Sunday, August 19, 2012
Red Sox v. Orioles
The Red Sox lost another series to the Baltimore Orioles, losing two out of three games. With two games that just simply slipped out of their hands (such as Beckett) the Red Sox are just proving everyone else that they aren't strong enough to get back into the wildcard race.
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Rangers v. Red Sox - Three Game Series
Well, with the Rangers 10-9 win in today's afternoon game at Fenway Park they also take the series from the Sox, winning two out of three. The entire series highlighted, at least for me, how big of a lost-cause Josh Beckett has become. I mean, giving up THAT many runs is just sickening to me and makes me wonder why the hell we didn't sell him at the trade deadline. The Red Sox need to swallow their pride and make necessary adjustments to the starting rotation in order to preserve the opportunity for the offense to fight back.
If there's anything I've learned from this series with the Rangers is that the Red Sox can score runs. Gonzalez went three for five today, bringing his average up to .310 and bringing in three more runs to his now seventy-two total. Middlebrooks also had a great day (despite choking in the bottom of the ninth with Cody Ross at second) with another three-run homer to tie the game in the seventh. And I cannot believe the weight Cody Ross has carried recently, going three-for-four with a walk this past game, just a triple short of the cycle. And once those hits keep coming, we're going to see that batting average creep up in the .300 range for sure. He's currently batting .277 but .357 so far this month.
In terms of other significant players, I like what Carl Crawford's been doing so far this month by really stepping up his game. Jacoby Ellsbury, you know...it's tough to say for me because I truly honestly love this kid - I do...but he's not been playing to what the level I know he's capable of. Last year he was a 30-30 player, runner-up MVP and hit .321 in a time of a Sox collapse. Needless to say he left on a very good note, prior to his injury of course, but he really needs to get back in the groove, acknowledge his slump and perform at the level we all know he can perform at. And Ortiz, where the hell did he go? I mean, I know he's hurting and what not and what not but you'd think Valentine would AT LEAST give him a pinch hit appearance in place of Ryan Lavarnway - the worst hitter (in my opinion) on the team?
The Red Sox sit 55-57 going into a four-game series against the 51-60 Cleveland Indians. I just hope they can take advantage of their current slump to produce some more wins that they desperately need.
If there's anything I've learned from this series with the Rangers is that the Red Sox can score runs. Gonzalez went three for five today, bringing his average up to .310 and bringing in three more runs to his now seventy-two total. Middlebrooks also had a great day (despite choking in the bottom of the ninth with Cody Ross at second) with another three-run homer to tie the game in the seventh. And I cannot believe the weight Cody Ross has carried recently, going three-for-four with a walk this past game, just a triple short of the cycle. And once those hits keep coming, we're going to see that batting average creep up in the .300 range for sure. He's currently batting .277 but .357 so far this month.
In terms of other significant players, I like what Carl Crawford's been doing so far this month by really stepping up his game. Jacoby Ellsbury, you know...it's tough to say for me because I truly honestly love this kid - I do...but he's not been playing to what the level I know he's capable of. Last year he was a 30-30 player, runner-up MVP and hit .321 in a time of a Sox collapse. Needless to say he left on a very good note, prior to his injury of course, but he really needs to get back in the groove, acknowledge his slump and perform at the level we all know he can perform at. And Ortiz, where the hell did he go? I mean, I know he's hurting and what not and what not but you'd think Valentine would AT LEAST give him a pinch hit appearance in place of Ryan Lavarnway - the worst hitter (in my opinion) on the team?
The Red Sox sit 55-57 going into a four-game series against the 51-60 Cleveland Indians. I just hope they can take advantage of their current slump to produce some more wins that they desperately need.
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Catch Up
Well, I haven't really been keeping up with my blog like I would've hoped earlier on; it's quite a bit of work and I sort of gave up on it for a while due to a lack of audience. I've decided recently to continue my work periodically - maybe, once every series or so? I don't know...we will see.
