RedSoxRooter

Morning after party! God I love mornings like this. :thumbsup: Tom Verducci I can't wait for tonight and it's only 8 friggin AM

This should be a good game . Seriously, I'm not going to feel good about this whole series unless the Sox sweep the first two at Fenway...

GO SOX!

Amen, brother. Amen.

It's a stat called "TOTHBP" It stands for "The Other Team Has Better Pitching"

OK. There you go. That's the answer as to why DiceK went tonight instead of Schilling. It's because we have tomorrow off and we can use the entire bullpen tonight. Then Schilling goes on Sun then Beckett on Monday. I get it now. If we can win tonight using the bullpen, we got Schill and Beckett next to win us one game with major bullpen help on either Sunday or Monday but probably not both.

I actually didn't mind it. They will have some bumps in their first year, but they will get it cleared up. Orsillo/Simpson is way better than last night's team, but if you ask me both TBS broadcast partners are better than ESPN or Fox for the most part. They talk game instead of BS. And I don't know if anyone esle noticed, but TBS actually blew off a commercial break in the 6th inning to go back to Ripken in the studio for a breakdown. Would ESPN or Fox do that??? Actually blow off advertising dollars so they could have studio breakdown between innings? Hellz no. I want more TBS! But yes, the announcers for the Sox/Angels series should do a better job going forward...

GO DICE K!

Stupid mojo... That's what cost us ya know.

Just go buy SI this week.

Game Info: Date: Thursday, September 27th 2007 Location: Fenway Park First Pitch: 7:05 pm ET TV: NESN Starting Pitchers: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/7766.jpghttp://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/TALKSOX/VS.GIFhttp://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/6403.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/sml/trans/min.gif #26 Boof Bonser (7-12, 5.09 ERA) http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/50x50/bos.gif #19 Josh Beckett (20-6, 3.14 ERA) Game Preview: Josh Beckett looks to make his final case for his first AL Cy Young Award, and possibly help the Boston Red Sox to their first division title in 12 years. Beckett goes for win No. 21 Thursday night when he takes the mound against the Minnesota Twins in the opener of a season-ending four-game series. Beckett (20-6, 3.14 ERA) is looking to end his best regular season with a fifth consecutive victory after another outstanding performance Friday in an 8-1 win at Tampa Bay. The All-Star right-hander held the Devil Rays to one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings to get his 20th win and improve to 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 28 innings over four September outings. "Twenty wins, it means a lot," said Beckett, who is likely to be the only 20-game winner in the majors. "A lot of hard work from different people, and they picked me up on days when I was not 100 percent. It takes a lot of people to win that many games. I don't know if I can take credit for all of it." Beckett will now try to become the first Boston pitcher to win 21 contests in a season since Curt Schilling did it in 2004, the year the Red Sox won the World Series to end an 86-year drought. Beckett matching Schilling's mark could help the Red Sox (94-64) clinch their first AL East title since 1995, ending a nine-year reign by the rival New York Yankees. Boston's magic number is two, so a win coupled with a New York loss at Tampa Bay on Thursday will secure the division. The Red Sox got closer to that achievement with an 11-6 win over Oakland on Wednesday as the offense produced 17 hits. "We were happy being in the playoffs with the wild card," Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz said. "But we played good all year. We wanted to see if we could win the division. It hasn't been done in a while." Third baseman Mike Lowell reached another Red Sox's milestone Wednesday, going 3-for-5 with five RBIs to give him 116, surpassing Butch Hobson's single-season record of 112 for a third baseman set in 1977. Minnesota (77-81), meanwhile, is coming off a rain-shortened 9-4 loss at Detroit on Wednesday. The Twins turn to slumping Boof Bonser (7-12, 5.09), who was tagged for five runs and eight hits in three innings of his first career relief outing in an 8-3 loss to Chicago on Saturday, his first outing since Sept. 10. "I haven't seen the field in a little while, but don't get me wrong: I would've loved to have thrown three zeros on the board, too," Bonser said. "I made some bad pitches, and they hit 'em. I made some good pitches, and they hit 'em. I guess it was the worst luck." The right-hander is closing out a difficult second season in the majors after showing promise as a rookie in 2006, when he went 7-6 with a 4.22 ERA in 18 starts. He has been in a tailspin since starting the season 5-2 with a 4.21 ERA in his first 13 starts, going 2-10 with a 5.76 ERA in his last 17 games. Bonser now returns to the rotation looking to end his season on a positive note. He won his only career start against the Red Sox, allowing two runs and seven hits in seven innings of an 8-2 victory on Sept. 20, 2006, at Fenway Park. He held Lowell hitless in three at-bats. The Twins have to win their final four games to avoid their first losing season since 2000. GO SOX!

