Projo Sox Blog

Lack of clutch hitting. Inability to prevent a big inning. Wasted opportunities. All leading to a frustrating defeat.

The Sox had each of their away-from-Fenway weaknesses on display last night as the Royals -- a team that looked as if it didn't belong on the same continent with the Red Sox while being swept in Boston 2 1/2 months ago -- came away with a 4-3 win that ended, fittingly, when Sean Casey lined out with the bases loaded. It capped a night, writes Sean McAdam, in which the Sox stranded 12 runners and were a pitiful 3-for-16 with men on base after the first inning. Boston's road record is now 24-33 as Clay Buchholz, who was unable to stop the bleeding during a three-run Kansas City third inning that swung the game in the Royals' favor, fell to 2-7.

Tonight the Sox turn to Josh Beckett, loser of three straight and someone who's never lost four consecutive starts in his career. (projostats.com) But Boston's general road ineptitude, coupled with the fact that K.C. has won seven of its last eight, may have that streak in jeopardy.

WARNING CLICK? More troublesome postgame news -- David Ortiz (shown at right batting in the first inning) told his co-author, the Herald's Tony Massarotti, that he felt a click in his injured left wrist during his ninth-inning at-bat against Royals closer Joakim Soria. He said there was no pain, and that the medical staff warned him he would have "instability" from time to time in the wrist, but we'll see today if it's enough to keep him out of the lineup. The Sox hope not; they played last night without Mike Lowell, who had a cortisone shot in his ailing hip, and McAdam reports Lowell may sit out tonight, as well.

HELP! The Sox' offensive problems wouldn't be so bad, writes Massarotti, if Jacoby Ellsbury was playing like, well, Jacoby Ellsbury. But he's hitting .217 since June 15 with an on-base percentage of .245 and is doing "what most rookies do. They play brilliantly for some stretches and disappear for others, and most of the time they have no understanding why." It also appears Ellsbury is now sitting in favor of Coco Crisp (top), though Crisp is hardly any great shakes with the bat himself.

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER: The blog Beyond The Box Score examines the issue and concludes Jon Lester "is set to become one of the best pitchers in the American League.." Jim Rice says Lester -- who was named A.L. Pitcher of the Month for July (projo.com) -- reminds him of Bruce Hurst. (ask14.sullivantire.com)

THE NEVER-ENDING STORY: More -- and more and more and more -- on the Manny Ramirez trade, and now sentiment is beginning to swing a bit in the Red Sox' favor; The Hardball Times, for instance, says they may have gotten the best player in the deal in Jason Bay. In a three-person roundtable discussion on the blog Statistically Speaking, the Sox generally get good marks for acquiring Bay . . . though author "Pizza Cutter," who works in psychology when he's not analyzing baseball, muses: "[Let's] examine the premise of 'We need to trade away one of the best hitters in baseball in the middle of a pennant race in which we are fighting for our lives . . . because he's annoying.' "

THE BIG PICTURE: While the Manny Lovefest continues unabated in Los Angeles (Los Angeles Times), others aren't so forgiving. Our own Bill Reynolds says Ramirez is "the anti-role model." adding: "He quit on his team. Is there anything worse you can say about an athlete?" And Joel Sherman, writing on Foxsports.com, calls Ramirez "the biggest loser" of the recent trade deadline because of the "calculating, malicious" way he orchestrated his departure from the Red Sox. Doesn't commissioner Bud Selig, Sherman asks, "have to demand a face-to-face [meeting with Ramirez] to discourage other players from thinking they could follow the same lay-down-on-the-job script to gain free agency? Isn't it dangerous to baseball to have a player involved in a pennant race not trying?"

YOU-KNOW-WHO BEING YOU-KNOW-WHO: David Pinto of Baseball Musings makes a good point: If Joe Torre forces Ramirez to cut his hair, he's "likely to trigger the evil Manny the Red Sox were so anxious to trade."

THEY'LL MISS HIS BAT, BUT NOT HIS GLOVE: Baseball Analysts lists the Red Sox as being a slightly below-average defensive team so far this year and one of the key reasons is that Ramirez rates as baseball's 11th-worst fielder. No, Yankee haters, Derek Jeter doesn't show up on this list, but Bobby Abreu does; BA has him as the game's absolute worst defensive player.

ON THE HOT SEAT: Both the Red Sox and Yankees have been mentioned in ESPN's investigation of the bonus-skimming scandal in the Dominican Republic.

THE DAY THE SEASON DIED: The news of the day -- or maybe even the year -- comes to us from Arlington, Tex., where Joba Chamberlain had to leave last night's start against the Rangers because of stiffness in his shoulder. (New York Daily News) If you think the lead-in to this little piece is a tad overdramatic, it merely reflects what Sherman, writing for the Post, said in today's column. Or, as fellow Postie George King put it: "Joba Chamberlain assumes he will enter the Carl Pavano Memorial MRI tube today at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Has there been a more frightening sentence in the Yankees Universe this season?"

