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Pregame photos from McAfee Coliseum

Journal photos / Bob Breidenbach
Sean Casey

Manny Ramirez

Julio Lugo

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Manny Ramirez

Jason Varitek

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 2:57 PM | Permalink

Today's lineups

BOSTON

Pedroia, 2b
Youkilis, 1b
Ortiz, DH
Ramirez, lf
Lowell, 3b
Drew, rf
Varitek, c
Crisp, cf
Cora, ss
Lester, SP

OAKLAND
Ellis, 2b
Barton, 1b
M. Sweeney, DH
Cust, lf
Brown, rf
Crosby, ss
Suzuki, c
Hannahan, 3b
Denorfia, cf
Harden, SP

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 2:22 PM | Permalink

Multimedia: Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam, from Oakland

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. He discusses Daisuke Matsuzaka, Kevin Youkilis' errorless streak, Jason Varitek, and the latest injury to former Sox ace Pedro Martinez.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:27 PM to Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam | Permalink

Red Sox vs. A's key stats

-Manny Ramirez has 39 career home runs against Oakland, tied with Alex Rodriguez for the most by any active player and in a three-way tie with Rodriguez and Evans for seventh-most all time.
-Kevin Youkilis has played 193 consecutive games at first base without an error. If he plays error-free today, he breaks Steve Garvey's major-league record.
-The last time a pair of Red Sox pitchers started each of the club's first four games: 1974 (Luis Tiant and Bill Lee).
-Jon Lester will attempt to become the first Red Sox lefty to win in Oakland since Zane Smith in 1995.
-The Red Sox are 255-204 all-time against Oakland, and 109-119 at the McAfee Coliseum.

Red Sox vs. Rich Harden
-David Ortiz, 4 for 6 (.667), 2B, 2 HR, 2 BB
-Manny Ramirez, 3 for 6 (.500), 3 HR, 2 BB
-Mike Lowell, 1 for 3 (.333)
-Coco Crisp, 2 for 8 (.250)
-Julio Lugo, 3 for 13 (.231), 2B, 3 BB
-Jason Varitek, 0 for 5, BB
-Dustin Pedroia, 0 for 3
-Kevin Cash, 0 for 2
-Kevin Youkilis, 0 for 2, BB
-Sean Casey, 0 for 2, BB
-Harden is 1-1 with a 10.54 E.R.A. in three career starts against Boston.

A's vs. Jon Lester
-Donnie Murphy, 2 for 2 (1.000), HR
-Jack Hannahan, 2 for 4 (.500)
-Mike Sweeney, 2 for 4 (.500), BB
-Chris Denorfia, 1 for 2 (.500)
-Daric Barton, 1 for 3 (.333), 2B, 2 BB
-Emil Brown, 1 for 4 (.250), HR
-Bobby Crosby, 1 for 4 (.250), 2B
-Mark Ellis, 1 for 5 (.200), 2 BB
-Kurt Suzuki, 0 for 2, 2 BB
-Travis Buck, 0 for 3
-Jack Cust, 0 for 2, BB

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:05 PM to Projo Sox Streakers | Permalink

Baseball Today: Wednesday, April 2

Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach

SECOND TIME'S A CHARM: He wasn't too sharp early in the morning, but Daisuke Matsuzaka was plenty good late at night. Putting to rest the uneasiness that lingered after his erratic opener in Tokyo last week, Matsuzaka dominated the A's -- to quote our headline writer, he brought his 'A' game -- as he pitched the Red Sox to a 2-1 win in the season re-opener, recapped here by Sean McAdam. McAdam and the Sox will be back in about seven hours as they play Game Two of the series; check back here for pregame notes, the lineups and the game itself.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN: A few weeks after the Sox dropped him to the lower third of the order in an effort to relieve the pressure on him, Jacoby Ellsbury was back in the leadoff spot last night. McAdam has the details. Ellsbury may be back at the bottom again today, however, as J.D. Drew returns to action.

SEE YOU SUNDAY: Also returning is Josh Beckett, whom McAdam says will probably start Sunday's road-trip finale in Toronto.

MOVE OVER, STEVE: McAdam reports on, and gets reaction from, Kevin Youkilis, who tied Steve Garvey's record for consecutive errorless games at first base.

Journal photo / Andrew Dickerman

HERE THEY COME: The Red Sox aren't the only ones starting the season. The Pawtucket Red Sox are back home, preparing for tomorrow night's opener at McCoy Stadium and, says Joe McDonald, looking forward to a good year. One of the players who'll be with them is Bobby Kielty -- he decided to accept the Sox' minor-league assignment -- and McAdam reports Terry Francona is pleased about that.

