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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2011 18:15:05 GMT -5
[shadow=red,left,300]Boston Red Sox (39-25) @ Los Angeles Dodgers (35-28)[/shadow]
BOS: Carlos Torres (6-4, 3.01) LAD: Ethan Martin (2-6, 5.47)
The AL East and NL West leaders do battle in an interleague edition of the PBL Game of the Week. The Red Sox make their third appearance on the Game of the Week, all on the west coast, while the Dodgers will also take part in their third Game of the Week.
The Red Sox come in having won four straight series, including three-game sets with the Rays and Yankees. Boston has achieved that success on the backs of their offense, averaging almost seven runs a game during their last 12 outings.
Part of the reason for Boston's offensive success has been the depth of the lineup. Wladimir Balentin is only the team's number five hitter, but he's tore up June with a .326 average, four home runs, and nine RBI's. Curtis Granderson, the team's number seven hitter, has been even hotter, batting .340 with three long balls and 11 RBI's in June. With this kind of top-to-bottom depth, Boston is easily first in all major offensive categories.
The Dodgers have achieved their success in a different manner, relying on the NL's third best ERA to take hold of the NL West. However, Ethan Martin may be the staff's weak link. While his peripherals are okay, he's pitching to a 5.47 ERA and a 2-6 record, though he's coming off one of his best starts of the season---allowing two runs over eight innings to the Angels.
The Red Sox are a different animal than the Angels, though the Dodgers can take some solace. The last time Boston faced a rookie starter was on Thursday and Karsten Whitson allowed only two runs in 7.1 innings for his Major League debut. Perhaps the best thing Martin has going for him is that the Red Sox haven't seen him before.
Questions for the GM's.
For Derek Bobola, while your lineup acquisitions have gotten most of the press, you've gotten great work from your late relievers. Brandon Lyon is pitching to a 1.42 ERA, while Jeremy Affeldt is 5-0 with a 3.16 ERA. This is the best season these guys have had since 2010. Is this something you anticipated when you signed these guys?
Ethan Martin will be starting following a strong performance against the Angels, and the Dodgers bullpen is light's out. What's your blueprint in order to win this game?
Finally, this game represents a homecoming for Hanley Ramirez and James Loney. How do you think they'll perform against their former team?
For Tomas Bekker, what's the gameplan for Martin trying to get this potent Red Sox lineup out?
Kevin Correia is a veteran who has been down in Triple-A most fo the past two seasons where he's pitched well. Any consideration in calling him up to take Martin's place if Martin continues to struggle?
Finally, after an awful April, Blake Smith continues to produce, though his swing isn't conducive to a high batting average. Do you expect his hot streak to last or do you expect him to cool off? And what are your expectations for him against the Red Sox?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2011 19:31:00 GMT -5
The Dodgers again? Erick, what is all this? Don't tell me you are secretly turning into a Dodger fan! Are you? Oh and for this game we will be sending SP Martin Perez to the mound.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 10, 2011 20:00:09 GMT -5
Oh and for this game we will be sending SP Martin Perez to the mound. This game just got a whole lot more interesting!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 0:15:58 GMT -5
Word on the street is that the Red Sox are relocating to the Phillipines. They're going to be called the Manilla Folders!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 3:11:35 GMT -5
Word on the street is that the Red Sox are relocating to the Phillipines. They're going to be called the Manilla Folders!!! As somebody who loves a bad joke, and whose mother is from The Philippines, I approve of this comment. One L not two!!!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 3:16:32 GMT -5
The Dodgers again? Erick, what is all this? Don't tell me you are secretly turning into a Dodger fan! Are you? Oh and for this game we will be sending SP Martin Perez to the mound. Have you seen the other options? One game features two sub-500 teams, the Padres have no fan appeal, and the Rangers have already been on three times, plus are facing a sub-500 opponent. I think two division leaders squaring off makes for an exciting game! Plus, the Dodgers have good market ratings, while the Sox' are fantastic. If you have the time see if you can answer the GM questions---and try to set your schedule so we all know who is pitching when!!! Also, I probably won't be home tomorrow afternoon so if anyone wants to take the recap, it's all yours. If not, I should be able to make time for a recap late tomorrow night perhaps.
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on Jun 11, 2011 12:58:44 GMT -5
Questions for the GM's.
For Derek Bobola, while your lineup acquisitions have gotten most of the press, you've gotten great work from your late relievers. Brandon Lyon is pitching to a 1.42 ERA, while Jeremy Affeldt is 5-0 with a 3.16 ERA. This is the best season these guys have had since 2010. Is this something you anticipated when you signed these guys?
