John Kruk

ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk joined Mut & Merloni Tuesday afternoon for his weekly interview to discuss the ins-and-outs of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, including how slowly the games were played this past weekend. To hear the full interview, check out the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Boston’s 2-1 Sunday night victory over New York lasted four hours and fifteen minutes, which will reportedly prompt a letter from the MLB. Despite the excitement of Josh Reddick‘s 10th inning walk-off RBI, Kruk admitted that the pace of the first 9 1/2 innings made the game tough to watch.

“They have to do something,” Kruk said. “You’re going to a ball game, and the beauty of baseball is there’s no time, but according to the rule book there is time. I understand TV, two minutes between innings, that can cause some issues. But to me, the rule is 12 seconds from once the pitcher gets the ball to when he should throw it, 12 seconds according to the rule book.

“We were timing them. [Angels pitcher Jered] Weaver was averaging 25 to 26 to 28 seconds, [Josh] Beckett sometimes was over 30 seconds, [Yankees pitcher Freddy] Garcia‘s never going to be in a hurry to do anything. And then we watched Derek Lowe pitching for the Braves last night. He was seven to eight seconds, nine seconds. [Tim] Wakefield was eight to nine seconds last night against Minnesota, and the games seemed to be quicker-paced games. I understand with runners in scoring position, shaking off and stuff because you want to make sure you got the right pitch, but I mean, there’s no one on base and it’s taking 30, 40 seconds to throw a pitch, there’s some problems.

“We’ve been getting killed about the lethargic play and Beckett taking his time. [Garica]‘s in no rush either. I always knew that when I was excited for a game and amped up for a game, when a guy was slow and delivered taking his time, sometimes you expand the strike zone just to speed things up, just because you’re impatient. You can put a clock on [Garcia], it’s going to be really, really slow whenever he pitches and with Beckett going against him, jeez, was that long.”

When the game did come to an end, the Red Sox emerged with a 2-1 series victory and sole posession of first place in the American League East. Kruk still has Boston as his pick to win the AL pennant, but he was hesitant to crown them World Series favorites.

“I’m going to say they’re the best team in the American League,” said Kruk. “I think the Phillies, with the addition of Hunter Pence, might have taken a step ahead. Not a big step, but a step ahead and it really balances out their lineup, add the right-handed bat in there to hit behind Ryan Howard. I mean, the Red Sox are just, oh my god, they just kill people. It’s fun to watch.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Dustin Pedroia had an epic 13-pitch at-bat that ended in a two-run single to help the Sox beat the Angels, 9-5. (AP)

It was an at-bat for the ages.

Seem like hyperbole? It’s not. The 13-pitch at-bat between Dustin Pedroia and Jered Weaver that concluded with a two-run single was unlike any other on record at Fenway Park.

With an assist from Gary Marbry of Nuggetpalooza fame, some of the facts that made the at-bat so remarkable:

–Pedroia’s 13-pitch at-bat matched the longest of his career. His other at-bat of that length came in his third game in the majors, on Aug. 27, 2006, when Pedroia worked a 13-pitch walk against Cha-Seung Baek of the Mariners.

–Pedroia now has the only recorded hit on an at-bat of 13-plus pitches by a Red Sox at Fenway Park (with records of such things dating to the 1970s in baseball-reference.com). He became the first Red Sox since Damon Buford (in 1998) to record a hit in a plate appearance of 13-plus pitches. Since 1993, in fact, Sox hitters were 1-for-10 with five walks in plate appearances of 13-plus pitches.

–No hitter had ever gone to as many as 13 pitches in an at-bat against Weaver in his career. Read the rest of this entry »

The stomach flu has been a pox upon the Red Sox in recent days. Not only did it mean that Clay Buchholz had to get pushed back from his scheduled start on Sunday (granted, that worked out fine for the Sox when Tim Wakefield allowed the team to beat Felix Hernandez and the Mariners), but also because Angels ace Jered Weaver – who was slated to pitch on Sunday against the Rays — got pushed back to Monday against the Sox after he endured a gastrointestinal protest.

Weaver carries a ridiculous 6-0 record and 0.99 ERA into Fenway Park for his start, continuing a run where the Sox have had to face several elite starters in the season’s first five weeks.

“This guy’s good tonight. He’s feeling pretty good about himself. He’s leading the league in almost everything,” said Sox manager Terry Francona. “We might not knock him all over the ballpark, but it’s kind of satisfying when you can find a way to beat him.”

While Buchholz will be tasked with facing Weaver tonight, the Sox have now set up their rotation for the rest of the week. After Jon Lester makes his scheduled start on Tuesday, Josh Beckett (six days rest) will pitch on Wednesday, John Lackey (four days rest) will pitch on Thursday and Daisuke Matsuzaka (seven days rest) will take the mound on Friday.

