Thu, 05/23/2013 - 3:16pm — Anonymous

Outfielder Shane Victorino remains out for a third straight game due to his strained hamstring. In his absence, the Red Sox will feature Daniel Nava batting second and playing right field, with Mike Carp getting his fifth start of the month and his first since May 17. He will play left field and bat ninth against Indians starter Zach McAllister. Carp is 1-for-4 with a homer and walk in five career plate appearances against McAllister.

For a complete look at batter vs. starting pitcher matchups, click here. For complete team coverage, visit weei.com/redsox.

RED SOX LINEUP

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Daniel Nava, RF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Stephen Drew, SS
Mike Carp, LF

Ryan Dempster, SP

Blog Author: 
Alex Speier
Thu, 05/23/2013 - 11:34am — Anonymous

Ryan Dempster

The Red Sox will welcome Terry Francona and the Indians to Fenway Park on Thursday night, with Ryan Dempster taking the hill for Boston, facing off against right-hander Zach McAllister.

It was clear almost immediately that Dempster wasn’t on his game during his last start. The right-hander struggled through 4 2/3 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits while walking six Twins batters. He labored through the short outing, throwing 127 pitches, his most since 2011 and only three shy of his career high. Manager John Farrell came out to get Dempster after the fourth run scored, but the starter talked his way into facing another batter. The decision wasn’t a good one, as Dempster gave up a RBI single to Jamey Carroll before exiting. The Red Sox scored 12 runs and won the game, but Dempster was not eligible for a win.

“I just couldn’t throw it where I wanted to throw it,” Dempster said about his fastball after the start. “I kept missing away with it, missing up with it, missing off the plate with it. I didn’t really have any of my pitches tonight. That’s frustrating when you’re out there and can’t throw your fastball where you want, can’t throw your split where you want and can’t throw your slider where you want. Just have to work on it between starts and get them next time.”

Dempster has given up 15 runs (13 earned), 20 hits and four home runs over his past 16 2/3 innings, raising his ERA to 4.27 on the season. His start on Saturday was his shortest of the season.

Dempster will be opposed by McAllister, who has been a consistently positive force in the Indians rotation, owning a 3-3 record and 2.65 ERA through eight starts. The 25-year-old hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his outings this year.

The righty was effective again in his last outing, throwing 7 1/3 scoreless innings before allowing a two-run home run to Mariners shortstop Brendan Ryan. McAllister kept his pitch count down, throwing only 95 pitches, walking one and striking out one.

“He pitched to contact,” Francona said after the game. “He pitched very well, and he’s been that pitcher for us. For a young kid, he’s very reliable, and he’s getting better, and it’s exciting.” McAllister didn’t factor into the decision, but the Indians would go on to win the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off fielder’s choice, their second walk-off win in as many days.

McAllister’s last start against Boston was one of his least effective outings this season, as he went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits, including a home run to Jarrod Saltalamacchia. McAllister is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA against the Red Sox in his career.

McAllister throws a four-seam fastball in the low-90s, a cutter in the mid-to-high 80s, a change-up and a curveball. McAllister also introduced a splitter to his repertoire this year but isn’t throwing it with much frequency yet.

Indians vs. Dempster (RHP)

Michael Bourn (37 plate appearances): .313/.405/.375, 2 doubles, 1 RBI, 5 walks, 7 strikeouts

Drew Stubbs (22): .190/.190/.381, 1 home run, 1 double, 2 RBI, 7 strikeouts

Mark Reynolds (16): .214/.313/.357, 2 doubles, 1 RBI, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts

Nick Swisher (12): .375/.500/1.125, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 walks, 3 strikeouts

Mike Aviles (6): .333/.333/.333

Michael Brantley (6): .200/.333/.200, 1 walk

Jason Kipnis (6): .000/.167/.000, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Carlos Santana (6): .400/.333/.400, 2 RBI, 2 strikeouts

Asdrubal Cabrera (3): .000/.000/.000

Jason Giambi, Yan Gomes, Cord Phelps and Ryan Raburn have not faced Dempster.

