1 Sox, 0 Rays

Thank God for Dustin Pedroia because I did not want to stay up any longer to be honest. It was 16 innings, 5 hours long and once Papelbon closed the door in the 16th, I could finally go to sleep.

This game shouldn't have gone this long to begin with, 1st the Tampa Bay relievers walked 10 batters, and in the 9th A Gon popped out in a clutch situation and in 10th he grounded out to the shift.

Josh Reddick made a stellar catch in the 10th robbing Justin Ruggiano that certainly would have been an extra base hit.

Josh Beckett and Jeff Niemann both looked great, giving up a combined 3 hits over 8 innings apiece. It's good to see Beckett is over that devastating "knee injury".

Pedroia To Have Surgery?

Very interesting report has surfaced today saying that Pedroia might need to have surgery on his right knee. He is having it checked out today in Boston, and they are going to put a camera into his knee to see the extent of the damage. If there are major problems he could have surgery on it as early as tomorrow.

CBS Sports has an unnamed Red Sox official that says that he doesn't expect Pedroia to need surgery and that "Pedey is overly dramatic," the Boston Herald quotes an anonymous source. "At this point, I honestly think we're just being cautious."

Pedroia has really struggled this year hitting only .241 with 4 HRs and 22 RBIs. I have wondered all along if it is his foot. I still think it is, and I am not really buying this knee thing either. It just seems like he is looking for an excuse for why he is playing so bad, and he has such a big ego that he need to think it's physical. Bottom like is that he won't be 100% until he gets that screw out of his foot after the season ends.

Guess I'm Not The Only One Worried About Pedroia

A couple days ago I wrote about how I was worried about Pedria (click here for post). Well, apparently I'm not the only one who is worried...

"Gammons also noted that second baseman Dustin Pedroia is "not going to be right all year with that screw in his foot." Pedroia missed a game after spraining his ankle in Monday's loss to the Indians but returned in Wednesday's 14-2 romp with a home run and three RBI.

"It's amazing what he's done considering how often he plays in pain," Gammons said. "His OPS is down about 190 points. His slugging is down from like 490 to 313 going into [Wednesday], but he plays through it. He never complains about it. The great thing about Dustin is he shows up at the park and says, 'If I can't do this, I'll do this [instead] and try to win.' There aren't athletes in too many places like him who show up every day and try to find a way to win. That's what he does (WEEI)."

I know he went off yesterday (who didn't though), but I am concerned about his foot. In the field I haven't really noticed it, but his stats are down across the board at the plate (as Gammons noted). As long as that screw is in his foot agree with Gammons that I don't think he will be a the player we have been seeing the last couple of year.

Pedroia plans to have that screw removed after this season.

Anyone Worried About Pedroia?

Because I have to say I'm starting to...

"Pedroia slipped while rounding second base in the eighth inning of last night’s 3-2 loss against the Indians and fell face-first on the rain-soaked infield at Progressive Field. Pedroia did not immediately try to get up. He struggled to his feet, then left the game escorted by a trainer, walking cautiously (Boston.com)."

This is the 2nd time Pedroia has had a scare with that foot that he has a screw in. What made me more nervous this time was his comment "“When I do something like that, my leg goes kind of like a stinger like you get in football. It took a little while to get the feeling back in it,’’ he said. “Anaheim was perfect, I got the feeling back in a minute. It took five this time.’’ Maybe I am reading into too much, but when they were playing in on WEEI and he kept saying how he loses feeling it just made me nervous. The Sox can't afford to lose him, and for this team to hit on all cylinders they are going to not only need him to be healthy but hitting a lot better then .246 (2 HRs 11 RBIs).

They are saying he will get tonight's game off (which they say was scheduled anyways), and be out there the next game. Still at what point to be start getting worried that he isn't 100% after looking at his stats this year?

Red Sox 9 Angels 5

Red Sox wore Weaver down, something no team had been able to do all season. I was at the game last night, and one of the best at bats I have ever seen was Dustin Pedroia fouling off 9 pitches in a 13 pitch at bat. At the end of the at bat Pedroia had put the Sox in the lead with a 2 run single. It's hard to explain how awesome it was, but you could just see Weaver lose all the gas he had left in the arm, and at that point you just knew the Red Sox had it.

Buchholz pitched OK, not great he went 6 innings allowing only 2 runs, but also let up 8 hits and only had 2 Ks. He seemed like he was still having problems keeping the ball down, and never really looked all that confident. Still, it was a quality start and I'll take it since I really didn't give the Red Sox much of a chance to win this game.

Boston put the game away in the 7th inning scoring 6 runs. Two of them coming off an Ortiz HR, which is good because he has lacked his power stroke lately. Boston is getting on a little bit of a roll now. They have beaten two of the ALs top pitchers in the last 2 days (Weaver, Hernandez), and are just two games away from .500. I know that's odd to say, but with how bad they had been playing you have to look at the positives.

