Time to Beckettize: Twins-Sox Gamer VII

After a slow start, Josh Beckett is having another fine season. Unfortunately for him, the Sox seem unwilling to provide him any support. Five times now, he's thrown a quality start and received either a loss or a no decision. Conversely, only twice has he received a win or no-decision from a non-quality start.

Today, he looks to take matters into his own hands and help the Sox sweep the Twins, giving Boston the season series and, more importantly, opening up a sizable 3.5-game advantage in the Wild Card and leaving the possibility of narrowing the gap in the division to just two games (or widening their lead over the Yankees to five).

Livan Hernandez, who has a better record this year despite an ERA nearly two runs worse, has fared extremely poorly against American League pitching (5.93 ERA) this year, and hasn't done too well in his few times facing the Red Sox. The Sox lineup as an aggregate is batting .332/.408/.526 against him in 225 plate appearances.

All this means Hernandez will throw a no-hitter, Beckett will implode and the Sox will lose. That's just the way things seem to have gone over the last month or so.

Lineups courtesy the Globe:

Red Sox:

CF-Ellsbury
2B-Pedroia
1B-Youkilis
LH-Ramirez
3B-Lowell
DH-Casey
C-Varitek
RF-Moss
SS-Lugo
SP-Beckett

Twins:

CF-Span
2B-Casilla
C-Mauer
DH-Morneau
RF-Kubel
LF-Young
1B-Lamb
SS-Punto
3B-Buscher
SP-Hernandez

Comments

[SF]

What happened to Drew? He was pulled in the ninth last night and now has the day off. Is he hurt?

[SF]

Answered my own question:

"Drew quietly left during the ninth inning of Tuesday night's win with back stiffness"

[ponch - sf]

i have decided I would approve of a Sox sweep.

[Atheose]

Holy crap there's a 1:05 game today, and Beckett's on the mound?

Well there goes my productive workday.

[Paul SF]

It's no Drew and Ortiz, but you could do worse than Moss and Casey in there. If only Cash were playing and Lowrie were up...

[ponch - sf]

do you think they're going to pull the trigger on Lowrie this season, cut losses and just stick Lugo on the bench? Tough call in a tight race.

[Atheose]

Beckett gets ahead 0-2 but walks him. F'ing A.

[Atheose]

HAH, picked off 1st.

[Atheose]

Two batters in a row that Beckett got ahead 0-2 but then couldn't put away. Casilla doubles.

[rootbeerfloat]

Now that caught stealing looks even better.

[Atheose]

Beckett can't put people away today! He was up 1-2 on Mauer, but gave up a hit. This is lame. 1-0, Twins.

[rootbeerfloat]

I snuck out of a meeting for this?

[Atheose]

Morneau homers. Fuck.

[Atheose]

22 straight fastballs, after starting off the first batter with one FB and two curves.

[Atheose]

Beckett listens to me and starts throwing curveballs. 3 of the last 4 pitches have been curves now.

[ponch - sf]

2 bad first innings in a row for him, right? Let's hope he settles down like he did last time.

[rootbeerfloat]

thanks for straightening him out, Ath.

[Devine]

Weak sauce. Turn it around, bats.

[Atheose]

Ellsbury singles! He's been hot lately, hitting .314 in July.

Pedroia grounds out, erasing the speed. Damnit.

[Atheose]

Anytime, RBF. Im just glad he listened to me.

[Atheose]

Hernandez is a junkerball pitcher with an ERA of 5.17. This means we're going to get shutout against him.

[Devine]

C'mon Manny, get us on the board. (Pedroia at 2nd, 2 outs.)

[Atheose]

Pedroia is scoring position for Manny.

[Atheose]

4 straight fastballs to Manny, all of them 86 mph. And Manny fouls two away.

That's pathetic.

[Atheose]

And the 5th fastball in a row to him is grounded out to the pitcher.

[Devine]

Two leadoff hits. Nothing else, though. Yuck...glad I'm not watching for awhile. Maybe things will change for the better...

[Atheose]

Back-to-back singles by Lugo and Ellsbury!

Come on Pedroia, extend that streak.

