Game 111: Despite Best Efforts, Red Sox Beat Tigers

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 10, 2009 11:03 PM EDT

Final - 8.10.2009	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit Tigers	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	5	5	0
Boston Red Sox	2	2	0	0	1	0	1	0	X	6	12	0
WP: Ramon Ramirez (6 - 3) SV: Jonathan Papelbon (28) LP: Zach Miner (5 - 2)

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They tried their hardest. Up 4-0, Brad Penny hit Miguel Cabrera with the first pitch of the fourth and J.D. Drew made a horrible play in right field to give the Tigers back 2 runs. Manny Delcarmen blew up some in the 7th giving them the tie game at 5-5, and Ramon Ramirez put runners on first and second with nobody out in the 8th.

But the Red Sox somehow managed to win. Finally.

The offense was on tonight. Dustin Pedroia hit a 2-run shot in the first, and Nick Green and Jason Bay tacked on solo homers of their own. Every Sox player had a hit except for Victor Martinez (who absolutely tagged a couple of balls) for a total of twelve, and they added 4 walks. Ultimately, though, it was a little bit of small ball that won the game. J.D. Drew went 1st-to-3rd on a hit-and-run when Casey Kotchman singled up the middle, and Nick Green hit a sacrifice fly to bring him in.

The pitching was...mixed. Brad Penny put together a nice performance, earning a quality start with 3 earned runs over 6 innings. Really, though, one of those earned runs was a result of Drew's misplayed ball, and after the sixth his pitch count (93) was low enough to give him a shot at finally finishing the 7th, though he was not given the chance. Delcarmen was very inconsistent and seemed afraid to challenge batters with his fastball. Ramirez got in quite a bit of trouble before being bailed out by Papelbon, who pitched 1.1 perfect with a strikeout for a very nice close.

So, Red Sox Nation, how does it feel to finally win again?

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Comments

I got to use my title.

Wheee

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 10, 2009 11:03 PM EDT reply actions

SPAM

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 3:35 AM EDT up reply actions

They keep records of flags received, y'know?

>_> Just sayin’

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 11, 2009 5:39 AM EDT up reply actions

Didn't actually flag it.

Just joking.

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions

My overflow post in the GT is flagged. =(

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 11, 2009 1:59 PM EDT up reply actions

Not by me.

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 4:35 PM EDT up reply actions

Now I remember what winning feels like...

Nice offensive game, though I wish they could have scraped more than one one off on Ni. His pitches looked pretty flat.

Props go to Pap. A nine pitch save, and didnt allow a baserunner.

by ritz on Aug 10, 2009 11:26 PM EDT reply actions

Small sample size, but here's the graphs of his pitches:

Average Track, Bird’s Eye
Average Track, Side
Movement Graph
Average MLB Movement for LHP, in case anyone wants to compare Ni’s pitches to a baseline.

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 3:41 AM EDT up reply actions

See. Its like last night...

never happened. Now only 5 1/2 back with the Yankees loss.

These August series…. way over-rated.

by rosebud on Aug 10, 2009 11:40 PM EDT reply actions

The bullpen is really shaky lately

Except for Paps, who was great tonight.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Aug 10, 2009 11:40 PM EDT reply actions

It sure was nice of 06/07/08 Paps to come out of retirement for one night.

"Are you a real doctor, or a doctor like Dr. Pepper is a doctor?"

by Allen Chace on Aug 11, 2009 2:14 AM EDT up reply actions

Penny hasn't been TOO bad

ANd when Wake gets healthy, hopefully he resumes his career year.

I think we’re starting to feel the loss of Masterson, but getting V-Mart by losing just one good player… well, makes it worth it, but the Pen needs to step up a little bit to fill the hole right now. I think if they can do that, we’ll be just fine.

There are two theories on hitting the Knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them work. ~Charlie Lau

by BHeebs on Aug 11, 2009 10:13 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't think we're really feeling the loss of Masterson.

Guy was always put in low-leverage situations and, of late, had been making a circus of it.

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 11, 2009 10:27 AM EDT up reply actions

It's true

that he had largely tossed in low-leverage situations, but the fact is that a major weakness of this bullpen is the lack of length guys. Masterson has allowed 1 earned run in the 14 innings he has pitched since the AS break, and he can slot as a starter. Would have likely been much better than Smoltz in that role. As for his role in the pen, we don’t have a guy like Aceves or Hughes, who are quality and can throw multiple innings. That makes our pen look even thinner. Masterson was valuable, despite the 2 blowups (which, ironically, occured during Smoltz’ two best starts).

by Buzzy on Aug 11, 2009 10:58 AM EDT up reply actions

This might be where Bowden gets called up...

If he can stay out Theo’s doghouse.

