Diary of A Red Sox Fan 2009

Sox 1-4 since ALL Star Break

2009-07-22T06:54:00.001-07:00

Clay Bucholtz got the win in his 1st major League start in 2009 but the Sox have lost 4 in a row since then, dropping the last 2 to the Jays and the 1st 2 to the Rangers down in Texas. The Sox have released Lugo and activated lowell and Lowrie but the offense still can not buy a hit when needed and now Wakefield is on the 15 day DL abd Bucholtz is back in the rotation as the Sox slip into 2nd place a game behind the Yanks and 3.5 ahead of the Rays. Penny,Lester, Smoltz and now Beckett have gone down in defeat since the break.

All Star Break Mid-Season Report

2009-07-15T15:12:00.000-07:00

54 and 24, 3 games on the Yanks and 6 plus on the Rays at the All-Star break. !st half stories are The 3 Yankee sweeps, Jacoby stealing home, Big Papi's 1st Homer watch, Nick Green at Shortstop, distant is the 2-6 start. The Sox offense has been absent the past 2-3 weeks, Youk and Bay are weathering slumps with signs of emergence. Mike Lowell has been on the DL and is set to return as is Jed Lowrie who went down a week into the season. Will Lugo be with the Sox much longer?

I have weened myself from having to hear every pitch but still like to listen when i am around a radio but did not wander Solafest with a walkman, that there was no reception was not a factor. Sox are 1-1 in games I have attended. 3-1 in games my mom has been to and 1-2 in games Gaelen has attended. Fenway is not the same as it was in the late 80's, neither is Boston for that matter.

Bucholtz goes Friday, hope he does well. 4 days without baseball is a long time. I didn't watch the All-Star game but the AL won anyway!

Sox beat A's 5-2

2009-07-07T11:47:00.000-07:00

Beckett gave up a 1st inning homer but then stayed strong as the Sox bats finally came alive behind J Bay's 20th homer of the season and pap got his 21st save.

The Sox have 6 All Stars: Pedrioa and Bay starting, Youk as a reserve and Wakefield, Becket and Pap all making the trip. The Sox maintained their 1 game lead in the AL East

Nomar returns Sox lose to A's

2009-07-06T11:45:00.000-07:00

Nomar returned to Fenway for the 1st time since being traded in 2004 and i turned on the radio just in time to hear the loud ovation he got from the crowd. Gaelen and Gamma were at the game and called me a few times. It was not a good game, only 2 hits for the Sox as Smoltz pitched his way yo his 2nd loss in 3 starts. Final score 6-0 and a one game lead over the Yanks.

Red Sox drop 2 0f 3 to Mariners

2009-07-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

The Sox slumped over the weekend losing 7-6in 11 innings and then 3-2 in 9 before winning the third game 8-4. We were at the permaculture convergence so I missed most of the losses but got to listen to Sunday's win back home and was thrilled to hear Pedrioa smack his 3rd homer of the year!

Red Sox Take 2 of 3 from Orioles

2009-07-01T12:34:00.000-07:00

Julio Lugo drove in the winning run in the top of the 11th with a single completeing a 4 run comeback to win 6-5 the day after the bullpen blew a 10-1 lead to give the Sox their biggest heartbreaking loss of the season 11-10. I thought I was past getting mad about losses but that one hurt, so much that I resolved not to listen to the begiining of the rubber game and ended up missing it all as it was a 1:35pm start and I thought it was a night game.

Jacoby scored the winning run in this one, he hit a homer in the big loss game.

Paplebon passed Bob Stanley to become the Red Sox all time saves leader, shows how big Pap is for the Sox because I remember Stanley SUCKING back in the 80's, hated when he came into a game with the lead because more often than not he blew it.

The Sox won the 1st game of the series 4-0 with Lester getting the win

The Sox are 2.5 games up on the Yanks and 5 on the Rays who are playing better ball.

Sox take 2 of 3 from Braves

2009-06-28T15:15:00.000-07:00

The Sox won the 1st two games 4-1 and 1-0 behind the strong pitching of Beckett and Wake but the bats faltered all weekend and the Sox and penny lost the final game 2-1 on a pair of homers. Inter-league play is over and the Sox now head to Baltimore with a 3 game lead on the Yanks!

Red Sox take 2 of 3 from Nationals

2009-06-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox won 6-4 and 11-3 to take the first two games in this 3 game inter-league series. Big Papi hit a 3 run homer in the 1st inning and Tek added a 2 run shot in the 6th as the Sox won 6-4. Lester got his 6th win evening up his record and Pap got his 17th save.

