Game Thread: Sunday Night Baseball on ESPN
ByA lot of RAB readers and commenters requested an open thread/game thread for the Red Sox/Rays game yesterday. While we didn’t oblige yesterday, we will today. So feel free to use this thread as a catch-all for anything you want.
The Red Sox and Josh Beckett’s 6.75 ERA are hosting the Rays and Matt Garza tonight, and it should be a good one. The Rays crushed the Sox yesterday and face another pitcher with an inflated ERA tonight. Carlos Peña is not in the starting nine for the Rays, and Julio Lugo is no longer DHing or playing short. Will this finally be the Game David Ortiz hits a home run?
The lineups come to us via Extra Bases.
Red Sox
1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Jason Bay, LF
5. Mike Lowell, 3B
6. J.D. Drew, RF
7. Jeff Bailey, 1B
8. Jason Varitek, C
9. Nick Green, SS
Rays
1. B.J. Upton, CF
2. Carl Crawford, LF
3. Evan Longoria, 3B
4. Pat Burrell, DH
5. Willy Aybar, 1B
6. Ben Zobrist, RF
7. Akinori Iwamura, 2B
8. Jason Bartlett, SS
9. Dioner Navarro, C
Have fun and behave yourselves. Happy Mother’s Day to all of the RAB mothers out there as well.
252 Comments»
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The Tyler Austin Watch
Will this finally be the Game David Ortiz hits a home run?
No.
Accuscore Projections predicts a 60% chance for the BoSox to win. I think they have it backwards tonight and I’m routing for the Rays.
It feels like the sox and rays are always playing each other. It would be wonderful to watch the celtics and redsox lose.
And both losses would be to Florida teams
If you could have one Ray and one Red Sox on the Yankees, who would it be?
And why?
Longoria – it’s obvious(move him to ss)
Lester – Because he’s a stud, who is young and cost controlled.
Agree. No one even close on the Rays, though if you’re taking true need into it Upton would look great in CF. Same with the Lester, mid 20′s LHP with his stuff, sign me up.
And Longoria is signed for pennies on the dollar for a long time.
Ya, well the “draft strategy” comes to mind with me. Take the best available player. Even though we have Alex there, I’m not passing up on Longoria to take Upton. I know A-Jax has nowhere near the ceiling of bossman jr, but I’ll be fine with him in cF if Longoria could indeed play a better SS than JEter.
If not, imagine what we could trade Longoria for, something better than Upton considering age, ability, contract, etc.
Heh.
You could pull in a team’s 3 best prospects/young players for him, no?
How about Hanley? Marlins would do it for the $$ savings.
That could work. I’d try to expand a deal with Milwaukee for Braun and Hardy though.
Upton and Lester. In 1/10 of a second. Reasons should be self explanatory.
Agree.
Evan Longoria from the Rays – Five tool player with huge upside and he’s young. Second choice is Price. Justin Masterson from the Sox. He’s young and has great stuff. He’s also versatile – can start or relieve. Second choice is Mike Lowell – just because I like him.
You craaazzy mayne.. Masterson, you’re nuts!
Yeah, Masterson would be far down on my list.
Masterson is probably one of the last people I’d would.
From the Rays definitely Upton. 5 tool player who wil be a stud if not already
Boston- for some weird reason I would love to have Youk
Yeah but the only problem is where you gonna put him?
In a cage with Joba?
Put him on the bench. Key to championship is a strong bench.
Both of these answers are +1.
In teh 8th inning!
From Tampa
Want: Longoria
Need: Upton
From Boston
Lester — Cost-controlled lefty.
Yeah I agree with the want/need thing.
From Boston: Hideki Okajima.
From Tampa Bay: Joe Nelson.
The 8th inning shall be MINE!!!
Longoria and Lester, easy. The only kink on Longoria’s armor is that his K/BB isn’t ideal right now, but it will be in time.
Longoria and Youkilis. Jeter at DH, Longoria at SS, and Youkilis just standing behind home plate when Joba is pitching.
Dustin Pedroia at Short? wtf?
they probably got Pedroia and Green’s position accidentaly switched. There is no reason for them to make that switch now.
yeah they did.
http://www.boston.com/sports/b.....up_47.html
yeah i think they switched it up. i was confused and checked espn. they have pedroia at 2b.
I’ve fixed it. Extra Bases had it wrong, and I lazily didn’t bother to check after C&P-ing before going out to dinner.
Anyone else realize how Jon Miller doesn’t pronounce the “S” in “SAFE!” on a really dramatic play at the plate? Sounds like “hafe” with a soft “h” or something. One of my favorite Millerisms, along with over-accentuating every Hispanic baseball player’s name.
