Dustin Pedroia still looks like a little kid, only now he looks like a little kid wearing a beard.
Top First
Jon Lester pitching for Boston
Ian Kinsler flies out to left.
Michael Young singles to center.
Josh Hamilton grounds into a FC, Young out at second
Jon Lester blows away Milton Bradley to end the inning.
Gary Pettis coaches first for Texas. That makes me laugh somehow, since Gary Pettis couldn't hit water if you threw him off of the Queen Mary.
It makes my wife laugh that Mr. and Mrs. Bradley named their son Milton.
Bottom First
JD Drew pops out.
Texas' pitcher, Luis Mendoza, looks hopelessly wild.
Pedroia flies out.
Our first base coach, Luis Alicea, is an even worse hitter than Gary Pettis. So we can't say too much.
Ortiz lines out sharply to right to end the inning.
Top Second
What do you know? A scoreless inning!
Marlon Byrd flies out to right.
Brandon Boggs (no relation) doubles to deep center.
Chris Davis taps out to first, Boggs to third.
Jerrod Saltamacchia, the former Braves prospect, grounds out to end the inning.
Bottom Two
Our Man Youk slices a double into right center.
Jason Newkid slashes a nice hard single to left, Youk to third.
"Jason Bay can't produce the offensive numbers Manny Ramirez can."
-Rick Sutcliffe
Except, uh, Rick...he is. Bay was arguably hitting a little better than Manny when he came over.
Bay steals second, then advances to third on an error from Saltamacchia. Youkilis scores, 1-0 Boston.
Farmer Jed Lowrie strikes out.
The Mayor, Sean Casey, grounds out to first, and Bay scores.
2-0 Boston.
Copy editing drives me crazy. I just started "You Gotta Have Wa", a classic baseball book that I can't believe I never read before, and I read this: "Hiroshi Hiraoka, a railway engineer who had become an ardent Red Sox fan as a student in Boston, established Japan's first team, the Shimbashi Athletic Club Athletics, in 1883."
Uh, no. No he didn't. The Boston American League team didn't start until 1903, and they werent called the Red Sox for about 10 more years.
Jason Varitek walks. Varitek walks? I think the definition of "control problems" is "Varitek walks". The way Jason has been hitting, there is no reason at all not to throw him a strike.
Crisp blows a hit and run, and Varitek is hung out to dry to end the inning.
Top 3
Travis Metcalf flies out.
Ian Kinsler grounds out.
Michael Young takes called strike three.
Sutcliffe (the ESPN announcer) makes an interesting, though obvious, point-look at the moves Theo has made, dumping or dealing vets like Pedro, Millar, Nomar, Manny, Nixon-and without exception, every deal is at least a draw, if not a win for Boston.
Crisp lays down a drag bunt for a base hit.
Mendoza is a big, thick, tree trunk of a man. Seems to have trouble putting it together.
He fooled Drew, though, who strikes out.
Sutcliffe has a list of top five AL 2B-Pedroia, Kinsler, Brian Roberts, Iwamura, and Polanco. Much as I hate to admit it, Robbie Cano belongs on that list-he's been smoking the ball since the All Star Break, and is one heck of a player.
DP clouts one off of the Wall for a fly ball double, Crisp to third.
Ortiz is walked intentionally.
Our man Youk smokes one inside the third base bag, kicking off of the tarp and scoring two. I love it when a plan comes together!
4-0 Boston.
The Pirate Bay rocks a double off of the FW Webb (Represent!) Plumbing Supplies sign for two more runs.
6-0 Boston.
The kid Mendoza can't find the strike zone. The wheels are coming off.
Farmer Jed walks.
Andy Hawkins is Texas' pitching coach. I remember him as a Yankee signing back in the day, during the early 90s when Steinbrenner was giving out multiyear contracts like they were slices of pizza at a bowling party.
Passed ball advances the runners. A fairly easy fastball, up and in, just blows past the catcher.
Still one out.
The Mayor pops out.
Varitek, Outmaker Without Portfolio, grounds out.
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