The Boston Red Sox roughed up young Royals starter Luke Hochevar for 5 runs in the third inning, sending 10 men to the plate and scoring on 4 hits as the youngster walked 3.  And BoSox catcher Jason Varitek homered in the sixth adding two more insurance runs.  But the Big News was that cancer surviver lefthander Jon Lester No-Hit Kansas City as Boston won by a 7-0 score.

Lester, who recovered from anaplastic large cell lymphoma during the 2006 off-season, returned and went 4-0 in 2007 for the Red Sox in 11 starts and was the starting pitcher going five innings in the Red Sox 2007 World Series Championship clinching 4th game against the Colorado Rockies.

AP Sports writer Jimmy Golen describes Lester’s memorable performance as well as the Red Sox defensive plays which helped to preserve the no-hitter for Yahoo sports;

The 24-year-old lefty shut down Kansas City 7-0 Monday night for the first no-hitter in the majors since Red Sox rookie Clay Buchholz threw one last September.

It was Lester’s first major league complete game. And what a way to do it.

“You don’t feel tired in that situation. You’ve got so much adrenaline going,” he said. “I’m sure it will hit me in the morning.”

Lester (3-2) allowed just two baserunners, walking Billy Butler in the second inning and Esteban German to open the ninth; he also had an error when he threw away a pickoff attempt.

Lester struck out nine, fanning Alberto Callaspo to end the game before pumping both fists in the air.

Manager Terry Francona gave a long, hard embrace to Lester, who missed the end of the 2006 season after he was diagnosed with a rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“I’ve been through a lot the last couple of years. He’s been like a second dad to me,” Lester said. “It was just a special moment right there.”

Center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury made a diving catch of Jose Guillen’s line drive to end the fourth—the best defensive play of the night. Lester also got help from first baseman Kevin Youkilis, who made a nice scoop on shortstop Julio Lugo’s throw after David DeJesus hit a grounder in the third.

Lester and [closer] Jonathan Papelbon combined to one-hit the  Royals on July 18, 2006.

Mel Parnell was the last Red Sox lefty to throw a no-hitter, beating the Chicago White Sox on July 14, 1956. Hall of Famer  Nolan Ryan is the only other person in history to no-hit the Royals.

                    

Lester’s battery-mate Jason Varitek, who clubbed the 2 run homer in the sixth inning to cap Boston’s scoring and who lifted Lester in triumph after the final out, has caught a record-tying four no-hitters, including Buchholz’s last season.  He joins co-record holder Ray Schalk who played from 1912-1929.

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The Cleveland Indians and the Toronto Blue Jays split a doublehheader by identical (here and here) 3-0 scores in two classic pitching duels, the latter game ending in ten innings.

But that’s not the major news. 

In the fifth inning of the second game, after the first two Blue Jays singled, 1st baseman Lyle Overbay lined out to 2nd baseman Asdrubal Cabrera, whereupon Cabrera turned an unassisted triple play. 

Readers might recall that about 1 1/2 years ago, this blog posted about a famous unassisted triple play turned in 1992 by then Phillies 2nd baseman Mickey Morandini in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates.  But Morandini’s triple play ball somehow went MIA after he tossed it to the mound.  The story goes that a Phiilies hitter fouled it off and it was never seen again.  Morandini’s was one of 12 unassisted triple plays in MLB history prior to the 2007 season.

But regretfully, the 13th, turned last season by Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on April 29, 2007, against Atlanta went unnoticed by this blog.  The 13 unassisted triple plays recorded, prior to Monday’s by Cabrera, are listed by Baseball Almanac under fabulous feats.  Tulowitzki went on to top MVP shortstop Jimmy Rollins for best fielding percentage in the NL in 2007 and secured a lucrative multi-year deal from the Rockies prior to this season.  Unfortunately, after a slow start in 2008, Tulowitzki is on the DL with a torn tendon of the left quad.

Both games of the Toronto/Cleveland doubleheader were tightly contested pitching duels.

The AP report for Yahoo sports describes the fifth inning with Toronto at bat;

The nightcap featured terrific pitching by Toronto’s Shaun Marcum and Cleveland’s Cliff Lee, who got a big assist from Cabrera in the fifth inning.

With Kevin Mench and Marco Scutaro on with singles and running on the 1-0 pitch, Cabrera made a diving backhand catch of a line drive by Lyle Overbay, touched second base to force Mench and then tagged out Scutaro.

The only miscue by the 22-year-old Cabrera was that he didn’t keep the ball.

“He flipped it into the stands and right as he did cried out, ‘Oh, no!’ ” first-base coach Luis Rivera said, serving as the Venezuelan’s interpreter.

“I knew it was pretty special,” Cabrera said.

So just as with the case with Morandini’s triple play, this ball as well may be lost for posterity, that is unless it turns up validated and with a price on it.

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Baseball news over the past few weeks has mostly centered around the bidding for a Johan Santana trade, the Mitchell steroids inquiry and allegations of usage against Roger “the Rocket” Clemens, Barry Bonds,  Andy Pettitte and others as well as the baseball pundits regarding the Hall of Fame Class of 2008. 

Boston slugger David “Big Papi” Ortiz, one of Santana’s closest friends  recently indicated to the media that he “doesn’t think Boston will make a deal for the pitcher.”

