It's Safe To Say The Red Sox Did Not Enjoy Their Time in Kansas City

The Pittsburgh Pirates are rightfully earning most of the praise and attention across MLB this season as the team that has totally turned it around after years of losing. However in the American League, Kansas City is starting to become a great story as well. With the Royals' (61-54 overall, 32-26 home) 5-4 win this afternoon over the Red Sox (71-49 overall, 32-28 home) at Kauffman Stadium, they took this weekend's series (3-1) and the season series (5-2).

The good news for Boston is that Tampa Bay has finally slumped a bit, losing their last five games including a sweep from the Dodgers this weekend. Strictly because of that, the Red Sox remain three games up on them for first place in the AL East.

James Shields (7-8) is still a good pitcher and he is certainly familiar with some of the Red Sox hitters from his time with the Rays. Shields went seven innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts and three walks. John Lackey (7-10) did not have his best stuff by any means but he gutted it out for seven innings: four earned runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

Boston got on the board first as Shane Victorino (double, stolen base) came around on Salvador Perez's throwing error in the first inning. Alex Gordon (3 hits) tied it with an RBI single in the home half of the first. Then Jarrod Dyson and David Lough (who?) added RBI singles in the second and Gordon smacked his 13th homer of the season-a solo shot in the third for a 4-1 Royals lead.

For whatever reason, it felt like the Red Sox were down by way more than three runs which is why Ryan Lavarnway's (2 hits) two-run single in the sixth woke everybody up. Kansas City's bullpen was equal to the task though with a scoreless eighth by Tim Collins and Aaron Crow while All-Star closer Greg Holland had a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 32nd save of the season (2nd of the series).

Red hot Stephen Drew (seriously) was 2 for 4 with a double and run for Boston in the loss. This has been a bumpy road trip so far for the Red Sox (3-4) but they have a chance to go home on a positive note after three games in Toronto (54-63, 5th in AL East) starting on Tuesday (7:07, NESN) with Ryan Dempster (6-8) vs. rookie Todd Redmond (1-1). The other two pitching matchups favor Boston at the Rogers Centre: Jon Lester (10-7) vs. Josh Johnson (2-8) on Wednesday (7:07, NESN) and Jake Peavy (9-4) takes on Mark Buehrle (8-7) on Thursday (7:07, NESN).

They haven't been off since July 25 (rainout vs. Rays) so tomorrow will give Boston a chance to relax for the first time in a while.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

MLB Really Needs Relegation: The Royals Would Be First On The List To Go

It only makes sense that in a series complete with a monster salary dump/trade and brand new outlook for the Red Sox, Daisuke Matsuzaka closes it out with a gem in what has to be one of his last starts for Boston.

Boston (62-67, 32-38 home) beat Kansas City (56-71, 30-38 away) 5-1 this afternoon at Fenway Park to complete a 3-4 homestand. The Red Sox actually took three of four from the Royals, it would have been a sweep if they could have held a six-run lead in the seventh but I digress.

Dice-K (1-3) looked like a decent pitcher for a fleeting moment as he went seven innings, allowing one run (0 earned) on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. It marked his first victory since May 8, 2011 (vs. Minnesota) and believe it or not, it was over in 2 hours and 34 minutes. I love how MLB games go by so much faster when teams are facing long road trips afterwards, I wish they always played with that pace and urgency.

Alex Gordon (2 hits, double) provided Kansas City's only run with a sacrifice fly in the first that scored Jarrod Dyson. Johnny Giavotella also had two hits including a double but the Royals only managed seven hits against Matsuzaka, Clayton Mortensen, Vicente Padilla and Andrew Bailey.

Haha Boston went 3 for 4 with runners in scoring position while Kansas City was 0 for 7. Remind me again when the Royals are supposed to be good? I feel like I've read the same story for the last five years, oh this is the team that's going to be a winner. They have so much young talent! Yeah ok.

