9/27/2007 1:22:23 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

"Yes it is. That’s the magic number.”

“Wh-wh-what does it all mean?”

It means, first of all, that we’re suddenly above 97 percent to win the AL East. (Above 98 if you believe PECOTA.) Yesterday, for comparison’s sake, we were hovering around 80.

Does this mean that we’re a lock? Clearly not.

But it does mean that the choice between resting up for the playoffs and going full-out for the division is now, definitively, a false one.

A little breathing room is a good thing to have.

And last night’s game is an object lesson in playing to win without pulling out all the stops.

Schilling left after six strong, even though his pitch count would’ve allowed a seventh.

Eric Gagne was used, and he was not, to put it mildly, very effective.

But our ever-astute manager had our relief ace ready and warming to bail him out.

This, the new Sports Illustrated cover boy was able to do with a single pitch.

Manny Delcarmen and Bryan Corey were both entrusted with innings.

The former a crucial frame (the seventh) in which he shined; the latter, some garbage time (the ninth) in which he did not.

Offensively, luckily, things just seemed to work out.

Manny Ramirez returned to duty, batting second for only the second time in his nearly 2,000-game career — he’ll do it again tonight — which was a nice way to get him three plate appearances and get him out early. (One question: Why was he playing left instead of spelling Ortiz at DH? Was the assumption that having Papi behind him would give him some pitches to hit?)

In the event, he did hit (a single in his first at-bat) and ran (from second, on Mike Lowell’s double) and walked (in the fifth, before being pulled for pinch-runner Brandon Moss). And he seemed OK. Which was good to see.

I didn’t think Youkilis would make an appearance, but thanks to the wonders of cortisone, he was able to pinch-hit for Hinske in the fifth. It was then I knew that, all the carping to the contrary, Francona was playing for the division — within reason.

Youk was hitless for the night, but you can’t have it all. And, hey, with an offensive powerhouse like J.D. Drew (!) on your team (3 for 4 with a walk) and Julio “I Pwn My Little Bro” Lugo (1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored) we can afford it.

Also worth noting: Big Papi may be hurting, but ball he smashed to deep right was probably hurting more.

And so, in the end, we won.

And then, the cherry on top.

Five more to go. Let’s try to win three so we don’t have to be embarrassed about this.

9/26/2007 1:19:20 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

9/25/2007 4:27:25 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Fantastic.

So A.J. Burnett, who, Jayson Stark reminds us, has a 0.60 ERA against the MFY in his last two starts (15 IP, 8 hits, 1 run, 13 strikeouts) was a late scratch at Stade Fasciste today.

The Jays are currently up by three with Jesse “Deliverance” Litsch on the mound, but I’m sure not counting on them holding the lead.

Which means that we’re probably gonna have to do this ourselves.

The magic number is six. We have six games left to play, starting tomorrow.

We’d better win ‘em all. Because I don’t think they plan on losing anymore.

It’s a tall order. Our longest win streak this season is five. But I think we can do it.

The question is, who will help? Captain Clutch? The suddenly potent duo of Lugo and Drew?

Bryan Corey?

It’s crunch time.

It sure would be nice to have a proper clean-up hitter, wouldn’t it?

Manny? A Nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

9/24/2007 1:51:01 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

9/21/2007 4:52:34 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

(What, you thought that was just a figure of speech?)

9/20/2007 9:17:48 AM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

And, just like that, our chances of winning the division are less than 90 percent

Why does it seem like it’s a much further longshot than even that?

Oh, yeah. It’s because Eric Gagné has singlehandedly cost us four wins.

And our offense just let the Blue Jays get within one out of throwing a complete game at us for the second night in a row.

And the Yankees WILL NOT FUCKING LOSE.

Feel like throwing another one, Bookwood?

(I felt like throwing some things last night.)

9/19/2007 12:17:31 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [11] |  

Man, I hate that guy.

“What a ballplayer.”

What a jerk.

The fist pump. The dismissive hand held up at the home plate ump as Captain Intangibles twitches his bat and wiggles his ass. (Translation: “I’m Derek Jeter. I’ll hit when I’m damn good and ready.”) The leaping acrobatics on the easiest, most mundane plays. The calm eyes.

