Possibility of a new SoxandPhil

After a day in which the Yankees took advantage of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Detroit Tigers, there wasn't major progress reported by Theo Epstein or Ruben Amaro.

But yesterday, Theo made a couple of minor moves to add bullpen depth, including signing former Phillie Fabio Castro to a minor league deal, which could mean another addition to the SoxandPhil roster in 2010.

Castro played an important role for the 2008 World Champion Phillies even though he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007. How? He was sent to the Blue Jays as the player-to-be-named-later in the Matt Stairs deal. Incidentally, he came to the Phillies as part of a deal for another big lug slugger, Jim Thome.

That's all I got on a dude who has pitched 43 and two-thirds major league innings in parts of two seasons.

My head is going to explode: I'm not happy about this.

The Red Sox have a claim in on the other Ramon Ramirez a right-handed reliever who was with the Reds last season. They'll find out tomorrow if they got him.

I know nothing about this Ramon Ramirez, but I do know we'll go nuts trying to keep track of two guys in the same bullpen with the same exact name.

Heralding the unheralded SoxandPhils

Some SoxandPhils who don't quite get the attention they deserve got some pub today - some even nationally.

The leader of the ink popularity contest is Jayson Werth, who, according to a FanGraphs blogger, is not just underrated but has been the second most valuable outfielder in all of baseball for the past two seasons.

(Christine, still bitter about the 2007 playoffs, doesn't like that No. 1 has been Matt Holliday.)

Werth is not only productive, but a goodwill ambassador for a city and fan base that has taken more than their fair share of knocks over the years. Consider this ESPN feature in which he turns the tables and says the Philly fans are an asset, not a detriment. He recalled an encounter with a Ray during the World Series that convinced him that the fans helped the Phillies win last year:

One of their infielders came up to me and said, "'Do you like it here?" He was so distraught in the middle of the game about the people in this town, and I knew then that we had them.

They were so rattled, because they didn't feel like they could even walk down the street. They were uncomfortable just being in Philadelphia. Look at Evan Longoria -- he didn't get a hit the whole World Series. [Longoria actually went 1-for-20.] I'm not saying it's because of what the fans did. But I'm not saying it wasn't, either.

So remember that the next time you hear about Santa Claus, batteries or dog fighting. Actually, that last part is fair game.

Another Phil touted today is sturdy Joe Blanton by Paul Hagen, who argues he's been the Phillies most valuable pitcher this year.

For the Red Sox, because they're in Kansas City, it is time to look back at the Ramon Ramirez trade and how the Red Sox got the better of that one. Yeah, the Royals are bettering the Red Sox this week, but Ramon doesn't want to go back. He's excited about the chance of pitching in the postseason:

I've never been, but I want to be there. I want to pitch, and I want to do the best I can. I know a lot of people say there's more pressure. It's good, because I want to do the best I can for my team. I don't feel nervous or nothing like that.

I hope I didn't just jinx a playoff implosion on him.

Tonight's games: The other beneficiary of the Ramirez-Coco Crisp trade, Jacoby Ellsbury, just doubled in two runs to tie the game in the 5th inning. Dustin Pedroia followed that with an RBI single to give the Red Sox the lead. They now lead the Royals 6-2 in the 6th. Josh Beckett isn't in playoff form tonight: two runs on 10 hits and a walk in four innings.

The Phillies playoff MVP pitcher, Cole Hamels, also wasn't in postseason form - four runs in seven innings. That should be good enough to win behind homers by Raul Ibanez and Ryan Howard, but we won't know for awhile because they're in a rain delay with the Phillies leading the Marlins 6-4 in the 8th inning. Christine is upset because they waited until Ryan Madson took his warmups before they stopped action. Hopefully, they just send everyone home and give the Phillies an abbreviated win.

Sox strike first

For 12 innings, our teams played like two evenly matched champions. In the 13th, Kyle Kendrick - just called up to replace the injured Scott Eyre - reminded us why he hasn't been in the majors yet this year. He imploded, giving up three and spoiling what was a great pitching performance from both sides.

Jon Lester and Joe Blanton were terrific. Each went seven innings. Lester struck out 11, Blanton seven. They left a 2-1 game to the bullpens. Ramon Ramirez got the ball in the 9th - Jonathan Papelbon looked quite pissy about his night off, especially after Ryan Howard tattooed one off his surrogate.

Christine is upset that a ball Greg Dobbs hit in the 11th was called foul instead of a home run. Initially, she agreed it was foul, but then started to change her mind. Once the Sox scored three runs, she was convinced it was fair and is protesting the final tally.

Finally got to see Daniel Bard. He has some control issues - he walked a batter and hit Raul Ibanez - but struck out three in his first major league save. His stuff is filthy - my arm is sore from Christine elbowing me every time I reacted to one of his pitches. I hope Papelbon noticed his future replacement before he spouts off to Terry Francona too much tonight.

