Beckett, who else would you want on the mound for a must win game?

Going into Game Four, Lester had not allowed an earned run so far in the 2008 playoffs. The lone run he gave up in Game One scored because of Jed Lowrie’s fielding error at shortstop in the bottom of the third.

The first few innings of Game Four were quick, Lackey matched Lester pitch for pitch. The Angels Ace improved from Game One or Los Angeles has listened to Newbury College Director of Athletics and former baseball head coach Peter Centola’s criticism.

“Why would [Lackey] throw a fastball?" Centola said discussing Jason Bay’s homerun in the Red Sox’s Game One victory in Anaheim. "[Bay] just missed two curves.”

As the game progressed, Lester grew stronger as Lackey started to deteriorate. Lackey’s downhill spiral started in the bottom of the fourth where he began having difficulty finding the strike zone. The Angels’ right hander’s control issues continued into the fifth inning and the Sox took full advantage of Lackey’s wildness.

Mark Kotsay led off the bottom of the inning with a line drive up the middle, into the center field. After a fly out to center by shortstop Jed Lowrie, Terry Francona decided to put on the hit-and-run with Jason Varitek at the dish. Putting the hit-and-run on for the Sox catcher who is know for his defensive prowess rather than his offense, was risky but Varitek came through, delivering a base hit into right field. Kotsay advanced on to third on the single.

Jacoby Ellsbury, who had not had a hit during Game Four drove in Kotsay from third with a ground out to second baseman Howie Kendrick to score the first run of the game. Next batter, the little man, Dustin Pedroia had yet to get his first hit of the post-season but when he did you know it would be big. Because that is how little guys do things. They go big and that is exactly what the former Sun Devil did, he tattooed a Lackey offering high off the wall in left to score Varitek from second as Pedroia cruised into second with a Double.

Los Angeles attempted to put something together in the top of the fifth with back-to-back, one-out base hits by Sunday night’s/Monday morning’s hero, Erick Aybar and Chone Figgins. But it was all for naught as Lester got the struggling Garret Anderson to ground into a fielder’s choice (second to shortstop) before freezing free-agent-to-be Mark Teixeira with a strike three that was reminiscent to ball two.

The Angels were no match for Lester as the left hander, for the second time in the series, shut down the team with the best record in 2008. Lester would keep his post-season at zero with seven strong innings scattering four hits while walking only two and striking out four Angels before turning the game over to bullpen to get the last six outs of the game and series.

Hideki Okajima came on in eighth and got Figgins and Anderson ground out to second for the first two outs but walked Teixeira. As soon as he walked the Angel first baseman, Francona had the quick hook and brought on the 23-year-old right hander Justin Masterson. In relief of Okajima, Masterson walked the first batter he faced, free-swinger Vladimir Guerrero, to put the tying run on first before uncorking a wild pitch to move the tying run into scoring position. The wild pitch would prove to be important as Torii Hunter lined a single to right field driving in Teixeira and Guerrero to tie the game at two.

With the game tied in the top of the ninth, flashbacks to Game Four of 2003 popped up. Could it happen against the Red Sox like it did to Athletics five years ago?

In the top of the ninth, the Angels pinch-hit Kendry Morales for right fielder Juan Rivera and with one swing of the bat, Morales drove a ball off the Monster for a double and was pinch-run for by outfielder Reggie Willits. For the first time in the game, the Angels had their lead off hitter on base. Francona popped out of the dugout and decided it was time for a change, going to right hander Manny Delcarmen with the winning run on second.

Kendrick sacrificed pinch-runner Willits to third with a bunt. Now with the winning run just ninety feet away, the Angels decided to go with a risky squeeze play, except their was only one problem. As Willitswas on his way home and Aybar did not get the bunt down, Varitek chased the Angels pinch-hitter down for the second out of the inning.

As soon as the Sox captain tagged made the gritty play, you knew the Sox were going to come out with the victory.

