Terry Francona

Red Sox manager Terry Francona joined the Dale & Holley show on Wednesday for his weekly conversation and revealed that Felix Doubront was sent back to Boston due to suffering neck pain on his non-throwing side.

“On his non-pitching side of his neck in the front there he was having some pain,” Francona said of Doubront. “So we actually decided because of last night to send him back to Boston today to get him looked at and figure out what’s going on there to rule out some things. The good news is that it’s not his pitching arm, in fact it’s not his arm, it’s his neck but it’s on the other side and he was starting to grab at it a little bit so we kind of wanted him to get it looked at and we’ll see what the word on it is.”

Francona was also asked about various controversial decisions in the Tampa Bay series, including J.D. Drew’s catch on a sacrifice fly and not inserting Jonathan Papelbon in the extra-inning loss.

Below is the transcript of the conversation. To hear the interview, visit the Dale & Holley audio on demand page.

It was kind of a frustrating night last night all the way around?

Yeah, we needed a bounce-back night and didn’t get it. Yeah, it was.

Are you worried about your team getting down on itself?

No, not really. I mean, we obviously care and the players care a lot. I think sometimes a missed play can be misconstrued or something. I think we’ll handle that. Again, we rather be eight games in first place than where we are and I think there’s a lot of caring about some of the games we’ve played but no, we’ll keep playing.

You know the standings. How do you look at this thing?

Well, I think obviously we have to get hot, but I think the way to get hot is not by talking about, and I’ll probably get asked 30 times a day, but I think the best way to do that is to take care of the business at hand. I’ve always said that, I’ll always feel that, it will never change. We know there is a lot of work ahead of us but the best way to get that done is to stay in the present. That’s that way in everything and I’ll never be convinced differently. Read the rest of this entry »

Jon Lester

With the Red Sox sinking deeper and deeper into a hole for both the AL East and wild card race, Jon Lester will look to provide something positive on Wednesday night when he takes the mound at Camden Yards. The Orioles will counter with rookie Jake Arrieta, who will make his first career start against Boston.

Lester (14-8, 3.12 ERA) bounced back from one of the worst outings of his career against Toronto and was dominant to earn a win vs. the Rays. He allowed one unearned run and walked five batters but struck out 10 over seven innings. The performance marked the third start over Lester’s last four appearances in which he didn’t allow an earned run.

The Orioles are all too familiar with Lester’s dominance as he holds a 12-0 record with a 2.00 ERA in 15 starts against them. That’s the best record of any active starter against an opponent. In his three outings this season, the left-hander is 2-0 and has allowed only one run over 19 innings of work. The last meeting between the two sides came in early July at Fenway Park when Lester allowed one run through seven innings in a 9-3 Red Sox win. Ty Wigginton has had the most success against the Boston starter, hitting .389 with a home run in 23 career plate appearances.

Arrieta (4-6, 5.10 ERA), meanwhile, will look to break a three-start losing streak. After being called up in early June, the right-hander has made 14 appearances this season and has been a serviceable starter for Baltimore. He’s lacked run support in his last three outings, receiving just two runs despite pitching well against tough opponents in the Rays, Rangers and White Sox. He had the most difficulty in his last start at Chicago, allowing four runs over four innings in an 8-0 loss. Wednesday will mark the first time Arrieta has faced Boston.

The Orioles will try to win their fifth consecutive game for the first time this season. After defeating the Red Sox on Tuesday, Baltimore improved to 17-10 under manager Buck Showalter. Even if they sit in the cellar of the AL East at an American League-worst 49-83, the O’s will try to play spoiler down the stretch. Read the rest of this entry »

Jerry Remy

NESN Red Sox analyst Jerry Remy made his weekly appearance on the Dennis & Callahan show Wednesday morning and said he doesn’t believe the Sox have given up on the season yet.

“Have they turned the page yet toward next year? No, they haven’t done that yet,” Remy said. “And the reason I say that is because there’s too many guys on this team that have a lot to play for. They’ve got young guys that are trying to prove they’re going to belong here at the beginning of next year, guys like [Ryan] Kalish. And they’ve got veteran guys who are playing for contracts. [Adrian] Beltre, [Victor] Martinez, [David] Ortiz — all these guys are playing for contracts.”

Remy was also asked his opinion of Theo Epstein and the job he’s done this season.

Below are the highlights of the conversation. To hear the interview, visit the Dennis & Callahan audio on demand page.

Do you think after last night’s loss, we’re looking at this team turning the page to next year?

