Off To Cali…

After winning their last three, the Sox winged west to begin a nine-game road trip starting with two games at the Oakland Mausoleum. That concrete tomb is perhaps the worst venue in professional sports, so thank goodness the Sox are only there for two dates.

Game 16 at Oakland (4/19/11):

John Lackey (1-1, 15.58) started Tuesday night’s game and really needed to turn things around after two rocky outings. Lefty Brett Anderson (0-1, 2.29) started for the A’s and allowed a single to Gonzalez with two outs but came back to strike out Youkilis. Coco Crisp led off the bottom of the first with a line drive single to left, stole second, advanced to third on a ground out and scored on DeJesus’ grounder to short. Mark Ellis doubled with two outs in the second and went to third on a passed ball. Lackey then came back to strike out Kouzmanoff swinging. Pedroia walked leading off the fourth but was picked off trying to steal. The manager argued that Anderson balked on the play and was promptly tossed from the game. The Little Guy was particularly animated in the dugout. Ellis walked and Kouzmanoff singled with one out in the fifth but Lackey was able to get out of the jam on a pop out and grounder to second. Lackey was finished after six, and pitched very well. Meanwhile, Anderson was a buzz saw, mowing down every Sox batter who stepped to the plate. The game stayed 1-0 until the bottom of the eighth, when the A’s pushed across four more runs off of Wheeler and Okajima, and that was that. The Sox lost 5-0, and it wasn’t even that close as Anderson was simply immense.

Game 17 at Oakland (4/20/11):

The Sox wrapped up their brief trip to the Bay Area with a Wednesday afternoon “businessman’s holiday” game. Things would get no easier for the Sox as they faced another tough lefty in Gio Gonzalez (2-0, 0.47). After Anderson put the Sox bats to sleep on Tuesday night, it would be unlikely that they’d rebound against Gonzalez. Clay Buchholz (0-2, 6.60) got the start for the Sox with Varitek behind the plate. The A’s came out in their old school ‘70’s gold tops, reminiscent of the glory days when they won three straight World Series titles, from ’72-74. There was a light rain falling at the beginning of the game and a sparse crowd at the Mausoleum. JD Drew was inserted in the leadoff spot today and struck out looking to open the ballgame. Coco Crisp took Buchholz’ first pitch over the 367’ foot sign in right to open the bottom of the first. It appeared as if he was waiting for a dead-red fastball down the heart of the plate and Buchholz obliged. After Youkilis singled leading off the second, David DeJesus robbed Lowrie of what looked like extra bases when he made a leaping catch at the wall of Lowrie’s long fly to right. Scutaro and Crawford followed with back-to-back singles and Youkilis came in with the tying run. Varitek struck out and Crawford was caught stealing to end that rally. Ellis and Kouzmanoff each singled in the bottom of the second but, with runners on first and third with two outs, Crisp flied out to right. Youkilis led off the fourth with a bomb over the wall in left-center to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. Lowrie followed with a single and then Ellis bobbled the transfer of Pennington’s flip (he made a great diving stab) of Scutaro’s grounder up the middle and both runners were safe. With Lowrie on third, Varitek (now batting .056) grounded into a twin killing…(sigh). In the sixth, Adrian Gonzalez singled and Lowrie hit a two-run shot to put the Sox ahead, 4-1. The rain then picked up as Buchholz was having difficulty with his footing and locating his pitches. Ryan Sweeney doubled leading off the bottom of the sixth and Landon Powell walked with one out. Conor Jackson (pinch hitting) followed with a walk as Buchholz was all over the place with his pitches. Daniel Bard relieved Buchholz at that point and struck out Pennington and got Crisp to pop out to short. After Gio Gonzalez was relieved by Joe Blevins, JD Drew homered to right with one out in the seventh to make it 5-1. With Jenks pitching in the bottom of the eighth and one out, Powell walked and Adam LaRoche singled. Pennington then ripped a grounder up the middle that Lowrie dove to cover but his back handed flip to Pedroia was off target and everyone was safe. Crisp then drove in Powell with a hard single to right, to make it 5-2. Why is the manager leaving Jenks out there? After Jenks whiffed DeJesus, the manager made the call for Papelbon, who struck out DeJesus. In the bottom of the ninth Matsui singled leading off and Ellis was hit by a pitch with one out. Powell then lined a base hit to center, scoring Matsui (who slipped and fell between third and home) to make it 5-3. Willingham (pinch hitting) popped out to Gonzalez and Pennington popped out to short to end it. It was the Sox’ first road win of the season, and it’ll make that trip down to Anaheim a lot more enjoyable.