Jason Bay came to Boston on July 31^st for Manny Ramirez and has fit in almost perfectly in the clubhouse. After J.D. Drew struck out looking at Scott Shields to lead off the top of the ninth, Bay blooped a ground rule double in front of the sliding Willits in right field. Playing the line like he was supposed to be, Teixeira made, at the time the game saving play, on a bullet, ripped down the line by Kotsay.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and Bay at first, the game was in the hands of 24-year-old former Stanford Cardinal, Jed Lowrie. In an imitation of Nomar Garciaparra, Lowrie jumped on the first pitch by Shields and lined a squibbler just past the dive of Kendrick at second. Running at full steam, Bay rounded third and dived, safely, head first into home with the winning run.

“[Scott] Shields struck me out on a curve ball last night,” Lowrie said after the game to Craig Sager just before going to celebrate with teammates. “I just wanted to get the barrel of the bat on [the ball] and find a hole.”

After the game, Sager caught up with Bay and asked him about scoring the game winning run.

“It’s a blast. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good,” the Sox left fielder told the TBS field reporter, referring to Lowrie’s base hit just barely finding the hole between second and first. Bay also added that he is so happy not to have to go back out to Anaheim. You are not alone there Jason, there are many sleep deprived Sox fans who are happy not to be going back to California – or at least till the end of the month.

I can still hear Papelbon, Youkilis and the rest of the Sox going crazy for their series win against the Angels but this is only the beginning. Their road is only going to get tougher as they are heading to the American League Championship Series for the second consecutive year to face the American League East Division Champion Tampa Bay Rays, who defeated the Chicago White Sox earlier in the night.

So Sox fans you no long have to worry about staying up late to catch the Sox because all the games will be on the East Coast. Yes! No 9:30 starting times like the NBA Finals back in June. Unless Major League Baseball gets involved and demands an 9:30 starting time.

Now it is the time for the Sox to buckle down and get to work in hopes of meeting Manny in the World Series and repeating as champions.

RED SOX 3, ANGELS 2

WIN: Manny Delcarmen

LOSS: Scott Shields

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The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Jed Lowrie, BOSTON ----2-4 Game Winning RBI

2. Jon Lester, BOSTON ---- 7IP, 4H, 0ER, 2BB, 4K

3. Jason Bay, BOSTON --- 2-3 Double, Winning run

Jason Bay’s first career post-season homerun propels Sox to the 4-1 victory over Angels

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RED SOX TOPPLE ANGELS; LEAD ALDS 1-0
Jason Bay’s first career post-season homerun propels Sox to the 4-1 victory over Angels

(October 2, 2008) – Manny Ramirez was traded exactly two months ago, yesterday, but was still the talk of the town leading up to Game 1 against the Los Angeles Angels. The former Sox left fielder was not literally the lead discussion it was his production at the dish that left few scratching their heads. How were the Sox going to replace Ramirez’s offensive production?

The longer Angels starter, John Lackey, kept the Sox off the scoreboard the louder questions started to buzz in fans heads. A game earlier Sox fans had to watch Ramirez deposit a Sean Marshall offering into the Wrigley Field bleachers in the seventh to finish the game 2-for4. It felt as if you sitting outside on a mid-summer night surrounded by bugs, eating you alive. But the man who was traded for Ramirez, Jason Bay, pulled out the bug spray and quelled those nasty, incessant thoughts with a two-run homerun in the top of the sixth.

“[They are] not asking me to do more than I can do,” Bay told TBS’s field reporter and future “Price is Right” host Craig Sager in a post game interview. “[It is] just easier.”

Striking out in his first two post-season at-bats (second and fourth innings) meant that Bay’s first career post-season hit would mean so much more. And it did. Not only did it win the game for the Sox, it took rookie shortstop Jed Lowrie off the hook for the loss.

In the third inning with two outs and Vladimir Guerrero at the dish, the Angels right fielder grounded the ball to Lowrie for what looked like the final out of the inning made a rookie mistake. Lowrie was trying to throw the ball to first before he even had control of the ball. Mistakes happen. It happens to the best but this is the playoffs. You are playing against the best in baseball and they will take advantage of your miscues.