Rudy Say-Onions
Who would the Sox and Rays take from the Yankees if they could have one player?
I’d say Joba, especially for the Rays considering contracts.
Sox might take Tex, considering how much they love him.
Joba’s the only guy I’d want from the Yankees. Maybe Cano for the Rays.
definitely joba for both
Rays, it would have to be between Cano and Joba I think.
Boston, Teix or Joba.
Well, actually. Cano for the Sox would make sense to move to 3b after Lowell is done with them/retires.
kei igawa
Sox would take Gardner, because he is gritty and white.
Rays would take Ransom, because he is so athletic and they like to out-athlete the Yankees.
I think the Sox would really like to have Swisher. Who knows what their outfield is going to look like. Will Bay re-sign? Will Drew ever be healthy?
And of course, every team in baseball would like to have Joba.
it’s amazing how lester and becketts era’s are inflated yet their team is what 7 games over .500. but with the yankees they just have no luck and i don’t want to hear they don’t have chemistry their not any good. the yankees have a very good team i hate to blame it on injuries but injuries def. didn’t help us. and as for chemistry , i think this is the best chemistry this team has had in like 5 years. i just hope yankees can get on a hot streak and make up some ground
Chemistry was debated here yesterday. I think it is ridiculous. As proof, I point to the 1978 Yanks. Munson hated Jackson. Jackson hated Munson. Many other players barely tolerated Jackson. And, Martin and Jackson through punches at each other in the Bosotn dugout in a series at Fenway. BUT, without any chemistry, they won it all!!
*threw punches
Disagree. I am as big a fan of the statistical approach to the game as anyone, but to entirely divorce the game from any human element is silly, especially considering none of us have been in a clubhouse. You can win without chemistry, obviously, and it is low down on the factors that effect a season, but I think that it definitely cannot be discounted entirely.
i still have no use for jackson for the shit he said, and the way he played the game
he was maybe the first “manny”
munson was a class act
The only difference is out bullpen has been teh suck while theirs has been pretty solid so far. They actually have a worse starters ERA than we do.
Starters-
BOS- 5.85
NYY- 5.68
Bullpen
BOS- 3.39
NYY- 6.22
Interesting stats – What site do you use for that info?
Good old ESPN.com. They actually have a pretty good filter options. No SABR stuff though.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....eason=2009
Yeah, that “as a reliever” filter option is excellent.
Thanks – I go there for stats all the time but never used that particular filter. Thanks again.
Thier bullpen has given up leads like the Yankees have. Our closer has been directly responsible for two losses. So even when our starting pitching has been good the bullpen lost us a good amount of games.
Rays are up 1-0 after one inning. Ortiz looks terrible – another strikeout against Garza. Is Ortiz washed up?
is ortiz washed up
yes
I wish I was as sure as you!
Maybe this video will help.
I suspect you’re right. But does that mean we have to worry about A-Rod going the same route. With nine years to go on the contract, I sure hope not.
I would worry about A-Rod regressing some years down the road, but in A-Rod’s worst full year in baseball he still put up a line of .300/.350/.496.
Yes
“Jason Bartlett and Akinori Iwamura = Being strong up the middle” – Steve Phillips.
Awesome, Sam Raimi is returning to his campy horror flicks with Drag Me to Hell.
heh, they’ve mentioned the steal of home like 10 times already.
did mo look good today?? i missed the end of the game, and i think im about to trade for him in fantasy.
Do bears shit in the woods?
yea, i heard something about some shoulder discomfort though, the day he got lit up by the rays maybe, I think Girardi said something after that game.
Polar bears shit on the tundra.
He was great – Looked like his usual stellar self.
Awesome, in my fantasy league, sorry Lanny. I have 5 of the top 11 most productive players right now on Yahoo.
Take that back. six I say, six!!
if i hear one more fuckin’ thing about ellsbury stealing home…
You know what I want to see. I want to Crawford tonight, to get a bunt single, then steal second, steal third, and steal home.
amen…amen
That would be so sweet
FUCK IT! TRY TO STEAL FIRST! Now that is something that wont get lived down!
It wouldn’t be a ESPN broadcast without them bringing up the Yankees in a negative light somehow.
They’re on their game if they can give props to the Sox at the same time.
Anyone excited bout the Terminator movie?
Too busy watching three Boston teams play tonight – Though I wish it was three NY teams instead.
So, you’re too busy tonight to be excited for an upcoming movie. Haha, okay man.
LOL – What’s a movie??
Agreed, it looks pretty awesome.
