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Postgame notes: Pedroia going yard

Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia crushed a solo home run in the first inning and now has three homers in the last nine games to bring his season total to seven.

He also has six homers in his last 33 games after just one through his first 45 games this season.

Pedroia's roundtripper Tuesday night landed in the Monster Seats.

Posted by Joe McDonald  at 11:33 PM | Permalink

Casey Sitting Out

By STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- Sean Casey is sitting out the second game of his three-game suspension for his part in the June 5 brawl with the Rays.

Watching the first game wasn't easy, on two counts, for Casey, who dropped his appeal on Monday.

"It was weird because you feel alienated from the team," said Casey, the Sox' backup first baseman. "That's the way it will be for a couple of days."

Adding to Casey's restlessness was the fact that starting first baseman, Kevin Youkilis, had to leave the game before the start of the fifth because an errant throw during infield practice from Mike Lowell struck him under the eye.

That thrust rookie Brandon Moss into the game. Moss, normally an outfielder, was making his big-league debut at the position, and his inability to come up cleanly with a grounder in the seventh gave Arizona what proved to be the winning run.

"When that happened to Youk I wondered if I could re-appeal my appeal," said Casey with a laugh.

Casey could sympathize with Youkilis.

"I never got hit in the eye like that, but I've been hit on the lip," said Casey. "You know, it's between innings, you're not really grinding to go out and make that "pick" and boom, something like that happens."

Casey will return to the active roster on Friday, in Houston.

"You've got two more days and then out of jail," good-naturedly yelled Alex Cora to Casey in the clubhouse this afternoon. "Eating pizza, drinking beer and watching a game. That would be nice."

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 8:14 PM | Permalink

Photo: Sliding home -- and the game hasn't even started

Journal photo/ Gretchen Ertl
Arizona Diambondbacks starting pitcher Micah Owings slides into home at Fenway Park as the rain begins to let up before tonight's game against the Boston Red Sox. The game was being delayed because of the wet conditions.

Posted by Andrea Panciera  at 7:33 PM | Permalink

RED SOX PREGAME: Youkilis -- his eye swollen and his vision blurred -- out of the lineup

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- First baseman Kevin Youkilis remains out of the lineup, a day after leaving mid-game when he struck in the right eye by an errant throw during between-inning warmups.

Youkilis was struck in the eye by a throw from Mike Lowell Monday night and immediately suffered significant swelling. Today, the eye remains swolen and because of watering in the eye, he's experiencing some blurred vision.

The Red Sox have sent him to Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary to be examined, where it's expected the eye will be dilated.

"He looks like he got beat up," said manager Terry Francona.

The swelling and blurring "would make it hard to hit," said Francona, so the Sox hope that by Wednesday, he'll be ready to return to the lineup.

Brandon Moss, who made his major league debut at first Monday night, is the starting first baseman. Alex Cora is the backup option, with Youkilis unavailable and Sean Casey serving the middle game of his three-game suspension.

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 4:31 PM | Permalink

RED SOX PREGAME: Still no word on status of Crisp's suspension appeal

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- There is still no word about the status of Coco Crisp's appeal of his seven-game suspension.

The fear is that, even if Crisp gets some reduction, he might have to start serving the suspension this weekend in Houston, where, without the use of the DH, the Sox will need to put Manny Ramirez (hamstring) back into the lineup.

Without Crisp, that would leave Moss as the only extra outfielder. If Ramirez felt any tightness, that would put Moss in left and leave the Sox with only Alex Cora and/or Julio Lugo as outfield possibilities.

Manager Terry Francona said the team has given thought to just that scenario, but for now, the Sox believe that Ramirez will hold up.

If the team needs to summon an outfielder, it could choose from among Jonathan Van Every or Chris Carter from Pawtucket.

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:30 PM | Permalink

RED SOX PREGAME: Ortiz to make road trip; Sox to proceed slowly with Colon

BY SEAN McADAM
Journal Sports Writer

BOSTON -- David Ortiz (wrist) will travel with the team to Houston, Tampa Bay and New York when the club departs Wednesday night for its 10-game road trip.