Hitting out of the third spot in the lineup, Jacoby Ellsbury cranked a solo homer (2nd of the season) in the first against Luke Hochevar (7-12). Cody Ross, who has done more than enough to earn an extension, had a two-run single in the third and a wall ball RBI double in the sixth. James Loney notched his second RBI single in as many days, also in the sixth to make it 5-1.

Boston hopped on a plane to visit the West Coast. They play three in Anaheim, three in Oakland and three in Seattle. The Angels and A's are in contention for a playoff spot while the Mariners have the exact same record as the Red Sox. Boston won't play at Fenway again until Friday, September 7 vs. Toronto (ie. 2 days before the Patriots-Titans season-opener).

There are going to be some late nights coming up for insomniac Red Sox fans like myself. Six of the nine games begin at 10:05 p.m. ET, one 9:05 p.m., one 4:05 p.m. and one 4:10 p.m.

The Angels (66-62, AL West) swept a three-game series in Boston last week. Let's see if the Red Sox can return the favor (haha doubtful). Tomorrow night in the series opener (10:05 p.m., NESN), Clay Buchholz (11-4) has a rematch with Jered Weaver (16-3), who soundly outperformed him the first time. Jon Lester (8-10) faces C.J. Wilson (9-9) on Wednesday night (10:05 p.m., NESN) in a battle of underachieving quality lefties. Then Aaron Cook (3-7) meets Zach Greinke (11-5) on Thursday night (10:05 p.m., NESN) in the finale.

UPDATE 8/28: Alfredo Aceves was activated tonight after his suspension, he took Franklin Morales' place on the roster. Morales went on the DL with a tired shoulder. Who knew that would happen to a guy when they've changed his role multiple times in the same season?

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Everyone Knows That A 6-Run Lead Is The Most Dangerous In MLB, Especially In The 7th Inning

I don't know what it is but the Red Sox really despise extra innings in 2012. They fell to 2-8 overall and 0-6 at home when it goes past nine innings with a 10-9 loss to the Royals tonight at Fenway Park in 12 innings.

Tony Abreu's RBI single off Junichi Tazawa (0-1) in the 12th was the game-winning hit. Francisley Bueno (1-0) got five outs for the win and Greg Holland had a 1-2-3 12th for his seventh save of the season.

Making this one extra rough was the fact that Boston (60-67, 30-38 home) led 9-3 in the seventh inning yet gave it all back to Kansas City (56-69, 30-36 away) in that frame. Did I mention that the Red Sox had 20 hits? Haha it was the first time since 1960 that they had at least nine runs and 20 or more hits but lost. That takes some serious skill.

Eight Red Sox had multiple hits, only pinch hitters Che-Hsuan Lin and Jose Iglesias failed to get a hit. Mauro Gomez led Boston, going 4 for 6 with his first MLB home run and three RBIs. Cody Ross was 3 for 5 with a run and RBI but he left after tweaking his knee trying to make a diving catch. Word is that him and David Ortiz (who sat out tonight) could be going on the DL tomorrow.

Scott Podsednik, Jacoby Ellsbury (2 runs, double, stolen base), Jarrod Saltalamacchia (run, RBI), Ryan Lavarnway (run, walk), Mike Aviles (3 RBIs) and Pedro Ciriaco (run, walk) all had two hits for Boston.

The Royals won because they were an absurd 8 for 13 with runners in scoring position. The Red Sox were a pedestrian (by comparison) 5 for 11 and they left 10 on base.

Kansas City has no power (one of the million reasons they always blow) but they still got it done this evening. Billy Butler was 3 for 6 with two RBIs, a double and run and Alex Gordon was 2 for 4 with four RBIs, two runs, a double and walk. Alcides Escobar (2 runs, walk), Eric Hosmer (run, double, walk) and Tony Abreu (RBI) each produced two hits for the Royals.

Aaron Cook allowed three runs in the first inning (on four straight hits to begin the game) but he settled down and went six innings. He allowed those three earned runs on seven hits with no strikeouts and one walk.

Former Orioles bum Jeremy Guthrie was lit up for seven runs (6 earned) on seven hits in 2.2 innings. Unfortunately, Boston's bullpen falling apart let him off the hook.

