forks off the moment: Jarrod Saltalamacchia

Showing posts with label Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Show all posts

The bird is smiling at us Red Sox fans

Did you notice that the catchers helmet that Matt Wieters wears for the Orioles is the bad ass smiling bird? I've been BEGGING the Orioles to go back to that hat for literally years.

Well the team isn't wearing the cap but Wieters knows that the smiling bird is better than the sideways bird.

And man the bird has reason to laugh at Boston tonight.

Besides a home run by Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the Red Sox had NO offense and frankly showed no life. I guess after a 16 inning marathon and a 25 run slugfest in back to back nights, the Sox are bound to have a dead from the neck up game.

But they were down by only one going into the 8th, which means they had a shot to win.

I'm a greedy man. I hate losing ESPECIALLY to Baltimore.

Which is why I am updating the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 31

April 8 - 9-6 win against the Yankees. (The Sox end their 6 game losing streak with a slugfest. John Lackey stinks but Phil Hughes stinks even more.)
April 10 - 4-0 win against the Yankees. (Beckett and Sabathia duel in a game that was 1-0 until the late innings.)
April 20 - 5-3 win in Oakland. (Red Sox survive a lead off homer and two bases loaded situations and facing the tying run at the plate to win their first road game.)
April 21 - 4-2 win in Anaheim. (The Red Sox stranded 15 men on base and Josh Beckett's went 8 strong with no decision. But the Sox rallied in the 11th to win.)
April 22 - 4-3 win in Anaheim. (Peter Bourjos makes a 2 run errors and the Red Sox survive a bizarre passed ball by Jarrod Saltalamacchia that let a run scored from second.)
May 1 - 3-2 win against the Mariners. (Ichiro loses a ball in the sun that turns into a 9th inning triple for Lowrie. Crawford singles him home for the win.)
May 8 - 9-5 win against the Twins. (Dice-K lets up 3 runs in the first but settles down as the Red Sox clobber Carl Pavano.)

May 9 - 2-1 win against the Twins. (A bullpen breakdown cost Beckett the decision but Cark Crawford ended the game with an 11th inning walk off hit.)
May 13 - 5-4 win in the Bronx. (Youkilis homers off of Joba and Bard and Papelbon make it more interesting than it needed to be.)
May 15 - 7-5 win in the Bronx. (Sox fall behind 4-1 but come back as Youk, Papi and Salty all homer.)
May 16 - 8-7 win against the Orioles. (Down 6-0 after 6 innings, the Sox rally and win it with a 2 run walk off double by Adrian Gonzalez)
May 18 - 1-0 win against Detroit. (With 2 outs in the 8th, Salty doubles home Crawford from first for the only run. Papelbon gets himself in and out of 9th inning trouble.)
May 19 - 4-3 win against Detroit. (Bard blows Beckett's lead but Carl Crawford wins it with a walk off hit.)
May 24 - 4-2 win in Cleveland. (Varitek throws two runners out and homers as the Red Sox win their first game against the Indians.)
May 29 - 4-3 win in Detroit. (The Red Sox blow an early 3-0 lead but David Ortiz wins the game with a pinch 9th inning homer.)
June 3 - 8-6 win against Oakland. (Buchholz lets up 4 runs in the first but the Sox come back thanks to Carl Crawford's 2 run single.)
June 4 - 9-8 win against Oakland. (Red Sox blow a 4 run 9th inning lead and trail in the 11th before Ellsbury ties it and Drew wins it in 14.)
June 7 - 6-4 win in the Bronx. (Papelbon strikes out A-Rod to end the game with a runner on base.)
June 9 - 8-3 win in the Bronx. (Down 2-0 to Sabathia in the 7th, the Sox score 7 runs as Papi exacts revenge after getting plunked. A 3+ hour rain delay pushed the game past 1:30 AM)