To be honest, this is exactly what we were expecting when we signed Lyon and Affeldt. We entered the offseason with many goals that were highly talked about on talk radio such as improving our starting rotation, upgrade long term at shortstop and getting some consistent production in right field. However, one of the teams biggest plans this offseason was adding some solid veterans to our bullpen to give us consistency and depth.
We also are expecting to get production from Jenks as well who admittedly had some rough outings this year but in his defense he has given us some tough, solid innings as well. The key for Jenks is making sure he can be consistent for us. Right now he is doing much better against lefties while the right handed hitters are giving him a hard time which is the complete opposite of last season so its something I think he can fix.
Ethan Martin will be starting following a strong performance against the Angels, and the Dodgers bullpen is light's out. What's your blueprint in order to win this game?
Well it was recently announced that Martin Perez will be starting for the Dodgers in this game and its no secret he is a very talented young lefty who is having a lot of success early in his career. We are well aware of what he is capable of, just look at what he did against the Giants when he went 9 innings allowing only 2 hits and a walk.
That being said, whether its Perez, Martin or any other pitcher in the league we will go into the game and do what we are used to doing. There is no magic or secret formula for us to create, and I think if we go in and try to make too many adjustments its going to work against us.
We had some struggles against pitchers we haven't seen before but I also think we have an intimidating lineup and Perez is either going to rise to the occasion or we will continue to show the league why we feel we have the best offense in the PBL one through nine.
Finally, this game represents a homecoming for Hanley Ramirez and James Loney. How do you think they'll perform against their former team?
I think Hanley and Loney will perform just fine. These are proven veterans who have nothing but respect for the Dodgers organization and its fans and I'm sure they will be welcomed back with a nice applause as well. Every time Hanley and Loney are in the lineup you know your going to get 100% effort and many times that leads to a lot of production in helping us win ball games.
It will be fun for Hanley and Loney to meet up before the game with some former teammates and I'm sure their looking forward to it as we are looking forward to catching up with a few of our former mates in Arzeno, Scoot (Scutaro),Ramon Ramirez and of course the Rebel.
Its going to be a fun series to watch as both teams are exciting in their own right and have a lot of play for right now. We wish the Dodgers nothing but luck as we have been acquaintances with Tomas for many years now throughout our time in baseball.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 13:24:14 GMT -5
For Tomas Bekker, what's the gameplan for Martin trying to get this potent Red Sox lineup out? Kevin Correia is a veteran who has been down in Triple-A most fo the past two seasons where he's pitched well. Any consideration in calling him up to take Martin's place if Martin continues to struggle? Finally, after an awful April, Blake Smith continues to produce, though his swing isn't conducive to a high batting average. Do you expect his hot streak to last or do you expect him to cool off? And what are your expectations for him against the Red Sox? Martin Perez is at his best when he is ahead in the count, so look for him to attack the strike zone right from the start. Coming of a season high 5 walks against Washington, key will be if he has command over his pitches. Especially against a patient line-up like the Red Sox (2nd in walks). If he does, he has the stuff to challenge almost any hitter. We are not ready to give up on Ethan Martin just yet. He just needs to be a little more consistent, but that is always a big ask for a rookie starting pitcher. Still, of his 10 outings, 6 we're quality starts. So it's not all bad. Maybe he has a bigger future as a reliever, but for now he is our fifth starter. Blake Smith is finally batting at a level at what we hoped for before the season. Do we expect this hot streak to last? No we don't. But if he ends the season with a .250 AVG and 30 homers we will be happy with that. Remember, this is still just his first full season in the majors, so he's still learning. If he could learn to be a little bit more selective at the plate, lower the strike outs, he could be become a very solid hitter for us.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 11, 2011 13:39:05 GMT -5
Finally, this game represents a homecoming for Hanley Ramirez and James Loney. How do you think they'll perform against their former team?I think Hanley and Loney will perform just fine. These are proven veterans who have nothing but respect for the Dodgers organization and its fans and I'm sure they will be welcomed back with a nice applause as well. Every time Hanley and Loney are in the lineup you know your going to get 100% effort and many times that leads to a lot of production in helping us win ball games. It will be fun for Hanley and Loney to meet up before the game with some former teammates and I'm sure their looking forward to it as we are looking forward to catching up with a few of our former mates in Arzeno, Scoot (Scutaro),Ramon Ramirez and of course the Rebel. Its going to be a fun series to watch as both teams are exciting in their own right and have a lot of play for right now. We wish the Dodgers nothing but luck as we have been acquaintances with Tomas for many years now throughout our time in baseball. Yes they will be welcomed back with warm feelings. Our fans are looking forward to this series as much as the GM's do. After all both Hanley and James we're on our 2012 World Series team. As much as we love seeing those guy's, we hate to face them though. Two top notch hitters who will punish every mistake a pitcher makes. I hope this will be a great series. Good luck to you to Derek!
