With the Celtics and Bruins moving on to the second round of the playoffs, the Red Sox have hit the sports back burner in Boston, for now. In case you didn’t notice, the Red Sox have won seven of nine overall. They earned their first series sweep of the season. They’re back at .500.

No longer the constant focus of attention, the Red Sox officially made their climb back from a 4-9 start to improve to 11-11 after defeating the Blue Jays for the third straight day, 2-0.

Jon Lester was magnificent for the Sox in earning his first win. He allowed just one hit and two walks in seven innings with 11 strikeouts in by far his best outing of the season.

“This was a great series for us,” Lester said (AP Quote).

Damn right, Jon. The Red Sox got their desperately-needed and spirit-lifting sweep thanks first to their bats (in a 13-12 win on Monday), and second to their starting pitching. An Achilles heel all season, the starters were excellent the last two days, with Clay Buchholz shutting down the Jays over eight innings on Tuesday, and Lester doing the honors with seven dominant innings on Wednesday.

The Red Sox got their first run when Dustin Pedroia drove in Darnell McDonald with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. The team scored one run in the seventh when McDonald singled home Adrian Beltre. McDonald, who started in CF, finished 2-3 with an RBI and a run.

“He’s done a good job,” Francona said of McDonald (AP Quote). “He’s sitting down there in the nine hole but he’s got big hits. He’s played a pretty good center field. I think he’s excited about his opportunity and he’s looking to make the most of it.”

Sox Stud of the Game: Jon Lester

He deserves a second recognition. Lester was just awesome, and it looks like he shook off the early-season jitters.

Sox Dud of the Game: J.D. Drew/Victor Martinez

No one really played poorly, but Drew and Martinez each finished 0-4 with a strikeout, so I’m picking on them.

Game Notes:

W: Jon Lester (1-2)
L: Brett Cecil (1-1)
SV: Jonathan Papelbon (7)

• Red Sox pitchers finished with 15 strikeouts overall: Lester (11), Bard (3), and Papelbon (1)
• Lester lowered his season ERA to 4.71 in the game.
• Alex Gonzalez went 1-3 and is now hitting .286 with the Jays. On a bad note, Gonzalez has just 2 walks against 23 strikeouts this season.

© KC Downey for Sports of Boston, 2010. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Featured, Red Sox, Top Story.

The Red Sox offense jumped out to an early lead against All-Star Roy Halladay. Ortiz hit his 250^th home run as a Red Sox player in the second inning to give the Sox a 1-0 lead over Halladay and the Blue Jays and the Sox would not look back. After Casey Kotchman reached on an infield single and stole second, Alex Gonzalez drove in Kotchman with a single to center to give the Sox a 2-0 lead.

With two outs in the fourth, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a triple, which drove in Gonzalez for the third run of the game for Boston. The Blue Jays finally got to Clay Buchholz in the fourth, when Vernon Wells knocked in Aaron Hill on a single up the middle. That run would be the only one Buchholz allowed in his six innings of work.

In the fifth, the Sox just kept adding to their lead as Jason Bay hit a two-run home run off of Halladay to give Boston a 5-1 cushion. This would be the last of Halladay as he was replaced after only five innings of work, in which he allowed five runs (four earned), eight hits, two walks and seven strikeouts.

The Sox bullpen pitched three shutout innings of work in relief of Buchholz. Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima and Takashi Saito each gave an inning without allowing one hit and recorded six strikeouts all together. Victor Martinez added one more run as he hit a solo shot in the ninth off of Brandon League. It was an overall solid team performance for the Sox as they got it done with their pitching and their bats.

Sox Stud of the Game: Clay Buchholz

Buchholz out pitched Halladay for his second win of the season and his first win in six starts. He went six innings giving up six hits, allowing one run and had four strikeouts.

Sox Dud of the Game: Nick Green

Green was one of two Red Sox players who did not get a hit in the game. Green also struck out twice and did not reach base.