Before he leaves, Ortiz might take some swings off a tee Wednesday, so doctors can evaluate him before the road trip.

Ortiz has had the cast removed from the wrist but is still two weeks from returrning to the lineup.

* * *
Manager Terry Francona said the team will proceed carefully with pitcher Bartolo Colon, who is on the disabled list with lower back tightness.

"We're going to slow (his rehab process) down for another week," said Francona, "just to make sure we don't have a problem like last time."

Colon had an oblique strain earlier this season, but suffered a setback that slowed his progress.

Posted by Art Martone  at 4:29 PM | Permalink

Sox-D'backs lineups

BOSTON

Ellsbury LF
Pedroia 2B
Drew RF
Ramirez DH
Lowell 3B
Varitek C
Moss 1B
Crisp CF
Lugo SS

Masterson SP

ARIZONA

Byrnes LF
Drew SS
Hudson 2B
Jackson 1B
Tracy DH
Young CF
Ojeda 3B
Salazar RF
Snyder C

Davis SP

Posted by Sean McAdam  at 4:20 PM | Permalink

Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Bats silent at Fenway

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. The topics: whether the Red Sox are missing David Ortiz more now than a week ago, the odd situation at first base last night, and the prospects of a trade for a second starting pitcher.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On missing Ortiz: "I think it is starting to catch up to them. They seemed to be OK for the first couple of weeks. They were certainly riding J.D. Drew for the first couple of weeks of June, as he slid into that number-three spot and for a while at least there was no dropoff. But I suppose that it's inevitable that if you take a run producer of that magnitude out of the lineup for this long, it starts showing some effects, and I think we've seen it in the last week."

On the market for starting pitching: "Last year and the year before there was virtually no quality starting pitching available [at the trade deadline]. This year it looks like there's going to be a number of guys, including a number of left-handed guys, who are usually at even more of a premium. There will be some opportunities if the Red Sox want to upgrade. It will not be cheap of course. ... There will be plenty of teams looking -- the Yankees, Philadelphia, a number of teams are going to be in the market for starting pitching, and the Red Sox have to, like every other team, weigh the cost."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 1:31 PM to Projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam | Permalink

Baseball Today: Tuesday, June 24

AP Photos

FACEOFF: They say reality never matches anticipation, but that wasn't the case last night. We figured we'd get quite a pitching duel between Josh Beckett (above left) and Dan Haren (above right), and did we ever. In the end, reports Joe McDonald, Haren was just a shade better as he pitched the Diamondbacks to a 2-1 win over the Red Sox, but it wasn't easy. He escaped a second-and-third, two-out jam in his final inning, the seventh, by striking out Jason Varitek. Then, in the eighth, after reliever Tony Pena had surrendered the only Boston run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by J.D. Drew, Manny Ramirez almost beheaded Mark Reynolds with a scorching line drive that, writes Steven Krasner, knocked the Arizona third baseman to the ground; Reynolds, however, held on for the final out, preventing the tying run from scoring.

The Diamondbacks scored both their runs in the seventh, which Krasner says was the result of a good piece of hitting by Chris Young and a good piece of strategy by manager Bob Melvin. Not to mention some good Arizona fortune; Kevin Youkilis was forced from the game in the fifth after a bounced throw from Mike Lowell during pre-inning warmups hit him in the eye (projo.com) and the inexperience of his replacement, Brandon Moss, may have been a factor in the Diamondbacks' second run. And Moss was only in there because Sean Casey last night began serving his four-game suspension for his role in the fight with Tampa Bay earlier this month. (projo.com)

In the end, it lived up to its billing. And how often does that happen?

