Official 2006 Spring Training Game Thread

[a700hitter]

Rudy Seanez has followed David Riske, and pitched his first scoreless inning, took him until his 6th inning of the spring to do so. I hope this is the beginning of the 2 turning it around.

How did Riske do?

[riverside sluggers]

Riske had pitched a scoreless inning of relief in yesterday's loss, giving up 1 Hit

 

EDIT: Okk so Sox lost 3-1, fifth straight overall. This now drops their spring record to 3-10

 

----------

Loretta continues to hit well, as Youk is batting back from his recent 0 for 11 start. Pitching, David Pauley gave off a respectable 4 innings allowing 2 runs to score. Seanez had pitched a scoreless inning of relief, and Hansen again added another scoreless inning to his spring stats.

 

Adam Stern- 0 for 3 (.286 avg)

Mark Loretta- 2 for 3 (.611 avg)

Alejandro Machado- 0 for 1 (.400 avg)

Kevin Youkilis- 1 for 3, Double, RBI (.200 avg)

Ian Bladergroen- 0 for 1 (.400 avg)

Manny Ramirez- 0 for 3 (.357 avg)

Matt Van Der Bosch- 0 for 1

Dustan Mohr- 0 for 3 (.364 avg)

Trent Durrington- 0 for 1 (.250 avg)

Alex Gonzalez- 0 for 3 (.111 avg)

Jed Lowrie- 0 for 1 (.438 avg)

Willie Harris- 1 for 3, Double (.200 avg)

Enrique Wilson- 1 for 2 (.316 avg)

Luke Allen- 1 for 1 (.211 avg)

 

David Pauley (L 0-2)- 4 innings, 6 Hits, 2 Runs, 6.00 ERA

Rudy Seanez- 1 inning, 1 Walk, 10.50 ERA

Phil Seibel- 2 innings, 3 Hits, 1 Run, K, 4.50 ERA

Craig Hansen- 1 inning, 0.00 ERA

[Red85]

No, but pretty much behind on Red Sox offseason news, so mind filling me in?

[jsinger121]

Have you been living in a hole?

 

Coco Crisp- Center

Mike Lowell- Third

Alex Gonzalez- Short

Mark Loretta- Second

Kevin Youkilis/JT Snow- First

Josh Beckett- Starter

David Riske/Rudy Seanez/Julian Tavarez- bullpen

[Red85]

Have you been living in a hole?

 

Coco Crisp- Center

Mike Lowell- Third

Alex Gonzalez- Short

Mark Loretta- Second

Kevin Youkilis/JT Snow- First

Josh Beckett- Starter

David Riske/Rudy Seanez/Julian Tavarez- bullpen

 

 

Just join here few days ago, and would like to catch up some news around here

[jsinger121]

How long have you been a red sox fan? a few days?

[Red85]

How long have you been a red sox fan? a few days?

 

 

Let me put this way, Red Sox fans my entire life, say 17 years

[jsinger121]

Then how do you not know any of the moves over the winter when you say your a sox fan for 17 years.

[Plumpamania]

With our pen, who has seen any members of the revamped staff out there. I just read about Riske/Seanez, but what about other members of it. Arroyo has been horrid statistically. What about Papelbon? Timlin? How are they looking. Stats in ST aren't everything. How are the breaking pitches looking....I'm really interested to hear about that.

[a700hitter]

Papelbon had good command and stuff in first two innings of his last outing. In the third inning, he lost command and left some pitches right over the middle. Hansen has shown good command, poise and stuff on Friday. I didn't see his other outings.

[riverside sluggers]

With our pen, who has seen any members of the revamped staff out there. I just read about Riske/Seanez, but what about other members of it. Arroyo has been horrid statistically. What about Papelbon? Timlin? How are they looking. Stats in ST aren't everything. How are the breaking pitches looking....I'm really interested to hear about that.

 

Timlin (USA) & Tavarez (Dominican Republic) are still out in the WBC, so they will be back next week. Papelbon is still working to regain his command, after his first 3 starts of the spring.

 

-----------

Here's a promising report on Schilling & Wakefield

 

Schilling, Wakefield pleased by outings

Boston pitchers face each other in Minor League contest

By Maureen Mullen / Special to MLB.com

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In a Spring Training-only special, pitchers Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield faced each other in a Minor League intrasquad game on Wednesday. Schilling, who faced 24 batters in six innings, said he was very encouraged by his outing. "I don't know if it was any one thing," said Schilling, who allowed four hits and a walk while striking out six in his six shutout innings. "I felt very good about how I felt at the end. I was very strong. I could have gone a lot longer. I worked on a lot of things."

