Liveblogging 6-16-2007
San Francisco at Boston
Matsuzaka vs. Cain
Pregame: Neither pitcher has won since May. Well, it’s only June. Duh.
The last time these two teams played at Fenway was 1912 in the World Series. Interesting.
The Yankees lead the Mets in a rain delay at the Stadium. Let’s Go Mets!
The Yankees still scare the crap out of me, though. They are hitting the tar out of the ball, and there really isn’t any reason why they can’t keep doing that. I guess that’s the plus of having a huge lead-but you can’t keep this up forever.
Drew and Pedroia 1-2? I guess, if it works.
On the tabletop, 1902 Pittsburgh against 1924 Fort Worth. Jesse Tannehill vs. Joe Pate
TOP FIRST INNING
Dave Roberts walks. Why are you walking a .224 hitter? Why are you batting a .224 hitter leadoff?
Randy Winn next. What happened to this guy? Seemed like he never fulfilled his potential. 4-3 groundout, Roberts to second.
XM has the ESPN feed. I’d prefer Joe C., but Buck Martinez is doing the game, thank goodness.
Ray Durham next, retired on a wierd flyout to center. Crisp went too far back, then had to dive back in to make the catch. Probably a bright sun today.
Bonds walked with first base open. Duh.
Now one of the Flying Molina Brothers. Bengie. I think he’s the best hitter of the bunch, IIRC. 5-3, inning over.
I wish DMats would just trust his stuff and throw some damn strikes. Like that’s an original thought.
BOTTOM FIRST
Now let’s bring the lumber, boys.
Drew strikes out swinging. This guy has got to start earning his keep. Like that’s an original thought, either.
DP now. 5 for 5 last night. Flyout to right.
Tough sun today, obviously. The Giant right fielder struggled with it, just like Crisp.
Papi now. Thrown out after arguing balls and strikes last night. Seems like the strategy on the part of opposing pitchers is just to throw strikes, because apparently we’re not going to hit them. Walk. Well, maybe not.
Seems like the topic of the schedule is coming up again now that we’re into interleague.
Manny flies out to right.
I’m kind of partial to the bust ‘em up, start over theories-break up the divisions, then realign-Eastern Division of Boston, New York, New York, and Philadelphia, Atlantic Division of Baltimore, Atlanta, Tampa, and Washington-that kind of thing. But that probably won’t happen. Baseball can be allergic to change.
TOP 2
Schuerholz now. No relation to the GM of Atlanta. It’s nice that Schulman brought that up, because that was my first thought-is he related to the GM of Atlanta? Apparently its spelled differently, but it sounds like the GM’s name. 4-3-one out.
Bottom 6, Yankees 10, Mets 5. Sigh.
I kind of want to bury them again-15 games out would be nice.
But that’s not going to happen.
Aurilia now. I can’t believe they can’t find a better first baseman than Rich Aurilia.
Aurilia strikes out.
Pedro Feliz Navidad now. Doubles to left center.
Vizquel now. Is he still playing? Yeesh.
Martinez is now poopooing the gyroball. “There’s nothing new in baseball, blah blah blah...” Well, okay, but the fact is that the split finger is not the same forkball that Face used-it’s thrown harder and breaks differently. The Gyroball moves like a screwball, but it is thrown differently. But there’s no talking to these people.
BOTTOM TWO
There was a piece on the Baseball Crank website equating sabermetricians with conservative bloggers due to, among other things, an obsessive faith in logic. Yeah. Conservatives love logic. Right.
Youk now. I hadn’t realized he had fallen down into the 320s-last thing I remember he was at almost .350.
Robbed of a hit by Vizquel. Well, the guy can pick it.
Tek. Popup. 3 up, 3 down.
I missed a batter there. Lowell?
TOP THREE
Dave (The Flash) Roberts. Man is never going to buy another drink in Boston as long as he lives.
Groundout to Cora at short, nice play.
Apparently, Lugo is just having a day off. But he needs one, he has been struggling also.
Randy (Cheathamand) Winn
Sound it out, you’ll get it.
K. DMats seems to be relying on his slider.
Durham pops up a bunt, 3 up, 3 down.
BOTTOM THREE
If this were a Yankee game, it would be the top of the second.
(Tabletop top of the first-Ginger Beaumont doubles and scores on a triple by Honus Wagner. 1-0 Pittsburgh.)
Cora now. Still good numbers, but he too has been slumping. Lineout to short.
Crisp. Shot off the Monster for a two bagger. Nice.
Now Nancy Drew. Wild pitch, Crisp to third. Drew pops out.
DP. First Sox player with 5 hits and 5 RBIs in one game since Brian Daubach, the Bellesville Basher. Brian Daubach would be a better first baseman than Rich Aurilia.
Flyout to left.
TOP FOUR
B*nds. 400 foot flyout to center.
Tim Kurkjian said on “Only A Game” that Bonds was a Hall of Famer as of 1999, prior to any alleged substance use. He’s right, of course. And baseball statistics, like anything else, have to be viewed in context. Bonds was surely not the only guy using, assuming he was. So you view his numbers with some skepticism, but you can’t ignore them totally,
Molina. Base hit.
Schuerholz. K. Schulman just spelled the kid’s name, but I missed it.
Aurilia. Kitty Bransfeld would be a better first baseman than Rich Aurilia. Now, decades after his death.
K. Way to go, Kaibatsu.
BOTTOM FOUR
Ay, Papi.
Fouling the ball straight back, so he’s just missing it.
Retired on called strike three.
Manny. Homer to left. Nice, but let’s get some more.
