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Off day notes: Colon throws bullpen session

**Red Sox pitcher Bartolo Colon threw a 35-pitch bullpen session at Fenway Park today. The right-hander, who is battling an oblique issue, will be evaluated again Tuesday.

*After losing five straight games, the Red Sox have today off. Only Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Alex Cora worked out today.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 5:19 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Swept Away in Tampa Bay

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. Today's topics: the five-game losing streak, Tampa Bay's prospects to compete down the road, Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz giving good outings, and the coming return of Mike Lowell.

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:59 PM to Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Monday, April 28

AP Photo

TAMPA TAKEDOWN: It started with a beyond-frustrating loss Friday night, in which they had two men on base with one out in the 9th, 10th and 11th innings, failed to score any of them, and gave up the winning run in the bottom of the 11th. And then the lights went out: Eight hits and one run over the next 18 innings, leading to a crushing defeat for Clay Buchholz Saturday night and a less dramatic, though no less disappointing, 'L' hung on Josh Beckett (above) Sunday afternoon. Joe McDonald has the details of the Red Sox' three days from hell in St. Petersburg, which ran their losing streak to five games and knocked them out of first place. (projo.com)

In the looking-for-scapegoats department, Beckett's blaming the schedule-maker (projo.com) and the Globe's Amalie Benjamin points out that it's been an epic week of illness and injury, leading to no fewer than 10 roster moves since last Tuesday. Others, like old friend Allan Wood, point the finger for at least some of what happened at Terry Francona, whose managerial decisions were debated, and debated, and debated some more. (Sons of Sam Horn) Safe to say that everyone -- players, fans, everyone -- can use this day off, the first since April 7 (the day before the Fenway opener), to regroup. Next up for the Sox? The Blue Jays, who broke a six-game losing streak of their own with a win in Kansas City yesterday. (Toronto Star)

RAYS OF ECSTASY: When you consider these two factoids -- Tampa Bay has never been three games over .500 this late in a season and never been in first place this late in a season (and yes, April 28 is is the correct date) -- you can understand the euphoria that would prompt the blog DRaysBay to break out the brooms and then, four hours later, rub the Sox' face in it with an online version of Sweet Caroline. Or the blog Rays Index to headline its latest entry Peter Gammons Is Rolling Over In His Grave. (I suppose it would be impolitic to point out that Peter's still alive, but, as Boon said in Animal House, forget it, he's rolling.) After all, The Trop has long been considered Fenway South by the hordes of Red Sox fans who fill it whenever the team goes to central Florida -- Shields implored Rays followers to "counteract" Red Sox (and Yankee) partisans after Friday night's game (Tampa Tribune) -- so to win three straight in front of the northern invaders (and against the defending World Series champions, to boot) was . . . well, pretty satisfying. The pros, like Martin Fennelly of the Tampa Tribune and John Romano of the St. Petersburg Times, certainly enjoyed the moment, but both make a point to stress that, in Fennelly's words, "It's April, it's April, it's April." April schmapril, say the Rays, who think these were three games they can build on. (St. Petersburg Times) Coming as it did on the heels of three straight wins over Toronto, Carl Crawford called it "[one] of the best weeks in franchise history." (Tampa Tribune)

And maybe the best weekend.

I'LL GO FURTHER THAN THAT: On Saturday night, even before the finale, Baseball Musing's David Pinto was saying it "may turn out to be one of the most important series in Rays Tampa Bay history."

I'M NOT A BELIEVER: Even so, the blog Big League Stew says the Rays are something that people still don't believe in.

THERE'S ALWAYS SOME GOOD NEWS: Kevin Youkilis set another defensive record at first base. McDonald tells us which one. And Mike Lowell finished his third rehab game with the PawSox and pronounced himself ready to return to Boston. (projo.com)

RETURN FROM LIMBO: McDonald had an interesting chat Friday with Bryan Corey, who gives a glimpse of what it's like in the no-man's land called Designated For Assignment and how it is he wound up back in Boston.

SCHOOL DAYS: On his Hacks With Haggs blog, Joe Haggerty passes along ex-Mets GM Steve Phillips' recollections of scouting the teenage Manny Ramirez . . . which included a psychological test that indicated Ramirez didn't "have the most self-esteem and confidence in the world."

