It's late August and the Red Sox are tied with the Twins for the Wild Card lead. This cannot stand. We place our faith in Paul Byrd to deliver a win tonight in the monstrosity that is the Rogers Centre. We want blood. Win!

Sox are 4-8 in Toronto since the start of 2007.

0 for their last 6 up there.

If they can't find a way to beat Toronto more often than not, then they probably don't deserve a playoff spot. No more excuses.

Source: Boston Globe



We need him.

Yea against 3 RH pitchers this weekend, we really need Drew in there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX0UAGo-rxU...feature=related


2 of 3 here is a must if the Red Sox have any hopes of winning the division. I would not be surprised to see the D-Rays get swept in Chitown. The White Sox bats are on fire and with Danks/Vazquez/and Buehrle all pitching pretty well lately I would be shocked to see the Rays take more than one of these games. THIS is what I have been waiting to see...the Rays on the road, against a very good team. They will get their asses handed to them this weekend. You can put THAT on the Board!


Drew must play all 3 games....Lester should beat Litsch. I think Marcum/Byrd is a slight adv. for Jays and Dice-K/Burnett should be a slight advantage for the Sox....though Burnett was almost unhittable in his last start.

Sox need to get this first one!

Tampa is:

0-6 @ Boston
1-2@ LAA
1-1@MIN

These are the teams they will have to beat...along with the 3 @CHW starting tonight....should be interesting to see how this weekend pans out.

I have to think that the way Burnett has pitched, that that is an advantage to the Jays. Dice-K hasn't exactly been Cy Young.

You may be right...but I kinda like this...

Sox vs. Burnett...

Casey 23 AB's .565/.600/1.252

Ortiz 12 AB's .333/.667/.1000

Pedroia 11 AB's .333/.545/.879

Drew 17 AB's .400 OBP
to a lesser extent Bay is 2-5 with a bomb off A.J.

2 good things we should see tonight...No Crisp or Cora...they are a combined 0-23 vs. Burnett.


My lineup would be..

CF Drew
2B Pedroia
DH Ortiz
LF Bay
1B Casey
3B Youkilis(1-13 vs. Burnett)
SS Lowrie
C Varitek
RF Ellsbury

Since Rolen is out... Rios is the only player on Jays with any measure of success vs Dice-K.. I like our chances.

8/22/08--Running Mates

It's time for Jose Melendez's KEYS TO THE GAME.


1. As Jose has watched Senator Barack Obama stretch out the vice presidential search process, it has made him think about some of the issues in his own life, namely, the fact that it will end. Someday Jose will die, and he needs to think about succession planning for KEYS. If something were to happen to Jose, what would happen to KEYS and all of the people who depend on it? What would become of poor Tiny Tim?

As a result Jose has gone through a lengthy vetting process, for identifying a nominee for Vice Blogger. Here are the leading candidates.

Manny Ramirez
Pros: Funny, beloved, understands the Red Sox, sure thing Hall of Famer.
Cons: Possibly retarded.

Dario Veras
Pros: Obscure Latino relief pitcher, understands what it is like to fail as a Red Sox, cool first name.
Cons: Only second best obscure Veras in Red Sox history.

Grady Little
Pros: Also lives in North Carolina, folksy, no competition for his services.
Cons: Possibly retarded

Gov. Bill Richardson
Pros: Red Sox fan, Tufts alum, savvy diplomat, popular Governor.
Cons: If he’s not good enough for Obama why should he be good enough for Jose?

Gov. Mitt Romney
Pros: Telegenic, charismatic, from Belmont.
Cons: Might only be claiming to be a Red Sox fan in order to get the job, less military experience than Tim Johnson.

Alex Cora:
Pros: Genius, likely to be unemployed next year.
Cons: Should never get time over Jed Lowrie.

Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt:
Pros: Must like KEYS since it used to be good and has something to do with the Red Sox.
Cons: Parking lot attendant (note: thanks Plaschke) inadequate training for writing blog.

So as you can see there are a lot of appealing, yet flawed candidates. If you want to know who Jose selects, just sent your number to Obama for President and Jose will be sure to text you as soon as he makes a decision.

2. Jose would like to make (note: gasp) a correction. Well, more of a clarification (note: smaller gasp).

In the previous KEYS, Jose told a story about Derek Jeter having herpes, which some readers may have interpreted as a suggestion that having herpes is shameful. A colleague of Jose’s who works in public health pointed out that this was wrong and inappropriate. Herpes is a very common, non-fatal disease, and people who have it (note: or any other sexually transmitted infection) should not be stigmatized. Except for scabies. Scabies is gross.

What Jose was attempting to do in the piece was not to suggest that people with herpes deserve to be stigmatized. Rather, he was attempting to suggest that they should NOT be stigmatized by the fact that they share a disease with Derek Jeter.

Sp please allow Jose to be as clear as possible: Just because someone has herpes DOES NOT MEAN that they have no range at shortstop. There are many people with herpes and other sexually transmitted infection who have excellent range to both their left and right.

