Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 27, 2013

  Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I found myself in a pickle.

I couldn't determine which American League pitcher owned baseball.
Was it R. A. Dickey and his 2 hit shutout?
Or A. J. Griffin and HIS 2 hit shutout.

I spent the episode trying to make a decision.
The result?
Give it a listen!


Clayton Kershaw, Jordy Mercer, Alex Gordon and either R. A. Dickey or A. J. Griffin all owned baseball on June 26, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.
Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 27, 2013

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 24, 2013

Today on The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast, I talk about the Blue Jays winning streak, instant replay and cheating death.

You read that right.


Matt Harvey, Edwin Encarnacion, Justin Ruggiano and Joe Blanton all owned baseball on June 23, 2013.


To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 24, 2013

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 1, 2013

The Blue Jays need to get their act together, the Padres should let people in for free and Bruce Bochy should win manager of the year. All of those topics and more onn today's edition of The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast.
CC Sabathia, Chris Dickerson, Jonathan LuCroy and Johnny Cueto all owned baseball on May 30, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - June 1, 2013  

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - May 7, 2013

The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast looks at the botched attempts to turn a franchise around and how many utterly fail (I'm looking at YOU Dodgers, Angels and Blue Jays.

With all the failed quick fixes in baseball this year, maybe it is time to praise the success of the 1997 Florida Marlins' get rich quick plan.

Stephen Drew, Scott Feldman, Andrelton Simmons and James Shields owned baseball on May 6, 2013.

To see the up to date tally of "Who Owns Baseball?," click HERE.

Subscribe on iTunes HERE.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - May 7, 2013

 

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 18, 2013

While looking for a carpet, I discussed why I am not so quick to jump on the Toronto Blue Jays' bandwagon.

  Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - March 18, 2013

  Subscribe to The Sully Baseball Daily Podcast on iTunes.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - January 1, 2013

It's a new year... and a few teams had better hope they get into the playoffs soon.
The Royals, Blue Jays and Pirates are the three teams that haven't played in the post season since it expanded to a Wild Card.

They had best get on that.
I talked about it in the podcast.

Sully Baseball Daily Podcast - January 1, 2013






 

John Farrell is with the Red Sox... send Lackey to Toronto

Seriously. If the Red Sox need to send compensation to the Toronto Blue Jays for manager John Farrell, see if they will bite on John Lackey.

Think that is outlandish? Did you think the Red Sox would find anyone to pick up the tab on Carl Crawford while sitting on the DL counting his tens of millions of dollars.

What's the worst that could happen by asking?



 

Well... that didn't take long, Lester

Earlier today I wrote a piece about how the Red Sox hopes for 2012 are entirely in the hands and arms of Jon Lester and Josh Beckett.

They need to pitch like aces.

One pitch into today's game, Lester let up a homer and the Sox were down 1-0.
One innings into it, they were down 5-0.

Gonzalez homered to make it 5-3. Momentum shift?
Nope. Lester let up two more homers and has let up 9 runs in two innings.
9 runs in 9 innings horrible.
9 runs in 5 innings is "send him to the minors" territory.

9 runs in 2 innings? That's "The season is over."

Even if they win, they have lost.
Even if they come back, there is no erasing the awful start by Lester.

One pitch into this game and the season might be over.
If they lose today (and as of this writing they are down 9-3) then they will be a .500 team in late July with suspect starting pitching.

Yeah, sounds like a contender to me.




 

The A's and Blue Jays game was great and LOOKED great

The A's and Jays played in front of evidently friends and family in Oakland tonight. And like the game played in front of virtually nobody in Pittsburgh, it was a back and forth game ending on a walk off homer.

The Blue Jays took the lead with 2 outs in the top of the 9th. The A's tied it and won on Brandon Inge's grand slam.

It was damn good baseball.
And it was damn pretty baseball.

After years of wearing ugly or dull or totally unmemorable uniforms, the A's and the Blue Jays finally LOOK like the A's and the Blue Jays again!

The Blue Jays have the bird with the maple leaf back, looking more like George Bell or Joe Carter than they have for a decade and a half. And check out the yellow unis that read "A's" instead of "Athletics."

It's starting to feel like all is right with the world again.