J Bay hit his 19th homer in the 1st game and the Sox broke it open with a 6 run 8th inning. Manny Delcarmen picked up the win as the Sox took a 5 game lead over the yanks and Blue Jays in the Al East

The Sox got pounded in the last game and lost 9-3

Sox Take 2 of 3 from Braves

2009-06-21T10:51:00.000-07:00

Becket outpitched Derek Lowe on Saturday in the quickest game of the season (2:11) and got his 8th win as the Sox rebounded to win 3-0. On Sunday Big Papi hit a 2 run homer in the 1st and the Sox blew to leads and were tied 5-5 in the bottom of the 9th when Nick Green hit the 1st pitch he saw around the pesky pole to give the Sox a 6-5 victory and put them 4 games up on the Yankees in the Al East!!!

Red Sox 2 Braves 8

2009-06-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Gaelen and I went to this game, staying the night with Grandma and taking advantage of our Kid Nation Tickets. We sat in right field behind a post in the beautiful sunset light.

Dice-K's 1st pitch was hit into the bullpen for a homer, his 2nd pitch was a double, his 3rd a single and then he walked to to fall behind 2-0 and the Braves never looked back.

The Sox managed only 2 hits, both by J Bay, a double and a 2 run blast over the Green Monster. Could have been a better game but its fun just to be in the park!

Sox take 2 of 3 from Marlins

2009-06-17T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Sox won the 1st game 8-2, Wake got his 9th win and Big Papi hit his 5th homer.

The Sox won the 2nd game 6-1 and Jacoby got his 3rd homer and penny his 6th win.

The Sox may have won the third game but lost 2-1 in a game that only went 5 innings due to rain. Youk gave the Sox the lead 1-0 with his 12th homer but Lester gave up back-to-back homers in the top of the 2nd which were enough for the Marlins to squeak by with a victory.

Sox take 2 of 3 from World Champion Phillies

2009-06-14T19:11:00.000-07:00

The Sox won 5-2 and 11-6 before losing on Sunday 11-6 as they played the Philiies in Philadelphia. Becket hit his 3rd career homer on Sunday to tie the game after giving up 4 runs but he gave up a homer to lead off the next inning and the Phills rallied for 6 runs to win the last game of the series.

Sox sweep Yankees!

2009-06-11T19:04:00.000-07:00

Big Papi started it with a homer, the Yanks pulled ahead with 3 runs in the 7th on an A-rod hit but JD Drew scored on a sac fly in the bottom of the 8th as the Sox rallied to score 3 runs and Pap closed it out with his 16th save as the Sox swept the yanks and extended their streak to 9 consecutive wins against them, 10 including last season!

Penny got the win beating C.C. Sabathia!!!

Red Sox 4 Yankees 3

Red Sox 6 Yankees 5

2009-06-10T14:50:00.000-07:00

The Sox held on to beat the yanks 8 straight with a 6-5 win. Wake got his 8th win, Pap his 15th save, Lowell hit his 10th homer as did Youk whose 2 run shot in the 4th was the difference in this game. The Sox led 1-0, 3-1, 4-2, 6-2, 6-3 as the yanks crawled back into it with back-to-back homers by johnny Damon and Mark Texiera in the 7th. But Hideki Okajima came on to strike out Hideki Matsui with Posada on 2nd to end the inning then he struck out Jeter and Damon with a runner on 2nd to end the 8th. The Sox are now in 1st place in the AL East one game up on the Yanks

Red Sox 7 Yankees 0

2009-06-09T11:28:00.000-07:00

Big Papi went deep with a 2 run homer in the 2nd and Becket pitched like a champion as the Sox continued to roll over the Yankees with their 6th straight win over them, 7 if you go back to September of 2008. It was the 1st shut out for the Sox and the 1st time the Yanks have been shut out this season. Nick Green also connected for a solo home run to ice the cake !

Sox drop 2 of 3 to Rangers

2009-06-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

Penny and DiceK came up short while sandwiched in between Lester was dominant in the only win of the series for the Sox. The Sox lost 5-1 and 6-3 and won 8-1. I listened to both losses while driving Gaelen to and from our house for the weekend as the Sox dropped out of 1st place..

Red Sox Sweep Tigers with 6-3 win.

2009-06-04T18:48:00.000-07:00

The Sox fell behind 3-0 but then Dontrelle Willis had a melt down hitting jacoby to lead off the 3rd and then walked the next 4 batters and was lifted from the game. J Bay hit a 2 run double and Baldelli had an RBI single to plate the 6th run of the inning and the score held up as the Sox swept the Tigers and remained even with the Yanks for first place.

Red Sox 10 Tigers 5

2009-06-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Beckett took a no hitter into the 7th and Drew hit a 1st inning 2 run homer as the Sox piled up the runs leading 10-0 at one point. A series of errors in the 8th led to 5 Tiger runs as the Sox continue to be sloppy mopping up games.

