Ted's Army: The Voice of Red Sox fans

How we see it goin' down: Sox - A's series

First Pitch: Friday 10:05, Saturday 9:05, Sunday 4:05

Arms: Friday: Aaron Cook, RHP (3-7, 4.76 ERA) vs. Brandon McCarthy, RHP (7-5, 3.12 ERA) 

Saturday: Felix Doubront, LHP (10-6, 4.79 ERA) vs. Brett Anderson, LHP (2-0, 0.64 ERA)

Sunday: Daisuke Matsuzaka, RHP (1-3, 5.10 ERA) vs. Tommy Milone, LHP (11-9, 3.73 ERA)

                          Yard: Oakland Coliseum    Watch it:  NESN    Hear it:  WEEI

The Matchup

Record: 62-70 (4th AL East)	Record: 73-57 (2nd AL West)
On road: 30-32	At home: 39-27
Streak: Lost 3	Streak: Won 6
Leaders at the plate	Leaders at the plate
Average: Loney (.412)	Average: Cespedes (.299)
Homers: Saltalamacchia (22)	Homers: Reddick (27)
RBI: Ross (67)	RBI: Reddick (69)
Leaders on the mound	Leaders on the mound
Wins: Buchholz (11)	Wins: Milone (11)
ERA: Morales (3.77) | Bailey (1.69)	ERA: Anderson (0.64) | Neshek (2.21)
K's: Lester (141)	K's: Milone (117)

Last time

The Red Sox were swept by the A's in early July. The A's hit 4 homers in the series and they were all by former Red Sox (Moss, Reddick, Crisp). I don't think you want to know any more.

This time

Laser Show: Dustin Pedroia

Pedey is due for a big series, not that it will make a difference, because the pitching staff will find a way to screw it up. 

Pitch Around: Josh Reddick

Josh Reddick makes the trade for Andrew Bailey look worse for the Red Sox with every passing day. Not only that, Reddick has hit 2 homers and driven in 5 against the Sox this season. It's the equivalent of kicking Ben, or Larry, in the balls.

Don't Fall Behind: Brett Anderson
 

Since making his season debut almost 2 weeks ago, Anderson has been shutting the opposition down. Anderson has only given up 1 run on 6 hits in 14 innings of work. He can rack up a good amount of strikeouts and get ahead of batters very quickly. The Sox are going to have a lot of trouble with him.

How we see it goin' down

The Sox are just...not good, and the A's have been rolling since sweeping the Sox in the 4th of July series. This will not work out well for the Sox and we are likely looking at another sweep. Does anybody watch them anymore?

Taking Stock Sox - Angels series

After every series, we'll take stock of how each individual and group performance affects their overall value.

Lineup

Scott Podsednik: Scott had a tough time in the lead-off spot against the Angels and collected his only two hits of the series from the 9-spot.

Dustin Pedroia: Nothing really impressive other than the hit streak. 3-for-10 is nothing to be upset about, but from the 2 or 3 spot, it would be nice to see more.

Jacoby Ellsbury: Ells came out firing in game 1, going 2-for-4 with 2 runs scored, then went 0-for-8 to close out the series.

James Loney: I like what I am seeing from Loney so far. A decent defensive first baseman, and went 5-for-8 in the series including golfing his first homer in a Red Sox uniform.

Ryan Lavarnway: He just doesn't look comfortable at the plate. Lavarnway was expected to be an offensive powerhouse, it looks like we will have to wait a little longer to see it.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: Another one of those one good, one bad series. A nice game 1 with the homer and he promptly followed with an 0-for-3 game 3 with 2 K's.

Cody Ross: One single is not going to cut it. He did throw in a pair of strikeouts to contribute to one of the losses.

Jose Iglesias: What a big surprise, Jose Iglesias did not get on base in 8 plate appearances in the series.         

Pedro Ciriaco: His 2-for-13 series is not what we are used to with Pedro. I'm sure he'll pick it up in Oakland.

Mike Aviles: A pretty nice showing from Mike Aviles in games 2 and 3 after having the day off on Tuesday. Hey, Jose, take notes.

Mauro Gomez: Mauro responded well to the news of being named the International League MVP by going 3-for-4 in game 2.

Ryan Kalish: He is just not getting it at the plate.

