Lackey deals in Red Sox win

Photo by Matt West

What a difference a week makes - it hasn't been that long since we were crediting the bullpen with being the most reliable part of the Red Sox pitching staff. But last night the starter led the way, as John Lackey tossed eight innings, scattering six hits, no walks, and giving up just two runs.

Lackey departed with a sizable lead, and Edward Mujica came on for the ninth with a five run cushion - but he couldn't nail it down. Mujica managed to get two outs, but it was messy, as he allowed a leadoff double to James Loney, and a walk to Wil Myers - both of whom scored on a single and a throwing error by Xander Bogaerts.

At that point, John Farrell had apparently seen enough, and called out to the bullpen for Koji Uehara, who was able to close out the game on three pitches, striking out Ben Zobrist. How is it possible that Mujica couldn't pitch a single inning with a five run lead?

Luckily for the Red Sox, they now have the roster they had hoped to start the season with, meaning that the bullpen should have more leads to protect in the upcoming weeks. Hopefully Mujica can straighten himself out, because Uehara is thirty-nine years old, and even his seemingly magic arm needs regular rest.

North of the border, a roller coaster win for Red Sox

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When Clay Buchholz gave up three runs in the bottom of the first inning yesterday at Rogers Centre, all I could think was, Here we go again.

But Buchholz got himself out of the inning - and through six more without giving up another run. It's a testament to Buchholz that he didn't melt down completely, even though it was clear early on that he didn't have his best stuff.

It certainly helped that Buchholz's teammates regained the lead for him in the top of the third, led by a grad slam by the often-frustrating A.J. Pierzynski, and a solo home run by prodigal son Will Middlebrooks.

Interestingly enough, it was only after Buchholz left the game that things got tense. The bullpen has so far been the most reliable part of the Red Sox season, but yesterday was an exception. Junichi Tazawa came in for the eighth inning, and promptly gave up a home run.

Traditionally, Tazawa has not pitched well at Rogers Centre (his ERA in Canada is 9.00 - the second worst of anywhere he's pitched after the 27.00 ERA he put up in the third of an inning he pitched at Dodger Stadium).

After Tazawa gave up his second run, John Farrell called out to the bullpen for Chris Capuano, who managed a strikeout and a walk before being replaced by Koji Uehara. The ever-reliable Uehara got the final out in the eighth, and then closed out the ninth - albeit with the slight hiccup of giving a home run to Jose Bautista.

It was a wild ride from start to finish - but even the ugly wins count. Jon Lester takes the mound tonight against knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, giving the Red Sox a chance to sweep the series and get back to .500 on the season.

2014 Bill James Projections - Koji Uehara

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2011: 2-3, 65 games, 0 saves, 65 IP, 2.35 ERA, 9 BB, 85 SO
2012 projection: 5-2, 62 games, 0 saves, 58 IP, 2.64 ERA, 8 BB, 55 SO
2012: 0-0, 37 games, 1 save, 36 IP, 1.75 ERA, 3 BB, 43 SO
2013 projection: 3-1, 43 games, 4 saves, 40 IP, 2.25 ERA, 6 BB, 39 SO
2013: 4-1, 73 games, 21 saves, 74.1 IP, 1.09 ERA, 9 BB, 101 SO
2014 projection: 6-2, 69 games, 23 saves, 75 IP, 1.80 ERA, 9 BB, 82 SO

I think it's fair to forgive the total lack of accuracy from The Bill James Handbook's 2013 projections for Koji Uehara. After all, heading into the season, Uehara wasn't even on the radar as a possible closer, as we had Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey seemingly ready to go.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Red Sox would not have won the World Series without Uehara in the closer spot. Beyond the absolutely lights out season he had numbers-wise, Uehara was one of many spiritual centers of the team, earning the nickname "High Five City" by midsummer.

I know I can't be the only Red Sox fan who was intimidated by Uehara's post-save celebration antics: every time he charged triumphantly off the mound I was sure he was going to fracture his hand with the ferocity of his high fives.