 

Two things Schilling has been working on specifically this spring are his changeup and pitching inside, neither of which he used much in the past. "I worked on my curveball today," he said. "I felt I threw a lot of good curveballs. I'm throwing my changeup. It's to the point now where it's going to be a pitch I'm going to use in a game to get people out with. I pitched [inside] well again today."

 

In each of his last two outings, Schilling hit a batter in the helmet. He created a controversy with his comments after his last outing against the Pirates, when he hit outfielder Chris Duffy. Although Schilling did not hit any batters Wednesday, it appeared a pitch grazed the shoulder of right-handed hitter Javier Cardona, who led off the third inning.

 

"No, it didn't hit him," said catcher Josh Bard, who caught both Schilling and Wakefield -- a combined 11 innings and 147 pitches in 85-degree heat. "[but] that pitch was more in and less up than the pitch to Duffy." Schilling said he was pleased with his velocity, which according to one radar gun was in the range of 91-92 mph.

 

"I thought I threw some balls good," he said. "That's probably my No. 1 question all spring going into the season. In the past, it's always been whatever you have in March, you add 3-4 mph in April. ... I'm comfortable where I'm at." Wakefield, who faced 19 batters over five innings, gave up one run on two hits, with a walk and a hit batter. Wakefield, who struck out two, also said he was pleased with his outing.

 

"I feel good," said Wakefield, who likely will be slotted in the rotation between Schilling and Josh Beckett. "I felt strong today. I felt like I could have gone longer. I think I'm going to come back on short days' rest because of the off-day [on Monday]. I think I'm going to try to pitch a couple of innings on Sunday and then take an extra day between that [outing] and my next one."

 

Wakefield is happy with the way his rapport with Bard -- the likely candidate for the backup catcher spot and, therefore, Wakefield's designated catcher -- is progressing.

 

"He's done a good job," Wakefield said. "We're all professionals here, and he's been great since he's been here. He's a great receiver anyway, regardless of whether he's going to catch me or not. So it's just a matter of repetition, him catching me and getting used to different things, and looking for arm angles and different things that we need to talk about before the season starts.

 

"The more times he catches me, the more comfortable he gets. I think he did a great job [on Wednesday]." Bard, who in one game Wednesday caught 5 percent of his 2005 season total of 219 2/3 innings, said the outing was not as difficult as he had anticipated. "[i feel] pretty good," he said. "I was telling the guys, the idea of catching basically 10 innings without stopping, you go, 'Wow.' But it wasn't as bad as I thought. And that's a credit to [schilling and Wakefield]. They threw strikes [and] they got ground balls.

 

"There wasn't really any innings where they were really laboring. And that's a credit to the Minor League guys. They swung the bat; they knew that [schilling and Wakefield] were out there to get their work in.

 

"It's nice to see ... [schilling] getting his pitch count up there. And in the last inning, I think he was as strong, if not stronger [than at the beginning]. He started to let the ball go towards the end. I think it takes a little time to really feel like, 'Hey, I can let it go and let it loose.' And I think he's starting to feel that, and I think today was good for him." General manager Theo Epstein, who watched from behind the backstop, gave the outings of the two starters a favorable report. "All right, OK," Epstein said.

[Cityofchampions33]

Our bullpen will be fine, if it's not Riske and Seanez, it'll be Delcarmen and Hansen, who have been really good in ST.

[Red85]

Then how do you not know any of the moves over the winter when you say your a sox fan for 17 years.

 

 

Let me put this way, just starting to be more open and want to know more details onRED SOX, but was busy during the winter watching all NFL football games, lost the track of it

[jsinger121]

How can any sox fan lose track of the teams move.....They are basically blasted all through the media.

[ORS]

How long have you been a red sox fan? a few days?

Get off your high horse. Different people follow their favorite teams with different levels of fanaticism, but they are all fans. I really can't stand it when people challenge the fandom of others. Whether they follow every move and watch every game or only skim the boxscores during the season, a fan is a fan.

[jsinger121]

He might be a fan but anyone who follows the red sox should know they acquired someone like Coco Crisp and Josh Beckett unless they have been in a hole for the entire winter.

