Just as We All Expected: Lackey Outdueled Verlander in Game 3 of the ALCS

We're only three games into what could be a lengthy 2013 ALCS but already I'm struggling to find ways to describe all these bizarre events. Today in Game 3 at Comerica Park, Boston beat Detroit 1-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. John Lackey (6.2 IP, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts, 0 walks) submitted his best start as a Red Sox while Justin Verlander (0-1) was his typical unhittable self: 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned run, 10 strikeouts, 1 walk.

Made fun of by everyone (myself included), Mike Napoli decided to make contract for once and boy did it pay off. His seventh inning solo home run turned out to be the only run of the entire contest. By reversing the score on Game 1, Boston ensured that there will at least be one more game this season at Fenway Park. The question is if that will be Game 6 of the ALCS or Game 1 of the World Series?

The Red Sox bullpen, which has proven to be one of its biggest strengths this postseason, had a chance to shine yet again. Craig Breslow got two outs, Junichi Tazawa got one important out (striking out Miguel Cabrera with runners on first and third) while Koji Uehara was called on for a four-out save. No problem, after striking out the very unclutch Prince Fielder to end the eighth, he allowed a single to Victor Martinez (2 hits) to lead off the ninth but settled down for a scoreless ninth with a double play ball from Jhonny Peralta and another strikeout. After recording the win in Game 2, he picked up his more customary save.

The Tigers had six hits, Torii Hunter was 2 for 4 but Detroit went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position. Just like you know they'll start getting more runs, you can pretty much bank on the fact that Boston's neutered lineup will do something more than it has (7 runs in 3 games) to this point against an incredible pitching staff.

Game 4 is tomorrow night (8:07, FOX) and it pits Jake Peavy against Doug Fister. Detroit knows Peavy well from his years with the White Sox but on the other hand, he was great against Tampa Bay in the clinching Game 4 of the ALDS. The pressure has shifted squarely on the Tigers since they can't afford to go down 3-1 to this team that is clearly their equal (if not a little superior).

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Red Sox & Umpires Conspire To Help Tigers Gain 7-5 Win In Series Finale

It figures that on a day when the Red Sox made Justin Verlander look ordinary, they still couldn't come out on top as they lost 7-5 to the Tigers at Comerica Park. Detroit (42-32 overall, 26-13 home) won the series 3-1 as Boston (45-33 overall, 22-18 away) limps home for a nine-game homestand.

After the best outing of his career, Felix Doubront had his typical performance: five innings, three runs (two earned), four hits, two strikeouts and four walks on 104 pitches.

Not sure what's up with Verlander but he's not himself. He went five innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and three walks.

Boston was going to blow the game anyway since it was tied 4-4 in the eighth with Andrew Miller (0-2) on the mound but they got no favors from four blind umpires who ruled that Daniel Nava's catch wasn't actually a catch. It was enough to get John Farrell ejected and from there, Detroit tacked on three more runs with Torii Hunter's sacrifice fly and Prince Fielder's (2 hits, 3 RBIs) two-run single.

The Red Sox tried to rally in the ninth as Jonny Gomes had an RBI double but new Tigers closer Joaquin Benoit (2-0) was able to escape thanks to Hunter's diving catch on Stephen Drew's liner to end it.

Miguel Cabrera (2 hits, walk) had a ground-rule RBI double in the first and Fielder drove in another run with a ground out in the first for a 2-0 Tigers lead.

Boston tied it with two runs in the second on Ryan Lavarnway's RBI single and Jacoby Ellsbury's (2 hits, double, stolen base) sacrifice fly. Detroit went back ahead on Lavarnway's passed ball in the home half of the second.

Mike Napoli's ground out in the third and Shane Victorino's ground out in the fourth put Boston up a run (4-3). Things started to unravel in the seventh as Miller hit Jhonny Peralta with the bases loaded to tie it at four.

Dustin Pedroia was 3 for 5 with two runs and a walk while David Ortiz was 3 for 5. Austin Jackson reached base five times going 2 for 2 with three runs, three walks and a double.

