Starting Five: Who Needs a Green Monster? The Yankees Have Godzilla

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That now it's the Red Sox who can't get out of their own way against the Yankees, as opposed to the other way around.

After going 8-0 against New York to start the season, Boston has now lost five straight to its rivals following a 20-11 drubbing at Fenway Park.

Hideki Matsui was the standout offensive star among many on Friday night, homering twice and driving in seven runs to pace the Yankee attack. Matsui and his teammates have made it very obvious that whatever hurdle there was to playing the Red Sox early in the year has now been cleared.

More Coverage: Scoreboard | Standings | Statistics

"We lost three games in a row twice here this season," Matsui said through a translator. "In that sense, it was very important for us to set the tone."

And set the tone they have.

From the Trainer's Room ...
Justin Duchscherer, on the disabled list all year, will miss the rest of the season as he battles depression. Duchscherer's agent, Damon Lapa, described it as "a very treatable form" of depression.

"It's something I think he's been battling for some time, and he recently made the really difficult decision that he needs to put his career on hold for the time being and focus 100 percent of his efforts on his recovery," Lapa said.

The right-hander, who went 10-8 with a 2.54 ERA last year, is due to be a free agent this winter.

Numbers Game ...
Jeff Francoeur had three hits, including a home run, as the Mets edged the rival Phillies. The enigmatic right fielder, who was traded to New York last month, has begun to look more like the player he was over his first few years with the Braves than the player who lost his way in recent years. Francouer is hitting .308 since he joined the Mets and has six home runs and 23 RBI, numbers which project out to a 26 homers and 100 RBI over a full season.

In Their Own Words ...
"I was just trying to throw strikes. I wasn't thinking about a no-hitter. I just tried to keep the game close. It was a big game for us battling with Atlanta, Colorado and San Francisco." -- Florida's Anibal Sanchez, who flirted with the second no-hitter of his career by carrying one into the sixth inning in his first start since June 2. Sanchez, who has spent time this year on the disabled list with a sprained right shoulder, picked up the win to keep the Marlins three back of the Rockies in the NL wild-card race.

Advance Scouting ...
The Rangers send Tommy Hunter to the mound (7:08 PM ET) as they continue a key series in the AL wild-card race against the Rays. Hunter has been on a roll since rejoining Texas in late June, going 6-2 with a 2.41 ERA over his last nine starts. Tampa Bay counters with Matt Garza.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

8-22-2009 @ 11:43AM

tonytiger18 said...

The season is very long, so anything can happen over a long stretch.

In May & June, the Yanks were banged up--Arod on the DL(hip surgery), Posada & Molina on the DL (hamstring & Knee strain), Matsui had a tender knee from surgery, Wang on the DL, Damon had sore shoulder and Texeira had his hitting woes.

The Sox were hot and the steroid usage didn't come of the woodork yet. They looked like world beaters and were proclaimed the sure winner in the east and the world series champ to be.

After the Sox were 8 and0 against the Yanks, all the RED SOX NATION were arrogantly pumping their chests and berating & mocking the Yanks and their fans. Fans like Dewit202, Tonyprov, Sanytarrdesign, and several others were the most arrogant.

My response to them was simple:you aren't as great as you think when you are on the top of the mountain, and not as bad when you are in the valley. The Yanks were in a valley while the Sox were on the mountaintop.
Things do change in a long season.

The Sox are a good team. so I will never count them out. But, there is a strong possibility that this year they will probably miis the playoffs.

8-22-2009 @ 1:06PM

big blue said...

Well Put. I agree 100%. But the bottom line is the Sox STILL SUX...

8-22-2009 @ 12:51PM

tyrekyoung said...

Hey Tony the Tiger your post was great. I am sick and tired of these columinist flip flopping when a team makes a run. When the season first started all the sports writers and analysist had the Rays repeating as division champions and the Sox taking the wild card and the Yankees winning 85 games. And when the Sox picked up John Smoltz they all but annointed them World Champions. When the Sox beat the Yankees to take an 8- 0 lead in the head to head games everyone was saying that it was over for the Yankees and now that the Yankess have made a run and have beaten the Sox everyone is shobeling dirt on Boston, but not me. I am a die hard Yankee fan back when we had players like Steve Balboni on our team and I am not counting Boston out. Boston has 3 top tier pitchers at the front end of their rotation and soe good veteran players that can stroke the ball. Placing Oritz in the number 6 spot has made them a dangerous hitting team as he is able to protect the end of that line up. Even if the Yankess sweep this weekend I still will not be a happy camper for two reasons. First, the wins that the Yankees accumalated in the first sweep was not against the Sox starting pitchers (We did not beat Lester, Becket and Buck)and the win last night was against Brad Penny who has not pitched well in his last 5 or 6 starts and Pettite has pitched well as of late. The second reason I will not jump for joy is because it is only August.

8-23-2009 @ 7:38AM

James said...

Your spelling is as bad as your memory. The Yankees have had and have more PEDs users than any other sports team in history. Did you forget about A-Roid and Pettitte amoung current players?
You talk about injuries? The Red Sox have been without Dice-K who won 18 games last year. Wakefield has been been on DL and had a 11-3 record before his injury. Bay, Tek, Ortiz, Drew, Ellsbury and Dustin, just to name a few have all been injuried this year for the Sox. The Red Sox have been playing with AAA and AA position players, starting pitchers and relievers since May. Don't start shedding tears about injuries, with the Yankees $200,000,000.00 + payroll, they just go out and buy new players.

