Sunday Stroll Around The Majors

American League TeamsNational League TeamsBobby Kielty has fit right in with the Red Sox.

Angels catcher Jeff Mathis is playing well with Mike Napoli out.

Brandon Backe may finally return to the Astros after being out a year.

Shannon Stewart is showing the A’s how to lead by example.

Gregg Zaun is struggling at the plate for the Blue Jays.

The Braves have no timetable on Octavio Dotel’s return from injury.

The Brewers coaching staff is trying to figure out why the rotation is struggling.

Tony LaRussa defended the Cardinals defense after they made 4 errors on Friday night.

Injured Cubs pitcher Mark Prior spoke publicly for the first time about his shoulder surgery.

Devil Rays skipper Joe Maddon is happy with his team’s defense.

Diamondbacks rookie Justin Upton has to adjust now that teams have figured him out.

Dodgers catcher Mike Lieberthal is ready to catch David Wells today.

Kevin Frandsen is showing some power for the Giants.

Indians skipper Eric Wedge is going with the lineup that helped his team score a ton of runs last season.

Ichiro got a rare day off for the Mariners on Saturday.

Byung-Hyun Kim was signed by the Marlins on Saturday.

Luis Castillo’s knee injury is backing up the Mets’ player moves.

The Nationals removed John Lannan from their rotation and shut him down as a starter for the season.

Orioles skipper Dave Trembley added Alan Dunn as his bullpen coach.

The Padres put Marcus Giles on the 15-day DL with a left knee sprain.

Shane Victorino got a day off on Saturday for the Phillies to rest his calf.

Salomon Torres was placed on the 15-day DL by the Pirates with elbow stiffness.

Rangers reliever Willie Eyre had his breakout season cut short by an elbow injury.

The Reds have no idea who will be starting for them today.

Friday night’s comeback win has the Rockies clubhouse all fired up.

Jorge De La Rosa should return to the Royals rotation on Saturday.

The Tigers players didn’t mind finishing up at 3:30 am on Saturday morning.

Twins 2B Alexi Casilla was ok with his fine for forgetting how many outs there during Friday night’s game.

The White Sox made some changes to their rotation.

Yankees OF Hideki Matsui isn’t showing any signs of slowing down at the plate.

Paw Prints

Paw Prints

After starting at quarterback for the Huskies for parts of last year, D.J. Hernandez will be starting at wide receiver when they play Duke next Saturday. Hernandez was asked to move to wide receiver when now starting QB Tyler Lorenzen transferred in. If you’ve seen Hernandez play, you know he can run like the wind but can’t throw a lick.

For those of you hardcore tailgaters, don’t forget the Rentschler Field tailgating rules.

  • Tailgating is permitted before football games, but it is important to note that it is not allowed after games.
  • Charcoal fires, large grills and open flames are not permitted.
  • Glass containers are also banned.
  • Kegs and other bulk containers of alcohol are prohibited on the property.
  • Tossing around a frisbee or football in parking areas is a no-no.
  • Leave your canopies and tents at home–tailgaters are not allowed to pound anything into the ground.
  • You’ll have to do your own cooking; outside caterers are not permitted on the property.
  • While sharing your feast with your neighbors is a good way to make friends, if you try to sell any food or beverages, you can get in trouble.
  • Trash should be bagged and disposed of in available receptacles, which are plentiful.
  • No outside food or drink is allowed inside the stadium.
  • Once the game is underway, you need to either be inside the stadium or vacate the Rentschler Field property.

For a complete list of the tailgating rules, click here.

The UCONN women’s basketball team got some good news when Heather Buck, from Stonington, CT, gave an oral commitment to Huskies to play basketball next season. Buck is a former teammate of current UCONN player Jacquie Fernandes. She is the third person to give an oral commitment for next season.

UCONN recruit Elena Delle Donne had narrowed her choices down to four schools. Those schools are UCONN, Middle Tennessee State, Villanova and Tennessee. She is still in her self-imposed hiatus from playing basketball or talking to schools.

