Red Sox postmortem

As it grew clear that the Red Sox would not make the playoffs this year, I could not decide whether to call this season a disappointment because it was supposed to be a transition year and they still won 87 games (with the possibility of reaching 90 with a sweep of the Yankees this weekend).

But Theo Epstein and Jon Lester made it clear that despite the rash of injuries, this season was an unacceptable disappointment:

Pitching and defense, the two expected strengths of this Red Sox team when it began play six months ago, were "not acceptable" this season, according to general manager Theo Epstein.

"We didn't pitch like we wanted to, we didn't play defense like we wanted to, and we allowed our opponents to just score way too much," Epstein said during an appearance on WEEI radio yesterday.

Lester, whose rare poor performance cost him his chance at win No. 20, said missing the mark wasn't as disappointing as not getting to compete in October:

"It's more disappointing not making the playoffs," he said. "Would it have been nice? Yeah, I'm not going to lie to you. But regardless of all that we didn't make the playoffs. We didn't meet our goal this year and that's more disappointing."

But even if this season is considered a disappointment, I'm heartened by two things today: 1) This team did not fracture and held together, as seen in Adrian Beltre and Marco Scutaro's desire to play for Lester:

(Terry Francona) intended to give second baseman Marco Scutaro a night off to rest his aching right shoulder and to use third baseman Adrian Beltre as the designated hitter. Both came to Francona and asked to play their usual positions to try to help Lester.

"After I thought about it, I was really kind of impressed," Francona said. "It made me feel good."

And, 2) That Theo knows the team needs improvement, but not a complete overhaul:

Epstein believes the Sox are "pretty close" to being a championship team again.

"I think this offseason presents us with a lot of challenges, but at the same time it presents us with a lot of opportunities," he said. "You have to sort of be reasonable about everything.

"In a year that ends like this, sometimes there's a tendency to look at all the issues and all the problems, and you think that you're nowhere close to a championship team. Certainly there are elements to a team that are close to championship-caliber.

"We have to completely fix the bullpen. We do have a lot of important position players eligible for free agency. We're going to have to keep those guys or replace them, or some combination thereof. You can't let the way things happened this year cloud your judgment about what you have."

So, forgive me for looking past whether the Phillies should go full bore at the Braves this weekend; I'm waiting for the SoxandPhils 2011 World Series.

Machete man

Since Trent came home, a lot of things have had to change because of time constraints - showers have to be less than five minutes, meals have to be quick or easily consumed with baby on lap, and there's not much time for mindless Web surfing.

Deadspin is one site I don't get around to anymore, but luckily, we caught this spoof on how Ken Burns would have treated the story of SoxandPhil Ugueth Urbina (if the filmmaker had the gravitas to touch the saga of the machete man). The parody is hysterical and makes we want to watch the real Tenth Inning.

We have it DVR'd, but it's just a matter of finding time for the four-hour documentary. It was hard enough finding four minutes for the satirical story of the great Urbina.

Today's games: NL East Champs are off. Jon Lester has his first and last chance at his 20th win tonight against the White Sox.

This is just piling on

Trent and I still aren't conceding, but it's hard to say there's much reason to believe the Red Sox are going to pull this off.

With that said, do the baseball gods have to keep picking off the bones of the Red Sox carcass? Can we at least end the season quietly without any more injuries?

Apparently not: Felix Doubront (I forgot he was even still on the big-league roster) strained his pec.

He's not headed to the DL and obviously wasn't going to fuel the great comeback of 2010, but it's still deflating.

Today's games: In a game we managed to stay awake for the ending (because it was an afternoon tilt), the Phillies beat the Dodgers 5-1 to stay three games behind the Braves. ... Jon Lester, who will be needed for an amazing comeback, survived a rocky start (five runs in the first two innings) to put himself in line for a win after his mates scored six runs in the 7th inning. The Red Sox beat the Orioles 9-6 to stay eight and seven games behind the Yankees and Rays, respectively.

Do or die

Trent was on the changing table tonight with a particularly ripe diaper. He looked at me and froze. We both knew what had to be done. There was no sense stalling, thinking or worrying. I ripped off the tape and took care of business.

I mention this because the Red Sox, who entered today trailing the Yankees and Rays by 5.5 games, started a three-game set in Tampa that many consider to be their last chance to stay relevant in 2010.

After a season of surviving a spate of injuries, it's amazing they're still alive. But this isn't a time to think about that. It's do or die.

