Game time: 10:05 pm EDT (7:05 pm PDT)

Scheduled starters: Josh Beckett (12-5, 4.78) v. Barry Zito (10-6, 3.20)

Oakland weather: 10 am PDT (1 pm EDT) observation at OAK: Wind out of the NNW at 7 mph, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 15,000 feet, temperature 73F, DP 60F.

Forecast: The high that has dominated weather on the west coast is weakening, and it won't be as hot as it has been out there over the weekend. There was fog over the bay area early in the morning, but it has dissipated, and it looks like it will be a sunny day. The fog will form again this evening. By game time it should be in the low 80's with a west wind under 10 mph. A west wind will blow OUT. Got that, Mr. Beckett...OUT!

Anni

Ouch - let's pray for a reversal of fortune from last weekend...

With the Looies crew in attendance, how can the Sox lose!





Big shout out to RSN West Coast.

I hate the left coast. Even with a CST location, the game dudn't start for me until 9:35. I'll never make it. A long day at work followed by chasing my two year old around for 3 hours, will result in me falling asleep on the couch no later than 9:15.

I'd like to know where that fog has been, certainly not anywhere near my house! Hottest weather this past weekend in my 30+ years in the Bay Area. Beckett had really better keep his pitches down. Looks like Eric Chavez might be back on the sidelines, although they didn't need him to make us look bad last time.

I like West Coast games because I rarely go to bed before 3AM, but I will have to miss half an hour because I can't survive the night without watching the Daily Show. Which happens to be right in the middle of the game.

Beckett vs Zito v2, lets hope it ends up better than the first show did.

GO SOX!

Is Mirabelli getting the start tonight? There were lots of rumors that he'd be catching Beckett until TIMMAH got back.

I heard that Mirabelli might be better at whacking Beckett upside the head if he shakes off too many pitches than Varitek. Just kidding, but maybe not.

I'm really hoping the change of scenery from Safeco to Oakland will do them some good. I was a bit frustrated by the defense over the weekend and I'm hoping they will be able to shake it off.

Ceilings were at around 800 feet at several airports in the Bay Area until around 9 am local. There may be some fog forming later tonight, but if you are inland or at a higher elevation, you may not be affected by it.

Oakland has a pretty spacious outfield. Easy for me to say, but maybe a little more concentration out there?



I guess that's it. I'm in the southwest corner of the Santa Clara Valley...San Andreas Fault country. :

*MOJO* - BOS @ OAK - Cryptozoology Day 1




The Red Sox must be very careful with the Oakland offense. Much like the Gippsland Phantom Cat stalks the plains of Western Australian, so too does the Oakland lineup lurk and wait to pounce on anything too foolish to approach. Josh Beckett and the rest of the bullpen better be incredibly careful not to awaken the big cat if they don't want to get clawed.

Of course, there is hope in Boston's efforst to square off against the fabled Phantom Cat. After all, no one has any proof of it's existence.

When he is on, it's pretty difficult to score runs of Josh Beckett. It is even harder when you don't exist.

Anyone have tonight's lineup yet?

Edit: Ask and ye shall receive!

[codebox]Boston Oakland
------ -------

Pos Player HR RBI AVG. Pos Player HR RBI AVG.
--- ------ -- --- ---- --- ------ -- --- ----
1B Youkilis, Kevin 11 46 .292 C Kendall, Jason 1 23 .272
2B Loretta, Mark 3 39 .305 CF Kotsay, Mark 7 39 .254
DH Ortiz, David 33 94 .281 RF Bradley, Milton 5 16 .276
LF Ramirez, Manny 26 73 .310 DH Thomas, Frank 20 51 .244
C Varitek, Jason 11 47 .246 LF Payton, Jay 5 35 .286
3B Lowell, Mike 13 51 .293 1B Swisher, Nick 21 55 .255
RF Pena, Wily Mo 4 20 .322 SS Crosby, Bobby 9 37 .231
CF Crisp, Coco 4 17 .260 3B Chavez, Eric 15 47 .231
SS Gonzalez, Alex 7 32 .276 2B Ellis, Mark 5 23 .218
P Beckett, Josh (12-5, 4.78) P Zito, Barry (10-6, 3.20)[/codebox]

Good, Pena starting. Zito will probably make him look foolish on a curve or two, but he has the power to hit it out to any field.

All I want for my birthday is a Red Sox win.

Darn, Manny almost got that one.

Hopefully this wild streak by Beckett will be brief.

So I'm thinking of switching cell phone providers, and this not-so-great start by Beckett seems like a great place to start comparison shopping. Yeah.

Get outs, please.

After a bit of a shaky beginning, Beckett looked pretty good in the last two outs there.

I think the score is still 0-0. Don't jump off the bridge quite yet 2bS

100% fastballs by Beckett in the first inning. Milton Mental and the A's announcers thought the ball he was called out on was high. It was: belt high.

Oh, I'm not jumping anywhere. I get way too nervous when our pitchers look like they might be headed for trouble, though, such as with a leadoff walk. I've been a firm believer for years that if I don't watch, the damage will be minimized. It's not backed by evidence, but so what?

Well Zito looks pretty good so far.

Alex the magician at short. What a great fielder this guy is.

FSN Bay Area people making fun of Beckett's routine. He looked a little physco getting ready for the game.

So far Beckett looks pretty good as well quite a difference from the last time he faced Oakland.



I kind of like those obsessive compulsive personalities.

Looks great on the mound, though. Threw quite a few curves in the 2nd, and has the batters guessing.

That was a little weird. Towel, candy bar, bottled water, something else? He rearranged them a couple times. They said he started that little ritual at 6:07 (7:05 game).

MVP!

I thought Crisp would have made that a closer play with his speed.

Well leave it to our power source, AGon!

AGon!

One thing about Coco's speed is he gets back to the dugout faster than most people.

HR, Gonzalez!

Zito's curveball sometimes reminds me of slow pitch softball. When it drops right over the plate and all you have to do is wait for it to come down.

Good to see Kevin get on, it would be great to see him heat up again.

Can Gonzo keep this up? Will he finish the season at .280 or higher?

That's what I was thinking. I wonder if he dogged it at first when he saw he hit it to Chavez. That's one thing he can't afford to do, because he dooesn't do much lately.

C'mon Papi.

It would be a shame to leave these runners on, Manny.

How is Manny this bad against Zito in his career?

Edit: 3 HR's now.

That's how to cap an inning.

It is as loud as Fenway in Oakland tonight.

Craaazzzzzyyyy!

Thank you Manny, nobody left on now!

LOL

Mr. Manuel Frickin' Ramirez, Ladies and Gentleman.

Take that WEEI!

A's announcers: 'wouldn't have gone out in Boston'. Well, if we were on planet Mars, we wouldn't have baseball either.

Yeah. Neither would Sexson's.

The umps not giving Beckett the inside corner on his curve so far.

No help from Texas tonight.

I have it on mute. Glad to know I made the right choice.

Loretta nearly got Gonzo killed.

Either throw it faster or go to first next time, Loretter. Are you trying to get AGon's knees blown out?

OK, back when the Daily Show's done.