8-22-2009 @ 1:09PM

gertmcfly said...

these posts show that avid fans can show class and respect for their opponents. some of those clowns who ride their emotions on a day to day basis arent true fans of the game, just emotional idiots. its a long season so lets enjoy the games as played. its funny that some of the bashers know more about the yankees than their own team. go YANKS

8-22-2009 @ 1:25PM

thetrutheh said...

you gotta wonder if one of the bosox pitchers will intentionally hit one of the yankee batters.
something drastic has to happen to have boston come out of their coma. has to be embarrassing to get thumped by your most hated rival.

8-22-2009 @ 1:41PM

Throwing at the opposing hitter is in Francona's arsenal of weapons. He always starts stuff.

In the third game of the 2004 playoffs with Yankees winning big, he threw at Matsui, Soriano, Giambi and Jeter.
In game four, he threw at Arod, Jeter again, and O'Neill.
In game five, Giambi and Matsui were hit again.

Pacificst Joe Torre never retaliated!!!
He was a wimp in that regard, never protected his players. Probably lost the playoff because of that.
Manny and Poopie were verrrrry comfortable in the batter's box, while Matsui and Arod had nervous feet.

Yeah, I do think that Francona will start "something" today.He awlays starts crap.
But, Joe Gerardi will retaliate in kind!!!

8-22-2009 @ 3:01PM

Ali said...

But giving up 11 runs of your own, should be cause for concern, no?

8-22-2009 @ 7:50PM

shezowa said...

Saturdays game just concluded and my my my....Yank fans will be quiet tonight. That's why I like baseball: one game isn't gonna make or break you. Let's see what happens next.

8-22-2009 @ 9:47PM

Was 14-1 drastic enough for you?

8-22-2009 @ 3:15PM

Normally Ali, anytime you give up 11 runs, it should be a loss and a concern. But last night,with 20 runs on the ledger,it was no concern at all.

When your pitcher sits on the bench for 47 minutes while your hitters are lighting up the scoreboard, he will stiffen up and will pitch differently, like Pettite did.

When you have a 12 to 1 lead, the manager will give his pitcher the opportunity to get the win.
He will also try to get some length and save the key guys in the pen, such as Mariano, Hughes, and Aceves. Gerardi did that and with a large lead, he let Marte, Bruney and Sergio get the final outs with no real concern.

Gerardi was smart to do that.

8-22-2009 @ 8:08PM

Hey shezowa,
You are right about one game doesn't make a season.

About Yankee fans being quiet after a loss, you underestimate NY fans. They aren't frontrunners like New Englanders. They will always be full of passion for their teams, win or lose.

I do remember in early June that all of the posting by the RED SOX NATION were arrogant, pompous, vulgar and demeaning.
In early June, the Sox were proclaimed the AL East champ, can you believe it?

By the way, what defines the term Nation?

Hey wintermintgirl,As far the Sox and Poopie being the best hands down, let us wait for the end of the season to make that claim.

There are 38 games left in the season and even though the Yankees have a 6 1/2 game lead over the Sox, we don't take anything for granted.

It is called respect for the competition,
Unlike the Sox fans that have no respect for anyone.

8-22-2009 @ 3:16PM

axt7118 said...

Over the Yr's The Yanks and Boston have played games like this , I mean it wouldn't be a series without 1 crazy score , Then after games like this the next ones are 2-1 or 3to2 games... Now as for throwing at a hitter in today's game with Boston useing the new Kid , I don't think so , and for Sunday's game Beckett is to good to steep to low, If anyone was going to throw at a batter it would have been Penny last nite.

8-22-2009 @ 3:57PM

scorpio02645 said...

New York Yankees ~ THE GREATEST TEAM IN BASEBALL

8-23-2009 @ 12:27AM

You mean the Yankees are sports biggest chokers.
Even though George has spend almost 2 Billion dollars trying to buy a World Series, they just keep on choking. If it wasn't so funny it would almost be sad.

8-22-2009 @ 6:24PM

wintermintgirl said...

We all know that the Red Sox are the best team and Papi is the best player - hands down.

8-22-2009 @ 9:46PM

herb usaf said...

hey andy mamby pamby
how bout explaining away the drubbing your yanks took today from the sox? If i remember my math,a 20-11 loss is a difference of 9 runs. A 14-1 win is a difference of 13 runs. The way i see it, sox lead 13-9.you wish to re-write your article or have a dinner of crow? so much for your dynasty

8-23-2009 @ 3:22PM

Truth be told, these two games weren't classics.
In fact, they were both ugly games.

However, you don't get brownie points for scoring 4 more runs. Each team won an ugly game, and they are exactly in the same position as when they started on Thursday.

It was more important for the Sox to sweep in order to dramatically reduce their deficit.They didn't accomplish that.
Tonight's game is important for there is a two game swing 7 1/2 0r 5 1/2 gap between the teams.
But I am certain that both teams will be there at the end.

It is amazing though, that after a victory over the Yanks, all the frontrunners of the RED SOX NATION come out of the woodwork with stupid unrelated baseball comments.

The best team this year is the Phillies!!!
Why Red Sox Fans?
Because they are the reigning World Series Champ!!
They will be the best team until someone knocks them out.

8-22-2009 @ 9:48PM

You forgot the word History. The greatest team in history, meaning the past.

8-22-2009 @ 10:05PM

TheFightingIrish said...

Who Needs a Green Monster? The Yankees Have Godzilla, And He's Now Retired

This Is 2009 Red Sox Nation, And Godzilla Is Back In The Days Now Retired.

"The Boston Red Sox Are The Only Team In The MLB That Matters"

Let's Go Red Sox!!!!