Red Sox News

"You can call Kevin Youkilis a good hitter. You can call him a good defensive first baseman. You can call him a good guy for all that charity work he does in and around Boston. Call him a die-hard Bengals fan. Call him “Youk!” If you’re one of his old college buddies and you need tickets for the next Red Sox - Yankees game, call him on his cell phone. Just don’t call him a home run hitter. Even if recent history would suggest otherwise."

"Somewhere in Texas there is an old friend of Josh Beckett who watched the Red Sox’ 5-1 win over the Tigers last night, sat back in his living room chair and flashed a big grin of satisfaction. “There’s somebody back home,” said Beckett, “who has been watching me since I was 14 years old and knows me better than anybody. They were the one who saw something.” Whatever the adjustment it certainly didn’t do any harm. Seven innings of hitting corners with mid-90 mph fastballs while weaving in a smattering of curves and changeups showed that he had officially found the place he has been inching toward in his first five starts."

"Struggling Mike Lamb lifted the Minnesota Twins past the Boston Red Sox 7-6 on Friday night with a two-run single in the ninth inning against Jonathan Papelbon, who blew his second consecutive save opportunity."

"Kevin Youkilis is on a tear, with five home runs in his last seven games after last night’s 7-6 loss to the Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome. But he got some attention on another level this week, when he appeared to be arguing with the entire umpiring staff, but particularly plate umpire Jim Reynolds, after striking out in the top of the seventh during a game that turned into a 10-9 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park."

"Bill Smith was bracing himself for yesterday. “You’re about four years early,” the Minnesota general manager said while sitting in his Metrodome office before his team beat the Red Sox [team stats], 7-6, last night. “Just the fact the Red Sox are coming in here, we’re getting it, and the Yankees come in two weeks from now and we’ll get it again. But, like I said, you’re about four years too early.” The premature item Smith was referring to was the analysis of what could have been with last offseason’s trade of Johan Santana."

"“It’s frustrating as hell right now, just because the simple fact is I’m throwing good pitches right now, but I’m just not executing them and finishing them all the way through the strike zone,” he said. “I’m sitting there, in a comfortable position where I want to be, with one out to get, and I don’t finish a split-finger and (Lamb) speeds the bat up and poofs it over the third baseman. Simple."

"The result was the same, the frustration was different. As Jonathan Papelbon stood in the cramped visitors clubhouse following the Red Sox’ 7-6 loss to the Twins last night at the Metrodome, the closer wanted to make one thing perfectly clear - this blown save was an entirely different animal from the one he endured two nights before."

"Lamb caught a split-finger fastball with the end of his bat and sliced a chip shot over Boston third baseman Mike Lowell's head on Friday, surprising even himself by driving home two runs and giving Minnesota its eighth consecutive Metrodome victory, 7-6 over the Red Sox."

"A lot of things have gone the wrong way for Twins third baseman Mike Lamb lately, such as his batting average and, consequently, his playing time. Yet he stood in the clubhouse after Friday's 7-6 comeback victory over Boston, his ears ringing from teammates slapping him on the head, hoping his walk-off two-run single in the ninth against one of the best closers in baseball has relit his pilot."

"The Twins got a break obtaining Gomez, who is hitting .279 and leads the American League with 13 stolen bases. The Mets got a break getting Santana, who is 3-2 with a 2.91 earned-run average. "Keep in mind, we gave them a pretty good player," Smith said. "We gave quality, and we got quality." "

"Boston never paired lefthander Jon Lester and outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury in the same offer to the Twins, and the Red Sox's interest waned after the winter meetings. There also were signals out of Boston that ownership had reservations about signing Santana to a precedent-setting contract, such as the six-year, $137.5 million he wound up receiving from the Mets. Six weeks into the regular season, and it's easy to see why Epstein was in love with his prospects."

"With his 5-1 loss Thursday night to Boston ace Josh Beckett, Justin Verlander has lost as many games this season as he did all of last season -- six. "This is a real trial period for him," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "(He needs to) mature and not give hitters too much credit and not change your pitching style and not panic. Stay after the basics and use all your pitches. "But you have to execute those pitches.""

