Game 11,000,000: Rays @ Red Sox -- September 7, 2010
Win by 8 this time or don't bother.
Oh, wait, this is the matchup?
Never mind then...
Scoot is back, despite "tears" showing up in the MRI. None of the young'uns except Lowrie, either. Sad.
What we lost... what we "gained"
I'm here bored in my office, such is the life of an intern who works where they didn't have enough work for him to do in the first place. I was thinking about our predicament and the current arguments, whether this is poor managing or injuries or both or what have you. One post caught my mind, yes we're 2nd in the league in runs scored, but how many more or less would we have if the guys we had to start the season had finished it?
14 comments | 4 recs |
September Call-Ups: Michael Bowden Rejoins The Red Sox
This might be the last one folks, but Brian MacPherson tweets that Michael Bowden is on the way back as possibly the last September call-up.
Bowden being the last man up makes a lot of sense. The MILB season ended yesterday, leaving no other reason to keep guys behind past today. If you're not up now, you're probably not coming up this year. But that remains to be seen.
Most of you readers know all about Michael Bowden's up-and-down career with the Red Sox from top prospect to guy who gets hit in the majors. We'll see if he can break free from that reputation with a strong month. Given how Tito is running the pen lately, he should at least get a shot.
Minor Lines 9/7/10: Farewell, Regular Season
Pawtucket W 4-3
Josh Reddick: 2-3, 2B, HR
-An up-and-down season for Reddick, but he finishes on a very high note. We'll see if his no walks, no strikeout approach can transfer to the majors.
Jason Varitek: 1-3, K
Aaron Bates: 1-2, 2 BB
-Not a good year for Mr. Bates. A relatively low BABIP explains some of it, but a K-rate over 25% explains more.
Mark Wagner: 0-4
-A lost year for Wagner, who really needed this season as an opportunity to show his high notes were for real and his low notes were adjustment periods. But he broke his hand early, and never really recovered.
Jorge Jimenez: 1-3, 3B, BB, K
-After nearly making a major league roster thanks to the Rule-5 draft, Jimenez ended up OPSing under .600 in Triple-A.
Tony ends the year strong after the jump.
Kalish's Slam Highlights Red Sox Rout Of Rays
Going into the game tonight, the Red Sox' lineup spoke of surrender. Ryan Kalish, Lars Anderson, and Yamaico Navarro were batting 7th, 8th, and 9th respective while Daniel Nava was in the leadoff spot.
Well, Navarro could only manage a sacrifice fly, and Lars Anderson certainly looked overmatched in his Major League debut.
But Daniel Nava got on base three times, and Kalish...Well, Kalish walked, he singled, and he took a 3-1 Andy Sonnanstine fastball and deposited in the bleacher seats. With the bases loaded.
It was Kalish' second career grand slam in under 100 at bats, and while it was perhaps the loudest hit of the night, the fact is that the game was already all-but-over by that point.
After Jon Lester ran into some more first inning trouble, allowing Tampa to get on the board first with a run, Boston came out shooting in the bottom of the inning. With two outs, Victor Martinez drew a walk, setting up David Ortiz for the first homer of the night, curling around Pesky's Pole. Three pitches later, and Adrian Beltre swatted the second into the monster seats.
The Sox didn't let up at all in the second, either. A parade of, again, two out baserunners resulted in three runs thanks to a Victor Martinez single and David Ortiz double. Ortiz would add two walks in a very successful night. Jeff Niemann fled the game with just five outs recorded, and six runs allowed.
After allowing runs in the first and third innings, Lester settled down, and actually ended up with a pretty nice line for the night, including his third straight game with ten strikeouts. Lester was pulled with just 95 pitches thrown through the first six innings, giving Terry Francona a chance to get a look at some of the young guys and call-ups. What he saw was not pretty.
