Fenway series Preview (1)

Boston preview.

The big series. Payback time for Boston ? after two, yes two consecutive sweeps of the Red Sox by Jays in Toronto dating back to September 2007.
Don’t forget role of Frank in April sweep with runs in each of the games and home runs in two.

Boston on five game losing streak… swept against Rays. Ortiz and Lowell injured during that streak. But no reason not to make it eight before Jays leave on Wednesday evening.

Toronto themselves coming off six game losing streak to win albeit with some luck on Sunday afternoon but then again they didn’t get much luck with the dropped Eckstein ball, and the Lind double miraculously stifled by Kansas and a host of other missed opportunities. Jays must feel good starting with Halladay. I wonder if Boston is holding back Dice-K for this reason???? Surely not ? 4-0 this season… hmmmm… flu ??? Why don’t MLB players have the flu shot each year ? Ah well.

Interesting to hear Ortiz on his slump, it could be Vernon Wells speaking about his own !!!!
Interesting also not to see any cries for Francona’s head unlike the negative media for Gibbons in Toronto.

What they are saying. Boston Globe:

Not-so-booming bats
It's not as though the Sox are weak at the dish; they still lead the AL in batting average, OPS and runs. But over the past week, the stats have told a different story. Only five homers have been hit, and the team's slugging percentage is a meager .394. On the whole, the Sox averaged a meager 4.25 runs per game over the last week. Kevin Youkilis has been particularly ineffective at the plate, hitting at a pedestrian .050 clip (his lone hit being a home run), but he's hardly the only culprit; J.D. Drew hit just .150 with no extra base hits and no RBIs (Youk had two).

Youkilis has filled in admirably at third for a number of games in Mike Lowell's DL stint (hot prospect Jed Lowrie did pretty well himself), but a lineup with Lowell and Youkilis in it is better than one with Youk and Sean Casey (who, by the way, is on the DL himself).

The recent outbreak of illness among Sox players has wreaked havoc upon the starting lineup and rotation; Daisuke Matsuzaka missed his start against the Angels, Jason Varitek didn't play at all against the Angels (and didn't get a hit against the Rays), and Manny Delcarmen was affected during the game when he was dizzy on the mound. Furthermore, Kevin Youkilis has had back problems, and Josh Beckett missed a start with neck stiffness. Oh, and Monday is the Sox' first off-day since April 7. It's no stretch to say this team is in dire need of a break.

No relief at least, not in the middle-to-late innings. Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima are the only Sox relievers with ERAs in the past week below 5.00. Delcarmen's been torched for four runs in two innings, and David Aardsma has given up three in his last 2 2/3 while allowing three walks and three hits. Mike Timlin allowed two runs as well. The bullpen blew what looked like Justin Masterson's first major league victory on Thursday.

David Ortiz. Walking off field after Sunday. “I’m not frustrated, just keep playing. I’m not frustrated”

Ortiz after head first slide into 1B. “When you feel like I feel, you’ll try anything. Like I said, a little crazy. You swing you’re out. You don’t swing, your’e out too. I never saw anything like that before. What else can you do, keep on swinging.”

Dave Magadan hitting coach: “There’s nobody as frustrated as he (Ortiz) is right now. You can see that with dive into first base. That’s a dangerous thing for him to do. It’s one of those periods where it’s frustrating for him because as soon as he thinks he’s getting his way, he takes an 0 for 6. I’ve seen a lot of guys get hurt doing that. We were holding our breath.”

Before the frustrating, hitless night, Ortiz had lifted average from .070 April 12 to .189. He is now at .177. “I’m coming out of it, Ortiz said. “I’m feeling better lately, Bad luck.Two or three times hit just right at people. It’s a inches game”. (Jays say same thing !!) “Keep swinging in my situation. I don’t play different. Just got to keep battling.”

Boston should have both Ortiz and Lowell back in lineup on Tuesday.

Things for Jays to watch out for. Manny stealing. Manny Ramirez on stealing second base on Sunday, his first steal in three years. “Contract year, I’m stealing bases. I’m just trying to make something happen, I thought I was out. I was going., Yeah, I got a break’.

Terry Francona. "We have some guys that need to throw a little bit and we'll use the day off (on Monday) to our advantage.We hope it does us some good."

Boston 15-12 are in their longest losing streak in three seasons since losing six in a row August 2006. Last season didn’t lose more than four straight .
Ortiz missed the last two games due to a bruised right knee, but is expected to return Tuesday. Though he's batting .177 and went 0-for-6 on Friday, Ortiz has hit .303 with three homers and 16 RBIs in his last eight games. He has five homers in 76 at-bats versus Halladay.

Lowell, meanwhile, is expected to come off the disabled list Tuesday after being out since April 10 with a sprained left thumb.
"I don't have any pain," said Lowell, 6-for-30 with no homers or RBIs in nine games this season. "I'm looking forward to getting back."
Despite his early struggles, three of Lowell's hits have come against Toronto, and he has three homers in 24 at-bats against Halladay.
Jon Lester (1-2, 5.40) will start Tuesday, ahead of Daisuke Matsuzaka who's recovering from flu-like symptoms and is scheduled to pitch Wednesday. (Another one next year to get th flu shot ???)

Halladay is coming off his third consecutive complete game, but second straight loss. He allowed five runs in eight innings of a 5-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on Wednesday.
"It's frustrating. It's disappointing. It's a number of things," said Halladay, who was unable to hold a 3-0 lead again st Rays. Halladay pitched four consecutive complete games from Sept. 1-17, 2003, winning all four. He is 10-9 with a 4.45 ERA in 30 starts versus Boston.

Boston series is the last one on a nine game road trip for Jays, 1-5 to date. Rolen has given Jays a huge boost. Change in lineup worked on Sunday, will Gibbons keep same even with Eckstein back ?
Rios on Sunday with four hit game and average now at .330.

Unfortunately Vernon is like Ortiz and still in season slump.What I find amazing is that Jays are still only 3 ½ back after that horrible week.