Now break out the dark green jerseys and I will be one happy Sully!

 

OK American League... it is time to step up in 2012

So here we are in early May.
It is still early in the season and a lot can happen. But a whole month has transpired in the 2012 campaign and some interesting developments have occurred that should make some dormant teams wake up.

The Angels? One month in, they stink. Sure any team can have a lousy month. But save for Jered Weaver's perfect game and Torri Hunter and Kendrys Morales' performance, there has been nothing much to cheer for near Disneyland. Plus I am STILL tied with Albert Pujols for home runs.

The Red Sox? They look like a classic "Win 6 and lose 6" team with inconsistent pitching and a bullpen that will drive New England bonkers all year.

The Yankees? Well they are about to find out how long they can survive with a shake rotation and inconsistent offense without the 9th inning being automatic. The specter of Mariano Rivera closing out the 9th made up for a lot of inconsistencies. They won the 2005 AL East basically by saying "Just club the opposition to death and hand Mariano a lead." This year it has been "OK, the rotation hasn't been good, but scratch a lead together and make sure Mariano has a lead." This organization and fan base hasn't dealt with the 9th inning being anything but a lock since the strike (and back then, they were not a presumptive playoff participant.)

So what does this mean?
That means three teams that are regular playoff contenders are, to be extra ordinarily generous, shaky.

Throw in the fact that the Tigers, who just about everyone picked to win the AL Central, is off to a .500 start (they'll recover), and the American League could be in as much in flux as the unpredictable National League.

The Rays and the Rangers are making their cases for best teams in the league. And you'd think that winning back to back pennants would have made the Rangers more of favorite going into this season.

But there are five playoff spots this year and the chances of the Yankees, Angels AND Red Sox all missing the post season is not outlandish.

If there is any year a team like the Orioles or Blue Jays to have that elusive October cameo, it is this year. If any season could have the Indians sneak in or maybe the A's spit in the face of their detractors, it is this year.

In other words, take a close look at Memorial Day. If Baltimore, Toronto, Oakland or Cleveland are still at or near the top of their standings or close to the Wild Card by then, it would behoove them to buckle down.

Maybe this is the year they hold onto their veterans and fill a hole or two.

The Goliaths of the League have all stubbed their toes and are more vulnerable than anyone could have predicted. 

For all of you who have complained that the Red Sox and Yankees win too much and you can just buy a pennant... the season you've been waiting for may have arrived.

 

What an amazing middle finger to Colby Rasmus!

I thought I was tough on Colby Rasmus.
I trashed him when he was whining at the end of the 2010 season.
That prompted his defenders to start writing to me, saying he was one of the 20 most valuable players in the game. (?)

I poked fun at him when he was dealt to Toronto and wondered where he was watching the World Series as the Cardinals won without him.

And of course some readers thought I was overly harsh and unfair.
(I realize that he is a major leaguer and I'm not and I don't have 1/1,000,000th of his talent. I would also know not to whine myself off of the Cardinals.)

But my blog posts are not nearly as brutal as this picture I found on the CN Jersey's website.

They sell uniforms of many of the Cardinal players from last year's World Series.
Sure there is Carpenter and Pujols and others.

But a Rasmus Cardinals uniform with the 2011 World Series patch on it?
He was sitting on his Barcalounger watching the game, drinking a Schlitz during the World Series.

He was already a member of the Blue Jays while the pitchers he was traded for, Octavio Dotel, Edwin Jackson and Marc Rzepczynski (sic), were helping St. Louis clinch a title.

Rasmus is 25 now. This is the time he should be breaking out. Instead the 2009 season remains his high water mark. He was rotten in 35 games with Toronto at the end of last year and this year, has been plodding along at a .232 average and an unimpressive .708 OPS.

He DOES have 3 more homers this year than Albert Pujols.

In 2009, when Rasmus was a Rookie of the Year candidate and Pujols was running away with back to back MVPs, the two looked like they were going to be the foundation of many great Cardinals titles to come.

If St. Louis had announced at the end of the 2009 season that they were signing Pujols to an 8 year extension and locking Rasmus up beyond his arbitration and first year of Free Agency, the Cardinals would have been praised as a great long term thinking organization.