 

Starting Pitching

Beat Farming: Pawsox sweep Braves in 4, close to clinching wild card

Who has the time to keep up with all of the Sox' minor league teams? We'll do all the work to keep you updated with the beat on the farm.

Notable Performances:

Jeremy Hazelbaker (DH): 1-for-3, 2B, RBI

Ivan De Jesus (2B): 2-for-3, 2B

Billy Buckner (SP): (CG) 7 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 K

Box Score

Notable Performances:

Dan Butler (C): 2-for-3, 2 R

Jose De La Torre (RP): 2 IP, 1 H, BB, K

Box Score

Your Morning Dump... Where Mattingly is positively giddy over Gonzalez

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Given the way everything ended in Boston, it’s easy to forget just how good Adrian Gonzalez is.

“That’s an unbelievable trade,” Mattingly gushed before the Dodgers hosted the Diamondbacks last night. “An unbelievable trade. This guy is the (expletive). He can play. That’s how you win, with guys like that.”

The Dodgers clearly have no regrets over the megadeal that brought Gonzalez, Josh Beckett [stats], Carl Crawford and Nick Punto west, and that’s because they have Gonzalez.

“He’s unbelievable. It really was kind of the perfect storm: The year (the Red Sox) were having, where they’re at (with) the cap, all of that stuff.”

While Mattingly spoke, a broad smile never left his face. As much as Red Sox fans feel like the Dodgers are suckers for taking on more than $260 million in contracts, Mattingly looks like a guy who’d make the trade every day.

“I’m not going to sit here and complain about having freaking Adrian Gonzalez,” Mattingly said.

Herald - Fore-Gonz conclusion

While I was pretty bummed about losing Adrian in the wake of the trade, I have come to see the bright side in all of this.  My concern now is that I simply don't trust that the people that got us into this mess have the restraint to not use that money to put us right back into a similar bind.  Time will tell.

While this trade shined a light on the fact that the ownership group and the front office need to change, we as fans need to change as well.  I've made this same plea over Ortiz in the past, but we need to stop looking for reasons to be unhappy, and instead appreciate what we have.

Adrian Gonzalez came to town with all the pomp and excitement a player like he deserves.  The Sox finally had a hitter that could pick up where Manny left off.  But the honeymoon didn't last forever. 

I don't think it's necessary to re-hash the entire Boston Gonzalez era, however short it was, but let me remind you that the first half of his first year here, Adrian put up obscene numbers.  .354 average, 17 home runs, 77 RBIs, 1.006 OPS.  The second half, while solid, wasn't nearly as impressive.  The first half of this season, he continued his 'good but not great' play.  Then, something clicked.  Adrian began tearing the cover off the ball again.  ....then he was traded.

We set extremely high expectations for Gonzalez.  In our head, we had a vision of who Gonzalez was, and when he didn't fit nicely into that mold, a good chunk of Sox fans turned on him.   Not like they turned on Beckett - they didn't reign boos on him as he stepped to the plate.  But they never embraced him the way he deserved. 

Much of it boiled down to the fact that he wasn't hitting many home runs.  Regardless of how productive at the plate he was, we fixated on the number in the home run column.  We wanted a "slugger", not a hitter.  Adrian has that in him, so it wasn't unrealistic to expect.  But since he wasn't bashing home runs, we became skeptical.  And then we looked, and found, some reasons to dislike him.  His post-game comments weren't fiery enough.  He, for whatever reason, blamed last season on "God's plan".   He provided silly reasons to dislike him, and some of us pounced on him.  

Regardless of the number of home runs he hit in his 1 and 2/3 years in Boston (42), let's not forget the fact that we lost one of the top 5 (probably top 3) first basemen in the league.  If you read those comments from Mattingly above, he certainly realizes what he has.

Rest of the links:

Herald - Jarrod Saltalamacchia wants to catch on | Jon Lester’s best month ends on down note | Globe -Mike Aviles deals with a new Red Sox reality | Sox get swept under by Angels | WEEI -Hunter: 'I'm sure [Crawford's] a lot happier' | Brentz headlines Sox' Arizona Fall players | CSNNE - Ellsbury 'comfortable' with Red Sox | Report: Pedroia tries to set the record straight

Sox lose again, get swept in the season series vs the Angels

To all those that decided to go to sleep, you made the right decision. You didn't miss much anyways. The Angels were able to get another early lead on Jon Lester and they come away with a much needed sweep, beating the Sox 5-2.