Anyway, since I've last left off, July has been a very busy month for a lot of teams such as the A's, the Angels, The Twins, etc. However, many other teams have lost their grasp on contention such as the Yankees, the Rangers and arguably the Red Sox as well. I know we were all hoping for a great July run from the Sox to bounce back and get back up where they should be - first place. But, with baseball being such a non-advantageous sport, it is virtually impossible to dominate in such a small window of time.
Boston currently ranks fourth in the AL East (for all of you people who do not know) right above the struggling Blue Jays by a game and below the struggling Rays by two games. After an up and down July for the Sox, I was happy to see them finally get in the groove as they ended the month by winning both the Yankees and Tigers Series - two of the best teams.
But, come August, they almost get swept by the TWINS??? Ugh, when Aceves let up that Go-Ahead three-run homer to Joe Mauer in game three I thought I was going to throw up. I mean, I know the Twins are finally starting to pick up their crap offensively but my God, we should have swept them like dirt under a rug. That being said, a two game winning streak isn't anything to necessarily be happy about - granted, they did crush the Rangers last night in probably the best offensive game I've seen the Fantastic Four hit in all season (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Crawford, Gonzalez) but we knew all along that they were capable of that.
However, the starting pitching for the Sox I still find inconsolable; Lester and Beckett, two of the greatest pitchers in the game, have slumped to a point that left bad tastes in a lot of Bostonian mouths. At LEAST Bucholtz has come around to become the number one pitcher - at LEAST Cook finally found his groove to shut down one of the greatest offenses in baseball to just one run - at LEAST Franklin Morales can stay calm and humble on the mound to get decent results. Lester debuts tonight against Ryan Dempster, the recent pickup of the Rangers, in an epic pitching duel. With the way the Sox have been hitting, I don't see why they would have a problem tonight unless Lester really you-know-what's the bed.
I don't think this season will end particularly fantastic for the Red Sox, but they certainly can turn their course around in two months to AT LEAST clinch a wildcard position if not take the division title; we saw Tampa Bay do that last year in what said to be the most epic regular season last-day in baseball - if not all sports - history.
Anyway, since I've last left off, July has been a very busy month for a lot of teams such as the A's, the Angels, The Twins, etc. However, many other teams have lost their grasp on contention such as the Yankees, the Rangers and arguably the Red Sox as well. I know we were all hoping for a great July run from the Sox to bounce back and get back up where they should be - first place. But, with baseball being such a non-advantageous sport, it is virtually impossible to dominate in such a small window of time.
Boston currently ranks fourth in the AL East (for all of you people who do not know) right above the struggling Blue Jays by a game and below the struggling Rays by two games. After an up and down July for the Sox, I was happy to see them finally get in the groove as they ended the month by winning both the Yankees and Tigers Series - two of the best teams.
But, come August, they almost get swept by the TWINS??? Ugh, when Aceves let up that Go-Ahead three-run homer to Joe Mauer in game three I thought I was going to throw up. I mean, I know the Twins are finally starting to pick up their crap offensively but my God, we should have swept them like dirt under a rug. That being said, a two game winning streak isn't anything to necessarily be happy about - granted, they did crush the Rangers last night in probably the best offensive game I've seen the Fantastic Four hit in all season (Ellsbury, Pedroia, Crawford, Gonzalez) but we knew all along that they were capable of that.
However, the starting pitching for the Sox I still find inconsolable; Lester and Beckett, two of the greatest pitchers in the game, have slumped to a point that left bad tastes in a lot of Bostonian mouths. At LEAST Bucholtz has come around to become the number one pitcher - at LEAST Cook finally found his groove to shut down one of the greatest offenses in baseball to just one run - at LEAST Franklin Morales can stay calm and humble on the mound to get decent results. Lester debuts tonight against Ryan Dempster, the recent pickup of the Rangers, in an epic pitching duel. With the way the Sox have been hitting, I don't see why they would have a problem tonight unless Lester really you-know-what's the bed.
I don't think this season will end particularly fantastic for the Red Sox, but they certainly can turn their course around in two months to AT LEAST clinch a wildcard position if not take the division title; we saw Tampa Bay do that last year in what said to be the most epic regular season last-day in baseball - if not all sports - history.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)