Entries Tagged 'Papelbon' ↓

It’s happening already: the talk about the Sox taking on the Cubs in the World Series.

Right now? I’m not sure anyone wants to face the Cubs. They seem to be on a holy war effort to claim a post season spot, and even with Soriano taking a six week break, the Cubbies are on pace to keep the best record in baseball by the All-Star break.

Papelbon bailed out…

It took back-t0-back home runs by Youk and Crisp (you may want to cut and paste or bookmark this page since I believe it’ll be the last time that happens in Boston) to save Paps from a loss. He blew the save (his first blown save since May 9), and it looked like Hanson was going to cough it up again in the 10th, but the Sox stuck it to them and Youk can have his ALMOST cycle day in Cinci’ (he was just missing a triple).

Again, it’s a roller coaster of walks and biting the nails sometimes with Dice-K, but he was saved by the numbers 8 (Crisp) and 9 (Lowrie) and Paps to remain unbelievably undefeated. He has a Jon Lester record this year; squeaking out wins despite weird and sometimes erratic pitching.

Congratulations to Jed Lowrie, who will no doubt be a big-leaguer someday, who hit his first MLB home run. He golfed it out of the park just in to the third row, but that’s a huge deal for the kid. He explained to the reporters that the person gave him the ball from the stands if he received a Beckett-autographed baseball (which Beckett did… but probably tainted with chawjuice just to show he’s not a pansy when he signs balls and dates your sister).

Manny went 0-5… Not the quickest way to hitting 500.

Ortiz went 0-4. Expect him to be taken out of the lineup this year for his knee again. If not only for the DL rest, then possibly for another trip under the arthroscope.

Mr. Greg Maddux, please come forward to accept your award. Future Hall of Famer Greg Maddux, holder of four Cy Young awards, a World Series ring and 17 Gold Gloves has finally reached a hell of a milestone: he’s the 9th pitcher in MLB history to record 350 wins. Simply, totally amazing. A career that, so far, spans 23 years in which only ONE season was not above 15 wins… this guy is one of the best pitchers of our generation and it’s been a pleasure to follow his career.

Finally, Happy Mother’s Day to all you Moms out there. Children: do something nice, but do it yourself.

Dice-K gave up EIGHT, count ‘em, EIGHT walks last night in a WIN in Detroit. How he could possibly escape after issuing eight walks is beyond me. Just to put this into perspective: Dice-K just gave up more walks in one game than David Wells did in his last partial season with the Sox. So far, the Dice-K gamble is paying off because the rest of the team seems to give him a ton of run support.

His starts haven’t been quality starts, but they’ve been wins. He’s 5-0.

Oh, and as far as Craig Hansen goes: I don’t think he’s major league ready. I’m not sure he ever will be and I don’t fully blame him. He came from St. John’s and pitched in his first-ever season in professional baseball, got knocked around and then sent back to the minors without much fanfare. They tell him, hey, it’s not going to work unless you get that changeup going. It’s still not going. His slider, I will say, is coming along pretty well. Also, I saw a level of anger that he’ll need to tone down; it’s absolutely affecting his delivery.

Want controlled anger (read: insanity)? Paps has his 10th save in 10 tries. He’s like a machine.

The Sox won, in Detroit, and they lead the division by 3.5 games. Not bad for all the issues they’ve had in this young season.

The Sox are on their way. As the start of the regular season goes, it seemed like such a strange, non-regular-season-opener. In fact, with these first four games at such an odd time it feels as though Toronto will be more like the season’s beginning.

Dice-K is 1-0 after a terrific performance last night (I would still love to see him reach the 8th inning) and Paps has his second save in three games. Not a bad start.

HEY. The game is at 3:35 today, so let’s try to stay focused on that whole … job… THAT WAS A STRIKE… ahem.

You know… I am not completely sure if Paps being bonkers is good or bad outside of the actual diamond, but he’s certainly convinced himself he’s “the” elite closer. His ranting this week has put myself and a number of my closest friends off and set in motion the “he better be damn good this year if he expects to talk a game like that”.

He agreed on a contract that doubles his salary to roughly $775,000.

Good luck in arbitration next year, Paps. Glad you’re on our side, but wowza… shut up a little.