MLB Preview: Boston Red Sox (Hitting)

The Red Sox scored the 2nd most runs in baseball last year. They were 2nd in homeruns, 3rd in OBP, 2nd in slugging, 1st in OPS. In other words, they were pretty good at the plate. And they should be even better in 2011.

Adding Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez were the big stories of the off-season. Not to mention the returns of Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, who only played in 102 and 75 games last year, respectively. These newcomers and returning producers should more than offset the loss of Beltre and Victor Martinez.

The middle of the lineup will be fierce. Gonzalez, liberated from San Diego's pitcher friendly park, should hit over .300, with an OBP close to .400, slug near .600, and approach 40 homers. Youkilis should hit nearly 30 homers, with an OBP well over .400, and slug around .570.

Putting Crawford and Pedroia ahead of them will result in abundant runs. Gonzalez could knock in 120, and Youkilis should easily surpass 100 RBI.

JD Drew's contract is up, so I think he'll actually play more than 140 games and produce. Then there's Ortiz, whose 32 homers and 102 RBIs were impressive in 2010. But he really struggled against lefties. Drew also can't hit southpaws. So against righties, the Sox will have an excellent 5-6 to keep the pressure on. Against lefties, you'll see plenty of innings ended by Drew and Ortiz.

The bottom of the lineup will be solid enough. I like Ellsbury as a 7th or 9th hitter, either keeping the middle of the orders' rallies going, or helping Crawford and Pedroia start a new one. He should hit .300, with a .350 OBP that keeps him from being a good leadoff option. Minimal power, but plenty of speed.

Scutaro had a decent year last season. But we've all sort of forgotten. So did Lowrie. Having both of them as options is a nice luxury. Both play good defense, and neither are easy outs. That's all you really want or need from the 8th spot in your lineup.

Speaking of easy outs, we come to Varitek/Saltalamacchia. They'll ground into so many double plays. That is, if they even make contact with the ball.

Anyway you stack it, this lineup is pretty sick. Mike Cameron can fill in for Drew against lefties. And the speed of Crawford and Ellsbury can help keep the whole batting order from slumping. And even if a tough lefty is on the mound, guys like Youkilis (.404 against LHP last year), can still give them problems.

The Sox scored 818 runs last year, or 5.05 per game. If they stay healthy, they'll score over 900.

You have an amazing offense, and suspect pitching. I'm reminded of the Cleveland Indians from 1995 to 1999. They'll be fun to watch. They'll win 100 regular season games. And they'll lose the World Series to a team with superior pitching. I'm thinking the Phillies. 1946 all over again.

-The Commodore

Pedroia Finds Interesting Way To Test Foot

Traveling back from vacation with his family, along with the family of Dodgers' outfielder Andre Ethier, Pedroia was having a difficult time getting his entire group through customs, making it difficult to make its flight on time.

"They wanted me, who just got cleared to job, to sprint to the gate, which is on the other side of the airport, to hold the plane up," Pedroia said. "So I'm sprinting, testing out my foot with my shoelaces untied, holding my 30-pound son -- by the way, my foot felt phenomenal -- sprinting through the airport, and I get to the gate, and I'm like, 'Ma'am, did the flight leave?' She said, 'I'm going to give you three minutes.' I'm like, 'There's no way.' Andre's kid is a little bigger than [Pedroia's son] Dylan and he's running everywhere. Two seconds later, the pilot comes off the plane and goes, 'We've got a situation.' I thought, 'Jeez, now we're definitely staying here.'

"She pulls off this couple. Some woman was beating the [expletive] out of her husband on the plane. They pull those two off. This guy has a bloody face. He must have smarted off or something. The flight was delayed 30 minutes, and we got to get on the flight. I almost high-fived everybody. It was awesome."

"It was out of control. We ended up getting on. I was more pumped my foot felt good from sprinting with a 30-pound kid on me. We got on the flight. I was pumped. It was a good day."

Asked how the foot felt after the unexpected exercise, Pedroia came away optimistic.

"I woke up and wanted to go run more, but I've got to kind of take it easy," he said. "But it was fun (WEEI)."

Sorry for the long copy there, but it's a pretty funny story. Anyways, it's good that he felt no pain that his foot, and that he feels like he will be ready for spring training. Pedroia went on to say that he has talked to Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury, and he has said that they all agreed that they don't care where they hit.

"I actually texted Tito [Francona]," he said. "I said, ‘Tito, I’ve been with the Red Sox four years now, and this might be the first time you have to manage. You might have to think about the lineup you’re going to throw out there."

Hilarious. I buy it that Crawford and Pedroia don't care, but Ellsbury has thrown a hissy fit in the past when his position has been changed, and I would imagine that he'd get pissy they took him off of the leadoff spot. Then again, what do I know? Hopefully this is true. I just can't wait for Spring!