Out came Robert Coello, the most recent call-up from Triple-A Pawtucket, and an alumnus of the same independent league of Daniel Nava. And with him came baserunners. The Rays surrounded a flyout with a trio of singles, loading the bases. What followed was almost as funny as it was sad.
After fighting Brad Hawpe to a full count, Coello gave up a bases loaded walk on the seventh pitch of the at bat. Four pitches later, and he walked in hitless rookie Desmond Jennings. In came Dustin Richardson, and in walked another run. Finally, Tito called on Scott Atchison, who recorded five mercifully quiet outs. Hideki Okajima followed it up with a quiet ninth, giving the Red Sox the 12-5 win.
No matter how "out" of it you think the Sox are, it's always nice to beat up on a rival. All the better when it's the kids getting the job done. Here's to another rout of Tampa tomorrow.
Game Thread: Rays @ Red Sox -- September 6, 2010
Good evening to those still with us.
It's Lestah time! Sure, the O's beat him up a little last time, but he struck guys out, so it's all good!
Then there's this Niemann guy who's been kicked around the last few games.
But he should have a good shot at rebounding, because the Sox are employing the "surrender lineup." That's right, if you still have faith that this team is going to the postseason, well, you're even more optimistic than the Sox themselves.
At least it should be interesting, though. All four of those bottom guys are potentially big parts of the future.
Go Sox rookies! And Lowrie! And Lester! And the rest of them too I guess!
If Beltre hits 30 dingers and drives in 100, can he be some kind of Type-AA free agent maybe? Possibly? I know Elias likes that kind of stuff. And I like draft picks!
Jason Varitek Activated From The Disabled List
Jason Varitek will rejoin the Red Sox' active roster for the first time since June, as Scott Lauber is reporting that the Captain will be activated from the disabled list tonight after a two game rehab stint in Pawtucket.
Varitek has been out since breaking his foot in the June 30 game against the Rays. It had been something of a resurgent year for Tek, who was finding a great deal more success with the added rest that came with his backup role, hitting .263/.324/.547.
The question now becomes how the playing time situation will work out. With the Red Sox' focus shifting to the future and seeing how the call-ups perform, Jarrod Saltalamacchia would seem to be the priority now. It might be hard Tek to come across at bats as the season wears down.
Red Sox September Call-Ups Round 3: Lars Anderson, Josh Reddick On The Way
UPDATE: Dan Barbarisi confirms that Reddick is on the way up.
UPDATE: Rob Bradford has the lineup for tonight--including Lars Anderson at #8.
First baseman Lars Anderson has been promoted from Triple-A Pawtucket according to SoxProspects.com, and will make his first trip up to the big leagues of his career. Also, after launching his second home run in September, Paw Sox announcer Dan Hoard says outfielder Josh Reddick has been pulled from the Pawtucket Red Sox' final game of the season. Presumably, he's on his way up as well.
Once the unanimous top prospect in the Boston system, Lars Anderson struggled through an injury-riddled 2009 season in Double-A, dropping down the charts in favor of players like Casey Kelly, Ryan Kalish, and the aforementioned Josh Reddick. But Lars came out of the gates on fire in 2010, posting a .355/.408/.677 line in 17 games with Double-A Portland before being promoted to Pawtucket. His bat stalled out there some, but his numbers have improved in the last two months.
Josh Reddick's story is kind of like Lars', except everything is much more dramatic and happens rather more quickly. After a strong first half of 2009 in Portland, Reddick got the call-up straight to the majors, where he showed off his power but lost what plate discipline it appeared he had built up in recent months. Sent back down to Triple-A Pawtucket, Reddick struggled tremendously, hitting just .127/.190/.183 in the last 18 games of the year.
Things didn't go much better to start 2010, either, culminating in an awful May where he managed an OPS of only .528. Things improved from there, though, until suddenly August came around, and the old Reddick reappeared. He still wasn't one to take walks, but with a line of .350/.370/.626 with 8 homers and 10 doubles in just 120 at bats, who's complaining?









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