Hit and Run with Dan Roche

Sox Injury News

A pretty busy Friday on the injury front for the Red Sox... --Jacoby Ellsbury(ribs) is with the club. He'll play Saturday and Sunday with Pawtucket and then be re-evaluated by the Sox --Dustin Pedroia(broken foot) had a CT Scan and is healing well. Pedroia can now run the bases. He did that on Friday 10-12 times from 90-feet. He can take ground balls too. --Jason Varitek(broken foot) also had a CT Scan and was cleared to take the boot off. He is still behind Pedroia, but getting better. --Talked to JD Drew. Said his hamstring strain is better. However, he had to scratch from the line-up Friday night. --Mike Lowell(hip) is with the club after hitting .500 with Pawtucket. Lowell won't be activated Friday and is pretty much in "limbo" until after the MLB Traded deadline Saturday. --all is quiet for the Sox on the trade front as the price for relief help is high. Boston hoping that the price will come down as the 4pm Saturday deadline gets closer

All Is Not Lost

Amazing. Filled in for Mike Felger on the "Felger and Mazz" show on "98.5 The Sports Hub" Wednesday and I can't believe how many people have "written off" the 2010 Red Sox. We've been over this. The Sox trail NYY by 7 games in the AL East and TB by 5 in AL WIld Card hunt. Please. How about giving this team credit for sweeping the Angels after stumbling against the lowly Seattle mariners over the weekend? To finish 6-4 on an always tough West coast swing is huge for Boston. It kept them alive. And, now you just wait for players to come back and hope to make a run over the final two months. It's pretty simple. Will the Sox do it? Who knows. However, as they get healthier and if they straighten out their bullpen they can certainly catch one of those two teams. And, that looks like all they will have to do. So, go ahead and focus in on the Patriots as they begin their 2010 journey. I know I'm looking forward to it. But, how you can simply say good-bye to the 2010 Red Sox if you're a Sox fan...is truly beyond me.

Do Not Sell Theo

Your 2010 Boston Red Sox are literally a "day-to-day" team these days. I'm not sure if Theo Epstein is that way, but I would think a good majority of Red Sox fans are. One day it's let sell off this team and build fo rthe future while the next it's let's add some pieces and try to go for it again. My response? I think it's absurd to think the way of "selling" at this point of the season. We touched upon this Monday night on "The Baseball Reporters Show"(6-7pm weeknights on 98.5 FM, The Sports Hub). You still have two months to go. Granted this team is 8 games behind New York in the AL East and 5 games south of Tampa Bay for the AL Wild Card spot, but there is still 62 games to be played. The Sox play both teams and can certainly make up that ground. WIll it be tough? Absolutely as we've seen both teams are solid. However, the Sox are just starting to get players back from Josh Beckett to Clay Buchholz to Victor Martinez. We saw Monday night what having both Buchholz and Martinez can mean to this team. Buchholz gives you seven solid innings of work allowing Terry Francona to only have to use two relievers(Atchison(who strruggled) and Papelbon) to close it out. Meanwhile, Martinez made his presence felt in his first at-bat as he delivered an RBI single to give the Sox a 2-1 lead. While Martinez was out, Sox catchers combined for two RBI's total! Now, can Theo add to this team? Sure, but getting another bullpen arm is not going to be easy. Scott Downs and other top relievers aren't going to come cheap. And, I don't think Theo(or Sox fans) want to give up a Casey Kelly or Jose Iglesias at this point. However, that doesn't mean that Theo won't make a deal. He could do anything from relievers to big bats as we've seen in the past. Meanwhile, it was nice to see David Ortiz hit two home runs Monday night against some pretty good pitchers in Dan Haren and Fernando Rodney. Big Papi had struggled since winning the home run derby. The Sox need his bat as they struggle to score runs. And, oh by the way from Monday night.....a pet peeve pf mine is that big leaguers can't bunt. We saw it from Eric Patterson in the 9th inning when he couldn't execute one. I will never understand why all teams don't work on buntin more on a daily basis. It's like free throws. The only way to get better at them is to..practice, practice, practice.

