Back in the A-A-A-L: Sox-Mariners Gamer IV

Another late game, and we're frankly too bushed to stay up to watch.  Such are the perils of having an infant in the home.  Dirty diapers, stinky bibs, and no late-night baseball.  To all those without little ones, enjoy the game.  Lineups after the jump.

Red Sox

1. J.D. Drew, RF
2. Dustin Pedroia, 2B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Julio Lugo, SS

SP - Julian Tavarez

Mariners

1. Ichiro Suzuki, CF
2. Jose Lopez, 2B
3. Jose Vidro, DH
4. Richie Sexson, 1B
5. Ben Broussard, RF
6. Kenji Johjima, C
7. Adrian Beltre, 3B
8. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
9. Willie Bloomquist, LF

SP - Jeff Weaver

Comments

[TJ]

Weaver..... we can all go to bed now knowing we have a 12 game lead on the Yankees.

[mike]

beckett is a better batter than lugo!!!

[NoSleepTilBrooklynSF]

JD leading off, interesting...

[Paul SF]

Was more interesting when he first did so last week, STB... :-P

[Paul SF]

Every inning the Sox don't score against Jeff Weaver is an inning that should make us all ashamed to be fans.

Still, 20 pitches just to get through four batters. Not bad.

[rootbeerfloat]

It just doesn't seem fair to see Tavarez pitch to Ichiro...

[mattymatty]

Two K's for Weaver? Ugh... Is this going to be one of those days when our offense takes a dirt nap?

[mattymatty]

Will someone please tell Jeff Weaver that he sucks?

[Paul SF]

Yeah, not impressed so far. I know he threw a shutout last start, but come on. This is JEFF WEAVER.

[sf rod]

you gotta be kidding me with weaver. he's found his former self in his last outing against the pirates. his former self sucked too. this is pitiful.

[Paul SF]

This is ridiculous. Now Richie Sexson working the eight-pitch at-bat?

[mattymatty]

If the Red Sox look like this against Jeff Weaver the second time through the lineup that'll be real cause for worry.

Does anyone else think that Ortiz has lost some of his oomph.

That was a terrible pitch to Sexson. He left it up around the stomach. The Mariners broadcasters are kissing his butt, but, if he didn't hit a double on that he should be kicked off the team.

[Paul SF]

Double followed by the single. This has alllll the earmarks of an incredibly frustrating loss.

[rootbeerfloat]

well, it could have been worse

[Paul SF]

Well, the run-scoring GIDP. I'll take it. You read it here first: One run will not be enough to win this game.

[mattymatty]

First and third with no outs and they only get one. That was about the best possible scenario for Tavarez. I'll take it. If the Sox can't over-come that against Weaver they don't deserve to win.

[rootbeerfloat]

You guys hear Nomar is going to be playing third?

[mattymatty]

I like how everyone here was thinking the same thing.

[mattymatty]

Isn't Nomar hitting like .238?

[Paul SF]

Man, Coco keeps getting hits, even when no one else is. I wonder if the feeling of Jacoby Ellsbury breathing down his neck lit a fire under him.

[mattymatty]

Coco! Nice hit. Hopefully Lugo doesn't hit into two outs.

[mattymatty]

Theres the Jeff Weaver I know! Thanks, Jeff.

[TJ]

Welcome back Jeff

[Paul SF]

It's hard to understand why you'd take a player who is struggling at the plate and move him to a TOUGHER defensive position. Grady Little = bonehead.

[mattymatty]

Mariners announcer just pointed out that nobody was covering first base on Lugo's bunt, so Weaver didn't have a choice which base to throw too. That doesn't excuse the terrible throw though.

Drew dinks one under the second baseman for two runs!

Lets see that Weaver-face!

[TJ]

This is great

[Paul SF]

Wow, errors on back-to-back plays! 2-1 Sox! Not pretty, but I'll take it!

[Paul SF]

Nothing like playing the Mariners for a little high comedy. Or lowbrow mockery. Whichever.

[mattymatty]

Paul - Grady Little could graduate from Harvard with a 4.0 GPA, become a doctor of medicine at Yale, and cure some awful disease, and I'd STILL think he's an idiot.

[Paul SF]

MM- Don't worry. None of those could happen. Because Litle IS an idiot! Har. How a man could single-handedly butcher an entire season, after the team had done so much to win in spite of his seasonlong efforts.... Grr. Still makes me mad.