But Uehara remained safe, sound, and absolutely dominant to the very end. His ERA was just over a run, and his BB/SO ratio was unreal (though to be fair, that's been consistent throughout his career).

It's possible that Uehara might have a bit of a backslide in 2014: he tossed a lot of innings last year, and at his age that might wear on him. However, it's obvious that trying to predict the greatness that is Koji Uehara is futile, so I'll just sit back and enjoy the ride.

Ben Cherington - Executive of the Year

©Kayla Chadwick 2013

Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington has been named the Sporting News Executive of the Year. The award was decided by a voting panel of 31 Major League executives, and this year marks just the fourth time in MLB history that a Red Sox exec earned the honor.

Of the thirty-one votes, Cherington got fifteen, while Neal Huntington of the Pittsburgh Pirates got nine, Dayton Moore of the Kansas City Royals got four, and Frank Wren of the Atlanta Braves got three.

Cherington's award is a testament to how much people love an underdog story. If any team with the payroll capabilities of Boston could be considered an unlikely winner, it was this one. After an unbelievably disastrous 2012, the worst-to-first romp of 2013 was both glorious and unexpected.

Cherington's offseason moves (signing Shane Victorino, Koji Uehara, and Mike Napoli, among others) are certainly to be congratulated, but the true start of the 2013 turnaround came late in 2012, when the Dodgers gave the Red Sox a mulligan on some truly mammoth contracts. Without the trade of Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Adrian Gonzalez, and Nick Punto, the Red Sox would never have the chance to win it all in 2013.

So maybe Cherington should send a case of World Series champagne out to the LA front office? Because without them, he doesn't get this award.

"It's the pitching, stupid."

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For all the shenanigans that went on last night, from the successful Big Papi pep talk to the game-ending pickoff of Kolten Wong, it would be easy to forget the most important piece of the victory. To paraphrase former President Bill Clinton, "It's the pitching, stupid."

The storyline coming into the game was all Clay Buchholz all the time. Buchholz had infamously declared that he thought he had "one more start" in him, and the internet went absolutely wild with speculation over his velocity and effectiveness before he ever took the mound.

Once he made it out onto the field, all the doom and gloom predictors took one look at the radar gun as confirmation of their worst fears. Buchholz hit 90 mph just a handful of times, but he allowed only a single run (unearned) in four full innings. As John Farrell said, "he gave us everything he could."

After Buchholz left, Felix Doubront came in, pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, and earned the win. Many of us scratched our heads when Farrell pulled Doubront in favor of Craig Breslow - the biggest error of the night, as it turned out, because Breslow immediately allowed an inherited runner to score.

But then Junichi Tazawa came in and put out the fire, allowing the Red Sox to escape the seventh inning with their lead intact.

Game 6 starter John Lackey came in for the eighth inning, faced four batters, and held the lead for Koji Uehara, who picked off Wong to end the game.

It was a true team effort, and I want to make sure none of these contributions get overlooked. Buchholz's gutsy start fell far short of his regular season standard, but he battled harder than any starter I've seen this postseason.

John Lackey was on his side day, so his pitching an inning won't effect his ability to start on Wednesday - but the difference between throwing a side session in the bullpen and a meaningful eight inning in a World Series game cannot be overstated. Though it's been nine years since Lackey threw a pitch in relief (to David Ross, of all people), he handled it like the professional he is.

Doubront was fantastic, Tazawa reliable - and of course, Koji Uehara was excellent.

After a night where Jonny Gomes was the main story, there wouldn't be a story at all without the combined efforts of Buchholz, Doubront, Lackey, Tazawa, and Uehara. It was the pitching, stupid.

Koji Time

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At the beginning of the season, I had Joel Hanrahan on my fantasy team. I had high hopes for Hanrahan, but even when he went down, I wasn't worried about the closer situation. If you're guessing I added Andrew Bailey to my fantasy team, you'd be correct - but I also added Koji Uehara.

It's goes without saying that my best add was certainly the last one, as we all know about Uehara's incredible numbers since taking over the ninth inning.

