Pedroia Snatched the MVP
The hot hitting Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia wins the American League most valuable player award. He is one of the only second baseman in this century to get the award. After only being in the league for two years, this is a pretty big accomplishment for Pedroia. The last Red Sox player to get this award was Mo Vaughn in 1995. The 2007 rookie of the year led the the league in doubles and tied for the league in hits.
Rays Head to Boston for Crucial Divison Series
The Boston Red Sox have been on a tear as of late winning seven of their last ten games. They are led by first baseman Kevin Youklis and second baseman Dustin Pedroia, both candidates for winning the American League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Pedroia is hitting an outstanding .330 and Youk is batting .314 for the dangerous Red Sox.
Tampa has been on a losing streak only winning five of their last ten games. They have lost three straight games and have to go to Fenway Park to face the Red Sox. The Rays only lead the Red Sox by one and half games in the A.L. East division. The young Rays will be lucky if they win a game in Boston, especially with the pitching they have to face all three nights. Game one of the series is Lester (13-5), game two is Matsuzaka (16-2) and in final game of the series Tampa has to face Josh Beckett (12-9). It is going to be difficult especially when Tampa still has 14 away games and only seven at the Trop. (Tropicana field is their home field in Tampa, Florida).
Do you think the Rays have a chance to win the American League East Pennant?
The Red Sox will win the American League East Pennant!
The current standings in the American League East are as follows: Tampa Bay Rays in first followed by the Boston Red Sox, the Toronto Blue Jays, and finally the last place New York Yankees. The Rays are in first by one and a half games over the Red Sox, nine and a half over the Blue Jays, and 10 games over the Yankees.
The Rays will not stay in first place for long because of the very tough schedule ahead of them. They play the Red Sox six more times, the Yankees three and the Minnesota Twins four. Also, they are very inexperienced and have never been in a pennant race before. Tampa has 14 away games and seven home left in September, so that could cause a little trouble for the young Rays. They still have two major injuries. Left fielder Carl Crawford and third baseman Evan Longoria are both all-stars. These are huge losses to their team.
The Red Sox should win every series the rest of the season. Dustin Pedroia is having an MVP season batting .330 leading the American League in batting average. Also Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Sean Casey came back from injuries on Friday, which is going to be a huge lift. One major reason that the Sox are going to win the division is that the pitching is doing really well. Matsuzaka and Lester are the Red Sox leading pitchers with combined records of 29-7. The bullpen is anchored with Okie Dokie and Papelbon, the Irish dancer. Papelbon is one of the top three closers in all of baseball. The Red Sox also have the best home record in all of baseball 48-19.
The Yankees are not going to make the playoffs. Their pitching is way too inconsistent and they also have a key injury that has effected them. Staring catcher Jorge Posada is out for the season. The Yanks have lost his great bat from the lineup and they miss him very much. Also, they are leaving a lot of men in on base and failing to drive in the runners. They are lacking clutch hitting this season since their big play makers Jeter and A-Rod are struggling at the plate with runners on base.
Angels Extend Lead in the A.L. West
The Los Angeles Angels came back from five down to beat the Mariners 10-6 for the second day in a row. The Angels were down 5-0 after the first inning of last night’s game in Seattle and battled through adversity to win to extend their lead to four games in the A.L. West. Tonight the Angels hope to complete the sweep and extend their lead to five games inching closer and closer to the playoffs. The Angels currently have the second best record in baseball.
It sure looks like the Angels will be winning another A.L. West pennant. What do you think? Red Sox vs. Angels in ALCS?
Red Sox to Play Important DH Today
The Red Sox are coming off a rainout last night tough loss in Tampa on Wednesday night leaving fourteen runners on base only able to score one run in a 2-1 loss. Today the Red Sox are playing a day/night double header against the Chicago White Sox with games scheduled for 2pm and 8pm.
In the first game Josh Beckett takes the hill looking for his 16th win of the season. Beckett is getting closer and closer to becoming the 2007 AL Cy Young winner. In the the nightcap, Curt Schilling looks to shine after coming back to get a victory after having been off the D.L. missing several starts.
The Red Sox Explode for Seventeen Hits in the Victory
The Boston Red Sox win the final game of the series 14-9 and take three out of four from the Cleveland Indians on Thursday night. Willy Mo Pena was on fire with four hits, four RBI, and a homerun in the victory. Also, Manny Ramirez also did a part in the victory smashing two homeruns, double, and four RBI. The Red Sox catcher was two for four on the night with two RBI and Coco Crisp chipped in with a couple of hits and a RBI for the winners.
The Red Sox have won six out of their last seven games and looking to keep it going playing Tampa Bay tonight in Tampa with Tim Wakefield to take the mound. Tim Wakefield is 7-0 with a 2.39 ERA in his career at Tropicana Field.
Lester Shines in his 2007 Major League Debut
Cleveland, Ohio (7/23/07)–Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox earned a huge personal victory against the Cleveland Indians pitching in his first MLB game of 2007. Last August during his rookie season as a starter after posting a brilliant 7-2 record, Lester was dignosed with cancer and wasn’t able to pitch the remainder of the season. He immediately began treatment to fight his cancer. In December he was cleared by doctors to begin his comeback from a disease that threatened his life and his baseball career.
