MFY's @ Fenway (4/11, 4/12, 4/13)

[The Rondo Show]

Tonight: Buchholz/Wang. 7 PM on NESN. Let's hope Fenway continues to be Wang's House of Horrors, as he has a 6.17 ERA, 1.86 WHIP and an 11 to 20 K/BB ratio (yes, that's in the correct order) in 6 starters and 35 innings there.
Tomorrow: Beckett/Moose on FOX at 3:55 PM.
Sunday: Matsuzaka/Hughes on ESPN/Sunday Night Baseball at 8 PM.

[Basketball Jesus]

So, what's the over/under on games played this weekend. 1.5? I'll go the under.

[HCYanks]

The weather's actually not looking too bad for the Boston area. The latest forecast is for the heaviest rain to come after midnight and it'll be down to occasional showers by Saturday afternoon. There's still a shot tonight rains out but it probably won't be a washout weekend.

[The Rondo Show]

David Ortiz is really pissing me off right now. He'll figure it out eventually and put up near MVP numbers, but it's relatively annoying having a guy hitting less than .080 in the heart of your order killing every possible rally you get going.

[Basketball Jesus]

That curve is flipping physics the bird.

[The Rondo Show]

Clay had a filthy curve and great command of it last night and his fastball command was very good as well. Looked like he was throwing the 2 seamer all night, and he had some nice movement on it. His changeup was the worst I've ever seen it (which is his 6 major league games + 3 minor league games), he just couldn't throw it near the strike zone for the majority of the night. 6 IP, 1 run...not bad. K's were down, but that's not surprising when he didn't have his go to strikeout pitch (especially to a lefty loaded lineup) all night.

The bats are still asleep, aside from JD Drew. Maybe Mike Mussina's 85 MPH fastball can wake them up, but if we get shut down by that stiff and lose with Beckett on the mound...I may try that whole cuttin' your wrists thing.

[Flaming Mo]

Close game last night, but the Sox were far from impressive.

Beckett was great then tired, Manny was Manny but man, Big Papi is having huge problems right now.

[sunshinekids99]

Papi is sure in a funk right now, it happens to the best of them tho.

Beckett looked very good, he's just not up to speed yet. You have to remember this is only the second time he's faced major league hitters this season. I know Spring Training is somewhat overrated, but I think he would have rather atleast pitched some during the spring.

Papelbon was dominate as usual. All four of the Yankees hitters looked over matched. And that says a lot for a guy who had to warm up 3 times due to the rain delay.

This game was a bit frustrating to me, Mussina is not a good pitcher. He was also hit hard. The Sox should have had him out of the game in three innings. Timely hitting needs to improve.

[The Rondo Show]

What the hell was Girardi thinking pitching to Manny with 1st base open (on that 2-run double to give the Sox the lead)? Just a brutal decision that Manny made him pay for. Youkilis is a solid hitter and all, but Manny is a HOFer and just took Mussina deep in the prior AB--this one was a pretty obvious call to make.

Papelbon was just filthy yesterday. Raised his K/9 to 18.00. I was at that game last year where A-Rod homered into the bullpen and was having some flashbacks during that AB, but Paps just made him his bitch on 3 pitches. Dominant.

Beckett looked like he'd have a CG shutout and was just overpowering early on, but struggled those last 2 innings. Oh well, still a very solid performance by him and the W.

Hopefully Daisuke can keep this stretch of great pitching going, because I don't think we'll be able to slug our way to a win with how poorly we are swinging the bats. Moose is just horrible yet was 1 out away from giving up just 1 run.

[sunshinekids99]

Girardi did the Yankees no favors last night. Not walking Manny was a horrible call. And having the runners going when Arod was down 0-2 was foolish too. Arod just looked very confused and might have gotten distracted by it.

[Bleeding Green]

Jed Lowrie tonight? Please make it so. I yearn for it.

[The Rondo Show]

Jed Lowrie tonight? Please make it so. I yearn for it.

I'd love to see it and think it's the right move. Cora is hurt, so that takes away Francona's binky from the equation. Secondly, Hughes is very tough on righties (Lugo) and pretty terrible against lefties (Lowrie=Switch hitter).

Ellsbury
Pedroia
Ortiz
Ramirez
Drew
Youk
Casey
Varitek
Lowrie

...would be my lineup.

Just so no one has to look up Hughes' splits to see my point, here are the numbers...
Hughes vs. righties: 46 IP, .212 BAA, 1.07 WHIP, 35-14 K/BB ratio and 2 homers allowed.
Hughes vs. lefties: 35 2/3 IP, .273 BAA, 1.65 WHIP, 29-20 K/BB ratio and 6 homers allowed. Stack the lineup with lefties, Terry.

[The Rondo Show]

Tonight's lineups...

Yankees
Johnny Damon CF
Robinson Cano 2B
Bobby Abreu RF
Alex Rodriguez 3B
Hideki Matsui LF
Jorge Posada DH
Jason Giambi 1B
Jose Molina C
Alberto Gonzalez SS

Phil Hughes (0-1. 5.00)

Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury LF
Dustin Pedroia 2B
J.D. Drew RF
Manny Ramirez DH
Kevin Youkilis 3B
Sean Casey 1B
Jason Varitek C
Coco Crisp CF
Julio Lugo SS

Daisuke Matsuzaka (2-0, 1.47)

[Bleeding Green]

David Ortiz sits. **** you, Terry Francona. **** you.

[The Rondo Show]

Sean Casey is a pretty damn good guy to have coming off the bench. 2-2, double, RBI and it's only the 3rd.

Daisuke has only given up 1 run in 3 innings, but he looks really **** tonight. Walking everyone, his stuff is the worst it's been all year and just lucky the Yankees offense (A-Rod in particular) has sucked so bad.

I think this one (5-1 as I type) is far from over based on the way Dice is throwing and our middle relief has been. No Papelbon tonight, either.

[Bleeding Green]

True, but the Yankees got into their middle relief after 7 outs. They need 20 outs from the bullpen. And they're down by 4 (now down by 6).

You get a pass for sitting Ortiz. Maybe. Still think it's inexcusable to sit down your best hitter even if (especially if!) he's struggling.