[Devine]

Two on, none out. If they don't capitalize with Pedroia-Youk up next (and Manny thereafter), then...well, I'll stamp my feet and be annoyed. So there, Red Sox, you've been warned!

[Devine]

2 down, none in. Goddamn it.

[Atheose]

Manny!

[Devine]

Manny doubles to right. 1 run in. Can we cash in once more? Runners 2nd and 3rd, 2 out, Lowell.

[Devine]

Lowell!!!

[rootbeerfloat]

Manny seems to be officially back.

[Devine]

Now seems like a good time to leave. Good luck, Ath, Red Sox.

[Atheose]

LOWELL TIES IT!

[Atheose]

Everyone hits! Casey singles in the go-ahead run.

[Devine]

Heck yeah! Casey dunks it into left, and suddenly, the Sox have the lead! Pound this guy!

Okay, now really leaving.

[z118]

okay, I'm a bit ignorant here and I hope it will be forgiven...

I think "LFRS" refers to Tek, but what the heck does it stand for?

[Micah-SF]

Well, THAT inning went a bit better. I forgot we had a game this early today.

[Paul SF]

LFRS refers to "Least Favorite red Sox." SF uses it for Lugo; I use it for Javier Lopez, though I think I'm going to switch over to Alex Cora...

[SF]

LFRS is the shortstop. "Least favorite Red Sox".

[z118]

ahhh... I get it. Thank you very much. I'm not sure where I got Tek from then.

[Micah-SF]

LFRS for me is definitely Lugo.

Looks like Beckett's only going 5. Hope the pen isn't feeling sucky today.

[Atheose]

Micah, check the fantasy league... do you still want to make that trade?

[Paul SF]

Lugo bunts for a hit. Second single today. It highlights how effective he COULD be, getting on base in front of Ellsbury-Pedroia-Ortiz/Drew/Youk-Manny

[Atheose]

Hey, Lugo is 2 for 2!

[Paul SF]

Ellsbury hits a seed, but it's caught... Wind knocked it down.

[Paul SF]

And Lugo steals second, with high-contact Pedroia at the plate looking to extend his hit streak...

[Micah-SF]

I accepted again. Hopefully it goes through this time.

[Atheose]

Yeah, hopefully Micah. I don't know what happened last time.

Beckett gets two quick outs before giving up a double to Mauer. Does Tito leave him in here?

[Atheose]

Wow, he gets Morneau to pop out. Whew.

Okay guys, let's get some insurance.

[Micah-SF]

I have no idea either. Our league blows.

Hopefully this helps my team, I'm on a four week losing streak and will probably lose again this week.

He got Morneau. The question is whether he comes out for the sixth with a quick hook.

[Atheose]

I think Beckett will glare at Tito until he lets him go out for the 6th.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Not pretty, but Beckett gets through five. Whew.

[rootbeerfloat]

Who in the 'pen do you even go to if you don't send Beckett out? In a one run game, they all scare me.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

"Drew quietly left during the ninth inning of Tuesday night's win with back stiffness"

Sometimes Drew seems more fragile than Fred "The Hangnail" Lynn.

[Paul SF]

This is where having Masterson as the new Tavarez would be helpful...

Manny with the RBI double!! He is BACK!

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Fncking pink hats. When did our fans start reaching for balls in play?

[Micah-SF]

Hi, Manny! It's nice to see you again. We like it when you do this. Keep it up, please.

[Atheose]

Manny Ramirez drinks your milkshake! 5-3 Sox.

[Paul SF]

Funny... Manny arguing it's a home run and Gardenhire arguing it's a fan interference double that should keep Youkilis at third.

Umps keep it as an RBI fan-interference double.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

My guess is Hansen, although I fear Minnesota would tear him up. Timlin probably will be held back to close.

[Micah-SF]

The words "Timlin" and "close" in the same sentence make me feel ill.

[Paul SF]

When did our fans start reaching for balls in play?

Since forever? This is not a new phenomenon at Fenway. Believe it or not, Red Sox fans at Fenway are not all fastidious practitioners of the art of true fandom... And some of the true fans might even be wearing pink hats...