Only 9 homers for Man Ram? Geez.
Youk. Single.
Lowell. Wild pitch, Youk to second.
Popout.
Varitek. A couple of hits will break this open I hope. Tek is retired, I think on a K, but the family is yammering at me.
TOP FIVE
Pedro Feliz Navidad pops up to second.
Vizquel. Called strike three. Looks like Dice Man is dealing.
(Tabletop-Wagner and Leach single in runs, 3-0 Pittsburgh after 3. Jesse Tannehill has allowed no hits.)
Roberts. 1-3 groundout. Side retired.
BOTTOM FIVE
Alex Cora (The Earth) grounds to first. Aurilia makes a nice play.
I don’t care, I still think the Earth is populated by hundreds of better first basemen.
Crisp tries to bunt for a hit , but is thrown out.
The Mets have the bases loaded with two out in the top of the ninth, trailing the Yankees 11-7. Could it be? Could they possibly come back?
Drew hits a hard grounder to short.
TOP SIX
Game is movin’!
Quick switch to Sterling and the Yankees game. Beltran pops out to end it, but it ends 11-8. 5 hits in the ninth off of Mariano. Wow. If you have to use Rivera with a five run lead, you have problems. I can understand their desperation for a win, but you need to use someone other than your closer when you’re up five.
Winn. Plate is shadowed, but mound is in sun. That could explain the difficulties of the batters.
Walk. Mumble mumble mumble.
Durham. Base hit.
Bonds. Oh crap.
(Tabletop-Harry Smith singles, scoring another Pirate run, 4-0.)
Groundout to short, runners advance.
Molina. Lineout to short, Winn just barely beat the throw back to third.
Schuerholz. HBP. Got up 0-2, but let him get away. Dammit.
(Tabletop-Jimmy Burke singles in a fifth run. Wid Conroy was hit by a pitch and had to leave the game in the second. Burke replaced him, was caught stealing, and has since doubled and singled. 5-0 Pirates.)
Aurilia. Has struck out twice. Come on, Dice Man.
Count is full now. 3-2, 2 out, bases full.
Come on, Kaibatsu.
Strike three called on the slider! YES!
Key pitch there. Way to go. Nice job.
BOTTOM SIXTH
Why can’t we score any runs?
DP. Grounder to short.
Ortiz. Flyout to left.
(Tabletop-Jackie Tavener of Fort Worth singles to center, breaking up the no hitter in the fifth.)
Manny. Flyout. Why can’t we score any runs?
TOP SEVEN
Feliz pops up to catcher.
Monster really got away with one last inning. Clutch pitching.
Vizquel pops up to second.
(Tabletop-George Bischoff of Fort Worth singles in one run, and Art Phelan gets an RBI groundout for another, but Pittsburgh still leads 5-2 after 5.)
Roberts called strike three on the slider again.
BOTTOM SEVEN
Why can’t we score any runs?
Youk. Flyout.
Lowell. Grounder and flyout, so that’s the out I missed.
3-2 count. Flyout.
Argh.
Why can’t we score any runs?
Tek. Flyout.
Why can’t we score any runs?
TOP EIGHT
Oki on now. Wish they had more than one run to protect.
Winn. WALK. DAMMIT.
Are they gettin squeezed?
(Tabletop-Tannehill is falling apart. One out singles to Tavener and Bischoff, then an RBI groundout from pitcher Hank Hulvey to make the score 5-3. Tannehill then walks Art Phelan, Ziggy Sears, and Eddie Palmer to force in a run.)
Durham. Base hit. 2 on, 0 out for Bonds.
Crap.
Need some more clutch pitching again.
If we win this game, the Giants giftwrapped it for us. You can’t get into 2 on, 0 out situations and whiff on them.
2-2 to Bonds.
FASTBALL FOR STRIKE THREE CALLED! YES!!!!!
(Tabletop- Fort Worth’s Big Boy Kraft slams a single, scoring 2. Fort Worth 6, Pittsburgh 5. )
Molina-Flyout to Drew.
Phew.
Frandzen hitting for Schuerholz.
(Tabletop-Fred Clarke triples with one out in the 8th, chasing Hulvey. Jim Middleton pitching for Fort Worth. Fort Worth 6, Pittsburgh 5.)
Grounder to short, 3 down.
WOW. Dodged an artillery shell there.
BOTTOM EIGHT
(Tabletop-Honus Wagner singles in Clarke. 6-6.)
Michelin Radio Trivia-Largest bat in the world-7 stories high. Yankee Stadium?
Correia pitching.
Cora out on strikes.
Crisp. Single to left.
Drew. Single to right.
OK, now. Some thunder to put this one away.
DP-GIDP. Damn.
Here comes Pap.
TOP NINE
Seriously, why aren’t we hitting?
Aurilia.
Lou Gehrig would be a better first baseman than Rich Aurilia. Now.
Popup to second. One down.
Feliz.
Flyout to Crisp. Two Down.
Sweeney hitting for Vizquel.
Framingham’s own Mark Sweeney. 4-3-GAME OVER.
Whew! Dodged a big, huge, enormous bullet there. Yikes.
But it’s a win. Still 8 ½ over the MFYs. Another day closer to postseason.
(Tabletop-Pittsburgh puts two men on with singles in the ninth off of Fort Worth’s Jimmy Walkup, but Walkup retires pinch hitter Jack O Connor to get out of the jam. Sam Leever, pitching in relief, allows a walk and a HBP to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Eddie Palmer flies out deep to right, advancing Art Phelan to third, then Big Boy Kraft flies out to deep left, scoring Phelan with the winning run.)