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Red Sox-Yankees Showdown Looms after Successful Week

For the first time since the All-Star Break, the Red Sox showed conisistency in winning two series within one calendar week (Yes, they beat the A’s and Royals back-to-back in the beginning of August, but that spanned two weeks). The Red Sox took care of business against the bottom two teams in the AL East (Baltimore and Toronto) with a tough week looming.  

Little changed with the Red Sox fellow playoff competitors this week as they remain 4.5 games back of the Rays in the East and up a single game on the Twins in the wild card.

Red Sox at Orioles

The series opened with each team’s best pitcher on the mound in Jon Lester and Jeremy Guthrie.  Each went seven innings and lasted over 100 pitches, leaving a 2-1 Red Sox advantage in the hands of the bullpen.  Terry Francona did what he does best, in helping the Sox survive the starting pitcher and working the relievers over to earn a win.  The Red Sox plated a pair of runs in the eighth and ninth on the way to a 6-3 victory. 

Manny Delcarmen allowed the Orioles to close to 4-3, prompting Jonathan Papelbon’s call to get the four out save, which he did with minimal effort (1 hit, 16 pitches).  Jason Bay went 3-5 with two home runs and four runs batted in, raising his average to .329 with the Sox in the ballgame. 

The Red Sox got out to a quick 3-0 lead after two innings against Daniel Cabrera en route to a 7-2 victory.  Daisuke Matsuzaka got his 15th win, but only went five innings after breaking the century mark for pitches.  He was wild, walking five and allowing six hits (2.20 WHIP for the game) against six strikeout. He has walked that many in eight of his 23 starts.

Dice-K was allowed to throw a lot more pitches in Japan, pitching over 150-160 in a game regularly, as is more common there, so he could go deeper into games with all these deep pitch counts.  However, if he keeps walking five guys, he will keep getting pulled after five or six innings as he passes 100 pitches.  He has to find some more control and go deeper into games. Luckily, he gets plenty of run support and can rack up these wins with the shorter outings.  Kevin Youkilis paced the offense with a 3-5 effort, including a home run and three driven in. 

The Red Sox got off to another quick start in the third game, looking for a sweep, up 4-0 after 1-1/2 innings.  However, Clay Buchholz ran into trouble of his own in the bottom of the second, getting dinged for three runs with a combonation of singles, walks, and a stolen base.  He let the game slip away in the third, getting tagged with two more before getting the hook. 

David Aardsma gave up two of his own on a three-run homerun to Ramon Hernandez while recording only two outs.  Javier Lopez let the game get further out of reach, allowing a Melvin Mora three run home run in his lone inning of work.  The Red Sox got a couple back later, but it was not enough.  Bay was one of four Sox players with two hits, one of which was his third home run of the series. 

Buchholz has not won since May and was sent down to Double A Portland to try to get things turned around for himself.  He is looking like a victim of his own early success, having thrown a no-hitter so early in his career and seeing so much success so fast.  If he can get himself in order, he could be a weapon for the Red Sox in September in October.  All in all, it was a good series in Baltimore despite the final game. It was an important series victory in that it helped the Sox in keeping pace with the other playoff contenders.

Red Sox at Blue Jays

The Sox opened the series in Toronto sporting a 2-6 record against the Jays this season with Paul Byrd on the mound for Game 1.  Byrd allowed a pair of two-run home runs through six innings and left with a 5-4 lead, which was enough to score the win. Justin Masterson, Hideki Okajima, and Papelbon shut down the Blue Jays the rest of the way with a scoreless inning apiece. Coco Crisp had three hits out of the nine hole in the batting order, setting up for the top of the order guys. 

Jon Lester dropped to 12-5 with a loss in the middle game as he was shelled for seven runs in 2.1 innings, breaking his eight start streak of seven or more innings.  With a streak that impressive, you are allowed a hiccup every once in a while.  He picked a good day to lay an egg as the Red Sox offense laid nine of their own on the scoreboard as they were thoroughly beaten 11-0. 