[a700hitter]

He has admitted that he doesn't know about these moves, so what is your point?

[jsinger121]

My point is how can he be a red sox fan when he doesn't even know 2 of the biggest moves the team did over the winter. to me it is mind boggling that someone who says they are a red sox fan has no idea who is replacing johnny damon in center.

[riverside sluggers]

After a 5 game losing streak, and 7 out of their last 8, Sox turned to Beckett. He delivered a win. In 5 innings he allowed just 1 run on 5 Hits, 1 Walk and struck out 2 batters. Riske pitched his 2nd scoreless inning. Craig Breslow had allowed his first run after going 6 straight innings without such. Despite giving up a solo shot, Manny got out of it and earned the save.

 

On offense, Mike Lowell had himself a 2 hit game. Youkilis is coming back still, collecting his 6th RBI of the spring, Manny with his 5th.

 

Stern- 1 for 4 (.273 avg)

Sherrod- 0 for 1

Loretta- 1 for 3 (.550 avg)

Nixon- 1 for 3 (.417 avg)

Durbin- Walk (1.000 avg)

Ramirez- 1 for 3, RBI (.353 avg)

Turner- 0 for 1

Lowell- 2 for 3 (.208 avg)

Brown- 1 for 1, 2 RBIs (.273 avg)

Youkilis- 1 for 4, RBI (.217 avg)

Snow- 0 for 2, Walk (.278 avg)

Magness- 0 for 1

Bard- 2 for 2 (.267 avg)

Pinckney- 0 for 2

Gonzalez- 0 for 2, Walk (.100 avg)

Lowrie- Walk, SB (.429 avg)

 

Beckett (W, 1-0)- 5 innings, 5 Hits, 1 Run, Walk, 2 Ks, 6.75 ERA

Riske- 1 inning, 7.71 ERA

Holtz- 1 inning, 1 Hit, Walk, 3 Ks, 4.50 ERA

Breslow- 0.2 inning, 1 Hit, 1 Run, Walk, 1.69 ERA

Meredith- 0.1 inning, 1 Hit, K, 3.38 ERA

Delcarmen (S, 1)- 1 inning, 1 Hit, 1 Run, Walk, K, 4.50 ERA

[riverside sluggers]

Over in St Petersburg, the Sox had another loss. This being 7-2 takedown by the D-Rays. The Sox's spring record stands at 4-11.

 

Jon Lester had another outing where he couldnt make headway. In 2 innings he had allowed 4 Runs on 4 Hits, 3 Walks, and 0 Ks. Jimmy Serrano had pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief, likely to be placed in Pawtucket. Matt Ginter allowed another run, likely to be released any day now according to WEEI.

 

On offense it was Dustan Mohr who drove in the 2 runs the Sox were able to score, he is now batting .409 this spring. Enrique Wilson went 2 for 2 with a walk. As mentioned, Sox could keep him in Pawtucket as a reserve infielder. Coco Crisp collected a hit and grabbed his 4th stolen base

 

Crisp- 1 for 2, Walk, SB (.458 avg)

Allen- 0 for 1 (.158 avg)

Graffanino- 1 for 3 (.130 avg)

Bailey- 0 for 1 (.500 avg)

Wilson- 2 for 2, Walk (.368 avg)

White- 0 for 1

Mohr- 1 for 2, 2 RBIs (.409 avg)

Hall- 0 for 2

Durrington- 0 for 3, Walk (.154 avg)

Machado- 0 for 4 (.333 avg)

Calloway- 0 for 4 (.211 avg)

Harris- 1 for 3 (.190 avg)

De Renne- 0 for 1

Concepcion- 0 for 3

 

Lester (L, 0-2)- 2 innings, 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 3 Walks, 18.00 ERA

Serrano- 2 innings, 2 Hits, 3 Ks, 3.60 ERA

Bumatay- 0.2 innings, 2 Hits, 2 Runs, 2 Walks, K, 8.40 ERA

Ramos- 1.1 innings, 1 Hit, 0.00 ERA

Ginter- 2 innings, 2 Hits, 1 Run, 1 Walk, 3 Ks, 10.50 ERA

[a700hitter]

I noticed that Enrique Ex-Yankee was 2 for 2 with 2 doubles. What are his chances of making the roster if he keeps hitting (.368)? After all, he is an FOM -- Friend of Manny.