Game Info: Date: Wednesday, September 26th 2007 Location: Fenway Park First Pitch: 5:00 pm ET TV: NESN Starting Pitchers: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/7461.jpghttp://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/TALKSOX/VS.GIFhttp://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/7790.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/sml/trans/oak.gif #55 Joe Blanton (14-10, 3.84 ERA) http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/50x50/bos.gif #31 Jon Lester (4-0, 4.45 ERA) Game Preview: It once appeared their division lead might slip away, but the first-place Boston Red Sox now appear poised to win their first AL East title in 12 years. With 11-time All-Star Manny Ramirez back in the lineup, the Red Sox look to move closer to the division crown Wednesday when they wrap up their two-game set with the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park. Boston (93-64) beat the Athletics 7-3 on Tuesday, pushing its AL East lead back to three games with five to play after the second-place New York Yankees lost 7-6 to Tampa Bay in 10 innings. The Red Sox have already clinched at least a wild-card berth, but their magic number is down to three to win the East for the first time since 1995. Boston, which was 14 1/2 games ahead of New York on May 29 but allowed the Yankees to pull within 1 1/2 games on Sunday, has won three of its last four to regain control of the division. "We're at the point in time when it's not about playing well -- it's about playing as well as we can play and winning games," Tuesday's winning pitcher Curt Schilling told the team's official Web site. Ramirez returned to the Red Sox lineup Tuesday after missing 24 games with a strained muscle in his left side. The left fielder singled and scored in the first inning, then walked to start a two-run fifth before being lifted for a pinch-runner. "It's a good start," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "The idea is to build, not go the other way, so we'll probably do something similar (Wednesday). He came through and he said he felt fine." Ramirez is batting .293 with 20 homers and 86 RBIs in 128 games this season, and is 5-for-9 lifetime against Joe Blanton (14-10, 3.84 ERA), who will start for Oakland on Wednesday. First baseman Kevin Youkilis, who had missed seven consecutive games with a bruised right wrist, also returned Tuesday, but was hitless in two at-bats. Jon Lester (4-0, 4.45) looks to continue his solid pitching down the stretch when he takes the hill Wednesday for the Red Sox. Lester allowed one run and three hits over 6 2-3 innings in his last outing, a 4-3 loss to Toronto on Sept. 18 in which he did not record a decision. The 23-year-old left-hander is 2-0 with a 2.70 ERA in four September starts after posting a 5.67 ERA in his first six outings of the season. Boston is 8-2 when Lester pitches this season. Oakland (75-83), meanwhile, has lost two straight and seven of its last eight. Rookie first baseman Daric Barton hit his third career home run on Tuesday, and has reached base safely in all 14 games he's played since being called up from Triple-A Sacramento on Sept. 10, compiling a .345 batting average. Blanton looks to avoid losing consecutive starts for the first time since dropping a season-high three in a row July 8-20. The right-hander gave up four runs and 10 hits in seven innings of a 4-3 loss to Cleveland on Friday, snapping a personal three-start winning streak. He is still 6-2 with a 3.90 ERA in his last 10 outings. Blanton is 2-1 with a 2.60 ERA in four career starts against Boston. GO SOX!