Uehara's brilliance hasn't gone unnoticed by his teammates either. Fellow pitcher Craig Breslow is blogging over at WEEI for the duration of the playoffs, and here's what he had to say:

But what he’s done is absolutely unbelievable. John Lackey and I were joking, why don’t we just start him and see how long he can go? If it’s three or four innings and 15 to 20 pitches and he gets tired, then we’ll worry about bringing somebody in behind him.

The best perspective on his stuff has got to come from a hitter because the way I see it, his stuff seems very pedestrian. It seems almost like, ‘Huh, maybe I can mess around with a splitter and get a pitch like that.’ Then you see the swings that guys take and you see the results that he’s gotten — not over an inning or two innings but 75 innings. I think collectively we’re all missing something, because the swings that guys take at that pitch are like he’s throwing a wiffleball.

Every time the rest of the Sox pitching staff can hand the ball safely to Koji Uehara at the end of each game, I'm confident in our chances. Gone are the days of heart-attack innings from Jonathan Papelbon circa 2011, or the nightmarishly unpredictable antics of Alfredo Aceves in 2012.

No, 2013 is different. It's Koji time - High Five City.

Red Sox Never Say Die

[If you haven't seen The Goonies, drop whatever you're doing right now and go watch it.]

Like the Goonies, the 2013 Red Sox never say die. This season, the Sox have come from behind to win 28 games, most recently last night's contest against the Toronto Blue Jays.

As has been the case so many times this season, the win was a true team effort. Starter Ryan Dempster went seven innings and allowed just one run, leaving the game in line for the win. Unfortunately for Dempster, Junichi Tazawa came in and gave up a home run to J.P. Arencibia.

Arencibia's homer tied up the game, and was just the eighth home run allowed by Tazawa in 55.2 innings pitched this year. Craig Breslow pitched an inning before handing the ball off to Koji Uehara, who pitched 1.1 innings, and earned the win after Shane Victorino knocked in two Red Sox runs in the 11th inning.

In past years I haven't been able to muster much optimism when the Red Sox end up in extra innings on the road. Inevitably, I'd stay awake to watch the other team walk off, deliriously happy with their victory.

That hasn't been the case this year. This team seems to want it more than their opponents, and more than previous Red Sox teams. I'll happily stay up to the wee hours of the morning on a daily basis to watch the Sox win games like last night's.

I love this team!

Photo via Boston.com

Today's Red Sox victory perfectly encapsulated everything I've come to love about this team. Sure, it started off badly, with Ryan Dempster turning in an absolutely putrid start. But pitchers have bad days, and good teams have to learn to find a way to win, which is exactly what the Red Sox did.

Though Dempster made it through just 3.1 innings and gave up all seven Mariners runs (four earned), young knuckleballer Steven Wright came to his rescue and tossed 5.2 innings of shut-out baseball.  On the offensive side, today was truly a team effort as seven Red Sox had at least one hit, and three had two.

The Sox managed to claw their way back, and the score was tied at the end of regulation play. Ryan Lavarnway walked to lead off the top of the tenth inning, and Jackie Bradley Jr. took his place as a pinch runner. Brock Holt executed a successful sacrifice bunt to move Bradley into scoring position, but Jose Iglesias lost a battle of an at-bat, striking out after eight pitches. Jacoby Ellsbury was intentionally walked after the home run he hit in the first, but Daniel Nava hit a two-out single to put the Red Sox up by one run.

Koji Uehara, spurned by the All-Star Game Final Vote, went out and recorded a save, facing just three batters and striking out two of them. Wright earned his first ever major league win, and the Red Sox extended their new winning streak to three games before they head to Oakland tomorrow, proving once again that you can't count these guys out. How can anyone resist loving this team? 

Solid All-Star selections from fans

Image via MLB.com

Typically I'm pretty dubious about fan voting for the MLB All-Star Game. It tends to skew the roster toward players from big-market teams like the Yankees, Dodgers, and yes, Red Sox, because those teams have legions of fans that they can mobilize to vote. In a true exhibition game, that wouldn't matter as much. Since the players and managers fill out the rosters after the initial fan voting selects the starters, they ensure that all teams are represented.