BIG BEN: Also back, for his 32nd year at the helm, is legendary PawSox owner Ben Mondor. Jim Donaldson talks to Mondor, who sums it all for all of us when he says: "[What] the heck, baseball starts Thursday. I got no complaints. Life is good.”

(The story also includes some classic Mondor tales about players such as Chico Walker, Wade Boggs and Trevor Hoffman.)

BEST OF THE BEST: The blog YanksFanSoxFan picks Pedro Martinez, 2000, as the best Red Sox season of all time.

STATE OF THE SOX: Joe Haggerty, on his Hacks With Haggs blog, provides another transcript of Peter Gammons' weekly appearance on 890 ESPN, where the discussion focuses on the Red Sox.

THE HEARTBREAK OF YOUTH: Bill James does a Q-and-A with the New York Times blog Freakonomics in which he talks about -- among many things -- young pitching: "When you’re depending on young pitching, you’re vulnerable. Some of these guys are going to be very good, but probably not all of them, and there are going to be bumps in the road that will rattle your teeth." How this applies to both the Red Sox and Yankees should be apparent.

BEGINNING OF THE END: The rain stopped long enough for the Yankees to open their final season at Yankee Stadium last night and they came away with a 3-2 victory over the Blue Jays that made Joe Girardi a winner in his New York managerial debut. (New York Post) Hank Steinbrenner liked what he saw (New York Post), which included big performances from Melky Cabrera (which left David Pinto with egg on his face) and Joba Chamberlain. (Both stories New York Daily News) But, as the Journal-News' Sam Borden points out, this particular Opening Day -- which normally is a day of firsts -- also seemed like a day of lasts, since the Yanks will never begin a season on this particular piece of land again.

LEARNING AS WE GO: The New York Times' Jack Curry has known Girardi for 12 years, but says he "still learned new things about him" when they rode together to Yankee Stadium for Monday's rained-out opener.

THE FIRST STORY THAT WON'T GO AWAY: Even though he had a big hand in the victory -- doubling home the first run in the first inning, and scoring the game-winning run in the seventh -- the New York Times says Alex Rodriguez still has "residue that sticks to him because of how messily his situation unfolded" last winter. Curry reports that A-Rod's disgraced agent, Scott Boras, told Yankee officials that the Detroit Tigers were preparing a $40-million-a-year offer for Rodriguez last offseason, a claim the Tigers deny.

THE SECOND STORY THAT WON'T GO AWAY: Today's dip into the garbage pail that is Jose Canseco has him gleefully chortling that he's Alex Rodriguez' worst nightmare (New York Daily News) and also claiming he believes A-Rod had an affair with Canseco's ex-wife. (New York Post) Rodriguez steadfastly refuses to discuss any of Canseco's statements, which Canseco interprets as vindication. "I've got the ace in the hole," Canseco said, referring to the steroids dealer named "Max" whom he says has the goods on PED use by A-Rod. "And he knows it. So there's no way that he's going to fight me. He's trying to make it go away."

SO MUCH FOR ALL THAT OPTIMISM: First Pedro Martinez threw what the Daily News' Filip Bondy called 3 1/3 "indescribably ugly innings [against the Marlins]: four hits, four runs, one strikeout, a hit batsman and two homers." Then he apparently popped a hamstring muscle and had to come out of the game, and no one really knows how long he'll be sidelined. (New York Post)

FOX TROT: Chad Finn no longer writes for foxsports.com, so he takes a quick spin around baseball on his own blog. (touchingallthebases.blogspot.com)

UH . . . NEVER MIND: Five years after the fact, Moises Alou now admits, "I wouldn't have caught it anyway." He's referring, of course, to the Steve Bartman incident, which was sparked by, as the Chicago Sun-Times' Jay Marriotti writes, Alou "whipping down his glove like Tanner Boyle in Bad News Bears and claiming he had an 'almost 100 percent' shot to catch the most notorious foul ball in baseball history. The play a) made a pariah of poor Barman and b) has become a symbol of Cubs' futility in the same way Bill Buckner's muffed grounder symbolized the Red Sox'. "If [Alou] had simply had trotted back to his position in left field," writes Mariotti, "the familiar air of dread wouldn't have seeped into Wrigley Field with the Cubs a mere five outs from their first World Series since 1945."