Angels centerfielder Torii Hunter did just that. Hunter lined a two-out base hit into left to bring around left fielder Garret Anderson from second, who singled in between strike outs of third baseman Chone Figgins and first baseman Mark Teixeira. But as the dust settled Sox left hander Jon Lester did his job and was able to minimize the damage by getting Howie Kendrick to ground out to Mike Lowell at third to end the inning.

Speaking of Jon Lester, there is not much to say about him but just he has transformed himself into one of the premier power left handed pitchers in baseball. All season the young 24-year-old left hander has been the Ace of the Sox staff, so replacing last year’s Ace, Josh Beckett, was not hard a daunting task since he had been doing it all year.

After allowing back-to-back, one-out base hits to Anderson and Teixeira in the first inning and walked Hunter to load the bases with two-outs, Lester scratched and clawed his way out of the jam getting Kendrick to ground out to Lowell. As the game continued well into the night (or morning in Boston), when most fans were growing tired, Lester was growing stronger.

“I [do not] know about stronger,” Lester told Sager after the game. “A bit more relaxed and not trying to do so much.”

Lester pitched seven strong innings giving up one unearned run as well as scattering six hits, walking one and striking out seven. Before he turned the game over to the 23-year-old Justin Masterson, he retired the last seven batters he faced after giving up back-to-back hits to Teixeira and Guerrero in the sixth.

Just like one of Jacoby Ellsbury’s 50 stolen bases this season, the Sox have snatched home field advantage away from the Angels with their three-run victory. Now they have the opportunity to clinch the ALDS in either game three or four at Fenway Park.

“Any time you come into another team’s ballpark, [it is] huge,” Lester said when asked how big it was to win on the road in the playoffs.

The Sox return to action on Friday when they send the 18-3 Daisuke Matsuzaka to the hill to face 16-7 right hander Ervin Santana in Game 2. The Angels will be looking to tie the series at one game a piece before sending the series to Boston on Sunday.

RED SOX 4 - Angels 1

WIN: Jon Lester (1-0)

LOSS: John Lackey (0-1)

SAVE: Jonathan Papelbon (1)

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Game Notes:

Getting the Game 1 start in center field, Jacoby Ellsbury was 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Ellsbury drove in Jed Lowrie in the top of the ninth to make the game 3-1 before David Ortiz prolonged his Division Series hitting streak with a base hit to center to score Ellsbury to make it 4-1.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Jason Bay, BOSTON --- 2-4 Double, Game Winning Homerun

2. Jon Lester, BOSTON --- 7.0 IP, 6H, 1R, 0ER, 1BB, 7K

3. Torii Hunter, LOS ANGELES --- 2-3 RBI single

Despite rift with Youkilis, Manny Ramirez drives in 5 of 7 Sox runs as Boston sweeps Tampa Bay

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RED SOX SWEEP RAYS 7-1; MOVE TO 38-25
Despite rift with Youkilis, Manny Ramirez drives in 5 of 7 Sox runs as Boston sweeps Tampa Bay

(June 5, 2008) – A new chapter has been added to the Red Sox-Rays rivalry as the Sox completed the three game sweep against Tampa Bay with a 7-1 win. Coco Crisp wrote the next edition of the eight year rivalry last night when he took out Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura on a stolen base attempt in the bottom of the eighth inning. The play last night had Tampa Bay manager, Joe Maddon, miffed and sparked a cross-field argument between Crisp and Maddon in the top of the ninth.

With Maddon outwardly upset at the Sox centerfielder’s actions in the previous night’s game, it comes as no surprise the Rays would seek revenge against Crisp in the future. But it is intriguing starter James Shields decided to hit Crisp in the side of the left leg with one down the bottom of the first. Instead of walking down to first base, Coco became enraged after being hit and charged the mound with Dioner Navarro charging behind him like Benjamin Watson chasing down Broncos safety Champ Bailey in the 2006 AFC Division Game in Denver.