Well, it’s pretty obvious after the weekend that when you could have been possibly 2½ games out, you end up seven games back. It’s going to be an incredible battle from here on out and I don’t know whether they have the weapons to be able to do that. It was frustrating because you had chances to win every one of those games down in Tampa and you’re looking at a 2½-game spread, which makes things exciting. All of a sudden you come to Baltimore, you get a day off, you go back and you’re seven games out and you’re looking up at two very, very good teams.

Have they turned the page yet toward next year? No, they haven’t done that yet. And the reason I say that is because there’s too many guys on this team that have a lot to play for. They’ve got young guys that are trying to prove they’re going to belong here at the beginning of next year, guys like [Ryan] Kalish. And they’ve got veteran guys who are playing for contracts. [Adrian] Beltre, [Victor] Martinez, [David] Ortiz — all these guys are playing for contracts. So, they’re going to continue to play and we’ll just have to wait and see what happens. Read the rest of this entry »

Jon Lester

Fittingly, a crucial three-game series between the Red Sox and Rays will begin on Friday night with a matchup of two of the best left-handed starters in baseball. Boston will send Jon Lester to the mound with an extended six days of rest after scratching him from his last start in order to shuffle the rotation. Opposing Lester will be David Price, who is a frontrunner for the AL Cy Young Award in only his second full year in the majors.

Lester (13-8, 3.26 ERA) uncharacteristically had a brief and ineffective start against the Blue Jays in his last time on the mound. The lefty allowed eight hits, three walks and two homers for a total of nine runs in only two innings of work. He received his eighth loss of the season as the Red Sox were blown out, 16-2. Prior to that abysmal performance, Lester pitched 14 1/3 straight scoreless innings against the Yankees and Rangers on the road to pick up a pair of wins. His ERA is now at its highest point since the middle of May.

In his career vs. the Rays, the lefty is 7-3 with a 4.18 ERA in 14 starts. In his two outings against Tampa Bay this season, Lester has had mixed results. In mid-April, he suffered his second loss of the year after allowing seven runs in six innings. In his start in late-May, however, Lester was phenomenal in Tampa over six innings, allowing five walks but only one hit while striking out nine batters.

Price (15-5, 2.97), on the other hand, has been consistently good this season. One thing he’s done well is pitch deep into games as seen by the amount of decisions he’s received. In fact, he’s received a decision in all but four starts this year, with two of those coming in his last two outings against the Rangers and Athletics. At the Coliseum, Price tossed six innings and allowed four runs, a number which he’s reached or exceeded on just two other occasions this season.

Against the Red Sox, Price is 2-1 with a 3.79 ERA in three starts. In the only meeting between the two sides this year, Price earned the win with a dominant performance, giving up two runs over 7 2/3 innings while fanning 10. Marco Scutaro has seen the Rays’ ace the most of anyone on the Boston roster, but has had little to no success. The Red Sox shortstop is hitting .111 and has struck out three times in nine plate appearances against Price. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Francona

Red Sox manager Terry Francona joined the Dale & Holley show on Wednesday morning for his weekly discussion on the Red Sox. This week, the Boston skipper talked about Dustin Pedroia’s injury situation and Michael Jordan’s baseball playing days as portrayed in ESPN’s 30 for 30 “Jordan Rides the Bus.”

“The best way I can put it is that he passed all the tests and I think everybody felt he was safe to come back and try to play,” Francona said of Pedroia. “Now in saying that, they also warned him, and very aggressively, that if he felt pain, he’d have to let us know because that’s when he could do damage. So, when he felt some pain, we immediately went and got a scan and the scan showed there was no further damage, which we were very relieved. Since he was sore, we put him on the DL.”

Francona also touched on the difference of receiving criticism as a player and as a manager of a team.

Below is the transcript of the conversation. To hear the interview, visit the Dale & Holley audio on demand page.

Last night it was pretty obvious that the field was going to be tough to play on. It doesn’t look much better today, does it?

No, but we’re getting a better forecast. I know it’s ugly out there right now but it sounds like in the next couple hours, most of this is going to be out of here and we’re going to play. It might not be the best day we’ve ever seen and as the day progresses, I think we’re going to be okay. That’s alright because you know what, sometimes in the day games when it’s not sunny, it’s a heck of a lot easier to see and the field is a little mushy. That was kind of the problem last night, the forecast wasn’t getting better. I kind of said that we were chasing our tails, by the time we got on the field it would be too sloppy to play. Finally, probably cooler heads prevailed and we figured out this wasn’t going to work.

How does last night’s postponement affect the pitching matchups and lineups today?