Gordon had a two-run double (he leads the AL in doubles with 41) and Butler added an RBI single for an extremely early 3-0 Royals advantage. Gomez hit a solo homer in the second inning then former Royals great Mike Aviles put Boston ahead with a three-run blast (his 13th of the season) in the second.

A run scored on Gomez's infield single in the third and Guthrie's error opened the door for a gift run on top of that. Salty had a sacrifice fly in the third then Ross and Gomez had RBI singles in the fourth. At 9-3, who knew that the Red Sox would A) blow the lead and B) not score in the next eight innings. Baseball is a funny game as every 100-year-old writer will wax poetic and tell you.

Andrew Miller (4 earned runs) and Mark Melancon (2 earned runs) teamed up to shit the bed in the seventh when Boston choked just like they did two nights earlier against the Angels. Haha remember that? Seems like ages ago. Gordon started it with a two-run single, Butler had an RBI double, Salvador Perez had an RBI single then Ross totally misplayed Mike Moustakas' fly ball into a two-run triple (sweet ruling there Fenway scorekeeper). That must have been when he got hurt as well, adding insult to injury as they say.

Felix Doubront (10-6) makes his first start since August 9 tomorrow afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN), it should be memorable too since he faces Big Willie Style himself Will Smith (4-5). I think it is sad that the actor/rapper has been forced to take on a third job as an anonymous pitcher for Kansas City but maybe he's studying for a new role? I promise to bring some quality Will Smith jokes tomorrow if I get caught in the trap of wasting time watching that terrible matchup.

UPDATE 8/26: Lin was sent down, James Loney was activated and reliever Pedro Beato (obtained in the Kelly Shoppach trade with the Mets) was called up.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

At This Point, You Have To Wonder If 200 Wins Will Ever Happen For Tim Wakefield

Honestly, since he's the oldest player in MLB (45), you have to wonder at this point if Tim Wakefield will ever get his 200th career win.

It looked like it might finally happen last night as the Red Sox (76-49) led the Royals (52-75) 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth at Kaufmann Stadium but that's when Kansas City became only the second team this season (the Cubs being the other) that put up eight runs in one frame against Boston.

The Royals won 9-4 as Matt Albers (0.1 innings, 5 earned runs, 3 hits, 2 walks) ensured that Wakefield (5.1 innings, 4 earned runs, 9 hits, 0 walks, 3 strikeouts) would spend another empty night sitting in the Red Sox dugout looking like a depressed puppy.

Albers has coming back to Earth lately which means that Dan Wheeler is waiting in the wings to handle his late-inning duties for a while.

It's been five chances now that Wake has come into a game stuck on 199 wins and either by his own average performance, the bullpen blowing up behind him or just plain shit luck, it hasn't materialized. You couldn't ask for much more favorable matchups either since the last three outings have come against the Twins, Mariners and Royals, not exactly world-beaters.

Without three All-Stars (Jacoby Ellsbury, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis), Boston managed to get 10 hits but Kansas City trumped that with 14 of its own.

Alex Gordon led the Royals with three hits, two RBIs and a run while Eric Hosmer had two hits, two RBIs and a run with Billy Butler, Jeff Francoeur and Mike Moustakas all put up two hits, an RBI and a run.

Boston was led by rookie Ryan Lavarnway (2 hits, RBI, run, walk), Carl Crawford (2 hits, RBI) and Dustin Pedroia (2 hits, run).

Felipe Paulino (2-5) went six innings for the win, improving his career win-loss record to 8-30. Ugh. He allowed four earned runs on eight hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Two lefties go at it in the series finale this afternoon as Jon Lester (12-6) faces Danny Duffy (3-7). The Red Sox need this game, particularly since they won't get to use Lester in their next extremely tough stop: four in Texas.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

David Ortiz Gets His 1000th Career RBI In A Red Sox Uniform As Boston Deals Kansas City Another Beating

David Ortiz recorded his 1000th career RBI in a Red Sox uniform in about the greatest way possible (other than the opponent): by hitting a grand slam.