Both starting pitchers were shaky tonight, the main difference was that Lester couldn't get out of jams and Zack Grienke could. Lester gave up an RBI double to Albert Pujols in the first to make it 2-0 and then gave up two more runs in the third, which basically clinched the game for the Angels. It's a shame that the Sox offense couldn't get it going as Lester did manage to get on track and actually threw a complete game. He only struck out two and walked three.

Only good things out of the lineup was that James Loney had his best game in a Sox uniform: 3-for-4 with a solo homer and Mike Aviles went 2-3 with a sac fly. The rest of the team only managed to get two hits, none of them coming from Pedro Ciriaco, Jacoby Ellsbury, or Scott Podsednik, all of whom were carrying hot bats over the past ten games. 

So for another low this season, the Red Sox fail to get a single win against the Los Angeles Angels. Good thing some moves have been made as this can't happen again.

Box Score

Beat Farming: Rich Hill pitches well, again

Who has the time to keep up with all of the Sox' minor league teams? We'll do all the work to keep you updated with the beat on the farm.

Notable Performances:

Rich Hill: 1 IP, 0 H, BB, 2 K

Tony Thomas (DH): 2-for-4, 2-run HR (10), 3 RBI, BB, 2 R

Ivan De Jesus (2B): 4-for-6, 3 R

Box Score

Notable Performances:

Ronald Bermudez (CF): 1-for-3

Will Latimer (RP): 4 IP, 2 H, 5 K

Box Score

Your Morning Dump...where a familiar face takes his rightful place in the 'pen

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Bard will return following an exile of several months in the minors. What was expected to be a relatively brief assignment to Pawtucket to fine tune some control issues instead became a nearly three month period in which he struggled mightily and seemed, at times, to be on the verge of having to start his career from scratch.

"It took some patience,'' said Bard, "but I'm glad to finally get the call (to come back). I think it just gave me a chance to work on some things without too much consequence in the results. I accomplished some really good things and I'm headed in the right direction. Now, I just need to get to back into that competitive environment and I can just focus on competing with the hitter.''

Bard, wno transitioned to the starting rotation in spring training, had a rought first two months, but his season bottomed out with a June 3 start in Toronto that saw him hit two batters and walk six others in just 1 2/3 innings.

"Pitching is never something you (completely) figure out,'' he said. "It's a constant process to get better and once you do feel good about how you're throwing the ball, it's constant work to maintain that. Every pitcher has his ups and downs and it's just another part of my journey.''

In 31 games in Pawtucket -- all but one in relief -- Bard compiled a 7.03 ERA ERA and in 32 innings, walked almost as many hitters (29) as he struck out.

But in his last three outings, he didn't issue a single walk and believes the major struggles are behind him.

CSNNE: Bard: I'm a reliever

Oh well looks who's back! Daniel Bard in the bullpen, something that should've happened back in April but at least the Sox continue to right the ship and get this team in good shape for next year.

And Bard did struggle a lot down in Pawtucket, so we shall see how he handles the Majors. At this point, it's like having him as a rookie all over again. Let's not expect much now but he goes out there and puts together a few clean innings... that's just a nice bonus.

If he really is staying in the bullpen for the foreseeable future, then the bullpen has potential to be pretty solid. Melancon becomes the 7th inning guy, a role that fits him nicely. Bard goes back to his set up position and Bailey as the closer. That's such an improvement over the Padilla-Aceves combo. 

Speaking of Aceves, he re-emerges as the spot starter, long relief guy that this team desperately needed. Call me crazy but 2013 might not be as bad as we're all initially expecting. 

Globe: Angels pound Sox | Bard ready to start over in the bullpen | Stewart gets a return trip to Pawtucket | ESPN's new MLB deal affects NESN | Herald: Stewart rocked in Red Sox debut | Bard back in the bigs | Sox defense never rests | CSNNE: Where do Red Sox go for power? | Stewart shelled in debut | WEEI: Stewart historically bad | Pedroia clears the air | Bard: "It's good to be back"

Mauro Gomez named IL MVP

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

Mauro Gomez was named the 2012 International League MVP, for his domination at the plate for the Pawsox this season. Gomez batted .310, with 24 homers, 74 RBI, 34 doubles, 1 triple, 120 total hits, and a .960 OPS.