Tonight, they did. Jon Lester held his own in a marquee matchup against David Price, just an unearned run on two hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts over seven innings. Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon shut the door in the 3-1 win. With the White Sox winning big over the Yankees, perhaps there's still a chance for the Red Sox to win this whole thing.

Of course, there is a big difference between changing a diaper and performing a big comeback: Trent's diaper didn't just learn that it would be without Dustin Pedroia for the rest of the year.

Phillies: They're playing late in San Diego. In the 5th, it's 1-1.

More drug news

Roy Oswalt could win every single start for the rest of the season, including Game 7 of the World Series, yet some Phillies fans would lament that the Phillies made a bad deal in dumping Cliff Lee.

This won't help.

Phillies prospect Tyson Gillies, one of the three players acquired in the Lee trade this past off-season, was arrested for cocaine possession in Clearwater, Fla., early Friday morning.

I guess I incorrectly predicted in February that Gillies would best be known for his shagging prowess.

Tonight's games: Jon Lester and the Red Sox played like they were on something, losing 16-2 to the Blue Jays. The clock's ticking, boys. ... Roy Halladay and the Phillies played a slightly different game, beating the Nationals 1-0.

Not much to say

The day started off on a Red Sox note: I took Trent to Wawa (our first trip anywhere without Christine), and we were greeted by the cashier who always compliments my choice in baseball team.

Not much baseball since that 7 a.m. encounter. I just looked at the Globe for the first time today about five minutes ago, and I just heard Tom McCarthy say the Phillies won for the first time at Citi Field this year.

Jon Lester is pitching well, I see, but he's getting very little support. In the 7th, Red Sox 1, Rangers 0.

7th inning stretch

We're approaching the final stretch, and I hope today's 7th inning turns out to be a metaphor for the season.

Clinging to a 2-0 lead against the Empire, Jon Lester loaded the bases with no outs. You had the sense that this would be the moment the 2010 Red Sox would finally succumb after battling through so many injuries and facing very tough Rays and Yankees opponents.

But Lester struck out Curtis Granderson. Daniel Bard came in from the pen, and six pitches later, Derek Jeter and Nick Swisher also struck out. Bard gave up a run in the 8th, but Jonathan Papelbon nailed down the save.

The Sox are still kicking. Don't count out a SoxandPhils series, Trent says.

The Phillies are off today.

Babies on the brain

I've been preoccupied with my little guy for the past month or so, and even now when the Red Sox are playing the Yankees in a series that many consider their last chance to hang in the playoff hunt, I can't get babies off the brain.

That's because Trent isn't the only SoxandPhil babe experiencing his first Red Sox-Yankees series:

Meanwhile, it's baby time in the rivalry. Jon Lester welcomed a son last weekend. Clay Buchholz and his wife had a baby girl a few days ago and yesterday CC Sabathia and his wife had their fourth child.

Hopefully, Papa CC gets tired like Lester and Buchholz have been:

Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz have had trouble resting this week, as both became fathers for the first time. "We got a run going on — on babies," Francona said. Lester told Francona after Wednesday night's loss that his left hamstring was fine. Francona said Lester was just dehydrated.

Tonight's games: Papa Clay pitched well - three runs in 7 1/3 innings as the Red Sox won 6-3. This is also Trent's first Phillies-Mets series, and the good guys won that series opener 7-5. So, Trent's first SoxandPhils vs. New York series has started off well.

Jon Lester is a wuss

It's hard for me to say that about our beloved cancer conqueror and World Series hero, but I think I can be critical of a fellow newly minted first-time father:

In the real world, a first-time father returns to work after a day or two off and eases back into the routine while showing everybody photos of his pride and joy.

Jon Lester's task last night was to climb the mound at Fenway Park in drenching humidity and to try and pump pitches past the Cleveland Indians.

Sleep had come sparingly since the arrival of his son Hudson on Saturday and after a few innings his left hamstring started to ache. Errors, a passed ball, and the other residue of a season going steadily awry only made things worse.

“He'd had a long three or four days," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.

OK, I took off four days (not including the weekend) and I returned to work in a climate-controlled building. But...

I'm just glad that Lester didn't become the 16th Red Sox to be DL'd after hearing last night that the trainer made a couple of visits to the mound.

Tonight's games: Kevin Youkilis' injured thumb will cost him the rest of the season, but the gimpy Sox forged ahead. Daisuke Matsuzaka went 8 strong innings (?!?!?), and the Sox lead the Indians 6-2 in the 9th. ... Roy Oswalt pitched much better than in his debut and left with a 2-0 lead in the 7th, but J.C. Romero allowed the runners he inherited to score and the Phillies trail the Marlins 4-2 in the 9th. They might be attempting a comeback now with two on base and no one out.