Zach McAllister

Red Sox vs. McAllister (RHP)

Dustin Pedroia (10): .333/.400/.444, 1 double, 2 RBI, 1 walk, 2 striekouts

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (8): .250/.250/.750, 1 HR, 1 double, 1 RBI, 2 strikeouts

Jacoby Ellsbury (6): .500/.500/1.000, 3 doubles, 2 strikeouts

Jonny Gomes (6): .000/.000/.000, 3 strikeouts

Daniel Nava (6): .600/.667/.600, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Mike Carp (5): .250/.400/1.000, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts

Stephen Drew (5): .000/.400/.000, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

Pedro Ciriaco (4): .000/.250/.000, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Ryan Lavarnway (3): .000/.000/.000

Will Middlebrooks (3): .000/.000/.000, 1 strikeout

Mike Napoli (3): .333/.333/1.000, 1 triple, 2 strikeouts

David Ortiz (3): .333/.333/.667, 1 double, 1 RBI

Shane Victorino (3): .333/.333/.333

Blog Author: 
Katie Morrison
Thu, 05/23/2013 - 11:13am — Anonymous

Christian Vazquez

Hitting for the cycle is not a feat that is accomplished often, but it’s just as rare to find a player who just nearly misses the cycle by collecting four extra-base hits — including a double, triple and home run — but fails to hit a single. Christian Vazquez did just that on Wednesday night, though.

The catcher went 4-for-4 with a walk, two doubles, a triple (the fourth of his career, with the other three all coming in 2011) and his third home run of the season. Vazquez scored twice and drive in two. He even had a stolen base, swiping third for his fourth stolen bag of the season. His triple came in the tenth inning, and Derrik Gibson, who pinch-ran for Vazquez, scored the winning run for the Sea Dogs.

Vazquez is often lauded for his remarkable defensive ability. In spring training, he had the single fastest time on a throw from home to second (1.77 seconds) that numerous longtime evaluators had ever seen. One evaluator who was recently in Portland raved about his game management and work with a pitching staff that is featuring some spectacular performances, suggesting that Vazquez has an ability to instill complete confidence in his pitchers with whatever finger he puts down, while Peter Gammons recently tweeted that a major league scout called Vazquez “the best young catcher [he’s] ever seen” behind the plate.

But the 22-year-old is enjoying a fine season with the bat as well. He’s batting .298 on the year with an impressive .412 OBP, drawing 18 walks (compared to 14 strikeouts) in 29 games. There is no question that Vazquez’s defense will play in the big leagues. Offense likely will determine whether he emerges as a starter or backup at the game’s highest level. If he can continue to show the strike zone management and on-base skill that he’s demonstrated to date this year, then there remains a chance that he could emerge as a big league regular at some point.

After all, the average AL catcher this year is posting a line of .247/.317/.412 — so Vazquez shows the potential for well above-average on-base abilities at a position that typically produces outs in volume. His .412 OBP ranks 10th in the Eastern League. He’s younger than all nine of the players who are in front of him. In that respect, while Wednesday night offered a highlight-reel, Vazquez is building a more considerable body of evidence to suggest his emerging prospect status.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: OFF DAY

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 5-4 WIN (10 INNINGS) VS. NEW HAMPSHIRE (BLUE JAYS)

(BOX)

– Though Matt Barnes spent much of his outing pitching out of the stretch and did not have a single 1-2-3 inning, he worked around a seven-hit yield (four doubles, three singles) in five innings to limit his opponents to three runs (two earned). He also struck out five and walked just one, continuing a stretch in which he’s been showing the ability that rapidly elevated his prospect status last year — to attack the strike zone, get strikeouts and walk few. In his last seven starts, Barnes has 46 strikeouts and 11 walks in 38 2/3 innings. He is tied for the Eastern League in strikeouts since April 19, with a 3-1 record and 3.26 ERA during the stretch.

He threw 57 of 93 pitches (61 percent) for strikes, though after getting swings and misses in volume in recent outings, he elicited just seven on Wednesday. Still, there is something to be said for holding an opposing lineup in check when a pitcher doesn’t feature his best stuff, and it appears the 22-year-old was able to accomplish just that.

