Game time: 7:05 pm PDT, 10:05 pm EDT

Scheduled starters: Curt Schilling (14-5, 3.84) v. Jake Woods (3-1, 3.88)


Seattle weather: 10 am PDT (1 pm EDT) observation at SEA: Wind out of the north at 8 mph, visibility 10 miles, sky clear, temperature 63F, DP 52F.

Forecast: High pressure is dominating in the Pacific Northwest, and that should keep it clear and dry through the weekend. It will be in the upper 60s/low 70s at game time, with a north to northeast wind at less than 10 mph.

Roof Prediction: Open.

The wind will be blowing in from center/left center.


Anni

With Manny still out we need something from Hinske.

True. He needs to break out of the 1-13 slide he has been on since his 3-4 debut against the Yanks. I don't know if he will play tonight, but it looks like Hinske has faced Woods in the past. I am trying to get their head to head numbers.

Here are his numbers against Seattle.

Split Avg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB K OBP Slg OPS SB CS SB% HBP GDP TB IBB SH SF AB/HR AB/K

vs. Sea .292 40 154 26 45 7 2 7 19 14 18 .349 .500 .849 2 0 1.000 0 1 77 1 0 1 22.0 8.6

Kapler is probably getting the start tonight vs. a LHP. I'm OK with that, assuming Manny's out. However, if Kapler is scheduled to face a RHP in a crucial spot, Hinske better be in there.

Kaplers 1 for 38 streak is pretty amazing. You'd think he might get a hit or two by accident.

Crisp, CF
Loretta, 1B
Ortiz, DH
Pena, LF
Lowell, 3B
Kapler, RF
Mirabelli, C
Pedroia, 2B
Cora, SS

Loretta at first for the first time since '02.

Even more egregious...

Krapler is batting sixth. That's right. SIXTH.

That's the Sh*ttiest line-up I've seen all year.

The biggest issue I have with this lineup is Kapler, since he has been brutal. I don't care that he may be a "great" guy. This team just needs to win and batting him 6th is just insane to me. Youks is probably banged up considering his wrist was stepped during that 3 player colision, etc. So I understand that he needs a night off, but Kapler I can't understand. Woods is a lefty and that is most likely why Francona does not have Hinske in there, but the least he could do is bat Kapler 9th.

I assume that Ortiz is the DH and not 1B because of the irregular heart beat problems he had this past weekend. This lineup just clarifies for me how awful our bench is. The organization needs to make the right move for the team and have Kapler replaced. There has to be someone who cleared waivers that can provide a better bat, defense and speed off the bench. How hard could it be to find someone better than Kapler?

Since we have Schill going tonight I'm still quite optimistic. He will need to be close to perfect though, because I can't imagine this lineup scoring a lot of runs.

It appears Kapler is the new version of Millar 2005.

Kapler shouldn't even be on this team let alone a major league roster.

Id rather have David Murphy come up and take hacks then have Kapler here...love the guy to death but his intangibles didnt help much the past month and neither has his bat.

The hell with Loretta! Get Youk back in there!

Im sure Curt is happy with this lineup....

We traded for Hinske right? I didn't imagine that, correct?


What the shit is that.

Hinske HAS to sit against a LHP. The point is that we could have had Youks LF, Pena RF and Kapler still sitting. And anyway, he shouldn't be hitting sixth.

Youks must be really hurt not to play in such a game.

But I hope that as soon as Woods steps down, Hinske will replace Kapler, although I wouldn't count too much on that.

Murphy is also left-handed, so no way in Tito's mind he would get the nod over Kapler in these games. But I think he'd form a nice platoon with Crisp, since Coco has actually been good against LHP's this season (I know, hard to believe).

But I'm always hopeful with Curt on the mound. If he can give us 9 shutout innings, then we might have a shot. With Papi in the lineup you really never know...

By the way... I guess Hinske and Youks are available, at least to pinch hit in crucial spots for the bottom of the order, right? Is there a chance we could ask that to Manny as well, in an emergency? (just the AB, no running, no fielding)

Youkilis is out of the lineup due to a stomach virus that he caught from Hale.

