Before I get going here this morning, just a quick shout-out to my father who is celebrating his birthday today. Happy Birthday Dad!!
Paul Byrd has been a great find for Theo Epstein and his brain trust.
While the entire New England region awaits the news on Tom Brady’s left knee, the Boston Red Sox are getting ready to take on the Tampa Bay Rays tonight in a pivotal 3-game set at the Fens. The Red Sox currently sit 1.5 games behind the Rays with their 7-2 win yesterday and the Rays 1-0 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. While the Red Sox took 2-of-3 in Texas, the Rays were swept by the Jays.
The Red Sox lead in the wild card is up to 6.5 games over the Minnesota Twins, 8 games over the Jays and 8.5 games over the New York Yankees.
Since coming over to the Red Sox, Paul Byrd has done a pretty good job of getting things done. Yesterday afternoon, he gave the Red Sox 6 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball to run his record to 4-1with the team. Since the All-Star break, he is a combined 8-1 with the Cleveland Indians and Red Sox. He even got a standing ovation when he left the game. By the way, the game was played in Texas.
“I was able to keep the ball down today, and I was able to move my slider in and out,” said Byrd. “And this sounds like a broken record, but I had great defense behind me.”
“I’ve never come out of a game on the road where I got a standing ovation for pitching well. I’m appreciative of all of the Red Sox fans who were here,” said Byrd. “I didn’t know if I should tip my hat or not in Texas. I thought they might be mad at me.”
We definitely have to give props to Theo Epstein and the scouting department for going out and getting Byrd and Mark Kotsay along with Jason Bay in the trade. All 3 of them have played huge roles in helping the Red Sox get to where they sit right now in the playoff race.
David Ortiz is still hearing and feeling the clicking in his wrist.
The Texas Rangers showed why they aren’t as good of a team as the Red Sox are on Sunday.
Josh Hamilton is looking to break out of his August funk.
Alex Speier wanted to know where Big Papi’s pop was then says that post was ill-timed after his home run yesterday.
For more slices of Boston Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant and Providence Journal websites.
And if you must see what the enemy papers are saying you can check out Dallas Morning News and Star-Telegram websites.