Here we are in 2012, Rasmus and Pujols are struggling. The Cardinals got 3 pitchers for Rasmus who helped win a title, will get 2 picks for Pujols and a decade of salary relief.

And oh yeah, the Cardinals are in first place.

They are indeed a great long tern thinking organization.

As for this Rasmus jersey? I'm just glad they are being sold as "Replicas."

I do NOT think this was a mistake.
I think there was someone there who is a Cardinal fan who thought "F--- that guy."



 

Yesterday showed why the Red Sox aren't a playoff team

I know it can seem silly declaring a team's playoff hopes dead before they play their first home game. ESPECIALLY when that team won 90 games the year before, 89 the year before that and made the post season 6 of the prior 7 years.

But let me ask you a few questions and you might understand why I have no playoff hopes for this team.

1. How many starters on the Red Sox can you count on?

That would be Jon Lester. Everyone else is suffering from injuries (just have your thumb treated, Beckett and join Dice-K and Lackey on the DL!) will eventually be injured (I'm looking at YOU Feet of Clay Buchholz) are relievers thrown into the rotation (Daniel Bard aka Joba Chamberlain 2.0) or should be a minor leaguer (no offense, Felix Doubront.)

2. How many relievers on the Red Sox can you count on?

At this point? Padilla. And that is scary.

3. Seeing that you can't count on 80% of the rotation nor the bullpen, can the Red Sox afford to lose games where Jon Lester has pitched well?

Nope. Those have to be put in the bank.

4. Has Jon Lester pitched well in his first two starts?

Very well. He has lived up to his billing. He let up only 3 hits over 8 innings yesterday and in the opener let up one run over 7 innings.

5. How did the Red Sox fare in those games?

They lost them both.

This team has virtually ZERO margin for error. Especially with the way the Rays have come out of the gate (and with their young pitching, they can pick each other up) and the way the Yankees recovered from the opening Tampa sweep. (Reports of Mariano's demise were exaggerated.)

Yes it is early.

It's not even Tax Day.

But 89 or 90 wins aren't going to cut it for a trip to October.

And there is no way you are going to win 95 of the final 156 games if you can't cash in terrific Lester outings.

2 out of 3 of those games should be automatically in the team's win column if not Lester's.

There's not a lot of depth to pick up the slack.

Lower your expectations Red Sox fans.

This is not a playoff team.

BUT I will dutifully update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES -1

April 9 - 4-2 win in Toronto. (A day after blowing leads in the 9th and 11th, the Sox win their first game of the year with a 3 run 9th inning rally capped off by Ryan Sweeney's 2 out go ahead RBI single)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES -3

April 5 - 3-2 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox rally to tie the season opener with 2 outs in the 9th only to lose on a bases loaded walk off single by Austin Jackson.)
April 8 - 13-12 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox bullpen surrender a 3 run game tying homer in the 9th to Cabrera and Avila smacked a 2 run, 2 out walk off come from behind homer to win it in as brutal a loss as you will ever see.
April 11 - 3-1 loss in Toronto. (Lester throws a complete game but Ricky Romero shut down Boston's bats and Rajai Davis manufactured a critical run.)

-2.

The Sox open Fenway tomorrow against Tampa on Friday the 13th.
No potential bad omen there.

I don't understand. What is this "Red Sox win" you speak of

The Red Sox were losing in the 9th. And then they scored some runs and weren't losing. And somehow the Blue Jays DIDN'T score more runs in the 9th.

Then the game ended.
And the Red Sox had more runs. And the Red Sox shook hands afterwards. And almost looked happy.

It is so confusing.
It is like the time space continuum has been ripped.

I realize that I didn't even update the Dodged Bullet/Teeth Grinder tally after the Tigers massacre on Sunday. Three games in, I was already thinking "Oh man, why bother?" But here we are with a Dodged Bullet win.

So I guess I SHOULD update it. Until they get eliminated I guess.