Matsuzaka came out of his start on Friday with a stiff elbow. Though he says he feels fine, the Sox wanted to exert some caution with based on the injury.

“Dice came out of the game the other day. We’re trying to buy him a couple days. He says he doesn’t need it. If somebody comes out like that, we’d like to make sure they’re OK,” said Francona. “We had him down for a day, then he played catch. Now he’ll start his normal five-day cycle. Trying to take advantage of the time off, give a day off.”

Meanwhile, Francona said that the team wanted to give Beckett a bit of a breather after the team “leaned on [him] pretty hard there a couple games.” With no off days scheduled until May 12, the team felt like it wanted to give the right-hander (who is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA in five starts) extra rest now at a time when Wakefield’s start made it easy to do so, particularly in the aftermath of a 125-pitch workload two starts ago in Anaheim.

“Part of it, not because of the way he’s pitching, because he’s pitching great, just wanted to try to get everybody situated where they all feel as good about themselves as they can physically. I think, this was just, to give them that day was important,” said Francona. “That game in Anaheim … pitch counts are pitch counts, but there’s a reason we probably watch stuff like that. We just want to monitor their workload so he can go out, be Beckett.”

Beckett had a 25-pitch bullpen session on Monday afternoon, which Francona said went without a hitch. The manager said that the pitcher was on board with the idea of additional rest for this start.

“Just in talking to him, again we talk to all of them, we have the opportunity so it made sense,” said Francona. “We leaned on him pretty hard. There’s no days off coming up. When you have the ability to give a guy an extra day, sometimes you’ve got to take it, because we won’t be able to going forward for a couple weeks. … We keep an eye on the workload. It’s not just the starters. It’s the relievers. We talk about health and production going hand in hand all the time.”

With the tweaked rotation, the Sox will still have two days between the starts by Beckett and Matsuzaka, something that presumably will make it easier for Jason Varitek to continue to catch both of them.

OTHER NOTES

–The fact that the Sox feel their starters can benefit an extra day underscored the value of having a pitcher such as Wakefield in the bullpen who can step in for a spot start, thus giving members of the rotation extra rest in stretches of the schedule that feature few off days. Read the rest of this entry »

Clay Buchholz

The Red Sox were lucky enough to avoid Jered Weaver in last weekend’s four-game series with the Angels, but they won’t be so fortunate this time around, as he’ll take the mound Monday night. They actually would have missed Weaver again, but the 28-year-old righty was scratched from his start Sunday with a stomach illness. Coincidentally, so was Clay Buchholz, the Red Sox’ starter for Monday.

Weaver is an incredible 6-0 this season, making him just the fifth pitcher since 1900 to win at least six games in April. In addition to wins, he also leads the American League in ERA (0.99) and strikeouts (49) and is second in WHIP (0.79). Weaver’s last two victories have been of the complete game variety. He has allowed just one run on 13 hits and a walk while striking out 18 in that span.

If you’re looking for a reason to be optimistic, though, Weaver is just 2-4 with a 4.40 ERA in 10 career starts against Boston. Two of those losses came last season, when he had a 6.00 ERA in two starts. David Ortiz has had the most success against Weaver, as he is hitting .323 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 31 career at-bats. Kevin Youkilis has a pair of homers off him, but he’s hitting just .200 in 30 ABs. Dustin Pedroia has struggled the most, batting .136 with no RBIs in 22 ABs.

For Boston, Buchholz is just 1-3 with a 5.33 ERA this season. After appearing to take a step in the right direction with a win over the Athletics two starts ago, Buchholz struggled in a loss to the Orioles on Tuesday despite the fact that it was his longest outing of the season. He gave up four runs on 12 hits and two walks over 6 2/3 innings.

He has done well against the Angels, though, as he is 4-2 with a 4.17 ERA in six career starts. Moreover, current Angels are hitting just .185 against him, with no one batting better than Alberto Callaspo‘s .286 mark. Bobby Abreu is the only Angel with a homer off Buchholz (he has two), but he’s hitting just .235 in 17 at-bats. Erick Aybar has had a miserable time with Buchholz, as he has yet to reach base in 15 plate appearances against him. Read the rest of this entry »

Clay Buchholz

The Red Sox begin a nine-game homestand on Tuesday against the Angels. Clay Buchholz will be on the mound, sporting a 13-5 record and 2.49 ERA. Against the Angels this season, Buchholz has recorded two wins with a 3.55 ERA. At Fenway in 2010, he is 5-3 with a 2.81 ERA. In his last start against the Blue Jays on Aug. 11, he held the divisional foe to one run and struck out four batters.

