Results tagged “terryfrancona”

“The season doesn’t wind down. It just comes to a crashing halt,” Boston manager Terry Francona. That quote wraps up the entire sports day as the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots were on the losing end of comebacks today.

Two weeks ago, if you had told us that two weeks from now(then), the Sox would be closer to catching the Yankees than they were to falling behind Texas, we'd have put you on the disabled list with flu-like symptoms. Not that we (seriously) think they're going to catch the Yankees, but it can't be denied that the Sox have been playing their best ball of the season lately, and the roll continued with an 11-5 throttling of the O's last night in Baltimore.

Well, not us as in Bostonist and its beloved readers. But the Angels hate coming here once the first fall wind blows. They can barely win a playoff game here to save their lives, and lost their second straight at Fenway with a sour taste in their mouths.

Paul Byrd comes back from a year on the shelf and throws a gem. Tim Wakefield comes back from the DL and gets a W. And now Daisuke Matsuzaka comes back from three months away and beats the Angels. Clearly, some of these guys need weeks and weeks off between starts. Let's seriously look into the 75-man rotation next year.

It's been a tough few weeks (months) for the Red Sox. That's always a good time to see the Baltimore Orioles appear on the schedule.

With most of September left to go, it's too early to say anything definitively. But it sure seems this morning like the Red Sox dealt Tampa Bay a devastating blow in the AL Wild Card race last night.

A few hiccups aside, Beckett and Lester have been more than fine. Tim Wakefield is back. Clay Buchholz is doing better than we expected. Unfortunately, you need a five-man rotation in this day and age (somewhere up there, Pud Galvin just snorted derisively), and that fifth starter has proved elusive all year for the Sox. Brad Penny was just sent packing. Daisuke Matsuzaka isn't ready. And Junichi Tazawa sure wasn't the answer last night, burying the Sox in a 9-0 hole in the fourth inning.

Victor Martinez sparks dramatic Sox comeback For five innings in Texas last night, the Boston Red Sox looked the way they've looked a lot lately. Jon Lester was good, though not great, as he allowed three runs in six innings. The offense checked out and extended their latest consecutive scoreless innings streak to 17 before David Ortiz blasted a two-run home run to tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth. Texas carried a 4-2 lead into the ninth inning and then crazy baseball goodness ensued and the Sox won a game they were barely aware of for 3.5 hours by unloading on Frank Francisco's inner John Smoltz for six runs on seven hits, five of which came with two outs.

Runs = wins. It's not a 100% certainty, but since the Sox learned last week to their sorrow that "no runs = no wins", it was worth a try.

This ain't the Orioles any more, brother. The toughest week of the Red Sox' 2009 schedule began last night, and Game One ended with a thud, as two home runs by Evan Longoria led to a 4-2, 13-inning, five-hour Tampa Bay win over a dismayed Boston team.

While Terry Francona has managed to avoid the full brunt of Red Sox fans' fury over the years - that's what winning a couple of world championships will do for you - he is not immune from the way Red Sox fans love to backseat manage. We all know that there are times at which there are at the very least two philosophies at play in Red Sox Nation: What Would Terry Francona Do (WWTFD1) and What Would the Fans Do (WWTFD2).

Is it?

It started off well. #14 was unveiled in right field, the man of the hour got to speak, and everyone was happy. On Jim Rice Day at Fenway, what could go wrong?

"I came to Boston to play professional baseball, and that's what I did. And I did it well." - Hall of Famer Jim Rice

Maybe someday in the future - not even the distant future - we'll look back at yesterday's Red Sox loss as something good. No, wait, really. Maybe Roy Halladay's dazzling performance and total shutdown of the Sox' offense will cause some team - some National League team - to pull the trigger and trade for the Jays' ace. If he's out of the AL East and the Red Sox never have to see him again, isn't that worth a late-July loss?

So said Jonathan Papelbon afterwards. And if you're one of the millions who figured that (hour-long rain delay) + (10-1 lead) = (bedtime), we understand. Unfortunately, among the snoozing millions were the Sox bullpen, who turned a 10-1 lead into a devastating 11-10 loss in no time. This was ugly.

