No Reason Not to Win This Game: O's-Sox Gamer XVI

Here's all you need to know:

1. Radhames Liz, though he's got a cool name, has an ERA just under 7 for the second consecutive year.
2. Liz in two starts against Boston has an ERA over 16.
3. Jon Lester, though he's got a boring name that allows him to be mocked mercilessly as being "Mr. Lester," is actually quite good -- with an ERA below 3.50.
4. Lester has pretty well owned the Orioles (and the Yankees and the Rays) this season (2.88 ERA in four starts) and in his career (2.93 in seven starts).

This is a nice matchup for the Sox -- not least because with my head pretty much set to explode thanks to the unanticipated Rays-Yanks matchup tonight, I couldn't afford to actually have a loss make the result of that game actually matter even more than it already does.

So don't screw this up, Sox. Thanks.

Comment away!

Comments

[Devine]

Ownage continues through that last AB. Badly, badly fooled on the low fastball for the second strike was Markakis, then owned by the curveball for strike 3. Nice start.

[Devine]

1st and 3rd, one down, 2nd inning for the Orioles.

[Devine]

I'd like replay there, but that's awesome. Ellsbury catches a liner, throws in, it rolls the last fifteen feet. I guess Tek must have blocked the plate very well because he scooped up the ball not long after the runner got there and tagged him. Called out by the ump.

[Devine]

Should have been safe.

[Devine]

A not-good inning for Lester there, saved by a bad call. Lots of line drives for hits and outs.

[Micah-SF]

Wow, the offense has let this guy get through two innings totally unscathed with 19 pitches. Ug-ly.

[Devine]

Red Sox are done quickly in the 2nd, thanks to a DP, but Tek got another hit! Liner to right.

[Atheose]

Hit-and-run double play. Hells yeah.

[Devine]

A DP for Lester. Yay!

Off another line drive. Boo!

[Atheose]

If someone had told me a year ago that Pedroia would be batting cleanup for several days in a row to fill in for Kevin Youkilis I'd have laughed in their face.

[Devine]

Heh. Johnny Damon just got an outfield assist on a triple by Hinske (Damon-Jeter-Molina). Aybar out at home to keep the game scoreless with one out in the inning.

It's the night of terribly-unlikely outfield assists!

[Atheose]

Lester with back-to-back walks, but then induces a ground ball for the out. 54 pitches after 3, looking a lot like 2007 Lester.

[Devine]

Lots of walks, line drives, pitches. Definitely not Lester's best night thus far.

Two on, two down. Get this out and move on if possible.

[Atheose]

God bless Coco!

[Atheose]

Wow, Liz and Hernandez disagreeing on pitch choice... apparently Liz threw a different pitch on purpose even though Hernandez called something different. Hernandez gave him a piece of his mind there.

[Devine]

Loaded for Ortiz with 1 down.

[Atheose]

Ortiz with a double! 2-0 Sox!

Now with 1st base open, do they IBB Laser Show to pitch to Kotsay?

[Devine]

Nice.

[Atheose]

Pedroia with a sac-fly. I'll take it.

Kotsay with a double down the line! 4-0 Sox!

[Devine]

This inning is turning out well. 4-0 on Kotsay's 2-out RBI double.

[Atheose]

Great play by Ellsbury.

[Devine]

Crazy leap by Ellsbury there to make the catch. Run scores. If Lester can limit it to two runs this inning, that would be super (considering how it started). 1 down, man at 3rd, one run in.

[Devine]

Boy, when Lester misses tonight, he is missing badly.

[Atheose]

Lester doing a fantastic Daisuke impression tonight: 8 baserunners through 4 innings (WHIP of 8.00) but only one run allowed. We'll be lucky if he gets through the 6th.

[Atheose]

Errr, WHIP of 2.00. Bah.

[Devine]

Uphill fight, but the damage is limited to one run.

[Atheose]

God bless Coco! That's twice in one game I've said that!

[Atheose]

Bases loaded for Papi again. Yeah baby.