This is all very premature -- we still have no idea what's actually wrong with Chamberlain, and he and the Yanks were (naturally) talking bravely about the whole thing being nothing -- but Peter Abraham lays out the reasons why caution should be the keyword with a talent as large as Chamberlain's. (LoHud Yankees Blog) "The last thing you want is him altering his mechanics in some way to compensate [for even minimal arm discomfort]," writes Abraham. "Jorge Posada believes that his minor lat strain in spring training is what led to his labrum issues."

NO CHOICE: And those labrum issues reached a point where Posada had no option except to undergo season-ending surgery. (New York Post) Posada told Mike Lupica of the Daily News it's killing him to be on the sidelines while the team is involved in a pennant race

NOW WHAT? Back to Chamberlain: The Yanks have no real options to replace him in their rotation (New York Daily News), unless the rehabbing Phil Hughes can resurrect himself, or Ian Kennedy is ready to return, or they catch lightning in a bottle with Pavano.

AND FURTHERMORE . . . The other worrisome Yankee injury -- to Mariano Rivera -- also came back to bite them last night. He claims he was good to go but the Yankees thought otherwise (New York Daily News), so he sat in the bullpen watching as Damaso Marte surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Marlon Byrd that gave Texas a 9-5 win. (New York Post)

ANOTHER CLUELESS JOE: After watching Marte become the second Yankee reliever in two days to surrender a grand-slam home run, the blog Pinstripe Alley wants Joe Girardi fired.

YOU DON'T FOOL ME: While I was on vacation, the blog It Is About the Money, Stupid summoned the ghost of Vito Spatafore to express its feelings about Sidney Ponson after El Sid was racked by the Red Sox. (Warning: That picture is slightly NSFW.) Then Ponson pitched pretty well in a 1-0 loss to the Angels, but Jason Rosenberg, the author of the blog, isn't buying it.

THE REAL GAME: The blog crainsnewyork.com says the opening of the new Yankee Stadium "promises to once again give the Yankees a decided financial edge over the world champion Boston Red Sox, after their archrival surpassed them on the field last year and narrowed the monetary deficit by expanding seating in cramped Fenway Park and sharply raising ticket prices."

HEXMEN: The Indians are 44-62 against the rest of the world, but put a Tampa Bay uniform on the field against them and it's a different story. Cleveland increased its record against the Rays this year to 5-0 with a 5-2 victory last night at Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg Times), helping maintain the status quo in the A.L. East standings. The good news for the Rays is that Shawn Figgans actually played; he was hit in the chest by a Fernando Rodney fastball Sunday and Tampa Bay head athletic trainer Ron Porterfield said that's the type of injury that can result in "[a] punctured lung. Fractured ribs. Death." (St. Petersburg Times) The bad news is that Jason Bartlett -- who took a pitch off his fingernail during Rodney's wild 10th-inning ride Sunday -- and Carl Crawford are both out of the lineup because of minor ailments and may be sidelined another day or two. (Tampa Tribune)

'Z' MAKES THE SPOT: Joe Posnanski has developed the "Ziegler number" -- named after Royals reliever Brad Ziegler -- which measures a pitcher's ability to strike hitters out and keep the ball down. He lists the Top 10 Ziegler numbers in baseball this year and, not surprisingly, some of the game's best (though no Red Sox) are among the names.

MIND YOUR MANNERS: Prince Fielder and Manny Parra of the Brewers had a dugout altercation during yesterday's 6-3 loss to the Reds (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel), but no one was talking about it afterwards. When pressed by reporters, Milwaukee manager Ned Yost replied: "It's a little bit rude when your neighbors are fighting next door for you to go knock on the door and ask what happened."

GIVE US JUST TWO MORE NIGHTS: The Cubs want the ban on Friday and Saturday night games at Wrigley Field lifted, but the Chicago Sun Times reports it'll be a tough sell to residents in the area.

GOING NOWHERE: John Lowe of the Detroit Free Press says the Tigers' playoff chances are slim indeed.

LOCAL BOYS: Rocco Baldelli -- whose anticipated return to the Rays was postponed by at least a day -- is the subject of a feature by the St. Petersburg Times' John Romano.

HERE AND THERE: Ozzie Guillen's warning that he may extend the White Sox' fight with the Royals over the life of his five-year contract could result in disciplinary action from MLB (Chicago Tribune) . . . Eric Chavez' season is over (Costa Contra Times) . . . Kerry Wood may return to the Cubs' bullpen tonight (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Giants have invited Barry Bonds back to San Francisco for a celebration Saturday honoring five decades of Giants outfielders (San Francisco Chronicle); so far, he hasn't responded . . . Rangers closer C.J. Wilson is hurting (Fort Worth Star-Telegram) . . . J.J. Putz is about ready to reclaim the closer's role in Seattle. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)

OLD FRIENDS: Brandon Moss is loving life in Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Bronson Arroyo said he wanted to stay in Cincinnati. The Reds obliged, and he repaid them yesterday by pitching them past the Brewers (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . Tom Gordon is beginning a minor-league rehab assignment. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

-- ART MARTONE