[mattymatty]

Ortiz has taken three straight pitches and is down 1-2. They just showed the FSN Pitch Tracker, or whatever its called, and none of the three were in the strike zone.

[rootbeerfloat]

Maybe a dumb question given the crowd in here but have you read "Feeding the Monster"? That summarized his dopeyness in a way that I hadn't seen before.

[mattymatty]

That might have been the weakest single I've ever seen from Big Papi. The funny thing about this inning is the Red Sox really haven't earned any of the hits they got except for Coco's to lead off the inning. The rest have been weak grounders.

[Ayuh - SF]

Those Mariner middle-infielders are horrible; boneheaded plays by both of them tonight.

[mattymatty]

I haven't read Feeding the Monster yet. Its been on my list for a while, but I haven't got to it yet. I do read Mnookin's blog though. When he bothers to post anyway.

I'm currently reading "The Truth, with jokes" by Al Franken.

Manny K's...

[TJ]

They changed Drews from an error to a hit

[Paul SF]

Ok, I have to know how David Prtiz just stole second base.

[mattymatty]

Have any of you been out to Safeco Field? I was just there a couple weeks ago. I was very impressed.

Ortiz just stole second! Ha ha! Come on, Youk! Make 'em pay!

[z118]

gameday is broken... it says big pai just stole 2nd?

[TJ]

Go Speedy Ortiz

[TJ]

Come on Mikey L

[mattymatty]

Weaver just walked Youk. Come on, Mikey Lowell!

[mattymatty]

Damn! That was a good opportunity for us. Lowell pops up and we have to settle for the two. 2-1, Sox.

[Paul SF]

Or David Ortiz, for that matter. (Youk walks to load the bases). Yeah, RBF, that book was enlightening, particularly in regards to Little's stupidity well before it was put on national display.

But Lowell pops out on the second pitch to strand everyone. Yuck.

[mike]

oritz stole base?!>!?!

[Paul SF]

Changing that error to a hit means everyone in the Sox lineup except Lugo is above .250. Considering where Drew and Crisp started the month, I'd say that's not bad.

[mattymatty]

...and Lugo is closer to .150 than .250, I'm sorry to say.

[Paul SF]

Tavarez: Still damn good.

[mattymatty]

Great inning for Sexy Lips.

[TJ]

I think the Crisp we expected has arrived. FINALLY

[mike]

coco is my man!

[mattymatty]

I was at the game in Baltimore last year in April when Crisp broke his finger. This looks like the pre-broken finger Coco Crisp to me. This guy is hitting line drives and hard grounders and running so hard the other team doesn't even bother trying to throw him out.

Gotta love it.

[rootbeerfloat]

You suppose he could go back out to the parking lot and find the Lugo we expected?

[TJ]

Lets place odds on Lugo falling under his weight 175 lbs

[mattymatty]

Lugo on the other hand is just terrible. I can't remember anyone being in a slump this bad (I hope this is a slump, if not we're in serious trouble... though we're in serious trouble anyway).

[mattymatty]

TJ - I say 95% he does fall below .175.

[mike]

maybe lugo is secretly playing golf. u know how it mess up ur swing.

[mattymatty]

This umpire has a huge strikezone for Weaver. He's just called one that was at least five inches outside a strike on Pedroia.

Pedroia hits it on a line, but right at Ichiro. The Sox are leaving a ton of guys on base. I don't think the Mariners are all that great, but I wouldn't be surprised if they scored another run or two. I think two isn't going to win us this game.

[Paul SF]

Lotsa wasted chances in this one. Suck.

[Paul SF]

Meanwhile, Tacarez -- knock on wood -- is still cruising, striking out Vidro on three pitches.

[Paul SF]

Tavarez. Geez, stupid fingers.

[Paul SF]

Richie Sexson of all people has Tavarez's number. Draws the walk.

[rootbeerfloat]

Cripes Paul - Look what you did to him - what'd you do to his strike zone?

[Paul SF]

Four pitches not even close to Broussard. Come on, Tavarez. No meltdowns here. Just get a freakin' out.

[Paul SF]

Hey, I said, "Knock on wood!" That inoculates him from the jinx!

[mattymatty]

All of a sudden Tavarez gets Matsuzaka Disease and loses the strike zone completely.

[Paul SF]

Never fear. Tavarez gets Johjima to ground out. Through four. Let's go, bats!

[mattymatty]

Tavarez gets Jojima to ground out to shortstop for the second straight time.