Lester pitched in the minor leagues the first half of the this Red Sox season. He pitched three games for single A Lowell and fourteen games AAA Pawtuckett which helped him get ready for his first start against the Cleveland Indians. This was his first major league start since last August. He shined in this 6-2 Red Sox victory over the tribe. The 23 year-old left hander went six innings throwing 96 pitches allowing five hits, three walks, two runs, and six strikeouts.
Do you think Lester will continue to succeed in the future as a Red Sox pitcher? Might he be that important left handed starter who can help carry the Red Sox to more pennants and championships?
Crisp and Lugo Help Sox Win Series
The Red Sox played a four game series against the Chicago White Sox.
The last three games of the series the Red Sox outscored their opponents 29-8. Coco Crisp had seven hits with eight RBI while Julio Lugo had a grand slam along with six hits and five RBI in final three games of the series. Crisp has raised his batting average to .277 and Lugo has hit nearly .500 last week raising his batting average to .225.
Crisp has an eleven game hitting streak and Lugo has a seven game hitting streak. In the series finale Manny Ramirez and Mike Lowell each blasted a three run homer leading the Red Sox to an 8-5 victory.
Kason Gabbard Throws a Complete Game Against the Kansas City Royals
Kason Gabbard of the Red Sox threw a three hit shutout in his victory over the Royals. He is one of the three pitchers this year that has thrown a complete game for the Red Sox. This year at Fenway Gabbard has a 3-0 record with an ERA of 1.71. Also, he had nine strikeouts in the recent Red Sox 4-0 victory.
Do you think Kason Gabbard will continue to pitch with the Red Sox ?
Josh Beckett Suffers His Third Loss of the Year
Josh Beckett faced the Toronto Blue Jays and went eight innings allowing only seven hits and two earned runs in his contest. He had a good start and couldn’t get any run support from his team getting the loss 2-1 against the Jays. If Beckett gets good run support the rest of the regular season, he could be a twenty game winner. He pitched in the All-Star Game this year and went two innings giving up only two hits and no runs in his outing.
Guerrero Blasts His Way to Title
Four Second Round Homers Sail 450 Feet or More
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Vlad Guerrero advanced to the finals of the 78th State Farm Homerun Derby defeating Alex Rios for the title. In the second round of this year’s homerun derby, Guerrero hit nine homers with four homeruns that were hit 450 feet or more. His longest homeroom was 503 feet with three other three bombs traveling 474, 469, and 450 feet.
The Red Sox Have Six Players Going to the All-Star Game in San Francisco
The Red Sox are the best team in baseball and have six players going to the All-Star Game in San Francisco. The Red sox have the most players of any team in the major leagues going to the game. The players going to the game are: Josh Beckett p, Mike Lowell 3b, Hideki Okajima p, David Ortiz 1b, Jonathan Papelbon p, and Manny Ramirez of.
Of the Red Sox pitchers going, two are in the bullpen and one is a starter. Ortiz, Ramirez, and Lowell are there because of their power numbers. The Red Sox have had many players go to the All-Star Game in the past and will continue to do so as long as they keep winning and having successful seasons.
Who is your favorite Red Sox All-Star?
The Red Sox Faced the Left Hander from the University of North Carolina Last Night
The Red Sox faced the 22-year old Andrew Miller from University of North Carolina and lost 9-2. He made three appearances in single A and was brought up to the big leagues. Last night was his sixth ever major league start as he went seven innings allowing only three hits and one earned run in his victory over the Red Sox. Miller used many different pitches in his repertoire to shut down the hot hitting Red Sox. Last night he earned his fourth major league victory to make him 4-2 in his MLB career.The Red Sox were surprised facing the new Detroit Tiger being shut down by a 22-year old rookie.
He left college early skipping his senior year to get drafted by the Tigers in the sixth overall pick in the draft. Last year his team the University of North Carolina went to the Championship of the College World Series and lost against Oregon State in the best of three series. Miller was not expecting to get the call up this early and start his MLB career with the Detroit Tigers and especially pitch against the Red Sox. For Miller this is a dream come true to come to the big leagues and pitch against the best team in baseball the Boston Red Sox.
Do you think Andrew Miller will have a successful MLB career?
Jacoby Ellisbury Trying to Take Over Coco Crisp Spot in Center Field
The new Red Sox player from AAA Pawtuckett was called up Saturday to play for Coco Crisp, who is battling a thumb injury. Jacoby Ellisbury has started four of the last five games and hit .375. Coco has been hot lately bringing his average up to .265 and hitting a grand slam in last night’s game over Tampa Bay. Many people say that the Red Sox have the best minor league program in the whole major leagues.
The Red Sox sent Jacoby Ellisbury back down to AAA Pawtuckett because Coco was put back in the lineup on Wednesday. Right now the Red Sox are on a tear winning the last four games heading into Detroit this weekend hoping to keep that streak going through the All-Star break. Do you think the Red Sox will bring Jacoby Ellisbury back up to help the team succeed later into the season, possibly the playoffs?