– Kolbrin Vitek, who aside from one game where he was pressed into emergency duty at second base has played only third base in his minor league career, made the first start of his professional career in the outfield on Wednesday, playing left field. With Michael Almanzar and Travis Shaw both representing lineup priorities at the two infield corners, the addition of more versatility could allow all three to see lineup time, while also potentially helping to open the door for a mid-year promotion of High-A Salem third baseman Garin Cecchini, who may force his way up to Double-A at some point this year.

Vitek made two catches and committed an error on the night. The 2010 first-round pick has been scuffling at the plate all season for Portland, and went 0-for-5 on Tuesday, striking out twice and leaving a total of five runners on base. His average dropped to .204 on the year, and he’s failed to drive in a run in 14 games. Vitek is 6-for-his-last-48, batting .125/.192/.167 in his last 14 games.

– Shortstop Xander Bogaerts went 0-for-5, failing to reach base in any of his plate appearances. It was his 23rd professional game of at least five plate appearances; of those, it marked just the second time that he’s failed to reach base. The other came two days earlier. He was hitting .303/.373/.465 prior to suffering soreness in his side on May 3; since returning from a four-day hiatus to rest the injury, the 20-year-old is now hitting .222/.328/.333.

HIGH-A SALEM RED SOX: RAINED OUT

SINGLE-A GREENVILLE DRIVE: SUSPENDED (RAIN) 3-3 GAME IN TOP OF THIRD AT HICKORY (RANGERS)

(BOX)

– Right-hander Pat Light left the game after facing just one batter due to hamstring cramping.

– Outfielder Aneury Tavarez, who entered the game with multiple hits in four of his previous seven contests, clubbed a two-run homer. Whenever the game is concluded, the longball will register as the 21-year-old’s third of the season.

– Feats of Mookie: Because Mookie Betts was not in the lineup, he presumably chose to bend nature to his will and force a rainout.

Alex Speier contributed to this report.

Blog Author: 
Katie Morrison
Thu, 05/23/2013 - 10:53am — Anonymous

Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona will make his return to Fenway Park on Thursday night when he and his first-place Indians make their only trip of the year to Fenway Park.

Former Red Sox pitcher Justin Masterson, scheduled to pitch at Fenway on Friday night, is the ace of the Cleveland staff at 7-2 with 2.83 ERA. (AP)

It should be an emotional return for the manager, who spent eight years at the helm of the Sox, winning two World Series in Boston and bringing the team to the playoffs four times during his tenure.

“I’m sure I’ll have a lot of emotions,” Francona said on Wednesday. “The one thing I want to remind myself — and I have — is that this game is tough enough to play and I don’t want our guys having extra baggage during that series. I need to be very cognizant of that, that whatever feelings I’m having, I’ll deal with ‘em.”

The Red Sox have already taken on Francona’s Indians, sweeping Cleveland in a three-game set back in April. But things have been going considerably better for the Tribe since the Sox last saw them; they sit a half-game above the Tigers in the AL Central, having their lead cut from 2½ games after dropping both games of a two-game set against Detroit. The Indians have gone 20-10 since their series with the Red Sox, and 12-6 in the month of May. Prior to the series against Detroit, the Indians completed a four-game sweep of the Mariners, winning three of the four in walk-off fashion.

The Red Sox are coming home after a successful road trip in which they went 6-3, taking two of three against the Rays, sweeping the Twins, and salvaging the final game of the series against the White Sox after dropping the first two contests. A Yankees loss on Wednesday put the Red Sox within a half-game of the division leads and 2½ games above the third-place Orioles.

Here are the pitching matchups for the four-game set.

Thursday: Ryan Dempster (2-4, 4.27) vs. Zach McAllister (3-3, 2.65)
Friday: John Lackey (2-4, 3.31) vs. Justin Masterson (7-2, 2.83)
Saturday: Jon Lester (6-1, 3.15) vs. Scott Kazmir (2-2, 6.35)
Sunday: Felix Doubront (3-2, 5.61) vs. Corey Kluber (3-3, 5.19)

WHO’S HOT: RED SOX

• Jarrod Saltalamacchia has enjoyed solid offensive production over the course of this month, batting .313/.377/.542 in 16 games this May. The catcher went 3-for-9 in the series against the White Sox, hitting his fifth home run of the year on Monday night. He also caught two runners stealing in the last game of the series, double the amount of runners he had thrown out before Wednesday night.

