"SPLITTING MAD," blared the Boston Globe this morning. As is their wont, Red Sox Nation and their carnivorous media are dwelling on the just-passed Yankee series and ignoring the important (if not "equally important") three-gamer at the Dome that gets underway tonight.
Don't bet on the players making the same mistake. Although there are some cold spots in the otherwise amazing Boston lineup, one of them is Nom-ah, and we all know that won't last. Otherwise, the Red Sox are essentially the same club that we've seen before: inconsistent starting pitching and defence, a rotten bullpen, and bats that boom so loudly as to overcome these problems on a frighteningly regular basis.
The Doctor is in tonight, but the Jays are apparently sticking with the ill-advised decision not to skip Doug Davis tomorrow. Let's go for two wins in what should be great entertainment.
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Red Sox had racked up double-digit hits in 11 of 12 games before having their bats silenced by Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina ... David Ortiz: "It's crazy how everybody can hit on this ballclub" ... But Mike Mussina retired 21 straight in yesterday's Bosox loss ...
* Although Boston demolished the Tigers in late June, the Bosox joined the Jays among AL East contenders with a recent, frustrating example of "playing down to the competition" ... Tampa Bay took two of three last week ... Doug Mirabelli said that he felt that "these games hurt worse than losing to the Yankees...[W]e're a team that is supposed to come in here and beat these guys" ...
* After pitching well in mid-June, old friend Brandon Lyon has really struggled of late and has officially lost his grip on "Committee Ace" ... He's allowed runs in each of his last five appearances, with two losses and two blown saves over that period ... He gave up Al Martin's first home run in a year and a half on Thursday to gag a 5-3 lead ... Grady Little: "He fell behind with two breaking balls and then threw a ball right down the middle...It's unfortunate, but it happens" ... "I feel like it's my fault," said Lyon. "There's no one else to blame" ... Lyon threw wildly on a pickoff attempt at second base last Tuesday, allowing the winning run to score with two outs in the 11th ... Little compared Lyon to a hitter in an 0-for-10 slump: "Maybe he starts trying too hard" ...
* Manny Ramirez will bring his heavy hitting and fielding misadventures to Chicago as a starter in the All-Star Game ... He's accentuating his election to the team with hits in 12 of his last 13 games (.415) ... He reached the upper deck in left field in Yankee Stadium -- I've only seen Cecil Fielder in his prime do that ... Joe Torre on the blast: "That son of a gun should've counted for two" ... In fairness to Manny's glove, he made a nice running grab of a Jorge Posada drive on Friday ...
* Red-Hot Trot: Nixon is hitting .452 over his last nine games, with four home runs, 9 RBI and fourteen runs scored ...
* Tonight's opponent, Tim Wakefield, has yielded three or more runs in ten separate appearances this year ... He did, however, retire 15 of his final 17 Tampa hitters before Brandon Lyon came in to impersonate a gas can on Thursday ... Overall, his Thursday numbers were good: four hits, three walks, six K's ...
* Ortiz hit a massive blast off the catwalk in right field at Tropicana on Thursday ... The catwalk is 100 feet above the playing surface, and beyond the outfield wall ... He's already racked up 5 home runs in July, including back-to-back two-homer games against the Yankees this weekend ... He had only four homers in April, May and June combined, earning the (in this case) unflattering nickname of "Juan Pierre" from his teammates ... After his barrage in the Bronx, Ortiz countered with this excellent quip: "Now they're calling me 'Furcal'" ...
* Bill Mueller, all 5'10" and 180 pounds of him, homered from both sides of the plate on Friday afternoon ... He's at an outstanding 327/401/555 on the season ...
* Jason Varitek is 0-for-10 since his massive four-hit, two-homer game on Friday ... He's still slugging .573 ... Although he would be honoured to make the All-Star Team, he's not following the "32nd Man" voting closely ... Said Grady Little: "Like a lot of guys on a lot of other ballclubs, he's thought of more within the club than outside the club" ...
* Tomorrow's opponent, Derek Lowe, might be 10-3 but hasn't yet regained his Cy Young form ... In half of his starts, he's allowed at least as many hits as innings pitched ... He has won seven consecutive decisions, however ...
* Recently-acquired Todd Jones got into the Boston bullpen spirit by getting lit up on Saturday ...
* Thursday's opponent, Ramiro Mendoza, simply never hit his stride in the bullpen and found himself on the DL with tendinitis in his right knee ... But his first start of the season (and first appearance off the DL) had to be considered a success -- 5 shutout innings ... Although he allowed a baserunner every inning, all of his hits surrendered were singles ... "My confidence is good now," said an optimistic Mendoza ...
* Since Johnny Damon's absurd 5-for-7 in Boston's absurd 25-8 win over Florida, the disappointing centre fielder has slumped again, going 4-for-37 (.108) ... He was the one straggler when the Red Sox trotted out eight .300 hitters in their Saturday lineup ...
* Kevin Millar has hit a bit of a cold spell lately (as all of my fantasy players must) ... He's 5 for his last 36 (.139) ... After getting hit by an inside Roger Clemens pitch, Nixon picked him up with a two-run homer ... "That's the best feeling in the world," said Millar, as he and Nixon both insinuated that Clemens threw a brushback ...
* After a simply ridiculous June (398/444/646), Nomar Garciaparra has gone just 2 for his last 21 (.095) ... But the man for whom even ground balls are rockets should break out on the SkyDome carpet ...
* Todd Walker has also cooled off and might drop in the lineup, especially against lefties ... He's hitting just .133 in July and booted a Curtis Pride grounder that allowed yesterday's winning run to score ... The Boston Globe called the error "a gaffe as stark as any in the recent history of the remarkable rivalry" ...
* Casey Fossum made a poor rehab start in AA ... The Red Sox will call him up for bullpen help against Detroit if that's how they decide to use him ... If they decide to reinsert the lefty into the rotation, he won't be called up until after the break ...
* Byung-Hyun Kim has followed some so-so starts with solid work out of the bullpen ... Of course, he hated being on the mound for another Yankee Stadium heartbreaker in yesterday's matinee ... Delusion interlude: Theo Epstein laughed off questions about Kim/Yankees "issues": "The kid's not bothered by the Yankees one bit" ... Kim was more equivocal: "A lot of people wonder about the World Series and giving up the home runs, but there's a time when I've pitched well against the Yankees and times when I haven't pitched well against other teams" ...
Probable Batting Orders
vs. LH
8 Damon
5 Mueller
6 Garciaparra
DH/7 Ramirez
9/3 Millar
3/DH Ortiz
7/9 Kapler
4 Jackson/Walker
2 Varitek
vs. RH
8 Damon/Kapler
4 Walker
6 Garciaparra
7 Ramirez
DH Ortiz
3 Millar
9 Nixon
5 Mueller
2 Varitek/Mirabelli
Pitching Probables
Tuesday: RH Wakefield vs. Halladay
Wednesday: RH Lowe vs. Davis
Thursday: RH Mendoza vs. Escobar
Committee Usage
Long: Shiell R
Short: Jones R, Fox R
Setup: Lyon R, Embree L
"Closer": Timlin R, Kim R
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