"Do you remember just two months ago, when people saw that the World Series champion Boston Red Sox were only scheduled to visit Comerica Park once this year -- and people were actually disappointed? Forget that. When the Red Sox finally and mercifully left Comerica Park on Thursday night, I bet the Tigers changed the locks on the visitors' clubhouse. Heck, right now I wouldn't be surprised if the Tigers changed the locks on the home clubhouse. It has been that kind of season."

"Something's not right. That's for darn sure. Maybe the lack of run support is getting into his head, but probably not. Maybe the reduction in his velocity is more real than imagined. Maybe it's both, maybe it's neither. But something's not right. Justin Verlander lost again Thursday night. His record dropped to 1-6 as the Tigers fell to the Red Sox, 5-1, at Comerica Park, their sixth loss in the last seven games."

"Legendary World Series goat Bill Buckner - who famously buried the hatchet with Red Sox Nation at last month’s home opener - says he’s game to pitch in on a locally produced movie based on his exploits, and he likes the idea of Hollywood hottie George Clooney playing him. “My wife is in love with George Clooney,” Buckner told the Herald yesterday from his home in Idaho. Meanwhile, Clooney’s spokesman didn’t rule out the idea of the Oscar-winning actor attaching himself to Quincy screenwriter Josh Mitchell’s ode to Buckner..."

"One piece of the middle-of-the-order puzzle, Manny Ramirez, couldn’t be judged this time around thanks to a night off. But after the Red Sox’ third win in four games at Comerica Park last night, the heart of their lineup certainly seems to be settling into familiar territory. As they leave Michigan and head off to Minnesota, it is looking more and more like David Ortiz and Mike Lowell have found their way. In the 5-1 win over the Tigers, both hitters added two more hits to top one of their most satisfying series."

"After driving in the Red Sox’ go-ahead run in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s eventual 10-9 loss, Pedroia is now a remarkable 5-for-7 in the pinch-hitting role. He is also 6-for-11 when coming in as a substitute. “The environment being what it is in Boston, the only chance I’m going to get is if the game is on the line,” said Pedroia, before going 1-for-5 last night. “You’re either going to get a hit and help us win, or not. That’s what it comes down to.”"

"Eventually, Curt Schilling’s throwing sessions will be undertaken without much analysis or dissection, with the veteran right-hander simply doing his work and then going back to his hotel. But with Schilling’s rehabilitation still in its early stages, these baby steps remain in the news. His second session took place yesterday afternoon at Comerica Park prior to the Red Sox’ series finale against the Tigers. Afterward, he rode an exercise bike in a workout room adjacent to the visitors clubhouse."

"You can call Kevin Youkilis a good hitter. You can call him a good defensive first baseman. You can call him a good guy for all that charity work he does in and around Boston. Call him a die-hard Bengals fan. Call him “Youk!” If you’re one of his old college buddies and you need tickets for the next Red Sox - Yankees game, call him on his cell phone. Just don’t call him a home run hitter. Even if recent history would suggest otherwise."

"Somewhere in Texas there is an old friend of Josh Beckett who watched the Red Sox [team stats]’ 5-1 win over the Tigers last night, sat back in his living room chair and flashed a big grin of satisfaction. “There’s somebody back home,” said Beckett, “who has been watching me since I was 14 years old and knows me better than anybody. They were the one who saw something.”"

"Edgar Renteria trotted home from third on Polanco's fifth hit. A lot of other Tigers and manager Jim Leyland surged onto the field. The Tigers had the 10-9 win that ended their losing streak at five games and Boston's winning streak at five games."