Game Info: Date: Tuesday, September 25th 2007 Location: Fenway Park First Pitch: 7:05 pm ET TV: NESN Starting Pitchers: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/7199.jpghttp://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/TALKSOX/VS.GIFhttp://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/4267.jpg http://assets.espn.go.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/sml/trans/oak.gif #57 Chad Gaudin (11-12, 4.52 ERA) http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/50x50/bos.gif #38 Curt Schilling (8-8, 3.97 ERA) Game Preview: The Boston Red Sox clinched a playoff berth over the weekend, but the AL East title is still up for grabs. The Red Sox will try to add to their division lead on Tuesday when they open a two-game series against the Oakland Athletics at Fenway Park. Boston (92-64) has lost six of its last nine, including two of three against the New York Yankees, to have its division lead over New York shrink to two games. The Red Sox, who were as many as 14 1/2 games ahead of the Yankees in late May, close the season with a six-game homestand against Oakland and Minnesota. New York finishes with three-game road series against Tampa Bay and Baltimore. Boston's latest setback came on Sunday, when starting pitcher Tim Wakefield gave up four runs in five innings of a 5-4 loss to last-place Tampa Bay. "It couldn't have come at a worse time," Wakefield said about his first defeat in 20 career games at Tropicana Field. "We're in the postseason, but our main goal is try to win the division." The team's struggles are partially due to a rash of injuries. Left fielder Manny Ramirez has missed 24 straight games with a strained muscle on his left side, and his return is still uncertain. First baseman Kevin Youkilis, meanwhile, has been sidelined the last seven games due to a bruised right wrist. Ramirez and Youkilis were scheduled to take batting practice during the team's off day Monday, but neither is expected to start Tuesday. "The timing of some of these guys going down isn't good, but it's not tragic, because it's not the playoffs," manager Terry Francona told the Red Sox's official Web site. "That's basically the best way I can look at it." A meeting with the slumping Athletics (75-82) could help the Red Sox increase their lead. Oakland has given up 6.4 runs per game in losing six of its last seven. The A's managed only six hits in a 6-2 loss to Cleveland on Sunday. Daric Barton had two of those hits, as the rookie first baseman reached base safely for the 13th straight game since making his major league debut Sept. 10. "He's very young, but there's no doubt he'll get better," A's manager Bob Geren said of the 22-year-old Barton, who's 18-for-54 (.333) with two home runs. Curt Schilling (8-8, 3.97 ERA) will start for the Red Sox Tuesday in search of his first win in more than a month. The right-hander is 0-3 with a 3.38 ERA in four starts since he beat the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 24. Two of those losses came against the Yankees, who reached Schilling for four runs in 7 2-3 innings of Boston's 4-3 defeat Sept. 16. Schilling gave up a tiebreaking three-run homer to Derek Jeter in the eighth inning. "I don't question whether I can be a really good pitcher and be successful and win," Schilling said. "Tonight boiled down to two mistakes. I missed horribly in probably the most crucial situation in the game." Schilling is 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA in 13 games -- nine starts -- against the Athletics, including 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two starts against them this year. He'll face Oakland's Chad Gaudin (11-12, 4.52), who's 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA in 14 appearances against Boston. Gaudin didn't get a decision in his lone start against the Red Sox after allowing three runs in the Athletics' 6-4 loss May 2. The right-hander gave up eight runs -- three earned -- in four innings last Tuesday to suffer an 8-7 loss against Seattle. The defeat dropped him to 3-9 with a 6.81 ERA in 14 starts since the All-Star break. "Just inconsistent," said Gaudin, who was 8-3 with a 2.88 ERA in the first half of the season. "I'm not happy with it. You're never happy when you lose. You live and learn. This game will humble you quickly." The Athletics have won four of their six meetings with the Red Sox this year and can clinch their second straight season series win over Boston with one victory in this two-game set. GO SOX!

Greeaaaat. ESPN is about to take something totally cool and turn it into s***. Is this supposed to be good news?

Ahhh. My bad on the gamethread... I had a wedding to go to today and totally forgot. The good news is that I met this really cool chick from Boston there and we talked Red Sox for about half an hour, at which point I said to myself, "Damn Rooter, you were supposed to start the gamethread today!!!!!!" Looks like the game went on without me.

