Month: May 2015

Red Sox Top Rangers, Rodriguez Aces MLB Debut

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After being swept by the red hot Twins, Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox nearly shutout the Texas Rangers 5-1.in Josh Hamilton’s first home game at the Rangers’ stadium this season. In his first start, Rodriguez had 7.2 IP, 3H, 2 BB, 7 K, 0 ER and the win.  It started out slow, and pitching was key.  Early in the game, it was quiet.  The only hits were a leadoff Boston single, a Mookie Betts infield single, where he got caught stealing second and a Josh Hamilton double.  The Sox also had one walk and had been hit by the pitch.  Bogaerts left the game, after getting hit.  Carlos Pegeuro, a new acquistion from the Rangers replaced Bogaerts for the rest of the game.

It was first and second for the Sox in the fourth.  Ramirez doubled, followed by Brock Holt walking.  Holt moved to shortstop while Carlos Pegeuro went to left field after his first at bat.  In the fifth, the Sox rallied to score their first run.  Swihart and Pedroia singled, to get themselves 1st and 2nd with 1 out.  Betts followed by a single to score Swihart and send Pedroia to second.  Still, the Rangers struggled to hit with only one more walk and one more hit.

In the 6th, Ramirez got in a solo home run to make it 2-0 Red Sox before 3 straight outs.  Pedroia singled again to make him 3-4, between three outs.  He had the only hit of the entire seventh inning. But the Red Sox rallied to secure their win in the 8th.  Tanner Scheppers came in.  Sandoval singled to start, but Ramirez grounded into a double play.  Two outs.  Nobody on.  Sounds like a huge rally, right?  Napoli then walked, and Freeman came in for Scheppers.  Holt was hit by the pitch and it was first and second.  They advanced to 2nd and 3rd on a passed ball.  Pegeuro then walked the bases loaded.  Two outs.  Two runners in scoring position.  Normally for the Sox, Swihart would be out.  But no.  He hit an RBI single, sending both Napoli and Holt home.  4-0 Sox.  With Pegeuro still on third, Castillo drove him in and reached on an infield single.  5-0 Red Sox.

Kela had to relieve Freeman to receive the third out.  With 1st and 2nd in the 8th, Tommy Layne came in after Rodriguez’ amazing night.  He secured the third out.  The Rangers were on their fifth pitcher by the ninth, who gave up a triple to Mookie Betts and intentionally walked Napoli, but Holt grounded into a double play to end it all.  In the bottom of the 9th, the Rangers scored their only run, but it wasn’t enough to win.  Beltre doubled, and Hamilton hit the RBI single that drove him home.  Hamilton went to second on fielder’s indifference.  Uehara came in to get the final out as the Red Sox won 5-1.  If you’re wondering why David Ortiz didn’t play, due to a slump, he will rest until the Sox get back to Fenway and play Ortiz’s former team.

Red Sox Cream Angels, Miley Pulls It Together as Napoli Homers Again

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The Red Sox defeated the Angels by a score of 6-1.  Wade Miley had a perfect game going until the 5th inning, and Mike Napoli is on fire and hit his 5th home run in 5 games and an RBI double.  Both pitchers had  perfect games until the bottom of the 2nd.  In between 3 outs, Xander Bogaerts hit a base hit to left followed by a 458 foot 2 run home run into deep deep center field by Mike Napoli.

From there early on, it was a pitcher’s duel.  Two Red Sox singled but other than that, no hits, no walks, no errors.  Up until the 5th, where the Angels broke up Miley’s perfect game and a later no hitter with a walk and single, making it 1st and 2nd with a Wade Miley 1-hitter.  In the bottom of the 5th, the Red Sox struck to make up for it.  Brock Holt led off with a ground rule double where a fan prevented another fan in the next row from catching the double.  Then Sandy Leon bunted and Holt was sent to third base.  One out, man on third.  Then Dustin Pedroia hit a sacrifice fly to score Holt.  3-0 Sox.

In the 6th, the Angels scored their only run.  Erick Aybar hit a single, and Mike Trout followed with a double and Aybar ran all the way around.  In the bottom of the 6th, Bogaerts doubled, then Napoli was intentionally walked with two down, making it 1st and 2nd.  The final out was Napoli getting picked off at first.  besides a Red Sox 1st and 2nd, no hits in the 7th.  One was a walk. Featherston on the Angels was hurt and Johnny Giovatella came in for him.

However, back in the top of the 7th and 8th, defense was key, even though Brock Holt hurt his wrist on a single.  On the 1st out, Pedroia reached out and flipped to first in an amazing play, nearly jumping off and catching the ball off the ground.  Then Holt followed with a great grab and another throw to 1st. In the 8th, after Holt got hurt on a single, Holt reached out again, and threw quick to Pedroia after getting up fast, who threw to Napoli for an amazing two outs.