Wake Knuckles Over Chi-Sox, Ties Beckett With 16 Wins

 

In a game that looked like it was on pace for a two hour game, the Red Sox erupted for 14 runs in the final 4 innings as they smacked around the White Sox for a 14-2 win. Tim Wakefield was absolutely dominating for 7 innings and for the first 5 innings, Chi-Sox starter Mark Buehrle was pretty good too. The win for Wakefield was his 16th and tied him with Josh Beckett for the MLB lead. It was also his 26th straight decision this year.

In the first 5 innings, both teams had a few base runners. As I told Steve in an email, “zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz”. That story changed in the 6th inning for the Red Sox as they finally got to Buehrle.

Bobby KieltyDustin Pedroia started off the inning with an infield single. Coco Crisp then lined back to Buehrle. David Ortiz followed that with a double to deep left with Pedroia moving to third. Instead of pitching to Manny Ramirez, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen decided to intentionally walk him to face Mike Lowell. That move did not pay off for him as Lowell brought in the first run of the game with a single. Kevin Youkilis followed that with a single of his own, scoring Big Papi for a 2-run lead. Bobby Kielty, starting for the second straight game with a lefty on the mound, delivered a 2-run single making it 4-0 Red Sox. With only one out in the inning, Alex Cora grounded out, moving the runners to second and third. Kevin Cash drew a walk to load up the bases for Pedroia’s second at-bat of the inning. Unfortunately, Pedroia grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

Mike LowellThe visiting nine from Boston added another run in the 7th inning off of the combination of Boone Logan and Ehren Wassermann. Coco led off the inning with a single but was removed from the basepath when Big Papi grounded into a double play. Manny then worked a walk to chase Logan from the game. The sidearming Wassermann gave up a single to Lowell. Manny would come around to score when Youk crushed a double to left for a 5-0 Red Sox lead. Wasserman got out of the inning as he got Kielty to ground out.

Wakefield had been cruising right along but got himself into a jam in the 7th inning. Darin Erstad popped out to start the inning. Jermaine Dye then doubled over the head of Manny in left for only the second White Sox hit of the afternoon. Wake got Juan Uribe to fly out for the second out. Danny Richar then singled to Manny in left but Dye held up at third. Wakefield finished up his afternoon by striking out Andy Gonzalez.

Wakefield went 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks. He did strikeout 6 White Sox batters along the way.

Things got really ugly for the White Sox in the 8th inning. Ryan Bukvich started out the inning by hitting Cora and Cash with pitches. Pedroia brought in the 6th run for the Red Sox as he laced a double that scored Cora. Bukvich then walked Coco to load up the bases for Big Papi. Big Papi chased Bukvich from the game as he hit a 2-run single scoring Cash and Pedroia for a 8-0 (Red) Sox lead. Guillen went to his bullpen for Mike MacDougal. With Manny at the plate, MacDougal uncorked a wild pitch but only Big Papi was able to move up a base as the ball didn’t get that far from A.J. Pierzynski. MacDougal finally got the first out of the inning as he struck out Manny. MacDougal unleashed another wild pitch that Coco was able to score on. Lowell then hit a single that scored Big Papi making it 10-0. Youk then worked walk and Kielty followed that with a double that easily scored Lowell. MacDougal finally got the second out of the inning as he struck out Cora. MacDougal then got a little wild as he walked Pedroia to load up the bases for Coco and get himself taken out of the game. Matt Thornton came in and walked Coco making it 13-0 Red Sox. J.D. Drew pinch-hit for Big Papi and was struck out by Thornton. Oddly enough, the Chi-Sox bullpen struck out the side while allowing 8 runs in the inning.

The White Sox finally got on the scoreboard in the 8th inning with 2 outs. After Kyle Synder hit Pierzynski with a pitch, Paul Konerko took a hanging breaking ball from Synder and planted it in the seats for a 2-run homer. Synder got out of the inning as he got Darin Erstad to line out to Lowell at third.

The Red Sox added another run in the 9th and Javy Lopez pitched an uneventful inning to finish off the game. For the first 3 games, the Red Sox have scored 35 runs while allowing 6.

Julian Tavarez will make a spot-start for Jon Lester tomorrow as the Red Sox go for a sweep of the Southsiders. The White Sox will hope for a good outing from Javier Vazquez. Gametime is 2:05 PM.