"Not many at Comerica Park, at least with Tigers loyalties, could digest that the Tigers, after leading 4-0 and 8-4, were about to lose their sixth consecutive game, this one straight from a Pepto-Bismol commercial. And few indeed, at least among those who knew of Jonathan Papelbon's reputation, could fathom that the Tigers would score twice in the ninth off Boston's imperial closer to win, 10-9 -- as the remnants of a Comerica crowd announced at 38,062 shrieked at the climax of a game that had taken so many turns during its 3-hour, 55-minute staging. "

"This was not going to continue indefinitely, especially against a lineup like Detroit's, and it didn't. Clay Buchholz gave up four runs on five hits in the third inning last night. Still, the work by the Red Sox' starting pitching staff over the previous 10 games was exemplary: The rotation was 5-3 with a 1.69 ERA (13 earned runs in 69 1/3 innings) while giving up just 36 hits. That lowered the starters' ERA from 4.51 to 3.58, fourth in the league entering last night. Oakland was first with a 3.31 ERA, Tampa Bay second at 3.48, and the White Sox third at 3.54."

"Jonathan Papelbon watched as the ball off Edgar Renteria's bat headed toward shortstop, where he thought he could anticipate the outcome. An outcome that would get him one out closer to his 11th save of the season. "I'm thinking, 'OK, now I've [got] one,' " Papelbon said. "I've got one man in scoring position, at second. I can get a pop fly and a strikeout. Anything can happen." Not so fast. Julio Lugo, who has struggled mightily in the field this season, dropped the ball on the transfer from glove hand to throwing hand."

"It was death by Q-tips. An excuse-me, checked-swing roller. An error by shortstop Julio Lugo, who lost his juggler's license when he failed to transfer a slow-hit tapper from his glove to his bare hand. A sacrifice bunt that rolled 10 feet, tops, from home plate. A tying ground ball by Curtis (0 for 6) Granderson that wheezed its way to second base. A broken-bat floater over Lugo's head, the batter, Placido Polanco, extracting splinters from his hands as he jogged jubilantly down to first base after the last of his five hits on the night brought home the winning run. Tigers 10, Red Sox 9."

"As the rain came down yesterday, and the threats of thunderstorms mounted, Clay Buchholz walked through the visitors' clubhouse. The night's starter had just arrived at the ballpark and, as he headed toward the dining room, he let out a sigh of displeasure and a mild curse. For his second straight start, the last being Friday against the Rays, Buchholz faced the possibility of a rain delay. Perhaps not as long as that one, which clocked in at 2 hours 27 minutes, but it was looking like 7:05 p.m. might not be anywhere near first pitch."

"There is a good reason why Jacoby Ellsbury would have no recollection of being caught stealing in a Red Sox uniform: It hasn’t happened. With a pair of steals last night at Comerica Park, Ellsbury improved to 22-for-22 in the majors. He is tied with Minnesota’s Carlos Gomez and Seattle’s Ichiro Suzuki for the AL lead this season, with 13. Close calls? Only one attempt, from last season, stood out in his mind. “Nothing really,” Ellsbury said before the Sox’ 10-9 loss to the Detroit Tigers. “I went on Andy Pettitte last year. I think that was the closest one.”"

"Julian Tavarez remained with the Red Sox yesterday, which is fine with him. “Whatever I get, I’ll take it,” said the reliever, who pitched in his first game since April 24 last night against the Tigers. No advancements in trade talks regarding Tavarez were made yesterday between the Red Sox and Colorado Rockies. The Rockies remain interested in acquiring the 34-year-old to help their struggling rotation. “If you let me pick, I’ll say I want to start,” Tavarez said before allowing three runs on four hits in one inning of relief during the Sox’ 10-9 loss. “But to me, I’m the kind of guy who will do anything for my team."

"It was in the McCoy Stadium office of Pawtucket Red Sox manager Ron Johnson last month that Jed Lowrie found out his dream had come true: He was going to the big leagues. Third baseman Mike Lowell had been placed on the disabled list with a sprained left thumb and the Red Sox, in need of an infielder, reached down to the minor leagues for Lowrie, who was just a week shy of his 23rd birthday. As Lowrie remembers the conversation, Johnson told him, “You’re going up there, and I could see you back here tomorrow or I may never see you again.” Lowrie said Johnson also told him, “Or you may wind up on the shuttle service between Boston and Pawtucket.”"

"“I don’t care, but sometimes it would be nice to say something positive,” he said. “But all the time it’s negative things, you know? Sometimes, you know, people should say something that’s positive. But every time it’s something negative . . . bring it up, bring it up, bring it up. Why? “I understand you (the media) are going to write whatever you want . . . but I come here every day and bust my ass . . . if things don’t work out sometimes, that’s the way it’s going to be. You understand? But sometimes you bring up the same things . . . You get tired of that.”"