15 X 2 = Lots of injured SoxandPhils

Yesterday, Todd Zolecki noted that Ryan Howard is the 15th Phillie to land on the DL. Today, Amalie Benjamin noted that Kevin Youkilis is the 15th Red Sox to make this dubious list.

Thirty injured SoxandPhils. You could literally make a team of gimpy 2010 injured SoxandPhils.

Peter Abraham noted that 10 Red Sox have made it unscathed from Opening Day. That's out of the 48 who have been on the big league roster so far.

Meanwhile, the Phillies traded for Ken Griffey Jr.'s friend, Mike Sweeney, because of Howard's injury.

Today's games: Jon Lester stunk up the joint. In the 9th, Indians 9, Red Sox 1. Phillies lead the Marlins 5-2 in the 7th. There was a rain delay.

Ed Wade fleeced the Phillies

The Roy Oswalt era didn't get off to a thrilling start - five runs (four earned) in six innings in an 8-1 loss to the Nationals.

By the way, how come I haven't seen this factoid hammered home a million times: Through age 31, the pitcher most similar to Oswalt is Roy Halladay. Too bad this Roy didn't pitch like the good Roy tonight.

J.A. Happ, meanwhile, pitched six shutout innings against the Brewers in his Astros debut.

What does all of this mean? The Phillies should have kept Cliff Lee.

{And J.A. Happ.}

The Red Sox trail the Tigers 6-1 in the 9th. Jon Lester pitched like Roy Oswalt.

Dizzying

I can't keep track of the Red Sox anymore. I'm not talking day-to-day standings or anything like that. I literally can't keep track of the roster because it changes so much with injuries.

In the past four days, the Red Sox have added Michael Bowden, Dusty Brown, Manny Delcarmen, and detracted Gustavor Molina, Felix Doubront and Robert Manuel. Fernando Cabrera has come and gone. Several of these guys I have never heard of.

I'm just glad I'm not this guy, Carl Goodreau, clubhouse manager of the Pawtucket Red Sox:

In Goodreau’s 22 years of working in pro baseball, he calls this season the craziest of his career. Numerous injuries have left holes in the Boston roster, leaving Pawtucket to fill in the gaps.

When a player leaves Pawtucket another comes in from another farm team or for rehab. This season, the PawSox have used 49 players. The club record is 70 in 2006.

If this year breaks the record, I hope some of the next call-ups will be able to play the game. The Red Sox dropped three of four to the Rangers this weekend. Today, Jon Lester lost 4-2.

The Phillies are playing the Cubs tonight on ESPN. I wasn't planning on making it to the end, but it's in the 7th (6-3 Cubs) and it sounds like Trent is getting cranky.

Fun-filled 4th

Here are the happenings, in brief.

The AL All-Star team will have six Red Sox, including Clay Buchholz, who is heading to the DL. He'll be joined by injured Victor Martinez and Dustin Pedroia and healthy David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre and Jon Lester. Kevin Youkilis was snubbed, but he's headed to the ballot for the final roster spot.

Charlie Manuel selected only one Phillie for the NL team: Ryan Howard. He'll be joined by fan-selected but injured Chase Utley and player-selected Roy Halladay.

The Sox and Phils each lost today to crappy teams, the Orioles and Pirates.

Joey Chestnut won another hot dog eating competition, but they had to arrest Takeru Kobayashi to keep him from reclaiming his spot as the world's top eater.

Christine and I had a nice dinner.

I get a holiday

I had to work today, and after I got home, we had to run to the store as the Phillies game was starting. The store didn't have what we wanted, and we couldn't decide whether to try another or go home because Christine has had Phillies withdrawal. She decided to stay out because the Phillies were winning 2-1. "It's working," she said.

Good call. The Phillies finally beat the Pirates 12-4, thanks to Kyle Kendrick's first major league complete game. I wonder if our shopping karma helped the Red Sox, as Jon Lester shut down the Orioles 9-3. I saw a stat this morning that the Orioles are 9-35 in their last 44 games in Fenway. Make that 9-36 ... poor Orioles.

I've been so busy at work lately that I'm not really that excited about tomorrow's Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July International Hot-Dog-Eating Contest. It's going to be hard to watch without Takeru Kobayashi, who can't participate because of a contractual issue. I guess Joey Chestnut will have a cakewalk again.

