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    Monday, August 24, 2009

    Excuse Me Sir, Are You Josh Beckett?

    Will the real Josh Beckett please stand up? We need him back in a BIG way. Our stopper. Our ace. Our go to guy, is nowhere to be found and at the most crucial time for our beloved Boston Red Sox.

    When Junichi Tazawa can come in and pitch six scoreless innings and close the door on a Yankees lineup who admitedly has been pounding the ball, shouldn't Josh Beckett be able to do the same thing the very next night?

    Brad Penny? Now that was somewhat excusable and he is paying the price for giving up an insane amount of runs to the pinstripes, but Josh Beckett? Up until the last two games, he was the odds on favorite to win the AL Cy Young award. NOT ANYMORE.

    This Josh Beckett has given up 15 runs over his last two starts and gave up 5 home runs last night alone...yes in ONE GAME. This is NOT the Cy Young winner we have grown to love in the Boston area. This is a guy who just a year ago was pitching in the Japanese Industrial League...oh wait that was the guy who WON this weekend.

    The Red Sox went into this weekend on the brink of turning things around. They had just taken three straight from Toronto (which admitedly is not saying much) but with even a couple of wins this weekend they could've been right back into the hunt for the top spot in the AL East. Instead, the normally solid Josh Beckett let the team down when they needed him the most.

    The Red Sox are now 7.5 games back of a NY Yankees team that is showing no signs of letting up. The only silver lining for the BoSox is that the Rangers and Rays pounded on each other over the weekend, which has Boston still standing at the top of the AL Wild Card chase by one game.

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    at 11:06 AM 0 Comments

    Friday, August 21, 2009

    Red Sox v. Yankees Preview

    My what a difference three games make. After getting swept by the New York Yankees and dropping two out of the three from the Texas Rangers, the Red Sox found themselves out of the AL Wild Card lead and on the brink of dropping out of the conversation as to who is the top team in the AL East, but some cool, fresh, Canadian air was all they really needed as they completed the sweep of the Toronto Blue Jays last night at the Roger's Centre.

    Now order has been restored to the Nation that has collectively been holding it's breath over the last week wondering if the Red Sox bats would ever come alive and boy did they ever. The Sox sluggers put up 24 runs in the three games and not against any slouch pitching either. Remember when we wanted to get Roy Halladay? Ya, well, this week we got TO him and put up some big numbers on the big fella.

    So, the state of our nation is...ok. While the bats are swinging and the injuries are mending we still have some major question marks going into this weekend series with the Yankees.

    How will Brad Penny fair against one of the most prolific offense in the majors?

    Will Junichi Tazawa be able to battle the Yankees bats to grab his second win of the season?

    The question mark remains, Boston's pitching. The top 3 in the rotation are solid. No one questions Beckett, Lester or even Buckholz after his most recent performance, but the question mark remains the final two spots in the Red Sox rotation. If Tim Wakefield can come back in the next couple of weeks that will likely shore up the fourth spot, but that is a big IF at this point and Daisuke Matsusaka is on the verge of a return, but he is STILL a big question mark.

    So for this Yankees series we hand the ball to our #4 and #5 starters of the moment. Will they be able to get the job done? They must, if the Red Sox have any hope of keeping in the hunt for the AL East crown...or the wild card for that matter.

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    at 9:15 AM 0 Comments