If only this Red Sox-Yankees series truly mattered, Lincecum dazzles for Giants, and Bautista keeps on mashing
Hot-hitting Jed Lowrie sparked the Boston Red Sox rout of the New York Yankees to keep them mathematically in the playoff race.
The Boston Red Sox may win 90 games this year, but they are a long-shot to reach the postseason. The battle for the American League East crown is between the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees, the latter of whom they started a three-game series with in the Bronx. Yet, despite the likelihood that Boston will be on the outside looking in at their divisional foes, the long-lasting and bitter rivalry between the Red Sox and Yankees carries more wait than where they sit in the standings.
Yankees Stadium was noisy during their series against the Tampa Bay Rays, but the atmosphere created failed in comparison to the buzz that engulfed the billion dollar concrete behemoth during their series opener with Boston.
The Red Sox, who, to my amazement, entered the game with the best road record in the majors since May 24th, continued their terrific play away from Fenway Park by battering Andy Pettitte. Pettitte, who recently returned after a long stay on the disabled list, allowed a three-run homer to the red-hot Jed Lowrie in the second inning and then gave up four runs on seven hits in the fourth.
Boston increased their lead to 10-1 after Bill Hall, one of this season’s many replacements, demolished a 3-1 fastball from Jonathan Albaladejo deep to left-center field for a three-run homer of his own. It’s been hits like these that have kept the Red Sox afloat. Journeymen, castoffs, most of which with career averages at .250 or below have built an offense that still ranks third in the majors in runs scored. It’s unbelievable what the team has accomplished, considering they lost their speed nine games in (Jacoby Ellsbury), and their two best hitters (Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis) during the latter part of Summer.
Given their depletion and where they currently stand in spite of the lengthy list of injuries, Terry Francona should definitely receive some consideration for Manager of the Year in the American League. I don’t usually believe managers from teams with high payrolls deserve consideration, but Boston hasn’t had their priciest and best players out there on a gamely basis. Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire seems to be in the driver’s seat, given his team is among the best in the majors and has been without Justin Morneau for most of the season and fellow All-Star Joe Mauer periodically as well. But Francona should be nipping at his heels.
Boston barely held off New York, who scored seven unanswered runs late and brought the potential tying run to the plate in the ninth before finally succumbing to closer Jonathan Papelbon. With the win, Boston stays mathematically alive in both the American League East and Wild Card races. Making the playoffs is far-fetched, but anything can happen, especially for the Red Sox, a team used to coming back from deficits.
Tim Lincecum shut down the Rockies as he continues to pitch well for the Giants.
Lincecum comes up big for Giants against sliding Rockies
After going 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA in the month of August, raising questions about his mechanics and how he would hold up over the longterm, San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum has worked out the kinks and has dominated during this month of September. He entered his start against the Colorado Rockies 3-1 with an ERA under three for the month, and only continued his late-season magnificence with his best start since mid-July.
He breezed through the Rockies lineup, which was bittersweet. I am a fan of the Giants and particularly really enjoy watching Tiny Tim succeed, but the Rockies, after playing so superbly to get back in the National League West race, have hit a wall (as they were recently swept by the lowly Arizona Diamondbacks) and are running out of time. Their performance in their series opener was indicative of their play of late. Lincecum was part of their struggles, but they looked like a team on empty.
Pitching against an offense featuring two of September’s hottest hitters—Carlos Gonzalez, who is batting over .400 for the month, and Troy Tulowitzki, who had 14 homers in the month’s first 15 games—Lincecum only allowed one run on two hits, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out nine over eight innings.
Pat “The Bat” Burrell provided all the support Lincecum would need, smashing a two-run homer deep into the left-field seats in the seventh inning, snagging a 2-1 lead and dampening what was still an incredible effort by 22-year old Jhoulys Chacin. With that, the Giants maintained a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres.
Jose Bautista has been a home-run hitting machine for the Blue Jays
Bautista continues to supply the unexpected lumber for Blue Jays
In 2005 while with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Jose Bautista compiled 532 plate appearances and batted .254 with 15 homers and 63 rbi’s. This season with the Toronto Blue Jays—his fifth team in six-plus years—he entered Friday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles with the same amount of at-bats but a drastically different stat-line: .265 batting average, 50 homers (becoming the 26th hitter to reach that mark and the first since 2007), and 115 rbi’s. His 37 home-run increase from last year’s total with Toronto is the biggest in major league history.
How has he done it? One would be foolish to do steroids now, especially when in the major leagues, where testing is random and punishment is career-damaging. So I’ll believe him when he says the rapid increase in production is due to an altered swing, which is now flatter and more compact, and a change in stance. With the way his season has gone, it was not surprising to see him hit numbers 51 and 52 against Orioles starter Chris Tillman in an eventual win.
MVP’s usually come from winning teams, but it may not this year. Bautista is on a fourth-place team, albeit one approaching 80 wins. The Blue Jays would be nowhere without his incredible production, and that’s what should create an MVP candidate. Robinson Cano of the Yankees is considered to be near the top of the list of candidates, but he’s not even the most valuable player on his team; Alex Rodriguez has 27 homers and 116 rbi’s while Mark Teixeira has hit over 30 homers and has driven in more than 100 rbi’s as well.
Bautista’s batting average isn’t very eye-pleasing, but his On-Base Percentage is a very solid .387. The minimally impressive batting average only means that when something positive happens the Blue Jays are greatly benefited.
The Texas Rangers Josh Hamilton, Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, or Cano have all made their cases to win the award. But Bautista should definitely challenge all three, and even if he goes homer-less the rest of the way he may well deserve to be named the league’s Most Valuable Player.