How to make six or four equal five

Both of our teams have pitching decisions in front of them.

The Phillies, seemingly keeping trade options on the back burner, are deciding among their own minor leaguers to get the first shot at replacing Brett Myers. The two favorites seem to be Kyle Kendrick and Antonio Bastardo.

Why is no one mentioning Adam Eaton? He won't cost anything beyond what the Phillies already pay him.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, have to fend off questions about a six-man rotation, which leads me to wonder: Why is a team with such a stacked rotation looking up at the Yankees, who were written off weeks ago?

Red Sox: They blew a second straight game against the Blue Jays, 5-3. Wasn't it last week we started them on a nine-game skid that crushed their early-season hopes? Possible Phillie Brad Penny scattered 10 hits over six innings giving up three runs (two earned). The news of the game wasn't another 0-fer for David Ortiz, but that the loss went to Ramon Ramirez, who gave up two runs in one inning - doubling his total for the year.

After the game, Terry Francona said:

It's one of the first tough innings we've seen. He just looked like he was having a hard time. Just looking at his body language, he looked like he was out of sync.

Papi, meanwhile, is now on a 2-31 stretch (.064).

Phillies: A big game for the big man, Ryan Howard hit two home runs, including a monstrous grand slam. Not such a big game for the Phillies big man on the mound. Except for hitting an RBI double, Cole Hamels had a rough night - six earned in six innings on eight hits and a walk. But the Phillies won in the end, beating the Nationals 9-6. Brad Lidge had his second straight save.

Etc.: I bought a new bike today. One of the store employees who saw my hat said "Yeah, Bosox," and had me bump his fist. He wasn't the guy handling my sale, so he wasn't buttering me up for a bigger commission.

Update 10:41: As soon as we posted this, Comcast SportsNet reported that Bastardo will be called up and will start on Tuesday.

Pitchers' Civil War

One of the more interesting "Did we see the last start of Chan Ho Park's Phillies career?" stories was Jim Salisbury's column that suggests Park and the other struggling starters should be nervous about the fine season J.A. Happ is having.

He even likens Happ to a cattle prod to impose some urgency on the underperforming rotation.

He should have taken it a step further: The bullpen should be downright pissy with the starting rotation. And this could apply to both SoxandPhils.

The teams that are supposed to meet in the 2009 World Series (after the Rays botched the matchup in 2008) have two of the three worst starting staffs in baseball. Red Sox starters are 28th with a 5.76 ERA while the Phillies are dead last with a 6.35 ERA. (Each is more than a run worse than baseball's average; the Phillies are approaching two runs higher.)

But their bullpens have been pretty good. Red Sox relievers have been dominant - third with a 3.02 ERA while the Phillies are 12th with a 3.97 ERA. (Baseball's average is slightly less than 4.50.) And if you replaced Brad Lidge's awful line with an average reliever's - not even one of an elite closer - the Phillies' bullpen ERA would drop to 3.44.

Overall, the Red Sox are 21st with a 4.77 ERA (slightly worse than baseball's average) while the Phillies are 27th with a 5.39 ERA - almost a run higher than average.

Both teams expect to go far in the playoffs, but it's going to be hard with the starters pitching so poorly - especially when on paper each staff should be doing so much better.

Oops: Reading the box score yesterday, I didn't understand why Ramon Ramirez's run was unearned. The scorer has reversed it, so his ERA did rise to 0.86.

Mixed bag

If I said Ramon Ramirez and Brad Lidge would each pitch 2/3 of an inning and one would get a save and the other a loss, who would have tabbed Ramirez (ERA less than 1.00) as the loser and Lidge (ERA more than 8.00) with a two-pitch save?

Baseball's funny that way.

The Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the Nationals, 8-6, despite Chan Ho Park reverting to his early-season struggles. He was knocked out in the 2nd inning. Sergio Escalona (the surprise call-up to take Andrew Carpentar's roster spot) got the win in his major league debut.

Luckily, the Phillies were playing weak competition and were able to withstand Park's poor outing in a back-and-forth game fueled by the Nationals (then up 6-5) botching a sacrifice bunt by Pedro Feliz in the 8th. The pitcher threw it away, allowing two runs to score. Feliz later scored on an Eric Bruntlett double.

In the 9th, Charlie Manuel let Scott Eyre pitch to two lefties before bringing in Lidge with one out and one on. On his second pitch, Josh Willingham grounded into a double play.

Funny, I started my day watching the DVR of Brad Lidge getting a double play against the Nationals with the bases loaded to clinch the 2008 NL East. Unfortunately, that game was on Fox, so I was stuck with Tim McCarver saying Carlos Roo-is, instead of listening to Harry Kalas' joy.

Red Sox: No joy today. Mariners 3, Red Sox 2. Justin Masterson pitched well in what probably will be his last start because Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to return from the DL. A 2-2 game on the road isn't very comforting, but I felt good knowing Ramirez was pitching the 9th with Jonathan Papelbon still in the pen.