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Or maybe it is Timlim in the sixth and you keep Aardsman to close. Timlin hasn't pitched since coming off the DL.

[Atheose]

Beckett out for the 6th, then Lopez-Oki-Delcarmen. Papelbon has pitched 3 nights in a row so I doubt he'll be available.

[Micah-SF]

CASEY! We should get his bat in the lineup more often.

[Paul SF]

Casey with another RBI!! We're going to need each and every one of these runs if Beckett is indeed done.

I say bring him back on a short leash. He's looked better as the game's gone on, anyhow.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

I use "pink hats" in the vernacular, not the literal, Paul.

[Atheose]

I love Casey so much. 6-3 Sox.

With a 3 run lead I say send Beckett out for the 6th, definitely.

[Paul SF]

Francona said yesterday that Papelbon is out. Hopefully, this game won't be a save situation, then we won't even have to worry about it...

[Micah-SF]

Hey, it's Boof Bonser! This gives me an excellent excuse to say the word "Boof". Yes, I am still secretly twelve years old, why do you ask?

C'mon, Zombie Varitek. Get a hit.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

I read in the Globe that Paps is not available today for that very reason, Ath.

[Paul SF]

How do we know Boof Bonser sucks? Because Jason Varitek just hit a double off him!

[Micah-SF]

An... extra-base hit? Do my eyes deceive me?

Best get some runs in, Moss - this doesn't happen every day!

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Dale Arnold informs us that Bonser has legally changed his first name to Boof from John.

[Paul SF]

Lugo up. He's 2 for 2, but those were with the bases empty...

[Micah-SF]

Oh, great. Now we have to hope for a hit from Varitek AND Lugo in the same inning. And if that happens, I'm going to go buy a lottery ticket on my lunch break.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Paul, I've seen a whopping three games at Fenway in my 36 years of Red Sox fanhood, so my misconceptions are hard to kill.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

A hit here and we won't have to worry about how the pen lines up behind Beckett.

[Micah-SF]

Shockingly, no lottery ticket for me.

[Paul SF]

Well, Lugo hit the ball well. Bad luck on that one.

Josh Beckett above 100 pitches > Any member of the bullpen

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Ponson allows one hit, a Carlos Pena homer, in six innings. 1-1, top 7.
...
Lopez is up in the pen.

[Micah-SF]

Well, uh... shit.

[Paul SF]

Well, maybe I was wrong on that one. Kubel homers.

[Atheose]

A homer to Kubel and now Delmon gets a hit. Looks like Becket < bullpen.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

OK, um, Tito?

[Micah-SF]

And then Delmon Young doubles. I think you were wrong on that one, Paul.

[Paul SF]

And now a double. Time to pull him, I think. Not that Francona will, of course...

[I'mBillMcNeal]

You're a new dad. You get a Mulligan, Paul.

[Paul SF]

Hey, Francona does come out. Well, I agree with the decision to send him back out, and I agree with the decision to take him out right there. So, props to Tito... Beckett with not one of his better performances, but he stands to win it if the pen can not irretrievably suck.

[Digit SF]

As long as it's not Javier Lopez.

[Micah-SF]

Sadly, I do not have much trust in that. We're going to need more runs if we want to win this one.

Also, re: Yankees game - if there's one guy I really can't stand to see pulling the "guy off the scrap heap kicks ass for the Yankees" routine, it's Ponson. He's a horrid human being.

[Paul SF]

Why do the Yankees always seem to find that one guy? Aaron Small, etc. Pisses me off... Lopez (kock on wood) looking good so far. The problem is you just never know when the meltdown will come...

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Hansen up now. And we've got to get 12 outs from the pen.
Crap.

[Paul SF]

For example, right there. 6-5 now.

[Micah-SF]

Argh. Can we get out of this inning with the lead? Please?

[Atheose]

Well I guessed right about Lopez coming in for the 6th... and he gives up an inherited run. We've still got the lead though.

[Digit SF]

Paul, your mojo sucks today.

[Paul SF]

Another single, but Manny nabs Punto at third!!