Link

Pass the popcorn. This ought to be interesting.

Yeah this lineup looks bad.

Yet, the pitching matchup (Schilling vs. Woods) looks very good.

[codebox]Boston Seattle
------ -------

Pos Player HR RBI AVG. Pos Player HR RBI AVG.
--- ------ -- --- ---- --- ------ -- --- ----
CF Crisp, Coco 6 27 .268 CF Suzuki, Ichiro 6 37 .322
1B Loretta, Mark 4 50 .306 RF Snelling, Chris 0 0 .375
DH Ortiz, David 46 120 .287 2B Lopez, Jose 9 65 .278
LF Pena, Wily Mo 11 38 .304 LF Ibanez, Raul 24 96 .275
3B Lowell, Mike 14 60 .288 1B Sexson, Richie 27 87 .235
RF Kapler, Gabe 2 8 .214 DH Broussard, Ben 13 46 .298
C Mirabelli, Doug 6 21 .191 C Johjima, Kenji 13 55 .292
2B Pedroia, Dustin 0 0 .091 SS Betancourt, Yuniesk 6 40 .298
SS Cora, Alex 0 14 .277 3B Bloomquist, Willie 1 11 .243
P Schilling, Curt (14-5, 3.84) P Woods, Jake (3-1, 3.88)[/codebox]

I overlooked the starting pitchers. good point on the L v. L matchup.

That was right down the middle, Wily Mo...

So, if you're making an instructional video entitled, "How not to hit a meatball," that Mike Lowell AB had some pretty useful footage.

Oh Good, the Loretta at 1b starts well.

Kapler:
Kill yourself.

So, on the plus side there...Mark Loretta just dove for a ball. When was the last time that happened?

"This is the instructional video that doesn't get results."

"You're guaranteed to be a better hitter before you watch this video, or your money back."

great scott, Kapler is on base!

meanwhile, Barry Zito is close to a no hitter in Texas. . . .

We need to beat Tiger Woods tonight

That's a nice hit, Dustin.

By "close" I assume you mean, "Barry Zito was going to pitch a no hitter until I decided to jinx him."

I sincerely hope we massacre the Mariners this weekend. That way, when the Seattle announcers use that word 19 times an inning, it might actually have a pleasant ring to it.

not just me, it's been mentioned on every sports channel and other games currently going on



Coco Crisp: "I'm no Johnny Damon"

truer words have never been spoken

Come on Coco Chanel

Why do I get the feeling this is going to be another 16 LOB game?

This kid reminds me of Chien-Ming Wang:

Phallic last name, throws like 80 pitches in the first few innings, but hitters bail him out and he gets out of the jams. If he starts having 5 pitch innings in the 5th, 6th, and 7th, I am going to be very unhappy.

It's over now, Derosa's single ended it in the bottom of the 8th

well, we are 1/4 of the way there and it's only the second inning. Mariners hitters aren't being fooled too badly by Curt either.

Kapler, if you had dropped that...

I can think of a couple games recently where Kapler coulda run in that hard for a pop up or flare to right

Mr. Loretta, you are slow.

loretta with the wheels

tonight is going to be tough to watch, I don't know where are our offense is going to come from

Woods = Liriano.

Or so this lineup would have you believe...

Jaret Wright continues to suck

Not sure of his pitch count, but that was an easy 1,2,3 inning.

57 pitches - 8 that inning

If we pull another game like that for Curt, Im pretty sure hes going to beat the piss out of someone...I nominate Gabe!

Thats the truth- 3 more wins for curt right now wouldn't be asking much

Lowell could at least take a few pitches befor popping out.

wow, another easy inning for a reliever turned starter, awful. As soon as he leaves, Hinske has to come in, the offense looks much too complacent out there

some of our hitters should just stop swinging-

Schill's splitter looks very good.

has anyone seen Manny on the bench tonight?

Schill is definitely in a groove now, offense can't waste this performance