June 15 - 3-0 win in Tampa Bay. (Youkilis homers in the 7th for the only runs in Beckett's 1 hit masterpiece.)
June 16 - 4-2 win in Tampa Bay. (Papelbon wiggles out of a 2 on, nobody out jam in the 9th thanks to Youk's diving catch.)
June 26 - 4-2 win in Pittsburgh. (The Pirates make 4 errors and the Red Sox score 2 in the 7th to avoid a sweep by the Bucs.
June 30 - 5-2 win in Philadelphia.(An injury to Cole Hamels leads to the Red Sox bats waking up.)
July 1 - 7-5 win in Houston. (The Sox score 6 in the 7th inning to come back and win.)
July 3 - 2-1 win in Houston. (The Red Sox score a run in the top of the 9th on a walk to break a tie.)
July 5 - 3-2 win against Toronto. (Lester gets hurt but Darnel McDonald throws out the tying run at the plate to end the game.)
July 6 - 6-4 win against Toronto. (The Sox score 4 in the 4th to take the lead and Wakefield and company hang on for dear life.)
July 10 - 8-6 win against Baltimore. (The Orioles score 6 runs off of rookie Kyle Weiland in the second, but the Red Sox hit three homers in the bottom of the second to tie the game and hold for dear life.)
July 16 - 9-5 win in Tampa. (Lackey puts the Sox in a 3-0 first inning hole, but 3 Sox homers bring them back for the win.)
July 17 - 1-0 win in Tampa. (Beckett throws a masterpiece and the bullpen throws 8 amazing innings. But the Sox bats go dead, leaving 17 men on base before Pedroia drove in a run with 2 outs in the 16th inning.)
July 18 - 15-10 win in Baltimore. (The Sox blow a 6-2 lead but score 8 runs in the 8th to take the game.)

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 23

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picked off, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runners and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)
May 21 - 9-3 loss to Cubs. (Up 3-1 in the 8th inning, the bullpen and defense implode. The Cubs score 8 runs while both teams wear their 1918 uniforms.)
May 23- 3-2 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox blow a 2-1 8th inning lead when the Indians rally with 2 outs. Crawford ends the game on a double play.)
May 29 - 3-0 loss in Detroit. (Verlander keeps the Sox off base and prevents the sweep.)
June 1 - 7-4 loss to White Sox. (Konerko drives in three, spoiling a game tying Ortiz homer.)

June 14 - 4-0 loss in Tampa Bay. (Wakefield's solid outing is spoiled. Longoria scores on a passed ball.)
June 18 - 4-2 loss to Milwaukee. (The Brewers hit three homers early off of Lester and hang on.)
June 21 - 5-4 loss to San Diego. (Ortiz hits a double play in the 9th to stifle a potential winning rally.)

June 24 - 3-1 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox strand 7 runners in scoring position.)
June 25 - 6-4 loss to Pittsburgh. (The Red Sox fall out of first as Pedroia's error leads to a Pirates run.)
June 29 - 2-1 loss in Philadelphia. (Vance Worley duels John Lackey and slumping Raul Ibanez drives in both runs.)
July 4 - 9-7 loss to Toronto. (John Lackey's miserable start puts the Sox in too big a hole to climb out of.)
July 19 - 6-2 loss in Baltimore. (Scutaro gets thrown out stealing and the Orioles tack on 3 big runs late.)

Down to +7.

Dust yourselves off, Red Sox.

A game tomorrow afternoon and win the series.

And with the Yankee loss today, no harm in the standings.

And... THE MAGIC NUMBER IS 67.

Let's wipe the smile off of that bird's face!

Wet and Salty

In so many ways these are my favorite kind of wins.

A well pitched game by Clay Buchholz continues to give me faith in the Red Sox pitching staff, especially after he wiggled out of several jams.

And in the 8th inning after a delay with 2 outs and nobody on, I was conceding the 8th inning. I thought "Come on Crawford, just get on base so we know the top of the order is coming up in the 9th."

And when he walked I thought "OK, we're probably not going to score here. But if the Sox could keep the Tigers off of the board then we know Ellsbury, Pedroia and Gonzalez will be coming up in the 9th!

I mean SURELY Saltalamacchia isn't going to do anything with 2 outs and a runner on first.

Bam! Off the wet wall and in comes Crawford.

Then comes the 9th. Old friend Victor Martinez doubles off of Papelbon and the pinch runner goes to third with 1 out.

I started thinking "OK, the Tigers are probably going to tie the game here... but Gonalez and Youk and Papi are coming up in the 9th. We can still win on a walk off."

Then Avila and Raburn strike out.
Game over.

I was already optimistic but it turned out to be a more direct route to happiness.

5 in a row.
A win tomorrow and the 6 game losing streak has been matched in the other direction.
Let's update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 12

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 12

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picked off, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runners and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)

EVEN!

They have as many games that they won that they should have lost as they have games they lost that they should have won.

And guess what?
They are only 2 games out of first place in the loss column.

FULL SPEED AHEAD!

.500! Being mediocre never felt so good!

It is May 15... halfway through May and for the first time all year the Red Sox are .500.

.500 is by definition mediocrity. Half the games are a loss... half the games are a win.

It's averaging a tie.

Yet MAN after the rotten start, this mediocre record feels awesome, doesn't it?

EVERYTHING seemed to be going wrong for the Red Sox and yet here we are... at break even.

