TB Rays Tie the Series

Last night sucked. Instead of drinking merily with some cronies, i was forced to drink slowly and heavily by the Phillies. Yes the Rays won, but more than anything, the Phillies lost. You have to tip your hats to the Rays, they are doing something that Philly cant seem to figure out--scoring people who are in scoring position. Shields pitched well, 3 different times he had a man on third with less than 2 outs...no one ever scored.

Ryan Howard "broke out" of his slump last night but it doesnt really mean much if gets hits with no one on base. And for some reason Carlos Ruiz decided that hes just gonna be the man this World Series. Well i appretiate it Carlos, now whatever your drinkin, let Jimmy and Burrell get a motherfuckin sip.


The Rays are ball players, they're young, but their ball players. they scored runs last night in small ball fashion; two of their runs came on infield groundballs...I respect that. Someone Longoria and Pena are 0-for in the series, but something tells me they were just warming up for Jamie "I'm way too fucking old" Moyer to take the mound.

I'm not very happy today. The teams flew back to Philly late last night, and need to take a day to gather themselves. I am probably going up to Philadelphia tomorrow night to tailgate at the complex and then head to bar to be with local hooligans. i also plan to plaster the last of my DC stickers in the ghetto that is South Philly. for now I'm going to the movies to cool myself. Expect a movie review of 'Pride And Glory' this afternoon.

Phillies Take Game 1

Last night the knot in my stomach was actually a little bigger than my stomach itself...this caused me great discomfort. i was nervous, i was anxious, i was in a state of shock that i was actually watching the backstreet boys sing the national anthem.

i went up to a bar near my house to be in a public setting while i watched the game. Plus they had $1 hot dogs and $1.50 drafts all night...this helped the knot i just spoke of. i saw alot of old friends who came up to watch the game as well, it was truly like a blast from the past: old friends, and old feelings of Philly pride all building back up within me. It was going to be a good night.

Jimmy Rollins popped out, Jason Werth got walked, and then Chase tried to put down a bunt on the pull-shifted infield. Charlie Manuel would later say that was all him. Well he fell 0-2 in the count, fouled one off, then worked it to 2-2. Kazmir then dropped a meatball right in Utley's wheelhouse and he didnt miss. Charlie Manuel would later say that was all him.


the local establishment i was at erupted. "Shots for everyone" the bartender yelled. And shots we took.....and shots we took.


The game would test the nerves of Philly fans from there on out. What should worry people the most are two things: 1. Ryan Howard looks like a fish outta water right now, and 2. the Phillies left 11 men on base last night--8 in scoring position. these two issues have been issues most of the post season, but this is a team that will capitalize on missed opportunities more so than the NL teams the Phillies played. not to mention, the only reason they didnt put up more runs (TB) was because hamels was on the mound and throwing 7 strong innings yet again. The only thing that matters is the final score.


Tonight Brett 'the bat' Myers takes on James Shields. Tonight the pitching match up is in TB favor, that being said I would look for a more high scoring game. Hopefully Myers can go out there and have a quality start and the big names for the phillies (Rollins, Howard, Burrel) need to be productive.




I left the bar drunk, smiling, with a full and knot free stomach.

Sox Take Game 1 (2-0)

Everyone seemed to be saying last night before game 1, and I agreed. If the Sox win game 1 they will take this series. I know it's only one game, but I really don't have much worry about this series anymore.

Last night was a strange night. In the first inning it was business as usual, as Dice-K walked the bases loaded. In typical Dice-K fashion he got the next batter to ground out to 2nd, yet from this point on something changed. This wasn't a normal Dice-K outing. The innings went by, and I have to admit I didn't notice till about the 4th. I refused to say anything, instead just turned my computer to a friend and pointed at the stat line. There had been no hits. Could he do it? Would Francona let him if his pitch count got too high? All these questions raced though my head.

While Dice-K was dominating the were struggling against James Shields. It wasn't until the 5th inning that the Sox got something going, as Jason Bay started the inning with a walk. Then Mark Kotsay (who I am liking more and more) ripped a double to left field, putting bay at 3rd. Lowrie did his job and got the sacrifice fly, scoring Bay, but then Varitek came up and couldn't do what he was supposed to and grounded out to 2nd. I really don't understand how Tek can't get the ball to the outfield in that situation since all he does it pop out to the outfield. He has an uppercut swing, and he is the captain, but whatever we move on.

Dice-K just kept rolling, but there was a weird feeling in the air, that Dice-K was going to have one of "those" innings. He made it all the way to the 7th with the no hit attempted. In the 7th Crawford singled to right, then Floyd singled. My stomach started to sink, "this is it, we needed that run from Tek, Dice-K's not going to be able to do it". Next batter...pop out, then Gabe Gross (still don't know why he was even playing) strikes out. See this wasn't the normal Dice-K outing. He was hitting his spots, almost every time, and he seemed to have this confidence that I usually don't see from him. So, with two outs he gets Jason Bartlett to ground out, and the Sox moved into the 8th.

In the 8th the MVPs for the Sox went to work. Pedrioa got on, and stole 2nd, then Youk drove him home. How many times have we seen that this year? Later in the inning Drew was hit by a pitch. It was unintentional, but I was worried we may had seen the last of J.D. Glass, but he got up and stayed in the game. So, the Sox are up 2-0, but the question remained about, what to do with Dice-K. Do you bring him back out? He was at about 110 pitches, but this was a guy who can pitch 130 easy. They decided to bring him back out, but after two quick singles he was pulled for Okajima. Okajima did his job and got Carlos Pena to pop out, and I really thought that Francona would keep him in after getting one of the most dangerous hitters on this team out, but instead he pulled him for Masterson. I guess Francona knows his stuff, as Masterson got rookie of the year Longoria to ground into an inning ending double play.

Papelbon came in for the 9th, and we all knew it was over. He struck out 2 out of 3 batters, and the Sox took a 1-0 lead in the series. I really believe you are going to see a very good outing from Beckett tonight, and Lester has been dominant. So, I really think the Sox have control of this series. Game 2 is tonight at 8:07.

-BMack

Rays Win Game 1 (6-4)

Hello World meet Evan Longoria...

That was the story in this game as Longoria belted 2 home runs, and led the Rays to their first postseason win ever. Longoria didn't waste much time as he homered in his first two at bats, and people really have to wonder if he didn't get hurt, he may have won AL MVP. Anyways, the Rays won this game surprisingly by out slugging the White Sox. I would have thought that guys like Griffey, Thome, and Dye would have been the ones hitter HRs, but they combined to go 1-12, as Shields rolled through 6 innings of work. The only inning that he had trouble was in the 3rd when Wise hit a 3-run homer, but Shields bounced right back, and the Rays bullpen looked fantastic going 2 1/2 innings letting up only 1 meaningless run in the 9th. Rays certainly look dangerous, especially with Crawford back on the field. Pena left the game with an eye injury, but I guess it happened at home, and isn't considered serious.

-BMack