Navarro took down the Sox center fielder like Mike Vrabel dropping Peyton Manning for a 10-yard loss, but not before Crisp got one swing at Shields. As soon as Crisp was down for the count, designated hitter Jonny Gomes and left fielder Carl Crawford decided to get in on the action with a few sucker punches of their own. Crisp and Shields were ejected from the game immediately following the dugout emptying brawl while Gomes was gone not too long afterward. There will be major suspensions to Crisp, Shields, Gomes and possibly Crawford, handed down by the Commish in days to come.

Down two runs in the second inning, it was not the time for the Rays to go after Crisp and send Shields, one of their best pitchers, to the showers just two innings into the game. Tampa Bay will see the Red Sox later on during the year; they should have been patient in their retaliation efforts against Boston and not struck so quick. When you have the upper hand in a scrum, you want to send the message that you may strike at any time. But tonight just showed the inexperience of the Rays.

After Crisp was ejected from the game, Jacoby Ellsbury moved from left field to center while recent Pawtucket call-up Chris Carter went into left. Getting another opportunity to play at the major league level, Carter finally received his first big league base hit with a single into center field off Grant Balfour, who replaced Shields after he was ejected in the second.

The Sox outfield started the game with Ellsbury, Crisp and J.D. Drew (left to right) but finished with Carter, Drew and Kevin Youkilis. In the top of the fourth, Ellsbury recorded the first out of the inning with a diving catch off the bat of fellow rookie Evan Longoria, whose liner was sure to drop for extra bases. But the rookie would not get up right away. After making the catch, the Oregonian turned his wrist over and was taken out of the game for precautionary reasons. Drew shifted over to center while Youkilis entered the game in right field.

Lost in the game was another outstanding performance by the Sox young left hander, Jon Lester. In 6.1 innings, the lefty allowed just one earned on eight hits while walking no opposing batters –for the first time this year – and striking out five Tampa Bay hitters. Also lost was Manny Ramirez’s 2-for-3 night which included his 13^th homerun of the season in the bottom of the first to put him tied with teammate David Ortiz and Seattle’s Adrian Beltre for third place for the AL lead in homeruns. Ramirez’s 503^rd career homerun drove in Dustin Pedroia, who was hit on the elbow by a Shields’s inside pitch, and Drew, who doubled to left center, sending Pedroia to third.

Ramirez would drive in five of the Red Sox seven runs in the game but it still would not matter to Youkilis who got in the face of the Sox’s eccentric left fielder between the fourth and fifth innings. Is there trouble in paradise for the typically mild-mannered Sox clubhouse or is it just “intra-family issues?” Neither Ramirez nor Youkilis wanted to comment on the situation so speculation welcome from either side. Radio broadcaster Joe Castiglione commented that maybe Youkilis was tweaked because Ramirez was one the last people out of the dugout during the brawl in the second. But why should the Sox hot-tempered first baseman care, because as the day’s designated hitter Ramirez was not due up until sixth that inning (should the Sox go that far) could have been in the clubhouse watching tapes. Note to Youkilis: do not get into a pissing match with the man who produces the majority of the runs for the team!

The Red Sox will take on the Seattle Mariners for a weekend three game series on Friday night with Bartolo Colon (3-0) getting the start against Felix Hernandez (3-5). Colon will be followed by Tim Wakefield (3-4) and Miguel Batista (3-6) on Saturday and Justin Masterson (2-0) and Jarrod Washburn (2-7) on Sunday.

WIN: Jon Lester (4-3)

LOSS: James Shields (4-4)

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Game Notes:

Dustin Pedroia hit a sacrifice fly to center field in the bottom of the second, to drive in Chris Carter – pinch running for Coco Crisp – off reliever Grant Balfour with one out in the inning for the Sox’s fourth run of the game.

