VA Sox Fan

Nevermind. Come on Clay, you got some run support...

I was outside when Lowell hit that shot earlier let's do that again! Get Papi home!

PAPI!!! PAPI!!! PAPI!!!

Damn! Seriously? Good luck bro.

Pedey! Nice shot.

God I wish I had the NESN broadcast of this game....these Toronto announcers are boring.... Nice inning Clay!

Sick Ellsbury scratched Posted by Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff July 17, 2009 06:25 PM Jacoby Ellsbury, feeling under the weather, was scratched from tonight's starting lineup. Rocco Baldelli will take his place and bat eighth against Toronto lefthanded starter Ricky Romero.

Me too.

Epstein on Lugo Posted by Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff July 17, 2009 04:56 PM Theo Epstein addressed the decision to designate shortstop Julio Lugo for assignment, labeling the signing a mistake and blaming himself for it. Not much context now, but here were Epstein's initial, big-picture thoughts: "I think it’s just a matter of putting our best team on the field," Epstein said. "That’s really the motivation behind it. Jed Lowrie, ready to be recalled tomorrow. Nick Green playing well and out of options. Felt like those two would be our best combination for the shortstop position at this point. "I think ownership has been consistent that we’ll do what we need to do to keep the best possible team on the field. A sunk cost is a sunk cost. We’re sorry it didn’t work out better with Julio, obviously. But keeping him on the team wasn’t going to change that. Sometimes the best organizations admit their mistakes and they move on. And that’s what we’re doing here. "This was one of the free agent signings that doesn’t work out. We were paying for past performance, not current performance. That’s the true definition of a mistake, and as the decision, that’s on me. We’ll just move on and be a better organization having gone through it, and we’ll make better decisions going forward."

Bay on contract talks Posted by Amalie Benjamin, Globe Staff July 17, 2009 05:39 PM TORONTO -- Just because contract talks broke down between Jason Bay and the Red Sox for the second time this season doesn't mean that Bay is eager to test free agency. Bay said that he'd still like to remain with the team, but didn't want the contract situation to become a distraction to anyone around the club. "I'm not trying to set a precedent," Bay said. "Just looking for something that's fair. Whether that's changed over the last three months, you guys can determine that. "It's the same situation we were in in spring training, where they were at a place where they were comfortable and we were at a place where we're comfortable and we didn't bridge the gap. That being said, doesn't really mean it's the end of the world, either. Just didn't really want it to become a distraction, not so much to myself but to the entire team. So we decided to kind of table that until later, which probably will be til the end of the season." Bay and his agent, Joe Urbon, rejected the final contract offer made by the Sox about a week ago, and the talks finished up yesterday. Asked if he was encouraged by how the talks went this time, Bay said, "Yeah. ... They have come a long way and, like I said, it's not really the end-all, be-all. Definitely more encouraged with the way things went this time, a lot more, actually, that hopefully we get something done." Bay said the Sox had made "great strides and I appreciate it." The sides can sit down again at the end of the season, after the World Series, before Bay would have to file for free agency. He's just looking for "something that makes sense for me," he said. "I am in no position to say that I want to file for free agency and see what's out there," he said. "I'd still love to get something done here. I like it here. But that being said, we just basically at this point right now don't want it to be an ongoing distraction, like i said, for both of us coming to the field and answering contract questions. "So we're kind of tabling it and there's a big window at the end of the year after the season. We can sit down and try to hammer something out again. But the way things have gone so far, like I said, very encouraged with that."

Sox, Bay break off talks Posted by Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff July 17, 2009 04:43 PM TORONTO -- The Red Sox and All-Star left fielder Jason Bay failed to come to terms on a contract extension after the Red Sox made an "aggressive" offer about one week ago, general manager Theo Epstein said. The halting of negotiations means the Sox and Bay have probably ended any contract negotiations until after the season, when he is eligible to become a free agent. "It's now clear that this round of talks won't result in a deal, either," Epstein said a few moments ago. "As a result, we're going to table discussions again, which once again is a mutual decision, and pick them up most likely after the season." Bay, whom the Red Sox traded for at last year's non-waiver deadline, is in the final year of a contract extension he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in November 2005. The Red Sox had negotiated with Bay during spring training, but the talks broke down when the sides could not agree on a fair-market value for outfielders. The Red Sox restarted talks with Bay and his agent, Joe Urbon, in mid-June. Epstein characterized them as "amicable," and he believed the Sox had a chance to finalize a new extension before the All-Star break. "I think we were really hopeful with the aggressive offer that we made that we could have reached a deal now," Epstein said. "But we have complete respect for Jason as a player and a person and for what free agency means to players. He's worked his whole career and had a really consistent career to get to a point where he can set his family up for life. We're not going to begrudge him. We're not going to hold anything against him because he makes a decision that he may want to wait and be able to consider every possible opportunity. "I think he sat down with us in good faith. We approached him in good faith. And it just didn't work out at this point. We'll see what the future brings. We still want to attain him. I think he still wants to be here. It's just not going to happen now." We'll have Bay's thoughts in a few moments.

Red Sox 1. J.D. Drew, RF 2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B 3. Kevin Youkilis, 1B 4. David Ortiz, DH, 5. Jason Bay, LF 6. Mike Lowell, 3B 7. Jason Varitek, C 8. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF 9. Nick Green, SS -- Clay Buchholz, RHP Welcome back Mikey!

That sucks, too bad it's night tomorrow night since the Sox play at 1pm tomorrow and b/c of fk'n Fox, it won't be shown. I CANNOT wait to the game tonight! GO SOX! Good luck Clay!

Theo wanted Lugo badly. Maybe thought Lugo could turn things around for himself in Boston. Lugo didn't try to suck, he just did and like .700 said in another thread, he never made excuses. Time to move on.

OMG! The memories. Good 'ol "JOaklandfollower" and TMW! Oh and Jacko was "baseballdoctor" at that time.

Hope this deal gets done. Love the Bay-man!

I think Maddon managed the game well. I think Wake was just glad to be there and have the experience. Crawford deserved the MVP for saving the game and Pap's ass. Great job by Mo. I predicted AL 4-2. Did anyone predict AL 4-3? Just curious, not that it matters. The next 2 baseball-less nights will suck. Looking forward to Friday!

Great news. Do well Petey! Looking forward to watching him pitch again.

Unreal. Seriously, they played in the Tidewater area of VA where I'm from. But so is Michael Vick and Alan Iverson......