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2011 10:01:17 GMT -5
Can anyone write a recap of this game and then preview the next GotW? I won't have access to OOTP until later this afternoon.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2011 17:06:54 GMT -5
Postgame Wrap
[shadow=red,left,300]Red Sox 4 - Dodgers 3 (10)[/shadow]
It's a rare occasion when Daniel Bard blows a save. Dustin Pedroia didn't allow anyone to dwell on it.
A half-inning after Daniel Bard blew a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Dustin Pedroia smashed a leadoff triple to open the 10th and scored on a one-out sac fly by Wladimir Balentien for the go ahead run. Jeremy Affeldt worked two scoreless innings, including a perfect tenth, for the win.
Balentien continued his prolific season with a powerful day at the plate, smashing a three-run home run off Martin Perez in the top of the first that would prove the game's only runs until the ninth. Perez settled in and didn't allow any other runs over his 8.2 innings of work, but he only had a no-decision to show for it.
Carlos Torres was strong for the Red Sox working six innings of shutout baseball. He was in line for the win, but Bard gave up a leadoff home run in the ninth to Austin Gallagher, a single to Scott Robinson, and a two-run shot to Troy Glaus. Bard's fastball was only clocked in the upper 80's so he was quickly replaced by Affeldt.
Hanley Ramirez had two hits in his first game back against his former club, while Rebel Ridling struggled in his return to Fenway Park, going 0-4.
Questions for the GM's.
For Derek Bobola, Hanley Ramirez may be more touted, but Wladimir Balentien has produced at a phenomenal rate. Are either of these players legitimate MVP candidates?
Carlos Torres came up with another great outing, and he now has allowed two runs or fewer in 10 of his last 11 starts. What has allowed him to thrive thus far this season?
Your team really had success against Rebel Ridling. What was your approach against him that allowed your staff to hold him hitless?
For Tomas, your team really scuffled against the Sox staff. Do you need to add another bat?
Austin Gallagher made his major league debut and hit a home run to get the Dodgers' comeback started. What do you see in this kid going forward?
Martin Perez took awhile to get going, and by the time he hit a groove, the Dodgers were up early. What was the problem with Perez early in the game?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2011 17:07:48 GMT -5
I'm falling asleep, and I don't want to write about my own team in a GotW. Anyone want to take a writeup this week for Yanks-Rockies?
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Post by Derek _ Red Sox on Jun 12, 2011 20:53:57 GMT -5
For Derek Bobola, Hanley Ramirez may be more touted, but Wladimir Balentien has produced at a phenomenal rate. Are either of these players legitimate MVP candidates?
I think Hanley is the type of player who will put up stats worthy of MVP consideration every season. If I am being honest, I am not sure how many times he will win the award because voters do tend to like the sexy, new guys and the depth of our team will turn voters elsewhere but none the less, he is one of the most potent hitters in the league and he will have his share of recognition.
Wladimir has been everything that we hoped and more. We were searching for some stability in right field for a few seasons now and we gave up two good young players in Stephen Fife and Boss Moanaroa for Wladimir with the intention of starting him in Right mainly because he can play great defense and has a laser for an arm which you need in Fenway. We also thought he was capable of hitting for us too. In Cincinnati he hit 28 homers and drove in 90 runs then for the Twins he had 18 and 70. His average was sub-par but with 81 games at Fenway we were projecting a baseline of .280-20-80 with great defense. The signing of Jason Werth throw a wrench in the plans a bit as we thought his veteran experience would push Wladimir to our #4 OF but Wlad had different plans and has really thrived for us.
If Wladimir isn't voted a starter in the all-star game, I think it will be very unfair for him.
Carlos Torres came up with another great outing, and he now has allowed two runs or fewer in 10 of his last 11 starts. What has allowed him to thrive thus far this season?
I think Carlos flies under the radar a bit. Last season he got 12 starts for us going 5-3 with a 3.51 ERA and this season he has a 3.36 ERA and could win 15 games for us. Their are a lot of flashier names in the league and many players who have better ratings but when it comes to production Torres doesn't try to be something he isn't, his groundball ratio is 69% and he lets the hitter put the ball in play and trusts his defense.
Your team really had success against Rebel Ridling. What was your approach against him that allowed your staff to hold him hitless?
Rebel is going to have a lot of success in this league and our pitchers were able to execute and hit their spots while our catchers (Joseph and May) did a good job of calling the game overall and really gave the pitchers an advantage by studying each hitters weakness.
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