J.D. Drew drove in the fifth run of the game for Boston with a bases loaded walk in the fourth before Manny Ramirez drove in his fourth and fifth RBIs of the game with single into left field. After Jason Varitek grounded out to second to begin the inning, Carter and Julio Lugo followed with back-to-back base hits. Relieving Balfour, J.P. Howell got Kevin Youkilis to fly out to center to advance Carter to third before walking Pedroia to load the bases.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Manny Ramirez, BOSTON ---- 2-3, Homerun, 5 RBIs

2. Jon Lester, BOSTON --- 6.1IP, 8H, 1ER, 0BB, 5K

3. Chris Carter, BOSTON --- 2-3 2 Singles, 2 Runs-scored

Jon Lester retires 22 of last 23 to become the first Sox lefty to throw a no-hitter in 52 years

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RED SOX NO-HIT ROYALS 7-0; MOVE TO 28-19
Jon Lester retires 22 of last 23 to become the first Sox lefty to throw a no-hitter in 52 years

(May 19, 2008) – Call it May Magic. Jon Lester became the first Red Sox left hander since Mel Parnell, on July 14, 1956, to throw a no-hitter in tonight’s 7-0 win against the Kansas City Royals. On this unnaturally, cool mid-May night Lester allowed just two Royal batters to reach base against him, Billy “The Big Donkey” Butler in the second and Esteban German in the ninth.

Baseball is a funny game. Last year around this time, Lester was down in Pawtucket trying to make his comeback from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Then on a cool, fall night in Denver, Colorado Lester became the pitcher of record when the Red Sox won their second World Series in four years. Now that same young pitcher who suffered a catastrophic illness less than two years ago has become the fifth Sox left hander to throw a no hitter.

The Sox offense provided Lester with the runs he needed to perform his Monday Night Magic in the bottom of the third inning. J.D. Drew led off the inning with a line drive single into right field. Trying to stay out of the double play, Drew and catcher Jason Varitek perfected the hit-and-run when the captain lined a based hit into left field, sending Drew to third. If it was for the hit-and-run Varitek’s single would have been an easy 6-4-3 double play with two outs in the inning but with Drew off on the pitch, it pulled Royals shortstop Tony Pena, Jr. out of position; thus giving up a base hit to Varitek.

Number nine hitter shortstop Julio Lugo made the first two outs of the inning with a ground ball to Pena for the 6-4-3 double play but not before Drew came in the back door with the first run of the game. With two outs, Royals starter Luke Hochevar thought he would be able to “minimize the damage” (I will never be able to get that out of my head. Thanks Coach!) by allowing just one run and keeping KC in the game. But that was not going to happen. Lester was in the zone and so was the Red Sox offense.

Rookie Jacoby Ellsbury – who just four months older than Lester – kept the inning alive with a triple over the head of Royals center fielder David DeJesus. Hochevar continued to struggle, walking the bases loaded (Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz) before walking Manny Ramirez to put the Sox up 2-0 and getting the first RBI of the game. (Statistical rules state that a player who grounds into a double play but drives in a run will not be credited with an RBI. Do not mess with SIDs.)

The Royals defense would shoot themselves in the foot with third baseman Mike Lowell at the plate. At the lowest forms of organized baseball, kindergarten tee-ball, children are taught “two hands when you catch the ball, two hands.” It is one of the fundamentals of baseball but it seems that many of our major leaguers have forgotten what they have learned as five year olds. And tonight veteran, Gold Glove second baseman Mark Grudzielanek made the infamous error to keep the inning alive when he let a routine pop up by Lowell clank off his glove, scoring two runs. First baseman Kevin Youkilis was the ninth hitter to bat in the inning and lined a Hochevar offering into right center that was fading away from DeJesus for a double, plating Ramirez.

Those were plenty of runs for the Sox lefty but Varitek felt the need to add two more runs three innings later with his fifth homerun of the season driving Drew to give the Red Sox the 7-0 lead. But the story and focus of the game was Lester. He flirted with a no-hitter earlier this season against the Toronto Blue Jays on April 29 at Fenway, pitching eight scoreless innings before turning the game over to Jonathan Papelbon with the game tied 0-0. In that game the Sox pulled out the 1-0 win the in bottom of the ninth, giving Papelbon his first win of the season.