It looks like a Transformers knock off.
Its the most I’m most hyped for this year. The script rewrite by a Nolan makes me believe that it will be much better than that crap that was part 3.
im cautiously optomistic.
optimistic*
hahahaha that guy talking about manny during that commercial break was such a douche
Haha. “It taints it a lil bit for me”. Those accents are funny to me. But to each their own.
Gotta give him a little credit for saying the 2004 win is tainted though right?
Eh. I don’t think it is tainted if Manny did it then. The whole sport was using it, so the competition was. It can’t be tainted in that respect. Just like the Yankees titles.
Yes, but still a douche though.
OW-UH WORLD SERIES WIN IS LESS TAINTED THAN YO-AH WORLD SERIES WIN! NO ONE DENIES THIS!!
FACK THE YANKEES! CACK!
Morgan is defending A-Rod + Making sense….
Off the bottle!11!!!11
I agree with Joe Morgan re: Steroids list. I feel so dirty.
Oh good the redsox are bringing up Bard, now we get to hear about their next great reliever.
Farnsworth redux.
He throws 100!!!!
As per Gammons: sits at 102
Guys do you think it’s possible to fetch Jason Bay this off season? I understand the long term contract he would command and how many we are locked in for but what do you say?
The Yankees have a propensity for going after players that have burned them in the past, so I say yeah it’s a possibility.
I wouldn’t mind having Damon back as a DH.
Wrong side of 30.
Your probably right. What about on the cheap for 2 years? Well, we might need that spot for Posada… if he can actually stay healthy.
So is Bay.
How long would bay probably get? 5-6 years?
Ya, I meant Bay.
But Damon’s on the wrong side of 35.
Your though on the chances that Crawford’s option isn’t picked up by the Rays.
.1%
I would like the Yanks to pick up Bay
Hmmm, the munchkin is out of the game…
Meh. How do they like it!?
Oh man, family guy version of shawshank… awesome.
Vagina, boob.
Giggity giggity!
Why he chose enchilada night, I will never know.
Zobrist was safe…
So Dustin is hurt? NICE! Now all we need is Beckett to have more “Back stiffness” and miss his next 3 starts.
Lincecum/Teix for Pujols/Wang
Good deal or bad deal?
I’m getting pujols/wang
“I’m getting pujols/wang”
Hee hee
Normally Wang gives mediocre at best fantasy numbers.
Hard to say. I guess it all goes on how Wanger is when he gets back. If he can come and win 15 games or so then I guess it’s well worth it. But the safer bet is with Lince-K and Tex I guess.
Poo Holes and Wang
Count me OUT!!!!
How about A-Rod and a Wang in your Pujols?
Awesome handle btw.
I like it. Yankees are at the highest % for SB. How about that for grit YAHH BASTIDDDDS?
LOL I knew I wouldn’t be the only one watching this game. Anyways I’m sort of rooting for the Sox until Beckett is gone since he’s on my fantasy team. And I need them and the Celtics to lsoe for one hellish day in Boston.
Fantasy baseball has you rooting for the Sox? Woah….
I have a policy about not having Red Sox on my fantasy teams. Three teams this year – 0 Sox. I don’t care if I lose because of it, I have morals.
Garza’s velocity is outstanding.
So was Joba’s, he had his best velocity of the year: http://tinyurl.com/q69k5u
Yes he did. Hit above 97 for the first time this season and was averaging nearly 94. DISASTER OVER.
Imagine 97, in teh 8th!!!!
Akinori IwaFAILa
Gold Grove. Isn’t he a natural 3B?
Gold Glove 3B in Japan. They just moved him to 2B last year.
I thought it was “Akimura” (aka the latest McCarverism).
Doesn’t get better than that. AkiMUHHRAH
Right fielder has to call for that one.
Ouch – Terrible error by Iwamura – It was the outfielder’s ball to call
I have a bet with someone(actually 2 people) from another on who will have the better year between Beckett and CC. It would take Beckett a couple shutouts to be near where CC is now.
I have a bet to see which one ends up with more K’s. I even made the bet after Beckett got a 10k head start on Opening Day.
The inevitable blister injury will help you with that.
steve phillips dropping a “grit” comment… gotta love it
Hate to say it – but nice fielding play by Beckett
BJ has been TEHH Bust on my fantasy team. Argh.
A two-out, run-scoring bloop hit against the Red Sox? That’s down right Jeterian.
It was – too bad they couldn’t get the tieing run in from second base with two outs as well.
I love those Dos Equis commercials.
I second that thought
Who runs a faster 40 yd dash? Grit Gardner or Crawford?
