when it rains, it pours

photos from Yahoo Sports, The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald

1. just one more piece of evidence that Julio Lugo is not normal...


2. where was that defense from Renteria when he played for us?! =P

3. meteorologist Jerry Remy declares that the Sox played Saturday's second game in a *mist*, not rain. whatever you want to call it, i'm surprised my boys weren't growing webbed feet by the end of this past weekend's interleague series against the Braves.

4. i believe the back up catcher for Atlanta has the longest name i have ever seen. either that or he just got stuck with all the left over uniform letters they needed to use up: Saltalamacchia

5. happened to stumble across another photo of Eric Hinske going splat against the Tigers the other night. that play was totally worth a second mention. it may be one of the craziest catches i have seen in the last few years. if you missed seeing it when it happened, you can see it (for now, anyway) here. i still can't believe how hard his head bounced, face first, in the dirt of the warning track -- and i have seen this clip a bunch of times now.



6. the first game on Saturday was a run fest for the Sox. solos for Lugo & Whiffy Mo. a two-run shot for Youk. and the huge grand slam by Mike Lowell. and that only accounts for eight of the thirteen runs scored by Boston.


7. i still can't believe they didn't call the second game as soon as it was official. if i didn't know better, i would say that the Sox let the Braves pull far enough ahead that they couldn't be caught, just so they could end the game & dry out. watching that soggy three hour game could only have been more miserable if i had been at Fenway, suffering through it in the rain (er, mist, sorry, Jerry...).

8. how many Red Sox does it take not to catch a ball? =P


9. Youk went three for three, plus a walk, on Sunday. one of those hits was another solo home run. as difficult as it is to watch Youk beat up on himself when he doesn't perform up to his own self expectations, it is joyful to see his face like this. he's on a thirteen game hit streak right now.



10. Cora continues to make monster plays in the field. sliding all over the place in the rain. leaping in the air. throwing accurately, while spinning on his knees. Julio Lugo could do this too -- in his dreams! Cora for SS!

11. the bats were like Goldilocks & the three bears: this one is toooo hot (Game One, Saturday: 18 hits). this one is toooo cold (Game Two, Saturday: 3 hits). this one is just right (Sunday: 9 hits).

12. quite a gem in Saturday's early game from Zaka-san. solid eight innings. gave up three runs on nine hits. Kd six. walked none. he's 6-2 now in nine starts. no complaints from me. Sox win for Matsuzaka, 13-3.



13. i *really* felt bad for Devern Hansack. he pitched in the rain. the Sox refused to hit the ball. i can't believe an outing like that isn't discouraging. it wasn't just him though. the only Sox pitcher in that game that didn't give up a run was JC Romero. Hansack & Pineiro both gave up four. Lopez & Donnelly gave up three each. add up that disaster, and you get a Sox loss, 14-0. i don't remember the last time we got shut out that badly.


14. what an outing by Kason Gabbard on Sunday! way better than i dared to even hope. five innings, giving up two runs on six hits. walked one but struck out *seven*. Donnelly struggled a little bit, but Lopez, Snyder, Oki & Papelbon came in to kick butts & take names. Sox win, 6-3.



15. The Wakabelli Show is on tonight. please let there be bats. Wang gets the nod from the Evil Empire (not sure why they swapped his start with Mussina). Sox enter the series with quite a record... and quite a lead. and that's all i can say about that. =X