OCTOBER IN JUNE: The Diamondbacks came to town on the heels of three straight losses to the Twins, and perhaps for that reason they were reveling in last night's win a bit more intensely than you'd expect. Or maybe it was just because it came against the defending World Series champions at one of baseball's shrines. Whatever, the Arizona Republic's Nick Piecoro said that, for the D'backs, the victory "felt nearly as meaningful as any playoff victory." On his Diamondbacks Blog, Piecoro talks more about how much some of the young Arizona players were soaking up the atmosphere at Fenway . . . and he seemed awed by it himself, particularly during Ramirez' at-bat in the eighth inning.

SAVIOR: Thanks to Daisuke Matsuzaka's one (inning)-and-done on Saturday, and the 13-inning game Sunday, the Boston bullpen had a severe case of the shorts last night. The Sox needed Beckett to give them a long outing, and he delivered. (Boston Globe)

FEELING IT AT LAST: Baseball Musings' David Pinto notes the Red Sox have scored only 25 runs in their last seven games and wonders if David Ortiz' absence is finally catching up with them.

FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS: You hardly ever hear anyone say surgery went worse than expected, so Dr. Craig Morgan was a true baseball traditionalist when he announced that Curt Schilling's shoulder operation "was a success." (projo.com) The Herald's Rob Bradford was in Delaware with the Schillings and has a more detailed report.

YAY, CURT! Terry Francona tells McDonald he's never really thought whether or not Schilling belongs in the Hall of Fame, but says he'd be "a cheerleader for [Schilling's candidacy] because he’s pitched for me for so long."

YEA, CURT: Tim Marchman of the New York Sun delivers another 'yes' vote in the Schilling-for-Cooperstown debate.

NOW WHAT? The news that Schilling is finished for the season, and maybe forever, prompted everyone to look back at his sterling career. Now Sean McAdam looks ahead and asks if, with Schilling gone, the Red Sox will be in the market for a No. 2 starting pitcher at the trade deadline since you can't help but wonder if they "have enough experienced starting pitching to withstand three rounds of baseball in October." This is, of course, based on the notion that Jon Lester is still battle-untested, at least when it comes to the postseason (Game Four of last year's World Series notwithstanding), and they have absolutely no idea what to expect out of the riddle wrapped in mystery inside an enigma that is Dice-K.

SLOW IT DOWN: On his Hacks With Haggs blog, Joe Haggerty talks with pitching coach John Farrell about Lester. Among the more interesting tidbits: The Sox may lessen his workload in the weeks ahead to bring down his innings total; right now he's on pace to throw 211 this year, and they think that might be too high.

FAREWELL TO THE BIG LUG: No one can accuse Dan Shaughnessy of being Curt Schilling's best friend -- or vice-versa -- but Shaughnessy gives Schilling his props in a goodbye column. (Boston Globe) And at the risk of offending "the fragile psyches of Schill-o-phants, blog-boys, and others who worship at the altar of Curt," that goodbye includes inquiries to ownership as to whether they regret the $8 million contract they gave him last November, for which they received absolutely nothing.

BEST WISHES: Also on Schilling's not-my-best-friend list is Randy Johnson, his partner at the top of the Diamondbacks' starting rotation in the early part of the decade. But the Herald's Steve Buckley reports the Big Unit also has nothing but good wishes for Schilling, and even hopes he'll be able to return so he can "go out on his own terms, like I’m doing."

THE NEW TRADITION: From here on in, we can be fairly certain a weather delay at Fenway Park will mean only one thing: A showing of the Jonathan Papelbon/Manny Delcarmen video "Blame It On The Rain." Haven't seen it? (Don't worry; you will.) Well, it you can't wait, check it out on Ian Bethune's Sox and Dawgs site.

ENOUGH, ALREADY: The nationwide backlash against Boston's recent sporting fortunes -- and, more specifically, the fans who are basking in it -- is reaching epidemic proportions, which prompted Red Sox fan Russ Smith (who lives in Baltimore) to offer a defense for his fellow Nation members. Shysterball's Craig Calcaterra thinks the bandwagon fans will abandon the Sox eventually and says "it's those marginal fans ["I spent two years of grad school in Boston, so I'm a total Sawx fan!"] who are the most annoying."