But because the winner of the All-Star Game determines who gets home field advantage in the World Series, fan selection seems like a big responsibility, and we've certainly made some questionable selections in years past. I was somewhat apprehensive about the unveiling of the voting results last night, but I could have saved myself the trouble  because the fans did a pretty solid job all around - while there were a few minor snubs, there wasn't anything egregious.

The National League starting infielders are Yadier Molina (C) of the Rockies, Joey Votto (1B) of the Reds, Brandon Phillips (2B) of the Reds, David Wright (3B) of the Mets, and Troy Tulowitzki (SS) of the Rockies, and the outfielders are Carlos Beltran of the Cardinals, Carlos Gonzalez of the Rockies, and Bryce Harper of the Nationals. There's some controversy over Harper's selection, as the young sensation has missed significant time this season with a knee injury, but I don't think the selection is unreasonable.

On the American League side of things, the infield will include Joe Mauer (C) of the Twins, Chirs Davis (1B) of the Orioles, Robinson Cano (2B) of the Yankees, Miguel Cabrera (3B) of the Tigers, and JJ Hardy (SS) of the Orioles. Starting AL outfielders will be Adam Jones of the Orioles, Mike Trout of the Angels, and Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays, while Boston's own David Ortiz will be the starting DH. I don't really have any qualms with this, though I would obviously love to see Dustin Pedroia get the nod (he will be at the game as a reserve, so I'll have to settle for that).

The managers of the two teams, Jim Leyland for the AL, and Bruce Bochy for the NL, along with player votes, fill in the reserves and the pitchers - with the exception of one player on each roster. The Final Vote started yesterday, and will continue until Thursday, where fans can choose the last player for each league from a list of five. Interestingly enough, all five options for the American League are relief pitchers, and all five from the National League are field players. The AL vote will probably come down to Red Sox closer Koji Uehara and Yankees reliever David robertson, while Dodgers rookie sensation Yasiel Puig is heavily favored to win the NL's final roster spot.

Sox top Padres

I missed the first eight and a half innings of tonight's game because I was in class: graduate school started yesterday and we've hit the ground running. Of course, I surreptitiously monitored the progress of the Red Sox as consistently as possible, and was thrilled every time I checked in by the excellent start from John Lackey.

You can't script it any better than this: the starter goes eight strong innings, allowing just a one run on six hits and a single base on balls. Lackey had excellent control tonight, striking out six Padres in his eight innings before giving way to closer Koji Uehara for the ninth. Uehara nailed down the win for Lackey with a clean inning, facing the minimum number of batters and returning to the dugout in victory soon after he took the mound.

As much as I'm enjoying my classes so far, I'm looking forward to tomorrow - no night class means I can watch the Sox from beginning to end.

Exactly as planned

Last night's game went as well as you could hope (excepting Andrew Bailey's seventh inning struggles), as the red hot Red Sox bats managed to oust Blue Jays starter Josh Johnson just one out into the fourth inning. Meanwhile, rookie Allen Webster managed to lower his abysmal 11.25 ERA to a merely terrible 9.50 with six innings pitched and four earned runs allowed.

Webster did improve upon his last outing, allowing six hits in six innings, as opposed to 8 hits in just 4.1 innings last week in Detroit, and he showed pretty good control in last night's game, walking just two batters and striking out three. Webster is definitely improving, and as this was his first season playing even as high as AAA, I'd say he has a very bright future; indeed, he's making me feel woefully unaccomplished, as the righthander is nearly a month younger than I am, and already a big league pitcher.

Webster departed in the sixth inning with a lead, looking to earn his first major league win, but Andrew Bailey came in and recorded two strikeouts before allowing a two-out home run to Edwin Encarnacion, tying the game and erasing Webster as the pitcher of record. Andrew Miller pitched the end of the seventh and the eighth, earning himself a win when Jonny Gomes put the Red Sox on top for good with a pinch hit RBI single, followed by a Jarrod Saltalamachia walk that forced in an insurance run.