Alas, for the second time this year, Ramirez allowed a run. It was unearned, and his ERA stands at 0.43. He got the first two men out before allowing an infield hit to Yuniesky Betancourt, who went to second on a throwing error. An intentional walk and then a base hit ended the game.

There's no guarantee the run wouldn't have scored without the error. It was a tough loss, but I cannot blame Ramirez; he's pitched too well this year.

Sox seem to like their new digs

Ever since that strange sight of Red Sox mimicking snow angels on the grass at Yankee Stadium after completing their historic comeback in 2004, I've always considered New York a second home for Boston baseball.

I know it's an extremely small sample size (less than two games), but the Sox are settling in nicely to their new second home.

I didn't know last night's game was on ESPN until I went to bed around 11 p.m. The rain pushed it too late for me to watch anyway, but it looked like I missed a good one. The Red Sox scored a run in each of the first four and withstood one shaky inning by Jon Lester (three runs in the 5th) and the first run given up by Ramon Ramirez this year to win 6-4. Lester finished with 10 strikeouts in seven innings. Jason Bay and Mike Lowell homered, and David Ortiz had two doubles. I have a feeling that tonight is the tonight he is going to finally put one over a fence.

Christine put the over/under for last night's game to end by 1 a.m. I said 1 a.m. give or take 10 minutes, meaning from 12:50 to 1:10. It ended at 1:13.

Things got off to a good start tonight. They scored four runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Papi and a three-run homer by Jason Bay. It's now 4-3 in the 7th. Joba Chamberlain, who might have other things on his mind, couldn't make it out of the 6th.

Phillies: They beat the Cardinals 6-1 last night and are leading 7-3 in the 5th tonight.

Injuries: Reports on Rick Ankiel are good the day after he bent his neck while crashing into the wall. Cole Hamels is still on target to start Friday, but suddenly Chase Utley's status is questionable because his foot is still injured after being nailed by Mike Pelfrey last week. Like the Phillies, the Red Sox' leading MVP candidate was scratched today with injuries sustained by beanballs. Even in a AAA rehab start, Daisuke Matsuzaka labored, and then Jacoby Ellsbury left the game early tonight because of a tight hamstring.

Losing to the rivals

Both our teams lost to their rivals tonight.

Chan Ho Park was the big goat for the Phillies in their 7-4 loss against the Mets.

Christine: How long are we going to be stuck with Chan Ho Park in the rotation?

Me: Judging by Adam Eaton, a year and a half.

He was pretty darn bad tonight: seven runs on six walks and eight hits over 4 2/3 innings. I've said since spring training he shouldn't be a starter - now I no longer have faith that he would be serviceable in the bullpen. Christine thinks he'd be fine switching spots with J.A. Happ.

In the 6th I was starting to believe in mystique and aura when the Mets over threw third base. I believed for all of two seconds until Greg Dobbs ran past second on his way to third, forcing Chris Coste to try to score when he had no chance.

Ryan Howard struck out to end the game with a poor swing at a bad pitch. "What the (insert Chase Utley's favorite word here) was that?" Christine said.

Red Sox: All I know about this 6-2 loss to the Rays is this: When flipping to MLB Network to try to find a mid-game update, they were talking about where Evan Longoria ranks among third basemen. They mentioned he hit a grand slam tonight. Ugh.

Justin Masterson pitched almost as poorly as Chan Ho Park, but Manny Delcarmen and Ramon Ramirez each pitched a scoreless inning, preserving their 0.00 ERAs.

Tomorrow: We're going to our first game. A colleague mentioned the rainy forecast. "No biggie," I said. "It won't be any worse than the last game we went to."

Coco goes bye-bye

It seems like Coco Crisp has been on the trading block for years, but somehow today's trade to the Kansas City Royals for Ramon Ramirez took everyone by surprise.

Coco came to Boston with high hopes, and although his defense was a valued component of the 2007 World Championship, his bat never produced as expected.

My first reaction to the deal was, "Who the hell is Ramon Ramirez?" I think I'm going to call him Razor Ramon, who apparently doesn't like jokes about the late Owen Hart.

Looking at the numbers, I'm quite pleased with the trade - pretty odd given the fact that I had never heard of the guy until this morning. He will be 27 next year and has had two real good years under his belt. He was probably the best reliever you never heard of in 2008, posting a 2.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 8.78 strikeouts per nine innings in 70 2/3 innings.

Those numbers will look really good in front of Jonathan Papelbon next year. "You can never have too many good relievers," I said. "I know, Greg," Christine replied. "Relief pitching is why the Phillies won the World Series."

Two things of concern with the new guy, according to the Boston Globe's research: Jose Mesa took him under his wing in Colorado. And, he may be a bit of a hothead who'll engage in bean ball wars.

Christine was more concerned about the latter. I dismissed it, figuring Papelbon will be a calming influence on him. Ha!