August 30th @ New York

[BoSox21]

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

 

Date: August 30, 2007

Start Time: 1:05 PM ET

Location: Yankee Stadium

 

Pitching Matchup: Curt Schilling (8-5, 4.11 ERA) vs. Chien-Ming Wang (13-5, 3.95 ERA)

 

Now is not the time for Curt Schilling to fall into a funk.

And while it's safe to say he's not there yet -- after all, he's won two straight starts and holds a 3.75 ERA in August -- he's been teetering on the brink of disaster for some time now.

 

Every good Schilling start, it seems, comes packaged with a bad one. He fired a one-hitter at Oakland back in July, and for his encore, he allowed 15 runs over his next 15 1/3 innings. Then he blanked the Orioles for six innings, only to serve up five runs to the Angels in his very next outing.

 

He won that game, however, and won the next one as well. And the Red Sox would like nothing more for him to make that three straight on Thursday afternoon against the Yankees.

 

"If he's consistent with his stuff every five or six days, he's certainly not going to forget how to pitch or compete," said manager Terry Francona. "So if he's able to go out and have consistent stuff, I think we're going to be better off more often than not."

 

The Red Sox could use precisely that. It's not as if they need to sweat quite yet, with their American League East lead still standing tall at six games. But losing two straight to the Yankees has a way of magnifying every fault.

 

So even Schilling, whose 8-5 record and 4.11 ERA would be considered just fine by most standards, isn't immune to a little skepticism.

 

"He still knows how to pitch," Francona said. "That was the one thing that really jumped out, even in the Anaheim game. When he's able execute, he knows what he wants to do."

 

The Red Sox know what they want to do as well, and that's bury their rivals. Should the Yankees pull off a series sweep -- and they need just one more win to do it -- the Red Sox will exit the Bronx with their division lead shaved to five games and another three games to come against the Bombers in September.

 

Not to mention that the Yankees have the right man on the mound to complete that sweep in their young ace, Chien-Ming Wang. Wang leads the team with 15 wins, after flirting with 20 a season ago.

 

So a Sox victory on Thursday would do as much for Boston's psyche as it would for the team's stature in the standings. And Schilling -- whichever Schilling shows up -- gives the Red Sox as much of a chance for that win as anyone.

 

"Consistency is what we're looking for, not one start here and there," Francona said. "I think it's the same thing for him."

 

Mojo of the Day:

 

http://msnbcmedia2.msn.com/j/ap/2b552d78-2aa0-459f-b768-0b9047b75ea1.widec.jpg

 

STRAIGHTEN THEIR ASSES OUT

[jacksonianmarch]

Should be a good one. Day game after a night game, both catchers may be off. I'd assume Posada will get the day off, Matsui or Damon will DH and Giambi will play 1b.

[Cocos Disciples]

Ughh not Alec Baldwin again. On ESPN2 they kept showing Paul McCartney and Alec Baldwin, saying things like, "The stars really liked that play!"

 

Just win.

[mtbykr]

take me away from alecbaldwinia and win this friggin game!

[redsoxrules]

with manny out for a while we need this win big time

[KeepTheFaith1229]

http://www.adjab.com/media/2006/04/7up.gif

 

7 (games) up mojo.

 

SO REFRESHING!

[VA Sox Fan]

1. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

2. Coco Crisp, CF

3. David Ortiz, DH

4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B

5. Mike Lowell, 3B

6. J.D. Drew, RF

7. Jason Varitek, C

8. Eric Hinske, LF

9. Alex Cora, SS

 

P -- Curt Schilling

 

WIN DAMMIT!!!!

[jacksonianmarch]

youk protecting Ortiz? He might walk 4 times today.

[jacksonianmarch]

we are sending out best lineup and pitcher at you guys. Should be fun.

 

Damon LF

Jeters SS

Abreu RF

ARod 3B

Matsui DH

Posada C

Giambi 1B

Cano 2B

Cabrera CF

 

Wang on the hill. Should be fun, unfortunately, I'll catch only the first inning (daggone work!!)

 

On the season, we have CRUSHED schilling to the tune of...

 

18IP 29H 15R 14ER 2BB 10K 6 homers.

[yankees228]

http://www.adjab.com/media/2006/04/7up.gif

 

7 (games) up mojo.

 

SO REFRESHING!

 

lol, it's 6.

[KeepTheFaith1229]

lol' date=' it's 6.[/quote']

 

yeah, I'm saying make it 7.

[VA Sox Fan]

yeah' date=' I'm saying make it 7.[/quote']

 

Most of us realized that...you some of those damn Yank fans....

[VA Sox Fan]

From the Globe:

 

Amalie Benjamin reports that Bobby Kielty took 50 swings in the batting cage before the game and is available to be used off the bench.

 

* Alex Cora is playing shortstop today just to add a left-handed stick against Chien-Ming Wang.

