2008 Game 36: Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins
Tim Wakefield vs. Nick Blackburn
I don't think I really have anything particularly worth saying today. I'm sure we'll hear about Wakefield's previous success in domes about 10,000 times during the broadcast.
Happy Mother's Day.
davidwatts
Boston
J. Ellsbury lf
D. Pedroia 2b
D. Ortiz dh
K. Youkilis 1b
M. Lowell 3b
J.D. Drew rf
C. Crisp cf
K. Cash c
A. Cora ss
Minnesota
C. Gomez cf
M. Tolbert 2b
J. Mauer c
J. Morneau 1b
M. Cuddyer rf
C. Monroe dh
D. Young lf
M. Lamb 3b
A. Everett ss
Boston
T. Wakefield
Minnesota
N. Blackburn
davidwatts
I didnt notice this before, but no Manny
Jeff A
In the words of Ralph Kiner, "Today is Mother's Day, so for all you moms out there, happy birthday."
greenmachine
I was surprised to see Casilla called up. Not that we have a glut of middle-infield prospects at AAA, but given that a) Casilla hasn't done well at the plate this year and b) Gardy & company seemed dismayed at his game judgment last year, I figured we'd see somebody like Howie Clark up (can Macri play middle or is he strictly 3B?).
twayn
In the post-game news conference last night, Gardy didn't sound too excited about Casilla. Said they'd use him as a pinch runner and mix him into the lineup when they needed to. So it sounds like he's still pretty much in Gardy's doghouse.
brianS
Macri has played quite a bit of 2b as well. 81 games at AA Tulsa in 2006, 21 at Tulsa in 2007, 2 games at Rochester in 2007; plus 59 games at SS in A+ and AA in 2005.
Jeff A
The White Sox lost, so the Twins are back in first place, at least for the moment.
Jeff A
I was listening to the Summit EPA ad, and for the first time I heard the line: "We like to see guys round the base, so send the runners through." I didn't know Scott Ullger wrote lyrics.
davidwatts
I love the beginning of the second verse, there is some guy screaming at the top of his lungs 'WE LOVE...'
Beau
BEER!
New Britain Bo
I like that old-style TC cap on Mr. Mauer.
meat
evening folks, I'm in the middle of brewing, so I'll be in and out all game
Jeff A
I'm in the middle of brewing.
Coffee, no doubt.
meat
if it were up to Dazz-L and Gordo...
davidwatts
may the suds be with you
New Britain Bo
in the middle of brewing
What's the hooch?
meat
I'm aiming at a Belgian - patersbier- light and crisp, with crazy yeast esters, floral and spicy-
brianS
*whimpers*
New Britain Bo
No oversized milk carton in right field to distract the enemy. Crax.
E-6
That milk carton always made me hungry for cake.
New Britain Bo
If that were Serra, twould be plates of cast iron split with huge hunks of India rubber topped with a scarified piece of red cherry styrofoam.
E-6
heh.
greenmachine
Dazzle: "... for some reason they want to emphasize this [defensive] shift on some of these players ..."
Maybe because some players consistently pull or push the ball??? Not that I have numbers on Oritz in front of me, but did they not do defensive adjustments when Danny played?
ubelmann
That shift has existed at least since Ted Williams, if not earlier in baseball history.
New Britain Bo
D'watts: dumb question, but what do the bolded entries in the lineup signify?
davidwatts
changes in the lineup or notable people like Toby Hall (hes in the league still!)
greenmachine
Where's them Blackbeards?
twayn
Rhubarb not in the house tonight. Have at it, greenie.
twayn
Blackburn's looking pretty good after the first half inning. 21 pitches, 14 strikes, 2 K.
greenmachine
*@*@& Pedroia with his good at bats (8 of 21 pitches)
twayn
Like I said last night, it's tempting to IBB the guy to save on pitch count. Or if you really want to be efficient, just plunk him.
twayn
Just 8 pitches that inning.
davidwatts
very nice!
New Britain Bo
Nice rap for Cuddy. Canadian on 3rd. Nil out.
twayn
If Morny had taken second on that ball that got by the catcher, we'd have a run now. You snooze, you lose.
davidwatts
Morneau is a nice guy. he wants Monroe to get 2 ribbies
greenmachine
Scratch that, 3 ribbies.
E-6
Let's give this guy a knuckle sandwich, boys.
E-6
Like that. Whoo!
twayn
MONROE!
New Britain Bo
The Monroe doctrine!
twayn
Wow, that's what happens when the knuckler doesn't knuckle.
davidwatts
MONROE!
twayn
That was nice. I could get used to these home run things. Well, if they happened often enough.
CarterHayes
So, if the Twins lead the AL in BA w/RISP, I have to assume that's a minuscule sample size, right?
New Britain Bo
Knuckle me rainbow.
New Guy
I would very much like to watch this game, but my stupid housemate has been using the TV to play Grand Theft Auto IV for the past five hours and shows no signs of quitting.
twayn
Chloroform might solve that.
New Britain Bo
I'd join him - sounds cool from what I've read.
E-6
Pretend he's a character in the game. Kill him...
twayn
Mark your calendars, boys! Adam Everett goes yard!
E-6
Neverhitt goes yard? Oh, my.
