Jump to content
Can the Red Sox win a game? Anyone? Come join our game thread! ×
Talk Sox
  • Create Account

4/8 vs Rays

yeszir
 Share

Recommended Posts

yeszir MVP

yeszir

Site Manager
Posted
Posted

My streak stands at 1. Tonight's game against the Rays is at 7:10 on NESN and ESPN2 for those of us unfortunate enough to not live in New England.

 

http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/images/players/action/ph_452657.jpg vs http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/images/players/action/ph_431148.jpg

 

Everywhere Rocco Baldelli goes these days, he seems to have a new friend.

 

"People are yelling your name everywhere you go for no apparent reason," said Baldelli.

 

The reason is that the Cumberland, R.I., native is now home, embarking on his first season with the Red sox.

 

While Baldelli soaked in Tuesday's Opening Day festivities, his season could truly start Wednesday night when he is likely to make his first start for Boston against left-hander Scott Kazmir and his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays.

 

Baldelli's career had encountered a road block the last couple of years as he dealt with chanelopathy, which causes excessive muscle fatigue. But the outfielder made it through Spring Training with no problems and is enthusiastic about the coming season.

 

"I went through some tough times the last year or two and I didn't know where my baseball career would be," Baldelli said. "If I knew then that at this point in my career I'd be playing for the Red Sox and being back home and feeling as good as I do, I'd be very pleased."

 

Unlike most players who come to the Red Sox, Baldelli needed no introduction to the inner workings of Fenway Park or their passionate fanbase.

 

"There's an energy here that I've seen since I was a kid. It's pretty unique," Baldelli said.

 

The right-handed hitter figures to give the Red Sox pop against lefties, and he also serve as a good option for manager Terry Francona in the late innings.

 

"I'm ready to go," Baldelli said. "I feel good. I feel strong. I really have no complaints at this point."

 

As for the pressure of being the hometown guy? Baldelli isn't too worried.

 

"I don't really worry about much, to be honest with you," Baldelli said. "I just kind of do my own thing, play, play hard, and hopefully things work out. That's kind of how I go."

 

Pitching matchup

BOS: LHP Jon Lester (16-6, 3.21 ERA in 2008)

The left-hander is coming off a breakthrough season. Aside from winning 16 games, he led the staff with 210 1/3 innings. He threw a no-hitter against the Royals at Fenway on May 19. He also had a shutout at Yankee Stadium on July 3. He was the American League's Pitcher of the Month in July, going 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA. Lester is 16-2 with a 3.30 ERA in 31 career games at Fenway. He is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA against Tampa Bay. However, the Rays beat him twice in the American League Championship Series last October.

 

TB: LHP Scott Kazmir (12-8, 3.49 ERA in 2008)

Kazmir struggled throughout the second half of the 2008 season, primarily due to an inability to locate his slider, which historically has been his best pitch. In the first half, he posted a 3.02 ERA, and in the second he pitched to a 4.02 ERA. The left-hander enjoyed a nice spring that saw him find his slider and lock in his mechanics, which could be a precursor to a good season. Historically, he has enjoyed pitching at Fenway Park, where he is 4-4 with a 3.02 ERA in 11 career starts. He is 6-7 with a 3.62 ERA in 21 career starts against the Red Sox.

 

Tidbits

Carlos Pena is 5-for-16 lifetime against Lester with two homers and six RBIs. ... Dustin Pedroia has crushed Kazmir throughout his career, hitting .560 (14-for-25) with a homer and three RBIs. ... The Red Sox have sold out their last 470 home games, a Major League record. ... Francona has a fresh bullpen for this one, as Ramon Ramirez, Manny Delcarmen, Javier Lopez and Takashi Saito all went unused on Opening Day.

 

Source: http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090407&content_id=4159292&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos

 

I'm nervous about Kazmir dominating us as usual. It'll be nice to see Baldelli in a sox uniform, but he hits like s*** at Fenway.

  • Replies 283
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

BoSox21 Portland Sea Dogs

BoSox21

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

Tito confirmed on EEI that Baldelli is in tonight

 

I'm nervous about Kazmir dominating us as usual. It'll be nice to see Baldelli in a sox uniform, but he hits like s*** at Fenway.

 

Kazmir had a 9.00 ERA in 4 starts against Boston last season

MANNYHOF24 Worcester Red Sox

MANNYHOF24

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Lets hope Lester has a repeat of last year when he was a strike throwing machine. He had a few problem towards the end of spring training with walks, but I doubt that will be an issue for him now that these games count. I have a feeling Bay is going to go deep tonight, and Kazmir is going to get rattled at Fenway, and the sox will win 6-2 behind Lester tonight. I hope its a really quick 2 hour game, so it doesnt interfere with Lost haha.
VA Sox Fan Boston Red Sox

VA Sox Fan

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted

Rays

1. Jason Bartlett, SS

2. Carl Crawford, LF

3. Evan Longoria, 3B

4. Carlos Pena, 1B

5. Pat Burrell, DH

6. Dioner Navarro C

7. Ben Zobrist, RF

8. Gabe Kapler, CF

9. Akinori Iwamura, 2B

-- Scott Kazmir, LHP

 

Red Sox

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF

2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B

3. David Ortiz, DH

4. Kevin Youkilis, 1B

5. Rocco Baldelli, RF

6. Jason Bay, LF

7. Mike Lowell, 3B

8. Jed Lowrie, SS

9. Jason Varitek, C

-- Jon Lester, LHP

MANNYHOF24 Worcester Red Sox

MANNYHOF24

Verified Member
Posted
Posted
Not a huge difference' date=' but you know the Red Sox are back when you see something like that.[/quote']

 

I assume that Tito is just trying to get everyone some early AB's so guys don't have to much of a layoff to start the season. I don't mind Baldelli hitting 5th, trying to get Bay and Lowell acclimated to the 6th and 7th spots. Like you said not really a big deal.

ORS All-Star

ORS

Old-Timey Member
Posted
Posted
Can't watch the game, this sucks. I have mlb.tv, but I'm in the broadcast region. Apparently, Orlando is part of Tampa. Sun Sports has the game, and I have Sun Sports on my cable package, but Comcast is always showing some f***ed up alternate programming on Sun Sports, so, no game. I hate being in their broadcast region. I always get stuck listening to the poodle, and that's if I even get the game.
yeszir MVP

yeszir

Site Manager
Posted
  • Author
Posted
Can't watch the game' date=' this sucks. I have mlb.tv, but I'm in the broadcast region. Apparently, Orlando is part of Tampa. Sun Sports has the game, and I have Sun Sports on my cable package, but Comcast is always showing some f***ed up alternate programming on Sun Sports, so, no game. I hate being in their broadcast region. I always get stuck listening to the poodle, and that's if I even get the game.[/quote']

 

So is Comcast showing something else for everyone or just Orlando area people with Sun Sports?

yeszir MVP

yeszir

Site Manager
Posted
  • Author
Posted
Sorry guys' date=' no pasta...we're ordering pizza.[/quote']

 

Sox are screwed. :( I had matzo ball soup, maybe that will start some kind of trend...

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.
 Share
Go to topic listing
The Talk Sox Caretaker Fund
The Talk Sox Caretaker Fund

You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Red Sox community on the internet.

Become a Caretaker

  • Member Statistics

    8,561
    Total Members
    48,845
    Most Online
    TheGoodMan19
    Newest Member
    TheGoodMan19
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...