Game Notes:

W:  C. Buchholz (2-3)
L:  R. Halladay (13-6)

• Tim Wakefield will make a minor league rehab start with Triple-A Pawtucket on Friday.
• Daisuke Matsuzaka will pitch in a Gulf Coast League game next Monday.
• Dustin Pedroia flew to Boston on Tuesday to be with his wife as they had their first child. He is expected to rejoin the team on Thursday.

© Ty Scheiner for Sports of Boston, 2009. | Permalink | No comment
Filed under: Featured, Red Sox.

Rangers’ OF Nelson Cruz was called up to the majors and will play almost everyday for the rest of the season. In Triple-A, he was absolutely destroying everything he saw with a .342 avg, 37 HR, and 99 RBI. In 96 games last year he hit very differently with a .235 avg, 9 HR, and 34 RBI.

Yankees SP Pavano Wins First Start Since April 2007

Carl Pavano finally returned after rehab from Tommy John Surgery over a year ago and picked up the win in a 5-3 Yankees victory. Pavano gave up three earned in five innings and struck out 5 batters on 91 pitches.

Eddie Guardado Traded, Heads Back to Minnesota

After finding little success in Texas, relief pitcher Eddie Guardado is back to the team where he started his career in 1993. In his last appearance, Guardado couldn’t close out the game and he took the loss for Texas. Frank Francisco has been named the new closer for the Rangers and now Guaradado is nothing more than a middle reliever.

Now for the stars of week 21.

OFFENSE

Nick Swisher (1B,LF,CF,RF), Chicago White Sox: Swisher’s season has been seen as a dissapointment but last week he has tried to right his wrongs by hitting a home run in four consecutive games to bring his total to 21 for the year. Swisher also drove in eight runs as part of his great week.

Mark Teixeira (1B), L.A. Angels: Tex Mex raised his average to .302 with a 9-23 (.391) week which included three home runs and five RBI. Tex is hitting .386 since joining the Angels.

Brian Roberts (2B), Baltimore Orioles: Roberts didn’t impress anybody last week with his power (1 HR), but he did manage to slap 11 hits, drive in 5, and swipe 3 bases. Roberts is 7-7 in SB attempts in August.

Mark DeRosa (1B,2B,3B,LF,RF), Chicago Cubs: DeRosa’s bat woke up last week with 10 hits including four for home runs. He drove in runs in five straight games (6 RBI total) and now has 77 RBI on the season.

Vernon Wells (CF), Toronto Blue Jays: Wells’ week was pretty much dead before Toronto faced the Red Sox. In that series alone he was 6-11 with three home runs and six RBI.

PITCHING

Rich Harden (SP), Chicago Cubs: There is no better pitcher in baseball right now than Rich Harden and yes, I am including CC Sabathia. Harden just added to his ridiculous stats last week by striking out 21 batters in 14 innings to pick up two more wins. Out of his eight starts with the Cubs, five of those games saw Harden strike out 10+ batters.

Ricky Nolasco (SP), Florida Marlins: Nolasco won both of his starts to bring his record to 13-7. His wins included his first complete game of the season and 21 K’s while surrendering just two runs.

Brian Wilson (RP), San Francisco Giants: Even though Wilson blew a save last week, he still picked up two wins and two saves. Even with the blown save, Wilson has a 2.93 ERA and 10 saves post break.

Barry Zito (SP), San Francisco Giants: Yes you read that correctly, I did type Barry Zito’s name. Zito put together a great week with two wins while working 15 innings. OK, so he only struck out eight batters but come on, give the man the little credit he gets.

Mariano Rivera (RP), New York Yankees: The best closer of our generation did what he does best. Rivera picked up three more saves and gave up zero runs in 3.2 innings while fanning three batters.

Why Should I Give A Crap About These Guys?

Jensen Lewis (RP), Cleveland Indians: Hey, it’s an Indians’ closer with an ERA under 4.00. Lewis has gotten comfortable as the 9th inning man in Cleveland and has converted five straight save opportunities and now has six total in August.