The three-run home run.

But it’s not Derek Jeter’s fault that we lost the rubber match of a series we should have swept.

And it’s not Curt Schilling’s either. (A well-pitched game. But not pitched quite well enough.)

Terry Francona?

Pat D’s wicked pissed at you.

And so am I. (Thought not as mad as he is.)

By my count, you’ve got 11 guys in your bullpen.

I realize that some are better than others.

And that even the good ones can implode in a moment’s notice.

(I don’t entirely blame you for that nightmare Friday night, even though I would’ve had an obviously gassed Okajima on a much, much shorter leash.)

But there’s no reason whatsoever for a 40-year-old pitcher to come out for the eighth inning in a 1-1 game.

He’d pitched his ass off. He gave seven strong innings.

And he should have sat down after that and rested his arm for when we’ll really need it.

But, as your predecessor was wont to do, you let him stay in just a little too long. Thanks for that.

Two games in three days after with I had to shut off my television in disgust.

On the other hand, there was some good to come from this series.

* We almost fought our way back last night and reminded Rivera that he should fear us.

* J.D. Drew seems, slowly, to be coming around.

* Beckett and Pedroia both further burnished their award bona fides.

* Mikey Lowell tagged Joba the C**t with his first earned run.

* Jacoby Ellsbury is a fine, upstanding young man. (And, as Tim McCarver pointed out more than once, he’s "a good-looking player.”)

* And our starting pitching against the Pinstripes was miles better than it was the last time around. (Giving Dice-K extra rest — a fantastic, and long overdue, idea.)

But if it’s heartening that the two losses were close, it’s maddening, of course, that they were also both shoulda-been wins. Moral victories do not count in the standings.

We could’ve shrunk our magic number by two last night.

We could’ve made the bad guys really start to sweat the wild card race.

We didn’t.

9/17/2007 12:21:27 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

9/13/2007 12:38:15 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [2] |  

“Our bullpen is very good right now,” said Scott Kazmir after Monday night’s game.

Really, Scott? Really?

Man, I was worried they wouldn’t get the game in last night. Not least because I had tickets.

All the same, when it became apparent that the rains would subside and the first pitch would be thrown, I was nervous.

I've been to a bunch of games this season, but the team had not won with me in attendance since April.

I was beginning to think I was a jinx.

And, after the first third of the game, I was convinced of it.

Eight to one? Are you fucking kidding me?

Wake? What on earth is going on? Need to talk, buddy?

Then, almost imperceptibly at first, the worm started to turn.

It may have a slight tweak to my beer ritual that made the difference. (I started the game with a Sam Adams instead of 50-cent cheaper Bud, as is my wont.)

Or perhaps it was my friend Ben’s rally headband — a little red, white, and blue swathe of fabric donned in the fourth inning — that did it.

Whatever it was, it worked.

Lowell singled to center. Drew (!) singled to left. Coco singled to right. Lugo followed up with a run-scoring singled to left.

Kevin Cash, owner of a season batting average of .095 after striking out in the third, stepped to the plate.

And 36,640 people drew deep breaths and prayed for him to draw a walk.

But noooooo. What did he do?

He singled! Authoritatively! To right! Drew and Crisp dashed plateward. A bit later, Pedro scoring Lugo on a sac fly.

We’ll take it.

In the fifth, more of the same. Lowell and Drew again got things started with a single each. Youkilis walked. Coco scored Lowell with a sacrifice fly, and then Lugo doubled to left scoring Drew. Cash cashed in with a sac fly of his own, scoring Youk.

And suddenly we were in business.

Little did we know we hadn’t seen anything yet. Yowza!

Little Rookie of the Year Tanner Boyle put one over the Monster to tie it up at the start of the sixth. Then Ortiz singled. Lowell singled for the third but not last time. Drew walked. And Youkilis tripled to center, scoring three. I’ve never seen that dude run so fast. I honestly thought he had a chance at another inside-the-parker. No matter, though, because Coco scored him soon after with double before Ellsbury scored him with his second RBI of the night.