Terry Francona was all thumbs after the game

Boxscore of today’s debacle.

Red Sox News & Notes – 8/25

The rain forecast for Friday in Chicago stayed away and I am sure White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen wishes it had poured all day. The Red Sox dominated both games of the doubleheader, winning 11-3 and 10-1. Josh Beckett struggled in the first game and Curt Schilling was excellent in the second. The Red Sox bullpen was strong in both games not allowing a run. Jason Varitek was the hero of game 1 and Big Papi of game 2. All told, it was a long day of baseball for both teams. So before the Sox play each other again at 3:55 PM on FOX, let’s take a look at the headlines from the Boston area and Chicago media on this humid morning in Red Sox Nation.

It’s a breeze as Red Sox sweep [Boston Globe]

Storm still lingers on S. Side [Chicago Sun-Times]

Sharp Schilling caps off dominant doubleheader [Boston Herald]

Double trouble for White Sox [Chicago Tribune]

Cellular Power Boost [Hartford Courant]

Boston’s bats and Beckett batter around White Sox [Pro Jo]

Reinsdorf admits he’s ‘shocked’ [Chicago Sun-Times]

Deeper concerns this month [Boston Globe]

Myers struggling to make his mark [Chicago Tribune]

Lowell At Best Behind Manny [Hartford Courant]

‘Oki-Doke’ is OK for dancin’ [Boston Herald]

Varitek breaks out with 4 RBI [Pro Jo]

Lowell gets in the way [Boston Herald]

John Henry on base with his bid for McCourt mansion [Boston Globe]

For more headlines and stories, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Hartford Courant, Providence Journal, Chicago Tribune, and Chicago Sun-Times websites.

Saturday Salute To Bloggers

Super sexy Texy from Center Field has some video about Jonathan Papelbon’s new pitch the “Slutter”.

Speaking of the “Slutter”, Lizzy from Babes Love Baseball has some names for pitches as well.

Awful Announcing has a must-see video. I laughed my ass off when I saw this.

Anthony from the Oriole Post tells you how the Orioles made history this week.

Yankees Chick likes old dudes.

Dan from Red Sox Monster has home video of Big Papi’s grand slam last Saturday.

The Ladies… brings you week 3 of Friday Football Foodie training camp.

Suss at the Futon Report has a look at Stephon Marbury’s thoughts about dogfighting.

The Feed has found a bike race they can get behind.

I found this one on Home Run Derby. A man proposed to his girlfriend at an Astros game and she said no. Poor dude.

We Are the Postman informs us that Justin Timberlake will star in a bad hockey movie.

Strike Zones and End Zones tells Peter Abraham there’s room on the Red Sox bandwagon.

There was no video from Fitzy at TownieNews.com, this week for his “Wicked Pissah” webcast. However he did write a post explaining why and he also has the video of his proxy giving Fitzy’s nomination speech for President of RSN.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=pZrVPf50Gsw[/youtube]

Brady Leads Patriots Past Panthers, 24-7

PostTD Brady with Marcellus Rivers who ever the hell he is 

Fatherhood hasn’t slowed down Tom Brady and neither did a couple of cross country flights or a missed practice.

Two days after the birth of his son Brady, in a game many thought he wouldn’t even play in, was pretty damn good completing 17 of 21 passes for 167 yards. He threw two touchdown passes in New England’s 24-7 win over the Carolina Panthers in NFL preseason action at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

Given his best protection of the preseason by his offensive line Brady had plenty of time to pick his receivers as he threw TD passes to Heath Evans and Marcellus Rivers. He would have had a third but tight end Ben Watson dropped a pass in the end zone.

Lawrence Maroney returnsBrady played into the 3rd quarter before yielding to back-up Matt Cassel.

The game also featured the return of running back Lawrence Maroney after off-season shoulder surgery. Maroney carried the ball 15 times and gained 58 yards. Evans, in addition to his TD catch, ran for 58 yards including a two-yard TD run.

Brady spread the ball around to a lot of different receivers, none of them named Randy Moss, throwing passes to eight different targets and connecting with newly acquired Donte` Stallworth on a 37 yard pass to open the second half.

Moss, who has been out since August 1st with a hamstring injury, missed his third preseason game.

