Projo Sox Blog

In light of all that, any wonder that Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald is writing that the Red Sox are "[looking] looked the part of a playoff team that can and should be feared in October"?

The Sox are simultaneously pulling away in the wild-card race and pulling closer in the division race. Their lead is now five games in the wild card and their deficit is three games in the A.L. East after yesterday's come-from-behind, walkoff 5-4 win over the Orioles, which had the happy Sox celebrating (above) and featured just about every item on that checklist.

-- Joe McDonald's game story focused on the defense -- which included a Web Gem-worthy piece of home-run robbery by Jacoby Ellsbury (left) and a head's-up nailing of a runner at third by Alex Cora that preserved the tie in the ninth -- and the luck, mainly the pebble that kept Coco Crisp's bunt fair in the bottom of the ninth.

-- Sean McAdam looked at both the Sox' ability to rally late, and how the team's depth has kept it afloat despite the latest injury wave.

-- It was left to the Baltimore Sun to focus on the men in blue, who were aiding and abetting the Sox all week. Start with the egregious, couldn't-have-been-more-wrong 'out' call by Jim Joyce on the Ramon Hernandez play at the plate on Tuesday night, which got lost amidst the avalanche of subsequent Boston runs but was played and replayed yesterday on SportsCenter. Then continue to another questionable Joyce call yesterday at third base, this one on Cora's throw to nail Aubrey Huff. And, finally, there was the ringing up of Hernandez by Jeff Nelson with two outs in the ninth on a pitch that, as the Sun's Jeff Zrebiec correctly pointed out, "didn't even flirt with the inside part of the plate."

But when you're going good, you get those calls. The Red Sox, rest assured, are going good.

HOW GOOD? So good that even Jim Rice says "you have to like" the Red Sox' chances in the postseason.

THE SKUNK AT THE GARDEN PARTY: That would be Daisuke Matsuzaka, who dashed -- or at least diminished -- the hopes raised by his last, efficient outing with another semi-mess of an afternoon: Six innings, four runs, four walks, 112 pitches, which put the Sox in a 4-0 hole. (Boston Herald)

FOCUS ON THE BIG PICTURE: Matsuzaka recently gave an enlightening interview to Joe Haggerty on the Hacks With Haggs blog in which he explained a bit of his pitching philosophy. A most interesting quote:

"I also think that if you do allow a runner on base via a walk, the important thing is to not let that runner come home. Last year I had the chance to talk with Greg Maddux half-way through last season, and one of the things that made in impression on me was when he told me that you can allow a walk or a stolen base. The important thing is to not let that runner come home."

TYING THE RECORD: The Red Sox yesterday tied the Indians' record for consecutive sellouts, with their 455th straight. (projo,com) They'll set a new one Monday night against Tampa Bay.

A STEP BACKWARDS: In the midst of all the good injury news comes word that Kevin Youkilis' bad back isn't getting any better. McDonald has both stories.

SHUTTING IT DOWN: McDonald also has news that the Red Sox are resting Portsmouth's Ryan Westmoreland, whom they drafted in the fourth round last June, "due to strength issues and for precautionary measures."

DON'T BE SURPRISED . . . if Dustin Pedroia actually wins the MVP Award. Chad Finn won't.

BURN, BABY, BURN: Ken Rosenthal of FoxSports.com has been told by "a rival executive" that the Red Sox are planning a major offseason push for A.J. Burnett.

NOWHERE TO GO BUT UP: The PawSox laid an egg in their International League playoff opener yesterday, falling 7-1 to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Paul Kenyon has the details, along with news of a bit of double duty by Jonathan Van Every.

YOU'RE THE TOPS: The Rays-based blog Out Per Swing examines the top three starters of each American League contender and concludes the Red Sox and Twins are the two best. Tampa Bay, though, isn't far behind.

'DID YOU THINK THIS WOULD BE EASY?' So asks the Tampa Tribune's Martin Fennelly, as the first real exposure to September pressure has been anything but for the Rays. Tampa Bay lost again to the Yankees (St. Petersburg Times) -- suffering the added indignity of losing baseball's first replay challenge -- and went through a whole litany of firsts: First home series lost to an American League opponent since April 18-20, first back-to-back home losses since April 14-15, etc. It's all a case, writes the Tribune's Marc Lancaster, of the Rays' Tropicana magic deserting them at the worst possible time.

EVEN SO . . . Joe Posnanski still believes in Tampa Bay. (si.com)

WHO ELSE? Who wouldn't have thought that baseball's first instant-replay moment -- which included a pre-review discussion by Joe Maddon and Brian Runge (right) -- would involve the lightning rod known as A-Rod? (New York Daily News) "There's probably 800 players in the big leagues." said Alex Rodriguez. "The odds of me being in some controversy was probably 2-1."