When you think about it, the idea of JD Drew as a leadoff batter seems to make as much sense as putting Papi in that same spot. Sure, the guy can hit, but the quick-footed, nimble leadoff stereotype doesn't seem to fit someone whose back can go out when he sneezes wrong. Why would any manager put Drew up in the leadoff spot and let Jacoby "I'm faster than you'll ever be" Ellsbury take a place lower in the lineup?

Who's the all-time leader for games started by a Red Sox pitcher? Trick question; there's a tie. Let's try it this way: who's the all-time leader for games started by a Red Sox pitcher who didn't end his Red Sox career with bitterness and acrimony, then go on to win championships with the Yankees and end his baseball career under a cloud of steroid-related suspicion?

Nick Green, who began the year as the Sox' third-string shortstop, may not stand out like flashy sparkles in the water or stars in the sky. But with Jed Lowrie out for who-knows-how-long, and Julio Lugo having been told that the Red Sox home park has been moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming (good move by the front office, by the way), the SS job may be Green's for the forseeable future. Keep having days like yesterday, Nick, and we'll all know why.

The Red Sox rotation is going through a little upheaval right now. But not Josh Beckett. This guy's job isn't going anywhere.

The Red Sox clearly felt their happy fans needed a little tension and drama last night. Why not? The Sox have proven so far this year that they can beat the Yankees in blowouts, in pitching masterpieces, in slugfests, in New York, in Boston, for richer, for even richer...why not save the good times for the end just once?

Milestone Reached: Red Sox manager Terry Francona, who got his 500th Sox victory with last night's 5-1 in Detroit. Tito joins Joe Cronin and Pinky Higgins in the exclusive club of Sox managers who haven't been prematurely (or correctly) run out of town. "That means I've been really lucky with an organization with a lot of players that have been very good," said the skipper.

Terry Francona tinkered with the lineup. Jon Lester trusted once again in his pitch mix. And the results were more than satisfactory, as the Red Sox avoided a sweep with a 8-2 win in Toronto.

If you were in pain watching the Sox yesterday, you weren't alone. Besides the existential pain of watching the Sox scratch out only four hits in their 5-3 loss in Toronto, there was the more immediate pain of watching Dustin Pedroia take a Brian Tallet fastball off the knee (he stayed in the game) and watching Rocco Baldelli slide knees-first at full speed into the outfield wall (he didn't). Baldelli's exit was particularly painful, since his two-run homer in the second accounted for most of the team's offense.

Unless they meet the Twins in October, the Red Sox played their final game in the unlovable Metrodome, and Terry Francona couldn't be happier. "I think this place stinks. This ballpark stinks." Between the plastic roof (colored the same as a baseball), the giant A/C vents, and the listless crowds that are there 90% of the time, it's hard to disagree.

If you can't be good, be memorable. Isn't that how the old saying goes? Well, it's a saying the Red Sox took to heart last night, tying a modern-day baseball record with six wild pitches - four by Daisuke Matsuzaka in his first game back - en route to a crummy 4-2 loss to the Twins.

"I gave up five runs,,,what else is there to say about it?" Not the words of a confident pitcher. Sure, you can look at the glass as being half-full, and say that other than leaving a pitch hanging over the plate for Justin Morneau to smack a three-run homer, Jon Lester wasn't all that bad. But we don't deal in half-full here in Boston, so we're equally concerned about the two other guys Jon Lester put on base, and the two other runs he gave up in last night's 5-2 loss in Minnesota.

He even hit Gary Tanguay in the face with a bat. Well, just a picture of him.

Yesterday, we griped that there was nothing really new to report. Today, we have something to report, but we don't like it. The Celtics lost to Utah, 90-85, which was bad enough, but it got worse when Doc benched Kevin Garnett for the second half after KG strained his knee late in the first. He warmed up for the second half, but Doc decided not to risk it, and instead have the real docs look at him today. "Obviously, I would much rather be playing instead of giving this statement," said Garnett in a postgame statement.

If Tom Brady really is about to propose to Gisele, he's just going to have to do it without going down on one knee. Patriots fans are all aflutter about the news that Tom's knee isn't healing right, has needed followup procedures, and the surgery may have to be redone. Oh, fantastic.