New Guy
Well that certainly was unexpected!
New Britain Bo
Hoo hah. Redsux.
greenmachine
EVER HIT IT!
CarterHayes
That's it - pink bats for the rest of the season!
davidwatts
WHAT!
New Britain Bo
Gobot, go.
greenmachine
Think he can steal home on those knuckleballs?
meat
wait. what happened? we signed someone to play defense and he hits HRs, is this bizzaro-everett?
twayn
So, Gogo is on a pace to steal 72 bases this year. That would top Lofton's record for an AL rookie by 6.
twayn
Of course, I forgot that Gomez played too many games last year to qualify as a rookie this year.
New Britain Bo
35 pitches this inning by the Knuckler. Whoosh.
twayn
Yeah, but he can throw 150 pitches if he has to.
Rhubarb_Runner
Holy smokes, guys! I raced to finish cleaning up my tiling work, and by the time I turn on ESPN, it's 5-0 with 1 out in the 2nd!
New Guy
What's the record for consecutive hit batters?
E-6
I don't know if it's a record, but the genuinely daft Doc Ellis hit the first 3 Cincy Reds he faced in a game. Intentionally.
davidwatts
HAHA. thats great
twayn
Pink Hawley, C.J. Nitkowski, Steve Sparks, Walter Thornton, Jeff Weaver and Wilbur Wood also all hit 3 consecutive batters in an inning, but not necessarily intentionally. All of them are tied with Ellis for most consecutive hit batsmen in an inning.
twayn
Not sure. Baseball Almanac says most in a game by one pitcher is 6 in the NL, set by John Grimes in 1897. For the AL the one game record is 4, and the grid just says "Too many to list." Hehe.
greenmachine
Oh my, apparently Blackburn REALLY hates the Red Sox.
CarterHayes
The first was Ellsbury's fault. He squared around and pulled back too late and got hit on his back leg, which was actually out of the batter's box. From the replay it looked like he hadn't pulled the bat back far enough, either, but they gave him the base.
greenmachine
Thanks for the recap, hard to tell that stuff over the radio.
CarterHayes
I'll give the FOX guys credit they deserve for once - they didn't immediately start talking injury, but looked at the tape. Looks like the Red Sox got a freebie.
twayn
I was only kidding about plunking guys to save on pitch count.
New Britain Bo
Plunk away, pally.
New Britain Bo
Bases loaded, 0 outs. Go to the kitchen for a sec and see what happens...
New Guy
Blackburn does not function well when given 5-0 leads.
greenmachine
This is a good start towards giving back 5 runs.
New Britain Bo
Cool. Lamb's mom's in the stand and got to see that Webgem (game saver).
twayn
Too bad that was Ellsbury on third, we would have had a DP.
New Britain Bo
Dazzle's "on-target throw" wasn't actually.
davidwatts
nice job of limiting the damge
greenmachine
Praise jeebus, I can't believe BB only gave up one run.
New Guy
Well that could have been much worse. Round of applause to Blackburn for not pulling another Texas job.
twayn
That was an excellent recovery, but he got some good defense behind him.
New Britain Bo
Cuddyer due here.
Rhubarb_Runner
"I've written 'I hate Joe Morgan' in the sky so many times, even I'm getting dizzy."
CarterHayes
What'd he do this time?
New Guy
My favorite commercial!
Rhubarb_Runner
"I've written 'I hate Joe Morgan' in the sky so many times, even I'm getting dizzy."
New Britain Bo
"I've written 'I hate Joe Morgan' in the sky so many times, even I'm getting dizzy."
Is this a K post?
Rhubarb_Runner
No. And apparently there is a glitch in the Matrix.
New Britain Bo
I've always suspected such. Like when you feel deja vu?
New Britain Bo
Wakefield sux.
New Guy
Paging Doug Mirabelli. Doug Mirabelli, please report to the Metrodome.
Rhubarb_Runner
I love smoking the opposition on national TV.
greenmachine
Oh yeah!
E-6
Rhu_Ru is Marion Barry?
E-6
Mutton!
davidwatts
Lamb is deadly with runners in scoring position
greenmachine
Lambarama!
ubelmann
Lamb is so ridiculous. I can only hope that he'll improve when there are no runners in scoring position, but this is starting to get a bit out of hand. 10 of his 24 hits are with RISP.
twayn
And you stat guys say there's no such thing as clutch hitting. Pshaw.
ubelmann
Technically, my positiion is that clutch hitters very well could exist, we just can't identify them with statistics. (So saying someone is hitting .XXX/.YYY/.ZZZ w/ RISP or in "close and late" situations or whatever doesn't tell us whether or not he's clutch.)
(And yes, I know you were just being snarky, but I like to clarify that whenever I can because a lot of the more brash stats folks don't hold such a nuanced position on the matter.)
ubelmann
Alright, gotta go again. I hope the Twins can hang on--six runs is a big lead, but Boston can put runs on the board in bunches.
twayn
Delmon's defense has been pretty poor so far. He really futzed that one.
twayn
Between Crisp, Ellsbury, and Gomez, there's some real speed in this game.
New Britain Bo
Zoinks, scoob.
New Guy
What is the deal with Blackburn and pitching with the lead?