Daniel Bard hasn’t gotten this far in his big league career and had the success he’s had without paying attention to the little details.

That’s why Monday’s game might stick in his craw just a little longer than normal.

He threw a pitch – that in hindsight – he had no reason to throw since recent history dictated that you don’t sneak a slider down and in on Asdrubal Cabrera.

And the last thing Bard wanted was to have his career-best 26 1/3 scoreless innings streak end and have it end costing the Red Sox a game. But that’s what happened Monday night when he gave up a two-run homer to Cabrera in the eighth inning, leading the Indians to a 9-6 win over the Red Sox at Fenway.

Ironically, it was Cabrera who last got to Bard for an RBI hit when he doubled off the Sox reliever on May 23 with two outs to help the Indians to a 3-2 win in Cleveland. Between that May 23 appearance and Monday night, when he shook off Jarrod Saltalamacchia and went to a slider to Cabrera, Bard had gone 25 straight outings without allowing a run.

The second Cabrera homer of the night came on a 1-2 pitch, a slider that Bard was trying to sneak past Cabrera. Instead, it was blasted like a rocket to right, caroming off a fan’s left knee and flying back out to right fielder Josh Reddick. After ruling it initially a single, the umpires went back in and looked more closely. Verdict: Ball struck the fan sitting down clearly on the other side of the fence and in fair territory.

“Apparently, hit a lady in the knee,” Bard said after seeing the stitches from the ball leave a mark in the woman’s left knee. “From my perspective it looked like it stayed in the park but it looks like they got it right. The pitch to Cabrera I thought was a pretty good pitch and I didn’t realize Lackey had thrown him quite of few of those same sliders down and in. I think he was probably sitting on that one. So I probably should’ve stayed hard with him there. Read the rest of this entry »

John Lackey

The Red Sox begin a seven-game homestand Monday night when they take on the Indians. The Red Sox will look to hold onto their lead in the AL East, while the Indians will try to gain ground in the AL Central. This will be Boston’s third series against the Indians this season, but the first at Fenway. The Indians swept the Red Sox in Cleveland in April, and the Red Sox took 2-of-3 in late May.

John Lackey takes the mound for the Red Sox looking to extend his four-game winning streak. He has allowed seven earned runs over his last 25 innings, lowering his ERA by 1.27. He has given the Red Sox two quality starts in his last four and has struck out seven batters twice. He has averaged less than one walk over his last four starts.

Lackey is 6-7 with a 4.07 career ERA against the Indians. He last faced Cleveland on Aug. 2 of last season, giving up six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings of a loss.

At 6-4, Lackey has a far higher winning percentage at home (3-4 on the road). His home ERA is higher, however, at 6.54 to 5.77 on the road.

The Indians will counter with Josh Tomlin, who is 11-5 with a 4.01 ERA in his first full season in the majors. Tomlin has won four of his last five decisions, but he lost his most recent start, giving up two earned runs on four hits and a walk in eight innings against the Angels.

Tomlin has only played the Red Sox twice before, going 1-1 with a 3.48 ERA. He beat the Red Sox on April 5, giving up just one earned run in seven innings.

Tomlin has had far more success at home than on the road this season. He is just 4-3 with a 4.88 ERA on the road, over 1.6 runs higher than at home, where he is 7-2.

Read the rest of this entry »

Bob Elliot of the Toronto Sun wrote Saturday that both the Blue Jays and Indians are interested in Rockies catcher Chris Ianetta.

Ianetta is batting .221 this season, with a .232 career average. He has shown some power in previous seasons, however, topping 15 home runs in two previous seasons. He is a .272 hitter with two home runs in eight career games against the other four teams in the AL East (not including Toronto). He has far more experience against the AL Central (20 games, not including Cleveland), but is just a .222 hitter with two home runs as well.

Toronto doesn’t appear to have the catching needs that Cleveland does. Cleveland’s catching duo of Carlos Santana and Lou Marson are a combined .230 this season, although Santana has 15 home runs. Toronto’s J.P Arencibia is a .221 hitter, but has 17 home runs. Backup Jose Molina has batted .313 in 33 games this season.

Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore (bruised right knee) was put on the disabled list on Monday night for the third time this season, and neither the team nor the player know exactly how much time he will miss. Put that together with Shin-Soo Choo‘s current stint on the DL, and the Indians appear to be lacking firepower in the outfield. (Austin Kearns and rookie Ezequiel Carrera are Sizemore and Choo’s current replacements in right and centerfield respectively.)