And at whose expense? The Red Sox record against the Yankees is 5-1.
Against the Angels it is 6-2 (ohhhh that extra inning marathon loss!)

Between two teams that I picked to go to the post season, the Red Sox are 11-3. (That means they are 9-17 against the rest of baseball. Go figure.)

In this game Lester dug himself into a hole and Youk and Papi got him out.
And just when it looked like the Yankees were coming back, the Red Sox had the best news imaginable.

"Coming in from the bullpen... Joba Chamberlain!"

Ah yes. He's the gift that keeps giving.

A nice homer to Saltalamacchia (his first) and the win was in.

And the tally needs to be updated.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 10

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 12

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)
April 12 - 3-2 loss to Tampa Bay. (A solid Lester performance is wasted as Kyle Farnsworth of all people shuts down the Sox.)
April 15 - 7-6 loss to Toronto. (Bobby Jenks implodes with a 4 run seventh inning as the Red Sox waste Pedroia and Youkilis homers and a clutch RBI double by Scuatro.
April 19 - 5-0 loss in Oakland. (Pedroia gets picke doff, the Sox bats go dead and waste a solid Lackey start.)
April 26 - 4-1 loss in Baltimore. (Buchholz pitches tentatively and the Sox let Kevin Gregg of all people to close out the 9th.)
April 27 - 5-4 loss in Baltimore. (The Sox tie the game with a 3 run 8th only to have Bard lose it in the bottom of the 8th.)
April 29 - 5-4 loss to Mariners. (Bobby Jenks blows a 7th inning lead, wasting 2 Mike Cameron homers.)
April 30 - 2-0 loss to Mariners. (The Sox strand 11 runnerss and let Milton Bradley double home the go ahead run.)
May 4 - 5-3 loss to Angels. (7 hours with rain delays and stranded runners. Marco Scutaro was thrown out at the plate in the 12th)
May 10 - 7-6 loss in Toronto. (8th and 9th inning heroics, including a homer by Adrian Gonzalez, are undone by a walk off sacrifice fly by David Cooper.)

-2.

Still in the black in the teeth grinder and dodged bullet columns... but all even in the wins and losses and only 3 back in the loss column for first place.

75% of the season to play.
Let's get to work.

Is Jorge Posada classy or a diva?

Joe Girardi put slumping Jorge Posada in the 9th spot in the lineup for today's Red Sox - Yankees game.

This isn't a situation like Jason Varitek's miserable start. The Sox captain is batting ninth with his rotten numbers because the pitching staff just doesn't like throwing to Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

Posada is no longer a catcher. He is a DH. His ONLY job is to hit. And roughly 25% of the way he is doing anything BUT that.

He has no batting average, his on base percentage sucks, he has 8 extra base hits total and is slower than dial up service.

Where is a bat like that supposed to hit?

Cleanup?

Girardi put him 9th because there is no 10th spot.

And he asked out of the game.

Now there are two different scenarios for what happened. And they are at the polar opposites of the "Respect Meter."

FIRST SCENARIO...

Posada shows what a great teammate he is

He realizes that his bat has become a liability and tells his former teammate and current manager Girardi "Look, this is a Red Sox and Yankees game. We need to win this game. Put someone else in the lineup. And let's go get them!"

The rest of the team see what a great Yankee he is and this is used in the last act of the Yankeeography.

SECOND SCENARIO...

Posada shows was a Diva he is...

If Posada is insulted by batting 9th and if he asked to be taken out, then he is a bigger diva than Aretha Frankin ever was.

Do you know why?

Because when you are batting .165 with 38 total bases in 32 games, you are lucky that you aren't designated for assignment.

Seriously, shouldn't he be kissing Girardi's buttocks for keeping him in the lineup? Is Joe supposed to have him higher in the line up for old time's sake?

That didn't work for Tessio, why would that work for Posada?

There are already rumors going around the internet that there was some sort of hissy fit. Could you imagine if A-Rod had made a hissy fit when Joe Torre dropped him to 8th in the 2006 Division Series? And that was a year removed from an MVP season for Rodriguez.

Posada is a 39 year old former catcher who can't hit. Yes, he has given the Yankees 14+ seasons of All Star championship caliber play. But he stinks now.

The Yankees stars seem to want to be rewarded for their past excellence. This is reminding me of Derek Jeter's shockingly petty press conference where he complained that he had to actually go and become a free agent.

Wahhhhh! I should just be automatically given a huge contract.

Now if Posada is saying "Wahhhhhh I want to bat higher in the lineup because I got that hit off of Pedro in 2003" then the super classy Yankees for life are showing a very unclassy side.