I’m just guessing – Crawford
Clay Bucholz even with a stolen laptop
How do you think he got so fast?
On a serious hes supposed to be faster than Ellsbury
answer:
C) Joey Gathright
Is Grit Gardener as fast as Crawford? If you take out the difference in ability to get on base, does he have that type of speed? Is it close?
http://www.boston.com/bostongl....._baseball/
Interesting article about the most boring moment in baseball- Ball two.
Good article. Posnanski’s article regarding pitch counts on SI.com, which was referenced by Scocca, author of this article, wa even more interesting.
Yeah, Joe Pos is the freakin man. Best in the business.
How about this trade in my other league:
I get:
A-rod + Matt Lindstrom
I give up:
K-rod + Oswalt
But teh 62 saves!!!1!!1!
Pull the trigger ASAP. That’s an absolute steal.
So do we get spillover threads for non-Yankee games
Would that be a first??
No, we definitely had some spillovers during the ALCS last year.
You’re halfway there. I’m guessing it won’t make it
Does anyone else have a tiny tinge of embarrassment when a grown man, ostensibly otherwise heterosexual and lucid, refers to another grown man as “Papi”?
I refuse to refer to him as anything other than his given name, not because I hate the team he plays on, but because I feel a little stupid saying (or hearing) the name “Papi”.
Similarly, I avoid calling Alex Rodriguez “A-Rod” because I feel a little emasculated saying it.
How long have you had this homophobia? Neither name bothers me at all.
I contracted it months ago.
I asked the question. You disagree. Message received cap-i-tan!
LOL
He got it from sitting on a public toilet seat.
I apparently sat down just after Ron Mexico had finished his business.
Or Clayton Bigsby
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_if1T.....Bigsby.jpg
I miss Chappelle.
I know man, too bad all that loot made him go crazy.
Not really, it’s a normal thing for a guy to call another dude that amongst Latino cultures.
I didn’t know that. I’ve heard alot of men referring to women as “mami” but not come across men referring to other men as “papi” yet.
So now I’ll only feel uncomfortable when non-latin men (Morgan/Miller/Phillips) refer to him as such.
And I guess I’ll continue my one man crusade against bush league nicknames silently going forward.
Yeah, it’s more prevalent back in our home countries, so you probably won’t here any Hispanic dudes over here say it. I know I only say it when I’m talking to a boy who is younger than me.
Honest question here, but doesn’t it offend you, or at least sound weird when someone who is not of Latin descent refers to someone who is, with a nickname like that?
As a pale whiteboy, I cringe a little bit when I hear that. Seems out of place, but maybe I’m just missing the cultural meaning. If I call someone the translation of the word “daddy”, it will either be my father or someone who has just severely owned me (think Mo, for instance).
In case anyone wants Yankee news, we just posted a Xavier Nady update.
Thanks Ben
Come on, knock Beckett out with a blast!!!
Aki Aki!
Go rays – 3-3
The Yankees are the sixth-worst club in MLB in terms of Defensive Efficiency with a .675 percentage. However, Boston is the fourth-worst MLB club with a .670%.
Yanks are 6th in FPCT with .985 and Boston is 8th with .983
Yes, but fielding percentage is amongst the wins-losses-saves stats – they are quite worthless.
I agree that Defensive Efficiency is more complete. But, every stat has its place – in the end, wins-losses determines who goes to the playoffs
All right Beckett is out so I can fully root for the Rays.
You need to trade Beckett ASAP.
I know! But no one wants him. I’d give up anyone decent for him, and I don’t want to drop him.
Obviously, I don’t play in any serious leagues but I don’t draft Sox players. Makes me feel like a traitor. In one of my leagues, I missed the draft. It got me Youk and ortiz. I ended up moving them along with something else for Hanley, lol.
It’s pretty funny how Sox fans give a standing ovation 6IP 3ER start…
6IP, 3ER?
Put him in teh 8th!!%%!%@@!!
Would you have given Joba a standing ovation today?
If so, then we can’t really critique the Red Sox fans for doing the same, ya know?
I agree – Beckett was much better today than he was in many of his other starts
No, I wouldn’t have.
True or False: Cervelli will have a higher Batting average this year than Navarro.
True. Navarro’s been terrible this year.
Where will Teix end up is what I’m worried bout.
False – Navarro will come around – He batted .295 last year.
Wouldn’t be surprised if Navarro puts up a .250 avg this year.
What the hell was the point of them showing that highlight clip. F-ing NESPN.
Yeah seriously, it’s not even the anniversary of it or anything.
WHat did they show?