Yet again Boston's (64-38) offense was working overtime as it cranked out 16 hits in a 12-5 laugher over the Kansas City Royals (43-61) last night at Fenway Park.

The Royals are so bad that they let John Lackey (9-8) climb over the .500 mark for the season. In 5.2 workman like innings, he allowed four runs (three earned) on 11 hits with a walk and three strikeouts. They'll be talking about that start when he's inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

And speaking of Cooperstown, it takes a lot to make Lackey look like Roy Halladay but that's what happens when he opposes Bruce Chen (5-4). Don't ask me how Chen has been in MLB for 13 seasons (albeit on 10 teams) or has a 53-54 career record with last night's loss since every time I see him, I think he's the worst starting pitcher I've ever seen in MLB.

To say he throws meatballs is being kind. He's a lefty and he throws straight junk with no velocity. In four innings (haha 114 pitches!) Chen allowed ten earned runs on ten hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

Eric Hosmer (4 RBIs, 2 hits) actually gave Kansas City a 3-0 lead in the first with a three-run bomb. He's such a stud.

Didn't matter one bit though as Boston's juggernaut of an offense scored two in the first, three in the second and four in the fourth to send Chen back to the visitors dressing room.

Jacoby Ellsbury (3 runs, 3 hits, 2 RBIs, walk, stolen base) and Dustin Pedroia (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) went back-to-back to start the game. For Ellsbury, it was his 17th homer of the season (off Pesky's Pole) while Pedroia extended his hitting streak to 24 games with his 14th.

Fitting, Ellsbury tied it up in the second with his bases-loaded walk and Pedroia made it 4-3 with a sacrifice fly. Adrian Gonzalez's groundout (3 hits, 3 RBIs, run) pushed it to 5-3.

Yamaico Navarro's (2 hits) RBI single in the fourth gave the Red Sox a 6-3 lead before Ortiz's bomb over the bullpen in right field.

Lackey tried his best to give the seven-run lead back as Billy Butler (3 hits) crushed a solo homer over the Monster in the fifth but Kansas City is too inept to comeback even against Lackey.

Gonzalez added an RBI single in the sixth and eighth, sandwiched around an RBI single by Hosmer in the eighth.

Not for nothing but 1-4 with Alex Gordon (3 hits, 2 runs), Melky Cabrera, Butler and Hosmer, the Royals have some serious pop. It's too bad with all their bats on the team and in their farm system, they don't seem to have any arms to match.

Boston ace Josh Beckett takes the mound in just a matter of minutes as the Red Sox look to finish off a successful home stand by taking three of four from Kansas City. The Royals counter with Luke Hochevar.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

Red Sox Pound Royals Behind the World's Smallest Cleanup Hitter

After a disappointing 14 inning loss (aren't they all?), the Boston Red Sox responded last night by pounding out 16 hits in a 13-9 win over the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park.

Despite the fact that Jacoby Ellsbury (rest) and Kevin Youkilis (sore foot) started the game on the bench, Boston (63-38) had no problem putting up 10+ hits for the tenth straight game-an MLB high. They also have scored double-digit runs for an MLB-leading 15th time so far this season.

Dustin Pedroia was put in the cleanup spot and he responded as he always does, going 4 for 5 with three runs, an RBI and a walk. In his career, he's hit fourth seven times and gone 17 for 31 (.548) with seven extra-base hits and nine RBIs. Oh by the way, his career-best hit streak was extended to 23 games. Ho hum.

His bid for the cycle came up just short (no pun intended) in the eighth as his fairly deep fly ball fell a few feet shy of the Green Monster. Credit to NESN though as they sold it about as hard as they could with Don Orsillo going bananas and the cameraman shooting straight up in the sky.

David Ortiz was the other Red Sox player that the Royals (43-60) simply couldn't get out. Big Papi was 4 for 5 with five RBIs and a career-high three doubles.

Adrian Gonzalez added three runs, two hits, two RBIs and a walk while Ellsbury (who pinch hit in the fifth) ended up with two hits and a run.

