Things are Looking Up in Beantown

AP Photo

The Red Sox were off to a 2-9 start.  The Celtics couldn’t stand themselves up at the end of the regular season.  The one bright spot Boston had was the most unlikely of heroes- The Bruins.

But now in late April, it’s a great time to be a Boston sports fan.  The Red Sox have crawled out of whatever rock they were living under to go from that dismal 2-9 start to a 10-12 record.  Over the last 9 games, their starting pitchers have an ERA of just over 1, a pleasant surprise to the Fenway Faithful, not to mention the bats starting to come alive.

The Celtics are waiting for their next opponent, as they swept the New York Knicks with ease in the first round of the NBA postseason.  And with the Big Shamroq on his way back to the court, they could be singing McFadden and Whitehead by next week.

Game 7 was forced by the Montreal Canadians, but the Bruins are bringing the battle back to home ice tonight in hopes of moving on in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs.

Best chance for success?  Has to be the Bruins.  They have too much talent to not do well this postseason, and once they clear Montreal, their momentum is going to help them melt the ice under their opponents.

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Emmanuel College Club Baseball Comes Back Against Harvard, Falls in 9

Courtesy-Dianne DeStefano

Playing in a spring league with club teams from Sacred Heart University to University of Maine-Orno, there is some good competition out there for the Saints.  Coming off a 3-7 fall season in the New England Club Baseball Association, the team was looking to come out of the gates hot last Sunday.

After being down 3-0 for most of the game and no-hit for 5 innings, left fielder Jon Hardacker hit a single to left that would score the Saints’ first run in center fielder Dylan Stratton, who reached on a walk and stole a base.  Hardacker would steal second and move to third on a fielding error for shortstop Kevin Murphy to drive him home on a double with the game’s second run.

For an exclamation point to the inning, catcher Jimmy Oxsalida ripped a single to center, scoring both Murphy and third baseman Jeff Grossman.

Emmanuel pulled ahead 4-3 and held it til the bottom of the ninth inning thanks to a strong performance by starting pitcher Wes Cowles.  A soft hit up the middle would score the winning run, giving Cowles the complete game loss, but a huge confidence boost for the Saints in their first game of the season, as well as their first action outdoors since they started practicing in early March.

With more performances like Sunday’s, the team hopes to prove that they deserve a shot at being a varsity sport at Emmanuel.

 

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3 Games, 10 Home Runs – Pitching Problems Early For The Sox

Lester pulled early - noontimesports.com

The Boston Red Sox, the team to beat in the 2011 season according to almost all baseball experts across the board, is off to an 0-3 start this season.

All three loses have come at the hands of the reigning American League Champion Texas Rangers, who swept the Sox in the opening series.

The Sox bats, led by David Ortiz and his two home runs-already twice as many as he hit all of last April-have been somewhat quiet, being outscored 26-11.  Manager Terry Francona moved the batting order around in all three games, mixing up righties and lefties in an effort to find where his hitters are most comfortable.

During Spring Training, the Red Sox knew there were some issues in the pitching department that needed to be addressed, but did they think their starters would get off to this dismal of a start?  Jon Lester and Clay Buccholz, 0-1 records each, were top Cy Young Award candidates last year, and the once shut-down closer in Jonathan Papelbon came in today in a non-save situation, and gave up two hits, a run and a walk.

Can the Red Sox recover?  Yes, it’s three games into the season, let’s hope the rust is shaken off and they can kick it into gear against the Cleveland Indians.

 

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What Can We Expect From the Red Sox in 2011?

Jason Varitek giving Alex Rodriguez the business.

Opening Day for Major League Baseball is on April 1^st.  The Boston Red Sox are at the tail end of their Spring Training schedule, and with just 3 games left, their record is 11-18.  A $205 million payroll this season is quite a tab for a round of mediocrity.

Spring Training is a time to work out players and gear them up for the season, not worrying about statistics.  But now that the club is getting closer to April 1^st, using pitchers and hitters as they would in the regular season, the Sox have dropped 10 games in a row.

What can we expect from the Sox this season?  With former All-Stars at all but 2 positions in the field, this season should be as big as 2004 or 2007.  Adding Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Bobby Jenks have easily been the biggest moves of this offseason, and as the Sox say in those corny black-and-white NESN commercials, “we’re all in” for some baseball into October.  Looking forward to a big year for Red Sox Nation.

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Sox Look To Have A Healthy Spring

David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez during a spring workout - AP Photo

by Jon Hardacker

After missing the playoffs last season by six games, the Boston Red Sox are looking to reclaim the American League East division with their strongest team maybe since the historic 2004 season.

With injuries to key starters like Jacoby Ellsbury, Mike Cameron, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia, seeing the full team back in action this spring could not have come soon enough.  Adrian Gonzalez was acquired from the San Diego Padres, and is four months removed from right shoulder surgery, which he says it getting better every day.

With superstition being just as big a part of baseball as a hot dog on a cool summer night, no one wants to speculate how the Sox’s season will fare.  But with their full team chomping at the bit, expectations are high.

“It’s great,” said Pedroia. “Everyone’s excited, too. It makes you hungry. We haven’t been out there in a while together, too. It’s going to be fun. We’re all pumped up about it.”

How are their chances at winning the first World Series of a new decade?  With one of the most consistent pitching staffs in the Bigs, and an offense as intimidating as a pack of grizzly bears, I think this season could be one for the books.

 

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