But, at least I get a day off tomorrow. It was looking like I'd have to work July 4th for the first time since 2006. Because the day off was last-minute, Christine and I are breaking from our tradition of staying at home for a barbecue and going out to eat to celebrate having the day off.

A rare E-C

Christine and I had to run a couple of errands in Philadelphia today. It felt weird driving over the Walt Whitman Bridge for non-baseball purposes on a Sunday afternoon with the Phillies in town. It felt almost as weird as the Phillies batting in the top half of the innings in Citizens Bank Park.

When we were leaving a store, I spotted a TV that had the game on and asked Christine if she wanted to check the score. She walked over and I thought she smiled after getting a look at the screen. I gave her a thumb's up. Thumb's down, she replied from across the room.

"Four nothing Blue Jays, and Jamie Moyer has the bases loaded with one out," she said when she returned.

But in the car, we heard that the Phillies were beating, not trailing, the Blue Jays 4-0.

Christine immediately realized her mistake - she assumed the 0 applied to the home team, forgetting that in this weird case, the Blue Jays were the home team. Christine rarely makes a mistake like this (usually it's me), so we had a few good-natured laughs on the way home, especially every time an announcer talked about the "home" team.

"Stop rubbing it in," she'd scold the radio.

Today's games, or SoxandPhils lefties old and young: Jamie Moyer set a record for most home runs given up and also became the 40th pitcher to log 4,000 major league innings as the Phillies beat the Jays 11-2. The win of the "road" series gave the Phils a 10-8 interleague record this year.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, who are dropping like flies (Dustin Pedroia, Clay Buchholz and Victor Martinez suffered injuries of various degrees this weekend) got a dominating performance out of Jon Lester - nine strikeouts in the 5-1 complete game over the Giants. Tim Lincecum didn't hold up his end of the bargain as he was gone after three innings.

We have a busy week coming up, so posts will be light, but we'll do our best to keep our Cal Ripken streak (not one day missed since Jan. 1, 2008) intact.

J-Roll and Fattie whack Dobbs

The other day, when we wrote about the surprise recall of Scott Mathieson, whose return to the big leagues lasted one game, we remembered to check on the progress of Mike Zagurski, who we affectionately call Fattie. "He's pitching well in AAA, so maybe we'll see him join Mathieson again," I wrote last week. I was half right. Fattie's in the bigs, but Mathieson is back in AAA.

Also making his return to the Phillies is a forgotten infielder, Jimmy Rollins. To make room for them, the Phillies DL'd Carlos Ruiz - not a surprise because he was hit in the head by a broken bat on Friday - and designated Greg Dobbs for assignment. That's a bit of a surprise because he was so good as a pinch-hitter in 2008, but hasn't done squat since. Ruben Amaro didn't make the move lightly:

"Dobber has been a very, very productive player for us over the last several years," Amaro said. "He helped us win a World Series and he helped us get back to the World Series and it's hard. That role is not an easy role and it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride. I've lived it myself, so I have some empathy about how difficult that job is."

For the record, in 128 games in 2008, Dobbs hit .301/.333/.491, and in 139 games in 2009 and 2010, he hit .218/.274/.341. Does anyone need a crappy pinch-hitter, or is Dobbs going to be an IronPig?

Tonight's games: Jamie Moyer had another good start and has just about supplanted Roy Halladay as the Phillies' ace. Tonight, the old man went eight innings, giving up a run on just two hits and a walk with five strikeouts. Unfortunately, he needed 107 pitches (his season high is 111), so he had to yield to the bullpen.

J.C. Romero started the 9th (platoon splits) and got one out, but then put two men on, creating an awkward save situation for Brad Lidge, who hasn't been lights out lately. But he was tonight, striking out two to earn the save in a 2-1 win over the Indians. That's win No. 266 for J-Moy.

The Red Sox returned to the scene of their last World Series victory. Jon Lester pitched the 2007 clincher in Colorado, and he's opening tonight's series against the Rockies. So far, it's 0-0 in the 3rd.

East Coast bias

Baseball will never catch up to football in popularity if it keeps using a marketing strategy that relies on focusing on one team and alienating fans of every other.

Yes, fans of the Red Sox and Phillies are getting hosed once again to the big-city flavor-of-the-month. The finale of this weekend's SoxandPhils series was supposed to be on national TV, but it got the boot so baseball could once again use a marquee broadcast to feature the Washington Nationals and Stephen Strasburg on TBS:

TBS announced today that it has switched its Sunday telecast away from the Phillies-Red Sox game, to a Nationals-Indians game it would have absolutely no interest in if not for Strasburg.