Jered Weaver will get the nod for the Angels with a record of 11-7 and a 2.87 ERA. Weaver leads the team in ERA, and he leads the majors in strikeouts (182). In his last start, Weaver pitched eight strong innings against the Royals, allowing one earned run with two walks and 11 strikeouts.

David Ortiz has hit well against the Angels pitcher, batting .304 in 27 plate appearances with one double and two home runs.

Angels vs. Clay Buchholz

Hideki Matsui (14 career plate appearances): .417 AVG/.500 OBP/ .500 SLG, 1 double, 2 walks, 1 strikeout

Alberto Callaspo (12): .250/.250/.250, 1 RBI

Torii Hunter (12): .111/.333/.111, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts

Maicer Izturis (12): .400/.500/.600, 2 doubles, 4 RBI, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

Bobby Abreu (11): .182/.182/.727, 2 home runs, 3 RBI

Juan Rivera (11): .200/.273/.200, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts

Erick Aybar (10): .000/.000/.000

Jeff Mathis (10): .143/.300/.143, 1 RBI, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts

Howie Kendrick (9): .125/.111/.125, 2 RBI, 1 strikeout

Mike Napoli (6): .200/.333/.200, 3 strikeouts

Reggie Willits (3): .000/.000/.000 2 strikeouts

Cory Aldridge, Peter Bourjos, Kevin Frandsen, Paul McAnulty, Bobby Wilson and Brandon Wood have not faced the Red Sox starter.

Red Sox vs. Jered Weaver

Adrian Beltre (42 career plate appearances): .205 AVG/.238 OBP/.282 SLG, 3 doubles, 2 RBI, 8 strikeouts

David Ortiz (27): .304/.370/.609, 1 double, 2 home runs, 9 RBI, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts

Marco Scutaro (27): .269/.296/.346, 2 doubles, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Kevin Youkilis (26): .261/.346/.522, 2 home runs, 4 RBI, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

J.D. Drew (18): .353/.389/.529, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Mike Lowell (17): .313/.353/.313, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Victor Martinez (15): .273/.467/.273, 1 RBI, 4 walks

Eric Patterson (13): .250/.308/.250, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

Jarrod Saltalamacchia (12): .222/.333/.222, 2 RBI, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Jacoby Ellsbury (11): .273/.273/.545, 1 home run, 1 RBI, 1 strkeout

Jed Lowrie (9): .333/.333/.667, 3 doubles, 3 RBI, 1 strikeout

Darnell McDonald (6): .400/.500/.600, 1 double, 1 walk, 1 strikeout

Mike Cameron (3): .000/.000/.000, 2 strikeouts

Bill Hall (3): .000/.000/.000, 3 strikeouts

Jeremy Hermida (3): .000/.000/.000, 3 strikeouts

Kevin Cash (2): .500/.500/.500, 1 strikeout

Dusty Brown, Ryan Kalish, Gustavo Molina, Daniel Nava and Ryan Shealy have not faced the Angels starter.

John Lackey

Even though David Ortiz hit two home runs and the Red Sox lineup roughed up new Angels starter Dan Haren (literally, for Kevin Youkilis), Boston’s 6-3 victory over the Halos wasn’t enough to cut into the division deficit at the end of the night. With the Yankees beating the Indians, and the Rays’ Matt Garza throwing a no-hitter against the Tigers, the Sox gained no ground in the tough AL East. On Tuesday night, they’ll look to take the second game of their three-game series against the Angels and win their first series since before the All-Star break.

John Lackey will get the call for the Sox, and he might be just what the team is looking for. Lackey (9-5, 4.36 ERA) pitched the first eight years of his career with Angels Stadium as his home ballpark, and he’s done fairly well there, posting a .605 winning percentage with a 3.72 ERA. The last time Lackey faced the Angels this season, he went seven strong innings, giving up one run on two hits. That performance was strikingly similar to his last outing, in Seattle, where he gave up one unearned run on two hits over eight innings. The Red Sox will be looking to see the same numbers out of Lackey this time around, even though this will be the first time in his career that he’ll be coming out of the visitor’s side of Angels Stadium.

Facing him will be the Angels’ 27-year-old ace, Jered Weaver. After starting out strong — losing only three games in the first three months of the season — Weaver (9-6, 3.22 ERA) has hit a rough patch in the month of July. He’s lost three of his last four, including his last game, against Texas. Weaver gave up three runs on seven hits, and that ended up being the losing differential as the Angels fell 9-6, giving Cliff Lee his first win with Texas.