JAPANESE AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: Cub fans welcomed Kosuke Fukudome to Wrigley by holding up signs printed in Japanese. Apparently no one told them the printing translates to "It Was Lucky" or "It Was Accidental". (Fan IQ)

ENGLISH AS A SECOND LANGUAGE: Apparently, Cub fans don't translate English too well, wither. Lou Cella said good-naturedly, "I'm a sculptor, not a writer," as explanation for the Ernie Banks statue in front of Wrigley Field that reads "Lets Play Two" instead of the grammatically correct "Let's Play Two." (Chicago Tribune) The Cubs say they'll fix it.

WHERE BASEBALL SEASON NEVER ENDS: Baseball has taken plenty of hits for being the last of the four major North American sports to launch its own television network. ("What does it say when the NHL is ahead of you?" a friend asked plaintively last year.) But when MLB Network goes live next January, it will be in 50 million homes -- far more than the start-up number for any other sports' network -- and expects to be profitable by the end of 2009. If this Sports Business Journal story is to be believed, baseball did it right.

LET US NEVER FORGET: Because this is the 61st anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major-league debut, and not the 60th or the 50th or the 25th, he is being pretty much ignored once again. But not by Baseball Propsectus' Steven Goldman, who calls Robinson's breaking of baseball's color barrier nothing less than the moment the United States "began to close the gap between its rhetoric and its realities."

HOW ABOUT SIDD FINCH'S SPLITS? Old friend Sean Forman says the indispensable baseball-reference.com is about to roll out pitcher and batter splits for players on PEDs and those not on PEDs. That the announcement was made April 1 shouldn't fool you . . . should it?

OR SIDD FINCH'S BASEBALL CARD? Topps had an April Fool's Day joke of its own. (AP via SI.com)

LOCAL BOYS: As expected, the Rays declined their 2009 contract option on Rocco Baldelli, making him a free agent at the end of the year. (mlb.com) But they signed fellow Rhode Islander Dan Wheeler to a three-year contract. (Tampa Tribune)

YESTERDAY'S BEST: Jon Garland pitched well in winning his Angels debut (Los Angeles Times) . . . Josh Hamilton singlehandedly lifted the Rangers over the Mariners. (Dallas Morning News) Among the accomplishments: A ninth-inning home run off Seattle relief ace J.J. Putz, who blew only three saves all last year . . . Robert Andino's first career homer gave the Marlins a 10-inning win over the Mets. (South Florida Sun-Sentinel)

QUICKLY: It doesn't sound like the White Sox plan to talk contract extension with Joe Crede (Chicago Tribune) . . . The Phillies aren't interested in Steve Kline, who was recently cut loose by the Giants (Philadelphia Daily News) . . . The Blue Jays expect B.J. Ryan to be back by the middle of April (Toronto Sun) . . . Torii Hunter is one of those "How DARE you throw close to me??" guys, so while he didn't throw a nutty -- as he did after being hit by Danys Baez in 2002 -- he clearly didn't like taking a pitch from former teammate Juan Rincon off the elbow (St. Paul Pioneer Press) . . . Marcus Giles agreed to a minor-league deal with the Dodgers but, while driving to the team's Triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas, changed his mind, turned around and went home (Los Angeles Daily News) . . . We'll probably find out today just how serious Victor Martinez' hamstring strain is (cleveland.com) . . . The blog Inside Charm City is hearing whispers that the Orioles may be up for sale soon.

OLD FRIENDS: He said he'd retire if he didn't stick with the Dodgers, but I guess he didn't mean it: Rudy Seanez has hooked on with the Phillies (phillyburbs.com) . . . . David Murphy made his second straight start, and went 2-for-4, for the Rangers (rotoworld.com) . . . Derek Lowe is day-to-day after taking a shot off his left calf in the sixth inning of the Dodgers' 3-2 win over the Giants (Riverside Press-Enterprise) . . . Joel Piniero will probably begin a minor-league rehab later this week and could be back with the Cardinals before the end of the month. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:30 AM | Permalink

Late notes: Youkilis ties Garvey; Matsuzaka first to start twice in first three games since '74

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

OAKLAND -- Saturday night in Los Angeles, Kevin Youkilis met Steve Garvey for the first time.

Tuesday night, he tied him in the record book.

Youkilis played his 193rd consecutive game at first base without an error, tying the major league mark held by Garvey, who played errorless ball for the Dodgers and San Diego Padres from June 26, 1983 through April 14, 1985.

