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The One That Got Away by Jared Carrabis
Sox bullpen melts down in extra-inning loss
The Red Sox sure could have used the 1978 version of Jim Rice in this one.
On a night that belonged to Cooperstown's newest resident at the Baseball Hall of Fame, the ending result was not nearly as memorable as the pre-game ceremonies.
In a game that very well might be the last start for Clay Buchholz in a Red Sox uniform, who was the subject of multiple trade rumors on Tuesday, the right-hander made his first start at Fenway Park since August 17 of last season. Buchholz wasn't lights out, but he kept his team in the game.
When Terry Francona popped out of the dugout to take the ball from his starter, Buchholz had tossed 107 pitches over 5.2 innings, giving up just two earned runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out five in what was his 21st start in a Red Sox uniform, but it could also be his last, as is next start is slated for after Friday's trade deadline.
The Sox bats boomed in the bottom of the fifth when Kevin Youkilis' 25th double of the season brought home both Jacoby Ellsbury and George Kottaras. A ground out by David Ortiz brought in Boston's third run, before Jason Bay poked an infield single on a check-swing to plate another. Later in the inning, JD Drew roped his 19th double of the season down the right field line to bring in the Sox's fifth run of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mike Lowell stroked double number 21 for his 2009 campaign to drive in Drew, who was 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
With a 6-2 lead, Buchholz handed a four-run lead over to the best bullpen in the American League. Ramon Ramirez was tagged for a run in the seventh to bring the A's within save situation distance. In the very next frame, Hideki Okajima also allowed an earned run, as Billy Beane's boys continue to chip away without the luxury of a Matt Holliday in their lineup anymore.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Lowell added a run onto Oakland's deficit in the bottom half of the eighth to make it 7-4 in favor of Boston heading into the ninth.
With a three-run lead, who else but Jonathan Papelbon came to the mound to shut this thing down on Jim Rice Day. It's a lot easier said than done, as the top of the ninth was a nightmare. Papelbon started the inning with a walk to Jack Cust and before he knew it, Cust was standing at third after a ground out.
Later in the inning with two outs, Tommy Everidge hammered his first Major League hit that missed getting into the Monster seats by about a foot. The double for Everidge knocked in Cust; 7-5, Boston.
Chasing two runs, Mark Ellis squibbed a grounder past Papelbon and out to Nick Green. It was then that the ghost of Chuck Knoblauch made his home in the body of Nick Green. The Boston shortstop hummed his throw past the glove of Kevin Youkilis and into the stands, just like Knoblauch loved to do from second base with the Yankees. The errant toss brought Everidge in to score and moved Ellis into scoring position at second.
After Ellis swiped third base, Rajai David grounded a ball out to Green, who, again, committed a throwing error, allowing Ellis to score the tying run. The blown save for Papelbon was his third on the season in 28 chances.
Still tied in the top of the eleventh, the A's attacked Manny Delcarmen for an earned run, while Takashi Saito allowed an inherited runner to score to put Oakland up by a pair.
The Sox would grab a run in the bottom of the eleventh, and with the tying run just 90 feet away, Dustin Pedroia skied a fly ball out just shy of the warning track to conclude one of the most disappointing losses in recent memory.
Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:
The earned runs given up by the Red Sox bullpen were the first given up since the All Star break.
Nomar Garciaparra batted third as Oakland's DH on Tuesday night. It was the 500th career game that Garciaparra has played in at Fenway Park. In his career at the Fens, Nomah has a .337 batting average with 86 HR and 382 RBI. Coincidentally, Jim Rice had 382 home runs in his career. Before Rice made his way to the home plate area, Garciaparra gave Rice a great big big congratulatory hug. Garciaparra and Rice go way back to the late 90's when Rice served as Boston's hitting coach, while Garciaparra was a hitting coach of his own to baseball fans all across New England.
