The Nest

After a mysterious “illness” it was finally revealed that Heidi Watney (WikiPedia) was down for the count with a concussion but will return to her duties with the gang at NESN.

Here’s an article at The Herald to explain.

The article doesn’t give many details but does seem to suggest that the injury was sustained doing something “Stooge-like”. I can relate.

She says she’s anxious to get back to work and who can blame her? When you “work” at live Red Sox games, it’s not hard to like what you do.

mlb red sox heidi watney

Normally anytime you can take 2 out of 3 games in a series would be considered a victory.

Let’s face it – the lowly O’s, who had come into Sunday’s game winning only 2 of their first 18 games are ripe for picking. Anything less than a sweep of these cellar dwellers is a fail in my book.

The Sox of late have been showing what they’re capable of but as I mentioned in a previous post, this doesn’t mean that they’re back on track. Apparently far from it.

They’re still struggling with runners in scoring position. They can occasionally come up with the clutch hit but then can’t seem to seal the deal and plate the runs.

David Ortiz is still mired in a prolonged slump despite hitting his first homerun of the season this weekend.

And perhaps scariest of all – the bullpen is a mere shell of what it once was. No longer do they enjoy the “Stopper” label they once earned. After nearly giving it up in Saturday’s game allowing 3 runs in the top of the ninth, they took it on the chin in Sunday’s game and ruined what turned out to be a decent outing for Wakefield.

With Daisuke Matsuzaka returning to the rotation, Wakefield who gave up 7 hits and 2 runs in 6 2/3 innings in Sunday’s outing will be relegated to the bullpen. In my opinion his contrasting style of pitching makes him much more effective in the relief role. I’ve always felt that once an batter gets the “feel” for the knuckleball it turns into batting practice for the opposing team.

The Sox need to turn a corner and fast. The season may be long but digging your way back from the bottom of the pile has to take its toll and they’ll need that energy just to keep up with the Yankees this season. I don’t see the Yankees doing anything less than what they accomplished last year. If Boston is going to make a run at them, they’ll have to start building momentum soon.

mlb red sox Matsuzaka Wakefield Orioles

For two nights in a row the Red Sox have turned their lackluster play into nail-biting excitement.

They seemed to come off their Wednesday night win with some momentum and were quick to show off their new found enthusiasm. With Mike Lowell homering in the bottom of the first to chip away at a (temporary) Ranger lead and J. D. Drew doing the same – only with the bases loaded in the bottom 3rd – the Sox looked to be back on the road to playing better baseball. They were enjoying a 7-4 lead by the bottom of the 5th with single runs added in the 4th and 5th innings.

All would have been fine and dandy were it not for Becket giving up the gopher ball to Josh Hamilton in the top of the 7th for a game tying 3 run blast.

Dry Spell?

After scoring in the bottom of the fifth the beantown boys would have to wait another 7 innings for a hit and a chance to finish this one off. The Ranger bullpen was stingy to say the least. Until Scutaro’s base hit to left in the bottom of the 12th they retired 18 Sox batters in a row.

Can they do it again?

From there heads up base running and a long fly out from Drew put Scutaro on second base and set the stage for Kevin Youkilis. At first, I though he hit it out but the ball didn’t carry. It did however bang off the Green Monster for the second night in a row to give the Sox the victory. As the chorus of Youuuuuuuuk cascaded down onto the field, Scutaro crossed the plate with the winning run, right fist pumped to the sky and the dugout exploded onto the field to pig pile their latest hero.

Back on track

Does this mean the Sox are finally back to their winning ways? I’m afraid it’s not that simple. In every season there are highs and lows. A quick look over the last 7 games is a great example. Some of those games were hard to watch! At times they looked like they were phoning it in. It was discouraging at best. These last two games were proof to me and I suspect to the newer guys on the squad that this team can overcome adversity and mistakes. Will they? It’s a long season and I think it’s in Francona’s best interest to put his best team on the field the the big egos kept in check.