DODGED BULLET GAMES -1

April 9 - 4-2 win in Toronto. (A day after blowing leads in the 9th and 11th, the Sox win their first game of the year with a 3 run 9th inning rally capped off by Ryan Sweeney's 2 out go ahead RBI single)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES -2

April 5 - 3-2 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox rally to tie the season opener with 2 outs in the 9th only to lose on a bases loaded walk off single by Austin Jackson.)
April 8 - 13-12 loss in Detroit. (The Red Sox bullpen surrender a 3 run game tying homer in the 9th to Cabrera and Avila smacked a 2 run, 2 out walk off come from behind homer to win it in as brutal a loss as you will ever see.

-1.
Hey, the Sox are going to win some and lose some.

I still don't think they'll be playing in October.

BUT at least now they won't go 0-162!

Blue Jays and Indians are the best value in baseball!

Seriously. What better bang for your buck can you get in these lean economic times than the Blue Jays and the Blue Jays?

Think about it. If you bought tickets for the first two games in Cleveland, what will you expect?
18 innings of baseball, right?

Well you nearly got 18 innings in game 1 during the 16 inning opening day Marathon.
It was complete with great pitching, blown saves and some drama.

So all you would be entitled to in Game 2 would essentially be 2 innings.
But guess what?
More great pitching. Both bullpens wet the bed in the 9th and the game went into the 12th.

So Cleveland fans got 28 innings for the price of 18!
That's 10 free innings!
A whole extra game PLUS 1 inning!

That's a deal!
Now granted, both games sent Cleveland fans home sad.

Well, you know those deals always come with a catch.



 

I hope Omar Vizquel goes on a hitting rampage this year

Omar Vizquel has said that this year, his 24th in the big leagues, will be his last.

He is the best defensive shortstop since Ozzie Smith with his 11 Gold Gloves and has put together an unorthodox yet compelling Hall of Fame case.

His Hall of Fame candidacy would be a lot easier to defend if he passed 3,000 hits. And, as I wrote before, even though he never got 200 in a season, he is tantalizingly close.

At 2,841 hits, he is 159 hits away.
He got 171 hits in a season as recently as 2006.

I hope he gets a lot of playing time with the Blue Jays. (I wanted the Red Sox to sign him!)

And I hope the man who is currently 45th on the All Time Career Hits list moves up past some more Hall of Famers. He is a mere 32 hits away from passing Babe Ruth on the all time hits list!

I know it is a long shot, but how great would 3,000 hits for Vizquel?

(And keep in mind, he's probably STOLEN 3,000 hits over his career.)

For 2012... ONE of these teams needs to play in October

Happy New Year my readers.
Going into 2012, obviously I want the Red Sox to win it all... but I doubt that they will. They have too many holes and I want them to treat 2012 as a year to take stock.

I'd love to see my National League team, the San Francisco Giants win. I think they have a solid shot to win the N.L. West, especially if Buster Posey comes back.

And of course I'd like to see the Yankees crash and burn.

Other than that, besides drama I would really like to see one of five teams make the playoffs this year:

The Orioles, the Nationals, the Pirates, the Blue Jays or the Royals.

Not one of those 5 teams played in the post season in the 2000s.
(The Royals and the Nationals/Expos franchise didn't see October baseball in the 1990s either!)

Teams shouldn't go two decades without a post season appearance and we have 8 years to remedy the situation. The Rangers and Reds didn't play in October for any season in the 2000s but quickly changed that in the 2010's. Hell, if the Rangers got one more strike, they'd take themselves off of the "Waiting for a Championship" board.

But let's pick it up. ONE of those teams has to have a shot. Don't tell me it is hopeless. Who predicted the Rays could have won a pennant in 2008 in a division with the mighty Red Sox and Yankees?

The Red Sox are in flux and the Yankees are old. The Orioles or Blue Jays could sneak in.

Who is the powerhouse in the A.L. Central? The Tigers? A young talented Kansas City team could surprise everyone.

The Phillies are a year older and as Ryan Howard showed us, potentially prone to injuries. And the Nationals have a talented rotation. Why not them?

Why can't the Pirates, who were contending in July, put it together for a whole year in a tightly packed NL Central?

If ALL of those scenarios come true, then it will be odd.
But ONE of them? How hard could it be for ONE to come true?

Let's go.
Your fans have been waiting long enough.

THE BLUE JAYS ARE BACK!!!!

Step one to returning the Blue Jays back to glory?