For the third day in a row, Koji Uehara, aptly described by Globe reported Peter Abraham as "the game's most exitable 38-year-old," earned the save and copious high fives from his teammates, coaches, translators, and training staff.  Unfortunately for the Jays, their bullpen didn't come through to the extent that Boston's did, as they needed five pitchers to get through the final 4.2 innings.

You really couldn't script things much better than this from the Red Sox point of view, as they've already guaranteed themselves the series split with two games to go. They're still in line for a four-game sweep of a division rival, and they've put themselves in good position to win the final two games, as they've pretty effectively abused the Jays bullpen for two straight days.

It's always about the pitching

Jon Lester was less than spectacular last night, but he managed to get the job done, allowing all four Blue Jays runs in seven innings last night in the 7-4 Red Sox victory. Lester departed the mound in the top of the eighth inning with a jammed hip. At the time of the injury, the lefty was at 94 pitches, and could probably have completed the inning if not for the wet mound that caused him to slip.

Luckily for the Red Sox, Lester has reported that he feels fine, and that neither he nor the Sox medical staff is concerned about any long-lasting effects or missing any future starts. Junichi Tazawa took over for Lester and pitched a clean eighth inning before giving way to closer Koji Uehara for the ninth. Uehara faced the minimum number of Jays batters and struck out two of three to earn his third save of the season.

On the Jays' side of things, Chien-Ming Wang couldn't even make it through two innings, retiring just five Red Sox in his shortened outing, and allowing all seven Red Sox runs in the bottom of the second inning before being pulled for reliever Aaron Loup. Blue Jays skipper John Gibbons had to use four relief pitchers to get through the game, which is certainly a boon to the Red Sox as this series still has three games to go, and a tired opposing bullpen is always an advantage.

Hopefully the Red Sox bats can get to Josh Johnson just as quickly as they got to Wang, because rookie righthander Allen Webster will take the mound for the home team tonight, and he was beat up pretty badly by the Tigers in the first inning of his last start before settling in. Webster is the not-so-proud owner of a 11.25 ERA to go with his 0-2 record and is looking to prove himself, though it's common knowledge that his time is limited regardless of performance, as he'll be optioned back to Pawtucket when Clay Buchholz returns.

Another blown save for Bailey

After a strange last outing in which he blew the save and then was credited with the win (sometimes baseball rules are weird), Andrew Bailey looked to redeem himself this evening. He came on with a one-run lead, and promptly allowed a walk off homer to Jhonny Peralta. John Lackey pitched very well - much like Felix Doubront did on Tuesday - but could not claim the win because Bailey couldn't lock it down.

So now what? The Red Sox started the season with a surplus of closing options, but now Joel Hanrahan has had season-ending surgery and Andrew Bailey has blown two saves in a row. Any baseball fan around my age or older remembers what a catastrophic failure the "closer by committee" experiment was, but there is no obvious Plan C if Bailey's troubles can't be straightened out.

Junichi Tazawa has a few saves to his credit this season, but in my opinion there's more value in his current role, able to go out and pitch multiple innings on a pretty regular basis. Koji Uehara is always fun to watch, and he clearly thrives on the adrenaline rush of a successful single inning, displaying what could be defined as the "closer's mentality, but you have to be concerned by Uehara's age: the 38-year-old righty can't pitch multiple days in a row.

The Red Sox bullpen has some pretty intriguing and successful arms, but they all work so well where they are - aside from the recent spate of blown saves, the 'pen has been a clear strength this season. There's talk about looking to trade for a closer, and if/when Will Middlebrooks gets his bat up to speed, Stephen Drew could be interesting trade bait. One thing is certain: if Andrew Bailey can't get his act together, he can't be the Red Sox closer much longer.

Koji Uehara with the save

Koji Uehara is way too much fun. Every time Uehara gets out of an inning, he requests (and receives) high fives from everybody on the team, coaches, players, training staff, and translators. Last night, when Uehara earned his first save of the season in extra innings, he didn't disappoint and the high fiving was just as enthusiastic as ever.