 

* Terry Francona thinks Coco Crisp's latest dip (.220, 26-for-118) in his last 32 games is due to fatigue. Crisp was batting second

[riverside sluggers]

Just f***ing win, you bags of s***

 

Curt Schilling (23 games vs New York, 7-7 with a 4.72 ERA---Career at Yankee Stadium in 8 games, 2-4 with a 4.58 ERA)

Johnny Damon, 7 for 29 (.241 avg) 3 Doubles, HR, 3 RBIs, Walk, 4 Ks

Derek Jeter, 16 for 51 (.314 avg) Double, HR, 5 RBIs, 2 Walks, 12 Ks

Bobby Abreu, 14 for 40 (.350 avg) 4 Doubles, 5 RBIs, Walk, 11 Ks

Alex Rodriguez, 9 for 42 (.214 avg) Double, 4 HRs, 7 RBIs, 2 Walks, 11 Ks

Hideki Matsui, 9 for 30 (.300 avg) 2 Doubles, HR, 2 RBIs, 3 Walks, 4 Ks

Jorge Posada, 13 for 50 (.260 avg) 4 Doubles, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs, 4 Walks, 9 Ks

Jason Giambi, 8 for 36 (.222 avg) Double, 4 HRs, 8 RBIs, 2 Walks, 10 Ks

Robinson Cano, 11 for 28 (.393 avg) 3 HRs, 3 RBIs, Walk, 3 Ks

Melky Cabrera, 5 for 17 (.294 avg) Double, HR, RBI, 2 Walks

///

Wilson Betemit, 1 for 2 (.500 avg) Double, Walk

Jose Molina, 0 for 3, 2 Ks

 

Chien-Ming Wang (11 games vs Boston, 5-4 with a 4.29 ERA---Career at Yankee Stadium in 41 games, 25-9 with a 3.14 ERA)

Dustin Pedroia, 3 for 6 (.500 avg) 2 Doubles, RBI

Coco Crisp, 5 for 20 (.250 avg) Triple, Walk, 2 Ks, SB

David Ortiz, 12 for 27 (.444 avg) 3 Doubles, 2 HRs, 8 RBIs, 5 Walks, 4 Ks

Kevin Youkilis, 7 for 18 (.389 avg) 3 Doubles, RBI, 8 Walks, K

Mike Lowell, 4 for 22 (.182 avg) Double, 3 Walks, 2 Ks

J.D. Drew, 0 for 9

Jason Varitek, 1 for 13 (.077 avg) HR, RBI, 2 Walks, 2 Ks

Eric Hinske, 10 for 22 (.455 avg) 4 Doubles, 2 HRs, 3 RBIs, Walk, 2 Ks

Alex Cora, 5 for 18 (.278 avg) HR, 4 RBIs

///

Bobby Kielty, 0 for 3

Julio Lugo, 6 for 28 (.214 avg) Double, RBI, 5 Walks, 5 Ks, 2 SBs

Manny Ramirez, 13 for 22 (.591 avg) 2 HRs, 5 RBIs, 4 Walks, 3 Ks

 

Schilling this season vs New York in 4 games, 0-2 with a 5.76 ERA. At Yankee Stadium in 2 games, 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA. On the road in 11 games, 5-5 with a 3.65 ERA

 

Wang this season vs Boston in 4 games, 3-1 with a 3.24 ERA. At home in 14 games, 9-4 with a 2.97 ERA

[jacksonianmarch]

Wang better get that sinker down.

[jacksonianmarch]

that slider was nasty. Papi was made to look like a fool.

[riverside sluggers]

Yep Papi was made to look like a fool, as useful as a utility infielder

[jacksonianmarch]

Papi is a smart hitter though. Wang better not go to the well too often.

[jacksonianmarch]

Schilling is interesting today. He looks to be intentionally slowing down the heater. I know he has lost something off his heat, but he can surely get over 87/88 which is where he is at right now.

[CrespoBlows]

Was that a fastball?

[Optimist]

Wow, is that Jason Giambi?

[CrespoBlows]

 

That was ugly. (Well done, though)

[riverside sluggers]

Can Drew be bumped down to 9th?

[redsoxrules]

and theres the first DP of the game , and probly way more to come for boston

[redsoxrules]

Can Drew be bumped down to 9th?

 

NO

[jacksonianmarch]

enjoy the game guys. To work I go.

[VA Sox Fan]

enjoy the game guys. To work I go.

 

Thank God!

[mtbykr]

Remy absolutly ripping MLB for that uniform thing in last nights game

[VA Sox Fan]

Remy absolutly ripping MLB for that uniform thing in last nights game

 

 

Surprisingly so was Susan Waldman (at work and listening on XM). I don't like her at all but she said they should worry more about allowing games to start at 11pm instead of Tito's uniform.

[redsoxrules]

wang having control problems