LET ME THINK ABOUT IT: One day after the New York Post reported that the Steinbrenner brothers want to retain Brian Cashman as general manager, Cashman said any talk about a new contract can wait until after the season. (New York Daily News)

FUHGEDDABOUTIT: CC Sabathia will have to settle for a one-hitter as MLB's scoring review committee -- whatever that is -- denied the Brewers' request to change the scoring of a hit to an error in last Sunday's game. (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel)

BIG DEAL: Speaking of Sabathia, the Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Bill Livingston wasn't impressed with the full-page ad he took out when he was traded by the Indians, thanking the Cleveland fans for their support. All it did, sniffed Livingston, was "put a glossy shine on greed."

IT'S ALL OVER BUT THE VOTING: Yahoo! Sports' Jeff Passan says Cliff Lee is a lock for the American League Cy Young Award.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR: Writing on FoxSports.com, Tracy Ringolsby lists nine things to watch during baseball's stretch run.

A.L. RACES: The White Sox regained first place in the Central as they beat the Indians, 4-2 (Chicago Sun-Times), and the Twins lost in 11 innings to the Blue Jays, 5-4. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune) Minnesota's loss also increases the Red Sox' wild-card lead to five games.

N.L. RACES: It's now the Mets by three in the East, as they finished off a sweep of the Brewers (New York Daily News) while the Phillies suffered "a killer loss to a terrible team," in the words of the Philadelphia Inquirer's Todd Zolecki, in falling to Washington, 9-7 . . . Those two losses kept the wild-card standings intact: It's still Milwaukee by 4 1/2 over Philadelphia, with St. Louis -- a 4-3 loser in Arizona (St. Louis Post-Dispatch) -- remaining 5 1/2 back . . . The Mets' sweep in Milwaukee was a great favor to the Cubs, who were swept themselves by the Astros at Wrigley Field; it culminated with a 4-0 loss last night. (Chicago Sun-Times) Even so, the Cubbies -- who still lead the Central by 4 1/2 -- have bigger problems, as you'll see in a moment . . . The Diamondbacks' walkoff win over the Cardinals (Arizona Republic) enabled them to maintain their 1 1/2-game lead in the West over the Dodgers, who finished off a sweep of the Padres with a 6-4 win last night. (Los Angeles Times) Arizona and Los Angeles square off this weekend at Dodger Stadium.

DOUBLE WHAMMY: The Cubs' postseason hopes received a bigger jolt yesterday than could ever be delivered by a mere loss to the Astros. The Chicago Tribune is reporting that it appears Carlos Zambrano could be out for quite a while, perhaps the rest of the season, at the same time that it appears the too-oft-injured Rich Harden is injured again. (Chicago Sun-Times) There's very little concrete news on either front, so there's still hope a) Zambrano may pitch again and b) Harden isn't hurt seriously. The Cubs certainly hope so, because without them . . .

HE WHO LAUGHS LAST: Tony Bernazard was fingered as the man behind the curtain in the Mets' clumsy dismissal of Willie Randolph in June, and the Yankee-centric world of New York baseball fitted him with the villain's hat for being so mean to Our Willie. But the team's success since Randolph's ouster has Bernazard . . . well, if not gloating, at least pointing out that "the new people running the team" may be the key to the season's turnaround. (New York Daily News)

FEELING NO PAIN: Billy Wagner had no discomfort during a throwing session and could return to the Mets' bullpen in two weeks. (New York Post)

ROCK-TEMBER? Don't look now, but the Rockies are only six games out in the N.L. West -- just a game worse than they were after the end of play on Sept. 3 last year -- and remembrances of last year's sprint to the finish are beginning to stir in Denver. (yahoosports.com)

HERE AND THERE: It's refreshing to hear a manager tell a player to look in the mirror, as Jim Leyland did to the whining Justin Verlander. (Detroit Free Press) . . . Evan Longoria may not be ready to return in time for the Rays' series at Fenway Park next week (St. Petersburg Times) . . . Andruw Jones says his season is over (Los Angeles Times) . . . The Angels' Jered Weaver will miss a start after cutting his hand on a piece of metal in the Comerica Park dugout (Los Angeles Times) . . . There were only about 600 people in the stands Wednesday when the Marlins hosted the Braves. (espn.com)

OLD FRIENDS: The Mets are worried about Pedro Martinez' diminished velocity. (New York Post)

AND FINALLY . . . You saw it yesterday if you came to this blog, but it's worth repeating:

Thanks again to Dan Lamothe at Red Sox Monster.