The Red Sox are Uehara's third major league team, as he made his debut for the Orioles in 2009, and after spending two seasons plus in Baltimore, he ended up pitching for the Texas Rangers in 2011 and 2012. He was one of the free agents the Sox signed this offseason with little fanfare, expecting him to be a one-inning per outing guy, which is pretty much what we've seen.

With Andrew Bailey and Joel Hanrahan both on the roster, no one considered the possibility that Uehara might close even a single game - indeed, even with both of them on the disabled list, John Farrell had said that Junichi Tazawa would have the job. But Tazawa pitched two innings and got the win on Thursday, so Uehara got the call last night in the bottom of the tenth inning - and he certainly came through.

Farrell doing everything right

John Farrell knows pitchers. Ask any Sox pitcher who was here when Farrell was the Red Sox pitching coach, and they'll tell you how phenomenal he was at getting through to guys, and getting the best possible performances from them. Terry Francona often said that Farrell could easily make the transition from pitching coach to manager, and everything we've seen so far backs up that assertion.

Farrell was right to put Joel Hanrahan on the mound this afternoon - and just as right with his quick hook after two straight walks from the closer. Any pitcher can have a bad outing. I was at the game on Wednesday night, and conditions were certainly less than ideal, making it totally reasonable (if not desirable) that Hanrahan might have a mistep.

After that kind of meltdown it's important for the manager to display his confidence that the poor outing was an outlier, which is exactly what Farrell did. But at the end of the day, the job of the manager is to put the right combination of players on the field to win games. Hanrahan couldn't find the strike zone, and the Red Sox were on the verge of wasting an excellent start from Jon Lester, so Farrell acted decisively and pulled him in favor of Koji Uehara.

With the exception of Hanrahan, the Sox bullpen has performed exactly as hoped (I can't be the only one with a budding love for Uehara), and Farrell has managed it admirably. Today's win was a nailbiter (I never would have expected that I would come out of it winless in fantasy baseball, seeing as I started both Lester and David Price), but all wins count the same in the end. Far more valuable that a decisive victory is the knowledge that Farrell will continue to make the difficult - and correct - decisions.

"Sellout" streak officially over

As awful as it was to watch last night's meltdown from Joel Hanrahan, there was a kind of poetic justice about the whole situation. It was the first officially un-soldout game in nearly a decade, and it somehow seemed to mirror the tendencies of the Red Sox over the last couple of years.

Things started off pretty evenly, as the Orioles scored, the Red Sox evened the score, and then the Red Sox pulled ahead by two runs - but the Orioles closed the gap heading into the rain delay. I know I came into the game with high hopes, after seeing the Sox dispose of the Orioles on Opening Day.

The first part of the game was like a microcosm of the 2011 season: the Sox got off to a 0-6 start, but managed to pull themselves out and back into contention by midseason, just as last night's squad fell behind but stayed within reach of a win by the rain delay. Post rain delay, Daniel Nava and Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit two home runs, resulting in jubilation among the Fenway faithful, much like the incredible summer we enjoyed in 2011.

And then Hanrahan came on to close things out. After Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, and Andrew Bailey each pitched a scoreless inning, Hanrahan came in and couldn't close the deal - like the September 2011 meltdown of the entire Red Sox pitching staff (and, even more specifically, then-closer Jonathan Papelbon's personal meltdown against the Orioles on the last day of the season).

Andrew Miller managed to come in and get the last out, but then the Red Sox could not score in the bottom of the ninth - an exercise in futility that resembled 2012 in its entirety.

And so whether you buy my metaphor, last night was the beginning of a new era for the Red Sox. Hopefully the end of the "sellout streak" (which was fraudulent by the end, let's be honest) can be a clean slate for the Sox. Even after last night's loss, the Red Sox are still in first place in the AL East. Alfredo Aceves takes the mound tonight for the series finale, and while I wouldn't have chosen him as the tone-setter, he definitely has something to prove.