Archive for September, 2007

Ewe Did It!

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

It was a made-for-TV experience. The Red Sox, 5-2 winners over the Twins earlier in the evening, became champions of the American League East at 10:56 Friday night when the Baltimore Orioles beat the New York Yankees, 10-9, in 10 innings, a comeback win the Sox watched from inside their clubhouse while several thousand fans watched on the Fenway Park video scoreboard. When the parlay came in, the Sox had cashed their first division crown since 1995.

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Bird Watching

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

Alex Rodriguez did his part to keep the New York Yankees in contention for the AL East title. Rodriguez hit his 54th homer, drove in four runs and scored twice Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles. But a rare blown save by Mariano Rivera and a Boston victory officially ended New York’s run of nine straight division titles. Melvin Mora bunted in the winning run in the 10th inning, giving the Orioles an improbable 10-9 victory.

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I’m not laughing

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

Michael Cuddyer and Garrett Jones homered off 20-game winner Josh Beckett in his last start before the playoffs, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory over Boston on Thursday night and preventing the Red Sox from closing in on an AL East title.

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Good Will Taunting

Wednesday, September 26th, 2007

The Boston Red Sox hammered the Oakland A's this evening, bringing Boston's magic number for clinching the AL East to any combination of Red Sox wins or Yankees losses totaling two.

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Sox Are No Stooges; Magic Number Is Three

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

With the Red Sox’ 7-3 win over Oakland, and that 7-6 Yankees loss, the magic number for Boston to clinch the American League East slipped down to 3, with five games to play.

    (And because my Photoshop skills are so badass that some of you can’t tell a Sox from a Stooge—at least, that’s how I’m making myself feel better about the fact that there’s been some confusion—here you go: It’s Papelbon, Schilling and Francona.)

  • Sox (and Rays) give Fenway fans lots to shout about

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Fantastic Four … um … Three

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

With five games left, the Red Sox had already clinched a wild-card berth and their lead over the Yankees stretched to three games after New York’s 7-6 loss at Tanpa Bay in 11 innings later Tuesday.

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Believe It … Or Not

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

The Boston Red Sox became the first Major League team to secure a playoff berth when they rallied for three runs in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays 8-6 on Saturday.

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Make It Count

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Josh Beckett’s 20th win couldn’t have come at a better time for the Boston Red Sox. The All-Star right-hander pitched six strong innings to become the first 20-game winner in the majors since 2005, and the Red Sox used late home runs by Jason Varitek, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell to pull away to an 8-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on Friday night.

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It’s Called ‘Winning’

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

The Boston Red Sox can feel the New York Yankees’ breath on the backs of their necks, with the Yankees, who trailed by 14 1/2 games May 29, now just 1 1/2 games behind in the AL East with nine games to play, 10 for New York.

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Enough is Enough

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

Boston Red Sox manager Terry Francona’s explanation for leaving pitcher Eric Gagne in the game long after the wheels fell off almost certainly will not satisfy the legions of fans who watched the lead over the New York Yankees shrink to 2 1/2 games in the AL East with 10 to play (the Yanks have 11). Those fans probably weren’t mollified by the news of the Detroit Tigers’ loss to the Cleveland Indiants, which means the Sox’ magic number to clinch a postseason berth is down to 4. Any combination of Sox wins and Tiger losses totaling four, and the Sox are assured of a spot in the October tournament.

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Nightmare on Yawkey Way

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

With 11 games to play, the magic number for the Boston Red Sox remains nine, as the New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-5, in the Bronx. The lead over the Bombers in the American League East is down to 3 1/2 games. The last time the race was that close was May 1, when the Sox held a 3 1/2-game advantage over the Toronto Blue Jays.

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Things That Just Won’t Die

Monday, September 17th, 2007

“He took care of it tonight,” New York Yankees manager Torre said of Derek Jeter’s three-run homer in the eighth inning that enabled the Yankees to beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-3, at Fenway Park. “I have been here 12 years and he has been here 12 years and when he was really young, I used to marvel at it, but after the first couple of years, it is not a shock anymore.”

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No Excuse

Monday, September 17th, 2007

“Tonight boiled down to two mistakes,” Boston Red Sox pitcher Schilling said. “I started the inning off in the eighth by striking out [New York Yankee Melky] Cabrera on a 3-and-2 split, a great one, and then I overthrow one to [Jason] Giambi, and overthrow one to Derek . . . I miss horribly in the most crucial situation of the game.”

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Body Blow

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

To his everlasting credit, Jorge Posada somehow held onto the ball. But as a symbol of the Red Sox’ ferocious response to their late-inning meltdown the night before, nothing yesterday afternoon can eclipse the sixth-inning play of Eric Hinske, the former running back who starred for Menasha (Wis.) High School and let his football instincts take over when he lowered his left shoulder and leveled the Yankees catcher while trying to score on a grounder.

(But, seriously, as The Globe’s Gordon Edes wrote, “To his everlasting credit, Jorge Posada somehow held onto the ball.” It was downright impressive.)

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Yank Me

Saturday, September 15th, 2007

Five runs ahead and six outs away from taking a decisive step to their first division title in a dozen years, the Red Sox were brought to their knees by a hail of Yankee hits in a six-run eighth inning that leveled Hideki Okajima, and most shocking of all, closer Jonathan Papelbon, in an 8-7 loss that seemingly turned in a New York minute.

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Papi Power

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

The Red Sox, led by closer Jonathan Papelbon, who had pitched the top of the ninth, came charging out of the dugout to surround Ortiz, who earned his first walkoff homer of the season as Boston came from behind to win for the second straight night, 5-4.

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Sorry, Jacoby

Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Jacoby Ellsbury has been a rookie dynamo since coming up from Pawtucket to fill in for the injured Manny Ramirez.

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Big (like, really, really big; I hope he doesn’t see this) Baby

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

Orioles pitcher Daniel Cabrera, seeing Crisp dancing down the line, stopped his motion, balking Crisp home. Cabrera then threw a pitch behind Pedroia, which understandably upset the Red Sox.

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No-No for Buchholz

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

Boston Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz made history with his second major-league appearance by throwing a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles.

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What, me worry?

Saturday, September 1st, 2007

The Red Sox dropped their fourth game in a row during the first game of a three-game series against the Orioles at Fenway Park. Manny Ramirez and Tim Wakefield were both out of the lineup, and a number of other players are hurting. Meanwhile, MLB officials think it’s OK to interrupt manager Terry Francona in the middle of an important inning against the Yankees to make sure that he’s wearing his official team jersey.

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