ACCURACY IN POLLING? Derek Jeter, the most overrated player in baseball according to SI's player poll, is playing like it so far this year. (New York Daily News)

MELK DELIVERY: Steven Goldman, writing for the New York Sun, thinks the Yankees may have gotten about all they're going to get out of Melky Cabrera and says they should trade him for pitching.

IF THAT'S THE CASE, THEN ANYTHING'S POSSIBLE It's possible Carl Pavano will be pitching again for the Yankees before Phil Hughes. (New York Post)

THE INSIDE STORY: SI.com's Jon Heyman takes a closer look at what went into the firing of Willie Randolph. Meanwhile, Mets owner Fred Wilpon defends the move and the man who made it, Omar Minaya. (Newsday)

WATCH YOUR MOUTH: The 'fertilizer' incident has taught new manager Jerry Manuel there are things he can say, and things he can't say, now that he's managing in New York. (New York Daily News)

CAN'T WIN FOR LOSING: Three innings after becoming the first American League pitcher to hit a grand-slam home run since 1972, Felix Hernandez suffered an ankle injury that forced him out of the Mariners' game at Shea Stadium. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer) The M's still beat the Mets, though, and Hernandez vows he won't miss a start.

WHAT IT'S LIKE: Our friend Jason Rosenberg of the blog It Is About The Money, Stupid has a fascinating interview with player agent Matt Sosnick. Among the interesting tidbits in Sosnick's remarks: That there's no organized conspiracy to keep Mitchell Report players out of baseball ("the risk doesn’t equal the reward"), that the level of competition and bitterness between agents competing for players is incomprehensible ("worse than you can ever imagine") and what's the most important character trait to be a successful agent ("character, not deception"). A very good read, and well worth the time to click the link.

LAYING IT OUT THERE: Dennis Manoloff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reaches no conclusion as to whether they will or not, but he examines all the factors that would go into the Indians' deciding whether or not to trade C.C. Sabathia.

FIRST UP: As McAdam noted, there could be a lot of big-name pitchers -- Sabathia, Erik Bedard, Rich Harden, Roy Oswalt, Greg Maddux -- available next month. That being the case, expect to hear about many teams lining up to acquire them. Beating the rush and getting right in line: The Phillies (Philadelphia Inquirer) and the Cubs (Chicago Tribune).

(11:30 a.m. update) MOVE OVER, BUCKNER: Our buddy the Tao of Stieb saved us from ourselves: The Keith Law-J.P. Ricciardi dustup we had linked to in this spot earlier in the day is a couple of years old. (Since Vernon Wells signed a long-term deal with the Blue Jays in 2006, we kinda should have known that.) Now I know why Kevin Youkilis gets so frustrated when something goes wrong; unlike Youk, however, I have no umpire to blame. Sorry, folks. (And thanks, Tao, for the heads-up!)

HERE AND THERE: It looks like Gary Sheffield's return from the disabled list will come sooner rather than later (Detroit Free Press) . . . It doesn't appear Ian Snell will need to go on the DL (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) . . . The snakebitten Nick Johnson may miss the rest of the season because of a wrist injury (Washington Post) . . . The Mariners don't expect J.J. Putz to return until the All-Star break (Seattle Times) . . . Omar Vizquel may be losing his starting job in San Francisco. (San Jose Mercury News)

OLD FRIENDS: The St. Petersburg Times lists Eric Hinske as one of the four unheralded Rays who've helped Tampa Bay so far this year . . . The Rays think Carlos Pena is still a week away from returning to the lineup (Tampa Tribune) . . . The Cardinals are moving Matt Clement to the bullpen due to his inconsistency as a starter during his rehab. (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

AND FINALLY . . . Our thanks to Pinto for tipping us off to this incredible catch by a ballgirl at a minor-league game:

http://view.break.com/524970 - Watch more free videos

Word is filtering in that it's a fake, but so what? It's still worth watching.

-- ART MARTONE

Posted by Art Martone  at 6:30 AM | Permalink | Comments 1