Boston gets a day off tomorrow then they will enjoy a nine-game homestand until July 4: two games vs. Colorado (39-38, 2nd in NL West), four vs. Toronto (38-36, 4th in AL East) and three vs. San Diego (38-38, 4th in NL West). It should be a sneaky challenge since all three teams are .500 or better with the Rockies and Padres representing two of the biggest surprises in MLB while the Blue Jays have currently won 11 games in a row.

Ryan Dempster (4-8) faces Juan Nicasio (4-3) on Tuesday (7:10, NESN) and John Lackey (4-5) opposes Roy Oswalt (0-1) on Tuesday afternoon (4:05, NESN). It's a 2007 World Series rematch with very few of the same guys left on the respective teams!

UPDATE 4/25: A flurry of moves for the Red Sox today as infielder Brandon Snyder was called up from Pawtucket, Will Middlebrooks went to the PawSox and David Ross was moved to the 60-day DL.

Franklin Morales is going back to the DL and Pedro Beato is being recalled from the PawSox.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

The Umpires Gift A 4-1 6-Inning Win To The Red Sox Against The Tigers In A Rainstorm

There is no other way to describe tonight's rain-shortened game at Fenway Park than bizarre. The Red Sox (53-51, 27-28 home) earned a very cheap 4-1 win (their fourth straight) vs. the Tigers (54-50, 26-29 away) in six innings.

Justin Verlander's (11-7) 63-game streak of going 6+ innings ended thanks to Mother Nature and a high pitch count (107). Truth be told, he didn't have it either (5 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned, 6 strikeout, 4 walks).

Detroit said they would file a complaint with the commissioner's office (Bud Selig should get that memo in about four months) since the game was called when they had the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the sixth. I can't say I've ever seen a contest end prematurely with the go-ahead run at the plate, it was very shady.

After not being traded, lazy slug Josh Beckett responded by pitching 2.2 innings then leaving with "back spasms." Shocking that such an incredible, well-conditioned athlete that never breaks down could fall victim to that. I can't hate on a guy for being injured but with his checkered history, who knows what the real story might have been.

Luckily, Clayton Mortensen (1-0) wanted to pitch and he threw 2.2 innings of scoreless relief. Franklin Morales recorded one out and appeared to be in trouble after an infield hit and walk loaded the bases. However, he ended up getting credit for his first save of the season which should go down as one of the cheapest in MLB history.

Miguel Cabrera walked with the bases loaded in the third to make it 1-0 Tigers but Mortensen put out Beckett's fire by getting Prince Fielder to fly out to end the inning.

The Red Sox scored all of their runs in the fourth on Pedro Ciriaco's RBI single, a bases loaded walk by Jacoby Ellsbury and two runs scored on Carl Crawford's infield hit/Omar Infante's error.

In their last regular season meeting of 2012, Aaron Cook (2-4) faces Rick Porcello (7-6) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN) as the Red Sox go for a three-game sweep and their fifth win in a row.

UPDATE 8/1: Daniel Nava was placed on the DL with a left wrist sprain. Catcher Ryan Lavarnway was called up from Pawtucket to take his place in Boston. Also, Craig Breslow arrived and is active which means that Mortensen was optioned back to the PawSox.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

I Called It Last Night: Red Sox Beat Justin Verlander To Finally Eclipse .500 In 2012

When the 2012 season is over for the Boston Red Sox and Bobby Valentine takes them all to Chuck E. Cheese's for one last going away party, tonight's game against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers will no doubt be a big topic of discussion.

It only took six tries (haha really) but Boston (25-24, 12-13 home) finally lurched over the .500 mark with a 6-3 win against Detroit (23-26, 12-14 away) at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox survived a 38-minute rain delay in the eighth inning to vanquish the undisputed best pitcher in baseball (the 2011 AL MVP). Verlander (5-3) lasted six innings, allowing five earned runs on 10 hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.

Daniel Bard (5-5) was much better than Verlander which isn't something you anticipate writing. In 5.1 innings, he allowed two earned runs on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.

