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Schill, Beckett and Matsuzaka. No Carmona or CC going for the Indians.

That's the way uh huh, uh huh I like it.

Meanwhile, the return of a Dirt Dog at Fenway:




Monday: 7:05 PM EST, Schilling vs. Lee.
Tuesday: 7:05 PM EST, Beckett vs. an AAAAer named Jeremy Sowers.
Wednesday: 7:05 PM EST, Matsuzaka vs. Byrd.

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Trot should get one hell of a standing O from the Fenway Faithful

This should be a good series. The Indians are the second-best team in baseball.

It's too bad that Sabathia and Carmona don't pitch.

Trot singled in his first AB.

Schilling has 5 Ks through 2 innings.

Nice to see the fans give Nixon standing O. Also glad he got a hit in that first at-bat.

As for the Sox, Schilling looking very good. And what a blast from Manny.

What was the inside-the-parker like? I heard it on the radio but didn't see it on T.V.

Youkilis hit one out near the triangle, it took a weird bounce off the wall, got by Sizemore and Nixon was slow picking up the baseball.

There wasn't even a throw to the plate, he was easily safe.

Nice bounce back performance by Schill and little Dustin Pedroia just keeps rakin'. 1.072 May OPS.

Kevin Youkilis: MVP.


Seriously

How come Okajima is closing?

stro4swift wrote:How come Okajima is closing?

A.) Papelbon has pitched 3 of the last 4 days and probably won't pitch in 4 of 5 all year. Not with a double digit division lead, anyways.
B.) Okajima is really good.
C.) Stat of the day: Hideki Okajima 4 saves, Mariano Rivera 3 saves.

Dustin Pedroia is now hitting above .300 and his OBP sits at .391.

Meet your 2B for the next decade.

Beckett looked very good last night. Great series so far for the Sox.

Red Sox eye sweep behind Dice-K
Boston (36-15) vs. Cleveland (31-19)
Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
TV: NESN/ESPN2 Radio: WEEI 850 AM
By Ian Browne / MLB.com

The Red Sox already knew that Daisuke Matsuzaka was a gutty pitcher. But last Friday in Texas, he showed his teammates that he was literally willing to spill his guts for the good of the team.
Dealing with a stomach flu that included vomiting between innings, Matsuzaka willed his way through five shaky innings and earned the win. This time, the Red Sox expect a healthy Matsuzaka to pitch the finale of this three-game series against the Indians on Wednesday night.

"He had no business being out there, pitching in that [last] game," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We've all had the flu, and you don't want to be pitching. You just want to get under the covers and be miserable."

Backed by Matsuzaka, the Red Sox will try to extend their winning streak to six games and sweep the Indians.

The Red Sox are rolling because of their pitching. Catcher Jason Varitek looks for Matsuzaka to keep that trend going.

"Just a quality start," Varitek said. "That's what we look for is quality starts -- nothing more than just a quality start."

There will also be a quality slugger returning to the lineup in this one. After missing three straight games with hamstring tightness, David Ortiz will be back in there on Wednesday.

"We'll take him any day of the week," Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis said. "It's great that we're winning games. It just goes to show that this team is not made on just one player. It just shows you this is a good team."

The Red Sox lead the American League East by 11 1/2 games over the Orioles, 12 above the Blue Jays and 14 1/2 in front of the Yankees and Devil Rays.

Pitching matchup

BOS: RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-2, 4.43 ERA)
Matsuzaka rode an offensive surge to his seventh win Friday, prevailing over the Rangers despite giving up five runs over five innings in his first career start in Arlington. Matsuzaka is 3-1 with a 5.00 ERA in his first five starts at Fenway Park, where he has allowed a .259 opponents' batting average and three home runs in 36 innings. He will be facing the Indians for the first time in his career.

CLE: RHP Paul Byrd (5-1, 3.81 ERA)
Byrd was aided by some stellar defensive work and some early offense in getting his fifth win of the season Friday against the Tigers. He gave up four runs on nine hits with no walks and a strikeout over 6 1/3 innings, and was elevating his pitches by the end of the outing. Byrd said he shouldn't have pounded the strike zone as much as he did, especially ahead in the count. But pounding the zone has helped Byrd go 37 1/3 innings without issuing a walk.

Player to watch
Youkilis has a 21-game hitting streak. But that isn't his most impressive streak. Youkilis comes into this one with nine straight multihit games, making him the first Red Sox player to accomplish that feat since Jim Rice in 1978.

Daisuke.

uhhh.

Could Matsuzaka be anymore inconsistent? I'm starting to think Ordway was right (there's a first for everything) and Daisuke will have a year similar to the one Beckett had in '06. 2 months in and the similarities are uncanny:

-Flashes of brilliance. Check.
-That brilliance followed up by a shelling. Check.
-1 huge inning where he just gets pounded. Check.
-Insane run support. Check.
-Frustration because you can see the "stuff" is there, but the consistency and results are not. Check.

A Beckett of '06 type year isn't terrible (especially if he can bounce back like Beckett has), but I still expected quite a bit more. We'll see if it gets better. I'd just like some consistency.

Or...he was facing one of the best offenses in the game and got touched up.

Basketball Jesus wrote:Or...he was facing one of the best offenses in the game and got touched up.

That would be fine if this was a one time thing or happened rarely; but it is not. He has given up 5 runs or more in 4 starts.

Are you trying to claim he has not been ridiculously inconsistent so far? I don't see how anyone could. One week he is winning AL Player of the Week, the next he is getting absolutely hammered.

It definitely could change, but right now...he has been just as inconsistent as Beckett had been in '06 if not more.

He gave up 5+ runs to the Indians (2nd in runs scored in all of baseball), in the little league field Texas (7th) calls home, the Yankees (5th), and the Mariners. So, in three of his four "bad" games, he's faced top-10 offenses.

To get all nerdy for a minute, his FIP is a full run below his ERA and he has a 3.24 K/BB, so it's not so much erratic play as it's strength of opponent smattered with a bit of bad luck.