Well, so far, we have the same exact lineup as we did last night, so does Seattle for the first game. Now in Game 2, we’ll probably have some changes, I don’t think they’ll be wholesale changes. When we play doubleheaders early in the year, you pretty much don’t see everybody play. This isn’t really that time of the year and we basically didn’t play last night and we don’t play tomorrow, so you’re going to see a lot of guys probably play both games. That’s the time of the year it is. Read the rest of this entry »

Jon Lester

After Tuesday’s game was rained out, the Red Sox will play their first doubleheader of the season on Wednesday. The night cap sets up an electrifying matchup between aces Jon Lester and Felix Hernandez in the series finale. Lester will look to rebound from his worst outing of the season, while Hernandez will attempt to even his record and reach double digits in wins.

Lester (13-8, 3.26 ERA) uncharacteristically had a brief and ineffective start against the Blue Jays in his last time on the mound. The lefty allowed eight hits, three walks and two homers for a total of nine runs in only two innings of work. He received his eighth loss of the season as the Red Sox were blown out, 16-2. Prior to that abysmal performance, Lester pitched 14 1/3 straight scoreless innings against the Yankees and Rangers on the road to pick up a pair of wins. His ERA is now at its highest point since the middle of May.

For his career, Lester is 1-2 with a 4.58 ERA in six starts against the Mariners. In his outing against Seattle this season, he suffered a loss despite striking out 13 batters in 7 2/3 innings. Lester allowed four earned runs and was outdueled by David Pauley (starter of the first game of the doubleheader Wednesday) and the Mariners’ bullpen.

Hernandez (9-10, 2.51), meanwhile, has pitched phenomenally this season, holding an ERA under three and amassing 183 strikeouts. Though his numbers are nearly identical from last season, he hasn’t come close to repeating his record of 19-5 due to lack of run support. In his last start, the right-hander shut down the Yankees offense over eight innings, allowing no runs and striking out 11 in the process.

The Seattle starter has pitched well against the Red Sox with a 3-1 record and 3.17 ERA in seven career starts. His last outing vs. Boston came in July, 2009, when he received a no-decision after allowing three runs in seven innings of work. Hernandez was in line for the win but the bullpen blew the lead, allowing two runs in the bottom of the eighth. J.D. Drew has the most success against Hernandez on the Boston roster, hitting .400 with a home run in 23 plate appearances.

The Red Sox have an off day on Thursday before heading to Florida to open up a crucial three-game set against the Rays. They’ll return back to Fenway Park on Labor Day weekend in a home stand with the White Sox and Tampa Bay. Read the rest of this entry »

John Lackey

Before heading down to Tampa for a possible make-or-break series, the Red Sox will wrap up their nine-game homestand beginning Monday night with the first of three against the Mariners. Boston will hand the ball to John Lackey, who has had great success against Seattle from his time with the Angels. Opposing Lackey will be Doug Fister, whose record does not reflect how well he’s pitched this season.

Lackey (11-7, 4.62 ERA), is coming off his third win in as many starts against his former team this year. The right-hander tossed seven innings, allowing five runs on the strength of two homers, but keeping the Los Angeles offense at bay long enough for his 11th victory. Though Lackey has struggled with a 1-2 record and 6.49 ERA in the month of August, Seattle is a welcome sight for the Boston starter.

For his career, Lackey is 12-9 with a 3.70 ERA in 26 career outings vs. the Mariners. Over his last nine starts, he’s been ever better, going 7-1 with a 1.89 ERA. In his first outing against Seattle in a Red Sox uniform, Lackey had a tough-luck no-decision after losing a no-hitter with two outs in the eighth inning. Overall, he finished with one walk and six strikeouts, and allowed only one unearned run on two hits. Ichiro Suzuki has seen Lackey the more than anyone else on the Seattle roster, facing him in 92 plate appearances. Lackey, however, has managed to keep Suzuki under a .300 average, which is no small feat.

Fister (4-8, 3.92 ERA), meanwhile, hasn’t received much run support in his starts this season. In Fister’s eight losses, the Seattle offense has scored a total 21 runs, averaging out to fewer than three runs a game. The right-hander suffered a difficult stretch in July and early August, losing five straight decisions. In Fister’s last outing against the Orioles, he took a no-decision after pitching five innings of three-run ball. In his only career start vs. Boston, Fister tossed five innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and walk. Though Fister pitched well enough to earn the win, he was matched up against Daisuke Matsuzaka, who allowed only one run in six innings.

Despite sitting in the cellar of the AL West, Seattle could potentially play spoiler the rest of the season with numerous series against contending playoff teams. The Mariners and Sox play again Sept. 13-15 at Safeco Field. Read the rest of this entry »