The Sox managed half as many hits (four) as strikeouts (eight).  If there is a silver lining to the game, it is that they did not waste a 10-run offensive effort!  Chris Smith gave up four more in 2.1 innings before Delcarmen (1.1 IP), Lopez (1.0), and Mike Timlin (1.0) shut out the Blue Jays the rest of the way. 

Dice-K found some control in the finale, striking out eight while walking only one through six innings.  He did allow five runs thanks in part to two gopher balls, and left the game knotted at five as the offense got to opposing starter A. J. Burnett.  Terry Francona brought Papelbon into the game in the ninth to preserve the tie and got two perfect innings from the regular closer on only 16 pitches. 

Jed Lowrie homered in the top of the 11th, setting up Delcarmen’s first save of the season and giving Papelbon the win.  The Red Sox needed that victory and the series, beating a team that gave them a lot of trouble this season.

Red Sox at Yankees

The Red Sox head to the Bronx to play for what is likely to be the final time at Yankee Stadium (barring a highly improbable Red-Sox Yankees ALCS).  The talent on the Yankees team makes it hard to count them out since they could get hot and make a run at any time, but a big series win for the Sox here would likely push them past the point of no return. 

If the Bombers bats get hot, they can cover for the lack of pitching for a stretch, but their lack of arms has been their unraveling this season.  Chien-Ming Wang, Joba Chamberlain,  and Phil Hughes have been hurt and Ian Kennedy was ineffective early in the season and has bounced up and down. 

As for pitchers who are active, Andy Pettitte, Sidney Ponson, and ace Mike Mussina will face the returning Tim Wakefield, Byrd, and Lester respectively.  Mussina has clearly been the anchor of their rotation this season, going 16-7 with a 3.45 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, and over 6 strikeouts per nine innings.  All of this came on the heels of the spring training statements that he was not guaranteed a rotation slot for new manager Joe Girardi. In Mussina, Lester draws another team’s ace. 

Josh Beckett will miss his second consecutive start in this series with his sore right arm.  It is always wise to save some of your starter’s innings down the stretch if you can and with Beckett not hitting the disabled list, this probably is an abundance of caution.  It would be a little more optimal if the Red Sox were in a comfortable position in the playoff race, but with Beckett’s injury concerns in the past, the care with the ace is certainly warranted. 

This is a must win series for the Red Sox to slam the door on the Yankees.  Anything less will probably drop them out of playoff position (for the moment at least). 

Red Sox vs. White Sox

The Red Sox will return to Fenway Park to open a quick six-game homestand with a visit from the White Sox, another club in the wild-card mix.  The teams met a couple weeks ago in Chicago, splitting the only other series they will play this season. 

The White Sox are a power and pitching team, leading the majors in home runs (even before adding Ken Griffey, Jr. at the deadline) but weaker at getting on base.  That addition pushed Paul Konerko to the bench primarily, but leaves Jim Thome, Carlos Quentin, Jermaine Dye, and Nick Swisher in the everyday lineup. 

The front end of their staff has four ten win guys and is anchored by 13-6 Gavin Floyd, who will pitch in the finale against likely starter Wakefield.  Beckett is scheduled to return in the opener against Javier Vazquez and Dice-K faces Mark Buehrle.  Bobby Jenks is as good as ever, after an injury shelved him briefly earlier this season, fireballing his way to 25 saves in 28 chances and a 1.79 ERA and tiny 0.99 WHIP. 

Friendly Fenway can be just that for offensive teams and Dice-K and Beckett tend to allow more than the average amount of home runs. But, the pitching matchups break in the Red Sox favor and, assuming Beckett is healthy and rested, the Red Sox should win this series.  This is the best team the Red Sox play in the next couple weeks and need to make a statement against quality opposition, considering their records against Tampa Bay and Anaheim this season.

Tags: Baltimore Orioles, Chicago White Sox, New York Yankees, Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays, View from the Monster

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