• There’s been discussion regarding whether or not the scuffling Jacoby Ellsbury should remain in the leadoff spot in the lineup, but John Farrell reiterated that he would keep the center fielder at the top of the order for the time being. The vote of confidence seems to have worked in the past two games. Though it’s a very small sample size, Ellsbury is 3-for-6 in his last two contests, reaching base four times on Wednesday night (two hits, two walks). He is still struggling to find power, but Ellsbury, who is second in the league with 13 steals, can be effective as long as he’s finding ways to get on base.

• There have been a lot of spirited high-fives in the dugout lately, and that’s because Koji Uehara has gone six straight appearances without allowing a run, striking out two in an inning on Wednesday night. The reliever has been dominant at times, coming into the series with a 2.04 ERA and striking out an average of 13.2 batters per nine innings, totaling 26 strikeouts on the year.

WHO’S HOT: INDIANS

• Former Oriole Mark Reynolds is enjoying his first season as an Indian, leading the club with 12 home runs and 37 RBIs (good for fourth in the American League, two RBIs more than Mike Napoli). The first/third baseman had been hitless in three games before singling in Wednesday night’s game and is hitting .248 on the year, but he has gotten on base at a .333 clip and owns a .529 slugging percentage.

• Yan Gomes started the year in Triple-A, was recalled for a couple of weeks, was sent back down and then was promptly recalled again, and the catcher is doing everything he can to stay at the major league level for good. Gomes is batting .368 since his second call-up, going 14-38 with six extra-base hits. He belted his fourth home run of the season in Wednesday night’s contest, driving in his 10th run of the year. His third home run of the season came back on May 20 against Seattle, and it came at the right time; he crushed a three-run blast in the bottom of the 10th to give the Indians their third walk-off in a four-game series against Seattle.

• The Indians rotation has been shaky at times, but the bullpen has been consistent. Closer Chris Perez has six saves and owns a 2.25 ERA, while Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen both have been solid late-inning options. Right-hander Joe Smith has proven he’s an effective set-up man, allowing only two earned runs in his 16 innings this season.

WHO’S NOT: RED SOX

• Stephen Drew went hitless in the series in Chicago, reaching base twice with two walks in the three games. The shortstop batted .182 in seven games on the road trip, missing two games in Minnesota after he injured his back on a slide.

• Jonny Gomes has been finding ways to get on base but is hitting .186 on the year. He had five hits on the road trip in 24 at-bats and he received five walks. Gomes hasn’t shown a lot of power yet this year, with six extra-base hits in his 36 games.

WHO’S NOT: INDIANS

• Masterson and McAllister have been very impressive so far this year, with both of the starters coming into the series with sub-3.00 ERAs and combining to go 10-5. But the back end of the Indians rotation is a different story. The hot-and-cold Ubaldo Jimenez has looked like an ace at times but has been dreadful at others. Kazmir, the comeback story, also has had a wide range of outings, going from striking out 10 and allowing only one in six innings to lasting only three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits. Kluber has been relatively mediocre since joining the rotation in place of the injured Brett Myers. The three have a combined 5.85 ERA and 8-7 record in 2013.

• Jason Giambi is in the midst of a very cold streak at the plate, going hitless in his last seven games (19 at-bats). Wednesday night’s game was especially frustrating for Giambi, going 0-for-5 and striking out four times against Tigers pitching. The 42-year-old designated hitter is batting an anemic .161/.258/.321 on the season.

Blog Author: 
Katie Morrison
Thu, 05/23/2013 - 10:12am — Alex Speier

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, in an appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show, said that the Red Sox have talked at various points with outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury about the possibility of something other than a one-year deal.