"The feeling had become delightfully foreign for Jonathan Papelbon. In the moments after the Red Sox’ 10-9 loss to the Tigers last night at Comerica Park, the closer sat a few feet away from the entrance to the visitors clubhouse, icing and waiting for the sting to dissipate to a tolerable level. He’d need to wait a little longer. Papelbon had executed virtually every one of the 18 pitches he threw in the ninth inning against the Tigers, yet still had to walk off the mound carrying his first blown save of the season."

"Dolsi made his big-league debut with one out in the seventh when he relieved starter Nate Robertson, who'd allowed four runs. Manny Ramirez lined Dolsi's first serve over the distant centerfield fence for his 497th career homer. That blow completed the scoring in the Red Sox's 5-0 victory at Comerica Park. A crowd of 38,564 watched the Tigers' fifth straight loss with only a handful of boos and mostly with some mix of stunned silence and patience."

"Just how close to doing absolutely nothingat the plate are the Tigers going to get? Maybe we already have that answer, because the way they flailed away with only three hits against the Red Sox in a 5-0 loss Tuesday night at Comerica Park was close to an offense not showing up at all. This confounding Tigers' team, loaded with muscle but with more more mysteries than solutions, baffled one and all yet again with this caveat to be heeded before you allow yourself to be totally fed up. "

""He threw all strikes," manager Terry Francona said. "Obviously with his knuckleball, but he threw some fastballs, he threw some breaking balls - maybe the best breaking ball we've seen all year. Commanded everything. Wake kept them off-balance all night, never let them get untracked." Not only was Wakefield throwing strikes, he was using his secondary pitches more in this game than he had in any other this season."

"The only downside of winning a World Series? You're slotted last in the June amateur draft of high school and college players. So the Red Sox won't be picking until 30th when the draft is held June 5 in Orlando, Fla. The Sox haven't had a pick in the first half of the first round since 1998, when then-scouting director Dennis Britton took shortstop Adam Everett, who was later used in a trade for outfielder Carl Everett. Four years earlier, another shortstop, Nomar Garciaparra, also was taken 12th."

"About two hours after throwing for the first time this season - though it was just a game of catch - Curt Schilling could be seen doing a jig. No, not a real one. He was gone from the visitors' clubhouse at Comerica Park by the time the media was allowed in, but his avatar in "World of Warcraft" was doing his best impression of MC Hammer on a computer screen. more stories like this But, at the very least, it seemed that the real Curt Schilling had a good day."

"It certainly isn't his pitching (and if Wakefield ever owned anti-wrinkle cream, it probably would be for his glove). And for Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who watched Wakefield hold his team to two hits in eight innings of Boston's 5-0 win last night, there had to be a turn-back-the-clock aspect to the knuckleballer's dominance."

"It’s a good bet David Ortiz is feeling fine when he hits a home run yet seems more interested in talking about someone else’s home run... Later, when Ortiz was asked about his homer, he said, “How about that home run Manny hit? Man, he hit the first pitch (Dolsi) threw. That was really something. You don’t see that very often.” And you don’t see Ortiz slump very often. But after getting off to a rocky start, Ortiz now is on something of a tear. Though his home run was his only hit last night, he has six hits in his last 13 at-bats (a .462 clip), raising his average to .226. "

"Manny Ramirez is in no rush, although the same can’t be said for the team’s unofficial hairstylist, Angel Lucas “LMontro” Pena. “I’m not getting it cut until he hits 500,” Pena said, pointing to fledgling dreadlocks. No matter for Ramirez, who went on to tell his haircutting friend that he should emulate the left fielder’s three-year hair growth. Once in a rush to reach 500 career home runs, telling teammates he would accomplish the feat by the end of April, Ramirez, who hit No. 497 in last night’s 5-0 victory against the Detroit Tigers, is now taking a different tack."