Have them dress like champs.

They have FINALLY dumped the awful JAYS uniform that made them look like a Short Season Single A team.

They have gone back to the distinct and unique look of their glory years.

The Blue Jays have a cool identity. They are NOT a tradition laced team. They are a relatively new team and a foreign team. Why they would have run away from a cool look and feel is beyond me.

I have been advocating returning to the old look for a while now.

Then again, I ALSO said they should have rehired Cito Gaston and they did.

Maybe the Blue Jays should keep listening to me.

They look good. They have some talent and there is a new Wild Card team. Could be some fun times in Toronto.

If you are going to party like it is 1992 and 1993, then DRESS like it is 1992 or 1993!!!

Hey Colby Rasmus! Where did you watch the game?

Hey! If you could have not pulled a Diva act and whined your way out of St. Louis, you might be a World Series champ!

But I'm sure you made the right decision.

These Cardinals seemed like a really tough group to play with.

And yeah, the Cardinals made such a bad move dealing a pain in the ass player with one pretty good season under his belt for pitching depth.

Rasmus is going to get a World Series ring.
I hope LaRussa presents it to him on his middle finger.

We interrupt our Red Sox sorrow to crap on Colby Rasmus

As the Cardinals celebrated their improbable run to the National League Wild Card, I saw all the players dumping beer on each other and hugging.

Who wasn't there?
Colby Rasmus.

Remember him? The guy who bitched and moaned his way out of St. Louis.
The guy I crapped on last year for complaining about playing time to LaRussa.
The guy who suddenly had a bunch of defenders chewing me out, talking as if he was an elite player (????)

The Cardinals sent him packing to Toronto, where he got hurt and was lousy when he played.
(A .173 average, .201 on base, .517 OPS and 37 OPS+ stinks no matter how few games you play.)

The Cardinals were 55-48 on July 26th... his last day as a Cardinal.
They went 35-24 without him.

Now of course they were in FIRST PLACE on July 26th, so I guess his defenders could say they fell out of first without him.

But I can't help but wonder if the Cardinals won partially because the guys in the clubhouse were the ones who were on the same page.

Maybe if Colby Rasmus didn't act like a 23 year old who thought he invented the game, he'd be going to the post season too.

Ah well.
He will be good NEXT year... (not 2012. I mean the perpetual NEXT year for prospects who never make it.)

OK. Back to Red Sox misery.

Jonathan Papelbon will owe Daniel Bard a few million dollars

Jonathan Papelbon's contract is up after this year. And after his disastrous 2009 playoff performance and a subpar year last season, the Red Sox seemed ready to bid adieu to Pap, take the two draft picks and move on.

The reason they could afford to do that? The great Daniel Bard, of course! Bard was a kick butt prospect who seemed all but ready to assume the closer role when Papelbon brought his Irish dig elsewhere for big money and an inevitable breakdown (which makes him a prime candidate for the Mets, Cubs or Orioles.)

Have you seen how awful he has been lately?
He's lost 3 games already... THIS MONTH! I don't know what his ERA for September but going into today it was over 17. And after coughing up the game today (which would have given the Red Sox a little breathing room when the Rays show up tomorrow.

Heck, it was a game where Lackey actually settled down and wasn't HORRIBLE.

And Bard blew it.

So when Papelbon goes into negotiations this November, the opening sentence should be "So... you want Bard closing games?"

And then toss a few million bucks to Bard. Papelbon will get the big deal and he wouldn't have if Bard was even adequate down the stretch.

