Swamigp’s Weblog

The Red Sox got back in the winners circle after a rough road trip to beat the winless Detroit Tigers 5-0. Daisuke Matsusaka built off of his previous outing to shut out the Tigers over 6 2/3 innings, allowing 4 hits and striking out 7 to win the home opener. Boston crushed Detroit starter Kenny Rogers during his 4 2/3 innings of work.

Coco Crisp got the scoring started in the second with a sacrifice fly to drive in J.D. Drew, who reached on a single. After Daisuke breezed through the top of the third, Manny Ramirez hit a triple to deep center field to start the bottom of third inning. Placido Polanco tried to gun out Manny at third but the throw got away, allowing Ramirez to score. It was Polanco’s first error since July 1st, 2006, ending his major league record 186 errorless games at second base.

The Polanco error was the epitome of the struggles of the Tigers this year. The Tigers, with arguably the best lineup in baseball, on paper, haven’t paned out, hitting just .235 as a team resulting in their 0-7 start. In this game the Tigers hit just 5-31 while striking out 11 times. Third baseman Miguel Cabrera, their new acquisition, is still trying to get himself acquainted to the American League, as he is hitting just .100 this season (2-20).

Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis had three hits, driving in two runs, a sacrifice fly and a rbi double to lead the Red Sox offense. J.D. Drew walked in the 6th to force in a run off Jason Grilli to round out the scoring for Boston.

Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima pitched 2 1/3 innings of one hit ball, in relief of Daisuke, to end an emotional day for the Red Sox with a win. Before the game got underway there was a hour long pregame ceremony to acknowledge the 2007 World Champs. As well as getting their World Series rings, the Red Sox, and their fans, welcomed back the infamous Bill Buckner, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Buckner, a great hitter and solid defensive first baseman in his time, has not been remembered by his 2700 hits but his error in the 1986 World Series allowing the Mets to win the game and eventually the series, prolonging the now forgotten curse. All is forgiven now, with the Red Sox having won two World Series in the past 4 years, as he was welcomed by a roaring ovation from the diehard fans.

Daisuke Matzuskaka’s homecoming in the season opener in Japan was helped out by the bats of outfielders Brandon Moss and Manny Ramirez to give the Red Sox the win. Brandon Moss tied the game at 4 in the ninth inning with a home run and Manny Ramirez hit his second two-run double of the game, in the tenth to give the Red Sox the victroy.

Closer Jonathan Papelbon struggled to get the A’s out in the bottom of the tenth, allowing a run, but left two runners stranded to end the game. He got the save, and middle reliever Hideki Okajima got the win.

A’s closer Huston Street, like Papelbon, was a little rusty, giving up the tying home run in the ninth inning to Moss, his first homer of his short career, and the two-run double to Manny Ramirez.

After all of the hype surrounding Red Sox starting pitcher Daisuke Matsusaka prior to the Tokyo opener, the contest still needed to be played. Matsusaka pitched 5 innings, giving up only 2 hits, but 5 walks, and 6 strikeouts in his season debut. Dice-K looked a little nervous in the first inning, giving up a solo homer to Mark Ellis, 2 walks, a hit batsmen, and a wild pitch to put the A’s up 2-0 after one inning.

Matsusaka calmed down after that, and let the Red Sox offense go to work. With 2 outs in the top of the sixth, Manny Ramirez hit a two-run double, scoring Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia. Brandon Moss, who took the place of scratched starter J.D. Drew, singled in Manny from second to put the Red Sox up 3-2.

The Red Sox didn’t keep the lead for long. Kirk Snyder, relieving Matsusaka, gave up a two run homer to Jack Hannahan in the botom of the sixth to give the A’s the lead back, 4-3.

Brandon Moss delivered again in the ninth, hitting a solo homer with one out in the ninth, the first of his short career to send the game into extra inning where Manny took over.

The Boston Red Sox were so close to trading for Johan Santana, tempting the Twins with two proposed trades involving key players. One involved pitching prospect jon Lester, and the other involving speedy Jacoby Ellsbury. Players such as Coco Crisp, minor leaguers Jed Lowrie, and Justin Masterson were also mentioned in both deals given to the Minnesota Twins. Prized pitcher Clay Buchholz was mentioned in a deal during the start of the talks but was taken off the table by the Red Sox.  Jacoby Ellsbury, who broke out of a minor Spring Training slump by going 3-5 with a 2-run homer against the Mets, is one of the most prized prospects for the Red Sox. He is most notably known, so far in his brief career, for electrifying the Fenway crowd with his blazing speed and ability late in the post-season. Jed Lowrie is a minor league shortstop for the Red Sox who is a very skilled hitter coming out of Stanford, where he shined. He has also struggled this exhibition season but has shown his ability with what he has done. Justin Masterson, another highly touted prospect in the Sox system has shined as a reliever in spring training coming in for long relief. Many of these players mentioned could have played major roles for the Twins from opening day until the end of the season. Some players such as Masterson and Lowrie will, most likely, stay in the minors for further development. Players such as Jacoby Ellsbury, and Clay Buchholz, who threw a no-hitter last season for the Sox, will be on the major league roster to showcase the talent the Twins are missing out on. Jacoby Ellsbury, who batted .353 for the Red Sox in his stint with them in the regular season, played an even bigger role in the playoffs, taking over for struggling starter Coco Crisp in final games of the ALSC. This spring Ellsbury is fighting for the starting job for center field with Coco Crisp. Though Coco is the leader, according to manager Terry Francona, in the race for the starters job, Ellsbury is not far behind. If Ellsbury does not win the starting role this season, you can bet he will still be a major factor off the bench for an already deadly Red Sox lineup. Clay Buchholz, after being shut down in late September last season is primed to regain the form that he had before his shoulder injury. With the injuries to Curt Schilling and Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and World Series game 4 winner, Jon Lester will be counted on more than recently thought. Jon Lester has more major league experience than Clay Buchholz, which should help him last for the duration of the season. Though talented, Buchholz is still young, and raw (not fully developed) which could play a role in this upcoming season and will be a huge factor in how much the Red Sox want to use him, being only 23 years old. Johan Santana is a great pitcher, maybe the best in baseball, but looking at the players the Sox would have to give up, I’m glad he went to the Mets.

The Red Sox avoided a messy situation by signing their star closer Jonathan Papelbon to a one-year deal worth $775K. Last year, for the World Series winning Red Sox, Papelbon was dominant, collecting 37 saves in 40 chances, making him one of the best closer’s in the game. Papelbon, a converted starter, was also as dominant in the post-season collecting 4 saves without allowing a run. Recently he was outspoken about the lack of communication between the front office and him, saying that they were far apart in talks. They finally hashed out a deal though, making everyone on their roster signed at least through the upcoming season. Since the deal in a one-year contract the 27 year old will be up for arbitration after the season. Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury and Jon Lester, among other players on the Sox roster, signed contracts this off season.