"I was told [about the record] after the game,'' said Youkilis. "I didn't know. I guess it's a great thing. Hopefully I can carry [the streak] on for a long time.''

"Good for him,'' said manager Terry Francona. ``He plays an aggressive first base. This is not a fluke. He makes throws, scoops balls and is very active. I think what this does is bring some attention to him nationally, where we can brag him about him a bit.''

Youkilis's feat is particularly noteworthy because he came up as a third baseman and had to learn first base on the fly.

"I try to get better on a daily basis,'' said Youkillis, who added that it was a "great honor'' to be linked with a player of Garvey's status.

Move over, Looie
Daisuke Matsuzaka became the first Red Sox pitcher to start twice in the first three games of a season since Luis Tiant did it in 1974. The Sox suffered two rainouts in the first week in '74, allowing for Tiant's feat.

Other Matsuzaka notes: He didn't walk anyone for only the fourth time in 34 major-league starts and for the first time since last May 30 . . . He retrieved the ball used for the final out from the stands and plans to preserve it as a keepsake for his newborn son.

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 1:53 AM | Permalink

Final: Matsuzaka sparkles as Sox defeat A's, 2-1

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

OAKLAND -- In addition to the ban on crying, there are no do-overs in baseball. But Tuesday night, Daisuke Matsuzaka could dream.

"It's only something I can say in hindsight,'' Matsuzaka said after a masterful performance against the Oakland A's, "but it would have been nice to be able to pitch like this in Japan.''

"Like this'' meant: efficient, aggressive and in command. Matsuzaka was all of those things, limiting the A's to two hits in 6 2/3 innnings to earn a victory in the Red Sox' 2-1 triumph over the A's, their first meaningful game in almost a week.

In the actual season opener in Tokyo, Matsuzaka was erratic from the beginning, needing 60 pitches to record the first six outs. By the time he neared his pitch limit, he was only through five innings. Last night, by contrast, he located well from the start.

The only run against him came in the second when Jack Cust jumped on a first-pitch fastball and drove it out the other way. After that, Matsuzaka was nearly perfect, retiring 16 of the final 17 A's he faced.

Kurt Suzuki, who singled leading off the third, was the only other baserunner to reach against Matsuzaka, and Suzuki was subsequently erased when he was thrown out trying to steal.

"I thought he pitched with a lot of heart,'' said Terry Francona. "He made a lot of good pitches. He got into a nice rhythm. He was not trying to muscle up -- he was just hitting his spots and letting his natural ability take over.''

"He hit his spots, was in-and-out and executed a lot of his pitches,'' said Mike Lowell of Matsuzaka.

Matsuzaka threw 96 pitches in 6 2/3 innings, or exactly one more than he needed to complete five innings last Tuesday in his native country.

"He looked like he had a real good feel for where the ball was going,'' said first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who contributed three hits in support. "When he has that, he does great things.''

As effective as Matsuzaka was, the Sox didn't provide him with any backing until the fifth against Oakland's Joe Blanton.

A two-out single from Jacoby Ellsbury scored Youkilis from second, but just barely. A strong throw from Travis Buck in right beat Youkilis to the plate, but Youkilis managed to slide under Suzuki's attempt at a sweep tag.

Youkilis was in the middle of things in the sixth, when the Sox took the lead for good.

He banged a two-out triple off the scoreboard in left, then rode home when Jason Varitek smoked a double to right.

Replays indicated that Varitek's ball cleared the yellow line above the scoreboard in right, but the umpiring crew ruled otherwise and the Sox' catcher had to be satisfied with a two-base hit. After an 0-for-8 performance in Japan with six strikeouts, the captain wasn't complaining.

Francona was, but his effort went for naught.

"The way Wally (Bell, home-plate umpire and crew chief) explained it was, they have to be sure to overturn something,'' said Francona. "That was a tough one. It was hard. It would have been nice to get the extra run, but it was enough for the win.''

Matsuzaka had retired 13 hitters in a row, but with the left-handed hitting Cust due, Francona summoned Hideki Okajima from the bullpen. The lefty walked Cust, but then got Emil Brown on an infield pop-up.

With a runner on base and righthanded pinch-hitter Mike Sweeney coming to the plate in the eighth, Francona called on closer Jonathan Papelbon for a four-out save. Papelbon got Sweeney on a fielder's choice, then struck out the side in the ninth for his second save.

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 1:31 AM | Permalink