David Ortiz (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) and Daniel Nava (3 RBIs) along with Scott Podsednik (2 for 4 with a double and run) supplied all the offense Boston would need and Alfredo Aceves shook off two bad outings in a row for his 12th save of the season.

Mike Aviles' fielder's choice in the second inning scored Ortiz and Nava cleared the bases with a three-run double on a 100 mph fastball from Verlander in the fourth.

Jhonny Peralta (4th of the season) homered for the second straight game but luckily this time it was only a solo shot to right center in the fifth. Ortiz had an RBI double off the Monster in the fifth as well.

Prince Fielder (8th of the season) absolutely destroyed a solo homer to right (437 feet) in the sixth then cut it to 5-3 (the closest the Tigers would get) with an RBI single in the seventh.

Ortiz hit his 11th homer of the season, a solo home run that just made it over the Monster in the eighth inning.

Vicente Padilla recorded four outs ahead of Aceves for his 12th hold of the season.

The Red Sox will try to make it three in a row against the Tigers tomorrow night (7:10 p.m.) as rookie Drew Smyly (2-1) takes on Jon Lester (3-4). After an awful outing in his last start against Tampa Bay, Lester is due for a quality start against a lineup that is not very good save for Prince and Miguel Cabrera. Boston might as well shoot for .500 at Fenway too while they're riding high.

Dustin Pedroia hasn't been placed on the DL yet because he's going to try play with a brace on his injured thumb. Fingers crossed (no pun intended) that it works since he could miss 3-4 weeks if it doesn't alleviate some of the pain.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Red Sox Rally But Still Fall Short Against The Tigers On Opening Day 2012

Even though they lost, I don't have many complaints today about the Boston Red Sox on Opening Day 2012.

The Detroit Tigers (1-0) won 3-2 on a walk-off single by Austin Jackson (3 hits, run, RBI) that scored pinch-runner Danny Worth in the bottom of the ninth against Alfredo Aceves at Comerica Park.

The main reason I'm not that mad is that Boston (0-1) trailed 2-0 going into the top of the ninth but they scored twice against Tigers closer Jose Valverde. He had been a perfect 49 for 49 last season in save situations, he hadn't blown a save since September 2010. Dustin Pedroia doubled and was knocked in by David Ortiz's sacrifice fly. Then Ryan Sweeney (2 hits) hit a two-out triple to tie it.

Justin Verlander and Jon Lester as expected had a nice pitcher's duel on a chilly afternoon in Detroit. Verlander was a little better, going eight solid innings and only allowing two hits with seven strikeouts and one walk. He benefited from some a wide strike zone but that's what you have to expect from a reigning Cy Young winner not to mention an MVP. Lester went seven innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Lester lasted that long because he forced the Tigers to ground into three double plays.

Detroit built a seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead with a run in the seventh and a run in the eighth. Alex Avila (2 hits) doubled in Jhonny Peralta (3 hits) in the seventh then Prince Fielder plated Jackson (who tripled) with a sacrifice fly in the eighth against Vicente Padilla.

Aceves (0-1) took the loss but he had to enter a really tough situation: runners on 1st and 2nd with one out after Mark Melancon gave up two singles. By hitting Ramon Santiago, Aceves basically made it a foregone conclusion that the Red Sox would lose.

There is absolutely no reason to panic yet. Truthfully, I didn't think Boston would beat Verlander on Opening Day. Lester pitched well enough but the offense (5 hits, 1 walk) was too quiet to expect a win against the best pitcher in baseball. For some reason, MLB chose to make tomorrow an off-day so the teams will be back at it on Saturday afternoon (4:05 first pitch on Fox) as Josh Beckett takes on Doug Fister, who had a remarkable run after getting traded from Seattle last season.

Normally, I would worry about this Red Sox team getting a night off during the season but other than avoiding getting shot, I don't think they can get into much trouble in Detroit.