LA Black N’ Blue:

The big news in LA was the Commissioner’s decision to pull down the curtain on the dreadful act that’s been going on with the Dodgers since 2004. Old Bud finally had enough of the despicable McCourts and took the extraordinary measure of appointing a trustee to take over the operation of the club until a responsible owner can be found. McCourt is said to be weighing a lawsuit against MLB, but he doesn’t have a prayer of succeeding. The LA message boards are virtually unanimous in their support of the Commissioner’s long-overdue action and their universal loathing of the McCourts. Between their ugly public divorce, the “Bryan Stow Incident”, mass firings and cost-cutting measures, this soon to be ex-husband and wife have shown themselves to be two utterly dreadful human beings. They took a flagship franchise and looted over $100 million from the team in order to fund their lavish Hollywood lifestyle to the point where McCourt had to borrow money to meet payroll. These are the Dodgers, not the Seattle Pilots. Despite our long-standing assertion that they never should have been allowed to leave Brooklyn in 1957, the franchise has become a Southern California institution. For decades, the franchise was considered a model, especially with respect to player development. The Dodgers were the first team ever to exceed 3 million in attendance. Under McCourt’s ownership, the season ticket renewal rate has dropped by 40% as the otherwise loyal fan base has shown their displeasure by staying away from the ballpark in droves (see photo above). Reports also indicate that the IRS and Franchise Tax Board are sniffing around the shady dealings of the McCourts. Enough is enough and good riddance.

Game 18 at LA Angels (4/21/11):

The Sox flew down the Coast for a four-game series in Anaheim with the Angels. Josh Beckett (2-1, 1.80) started against rookie righthander Tyler Chatwood (1-1, 3.75). The Angels are 11-6 and recently took two out of three against the Rangers. Beckett had his binkie Varitek behind the plate. There wasn’t exactly a full house at the “Big A” to start this game. JD Drew led off and grounded out to open the ball game. Pedroia then singled up the middle and Gonzalez followed with a line drive single to center. But Youkilis hit into a double play and that was that. Ortiz ripped a double off the wall leading off the second, but never made it past third on a pair of ground outs and Varitek’s whiff. Youkilis was replaced by Scutaro (Lowrie moving to third) in the bottom of the second after fouling a ball off of his ankle in his first at bat. Scutaro then made a nice catch of Vernon Wells’ wicked line drive. Gonzalez followed with a nice scoop of Conger’s hard grounder down the first base line, as that was ticketed for extra bases. In the third, Pedroia walked and stole second and appeared to have jammed his surgically-repaired foot and limped around a little, but stayed in the game. Chatwood walked Crawford and Varitek with two outs in the fourth but Ellsbury flied out to left. In the top of the sixth Ortiz walked and Lowrie singled. With two outs, Ellsbury hit a bloop single to right driving in both runners. Beckett carried a no-hitter into the sixth but Aybar reached on a high-bounce infield hit. In the bottom of the seventh, Bobby Abreu walked leading off and Torii Hunter followed with a long homer to centerfield to tie the score, 2-2. It was a fastball down the middle of the plate with a full count and Hunter crushed it. In the eighth, Aybar doubled to right but was cut down by Drew trying to stretch it into a triple. Beckett was finished after eight innings and had his third straight overpowering outing (3H, 2ER, 5K, 2BB). The amazing thing is that the manager left him in there for 125 pitches. Daniel Bard pitched a clean bottom of the ninth and the game moved into extra innings. Bobby Jenks entered in the bottom of the tenth and set down the side in order. In the top of the 11th, Drew walked leading off and made it to third on Pedroia’s single to right. Gonzalez followed with a long double to right, scoring both Drew with the goa-ahead run. McDonald grounded to third and Aybar went to catch Pedroia in a run down, but Pedroia evaded the tag and made it back to the bag. Lowrie then hit a sacrifice fly to center and Pedroia scored on a close play at the plate to make it 4-2, Sox. Papelbon came on in the bottom half and allowed a one-out single to Bourjos but came back to strike out Howie Kendrick to end the ballgame. The Sox won, but again demonstrated an appaling lack of execution with runners in scoring position. They left 15 runners on base and were 2/18 (.111) with RISP. Were it not for the quality of starting pitching in recent games, this team would be in an even deeper hole.

Game 19 at LA Angels (4/22/11):