And yet Liz is being left out there.

[Devine]

Ortiz up with them loaded and one down...again. I could go for the same result.

[Atheose]

HAHA Markakis watches a ball land right in front of him, bounces up for a ground-rule double. 7-1 Sox.

[Devine]

Exactly.

[Devine]

Harder for Lester than it "should" be, but the offense is doing their half, and the results are good so far.

[Atheose]

LASER SHOW OVER THE MONSTER! 10-1 Sox!

And the Yankees take the lead 3-1! Yeah, go Yanks!

That second line took a lot of effort.

[Devine]

Um...MVP? Yeah boy, 10-1 Sox on the blast, Pedroia's...16th? Counting stats wise, it will help Pedroia's case if he reaches 20.

[Micah-SF]

IT'S A LASER SHOW!

Yeah, I think despite Lester's Daisuke-like struggles tonight, we're probably going to be okay.

[Atheose]

Ellsbury ice cream cone's a ball in left field. His defense has gotten better and better as he's gotten more confident this year.

Orioles Broadcaster #1: "Do you think Manny would have caught that?"
Orioles Broadcaster #2: "Yeah... off the wall."

[Devine]

Another circus catch for Ellsbury on Roberts's liner.

[Devine]

White Sox score 3 in the 6th. 4-3 Indians in Cleveland going to the bottom half of the 6th.

[Micah-SF]

Well, I think that should be it for Lester. Which is okay, we can afford to give a few innings to the bottom half of our bullpen tonight.

[Devine]

Whatever Don and Remy get in the booth for their laughing fits, I would like some, please.

[Devine]

I heart Lowrie. Anyone thinking Lugo's setback is something made up to save face for our "starting shortstop"?

[Atheose]

Love hearing the MVP chants for Pedroia.

[SF]

Hey everyone, sorry about the absence, been nutso at work, travelling, etc. Good to see the Sox playing well.

Should be able to post more in a couple of days. I hope!

[Devine]

I just noticed that Kotsay is a clear upgrade in RF in the "better-looking team" debate.

Hope you'll be back soon, SF!

[Atheose]

Forget Kotsay Devine, check out his wife!

http://www.survivinggrady.com/uploaded_images/kotsaywifey-755578.jpg

[Devine]

Cleveland opening up on the White Sox with a big inning. 9-3 in the 7th.

Minnesota losing by one, Toronto needs three more outs to beat them.

Rays losing to Yankees, but only 4 down now, runner at 2nd, none out--7th inning.

It would be amazing if we could gain ground on all the relevant teams, but I'm not holding my breath yet.

[Devine]

The caboose is good, but how is the engine, Ath?

[Atheose]

It sucks for you to miss out on these great games, SF! We'd love to see you content during a gamer ;-)

Pedroia doubles. Orioles broadcaster: "When Tito first slated Pedroia to bat cleanup, he said 'about damn time!'" That's fricken hilarious.

You know, Manny disappears and Youk does a great job filling the gap. Youk goes down with sickness and Pedroia fills in the gap. I'm loving this team lately!

[Devine]

Twins lose.

[Atheose]

The 6-7-8-9 hitters are 8 for 18 tonight. Fantastic.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Ath, I am floored at how well everything is clicking right now.
It's not just Youks and Pedro, it's everyone.

[I'mBillMcNeal]

Game. 14-2.

[Lar]

Yanks helping out the Sox. Heh, ah well.

[Devine]

Twins and White Sox lose, too. Perfect storm.

4 up wild card, 4 back division.

[Atheose]

It's definitely everyone Bill, but Manny's gap in the lineup has been filled extremely well. I'm surprised--pleasantly--that this is the case.

But seriously, a year ago how many people would have expected Youk to perform better than Manny in the #4 spot? And then for Pedroia to step in and succeed? In 3 games this year in the cleanup spot Pedroia is OPS'ing 1.616! Small sample size sure, but still. And hell, Pedroia has 5 stolen bases in the last 4 games! The man is unbelievable.