I'll turn off the sarcasm now, especially because tonight's games would throw a serious monkey wrench into my little tongue-in-cheek argument. The Phillies were supposed to be tonight's MLB Network game, but because local broadcasts pre-empt MLB Network, we got the Red Sox game as a bonus.

Phillies: Any thoughts of perfection in the much-anticipated rematch of Josh Johnson and Roy Halladay ended in the first inning for each pitcher, but they locked horns in a good one. Each pitcher went eight innings; Halladay gave up a run in the 1st inning, Johnson gave up none. Johnson's line: three hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Doc's: one run, six hits, one walk and eight strikeouts.

You have to love when a pitching duel lives up to the hype, although Christine will disagree tonight because the Marlins beat the Phillies 2-0.

Red Sox: Jon Lester didn't have it tonight, giving up six runs in six innings. In the 8th, Indians 6, Red Sox 5.

Perfect prediction

As I predicted earlier this week, the Phillies won a close game behind Roy Halladay on Friday and then their offense exploded tonight.

OK, I envisioned a little more than six runs, but they did have 10 hits and were starting to take some Phillies-esque swings. As starting pitcher Jamie Moyer said, they're starting to look comfortable. I sense hittin' season is coming real soon.

Speaking of the ancient (former) Mariner, I just noticed that my prediction about him pitching his second complete game of the season was missing from Thursday's post. I bet Christine accidentally deleted it. I called tonight's masterpiece. Really, I did.

Question: Before the season, would Vegas put better odds on Halladay pitching a perfect game or Moyer having two complete games?

The veteran needed just 98 pitches in the 6-2 victory over the Padres. He didn't have a three-ball count until a 9th inning walk. He also scattered seven hits. It was his 100th win as a 40-something and the 264th of his career.

Red Sox: Jon Lester pitched well - no runs in 6.1 innings - but the Red Sox bats didn't give him much breathing room. But now, in the 9th, the Red Sox are scoring again and lead the Orioles 6-0.

The end of the line for a legend

I read the news with my own eyes, but I could not believe it. The Washington Nationals released Eric Bruntlett.

Funny, when we were wondering what the Phillies would do to replace Jimmy Rollins, I thought they might make a play for the guy who turned an unassisted triple play and scored the clinching run in the last game of the 2008 World Series. It's too bad the Nats didn't give him the boot before J-Roll was just about ready to come back.

Of course, the bearded Bruntlett isn't the only legend saying goodbye today. After 22 years, Ken Griffey Jr., The Kid, who is now 40 years old, has retired. He's neither Sox nor Phil, but I'm sad. It's a bit of my childhood gone. I'll never forget opening a pack of the debut edition of Upper Deck and getting the prized first card of the set. Upper Deck was a little pricey, even in 1989. I didn't buy many packs, and I wasn't expecting to get that trophy.

In other news, before we completely turn the page on May, Big Papi can take a bow for winning AL player of the month. He is joined by teammate Jon Lester, AL pitcher of the month.

Today's games: The Phillies were nice enough to play in the afternoon so that we didn't have to watch them lose 2-1 to the Braves, which completed the sweep and opened a 2.5-game lead over the Phormerly Phightin' Phils.

In 6.2 innings, Daisuke Matsuzaka gave up 10 hits, but incredibly didn't walk anybody. In the 7th, Red Sox 4, A's 3. Mr. May hit a two-run homer and a double.

The Flyers and the Blackhawks are tied 1-1 in the 2nd period.

Travesty: A bad call by umpire Jim Joyce cost Armando Galarraga of the Tigers a perfect game. I'm in shock. Former Phillies prospect Jason Donald was credited with the hit.

[Photo credit: Hollywoodcollectibles.com]

Today was for the children

Today was our day to cook for the families at the Ronald McDonald House. We think it went well, even if we grilled non-Mickey D's burgers at a house named after the burger icon.

With our meal preparation, there was minimal thought of baseball today, except for the Hatfield Phillies Beef Franks we served. (Yes, the brand was intentionally selected.)

Before we left, we did see that Jamie Moyer was not perfect. He pitched well, but he needed to be nearly perfect because the Phillies offense is still struggling. The Marlins beat the Phillies 1-0.

Jon Lester had another strong start in an 8-1 win over the Royals. He's going to win the Cy Young.