Sox Have "It"

You certainly have the right to declare that this Red Sox team has had too many injuries and will never have enough to make the play-offs. It's your right as a baseball fan. However, it's become apparent that this group is a resilient one. Nothing seems to faze this group of players. Let's take a look at a few examples of that: 1) On May 17th, the Sox blow a 9-7 9th inning lead against the Yankees in New York. Jonathan Papelbon gives up a game-tying home run to Alex Rodriguez and then a game-wnning two run homer to Marcus Thames. A crushing loss. However, the next night the Sox pull out a much-needed 7-6 win against the Yanks. Boston rallied from a 5-0 deficit with one run in the 6th, three in the 8th, and then two more in the 9th as Jeremy Hermida ripped a two-run double off of Mariano Rivera. Papelbon gave up an RBI double to Robinson Cano in a shaky 9th, but the Sox pull out the huge win. "I was hoping all night long I would get another chance," Papelbon said. "It's a heavyweight fight. They might get one good blow in but they're not going to knock me down." 2) On June 22nd in Colorado, the Sox managed to attack and put runs on the board against the nearly unhittable Ubaldo Jiminez. The Sox led 6-5 heading into the bottom of the 9th only to see Papelbon give it up. Ian Stewart crushes one 450-feet to tie the game and then Jason Giambi wins it with a two-run shot. The next night, the Sox build an 11-8 eighth inning lead thanks to two home runs by Dustin Pedroia only to have Colorado rally again to tie it at 11-11. However, Pedroia does it again in the 10th inning with a two-run homer and the Sox pull out another gutsy win 13-11. Pedroia's first 3-run homer game. 3) The Sox come out of the All-Star break struggling as they lose two straight to Texas and don't look good doing it. In the 3rd game of the series, Boston faces newly acquired tough lefty Cliff Lee. Lee is dominant as he carries Texas to a 2-1 9th inning lead. But, the Sox once again find a way. Marco Scutaro singles, goes to second on a Darnell McDonald sac bunt, to 3rd on a David Ortiz groundout, and scores on a huge Kevin Youkilis RBI double. Youk then wins it in the 11th inning with a Sac fly. A big 3-2 victory. 4) After dropping two of three in Oakland against the A's, the Sox head to Seattle desperately needing wins against an offensively challenged Seattle team. Boston responds with one of the strangest games in the history of the storied franchise. John Lackey no-hits the Mariners into the 8th inning as Boston carries a 6-1 lead into the bottom of the 9th. Manny Delcarmen and bad defense from Scutaro and Bill Hall allows the M's to unbelievably tie it at 6-6. Done? Nope. Hideki Okajima gets out of a 1-out bases loaded situation in the 12th inning and Eric Patterson delivers a 2-run double on a 1-2 pitch with two outs in the 13th. Boston wins 8-6 in 13 innings. So, go ahead put the Sox in your earview mirror for the summer. But, don't be surprised to see them drive right past you on Labor Day and find a way to get into the postseason again.

Major League Team Coverage

Odds of Winning
2009 World Series *

Team	Odds
New York Yankees	4-1
Boston Red Sox	13-2
Chicago Cubs	17-2
New York Mets	9-1
Los Angeles Angels	11-1
St-Louis Cardinals	18-1
Cleveland Indians	20-1
Los Angeles Dodgers	20-1
Chicago White Sox	32-1

* Odds of winning the World Series - as of Mar 4, 2009 (courtesy of bodoglife.com)

Odds of Winning
2008 World Series **

Team	Odds
Boston Red Sox	4-1
New York Mets	4-1
New York Yankees	6-1
Detroit Tigers	6-1
Chicago Cubs	7-1
Los Angeles Dodgers	20-1
Chicago White Sox	40-1
St-Louis Cardinals	75-1

** Odds of winning the 2008 World Series - as of Apr 1, 2008 (courtesy of sportsbook.com)

Red Sox Menu
Sox News
Boston News

Fenway Satelite Image

Blogs
Empyreal Environs
Over the Monster

Bwin - bwin sospronostics