My biggest concern is Big Papi. For two years in a row, he’s come out of the gate slow – he did pick it up in the second half last year but Boston can’t wait that long on a guy they’ve come to depend on in late innings. Replacing him with Lowell is a temporary fix and while it worked out great last night, you can’t expect that to happen every time.

Unless Ortiz comes around in a big way and in a big hurry, they need to think about another DH.

mlb red sox Youkilis Green Monster Big Papi

It started out ominously – much like many of the last few games the Sox have played…

and then went downhill quickly. At least that’s the way the Rangers looked on the basepaths. Steals, double steals, not even an attempt to throw out the offending runner at times. In all the Rangers swiped 9 bases in total. It did look bad – so much so that I couldn’t watch. I went out back to get some work done and listened on the radio.

Once they tied it in the bottom of the eighth on a two run blast from some young upstart with that minor league look still visible on his face, I summoned the courage to go back out and watch the last inning – hoping beyond hope that somehow they might just pull this one out and end this excruciating skid.

Would you like fries with that?

With two out in the bottom of the ninth and extra innings looking more and more likely, who comes to the plate again but this kid freshly picked from the minors. Well lightning wouldn’t strike twice would it? Could this kid, with all the pressure on him and no experience on the big stage deliver one more time?

Looking back, he made it look easy. He not only delivered but seemingly effortlessly. He seemed more concerned with the contents of the dugout which had emptied and was charging straight for him, Papelbon leading the way with a look in his eye that could scare a wild boar. They quickly converged on the unassuming McDonald and piled on ’til I was sure the poor kid couldn’t possible survive under that sea of MLB humanity.

But survive he did, a little disheveled maybe but looking very happy as he got to play the hero in not one but his first two plate appearances in the bigs. So, to Mr. “Hit-a-homerun-And-a-single-to-win-it-in-the-ninth” Darnell McDonald, I say thank you, thank you, thank you!

mlb red sox Darnall McDonald

Seems like everytime Garza takes the mound against the Sox, he wins.

Just once I’d like to see them get to him early, gain a comfortable 4 or 5 run lead before he has a chance to settle into the game. The problem is, the way they’ve been playing, even a 5 run lead wouldn’t guarantee a win. Look at Fri/Sat’s suspended game. Bases loaded with nobody out in the bottom of the 11th. It should have been a foregone conclusion that somebody could have gotten a ball deep enough to score a run. What an incredible squander!… and that defeatist attitude seemed to carry right into the next game.

The Ol’ Days

The way they’re playing recently reminds me of the (not so good) old days (pre World Series) when you watched for the enjoyment of watching – knowing full well that they were probably going to lose but you watched anyway because that’s what you did if you were a Red Sox fan.

Let’s Hope

Let’s hope the days of late inning offensive heroics, stellar infield play and stingy starting pitching aren’t gone. Let’s hope that Big Papi can (finally) get back on track – and do it earlier than he did last year. Let’s hope that Mike Cameron can find some level of comfort in center field – he looks a little lost out there sometimes. Let’s hope that Youk, J.D. and Vmart can get back on the hit train and start producing runs with some regularity.

mlb red sox garza

If the first four games are any indication, the Red Sox are going to have a tough time of it early in the ‘10 campaign.

With the lineup shuffled around, the bullpen tanking and Ortiz once again mired in an early slump the Sox are struggling to find their footing.

The good news is it’s early and there are bright spots.

The new aquisitions – Beltre and Scutaro seem to have the left side of the infield anchored down well enough and there’s even more speed in the outfield with the addition of Mike Cameron though he did look a little shaky on the ball hit over his head Friday night in Kansas City.

As usual, Dustin Pedroia is playing his usual stellar game in the field and for the second year in a row homered on opening day.

We’ll see what the rest of the series in KC brings but if they can’t pull 2 out of 3 from the Royals, Francona may have to look into some more lineup changes.

pedroia mlb red sox mike cameron