David Ortiz was pinch-hit for in Tuesday night's loss, but it was not injury related. Ortiz's daughter was sent to the hospital for precautionary reasons, and Ortiz left the game to be by her side. She is expected to be okay.
Trade rumors:
So, it was Tuesday that I posted a trade rumor that was originally reported by Gordon Edes of Yahoo.com. The report stated that the Red Sox had offered up "at least" Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden and Ryan Westmoreland for Roy Halladay.
About two hours later, Dan Roche of WBZTV posted on his Twitter account that Edes' report was false.
Well, since his first report was inaccurate, while the Sox were doing battle with the A's, Edes posted another report that the Red Sox had taken an even more aggressive approach to acquiring Halladay by offering the Jays Clay Buchholz as the centerpiece and their choice of either Lars Anderson, Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden along with some lower tier prospects.
The Red Sox have also inquired about Cleveland left-hander, Cliff Lee, but have not made an offer, at least publicly. Of course, the same goes for the Sox and Victor Martinez, but again, no offer is on the table for the Tribe to ponder over. The Red Sox front office have named Daniel Bard and Casey Kelly as "untouchable", but when a guy like Roy Halladay is out there, no one is untouchable. "Untouchable" is just a trick term that GM's use to dupe other GM's into believing that what they're getting is even more valuable than they had originally anticipated.
After designating Mark Kotsay for assignment on Friday, the Red Sox dealt the 33-year-old to the Chicago White Sox with cash in exchange for Brian Anderson. Anderson can play both the infield and the outfield and is hitting .238 with 2 HR and 13 RBI. A former first-round selection, Anderson will be sent to Pawtucket until the rosters expand a month from now in September. When called up, he will likely serve as an outfield backup.
I'll have more on the Roy Halladay trade rumors as they develop.
-Jared Carrabis
Final Score: Athletics 9, Red Sox 8 / 11 innings
For more on Jim Rice's moment in the sun, click HERE.
Follow me on Twitter by clicking HERE.
Published on July 28, 2009
Sox bullpen melts down in extra-inning loss
The Red Sox sure could have used the 1978 version of Jim Rice in this one.
On a night that belonged to Cooperstown's newest resident at the Baseball Hall of Fame, the ending result was not nearly as memorable as the pre-game ceremonies.
In a game that very well might be the last start for Clay Buchholz in a Red Sox uniform, who was the subject of multiple trade rumors on Tuesday, the right-hander made his first start at Fenway Park since August 17 of last season. Buchholz wasn't lights out, but he kept his team in the game.
When Terry Francona popped out of the dugout to take the ball from his starter, Buchholz had tossed 107 pitches over 5.2 innings, giving up just two earned runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out five in what was his 21st start in a Red Sox uniform, but it could also be his last, as is next start is slated for after Friday's trade deadline.
The Sox bats boomed in the bottom of the fifth when Kevin Youkilis' 25th double of the season brought home both Jacoby Ellsbury and George Kottaras. A ground out by David Ortiz brought in Boston's third run, before Jason Bay poked an infield single on a check-swing to plate another. Later in the inning, JD Drew roped his 19th double of the season down the right field line to bring in the Sox's fifth run of the inning.
In the bottom of the sixth, Mike Lowell stroked double number 21 for his 2009 campaign to drive in Drew, who was 3-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI.
With a 6-2 lead, Buchholz handed a four-run lead over to the best bullpen in the American League. Ramon Ramirez was tagged for a run in the seventh to bring the A's within save situation distance. In the very next frame, Hideki Okajima also allowed an earned run, as Billy Beane's boys continue to chip away without the luxury of a Matt Holliday in their lineup anymore.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of Mike Lowell added a run onto Oakland's deficit in the bottom half of the eighth to make it 7-4 in favor of Boston heading into the ninth.
With a three-run lead, who else but Jonathan Papelbon came to the mound to shut this thing down on Jim Rice Day. It's a lot easier said than done, as the top of the ninth was a nightmare. Papelbon started the inning with a walk to Jack Cust and before he knew it, Cust was standing at third after a ground out.