Beckett is now 6-3 and looking like a dominant pitcher again and with the Yankee's lose to the Rangers are now tied for 1st place in the AL east.

Red Sox 5 Tigers 1

2009-06-02T14:58:00.000-07:00

Terry Francona got his 501 st win as a Sox manager moving him to 3rd place all time. Dice-K got his first win of the season and is now 1-3 and J Bay hit another monster home run as the Sox beat 1st place Detroit to even their record at 4-4 on this trip. Pedroia has been leading off the last two games and Ellsbury is batting 8th with Big Papi still in the 6th spot. Was working too much to really pay attention to this one but got to hear Pap strike out the side in the 9th after loading the bases with no one out. A typical Pap performance this year :)

Red Sox split with Twins, Lose 2 of 3 to Jays

2009-05-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

The Sox lost 5-2 and 4-2 before winning the final regular season game against the Twins they'll play in the dome. Beckett pitched awesome in a game that saw both catchers and managers thrown out in the 7th inning. The twins were tossed after Bailey scored on a sac fly and the catcher objected and the Sox were tossed arguing balls and strikes.

The Sox lost 6-3 and 5-3 before Lester returned to form and the Sox hit 4 home runs, 2 by Youk , one each by Pedroia and Bay to lead the Sox to an 8-2 win. The Sox dropped out of 1st place though and are now 1 game behind the surging Yanks as they head to Detroit for a 3 game series.

Red Sox 6 Twins 5

2009-05-25T08:15:00.000-07:00

We listened to this one driving from the beach at Nantasket to Erving. The Sox fell behind 1- but then roared ahead 5-1, the Twins chipped away and pap gave up another 2 run 2 out homer but this time he had a 3 run lead as Bailey hit a solo homer in the 8th so it held up and he got a save silly enough as Penny got his 5th win and the Sox won 6-3. Jacoby extended his hitting streak to 20 games.

Red Sox 12 Mets 5

2009-05-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Gamma, Gaelen and me had sets for this one right behind the Sox bullpen in the bleachers. Awesome seats. There was a rain delay in the middle of the 1st inning as a thunderstorm came through with lightening, thunder and hail and a mad dash for cover by the fans. Ambiana was with us for the 1st inning and she took shelter beneath my poncho and saved the cell phone but it was too much for her and Mommy came and got her before play resumed. The Mets went up 1-0 on a homer but the Sox came right back with a 3 run blast by Mikey Lowell.

It was intermittent sun and clouds the rest of the game. There were lots of Mets fans in the park which made for fun chants back and forth between the fans. The bleachers sure are different now that tickets are $26. When thery were $3 you had not so many beautiful people out there, but more real fans.

The Mets went up 5-3 as Wake was not on his game but the Sox came back with 3 runs in the 5th, 2 in the 6th and 4 in the 7th when Youk busted a 3 run homer making up for the one that was ruled foul by instant replay. We had a blast out there in right field. Great birthday game as the Sox moveed into 1st place for the first time since last July! Thanks for the homers Youk and Lowell!!!

Youk's 3 run blast!!!!

RED SOX 12 METS 5

Red Sox drop 1st two games to Mets

2009-05-23T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Sox lost Friday 5-3 in Dice-K's return to the mound, Tek hit a homer but it was not enough as Santana dominated. On Saturday Josh Beckett pitched awesome but the Sox only managed 2 runs, both in the 1st and then Pap came on, walked Sheffield then struck out the next two batters but on his very next pitch gave up a homer which had to be reviewed to be verified. And then the Sox came up short in the bottom of the 9th as the Yanks have been hoggin all the walk-off wins lately. Heartbreaker but hey it happens. We watched this one at Katie and Bob's and saw the last inning at Gamma's. Tommorrow we go the to game on my birthday.

Red Sox Sweep Jays

2009-05-21T07:52:00.000-07:00

The Red Sox swept the Blue Jays winning 5-1 behind excellent pitching by Jon Lester and a 2 run homer by Jason Bay in the 1st inning. My sister Katie, her husband Bob and their daughter Maya were at the game with Gamma. The Sox are now 1/2 a game out of first place.

Red Sox 8 Blue Jays 3

2009-05-20T09:07:00.000-07:00

David Ortiz broke the longest homer drought of his career with a 2 run shot to center field in the 5th inning last night as the Sox went deep 4 times with homers by J Bay,Mike Lowell and the 2nd of 2 homers hit by Tek.

The crowd was all over Papi. Penny got his 4th win, Ellsbury exteneded his hitting streak to 15 gams and the Sox are now only 1.5 games behind the Jays with one more to play!