His performance with the Pawsox has not completely carried over into Boston, but it could with a little PT. We have no idea what the fate will be of the 27-year-old Gomez, but it will be nice to have him around if he can translate that AAA play into the majors.

Fun Fact...Jim Rice was the first Red Sox prospect to win the IL MVP. Congratulations, Mauro, you have joined a group that includes Jim Rice. Now all you have to do is get into the Hall of Fame. Piece of cake.

Beat Farming: Portland's bats come alive in 12th inning

Who has the time to keep up with all of the Sox minor league teams? We'll do all the work to keep you updated with the beat on the farm.

Sea Dogs scored 6 runs in the top of the 12th.

Notable Performances:

Travis Shaw (1B): 3-for-5, 3-run HR (3) (12th inn.), 2B, BB

Christian Vazquez (C): 2-for-5, BB, 2 R

Bryce Brentz (RF): 1-for-6, 3 RBI, 2 R

Peter Hissey (LF): 1-for-4, RBI, 2 BB, 2 R

Mike McDonald (RP): 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K

Box Score

Your Morning Dump...where Valentine defends Aceves' appearance

 

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

 The choice proved ill-fated when, after retiring the side in order in the eighth, Aceves allowed two runs in the bottom of the ninth, costing the Sox their lead and the game, a 6-5 walkoff loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
     
"There wasn't much choice," said Valentine. "I don't know what else I could have done."
     
Valentine then looked at an index card that details relievers' recent workloads and read the information.
     
"(Andrew) Bailey wasn't pitching (after pitching four times in the last five games)," said Valentine. "(Vicente) Padilla's pitched four of the last five games. (Mark) Melancon's pitched four out of six. There really wasn't anybody tonight except maybe (Junichi) Tazawa, who still needed an extra day.
     
"I don't think the (Angels) matched up with (lefty Andrew) Miller. (Clayton) Mortensen pitched in three of five days and warmed up the other days twice."

CSNNE | Valentine: Aceves' extra work due to lack of other options

On one hand, I want to side with Valentine. Aceves was rested enough, and even though he was on for a second inning, he only threw 24 pitches. We've seen plenty of 24-pitch outings in one inning -- old friend Jonathan Papelbon had his fair share of those when he would walk the first batter.

But I don't really agree with Bobby V's reasoning. I think this is some kind of mind game, although I can't tell exactly what. Is it reinforcing to Aceves: "This is the situation you put me -- and yourself -- in by going and getting suspended"? Maybe. 

Either way, he certainly could have pitched Tazawa in the 8th, or even Craig Breslow, who wasn't mentioned in Bobby V's rundown. Or Mortensen, who, sure, pitched as much as Valentine said, but only registered a third of an inning in each of those last two appearances. Since when is K-ton that fragile?

More odd reasoning and poor communication (nice job reading from a card, who are you, Ellsbury?) from Bobby V.

And at what point are we all going to recognize that Aceves is the weak link in the bullpen? I know he's a competitive guy and has a great work ethic and all that...but eight blown saves is eight blown saves. This year doesn't matter anymore, but if there is any remote controversy between Bailey and Aceves for closing next season, it's crazy. Bailey's the guy.

CSNNE | Aceves blows save in return as Sox lose to Angels, 6-5 | Iglesias makes first start of season for Sox | Stewart to make Red Sox debut Wednesday vs. Angels | Aceves back with Sox after suspension; Morales to DL | Herald | Alfredo Aceves melts again | Despite loss, Sox still playing to win | Red Sox no match for Mike Trout | Globe | Aceves, Red Sox crumble in ninth | Zach Stewart gets his shot on Wednesday | Aceves returns and another brutal loss follows | ESPNBoston | Mike Trout, Torii Hunter key Angels' ninth-inning rally past Red Sox | Rapid reaction: Angels 6, Red Sox 5 | Olney: Sox put Dice-K on trade waivers | Red Sox reliever back after ban | Morales goes on DL with 'tired' shoulder