The Red Sox rallied in the bottom of the 8th though.  Ramirez led off with a single.  Bogaerts got another single, making for a 4-hit game, Bogaerts’ second.  Ramirez went to third.  First and third, one out.  Then Napoli followed with a 2 run RBI double, making it 5-1 Red Sox.  Next, after Castillo reached on his infield single, Sandoval hit for the injured Holt, after being out with a knee injury for several games.  I was surprised that he was hitting lefty vs a left handed pitcher, being a switch hitter.  After struggling and injuring his knee being hit by the pitch batting righty, maybe he would permanently switch to a lefty.  But it worked.  Sandoval hit a sharp single to left, scoring Napoli, but catchng Castillo between second and third, making for a second out.  Knowing Sandoval was hurt, Jason Bianchi ran for Sandoval.  Bianchi was called up today as Victorino went on the DL with an aggrivated calf.  Knowing he’s injury prone, I’m not shocked.

Bianchi took over at third as Koji Uehara came in and threw a 1-2-3 inning, earning him a save, and Miley the win.  The Red Sox defeated the Angels by a score of 6-1.  Be on the lookout for tomorrow’s Memorial Day ceremonial day game recap in Minnesota against the Twins.  I expect big things from Big Papi in this 3 game series.  Even in a small slump, I could see him following through against a past team of his, as he always does.

Napoli Homers Twice to Boost Red Sox Past Angels

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The Red Sox ended up creaming the Angels 8-3.  Napoli smashed two homers high into left field.  One nearly hit a target saying, it’s my birthday, hit it to me and the other nearly left Fenway.  The game started off slow in the top of the 1st for Steven Wright and the Red Sox.  Erick Aybar led off with a single.  Then Albert Pujols hit a ground rule double into the bullpen and Aybar headed for third.  Kole Calhoun followed with a double to left to score Pujols and Aybar, and all of the sudden it was 2-0 Angels. Wright was able to finish with the two outs he needed on David Freese and Matt Joyce.

There wasn’t much action over the next few innings, but Napoli hit is home run to the birthday sign to break up what would’ve been a 1-2-3 2nd inning.  The Red Sox struck again in the 3rd inning.  Holt led off with a walk, followed by a Dustin Pedroia single, as Holt chugged along to second base.  Betts hit for Shane Victorino, who had gotten injured in the 3rd inning.  Betts followed through with a line drive single to left, sending Pedroia to third and scoring Brock Holt, to tie the game 2-2.

Through the 4th, 5th and top of the 6th, only one hit by L.A., and one walk by Boston.  But it was time for the Red Sox to strike.  Ramirez was on first with two outs.  “Andrew, watch Napoli’s second home run, my dad had said to me.”  About 10 seconds later, I watched Napoli’s bomb fly over the monster and onto Lansdowne Street. Ramirez scored along with Napoli, making it 4-2 Red Sox.

Ogando came in on relief in the seventh and threw a lot faster than Wright did wit his knuckleballs, making it hard for the Angels hitters to transition.  He worked around a walk given up by Wright to earn himself two more outs.  As Wilson left the game in the bottom of the 7th, the Red Sox struck again, this time on Angels reliever Mike Morin, to start at least.  Swihart led off with a walk, followed  by a Pedroia strikeout.  But Betts reached first on a right field error by Kole Calhoun, the guy who earned the two Angels RBIs.  Swihart advanced to second.  Then Ramirez got a base hit to load the bases.  The Angels were onto their third pitcher of the inning when Bogaerts got a base hit to score Blake Swihart and Mookie Betts, making it 1st and 2nd, while the Red Sox took a 6-2 lead.

The Angels scored on Tazawa though, as Aybar doubled followed by a Mike Trout single to score him.  6-3 Red Sox.  The Sox scored again in the bottom of the 8th,  Holt singled, and Swihart followed with another base hit where Holt came all the way around to the plate to score and Swihart advanced to second on a throw.  With two down, Betts singled to score Swihart.  8-3 Red Sox.

Koji Uehara came in.  When I say that Uehara gave up two consecutve walks, you might think he blew it, but he worked around it to earn him the save.  The Red Sox pounded the Angels in an 8-3 win to tie the series 1-1.   The series finale is to be played at 1:35 pm today.  I might be on with another post later today, especially if they win the game, winning them the series.  Napoli has now had 4 home runs in 4 games, and if he continues to ditch his slump, he may finally have a batting average over .200 and help the team win.  Wade Miley is on the mound for the Sox today, facing Angels starter Hector Santiago.  The Sox also play a 2:00 game tomorrow against the Twins at Target Field.  It’s during the day because of Memorial Day, and Target Field will host Memorial Day ceremonies.