OH, THOSE SIDEWINDERS: Jim Rice identified Dennis Eckersley and Dan Quisenberry as the two pitchers who gave him the most trouble in his career. (ask14.sullivantire.com)

YIN AND YANG: The Yankees' 1-0 victory over C.C. Sabathia yesterday (New York Post) was tempered by the news that Jorge Posada is headed to the disabled list for the first time in his career. (New York Daily News)

MY MIND'S MADE UP: The New York Post's Joel Sherman talks to people who saw him in the minor leagues and comes to the conclusion that Joba Chamberlain should be a starter.

FEELING STRONGER EVERY DAY: As for Chamberlain, he was back on the mound yesterday after suffering a slight hamstring strain Thursday in Chicago. (New York Daily News)

WIN WHEN YOU LOSE: The Cleveland Plain-Dealer's Bud Shaw says Sabathia's dominant outing yesterday is more important than whether or not he won the game.

DENIED: While Roger Clemens and his representatives admit to a long-term friendship between the pitcher (and, they say, his family) and country star Mindy McCready, they strongly deny reports that it was a decade-long sexual affair that began when McCready was 15 and Clemens was with the Red Sox. (New York Daily News) The newspaper reports the revelation could impact Clemens' defamation lawsuit against Brian McNamee, which it says is based on "claims of [Clemens'] unsullied character," but that also is denied by Clemens attorney Rusty Hardin: "The character trait that you put in issue should be the character trait that the defamatory statement was made about." The blog Shysterball, while admitting that "much more in the way of confirmation needs to happen before we can take the 'allegedly' off" these reports, lays out where public opinion of Clemens is headed if this proves to be true.

STEINBRENNER JUNIOR: Joe Posnanski says that if he owned the Blue Jays, he'd have fired John Gibbons on the spot Friday night when Gibbons ordered an intentional walk to Tony Pena Jr.. (joeposnanski.com)

VICIOUS CYCLE: Barry Zito got rocked again yesterday (San Francisco Chronicle), and the Costa Contra Times' Rick Hurd wonders how the beleaguered lefty will extricate himself from his present situation.

TAKE THAT: Mets fans have made the slumping Carlos Delgado their whipping boy this year, so the Daily News' Bill Madden lauded the veteran first baseman for refusing to acknowledge them when they implored him to take a curtain call after his home run yesterday.

TOUGH LOVE: The Newark Star-Ledger Dan Graziano wonders how the Mets and their fans -- still embittered by last September's epic collapse -- can repair their fractured relationship.

'DON'T WORRY ABOUT HIM': Dusty Baker says he's spoken recently to Barry Bonds and that Bonds is "doing fine." (Dayton Daily News) As for whether or not Bonds will return to baseball, Baker thinks "the longer he is out, the less likely he will come back. And the longer he is out, who knows, the less likely he may want to come back."

MY GUY: Jim Leyland came out in defense of the slumping Gary Sheffield. (mlb.com) But Fox' Dayn Perry says it doesn't really matter if Sheffield starts hitting or not because the pitching-poor team is too flawed.

NICE TRIP: The Angels are proud of themselves for their 4-2 swing through Boston and Detroit. (Los Angeles Times)

HERE AND THERE: Mets GM Omar Minaya says Moises Alou, attempting to return from hernia surgery, may have broken his ankle during his rehab stint at Port St. Lucie (Newsday) . . . John Smoltz says his shoulder hurts (Atlanta Journal-Consitution) . . . Brett Myers can't explain why his fastball, which once reached 95 mph, can no longer crack 88 (Philadephia Inquirer) . . . As rumored, the Pirates cut the cord with Matt Morris (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . A relieved Troy Glaus hit his first home run as a member of the Cardinals. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

OLD FRIENDS: Scott Hatteberg would welcome a trade out of Cincinnati (Cincinnati Enquirer) . . . Phil Dumatrait will replace Morris in the Pirates' rotation (rotoworld.com) . . . Freddy Sanchez says his surgically-repaired shoulder isn't the reason he's hitting .213 (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) . . . Keith Foulke is recovering nicely from the neck soreness that landed him on the DL (San Francisco Chroncile) . . . The Red Sox released Dan Kolb, who had been at Pawtucket. (rotoworld.com)

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:34 AM | Permalink