But tonight was his night and he was on his game. He was one strike out shy of matching his single game high with nine strike outs. Lester struck out 10 National batters on June 21, 2006, 11 days after his Major League Debut against the Texas Rangers on Saturday June 10, 2006. If what everyone says is true, “our legacies are marked by our entrances and exits” then Jon Lester is going to have a good one to tell his grandchildren when he is 75 years old. With a one-hitter and no-hitter in the same season and a World Series clinching win under his belt, he is on his way to have a good career in the majors.

The Sox will return to action against the Royals tomorrow night when the young 23-year-old Justin Masterson makes his second career start. Masterson was re-called from Pawtucket earlier today to make the start for the injured Clay Buchholz. To make room for Masterson on the roster the Red Sox optioned Chris Smith back to Pawtucket. The last time he was in Boston he pitched six innings allowing just one run on two hits while striking out four and walking four before the Boston bullpen imploded for the 7-5 loss. Masterson will be opposed by the Royals right hander Gil Meche. On the season, Meche is 3-5 with a 5.98 ERA with 35 strike outs 19 walks and a 1.48 WHIP.

WIN: Jon Lester (3-2)

LOSS: Luke Hochevar (3-3)

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Game Notes:

Since 1969, the Red Sox are 195-205 against the Royals but are 16 games over .500 while in the friendly confines of Fenway Park against Kansas City at 108-92.

Keep an eye on the Royals 24-year-old third baseman, Alex Gordon. In his sophomore season he has come around and has a good shot at being selected for the 2008 American League All Star team with lack of all star talent at the position this year. On the season, Gordon is hitting .286 with five homeruns and 20 RBIs and has an OPS of .799, trailing only Chicago’s Joe Crede for the AL lead at third.

Sox left handed set-up man Hideki Okajima told Terry Francona his sore left wrist is fine and available in tonight's game to pitch.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Jon Lester, BOSTON ---- 9IP, 0H, 0R, 9K, 2BB

2. Jason Varitek, BOSTON --- 2-3; Homerun, 2 RBIs

3. J.D. Drew, BOSTON ---- 1-3; 2 Runs-scored

Kevin Youkilis ends the Sox 5 game losing streak with a two-out single in the ninth to claim game one of the series 1-0

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RED SOX EDGE OUT BLUE JAYS 1-0; MOVE TO 16-12
Kevin Youkilis ends the Sox 5 game losing streak with a two-out single in the ninth to claim game one of the series 1-0

(April 29, 2008) – There is a saying that the better the competition you are playing against the better it makes you as an athlete. Well this is what happened to the Red Sox 24-year-old left-hander Jon Lester tonight. Toronto ace Roy Halladay is an overall better pitcher with a career record of 113-58, 1,106 strike outs and an ERA of 3.63 but tonight Lester matched Halladay pitch-for-pitch.

There was an Old Time Baseball feel at the ballpark. None of this new generation, offense is everything business. It was simply Old Time Baseball where defense and pitching was everything. (I think Steve Buckley would be proud. So be sure to read in the Boston Herald tomorrow about how Buckley remembers pitchers completing games all the time back in the day. Which, according to Dane Cook, was a Wednesday by the way.) Both starters went eight inning combining to allow just four hits total and striking out 12 opposing batters.

From the first inning with Halladay on the mound, there was the feeling the first pitcher to make a mistake would be the loser. But neither pitcher made a mistake until the bottom of the ninth inning. It looked as if the Sox and Jays would be heading to extra frames after Coco Crisp and Dustin Pedroia flew out to center and popped to third, respectively but David Ortiz, who was 0-3 before stepping to the plate in the ninth, walked to bring Manny Ramirez to the plate. Ramirez kept the inning alive with a bloop base hit in front of Jays center fielder Vernon Wells to give Kevin Youkilis the chance to be a hero and he was. The base it was not a scorching line drive but it had enough juice on it to get past John McDonald and Aaron Hill for the game winner.