The Panthers who struggled on both sides of the ball had few bright spots.

Keary Colbert staked a claim to the Panthers’ No. 2 receiver role with a nifty 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown late in the first half. Drew Carter also contending to replace the released Keyshawn Johnson in the starting lineup, had three catches for 52 yards.

Wilfork, Green work to block FGPanthers quarterback Jake Delhomme was 11 of 18 for 162 yards with 1 TD pass.

The Pats special teams had a good defensive play as Jarvis Green blocked a 43-yard field goal attempt by John Kasay in the 3rd quarter.

Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed two of three field goal attempts.

The Patriots take on the Giants next Thursday at Gillette Stadium in the final preseason game.

Big Papi’s Four Hits Lead (Red) Sox To Sweep

 

 

David Ortiz had four hits, including two home runs, and Curt Schilling was superb on the mound as the Red Sox pummeled the White Sox 10-1 for a sweep of the day-night doubleheader. Kevin Youkilis added a 3-run homer and Mike Lowell had 2 more RBI’s for a team leading 90.

In the doubleheader, the Red Sox pounded out 28 hits while scoring 21 runs. The bullpen didn’t allow a run in 6 1/3 innings. The Red Sox have now outscored the White Sox 52-18 this season.

The White Sox got on the U.S. Cellular scoreboard in the 2nd inning. After Schilling got Jermaine Dye out, he left a splitter out over of the meat of the plate that Juan Uribe planted in the left field seats. This was the only mistake Schill made all night. He responded to home run by getting Danny Richar to ground out. Alex Gonzalez followed with a single but Schill finished off the inning by getting Toby Hall to line out to Dustin Pedroia at second.

You're very silly for throwing that pitch to meChi-sox starter John Danks pitched well for the first three innings of the game but he ran into some big trouble the second time around with the lineup. Pedroia worked a lead-off walk and came around to score when Big Papi crushed the first of his two home runs. Manny Ramirez followed with a single and he scored all the way from first on a Lowell double, giving the Sox a 3-1 lead. Danks finally got his first out of the inning when he got Kevin Youkilis to pop out. Bobby Kielty then worked a walk. Coco Crisp chased Danks from the game with a double that scored Lowell. Ozzie Guillen brought in Gavin Floyd and Kevin Cash greeted him with a single to right field that scored Kielty, giving the Sox a 5-1 lead. The hit by Cash was his first in a MLB game in two years. Floyd got out of the inning as he got Julio Lugo and Pedoria to pop out and ground out respectively.

Floyd had a little trouble getting guys out at the beginning of the 5th inning. Big Papi led off with his second home run of the game, a solo shot, to make it 6-1. The home run may have unnerved Floyd as he then walked Manny and Lowell. Youk brought them both home as he crushed a Floyd offering into the seats for a 3-run homer and a 9-1 Bosox lead. Floyd settled down after the Youk homer as he got Kielty to fly out and he struck out Coco. He walked Cash but finished off the inning by getting Lugo to ground out.

I hope I don't end up in Tampa next yearSchilling was cruising right along. After allowing 3 hits in the first two innings, he only gave up a walk to Darin Erstad in the 6th inning. Schilling would come out of the game after throwing 98 pitches for 6 innings. He allowed those 3 hits, walked 1 and struck out 3. A splendid outing for Schilling.

The Sox added a run in the 9th inning. Big Papi led off with his 4th hit of the night, a single. He went to third on an Eric Hinske double. Hinske had come in earlier for Manny as a defensive replacement. Guillen went to the bullpen for Mike MacDougal and he was greeted by a Lowell single that scored Papi for the final margin of 10-1.

Eric Gagné mopped up in the 9th, allowing just a Dye single. He finished off the game with a strikeout of Uribe.

With two wins on the day, the Red Sox increased their lead in the AL East to 6 games. The Yanks can cut that lead to 5.5 or it can go up to 6.5 depending on what happens in the Yanks-Tigers game tonight. The start of their game was delayed 4 hours by rain.

The Red Sox now give the ball to their knuckleballer, Tim Wakefield, who will be opposed by White Sox ace Mark Buehrle. Gametime tommorow is 3:55 PM and the game will be televised by FOX.

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