Red Sox Manage To Squeeze Out Win in Seattle

Andrew Roberts Game Recaps, MLB, Red Sox

The Red Sox just managed to squeeze out a 2-1 win in a pitchers duel against the Seattle Mariners.  The first 3 innings were almost perfect for both pitchers, besides a few singles.  Only once did each team even have a runner in scoring position in these innings.  But the 4th inning changed that.  Following Mike Napoli’s double play, Shane Victorino hit a solo home run high into left field, making it 1-0 Red Sox.  Seattle also had bases loaded later that inning but couldn’t get any more hits in that inning. The pitchers duel continued.  The Sox did have 1st and 2nd in the 5th though.

But in the bottom of the 6th, Seattle rallied.  Nelson Cruz walked with one out to start it up.  Kyle Seager followed with a single as Cruz advanced to second.  Kelly then threw a wild pitch as both runners advanced one base.  Then Morrison grounded out and Nelson Cruz scored.  The hitting struggles went on through the 7th and 8th with and occasional man on 1st or 2nd, but no runs and very few hits.  But a tie game wasn’t enough for the Red Sox to win.  They needed one more run.  They got it as they rallied through the 9th inning.

Brock Holt hit a double and advanced to third when Xander Bogaerts sacrificed with a bunt.  Sandoval pinch hit for Bake Swihart and got hit by Fernando Rodney’s pitch.  It was 1st and 3rd with Mookie Betts up and 1 down.  Betts got credit for a sacrifice fly, but then the left fielder just dropped the ball and Brock Holt came around to score, even though he still would’ve if the left fielder didn’t make the error.  After Big Papi waked the bases loaded, Hanley fouled out to end the inning.

Koji Uehara earned the save in the bottom of the inning in a 1-2-3 inning as the Red Sox won 2-1.  The Sox have won 4 out of the last 5 games, including their first series won in Oakand since 2006.  We can only hope that the Red Sox will continue to improve as they come home after this series to face more AL West teams over at Fenway.

Tom Brady Suspended For Four Games For Role In Deflategate

Andrew Roberts DeflateGate, NFL, Patriots

In my opinion, it’s unfair that Tom Brady is suspended 4 GAMES for his role in DeflateGate!  I mean, Roger Goodell does not know how to handle punishments in the NFL.  I have several examples.  My first one is about Ray Rice.  Rice was caught beating his wife on video.  Rice was only suspended for TWO GAMES!!!!!!  What Rice did isn’t just against NFL rules, but it’s against the law.  Hey, if you want to suspend Brady for FOUR GAMES, then suspend Rice indefinitely!!!  However, they eventually did after more video was released, but Goodell does not know how to set good consequences for domestic violence in the NFL, and I have another example.  Adrian Peterson beats his kid with a stick and he’s back with the Vikings this year like nothing ever happened!!!!   Worst of all, Brady got suspended right up until the Pats play the Colts, the team that blamed the Patriots for underinflating the footballs.

Also, Goodell fines the Pats $1,000,000 for DeflateGate.  The Saints only got fined 500 grand for BountyGate.  And the Pats were only fined 250 grand for SpyGate back in 2007!!!!  And Belichick was fined only half of what the team was fined.  The Broncos were above the salary cap by far in two super bowl wins in a row and in neither of them did they get fined more than DeflateGate’s fine.  Plus, they didn’t suspend a single player!!!!  I understand the Pats losing their first round pick again in 2016, as a repeat of SpyGate, but they also lose a fourth round pick in 2017!!!!

As Mike of Attleboro, a frequent caller on 98.5 the Sports Hub, said in this new hashtag, No Brady, No Banner.  #NoBradyNoBanner means that Pats fans don’t want the banner at the Opening Ceremonies since Brady, being suspended, was not allowed to come.  They want the NFL to wait until the Colts game when Brady returns to honor the Patriots for their win in Super Bowl XLIX.  I, along with 95.78% of Pats fans who voted on CBS Sports whether or not the supported #NoBradyNoBanner, said that yes, they supported it.

The Patriots need to start searching for a new quarterback for the first four games of the season before all the good free agents and trade options have gone away.  If they don’t, they’ll have to start either Jimmy Garroppollo or Garrett Gilbert while Brady is suspended.  Do you support #NoBradyNoBanner?  To decide if you support #NoBradyNoBanner, click on the link below.

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/05/12/patriots-fans-say-nobradynobanner-on-nfl-opening-night/