Later in the inning with two outs, Tommy Everidge hammered his first Major League hit that missed getting into the Monster seats by about a foot. The double for Everidge knocked in Cust; 7-5, Boston.
Chasing two runs, Mark Ellis squibbed a grounder past Papelbon and out to Nick Green. It was then that the ghost of Chuck Knoblauch made his home in the body of Nick Green. The Boston shortstop hummed his throw past the glove of Kevin Youkilis and into the stands, just like Knoblauch loved to do from second base with the Yankees. The errant toss brought Everidge in to score and moved Ellis into scoring position at second.
After Ellis swiped third base, Rajai David grounded a ball out to Green, who, again, committed a throwing error, allowing Ellis to score the tying run. The blown save for Papelbon was his third on the season in 28 chances.
Still tied in the top of the eleventh, the A's attacked Manny Delcarmen for an earned run, while Takashi Saito allowed an inherited runner to score to put Oakland up by a pair.
The Sox would grab a run in the bottom of the eleventh, and with the tying run just 90 feet away, Dustin Pedroia skied a fly ball out just shy of the warning track to conclude one of the most disappointing losses in recent memory.
Things you'll need to know to impress your friends:
The earned runs given up by the Red Sox bullpen were the first given up since the All Star break.
Nomar Garciaparra batted third as Oakland's DH on Tuesday night. It was the 500th career game that Garciaparra has played in at Fenway Park. In his career at the Fens, Nomah has a .337 batting average with 86 HR and 382 RBI. Coincidentally, Jim Rice had 382 home runs in his career. Before Rice made his way to the home plate area, Garciaparra gave Rice a great big big congratulatory hug. Garciaparra and Rice go way back to the late 90's when Rice served as Boston's hitting coach, while Garciaparra was a hitting coach of his own to baseball fans all across New England.
David Ortiz was pinch-hit for in Tuesday night's loss, but it was not injury related. Ortiz's daughter was sent to the hospital for precautionary reasons, and Ortiz left the game to be by her side. She is expected to be okay.
Trade rumors:
So, it was Tuesday that I posted a trade rumor that was originally reported by Gordon Edes of Yahoo.com. The report stated that the Red Sox had offered up "at least" Clay Buchholz, Michael Bowden and Ryan Westmoreland for Roy Halladay.
About two hours later, Dan Roche of WBZTV posted on his Twitter account that Edes' report was false.
Well, since his first report was inaccurate, while the Sox were doing battle with the A's, Edes posted another report that the Red Sox had taken an even more aggressive approach to acquiring Halladay by offering the Jays Clay Buchholz as the centerpiece and their choice of either Lars Anderson, Justin Masterson or Michael Bowden along with some lower tier prospects.
The Red Sox have also inquired about Cleveland left-hander, Cliff Lee, but have not made an offer, at least publicly. Of course, the same goes for the Sox and Victor Martinez, but again, no offer is on the table for the Tribe to ponder over. The Red Sox front office have named Daniel Bard and Casey Kelly as "untouchable", but when a guy like Roy Halladay is out there, no one is untouchable. "Untouchable" is just a trick term that GM's use to dupe other GM's into believing that what they're getting is even more valuable than they had originally anticipated.
After designating Mark Kotsay for assignment on Friday, the Red Sox dealt the 33-year-old to the Chicago White Sox with cash in exchange for Brian Anderson. Anderson can play both the infield and the outfield and is hitting .238 with 2 HR and 13 RBI. A former first-round selection, Anderson will be sent to Pawtucket until the rosters expand a month from now in September. When called up, he will likely serve as an outfield backup.
I'll have more on the Roy Halladay trade rumors as they develop.
-Jared Carrabis
Final Score: Athletics 9, Red Sox 8 / 11 innings
For more on Jim Rice's moment in the sun, click HERE.
Follow me on Twitter by clicking HERE.
Published on July 28, 2009
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