Time to update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 44

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)
May 15 - 7-5 win in the Bronx. (Sox fall behind 4-1 but come back as Youk, Papi and Salty all homer.)
May 16 - 8-7 win against the Orioles. (Down 6-0 after 6 innings, the Sox rally and win it with a 2 run walk off double by Adrian Gonzalez)
May 18 - 1-0 win against Detroit. (With 2 outs in the 8th, Salty doubles home Crawford from first for the only run. Papelbon gets himself in and out of 9th inning trouble.)
May 19 - 4-3 win against Detroit. (Bard blows Beckett's lead but Carl Crawford wins it with a walk off hit.)
May 24 - 4-2 win in Cleveland. (Varitek throws two runners out and homers as the Red Sox win their first game against the Indians.)
May 29 - 4-3 win in Detroit. (The Red Sox blow an early 3-0 lead but David Ortiz wins the game with a pinch 9th inning homer.)
June 3 - 8-6 win against Oakland. (Buchholz lets up 4 runs in the first but the Sox come back thanks to Carl Crawford's 2 run single.)
June 4 - 9-8 win against Oakland. (Red Sox blow a 4 run 9th inning lead and trail in the 11th before Ellsbury ties it and Drew wins it in 14.)
June 7 - 6-4 win in the Bronx. (Papelbon strikes out A-Rod to end the game with a runner on base.)
June 9 - 8-3 win in the Bronx. (Down 2-0 to Sabathia in the 7th, the Sox score 7 runs as Papi exacts revenge after getting plunked. A 3+ hour rain delay pushed the game past 1:30 AM)

June 15 - 3-0 win in Tampa Bay. (Youkilis homers in the 7th for the only runs in Beckett's 1 hit masterpiece.)
June 16 - 4-2 win in Tampa Bay. (Papelbon wiggles out of a 2 on, nobody out jam in the 9th thanks to Youk's diving catch.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in Pittsburgh. (The Pirates make 4 errors and the Red Sox score 2 in the 7th to avoid a sweep by the Bucs.
June 30 - 5-2 win in Philadelphia.(An injury to Cole Hamels leads to the Red Sox bats waking up.)
July 1 - 7-5 win in Houston. (The Sox score 6 in the 7th inning to come back and win.)
July 3 - 2-1 win in Houston. (The Red Sox score a run in the top of the 9th on a walk to break a tie.)
July 5 - 3-2 win against Toronto. (Lester gets hurt but Darnel McDonald throws out the tying run at the plate to end the game.)
July 6 - 6-4 win against Toronto. (The Sox score 4 in the 4th to take the lead and Wakefield and company hang on for dear life.)
July 10 - 8-6 win against Baltimore. (The Orioles score 6 runs off of rookie Kyle Weiland in the second, but the Red Sox hit three homers in the bottom of the second to tie the game and hold for dear life.)
July 16 - 9-5 win in Tampa. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 3-0 first inning hole, but 3 Sox homers bring them back for the win.)
July 17 - 1-0 win in Tampa. (Beckett throws a masterpiece and the bullpen throws 8 amazing innings. But the Sox bats go dead, leaving 17 men on base before Pedroia drove in a run with 2 outs in the 16th inning.)
July 18 - 15-10 win in Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 6-2 lead but score 8 runs in the 8th to take the game.)
July 22 - 7-4 win against Seattle. (John Lackey beat Felix Hernandez and Mike Carp's error helped the Red Sox score 5 in the 7th to give them some breathing room.)
July 23 - 3-1 win against Seattle. (Ellsbury gets Beckett off the hook in a tight pitchers duel when he got a 2 out, 2 strike 2 run go ahead single in the 8th.)
July 26 - 13-9 win against the Royals. (The Sox trailed in the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th before the bats exploded in the 5th.
August 2 - 3-2 win against Cleveland. (Youk tied the game with a 6th inning homer and Salty dove home for the winning run in the 9th.)
August 3 - 4-3 win against Cleveland. (Ellsbury hits a walk off shot in the 9th.)
August 7 - 3-2 win against the Yankees (The Sox rally off of Rivera in the 9th and win on Josh Reddick's 10th inning single)
August 8 - 8-6 win in Minnesota. (Down 5-1, the Red Sox rally back, then score twice in the 9th to give the Sox the win.)
August 9 - 4-3 win in Minnesota. (Darnell McDonald's homer ties the game and Ortiz singles home the game winner as Bard worked out of trouble in the 7th.)
August 12 - 6-4 win in Seattle. (Reddick and Ortiz homered to bail out Lackey.)