Remember folks the ninth inning rally all started when Ortiz drew the walk against Halladay so conclusions can be drawn from tonight’s game. Ortiz is not just a clutch player when he hitting game winning homeruns or doubles he is clutch when he does whatever is necessary to prolong the inning to give the Red Sox the opportunity to pull it out in the end. Remember that Red Sox fans. He may be slumping now but if it was not for Ortiz tonight, Youkilis would not have been the number one star of the game. Ortiz does whatever it takes for the team to win even when he is not playing well.

Lester walked four Toronto batters but was able to “minimize the damage” thanks to the defense behind him. He was helped out by two double plays in the fifth and sixth inning after a hit and a walk, respectively. Lester completed full innings before being replaced by closer Jonathan Papelbon who would get his first win of the season when Youkilis drove in Ortiz in the bottom of the ninth.

(photo courtesy of TLC) In the fifth inning if Lester had a second baseman who was two inches taller than Zach Roloff (left) then his no-hit bid would have still been intact going into the ninth. But Lyle Overbay's base hit was just a tad too high for little second baseman to snag from the sky. (Actually on second thought I think Zach would made that catch.)

Halladay also pitched magnificent for Toronto. Tonight’s game was his fourth consecutive start where he went the distance, pitching nine innings giving up one run on five hits while walking just one Sox hitters while striking out six. The Blue Jays did not give their Ace run support tonight.

After being pushed back to Wednesday night, Daisuke Matsuzaka go for his fifth win of the season against the Jays right hander Dustin McGowan. Matsuzaka is coming of an 11-3 win against Texas where he allowed three earned runs on five hits while striking our four Rangers in 5.1 innings. McGowan, who will be looking to bring his record back to .500 against the Japanese sensation, is 1-2 on the season with a 4.18 ERA and 23 strike outs. In his last start against the Rays in St. Petersburg, the Jays righty pitched just four innings while allowing five runs – four of them earned – on four hits while walking seven Rays and striking out six.

WIN: Jonathan Papelbon (1-1)

LOSS: Roy Halladay (2-4)

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Game Notes:

22 years ago today – Roger Clemens set the record for the game high strike outs with 20 against the Seattle Mariners.

The Jays broke a six game losing streak on Sunday with a 5-2 against the Kansas City Royals behind Jesse Litsch. Coming into tonight’s game the Sox lost five of their last 10 games and are relying on the young Jon Lester to snap the five game losing streak.

Terry Francona held Jacoby Ellsbury out of the line up due to a sore groin and says it's not worth letting the injury linger.

J.D. Drew left the game in the top of the third with a left quadriceps injury that he appeared to injure running out a ground ball to the shortstop David Eckstein. Brandon Moss replaced him in the field. In the top of third.

The 3 Stars of the Game:

1. Kevin Youkilis, BOSTON 2-4 Game winning RBI

2. Jon Lester, BOSTON 8IP, 1H, 0R, 3BB, 6K

3. Roy Halladay, TORONTO 9.0, 5H, 1ER, 1BB, 6K

David Ortiz’s first homerun of the season lead Sox to a 3-1 series win over Oakland

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RED SOX SHUT OUT ATHLETICS 5-0 TO MOVE TO 3-1
David Ortiz’s first homerun of the season lead Sox to a 3-1 series win over Oakland

(April 2, 2008) – Who said the number 13 was an unlucky number? It was not for David Ortiz at least. On Ortiz’s 13^th at bat of the season, he dropped a bloop single in front of Emil Brown in the fifth for his first hit of the season. Two innings later he would break the nothing-nothing tie with a high, two-run homerun to right centerfield. The Sox went on to win 5-0 behind 6 2/3 strong innings by Sox lefty Jon Lester, who allowed just two hits and three walks while striking out three.