I would take Kazmir over Lester, Wake, Schill and maybe even DiceK for the regular season. It's not that he's nasty, he's a lefty that knows how to pitch and has a good fastball and is young. To me, Lester at his best will be another Kazmir... I don't think Lester will be better than Kazmir at any point.

I thougth Ortiz was getting the night off...

Game Info: Date: Friday, September 21st 2007 First Pitch: 7:10 pm ET TV: NESN Starting Pitchers: http://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/6403.jpghttp://bellsouthpwp.net/c/h/chinigor/TALKSOX/VS.GIFhttp://i.a.cnn.net/si/images/baseball/mlb/players/7292.jpg http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/mlb/images/team_logos/50x50/bos.gif #19 Josh Beckett (19-6, 3.20 ERA) - Beckett is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in four career starts against Tampa Bay. http://assets.espn.go.com/i/teamlogos/mlb/sml/trans/tam.gif #19 LHP Scott Kazmir (13-8, 3.54 ERA) - Kazmir is 6-4 with a 2.62 ERA in 16 starts against the Red Sox in his career. Game Preview: The Red Sox will head to St. Petersburg, Fla., on Friday night looking to stay atop the American League East standings and avoid losing five straight games for the first time this season. Following a sweep by the Blue Jays, Boston is suffering through its worst skid of the season since dropping four in a row from June 2-6 against the f***ing Yankees and Athletics. Manager Terry Francona knows the Sox are struggling right now but also thinks he's about to find out what his ballclub is made of. "How good of a team you end up being, so often, is how you handle adversity," Francona said. "We'll handle it. It's not a lot of fun to lose. It's frustrating, but how you handle that frustration goes a long way towards [deciding] how you'll end up doing." While Boston is trying to find a way to get back into the win column, the second-place ass-munching Yankees are surging. New York has won four straight games and have closed to within 1 1/2 games of the Sox -- the slimmest margin Boston has had in the division since April 24. "We just have to find a way to win and get back on track," Red Sox shortstop Julio Lugo said. "It doesn't matter who's pitching good, who's hitting good, we just have to find a way to do it. We're still up there's no reason for us to panic." The onus will fall on right-hander Josh Beckett to end Boston's recent woes. In his last outing against the overmatched Yankees, Beckett continued to make a strong push for his first Cy Young Award by surrendering just one run over seven innings of work. Beckett will have a chance to reach 20 wins for the first time in his career with a victory over the Devil Rays. Based on his recent performance, Beckett is well on his way to reaching that plateau. He's 3-0 with a 2.45 ERA while striking out 20 in three starts this month. The Sox will need him to be in top form because it figures to be another tough day at the plate for Boston's offense. After scoring a grand total of five runs over its last three games, Boston will be forced to try and get something started off Tampa Bay left-hander Scott Kazmir. The Tampa Bay ace was dominant against Boston on Sept. 10, tossing seven scoreless innings and fanning 10 batters. In his last outing, Kazmir extended that scoreless streak to 13 frames, with six shutout innings against the Mariners. He's now won four straight decisions and has posted a 3.00 ERA over his last five starts. But Boston reliever Mike Timlin knows the time is now. With only nine games remaining in their season, the Sox need to put an end to their losing streak and make sure it doesn't carry over into the postseason. "We need to have momentum going into the playoffs," Timlin said. "Every team does. Every team that doesn't, unless they really turn it on, usually they stutter a little bit. You can't stutter in the playoffs." *Player to watch Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia is hitting .533 (8-for-15) with one double and one RBI in his career against Kazmir. GO SOX!

OK, ok. I'LL start the gamethead on Friday... Happy now???

40 minute first inning and nobody scored.

I'm just amped I get to see all 3 games in HD!!!!!!! yeah!!!

There is just no way in hell they can play Drew anymore now that they got Ellsebury (sp). You just play the hot hand. When Manny comes back, it's Drew to the bench thank GOD. Do it.

That was an awesome escape by Clay!

Ok, Tavarez has gone through the order once. Next time round he gets lit up. Time to score a couple right now.

Obviously, I wish we had Lester going. But these are the strange games Tavarez usually pulls something out of his ass to keep us close. Then it will be a battle of the bullpens - aw s***, we gonna sweep!