In what was billed as a pitchers’ duel, Jon Lester (1-1, 3.20) started against Dan Haren (4-0, 1.16). Youkilis was not in the starting lineup as he was recovering from a bruise on the leg suffered in last night’s game. The Angels came out in their retro ‘80’s look as part of the team’s 50th anniversary celebration while the Sox wore their Friday night blue jerseys. Ellsbury (swingin’ for the downs) whiffed to open the ballgame (all the pitches were in the dirt). Lester struck out the side in the bottom of the first. In the bottom of the second, Wells singled and went to second on a wild pitch. Lester then walked Callaspo but Trumbo grounded into a double play. With one out in the third, Saltalamacchia launched a double off the wall in right (missing a homer by a matter of feet) and appeared to have pulled a muscle rounding second. He was checked out by the trainer and was ok. With two outs, Ellsbury ripped a double down the line in right, scoring Salty. Scoscia came out to protest the fair ball decision and it appeared as though he was itching to be tossed. Pedroia was then called out on strikes and he, too, had some choice words for the umpire. With two outs in the bottom of the second, Bourjos hit a bloop double to right and stole third. Kendrick followed with a walk and stole second (both steals without a throw). Abreu flied out to center to end that threat. With two outs in the fourth, Lowrie walked and Drew doubled down the line in right. Crawford followed with what appeared to be a routine fly to center but Bourjos (trying to make a running basket catch) flubbed the ball and both runners scored. After four, both pitchers’ counts were in the high 70’s, which was quite excessive to say the least, but the home plate umpire was somewhat inconsistent with his interpretation of the strike zone. Lowrie tripled off the wall in left-center to open the sixth and Drew singled up the middle to make it 4-0. Both pitchers were finished after six innings. In the bottom of the seventh with Matt Albers pitching, Aybar singled with two outs, stole second and scored on Jeff Mathis’ pop single to center. In the bottom of the eighth with Jenks pitching, Kendrick doubled to the right-center gap leading off and scored on Abreu’s base hit up the middle. Abreu eventually made it to third and scored on a passed ball. With the score now 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Papelbon was summoned to close things out and allowed a one-out single to Hank Conger but dispatched Kendrick swinging to end the ballgame.

Game 20 at LA Angels (4/23/11):

In Saturday night’s game, Daisuke (1-2, 6.43) started against Ervin Santana (0-2, 5.26). Obviously, the question that Sox fans wanted to know was “which Daisuke will show up?” The one who was torched two starts ago against the Rays, or the one who was dominant against the Jays on Patriots’ Day. The manager put Varitek (now hitting .040) behind the plate, but his offense is of little import at the moment. With the recent run of fortune the Sox have enjoyed of late, starting pitching has been the key. Beckett and Daisuke do seem to pitch better with the captain behind the plate.

In the first, Pedroia walked and stole second but could not advance as Gonzalez flied out and Youkilis whiffed. Daisuke retired the side in order but Abreu rocked a deep fly to center that Ellsbury flagged down. Lowrie doubled with one out in the second, as he continued his torrid hitting. With two outs, Crawford drove in Lowrie with a base hit to give the Sox an early lead. In the bottom of the second, Hunter walked leading off and Callaspo reached on a one-out single. But Daisuke came back to get Conger on a fly out and then struck out Trumbo. In the third, Ellsbury singled, stole second and moved to third on Pedroia’s long fly to right. Gonzalez then singled to drive in Ellsbury and the Sox were up 2-0. In the fifth, Ellsbury singled leading off. With two outs, Youkilis homered to right and the Sox were ahead, 4-0. In the sixth, Crawford doubled with two outs and scored on Varitek’s double (that’s right) and the Sox were up 5-zip. Through seven innings, Daisuke allowed only one hit while striking out nine. Santana was relieved by Jason Bulger to start the eighth. Lowrie singled with one out and Drew followed with a pop fly to right that was dropped by Abreu (generously ruled a base hit). Daisuke (up to 105 pitches) came out for the bottom of the eighth and retired the side in order. Daisuke finished up after eight and turned things over to Bard. In the bottom of the ninth, Aybar reached on an infield single, stole second but advanced no further as Hunter struck out swinging and Wells grounded out to Pedroia to end the ballgame.

Game 21 at LA Angels (4/24/11):

The Sox spent Easter Sunday in Anaheim, looking for an improbable sweep against the Angels. It had been 31 years since the last time the Sox pulled off a four-game sweep in Anaheim. It was raining in paradise to start the game, which is something highly unusual for SoCal. Looking for his second straight quality outing, John Lackey started against Matt Palmer (1-0, 4.22). Lackey had added motivation as he wanted to get the better of his former club. The Sox got off to a quick start as Ellsbury doubled to right leading off and scored the game’s first run on Adrian Gonzalez’ double to the gap in left-center. After Youkilis walked, Ortiz ripped a base hit to left, scoring Gonzalez with Youkilis taking third. Cameron then hit into a 5-4 force and Youk came in with the third run. Lackey allowed a couple of singles in the first but came back to strike out the side in the second. Scutaro singled with one out in the fifth and went to third on Ellsbury’s base hit to right. Pedroia followed with a sacrifice fly to left and Scutaro came in to make it 4-0. Carl Crawford hit a two-run homer to right in the sixth and the Sox were comfortably ahead 6-0. Scutaro singled leading off the seventh. With two outs, Gonzalez singled to left and Scutaro scored from second on a close play at the plate and it was 7-0, Sox. Meanwhile, Lackey was rolling and had a great outing against his former team (8IP, 6H. 0ER, 1BB, 6K). Dan Wheeler came on to pitch the ninth and had a rockin’ chair inning to finish off the Angels. With the four-game sweep, the Sox are now 10-11, in third place and 3½ games back of the Yanks.