[riverside sluggers]

With Alex Cora, Dustan Mohr, Adam Stern, and Willie Harris (outfield/infield/capable pinch runner) ahead of him. I still think they will go with the plan to keep him in Pawtucket as an emergency reserve player.

[riverside sluggers]

Notes: Beckett impresses Francona

Sox righty limits Twins to one run in five strong innings

By Maureen Mullen / Special to MLB.com

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- While Jon Lester and the Red Sox were falling to the Devil Rays in St. Petersburg, Josh Beckett and the Red Sox were beating the Twins at home, 4-3. In his second Spring Training start, Beckett went five innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk, while striking out two. It was a sharp contrast to his previous start on March 6 against the Devil Rays, when he gave up five runs in three innings.

 

"I thought the best way to put it is, I'm glad he's in our uniform," manager Terry Francona said. "I thought he looked strong. He got pretty deep; he got to 78 pitches. He had to work a little bit at times, which is good. I think he felt like he had to work, but he threw a couple of real good breaking balls, a couple real good changeups. His fastball had a lot of life on it." While Beckett was pleased with his performance, there are some aspects of his game he would like to improve.

 

"I think I just need to get some more experience with these hitters, particularly in the American League," said Beckett, who was acquired in a trade with the Marlins on Nov. 25. "[i need to] just kind of find my craft again," he said. "You get four months off, [so] it's kind of tough to come back in and just remember everything, even your routines and stuff. You've just got to pitch a few times to remember what your routine was and stuff that works for you."

 

Facing the extra hitter in American League lineups will be his biggest adjustment. "You've got another hitter in the lineup, you're not facing the pitcher," said Beckett, whose record last season was 15-8. "Pitchers can be the hardest people for certain people to pitch to. If you have a lull with the mental aspect of the game at that point, that becomes the hardest person.

 

"I remember my first year in the big leagues, I couldn't throw a strike to the pitcher. I could certain days, [but] other days, that was the toughest guy, because you've got to stay focused on that guy and remember you've got to stay ahead of him and still get him out." Beckett will likely appear in the rotation after Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield.

 

Beckett has faced several batters from AL teams, but a good deal of his starts will be 1st appearances. Now facing the DH, I still feel certain its something he can be able to learn through

 

Based on 2006 schedule, teams he has faced

Braves

White Sox

Mets

Phillies

Mariners

Nationals

 

teams he hasnt faced

Angels

Orioles

Guardians

Tigers

Marlins

Royals

Yankees

Twins

Athletics

Devil Rays

Rangers

Blue Jays

[riverside sluggers]

Gordon Edes

 

The Sox are rolling out pretty close to a regular lineup:

Coco Crisp CF

Mark Loretta 2B

Trot Nixon RF

Manny Ramirez LF

Mike Lowell 3B

J.T. Snow DH

Kevin Youkilis 1B

Alex Gonzalez SS

Trent Durrington C

 

Jonathan Papelbon is hurling. Alex Cora, fresh off playing for PR in the WBC, is flying to Tampa tomorrow and will play for the Sox in Dunedin. Terry Francona said he expects Jason Varitek and Mike Timlin back from Team USA tomorrow, with Jason catching part of Sunday's game.

 

The roster was trimmed by seven yesterday: reliever Cla Meredith was optioned to Pawtucket, while right-hander Matt Ginter, left-handers Craig Breslow, Mike Bumatay and Phil Seibel, infielder Jed Lowrie and outfielder Luke Allen were re-assigned to minor league camp. There are two lefty relievers still in camp: Lenny DiNardo, starting tomorrow in Dunedin, and Mike Holtz, the 33-year-old journeyman who last season pitched in Japan and has a dozen whiffs in 6 innings this spring.

 

Francona and GM Theo Epstein met with David Wells this morning in the wake of his grousing about possibly getting skipped over the first time in the rotation when the season opens. If I had to guess, I'd say Wells might make his first start April 12, but I certainly wouldn't rule out his getting traded. Texas has interest.

[jsinger121]

Papelbon went 5 innings today giving up just 1 hit

[CrespoBlows]

Youkilis also hit his third homer of the spring.

 

5-3 Red Sox in the 7th.