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions

Wake's "career" year for the Sox was 1995

He was also very good in 2002 and 2005.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Aug 11, 2009 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

It feels fantastic

Though I’ve completely lost faith in all pitchers not named Beckett, Lester, or Papelbon (though he’s been shaky at times this year).

by qthaballa on Aug 11, 2009 12:45 AM EDT reply actions

"These August series…. way over-rated."

Yup. They’ve got a competitive team, they just had a bad stretch. There are plenty of UNcompetitive teams out there. This ain’t one of them. Lose a few games and people panic for no good reason. Geez.

by Mister Snitch on Aug 11, 2009 1:08 AM EDT reply actions

Mr. Snitch, reply button please.

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 3:42 AM EDT up reply actions

People tend to write things off...

In Baseball, a game is never over until the final out of the final inning, and the season is never over until the final game of the season is finished. Then again, I’m someone who hangs on with the Sox as long as possible year in and year out, good or bad. That’s part of being a fan :-)

There are two theories on hitting the Knuckleball. Unfortunately, neither of them work. ~Charlie Lau

by BHeebs on Aug 11, 2009 10:15 AM EDT up reply actions

"There are plenty of UNcompetitive teams"

It’s true that the Sox are a competitive team and have motivation to win, and that August serieses count toward the final record just as much as April games. The deal with August is that the teams we play this month are, for the most part, VERY competitive. And yes, losing a few games isn’t necessarily reason for panic. (Hopefully, the streak can serve as a wakeup call for the Sox)

Fear the Rebel Polar Bears (trust me, this sig makes sense)

by crabchowdah on Aug 11, 2009 11:05 AM EDT up reply actions

Not pretty but still feels great

by German Red Sox Fan on Aug 11, 2009 2:47 AM EDT reply actions

agree

nice to kick around a very good pitcher in Edwin Jackson. Got some bad luck (Kotchman’s line out with bases juiced), some bad play (MDC, RamRam against RHB where he should do well, and Drew’s play) some good luck (Bay’s HR) and some solid play (Paps who was great, Penny and the offense in general). I am holding my breath about tonight-hope Sox can get to their 21 year old before the Tigers get to our 23 year old…

by Buzzy on Aug 11, 2009 6:49 AM EDT up reply actions

We need more games like this.

You look at the matchup, it had loss written all over it. A scuffling Penny, backed by a struggling Sox offense, against a young flamethrower having a great season. [Aside: Edwin Jackson for Matt Joyce = a bad trade.] Yet we managed to win, against all odds.

"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.

by 0157H7 on Aug 11, 2009 10:18 AM EDT reply actions

+1

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 11, 2009 10:28 AM EDT up reply actions

+2

prpbably the worst matchup we had in this series on paper.

by Buzzy on Aug 11, 2009 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions

Continuing the trend, +3 for a total of +6

Does anyone know what our probability of winning this game was?

Fear the Rebel Polar Bears (trust me, this sig makes sense)

by crabchowdah on Aug 11, 2009 11:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Accuscore had us as 56% favorites, according to the ESPN.com preview from yesterday:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview?gameId=290810102

And FanGraphs does their graph thing:
http://www.fangraphs.com/tgraphs/20090810_Tigers_RedSox_0.png

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 1:58 PM EDT up reply actions

What do they know?

by Ben Buchanan on Aug 11, 2009 2:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Hey, Accuscore has us at 60% for tonight.

Of course, FanGraphs starts at 50% because they don’t care about who the teams are – they just look for historical chances from a certain situation.

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 4:36 PM EDT up reply actions

Now, if the thundershowers can stay away and not rain out my first trip to Fenway in 25 years, that would be swell. :)

Man I love that tuna casserole.

by Bloggy on Aug 11, 2009 10:36 AM EDT reply actions

When should we expect Wakefield back?

by Freddyd on Aug 11, 2009 4:00 PM EDT reply actions

From an Extra Bases post yesterday:

Tim Wakefield, sidelined a month with a back injury that led to problems with legs, threw 51 pitches and rested three times in a simulated game today. Red Sox manager Terry Francona said he was optimistic about the results.

“His calf is not 100 percent, but it doesn’t affect him when he pitches,” said Francona. “Amazingly, yes, he is [unchanged from his last start]. He looks great throwing the ball.”

Wakefield was placed on the 15-day disabled list July 21 with a sore lower back. He has since developed soreness in his right calf, which is believed to be a nerve issue related to sciatica. Francona said Wakefield will test out his arm again tomorrow.

“We made him cover first a lot, but (the injury) is not anything that’s affecting his pitching,” said Francona. “We’ve got to keep the strength going in the right direction.”

The 42-year-old last pitched July 8, when he earned his then-Major-League-leading 11th win, giving up 10 hits and 3 runs in six innings against Oakland.

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2009/08/pregame_red_sox_8.html

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by bdalebs on Aug 11, 2009 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions