Game time: 7:15 pm

Scheduled starters: David Wells (0-1, 11.08) v. Casey Fossum (5-4, 4.89)

Tampa Weather: 4 pm observation at TPA: Wind out of the west at 10 mph, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 4,000 feet with cumulonimbus, scattered clouds at 8,000 and 25,000 feet, temperature 90F, DP 72F.

Forecast: It may thunder, but we'll be inside!

Hmm lets see if Wells can actually pitch a halfway decent game and give the team a chance to win this time.

I'd like to see the Sox avoid being POWN3D! by a lefty for the umpteenth time in a row but surely, I can't be alone in this.

Don't want to see your thunder Anii, just wanted to give a heads up that Fracona is staying with Coco at lead-off spot. It will go:

Coco
Loretta,
Ortiz (1B)
Manny
Youk (3B)
Lopez
Pena(LF)
kapler(RF)
gonzo

Think Tito has a template or a spreadsheet that has C (catcher) permanently in the six hole? Actually, Pena has trouble with lefties so far. Good lineup I guess. Wonder if Gonzo ever says 'Gee, what's a guy have to do to move up in the order'?

Nice lead for the Orioles against NY, 5 - 0 in the bottom of the sixth. Be strong like the O's of Brooks and Frank Robinson and hold the lead!

I was just going to say, good for the O's to load up against Mussina. Obviously, it would be great if we could pick up a win tonight if the O's can maintain the lead

[codebox]Boston Tampa Bay
------ ---------

Pos Player HR RBI AVG. Pos Player HR RBI AVG.
--- ------ -- --- ---- --- ------ -- --- ----
CF Crisp, Coco 4 20 .279 CF Hollins, Damon 13 26 .228
2B Loretta, Mark 4 43 .304 LF Crawford, Carl 15 57 .309
1B Ortiz, David 39 107 .289 2B Cantu, Jorge 9 42 .251
DH Ramirez, Manny 30 86 .317 1B Lee, Travis 8 24 .210
3B Youkilis, Kevin 11 52 .296 DH Gomes, Jonny 20 56 .217
C Lopez, Javy 8 31 .261 RF Norton, Greg 6 14 .267
LF Pena, Wily Mo 6 25 .317 3B Upton, BJ 0 1 .267
RF Kapler, Gabe 2 7 .271 C Paul, Josh 1 4 .238
SS Gonzalez, Alex 9 38 .288 SS Zobrist, Ben 0 1 .071
P Wells, David (0-1, 11.08) P Fossum, Casey (5-4, 4.89)


08/05 18:50:53 ET[/codebox]

I know people aren't high on Kapler, but he has had considerable success against Fossum albeit a small sample size of AB's.

What the hell is with this lineup?

Small bench carrying two players who should be on the DL (Lowell & Belli)......

It'll be interesting to see if Pedroia plays well at 3B in AAA tonight if they bit the bullet and DL Lowell and bring Dustin up for a few games.

And the new guy Wilson kills a potential rally with a GIDP. Still 5 - 0.

So "Hotel Rwanda" was on Showtime this afternoon and right now I feel like crapping on the entire human race. Please win tonight and make me feel better. Thanks.

Corky Miller is with the team. Corey was DFA'd to make room on the roster.

Oh Bryan Corey, we hardly knew ye.

I saw this and I just started laughing. The annual Parade of Bargain Basement Bums continues!

1)Acquire cheap questionable arm on waivers or through trade of equally questionable farmhand.
2)Use once or twice.
3)DFA
4)Rinse.
5)Repeat.

Cowbells + Dwayne Staats + Joe Magrane = excessive rage

The loud annoying motherf....er is making noise. Great, my night gets worse....

MFYs lose.

One hitter. May it be the beginning of a long and protracted team slump. Probably redundant there but it sounds good.

They got 1 hit by Loewen, Williams, and Hawkins...sounds more like a law firm.

Could the Fat Man actually be on?

Did anybody notice that FSN just listed Pena playing both center and left field? I really didn't think he had that much range.

Fossum's picture on Gameday looks like death warmed over. But he strikes out Javy.

Wily Mo has 46 Ks in 142 at-bats this year. Over 1 out of 3 at-bats.

I can't believe the amount of hype surrounding a dude with seven homeruns. I think if he's lucky he's a .275 hitter with 25 HRs and 75-80 ribbies. Which is pretty good, but the WMP hype machine needs to chill out.

EDIT: Make that 6 hrs.

Beats the hell outta hyping Adam Stern or Gabe Kapler.

Good point. But I'd still have traded long-homerun dude as part of a package for Oswalt.

Are you bored or something? He's 24 years old. You have no idea what he's going to do.

I do agree that he is over-hyped at times, but those stats also means he is hitting .470 with balls put in play. You've got to think that if he can cut down on the Ks he could be a monster. He is still only 24 years old.

Typical OCJ - couldn't expect anything less.

Did I mention he's 24 and putting up a .907 OPS? And that Arroyo sucks a fat one?

I have little doubt he'll have a very good major league career. But dudes like Jeromy Bernitz have back to back 100 ribbie seasons. I know Arroyo isn't the greatest pitcher ever, but I can't help but think he would've been a key player on the team this year.

You're probably right about the "this year". But I've got to think he could really develop. And Arroyo has one win in his last 10 games (pitching in the NL league).

OPS or not, six homeruns is six homeruns. In 148 at-bats. That's 1 HR every 25 at-bats. Wow. With a K in every three. Sorry dude, he's 24 but he's been in the majors since he was 19. He'll have a decent major league career, but he's not the next Manny and Sox fans need to stop falling in love with the long-ball and focus in on what wins championships.

Crisp is really liking Tropicana

Arroyo had to go, even the national league is starting to figure him out now. This might just be me, but I don't want a guy on my starting rotation who begs off playing in the all star game because he is still hung over.

No, he wouldn't have. Do you know what peripherals are? Check Arroyo's out from last season, especially in the 2nd half.

Re: Pena vs. Burnitz - just stop embarrassing yourself.

Arroyo might have been the key to keeping Lester in the minors. Wouldn't that have been great?

No.

-OPS is OPS, and his is damn good, and so are both components of it.
-K's are practically the same as BIP outs.
-Dude was in the majors when he was 20. I guess that means he needs to be an all-star by 24. Do you even realize the Yankees totally retarded his development?

EDIT: I bet if you had a choice of a lineup of Juan Pierre's vs. a lineup of Frank Thomas circa 1994, you'd take the Pierre's.

God, OCJ. Home runs are not the only form of power hitting. Only three regulars on the Boston Red Sox have a higher IsoP - that's isolated power or (SLG-AVG) - than Wily Mo. The three: Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell.

Only two players - Manny and Ortiz - have higher slugging averages. He's hitting for plenty of power.

48 pitches for Fossum. Nice.

Hey, i have an idea. How about an update on the game?

Trying to talk to OCJ about baseball is totally worthless, yet I'm doing it as well. When's he going to pull the Theo HS card?

Sick play by Upton.

terps i know you must get this all the time, but I still cannot believe that JJ Redick wrote that. I always laugh when I read it

david wells has been very impressive tonight so far - its going to make a huge difference to have him back in the lineup

Do you ever say anything worthwhile or just bitch?

The bottom line is the loss of a rubber armed pitcher in this lineup turned out to be disastrous, and no WHIP + FRAA + MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) stats will change that fact.

Wily Mo should have a decent career. But that trade is one of the main reasons we're starting the peanut vendors every fifth day.

Lets hope the FatMan regains some old magic. We desperately need it, no matter how many doubles Wily Mo hits.

a bit off topic but. . .

josh paul is currently writing about his experience calling games, particularly regarding his experience with Scott Kazmir. Should be interesting if it ever comes out

It's 1-0, David Wells is pitching a really good game.



I'm guessing he pulls the Sam Horn card out again, then makes some backhanded remark about "try actually watching the game instead of looking at numbers" or something. I tried to keep the stats as basic and easily accessible as possible.



Neither can I. Neither can I.

It's true, I'm not a big fan of supplimentary stats. I believe in OBP, ERA, RBIs, HRs, Ks, and WHIP. A HR every 25 at-bats from a guy hyped as a super-fantastic homerun hitter tends to be a stat you can't really argue with. Wily Mo's a decent hitter who Ks a lot. He's basically Steve Balboni. And Steve Balboni had a pretty good career.

Nothing, except stats, will change the fact that Arroyo's rubber arm is full of shit. Do you even realize that WMP saved us from 2 months of Willie Harris + Dustan Mohr in CF?

Arroyo is one of those peanut vendors. He sucks. The NAAAAtional League has figured him out. He'd be bent over all year long in the AL.

Its also the reason why Willie Harris and Kapler don't have an extra 150 AB's this season. WMP is much better for the Sox long term.

Damn the FatMan looks good. I wrote it a few weeks back, the FatMan is the key to the season. If he's this good from here on out, we can beat the Yankees whether Wily Mo Ks a hundred times or hits 20 HRs.



I'd take Gabe Kapler in CF over Wily Mo during that time if we didn't have my Aunt Tillie pitching games during that stretch.

Arroyo is mediocre but he isn't crap. I'd think that World Series run might's shown you something, but even last year he wasn't terrible and he pitched a ton of innings. You can't seriously think a few wall doubles by Wily Mo this year was worth the innings we lost. No way dude.

Arroyo isn't superman but he ain't the utter shite we've seen on the mound this year.

Yes but it's only through three innings.