August 16 - 3-1 win against Tampa Bay. (Pedroia makes a diving catch in the 9th to help preserve the win.)
August 18 - 4-3 win at Kansas City. (Sox hold on despite having three base runners thrown out by the outfielders.)
August 31 - 9-5 win against the Yankees. (Beckett blows a 4-1 lead but homers by Ellsbury and Varitek put the Sox on top.)
September 13 - 18-6 win against Toronto. (Wakefield blows 2 early leads but the Sox bats explode in the 6th to earn Wakes win #200.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 40

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picked off, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runners and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)
May 21 - 9-3 loss to Cubs. (Up 3-1 in the 8th inning, the bullpen and defense implode. The Cubs score 8 runs while both teams wear their 1918 uniforms.)
May 23- 3-2 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox blow a 2-1 8th inning lead when the Indians rally with 2 outs. Crawford ends the game on a double play.)
May 29 - 3-0 loss in Detroit. (Verlander keeps the Sox off base and prevents the sweep.)
June 1 - 7-4 loss to White Sox. (Konerko drives in three, spoiling a game tying Ortiz homer.)

June 14 - 4-0 loss in Tampa Bay. (Wakefield's solid outing is spoiled. Longoria scores on a passed ball.)
June 18 - 4-2 loss to Milwaukee. (The Brewers hit three homers early off of Lester and hang on.)
June 21 - 5-4 loss to San Diego. (Ortiz hits a double play in the 9th to stifle a potential winning rally.)

June 24 - 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox strand 7 runners in scoring position.)
June 25 - 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox fall out of first as Pedroia's error leads to a Pirates run.)
June 29 - 2-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Vance Worley duels John Lackey and slumping Raul Ibanez drives in both runs.)
July 4 - 9-7 loss to Toronto. (John Lackey's miserable start puts the Sox in too big a hole to climb out of.)
July 19 - 6-2 loss in Baltimore. (Scutaro gets thrown out stealing and the Orioles tack on 3 big runs late.)

July 25 - 3-1 loss to the Royals. (Scutaro botches a potential game winning squeeze play in the 12th as the Red Sox lose in 14.)

July 28 - 4-3 loss to the Royals. (Crawford's bid for a walk off homer falls just short.)
July 29 - 3-1 loss to the White Sox. (Sox blow a late 1-0 lead and spoil a solid Wakefield start.)

August 1 - 9-6 loss to Cleveland. (Asdrubal Cabrera's second home run was an 8th inning tie breaking shot off of Daniel Bard.)

August 4 - 7-3 loss to Cleveland. (Carlos Santana's homer broke a 3-3 tie.)
August 5 - 3-2 loss to the Yankees. (The Sox leave the bases loaded in the 5th and the Yankees score 3 in the 6th to take the lead.)
August 10 - 5-2 in Minnesota. (The Twins score 3 in the 8th, spoiling Ortiz's game tying homer.)
August 13 - 5-4 loss in Seattle. (Mariners score 5 in the first and the Red Sox come back falls short.)
August 14 - 5-3 loss in Seattle. (The Red Sox comeback falls short as Wakefield loses a complete game).

August 16 - 6-2 loss against Tampa Bay. (The Red Sox pull a triple play but a late rally by the Rays puts the game out of reach.)

August 21 - 9-4 loss at Kansas City. (The Royals' 8 run 6th spoils a 4-1 Sox lead and Wakefield's bid to win 200 games.)
August 30 - 5-2 loss to the Yankees. (Sabathia finally beats the Sox and Cervelli's homer sparks bean balls.)
September 1 - 4-2 loss to the Yankees. (Russell Martin's 2 run double in the 7th put the Yankees on top for good. Rivera struck out Gonzalez with the bases loaded to end the game.)

September 5 - 1-0 loss in Toronto. (Beckett sprains his ankle and Brett Lawrie homered in the 11th to win.)
September 7 - 11-10 loss in Toronto. (Bard melts down in the 8th, preventing Tim Wakefield's 200th win. Aviles is thrown out trying to steal to end the game.)
September 10 - 6-5 loss in Tampa Bay. (Sox get 2 homers in the 9th to tie the game only to lose it in the 11th.)
September 14 - 5-4 loss to Toronto. (Adam Loewen singled home 2 runs in the Blue Jays 3 run 8th inning, making Bard a loser AGAIN!)

Down to +4.

Let's hope the Orioles can show a little resolve and win.

And let's also hope that Bard finds his way. It might profit Papelbon later, but we need an 8th inning guy NOW!