Thu, 05/23/2013 - 9:53am — Anonymous
Ben joined the program to discuss the return of Terry Francona and said that he always had a good relationship with the former manager. Ben added that he thinks Ellsbury is in a slump due in part to the amount of left handed pitchers the team has faced.
Thu, 05/23/2013 - 9:52am — Anonymous

Red Sox GM Ben Cherington, in an appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show, said that the Red Sox have talked at various points with outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury about the possibility of something other than a one-year deal. However, each time, the team and player elected to agree to a one-year contract that avoided an arbitration hearing but that kept Ellsbury moving on a path towards free agency after the 2013 season. And now, in a season where Ellsbury has shown some recently promising offensive signs but has mostly struggled en route to a .249/.318/.340 line, Cherington suggested that the Sox expect that the team will not engage in contract talks with the 29-year-old until after the season.

“Because Ellsbury has gone through arbitration the last three years, there’s been an opportunity to talk to [agent Scott Boras] and Jacoby each of those years in the winter before spring training or early in spring training about his status. And each of those years we’ve signed a one-year deal and settled his arb case before it went to a hearing.
But during those talks, you talk about a lot of things. You talk about other options, other contract options, other sorts of scenarios,” said Cherington. “We’ve had those conversations. It’s just, in this case, we agreed before the season that we would defer it until the end of the season. That’s our expectation right now. You never say never. Things can change. But our expectation is we pick up the conversation after the season.”

Cherington also discussed the decision to trade Justin Masterson to the Indians in 2009, along with prospects Nick Hagadone and Bryan Price, for catcher Victor Martinez. Though Masterson is 7-2 with a 2.83 ERA this year and has been one of the top starters in the AL, Cherington said that he would have made the same deal that his predecessor, GM Theo Epstein, did. Still, he acknowledged that the team didn’t anticipate quite what Masterson would become as a starter.

“We didn’t see him performing quite like this as a starter. We thought, at the time, he would be a good major league starter or a really good reliever, and he’s probably exceeded that in a starting role,” said Cherington. “I don’t think we should be too surprised by it, though. This is a pretty impressive young man. Masterson, going back to the draft, he stood out in the draft as the top makeup on the board that year. Even though he does it in sort of an unconventional way, it’s a combination of his physical size, strength and stuff with his drive and makeup to succeed that separated him. We were able to get him at a spot in the draft — a lot of good work by Dan Matson, one of our scouts that year to get him — but fast-forward, and if I’m in Theo’s shoes at the time, I would have done the same thing. The deal made a lot of sense at the time. We were trying to get into the playoffs, and Victor Martinez certainly helped to get us into the playoffs. We needed that bat in the middle of the lineup at a key position. He helped us for the time he was here. But not surprised at all that Justin is having success, but yeah, he’s probably exceeded our expectations.”

More to come . . .

Blog Author: 
Alex Speier

This is the first of a three-part series examining the function and structure of Red Sox ownership and governance. 

How's this for a formula?



Thu, 05/23/2013 - 12:25am — Anonymous
Salty spoke with Joe Castiglione & Dave O'Brien after he helped his team to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox tonight. The Red Sox return to Fenway after going 6-3 on the road trip.

[0:00:41] ... you know I've been feeling good with my arm as far as arm strength so I just try to put as much facts that are inflicted and not worry about where it's going. They seem to struggle there is temple is quite the same thing they seem to get into a groove is that accurate. Yeah you know I think he was -- worried about that run -- a little bit I guess after scoring two runs union put zero so. You know he was doing the best he did know and -- -- extra runs. You might put a little too much worry on. You know working out and you know of going some strong force. This road trip this is impressive stuff anytime of the year you can go six and three over nine games. But closed the gap to ...
[0:02:08] ... yet okay Jarrod Saltalamacchia apparently OK after getting it with a zone foul ball -- earlier as the Red Sox when -- 626 in three on the trip. -- ...




Wed, 05/22/2013 - 11:32pm — Alex Speier

For most of Wednesday night, the Red Sox offense was utterly subdued by White Sox pitching. Yet even before Boston broke out its lumber and blew open the game in the final two innings, the offensive shortcomings proved irrelevant thanks to the (once-again) masterful work of Clay Buchholz, who dominated in Boston’s 6-2 road win at U.S.