[riverside sluggers]

And the game has ended in a tie of 5-5, this now makes Sox's record at 4-11-1. The Sox put up a nice 5-0 cushion, but some reliever kid named Smith gave up 5 runs. He was all over the plate, including a hit batter and couple of walks

[jsinger121]

Chris Smith....pitched in Portland last year....has had injury problems throughout his Red Sox career.....likely will never make it.

[riverside sluggers]

today's stats

 

Of course as noted, Papelbon threw 5 shutout innings. He allowed just 1 hit, 3 walks, and struck out 2 batters. Kevin Youkilis belted his 3rd HR of this spring, this being a towering 3 run shot. Alex Gonzalez had picked up his 3rd RBI of the spring, Youkilis is up to 9 now.

 

Coco Crisp- 1 for 3, Walk (.444 avg)

Willie Harris- 0 for 1 (.182 avg)

Mark Loretta- 1 for 4 (.500 avg)

Zach Borowiak- 0 for 1

Trot Nixon- 0 for 4 (.357 avg)

Chris Durbin- 0 for 1 (.500 avg)

Manny Ramirez- 1 for 3 (.350 avg)

Ron Calloway- 1 for 2 (.238 avg)

Mike Lowell- 1 for 2, Walk (.231 avg)

Scott White- 0 for 2

J.T. Snow- 1 for 3 (.286 avg)

Enrique Wilson- 0 for 2 (.333 avg)

Kevin Youkilis- 1 for 2, HR, 3 RBIs (.240 avg)

Ian Bladergroen- 2 for 3 (.500 avg)

Alex Gonzalez- 1 for 3, RBI (.130 avg)

Alejandro Machado- 0 for 2 (.310 avg)

Trent Durrington- 1 for 3 (.188 avg)

Adam Stern- Walk (.273 avg)

Javier Cardona- 0 for 1

 

Jonathan Papelbon- 5 innings, 1 Hit, 3 Walks, 2 Ks, 6.23 ERA

Chris Smith- 2.1 innings, 5 Hits, 5 Runs, 19.29 ERA

Craig Hansen- 0.2 innings, 1 Hit, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA

Deschenes- 1 innings, Walk, K, 0.00 ERA

Searles- 1 innings, Walk, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA

[riverside sluggers]

Today the Red Sox came out on top 8-4 against the Blue Jays. $55 million man AJ Burnett left the game in the 2nd inning. Its being called an elbow injury, other than that, the team is keeping mum. Scott Downs would be the next candidate to start if Burnett begins the season on the DL.

 

Lenny DiNardo started and tossed 2 shutout innings to get the win. Rudy Seanez had his 2nd consecutive shutout inning, while Riske really is continuing to struggle. Someone has to mention to him that opening day is 2 weeks away now. At the plate saw 2 Hrs, Enrique Wilson with a solo and Adam Stern clubbed a 2 run HR. Stern today, like in the WBC was a triple short of making the cycle. Cora in his debut game went 1 for 4 with an RBI.

 

Adam Stern- 3 for 4, HR, 2 RBIs (.400 avg)

Pritz- 1 for 1, RBI (1.000 avg)

Willie Harris- 1 for 4 (.192 avg)

Mota- 1 for 1 (1.000 avg)

J.T. Snow- 1 for 2, Double, RBI (.304 avg)

Trent Durrington- 0 for 2, RBI (.167 avg)

Dustan Mohr- 1 for 4, Walk (.385 avg)

Alex Cora- 1 for 4, Double, RBI (.250 avg)

Suarez- 0 for 1

Enrique Wilson- 1 for 4, HR, RBI (.320 avg)

Zach Borowiak- Walk

Alejandro Machado- 1 for 4 (.303 avg)

Bacani- 0 for 1

Jeff Bailey- 2 for 5 (.429 avg)

Ken Huckaby- 1 for 2, Double (.500 avg)

Javier Cardona- 0 for 1, Walk

Ron Calloway- 0 for 1 (.227 avg)

 

Lenny DiNardo (W, 1-0)- 3 innings, 2 Hits, 2 Ks, 3.86 ERA

Rudy Seanez- 1 inning, K, 9.00 ERA

David Riske- 1.1 innings, 4 Hits, 4 Runs, 2 Walks, 10.80 ERA

Mike Holtz- 1.2 innings, 1 Hit, 2 Walks, 3.52 ERA

Jimmy Serrano- 1 inning, 1 Hit, 3.00 ERA

Ramos- 1 inning, 2 Walks, 2 Ks, 0.00 ERA