For now, I will give Posada the benefit of the doubt.

If the rumors are true... then we are in Diva land!

Sox look good... their hats don't

OK, there were a lot of things that were odd and could have cost the Red Sox the game. Lester was great but only lasted 6 innings. Saltalamacchia couldn't find a baseball in a little league play that cost the Red Sox a run. Hey Jarrod, it's BEHIND YOU!

The Sox won, and no matter how low Carl Crawford's average plummets, that's all that matters. Inching closer to .500... and oh yeah Dan Haren lost at the Red Sox hand.

That is awesome. The hats with the Sox on it are lame.
My wife thinks they look like booties... and that's all you need to know.

Let's update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 5

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 6

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

Are you KIDDING ME?????

So it has come to this.
6 losses to no wins.

And this was a game where the Red Sox could have won about a dozen times.
Jon Lester was dealing. They got some men on base. They got a great catch on a bunt by Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

And they faced Fausto Carmona, who let up 10 runs in 3 innings against the White Sox in his only start of the year.

Yes. I just wrote 10 runs.

NATURALLY he shut the Red Sox down.

OF COURSE the Indians drove in the only run on a squeeze play.

And HOW MANY TIMES did I have to hear the sentence "He hit into the shift" whenever Ortiz or Gonzalez came to bat?

Hey guys! If they are shifting on you, then BUNT THE OTHER WAY! The Red Sox need to do ANYTHING to get some hits, including me TYPING words in CAPS to DRIVE HOME MY POINT!

Now I am not sure if Darnell McDonald was safe or not in that last play, but the umpire was right to call him out... just on principle alone.

Let's update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 0

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 3

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)
April 7 - 1-0 loss in Cleveland. (Sox blow a great Lester performance on a squeeze bunt and Darnell McDonald overrunning the bag to end the game.)

-3.
An 0-6 record.
The Yankees coming into town.

Could this scenario be worse?
I guess I should be thankful that the team isn't riddled with injuries.

Then again, how could a team full of Pawtucket Red Sox have a worse record than THIS crew?

Did anything GOOD happen tonght?

OK, the Red Sox are 0-4. You really can't do worse than that over 4 games. And oddly, Carl Crawford has hit in 5 different spots in the lineup. I could be wrong about that, but I don't think I am.

So, not to pull a "Besides that, Mrs. Lincoln how did you like the play?" but can we take anything positive from this?

Well, Beckett pitched OK. Not great, but you can totally pin this loss on him.

The bullpen looked good.

Saltalamacchia drove in a 2 out run.

Hey! Those are all cool.

And while a lot of people are bringing up the fact that no team has ever started the season 0-4 and gone on to win the World Series, I will point out that no team ever was down 0-3 in a best of 7 baseball series and wound up winning it.

There are 158 games to go and it takes one winning streak to make that all work out. Plus the Rays are 0-4 and the Yankees blew a late lead last night, so it is not like they are in an insurmountable situation. It isn't even MID April.

Maybe the Red Sox should play ONE home game before we panic.

And remember, over their first 5 games, the 1998 Yankees were 1-4. They finished OK.

So relax.

But I will update the tally.

DODGED BULLET GAMES - 0

TEETH GRINDER GAMES - 2

April 1 - 9-5 loss in Texas. (The Sox tie Opening Day in the 8th with an Ortiz homer only to have Bard implode and the Sox let up 4 in the bottom of the 8th.)

April 5 - 3-1 loss in Cleveland. (The Sox drop their 4th straight as the bats are dead in Cleveland.)

OK, -2 so far.

Let's rattle off 4 in a row and put this in the rear view mirror.

Victor hurt again? Why not?

When it looked like Victor Martinez was going to be taken out of the game last night during that grotesque 10th inning, I thought "Why not?"

Seriously... after seeing the stat that among the 19 players put on the Red Sox DL, there were 6 players on the Red Sox opening day starting line up and 9 either former or current All Stars.

Victor Martinez was one of the 19, one of the 6 and one of the 9... and it was appropriate that as the Red Sox season slipped away that an injury was in the middle of it.

I hope Francona either sits him or gives him some first base time as the games in Chicago take a turn to Meaninglessville.

Of course that would mean Varitek would get the bulk of the catching duties (38 years old and has been injured most of the year) or maybe give Kevin Cash some more time (a man whose hitting I have compared to Elmo creator Kevin Clash.)

Someone pointed out that Jarrod Saltalamacchia is hurt and out for the year, making it #20.

Sadly we both forgot that when the rosters expand, there's no need to put someone on the disabled list.

Too bad.

20 would have been so symmetrical.

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