"For decades, professional athletes have been motivating themselves by proving that everyone was wrong about them. The scouts were wrong. The coach/manager was wrong. The sportswriters were wrong. The fans were wrong... Which brings us to injured Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, a postseason hero for the ages who is trying to get his right shoulder to cooperate with his goal of making it back to the mound sometime this summer. Schilling is in a rather unusual situation. In order for his comeback to be a success, he has to prove that the Red Sox were right."

"First glance didn’t do this one justice. It would have been easy to identify the talking points for the Red Sox’ 5-0 win over the Tigers last night at Comerica Park. When Tim Wakefield allows two hits over eight innings, Kevin Cash boosts his batting average to .361 with three hits including a two-run double, there would appear to be no secrets to the Sox’ success."

"Matsuzaka walked eight batters, a career high, but didn't allow a hit until Curtis Granderson slapped a run-scoring single up the middle in the fourth. By then, the Tigers were trailing the Red Sox in what became a 6-3 defeat -- their fourth in a row -- before 39,478 at Comerica Park."

"Panic? "I don't think the players sense that at all," manager Jim Leyland said. "If anything, they fall into that little trap too much of thinking we'll be OK." But, at five games under .500, the Tigers aren't OK -- or else they wouldn't have lost, 6-3, to the Red Sox despite multiple opportunities. Or else they also wouldn't be thinking what losing pitcher Jeremy Bonderman thought after this latest loss. "If you're not frustrated as a player at this point," said Bonderman, now 2-3, "you're in the wrong business." "

"While they wait for internal options to heal their wounds and fix their mechanics, the Rockies are actively pursuing depth for their rotation, discussing trades with the Reds for Josh Fogg and the Red Sox for Julian Tavarez. The Rockies also have kicked the tires on Oakland's Rich Harden and Joe Blanton and Texas' Kevin Millwood. Harden is hurt, limiting interest; Blanton is currently not available. And while the Rangers will listen on Millwood, they want the right players in return, not salary relief. The Rockies' motivation is shaped by their need."

"This, in the end, is nothing new for Daisuke Matsuzaka. Walking far too many batters, allowing far fewer hits than would seem possible, coming out the winner. It's not exactly what the Red Sox are looking for from a No. 2 starter, as one day those wins may turn into losses. "I don't know that we want to keep explaining that," manager Terry Francona said of the high walk and low hit totals in last night's 6-3 win over the Tigers. "If that happens a lot, we'll be sitting in [the manager's office] going, 'Well, that's why we lost.'"

"While Daisuke Matsuzaka was walking the house last night, a few swings made it all bearable for the Red Sox in a 6-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, whose promised extreme makeover by manager Jim Leyland could not mask the team's fourth straight loss. It was thumbs-up for Mike Lowell, who hit his first home run and drove in his first runs of 2008 with a two-run shot in the second inning, and Kevin Youkilis, who hit his second tape-measure home run in two games to compensate for all the free passes (eight in five innings) Matsuzaka handed out to the Tigers."

"It is a character trait Curt Schilling has displayed on other occasions over the course of his life, and yesterday he did it again. more stories like this He admitted he was wrong. The Red Sox medical staff, he said, recommended the right course of treatment for his ailing right shoulder, which is why he will be playing catch for the first time this spring this afternoon."

"The wait is finally over for Curt Schilling. Following his workout before last night’s game, Schilling confirmed he will throw for the first time since his biceps/shoulder injury in January. Schilling will make 25 throws from 60 feet with assistant trainer Mike Reinold. “There’s a Christmas Day feeling to it,” Schilling said."

"When Craig Hansen arrived at the visitors clubhouse at Comerica Park yesterday, the first person he looked for was teammate Manny Delcarmen. “One year ago today,” Hansen told Delcarmen. “One year ago today what?” Delcarmen asked. “Cinco de Mayo,” Hansen said. “What about it?” Delcarmen said. “Buffalo,” Hansen replied. And right then and there, Delcarmen knew. He hadn’t been sure of the exact date, but as soon he heard “Buffalo,” Delcarmen knew what Hansen was talking about. Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the worst day in the careers of both Hansen and Delcarmen, a day so bad they each came away from the experience wondering if they’d ever make it back to the big leagues."