As you can guess by the score, it was anything but a pitcher's duel between Boston's Andrew Miller (3.2 innings, 9 hits, 7 runs, 5 earned runs, 2 walks, 1 strikeout) and Kansas City's wannabe Southie transplant Danny Duffy (3.2 innings, 6 hits, 6 earned runs, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts).

Billy Butler, fantasy baseball geeks' perennial wet dream provider, led the Royals with three hits, three RBIs and two runs. Mike Aviles had three hits and a run while Alex Gordon (2 hits, 2 RBIs, run, walk) and Eric Hosmer (2 hits, run, RBI) are some of Kansas City's solid prospects and youngsters that prove the Royals might be actually competitive someday if they stumble upon a few pitchers and a manager not named Ned Yost.

If Miller has proven anything in his seven starts in Boston (5.45 ERA overall; 7.94 ERA, 2.29 WHIP, 4 Ks in 17 IP against 4 AL teams), it's that he's unreliable. The Red Sox' biggest hole right now is in the back end of their rotation where John Lackey, Tim Wakefield and Miller at best give them a 60-40 chance to win every time they're out there. That's not good enough but with Clay Buchholz returning in August, the best plan might be to to just wait it out rather than trade anybody (namely Josh Reddick) for some fifth starter (Rich Harden, pukes).

Hosmer gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the first with an RBI double, followed by Jeff Francoeur's sacrifice fly (another guy I want no part of).

The Red Sox tied it up with two runs during their first at bats. Gonzalez had a sacrifice fly and Ortiz knocked in Pedroia with an RBI double.

Butler's two-run double in the second once again put the Royals up by two but it didn't matter. Pedroia cut it to 4-3 with an RBI double in the third and Ortiz drove in two with his RBI double to give Boston a 5-4 advantage.

A pair of homers: two-run by Gordon and a solo shot by Butler in the fourth sent Miller to a very early exit.

Carl Crawford drove in run with a bases-loaded walk in the fourth before Boston erupted for their accustomed big inning. This time it was six runs in the fifth. Drew Sutton had a sacrifice that turned into a pair of runs as the Royals made two errors on the same play (haha classic). Gonzalez had an RBI single, Ortiz had a two-run single and Reddick had a sacrifice fly.

Jason Varitek hit his sixth homer of the season-solo-off Worcester's Tim Collins in the seventh.

Mike Moustakas and Matt Treanor (say hi to Misty May for me!) both had RBI singles in the ninth off a fatigued Franklin Morales (who pitched 1.2 innings) but he was able to close it out.

Alfredo Aceves (6-1) improved to a ridiculous 20-2 in his career with another superb outing out of the bullpen. He went 3.1 innings, allowing three hits but no runs with no walks and three strikeouts. Aceves has won 15 straight relief decisions, the longest streak in MLB since 1967. The best part about him, outside of his versatility, is that he's a character on a team that doesn't have too many big personalities.

Bruce Chen faces John Lackey tonight in a battle of mediocre veteran starters. Woo, catch the excitement.

Follow @RichSlate


Tweet

This is getting silly (in a good way of course)

Another night, another outstanding performance from another young Red Sox starting pitcher.

Justin Masterson was called up from Portland for his second start of the season and once again he delivered the goods last night in a 2-1 Sox win over the Royals at Fenway Park.

Boston (29-19) has now won five straight on the homestand. Masterson (1-0) went 6.1 innings, giving up three hits (all to Alex Gordon), one run with three walks and five strikeouts. His sinker was on as he only threw 91 pitches before he was pulled.

The Red Sox got both runs in the second on a Julio Lugo sacrifice fly and a Coco Crisp RBI double which scored J.D. Drew.

Kansas City (21-24) got a good start from Gil Meche (3-5) as he went seven innings, giving up five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

The lone Royals run was on a John Buck's RBI single in the seventh.

Hideki Okajima got into trouble in the eighth when he walked two batters to give the Royals the bases loaded with two outs. Jonathan Papelbon quelled the rally though as he struck out Billy Butler to end the eighth.

Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 13th save of the season.

Bartolo Colon makes his Red Sox regular season debut tonight against the Royals.