Jose hopes this corrects any confusion.

For KEY 3, visit http://keystothegame.blogspot.com

Jose' I have a write-in candidate for VPKeys because you really need a female running mate: Heidi Watney.
PROS: Men would read the Keys religiously. Women would worry about your passing and send you gifts.
CONS: She'd bring the inabilty to speak English. Needs a Prompter.

FUCK!

Cora over Casey fills me with so much rage.



The Red Sox:

Ellsbury-RF
Pedroia-2B
Ortiz-DH
Youkilis-1B
Bay-LF
Lowrie-3B
Varitek-C
Cora-SS
Crisp-CF
Byrd-SP

Blue Jays:

Inglett-2B
Scutaro-3B
Rios-RF
Wells-CF
Lind-LF
Overbay-1B
Stairs-DH
Zaun-C
McDonald-SS
Marcum-SP

Cora over Casey yet again. TGIF, cuz I ain't watching this crap, yo.

I better go to the store and stock up on alcohol because this might be a long night. The Alex Cora Show yet again. I'm glad Tito has faith in him because I'm not so sure his own mother even does.

Cora's complete and total lack of range should play well on turf with a contact pitcher going tonight.

I'll guess Byrd gives up more homers than grounders in the vicinity of the shortstop tonight.

Given that Marcum is a righty, what possible reason could Francona have for starting Cora over Casey? Is Casey 3-7 lifetime against Marcum or does he have some other statistically insignificant factor in his favor? I could look this up, I know, but I'm too annoyed to do so.

When Crisp is already in the line-up, why add another player who will be lucky to get on base once and is not a defensive star? Why pass up a .300 lifetime hitter and a guy who is hitting over .340 this season?

This makes no sense.

Alexa Cora has infinity times more hits off of Marcum than Casey. Duh!!

Sorry had to make some corrections. Romney lives in a big pink house near the Belmont Country Club. I just wanted that noted.

Strangely, I'm somehow relieved to know that playing Cora tonight didn't come down to SSS foolishness and is instead just ramdom foolishness.

That Cora is Tito's binky is somehow better than Tito relying on tea leaves to make out the line-up.

Yep, this even less sense than the decision to start Cora, I know.

Yeah, so with Drew done for the year (most likely) is this season cooked?

No.

While it blows big major chunks, we don't exactly know how long Drew will be out or when Mike Lowell will be back.

It does make me question who I hate more -- the Blue Jays or Brian Giles?

One positive: The owner's son wont be blaming whatever happens next on his team's unique run of injuries.

If Drew is done...we are done...unless we can get Huff, who I believe has cleared waivers?
I am sure the O's would be easy to deal with.... I would expect the conversation to be...."Well we really like that Masterson kid....maybe we could work something out for Masterson, Anderson, and..hmm, how about throwing in Ellsbury?

Of course, Cora has started 3 games since Lowell got hurt and is 4-11, 2B, BB, HB, to bring his season line up to .291 / .390 / .360. (Granted, we averaged 7.0 runs in the 3 games.)

Better if folks simply hope he can keep it up.

Man do I have a bad feeling about these next 6 games.

I haven't really gotten the impression that Drew is done for the year at all. Watney said she spoke to Drew and that this is the same thing he's been dealing with for years. Hopefully, that means he'll be able to get some rest and then play out the rest of the year.

Be cool, kid - and pitch a winner tonight, with a little help from your offensive friends (however many are left standing). Let's see what this team is made of - I say they kick ass big time.

GO SOX - WIN TODAY!

Fuck you, Tom Petty.

nice post.

I am not a Cora fan either, but it was nice to see what he has done...Makes me feel a little better about the decision

Go sox!

(Time for Big Papi to REALLY step up)

Oh please stop. He sucks.

I have a good feeling about this series. They sweep this and the next. It WILL happen.

Everything is falling in place for Youks to get heavy MVP consideration because of the "carry your club once it's bigger stars have gone down" storyline.

Keep hitting Youks.

It's gonna be a Subaru summer.

Sorry about the header. Game Notes Boy's getting sloppy.

These Jays jerseys would be great if you worked in a hospital.

Start this off, Handsome.

5000th fan wins a free appendectomy.

1. I am sick of rain. I live in Jacksonville. I would like to move to the Atacama Desert to make up for the past 4 days.

2. I am sick of losing to the Blue Jays. I would like to right that ship tonight. Injuries be scorned. Dog days be scorned. Overcome adversity gentlemen. We shall overcome.

If the Jays are going to go old school at home, they should be wearing the old whites like Otto Velez.

MIDGET!!

I fucking love this guy.

Fucking lightning show.

Whats not to love

Pedroia just keeps right on rolling.

Why don't I hear Pink Floyd during this laser show?

Pedroia will carry them!

Yanks already up 1-0 with 2 on no out.

Hooray Mighty Mouse!!

I am officially on vacation for the next week.

Obama / Pedroia 08