Rocco Baldelli (CF), Tampa Bay Rays: Hey, remember him? In eight games since his return from the DL, Baldelli is hitting .308 with 2 HR, and 4 RBI.

Ryan Church (LF,CF,RF), New York Mets: Church has battled issues with multiple concussions all year and has finally returned to the everyday lineup. In the 60 games he has played, Church is hitting .310 with 10 HR, and 37 RBI.

Sports of Boston Friends and Family League

• Well crap, I am back in 7th place after a 12-11-1 victory. My star of the week was Ian Stewart who hit .480 with a home run, seven RBI, and four doubles.
• My special thanks this week goes out to Shaun Marcum who blew up against the Res Sox for 5 ER in 3.2 innings of work. After that start, he was sent down to the minors.
• This week is the final week of the fantasy regular season so I have to finish in the top 6 to advance to the playoffs. One problem, in order to make it, I have to go through the best team in the league. Crap!
• The rest of the SoB crew: Dev (3rd), KC (4th), Dan (5th), Jeff (9th), Chris (10th), Geoff (11th).
• Recent pickups include: Todd Wellemeyer, Chris Perez, Omar Infante, Mike Jacobs, Chris Volstad, and Chris Dickerson.

© Pete Rampino for Sports of Boston, 2008. | Permalink | 2 comments
Filed under: Fantasy, Featured.

Josh Beckett made his first start of the season and pitched decent until running into trouble in the fifth. Beckett had allowed just three hits but walked four when he was taken out with the bases loaded and two out in the fifth. Manny Delcarmen came in and on the first pitch, the “Big Hurt” Frank Thomas blasted a monsterous Grand Slam homer to blow the game wide open. It was Thomas’ second homer of the year and he now has 8 RBIs.

The Sox pulled it within 7-4 and had the tying run at the plate in the ninth in Jacoby Ellsbury and Julio Lugo, but a strikeout and pop out respectively ended the game and sent the Sox to a third straight loss north of the border.

The bright side for the Sox is that eight of the nine starters had a hit and they now finally get to return to Boston for their home opener at Fenway Park on Tuesday when they face the Detroit Tigers.

My Take: Beckett looked decent for his first start of the year, until the fifth of course. His fastball was lively and hitters had a tough time making contact as the ace did strike out six in just 4.2 innings. The wildness displayed should settle down as he gets more innings. The Jays offense sure looks potent with the Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Frank Thomas trio accounting for 12 RBIs in the series.

© Jeff Christenbury for Sports of Boston, 2008. | Permalink | One comment
Filed under: Red Sox.

OFFENSE

Alex Rios, OF: Rios has just been waiting to burst and this year just may be it. He has been improving every year starting with his almost breakout year in 2006 (Rios was on SportsofBoston’s KC’s fantasy team in 2006 and KC takes full blame for cutting his season short). In 2007 Rios hit 24 HR and drove in 85 to compliment his .297 AVG and 17 steals. All signs are pointing to another jump in the numbers. He also just turned 27, and as we all know, the number 27 is the magic number for a fantasy player.

Pete’s Prediction: 112 R, .303 AVG, 29 HR, 97 RBI, 20 SB

Vernon Wells, OF: Don’t write Wells off just yet. The important thing to remember is that he is still only 29 and has plenty of good days ahead. Last year he battled a shoulder problem all season and required surgery. He has arrived at camp reporting that the shoulder is near 100 percent. In 2006 Wells had 32 HR and 106 RBI and he has at least 23 homers in every year in the majors (except last season of course). If he stays healthy, then we can expect exceptional numbers.

Pete’s Prediction: 93 R, .289 AVG, 31 HR, 101 RBI, 9 SB

Frank Thomas, DH: Thomas enters the season at age 40. The age has not seemed to slow him down much. Last season he had 26 home runs and 95 RBI. I do throw out a word of caution. The Big Hurt’s career average indoors is .279 which is well below his career average of .303. When he played for Oakland in 2006, he had 39 homers, so the move to an indoor stadium effected his play. If you want to take the gamble on this aging future hall of famer then go ahead, but I advise going elsewhere for your power source.