Six runs. And then two more in the seventh, on homers from Ortiz and, remarkably, Drew.

Cheer for him long and loud, says Captain Tek.

OK. If it means he’ll finally get it together to do big things in these precious, important games, fine.

Gagne, I’m not too worried about. He hadn’t pitched in two weeks, and he wouldn’t have given up a run if it weren’t for that defensive indifference.

But Wake? And Dice-K?

Yeah. You could say I’m a little worried.

With 16 games to go, are we turning from pitching-heavy team to an offensive juggernaut?

Probably not. But we need to start throwing the ball better.

Because you know that old adage.

9/12/2007 4:12:51 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [3] |  

9/10/2007 12:45:20 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

* Fear not, Nation. We’re still a 98.35960 percent lock to win the East.

* But I worry that our horses are getting tired. Eric Wilbur dug out the numbers: “Hideki Okajima's ERA pre-All Star break: 0.83. Post-All-Star break: 3.00. His ERA for April: 0.71. His ERA for July: 0.71. His ERA for August: 5.06.” Yikes. (Props to Wilbur, btw, for being man enough to draw folks’ attention to this. Hilarious. He may not be allowed to link to it, but I am!)

* Meanwhile, that blue-lipped jerkface down in the Bronx had a “night befitting legends.” Gag me. Man, I hope he doesn’t opt out. That way I won’t have to feel like a sentimental fool for wanting to re-sign Lowell.

* Despite what I’ve written about Sox Appeal in the past, you should watch the repeat of last night’s Robby Roadsteamer episode, Unicorn Eyes.

* Chin up. Despite the loss, last night’s starting pitcher says we should be happy. “Has there been a better time to be a Sox fan in the past 20 years? You’ve got a few older guys mixed in with an incredibly talented core group of younger studs like Beckett, Dice K, Pedroia, Youk, Pap, Delcarmen and some of the brightest young prospects in baseball already contributing to a pennant race in Buchholz, Lester, Ellsbury, Moss and a few more. This team has the pieces to win a world series right now and the core team in place to be a force for the next 5-10 years.”

* And, not for nothing, our DH does regueton. (Scroll to about two thirds through.)

9/6/2007 12:26:48 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |  

Wow. That was a lot of fun.

I was in Portland this weekend, in a bar full of Sea Dogs fans who were watching one of their own march inexorably toward baseball history.

And I haven’t experienced communal ecstasy like that since October 27, 2004.

The half-second between that big loping curve thwacking into Tek’s glove and Joe West’s strike call seemed like an eternity. I actually think my heart might have skipped a beat.

Then? Bedlam.

Loud cheers, fists pumped in triumph, shouts, spilled beer, hollers, hugs and high fives. Cell phones whipped out and text messages beamed across New England and beyond.

Good times.

Kudos to you, Clay. You’ve got a long career ahead of you to try for another one.

And big props to Tek. Three no-hitters now. Four, if you count Hansack’s five-inning soakfest last fall. Add in Schilling’s shoulda-been back in June, and Pedro’s one-hit beanball war in 2000, and that’s a pretty impressive track record.

And, oh yeah: Nice play, Dustin. To quote a text message from my friend Will: “I’ve watched it a million times. If Pedroia isn’t rookie of the year, I will kill everyone ever."

It’s good to have a guy like Double-H around.

It makes Yankee fans crazy.

And it’s nice to have another arm on a staff that seems to be getting a little tired.

Pitcher Matusuzaka Daisuke, I’m looking in your general direction.

I realize that Buchholz’s innings limit is within sight. But whether it’s as an occasional starter, or another arm in the pen, he’ll be able to help out. So can Mr. Hansack.

The kids are helping out positionally and at the plate. Heck, Jacoby’s even pitching in with facilities maintenance.

Young pitchers are valuable, too. Next time, give Dice-K the hook after five and give the ball to someone else.

That way, we may be able to avoid another unsightly mess like last night.

9/4/2007 12:47:02 PM by Mike Miliard | Comments [0] |