[mattymatty]

In other baseball news, the Rockies went into the ninth down 8-3 to the Cubs. They are now up 9-8. Pinella may already be dead.

[Paul SF]

Honestly, a look at that "visitor's outs" chart is pathetic. Not a single ball hit even close to the outfield wall.

[mattymatty]

For anyone who cares, the Cubs loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the ninth against the Rockies closer. Soriano was up and he singled scoring two runs.

Cubs win! Cubs win! Holy Cow!

Now back to a game that people actually care about.

[mattymatty]

Through five, our performance against Weaver has been piss poor. Except for one lousy throw to second base, we might not even have scored.

[Paul SF]

Crap. Sure hope that pen's warming. Those five LOBs are going to loom verrrry large, I fear.

[mattymatty]

Tavarez pulls a Weaver. Another first and third with no outs for Seattle.

[Paul SF]

Geez, Julian. They were giving you the out, and you said, "No, no. I'll get it on my own, thanks." Suck.

[mattymatty]

I have no idea if anyone is warming in the Sox bullpen. God forbid the M's announcers mention anything that might matter.

Crap! Tied up. And this is likely to get worse. ..

[Paul SF]

Tie ballgame. Still first and third, none out. That error is quite painful now, as it would have been runner at first, one out.

[mattymatty]

Now the umpire is going to squeeze Tavarez. Great...

[rootbeerfloat]

Does Ichiro ever strike out??

[mattymatty]

Just so everyone knows, the I-chi-ro chant you may be hearing in the back ground is simply the crowd doing what the scoreboard tells them to, and not a spontaneous show of excitement.

I would have liked an apeal on that fourth ball by Tavarez.

[Paul SF]

See, this is all part of the plan to get the 1-2-3 DP.

[Paul SF]

Um, Tito? He's let one run in and loaded the bases with NO ONE OUT! Thought about changing pitchers?

[mattymatty]

Now someone is actually up in the pen. I think its Snyder.

[mattymatty]

A strikeout here would be terrific..

[mattymatty]

CRAP! Thats gotta be it for Tavarez.

[Paul SF]

Two more runs in. Anytime now, Terry.

[mattymatty]

Not that Tavarez is that great, but I would have put money on him being better than Weaver today. Which is also why I don't bed on sports.

Great play you Youk!

[mattymatty]

Bases loaded (again). Still only one out. Hopefully Snyder can keep the damage to a minimum.

[Paul SF]

Some bad luck there. Sexson swings at a pitch on his hands and gets an infied hit out of it. All loaded up again. *sigh* The most frustrating part is we should be worried about Seattle tying this game right now, not rbeaking it open.

[Paul SF]

There's still hope if Snyder DPs it up here and the Sox can start hitting like this Mariners' pitcher is Jeff Weaver.

[Paul SF]

Snyder induces the foulout. Two down. One to go, Kyle.

[mattymatty]

It seems like the Mariners have scored a million runs. This inning is taking forever.

Come ON, Kyle...

[desturbd1]

So this will go down as the most embarrassing loss of the season. Jeff Weaver, arguably the worst pitcher in the American League, shuts down the Red Sox. F*cking pathetic.

And Kyle Snyder walks two runs in to put the game almost entirely out of reach. That's always nice.

[TJ]

Lester got rocked for 8 runs in 4.1 innings tonite. He struck out 4 and walked 4 while giving up 9 hits.

[mattymatty]

I thought this inning couldn't get worse, but I think Snyder coming in and walking two guys with the bases loaded is worse.

This inning F'n sucks...

[Paul SF]

Wellll, that's gonna do it for me. And here I thought the Sox were FACING Jeff Weaver. Turns out, it was actually the Sox were PITCHING Jeff Weaver. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks? Good grief.

Paging Mark Buehrle.

[TJ]

Clay Buchholz struck out 11 in 6.1 innings at New Hampshire tonite. He allowed 1 run on 4 hits walking 1. Portland won 5-4

[mattymatty]

So, Snyder walks two guys with the bases loaded, then goes 2-0 to a guy who is as free swinging as they come, and THEN Farrell comes out to talk to him.

I'm going to break something...

[Paul SF]

Good night, all. Maybe the Sox will surprise me when I check the score in the morning. I'm not holding my breath.

[mattymatty]

AAARGGG!!!!

Finally... we're out of that. I think that was the worst half inning not involving the Yankees of the year.