Tweet


Follow @RichSlate

Sorry Justin Verlander, even you cannot stop the Boston Red Sox right now

Another game, another win for the Boston Red Sox. Carl Crawford continues to toil at the bottom of the lineup but he still delivered his third walkoff hit in May as Boston beat Detroit 4-3 last night at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox (23-20) have won a season-high six in a row thanks to contributions from everybody: great starting pitching, timely hitting, excellent relief and plain old luck.

The Tigers (22-21) came into Boston hot but left after a two-game sweep with interleague play starting for everybody this weekend.

A pitcher's duel between Detroit ace Justin Verlander and Red Sox stud Josh Beckett was overshadowed by Crawford's heroics. With the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, Crawford (2 hits) crushed a single over the head of Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson which plated pinch runner Darnell McDonald. Detroit porn star and reliever Al Alburquerque (0-1) was charged with the loss.

Neither starter got a decision as Verlander went eight innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs with nine strikeouts. Beckett departed after six innings (with a stiff neck, man baseball players are warriors), five hits, one earned run, two walks and three strikeouts.

Andy Dirks (what is with these names?) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the second.

J.D. Drew tied it up in the bottom of the second with a sacrifice fly which scored Kevin Youkilis.

Things looked to be turning in Boston's favor as Drew hit a solo homer in the fourth and David Ortiz (3 hits, quietly having a very solid season) followed with a solo shot of his own in the seventh.

Matt Albers got a scoreless seventh (1 hit, 2 strikeouts) but Detroit hit a pair of solo homers off Daniel Bard in the eighth. Brennan Boesch and Miguel Cabrera did the honors.

No worries though, the Red Sox are finding every possible way to win right now and this time, it didn't even take extra innings. Just another ho hum walkoff.

The Chicago Cubs come to Fenway for a three-game series which kicks off tonight. It's the first time since the 1918 World Series (remember that classic?) that the Cubbies have been to Boston. I can feel the collective boners from all the baseball nerds across the world. It promises to be a memorable weekend in Boston.

Red Sox do nothing meaningful at trade deadline but produce two straight walk-off wins

As expected, the Boston Red Sox did nothing substantial (sorry Ramon Ramirez, you bum) at the non-waiver trade deadline (Saturday) but that mundane news was tempered with the excitement of two straight walk-off wins over the Tigers on Saturday and Sunday.

I was lucky enough to be sitting on the Monster with some buddies from college on Saturday night as David Ortiz came through with a bases-loaded, three-run double. It's the first walk-off I've seen in person (as far as I can remember) so it was a cool moment.

Yesterday's didn't have quite the same panache since it came when Marco Scutaro (2 hits, steal) bunted and Tigers (52-52) reliever Robbie Weinhardt threw it away, allowing Darnell McDonald to score for the 4-3 Red Sox (60-45) win.

Truthfully, it shouldn't have come to that since Clay Buchholz (8 innings, 3 hits, 2 earned runs, 4 walks, 5 strikeouts) completely silenced Detroit until the ninth when a lucky bounce led to an infield hit and he walked the last batter he faced.

Jonathan Papelbon (4-4) was summoned and on the first pitch, Miguel Cabrera cranked a two-run double (that missed being a homer by a few feet) as Detroit cut it to 3-2. Then Papelbon blew his fifth game of the season when Jhonny Peralta tied it with a groundball up the middle.

Making the win even more impressive is that the Sox beat Tigers ace Justin Verlander (7 innings, 6 hits, 3 earned runs, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts).

Eric Patterson gave Boston a 1-0 lead in the second with an RBI single and Adrian Beltre (2 hits) doubled the Sox advantage with an RBI single in the third. Rookie Ryan Kalish (who went 2-for-4 in his MLB debut on Saturday) added a sacrifice fly in the third for the surprising 3-0 lead.

The time is now for the Red Sox, they're still 6.5 games behind the Yankees and 5.5 in back of the Rays for the wild card. The good news is that the miserable Indians come to Fenway for four games beginning tonight. For any chance to make the playoffs, Boston has to pretty much at least split every series and when they play garbage like this, they need to win three or sweep them.