Pete’s Prediction: 60 R, .272 AVG, 25 HR, 92 RBI, 0 SB

PITCHING

Roy Halladay, SP: The Blue Jay rotation has one of the strongest anchors in the AL East. Halladay is a model of consistency, you know what you are getting yourself into when you draft him. He is an innings workhorse with a good ERA. In 4 of his last 6 seasons, Halladay has thrown over 220 innings (the exceptions being 2004 and 2005 where he battled injuries). The former Cy Young winner looks to be the ace of this staff for another season. He wont strike out a lot of batters anymore but he is durable and will get you the wins you need without sacrificing ERA.

Pete’s Prediction: 17 W, 3.40 ERA, 140 K

A.J. Burnett, SP: I have to be honest, I don’t see the attraction. Burnett has only started 30 or more games twice in his career and he is always injured. On top of that his career high in wins is only 12. You can make the argument that he does give you good strikeout totals. This is true but, if you combine that with low wins and a problem controlling walks then you have a pitcher who is over rated. Draft for the K’s if you need them but don’t rely on much else.

Pete’s Prediction: 11 W, 3.80 ERA, 170 K

B.J. Ryan, RP: He’s baaaaaaaaaack. Ryan’s season was cut short in 2007 due to Tommy John surgery. All signs point to Ryan being ready for opening day. Don’t let the elbow scare you off, Ryan is one of the game’s elite closers. In 2006 he had 38 saves for Toronto and a ridiculous 1.37 ERA. With Ryan you get a microscopic ERA and plenty of saves. He may fall a bit on draft day due to elbow concerns but let everyone else’s worries be your gift.

Pete’s Prediction: 3 W, 2.06 ERA, 98 K, 36 SV 

OTHERS OF NOTE

Lyle Overbay, 1B: Overbay was having an abysmal season before and after his injury. His .240 average was very unlike him. It wasn’t just average, Overbay’s numbers were down in every offensive category. Whatever the problem was, I am confident he can bounce back. Moving to the AL wasn’t the problem as evident by his 2006 season. Expect typical numbers he has always put up, but be cautious if you think the hand injury will linger.

Pete’s Prediction: 80 R, .287 AVG, 18 HR, 81 RBI, 2 SB

Scott Rolen, 3B: Traded for Troy Glaus in the off-season, Glaus is now the everyday 3B for Toronto and rejoins fellow teammate David Eckstein. Rolen has battled shoulder injuries for the past few season and this explains his line from last season which was .265 AVG, 8 HR, and 58 RBI in only 112 games. Rolen took batting practice and said he has felt better than he has in the past 4 years. If you want to take a risk and take this as a sign, then be my guest. You should also note that Rolen will have an indoor stadium as his home park for the first time in his career AND he is moving to the AL for the first time. All these variables are too risky for my taste.

Pete’s Prediction: 79 R, .276 AVG, 18 HR, 71 RBI, 1 SB

Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan, Jesse Litsch, and Jeremy Accardo, SP/RP: Due to injuries in the rotation and the bullpen, Toronto was able to develop their young pitching for the majority of the 2007 season. Accardo filled in for B.J. Ryan and got 30 saves with a 2.14 ERA. if anything happens to Ryan (and who knows, he is coming off of Tommy John surgery after all), Accardo can grab a few saves. McGowan, Litsch, and Marcum have a full year of starting experience under their belt and proved they can hang tough in the AL East. Those three starters can give you ERA’s in the high 3.00′s or low 4.00′s at a bargain basement price at much later rounds in your draft.

Next up: The Bronx Bombers…

© Pete Rampino for Sports of Boston, 2008. | Permalink | One comment
Filed under: Fantasy.