That has led the AL Central-leading Indians to begin looking at cheap options like San Diego’s Ryan Ludwick (.238/.306/.376) and Oakland’s Josh Willingham (.244/.321/.434), according to a tweet from Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman. Carlos Beltran was thought to be an option, but his no-trade clause seems to be the burden in any trade involving Cleveland.

The Indians appear to be interested in adding a quality bat to its lineup and are “kicking the tires” to see what they would have to give up in order to acquire one, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince. The biggest issue for the Indians wouldn’t be money but rather the quality and amount of players they would have give up in any potential deal. That being said, Castrovince tells Indians fans that they shouldn’t be getting excited to see Carlos Beltran bring his talents to any Lake Erie beaches because of the $8 million left on his 2011 contract before he becomes a free agent next offseason.

The Indians rank seventh in the AL in runs scored per game (4.34) and have had star hitter Shin-Soo Choo on the disabled list following his June 28 surgery on a broken left thumb. The outfielder is not expected back to the Tribe lineup until September.

Maybe David Ortiz could’ve saved Curt Young some trips to the mound Tuesday night by offering him some friendly advice for Alfredo Aceves during his 42-pitch nightmare of a second inning.

As it turned out, Ortiz spoke to Aceves after the Red Sox dropped a 5-4 decision to the Padres at Fenway Park and tried to get the open-minded pitcher to look at things from a different perspective.

“I was just talking to him. Sometimes you overlook some things as a pitcher and to me, like I tell him, hitting is not easy,” Ortiz recounted. “When you get yourself in trouble thinking about what you want to throw, that gives the hitter opportunity to have more than just the half-second you have for thinking. Sometimes it works your way, sometimes it doesn’t. But other than that, I think he came out good.”

The popular question after Aceves walked five straight in the second inning to force home two runs and give the Padres their first lead of the night, 2-1, was whether anyone had seen such a lapse before.

“I’ve seen that before,” Ortiz said. “It’s not the first time, it’s not going to be the last one.”

To be honest, though, it’s been a while since it happened in the majors. Cleveland’s Jason Davis was the last to accomplish the dubious feat on April 24, 2005, in the eighth inning at Seattle.

But Ortiz wasn’t so concerned about history as he was pumping up his teammate. And after watching Aceves rebound from the second inning and finish five innings with 99 pitches (53 strikes), he felt like his starting pitcher deserved some credit for showing his talent and his guts.

“Alfredo has got good stuff. He just got caught in a situation,” Ortiz said. Read the rest of this entry »

Daisuke Matsuzaka

Daisuke Matsuzaka spoke Sunday morning for the first time since deciding to have “Tommy John” ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow. The Red Sox pitcher — in the fifth year of a six-year contract — said he was stunned when Dr. Lewis Yocum told him that surgery was the most realistic way to fully heal his injury.

“The ligament is torn and I was told to fix it perfectly, I need to have the surgery,” Matsuzaka said. “That’s why I’m getting the surgery.”

Matsuzaka was 3-3 this season with a 5.30 ERA in seven starts and one relief appearance. He signed a six-year, $52 million contract before the 2007 season and has a 49-30 mark with a 4.25 ERA in four-plus seasons in Boston.

“It’s actually my first time to get an operation and all I can say is I’m very shocked when it comes to these results,” Matsuzaka said through an interpreter. “I decided to have the surgery the same day the team officially announced [Friday].”

Matsuzaka said the decision on when to have the surgery will be finalized Monday.

With full recovery expected to take between 12 and 14 months, Matsuzaka was asked if he felt his Red Sox career was over.

“It’s difficult to say at this point,” added Matsuzaka. “But, you know, what I can do is do my best and come back to the game as soon as I can. It’s difficult, but what I can do is do my best and come back to the game as soon as I can. All I have right now is anxiety, so all I can do is do what I have to do my best, and come back to the game.”

Matsuzaka – who won Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS against the Indians and Game 3 of the ’07 World Series – believes he is not done with the Red Sox.

“I don’t think of it that way,” Matsuzaka said. “For sure, I hope I come back to the game again with the Red Sox uniform. If I wouldn’t come back to the game, I will have to talk about that next time.”