Tonight John Lackey takes on Fausto Carmona as Lackey tries to keep his streak of three straight great starts going down the stretch.

This Verlander guy can pitch

I went to Fenway Park yesterday afternoon, hoping for a Red Sox sweep but knowing full well that Tigers ace Justin Verlander is one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Therefore it wasn't shocking (especially since Kevin Youkilis is currently serving his suspension and Dustin Pedroia got the day off) that Verlander completely silenced Boston's (65-49) bats as the Tigers (60-54) salvaged the fourth game, 2-0.

Verlander (13-6), who is Josh Beckett's biggest competition for the AL Cy Young this season, threw eight shutout innings before giving way to Detroit closer Fernando Rodney, who recorded a 1-2-3 ninth for his 24th save.

Verlander allowed just four hits, he walked one and struck out eight with a manly 123 pitches. Most impressive, on his last two pitches of the day in the eighth, he made Jason Bay swing and miss at 100-mph fastballs.

For the second straight outing, Clay Buchholz pitched well enough to win but unfortunately he faced another team's ace (C.C. Sabathia was the last one). Clay (1-3) lasted seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

In the fourth, Ryan Raburn provided all the offense the Tigers needed as his infield single drove in Miguel Cabrera.

With a solo homer over the Monster in the seventh by Raburn, everybody knew it was game set, match.

After the game, Boston departed for Texas where it has a pivotal three game series with the Rangers. The Red Sox lie half a game ahead of Texas in the AL wild card standings so hopefully last weekend's no-show against the Yankees is a distant memory.

Red Sox escape Detroit with lives and series win

After suffering its most devastating loss of the early season (10-9 on Wednesday), the Red Sox exhibited the sign of a solid team as they bounced back with a 5-1 win last night in Detroit.

The win allowed them to take three out of four from the rudderless Tigers, the first stop on a three city trip for Boston (23-14).

What made Wednesday so disappointing was the fact that the Red Sox twice battled back from four-run deficits, only to have bums like Julian Tavarez and Julio Lugo hand it over to Detroit (15-21).

Wednesday's starter Clay Buchholz was hit hard, to the tune of ten hits in four innings. He allowed five runs (all earned), one walk and six strikeouts.

After cutting a 4-0 Tigers lead to 5-4, Tavarez gave up three runs in one inning of work. From there, Boston answered with five runs to take a 9-8 lead into the ninth.

Mike Lowell (3 hits, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) and Kevin Youkilis (2 runs, 2 hits, 3 RBIs) provided the heavy lumber as Youk homered twice (Comerica Park is the only place he's done that, now twice) and Lowell had a three-run shot. David Ortiz continued to swing the bat well as he collected two hits.

Placido Polanco was an on-base machine on Wednesday as he had five hits, three RBIs and two runs. Fittingly, after a Lugo error allowed a runner to reach in the ninth, Polanco had a broken-bat bloop that dropped right behind Lugo. It was that type of night for nobody's favorite shortstop.

Jonathan Papelbon (2-1) gave up two hits and two runs (neither earned) to pick up his first blown save and loss of the year.

In the dugout afterwards, Paps took out his anger on an unfortunate Gatorade cooler but most fans probably wish he just beat the hell out of Lugo. Did I mention Julio is useless?

On a brighter note, Josh Beckett (4-2) looked good last night. He went seven innings, allowing six hits, one run with eight strikeouts.

Boston got to supposed Tigers ace Justin Verlander early, scoring three in the third and two in the fifth.

Verlander fell to 1-6 on the year with a disgusting 6.43 ERA, making me glad I didn't have him on any of my fantasy teams. He's lost velocity from his dominant rookie season two years ago and like all Tigers pitchers right now, he's searching for answers.

Youk had a two-run shot off of Verlander while Coco Crisp (3 hits), Jacboy Ellsbury (2 hits), Lowell (2 hits) and Ortiz (2 hits) each had multiple hits.

Craig Hansen and Manny Delcarmen both pitched scoreless innings which is not something you see everyday.

The Sox travel to Minnesota for a four-game set in the beautiful Metrodome.