4 consecutive HRs
Oh, someone hit a HR, let’s bring up the 4 consecutive HRs against the Yankees.
Oh, someone stole a base, let’s bring up the stolen base against the Yankees in game 4 of 04′.
Heh. Hardships of life.
That you Krukkie?
Yes. Put Joba in the pen. Etc. Etc.
JD Drew is bunting with a man on first base? Awesome, just awesome. Please continue.
Fricken BJ. Killing my fantasy team. Does he ever turn it around?!!?111?!!?11?!///
How many times are those F-kers at NESPN going to bring up these highlights…
hmmm. i’ve got smoltz stashed away in a points league with no DL spot. now that soria is on the DL i need a RP to replace him.
my bench is e. santana/smoltz/swisher/bruce
ervin santana is due back soon and i think my OF/U spots are pretty strong with bay/crawford/damon/jones/bruce and swisher isn’t doing much as far as weekly points go.
should i continue to stash away smoltz for the future and drop swish for an extra RP?
or i can try to sell high on him for a quality reliever
Drop Smoltz, he isn’t pitching anytime soon.
Holy Shit Big baby.
Wow. That team has heart, keep on going without Garnett. Sucks when I have to live among the fans. I hear shouting in the street.
Do us all a favor and toss a few Molotov’s out your window.
Buzzer beater win for the Celtics…
Man I hate the Celtics excluding Allen and Pierce.
Damn, John Henry ftw.
I still laugh when Big Papi is still looking for his HR. While A-Rod needed one pitch to do it. Retire Big Papi, you’re done. Unless you use them roids again.
“Big Papi is Back!!!! MVP! MVP! MVP!”
-Peter Gammons
How many MVP’s do you know that never hit a HR in that season?
Roger Clemens
Alot….
Dennis Eckersley
Roger Clemens
Rollie Fingers
Vida Blue
Bobby Shantz
Hal Newhouser
Lefty Grove
Carl Hubbell
Mort Cooper
Jim Konstanty
Bob Gibson
Both of those balls are outs in any other park.
i don’t know. i think at yankee stadium they would have been homeruns
“Pedroia hurts groin in BoSox game”
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=4157090
He hurt the smallest muscle in his body! What are the chances?
It boggles my mind why pitchers still throw outside fastballs to bay. That’s what he likes to hit, those high outside fastballs. He never really hits the inside fastball, he usually takes it. And he can’t really hit the off speed pitches on the outside corner. I just don’t understand why pitchers keep throwing fastballs on the outside corner. It makes zero sense.
come on pena
Risk here is that Pena is also a decent strikeout candidate
and there it is… on ball 4
You win.
wow pathetic…..hate fucking papelbon
Rays did there best Yankees impression with runners on.
Hey look papelbon fistpumped, and nobody says SHIT. Fucking hypocritical polesmokers at ESPN.
papelbon looked like he was jerking off with his fist pumps
man papelbon’s fist pumps give me douche chills.
“He has fun though! For sure!”
- Steve Phillips on Papelbon’s fist pump
Ah, you beat me to it! And earlier today Gammons said that Joba is making enemies throughout the AL East and he needs to cut it out…
lol no u beat me to it.
meant now*
They both look like douchebags when they do it….
That said, tonight Papelbon did it upon closing the game and saving the win (that he nearly blew)
The other night, Joba was doing it for a normal strikeout during the course of the game, while he trailed and was later tagged for a loss.
Again, they both look like douchebags when they do it, but I think one of them looked a little worse.
Yes, I am biased, but if I had my preference, they’d both have a little more control over their emotions and not show up their opponents. Someday, somebody they’ve “fist pumped” will hit a dinger to win a game against them and just stand there and watch it for like 45 seconds. These things have a way of evening themselves out…
he’s making enemies because he’s a yankee. once your a yankee its automotaic enemy. but what about when k-rod dances on the mound after every save or like tonight when papelbon looks like he is jerking off with his fist pump. he’s having fun out there ? well so is joba. i personally don’t like it whne joba does it but he’s still a kid and papelbon isn’t.
Don’t forgot Gammons really criticizing Joba’s fist pumps saying he needs to turn it down and on and on. What a bunch of hypocrites.
Dont forget gammons’ new love Daniel Bard. Last year Masterson was teh best 8th Inning guy in the league apparently and now Bard hits 102!!11!!
Paps fist pump = having fun
Joba = showing people up
Papelbon fist pump = “having some fun” “it means he’s shipping up to Boston!”
Joba fist pump = “showing up the hitter” “not showing respect for the game” “makes him enemies all around the AL”
/NESPN’d
How good does that “The Hangover” movie look?