Early on in the game, Harden did not look like the same pitcher who struck out nine Red Sox hitters in Japan. In 14 pitches, he allowed a single to Dustin Pedroia, two walks to Kevin Youkilis and Ortiz with not a single out in the inning. The Sox were poised to do some major damage against Harden in the first.

But then the light seemed to switch on in Harden’s head becoming the pitcher he was seven days ago, striking out both Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell swinging for the first two outs of the game. Playing in his first game of the season since sitting out the previous three games with back spasms, J.D. Drew stranded Pedroia, Youkilis and Ortiz by grounding out to first base to end the first inning.

On the mound for the Red Sox, Lester had his way with Oakland hitters. Although allowing sporadic hits to Oakland hitters (Daric Barton and Jack Hannahan) they never materialized into scoring opportunities for the Athletics. Every time Oakland got a runner on base he was wiped out by either a double play or a strike out. The only time the Athletics got a runner to third base, on Lester, was in the first inning on Mike Sweeney’s fielder’s choice to shortstop sending Barton (who doubled to left in his at-bat) to third.

Lester benefited from some good defense behind him in three consecutive innings. In the bottom of the second, he walked shortstop Bobby Crosby on four pitches he was aided by a double play ball, by catcher Kurt Suzuki, to shortstop to end the inning. The next inning, third baseman Hannahan singled to lead off the inning but Lester was able to get center fielder, Chris Denorfia to ground to shortstop for another double play. The fourth inning saw another lead off walk by the Sox left hander but after a Jack Cust strike out, Lester was able to get Brown to pop out to Drew who then threw to first to get Sweeney who strayed to far off the bag.

Harden left the game after five innings and was relieved by Andrew Brown. After hitting Lowell in the ribs, Brown appeared to on the verge of getting out of the inning unscathed. He struck out Drew and catcher Kurt Suzuki caught Lowell trying to steal and only needed one more out but that out would not come without some pressure. Brown walked Varitek and gave up a hit to Coco Crisp before being relieved by former Sox pitcher, Alan Embree but did not offer any relief. Embree hit the first batter he faced (Alex Cora) in the hand to load the bases. For the first time since the first the Sox had the bases loaded and just like the first they squandered the opportunity to put points on the board when Pedroia grounded into a fielder’s choice to shortstop.

But good teams find a way to win. When Youkilis led off the seventh inning with a double to left center, Ortiz took a 1-2 fastball to deep right center to give the Red Sox the 2-0 lead. From their they would not look back and went on to the 5-0 victory as well as their first series win of 2008.

The Sox will send Tim Wakefield to the mound when they travel North of the Border to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to play the Blue Jays on Friday April 4 at 7:15pm. Wakefield will be making his first start of the 2008 season and will be opposed by Jays right hander Shaun Marcum. Marcum was 12-6 last year with a 4.13 ERA and 122 strike outs. The Red Sox knuckleballer is coming off a 17 win season (17-12) with a 4.76 ERA and 110 strike outs.

WIN: Jon Lester (1-1)

LOSS: Alan Embree (0-1)

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Game Notes:

Daric Barton’s double in the bottom of the first was his first hit of the season. Coming into today’s game, Barton was 0-for-9.

David Ortiz’s First Hit Watch:

Ortiz got his first hit of the season in the top of the fifth inning with two outs and a man on first. It was a bloop single just over the head of third baseman Jack Hannahan.

Third Time’s a Charm:

For the third in the game and second time with no outs, the Sox loaded the bases in the top of the eighth but for the first time they took advantage of the opportunity. Pedroia and Youkilis singled home Varitek and Crisp, respectively, against left hander Lenny DiNardo and right hander Santiago Casilla, respectively, to give Boston the 4-0 lead.

Top Three Stars of the Game:

1. David Ortiz, BOSTON – 2-4 Game Winning 2-run HR, 2RBI
2. Jon Lester, BOSTON – 6.2IP, 2H, 0ER, 3BB, 3K – 94 pitches – 53 for strikes
3. Jason Varitek, BOSTON – 2-4 HR, RBI