In terms of matchups, keep an eye right on the middle of the Red Sox lineup, as Ortiz and Youkilis are a combined 13-for-46 against Weaver with four home runs and 13 RBI. Meanwhile, the only three Angels who have more than one game’s worth of at-bats against Lackey are players that the Angels have acquired within the past few years (Torii Hunter, Hideki Matsui and Bobby Abreu). Of those three, Hunter has the best statistics against the native Texan with two doubles, two homers and three RBI. On the flip side, Hunter has nine strikeouts against Lackey.

After Tuesday’s game, the Red Sox will play one more game in Anaheim on Wednesday afternoon before returning home to take on the Tigers this weekend.

Red Sox vs. Jered Weaver:

Adrián Beltré (39 career plate appearances against Weaver): .222 BA/.256 OBP/.306 SLG, 3 doubles, 2 RBI, 7 strikeouts

David Ortiz (24): .350/.417/.700, 2 HR, 1 double, 9 RBI, 3 walks, 4 strikeouts

Marco Scutaro (23): .227/.261/.318, 2 doubles, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts

Kevin Youkilis (22): .300/.364/.600, 2 HR, 4 RBI, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts

J.D. Drew (18): .353/.389/.529, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts

Eric Patterson (13): .250/.308/.250, 1 RBI, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts

Jed Lowrie (5): .200/.200/.400, 1 double, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Kevin Cash (2): .500/.500/.500, 1 strikeout

Bill Hall and Darnell McDonald are 0-for-3 against Weaver. Dusty Brown, Mike Cameron, Jeremy Hermida, Gustavo Molina and Ryan Shealy have yet to face the Los Angeles starter.

Angels vs. John Lackey

Torii Hunter (39 career plate appearances against Lackey): .243 BA/.282 OBP/.459 SLG, 2 HR, 2 doubles, 3 RBI, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts

Hideki Matsui (35): .258/.314/.419, 1 HR, 2 double, 7 RBI, 3 walk, 3 strikeouts

Bobby Abreu (31): .185/.267/.333, 1 HR, 1 double, 3 RBI, 2 walk, 7 strikeouts

Maicer Iztruis (3): .000/.333/.000, 1 walk

Mike Napoli (2): .000/.500/.000, 1 strikeout

Brandon Wood (2): .500/.500/2.000, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 strikeout

Erick Aybar and Howie Kendrick are 0-for-3 against Lackey. Cory Aldridge, Alberto Callaspo, Kevin Frandsen, Jeff Mathis, Paul McAnulty, Juan Rivera, Reggie Willits and Bobby Wilson have yet to face the Boston starter.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Angels manager Mike Scioscia and Game 2 starter Jered Weaver just had their pre-game media sessions. A few highlights:

–Ervin Santana, who has moved from the rotation to the bullpen for the Division Series, might be available to pitch on back-to-back days, depending on his workload in the first contest. If, for instance, he were to throw one inning tonight, he could be available on Friday for Game 2.

–Scioscia offered quite a bit of praise for Red Sox skipper Terry Francona.

“There are a lot of things that Terry brings, you’ll notice. And it’s not just limited to in-game management, which he’s as good as there is at. He does a great job with the bullpen, [and] I think a great job with lineups. [He] has guys running in high-percentage success-rate situations, but I think the environment and the tone he sets goes beyond what might happen in a ballgame just shows what he brings to that organization. He’s had to deal with a lot of things. Those guys just keep bouncing back, and bouncing back from injuries and everything that goes on with their club to be perennial contenders. He’s certainly leading that charge.”

–A moment of levity occurred when Scoscia was asked about Jeff Weaver’s performance in the second half.

“I haven’t seen Jeff too much,” said Scoscia. “He got the win last night for the Dodgers. I’ll just assume you’re talking about Jered. I get them confused all the time, too. If Jered had a nickel for every time I call him Jeff, he’d be richer than he is now.”

Jeff Weaver last pitched for the Angels in 2006, going 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA. Jered Weaver went 16-8 with a 4.75 ERA this year.

–Scoscia said that he “absolutely” could see a difference between David Ortiz in April and May and the one who his club faced in Boston in September.

“When he first came in here earlier in the season, you could see he was really searching for some things,” said Scoscia. “I think he was putting a lot of pressure on himself, just from outside looking in. … When we went back in there in the last month of the season, you just saw a different presence. You saw a guy, I think, more confident, more comfortable. And, you know, I think probably the numbers reflect really two different guys from … maybe the first two months of the eason until where he is now. He’s every bit as dangerous as he’s ever been. I think you can throw the numbers out at this point. There’s probably not a guy that’s been a better clutch hitter in postseason ever than David Ortiz. He’s going to be someone to deal with, for sure.”