Meanwhile, new Yankees boss Hank Steinbrenner, upon returning to his office after the holidays and working on a possible deal, is quoted by NY Daily News sports writer Anthony McCarron as saying;

“I think the Twins realize our offer is the best one,” Steinbrenner said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “I feel confident they’re not going to trade him before checking with us one last time and I think they think we’ve already made the best offer.”

Steinbrenner said the offer “does not include two of the three young pitchers” - Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy, from a group that also includes untouchable Joba Chamberlain - “but it’s still the best one. And let’s face it, we’re the best able to handle the kind of contract (extension) Santana will be after.”

Steinbrenner would not divulge the Yanks’ offer, but multiple reports have pegged it as Hughes, outfielder Melky Cabrera, pitching prospect Jeff Marquez and another prospect. Santana, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, probably would require a huge extension with his potential new team to waive his no-trade clause. Some reports have said it could be as much as six years for $120 million.

Wow, I can still remember the joint holdouts of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale in 1966 where they haggled with the Dodgers and ended up with 1 year deals for a total of roughly 1% of the projected of Santana’ projected pay for a single season.  Drysdale probably made more for his TV segments on the Brady Bunch.

Meanwhile, the Yanks senior vice president Steinbrenner has turned thumbs-down on re-signing steroids allegation-besieged Roger Clemens.  NY Daily News sports writer McCarron reports;

“I’m not signing Clemens,” Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ senior vice president, said in a telephone interview yesterday. He said the Yanks are not looking for rotation stopgaps - like they were last season - because they are so enamored of their young starting pitchers. And Steinbrenner feels the Yanks already have a strong mentor to the young arms in Andy Pettitte, whom Steinbrenner praised for his “veteran leadership.

“Andy is (signed) for one year and he’s only 35 and he knows how to pitch in the big games,” Steinbrenner said. “Roger does, too, but let’s face it, he’s going to be 46 (in August).

“Pettitte is just as good with the young pitchers, though Clemens was great with the young kids last year. I don’t think Roger is going to come back anyway.”

Hmmm, Clemens not signed for 2008?  How would “the Rocket” look in red pinstripes?  Perhaps mentoring young lefty ace Cole Hamels and spot starting instead of Adam Eaton and his nuclear mushroom ERA?  But, alas, I don’t think that the Phillies have $28M for a handful of starts.

And speaking of HGH and other steroids, I’m just bored to tears with all of the Mitchell investigations’ machinations regarding Clemens and the others.  Aside from tangently mentioning the HGH/steroids issue here, this blog steers clear of all such steriods discussion and conjecture and sticks to MLB purism.

Personally, I’d rather see a few certain “too tired” political leaders shot up with steroids — it might endow them with some strong backbone.

And here are some of the Hall of Fame 2008 class of candidates.  We once again find lefthanded starter Tommy John, imposing reliever Goose Gossage, outfielders Jim Rice, slugger Mark McGwire, Andre “the Hawk” Dawson, pitcher Bert Blyleven, shortstop Dave Concepcion and Dave Parker all vying for the Hall along  with first-time candidates shortstop Shawon Dunston and pitcher Jack Morris, base-stealer extraordinaire Tim Raines and dominant reliever Robb Nen.

Tuesday, January 8 is Hall of Fame selection announcement day.  As always, “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” should be interesting.

Finally, I’m waiting for the 2008 version of Jimmy Rollins setting the stage announcement that the Phillies are once again the team to beat in the NL East.  See ya Mets, wouldn’t wanna be ya!

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The New York Yankees signed their free agent five-time All Star catcher  Jorge Posada for four years, the Chicago Cubs dealt centerfielder Jacque Jones to Detroit for a utility infielder and Milwaukee’s 3rd baseman Ryan Braun and Boston’s 2nd baseman Dustin Pedroia won Rookie of the Year honors — all on Monday as the post-season awards began and the trading  and free agency season heated up.

The Yanks and Posada came to agreement on a $52.4 million, four-year deal.  Posada, a 13 year switch-hitting veteran, led the team in batting average at .338 for 2007 and clubbed 20 homers and 90 RBIs.  His 2007 average, slugging percentage (.543) and on-base percentage (.426) were all career highs. Defensively, Posada has been a standout throughout his career posting a .992 lifetime fielding percentage.  As with any free agency deal, Posada must pass a physical to finalize the deal.
***********

The Cubs dealt Jacque Jones to Detroit in exchange for utility infielder  Omar Infante.

The Tigers’ press release detailing the trade explained;

Jones saw action in 135 games with the Cubs in 2007, batting .285 (129×453) with 33 doubles, five home runs and 66 RBI. He hit .332 (79×238) in 66 games following the all-star break for the Cubs this past season.

“We are excited to add a quality major league outfielder like Jacque Jones to the Tigers organization,” Tigers President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager David Dombrowski said. “He is a proven lefthanded hitter at the major league level that fits our club well in left field.”

A veteran of nine seasons in the majors with the Minnesota Twins (1999-2005) and Cubs (2006-07), he has compiled a .280 batting average (1255×4478) in 1,260 games. Jones has collected 164 home runs and 623 RBI during his career.

Cubs general manager Jim Hendry expressed satisfaction with acquiring Infante stating;

“We’re happy to get Infante. He gives us another guy who is versatile and can play everywhere on the infield and all three outfield spots. … It’s good for both clubs…. We tried to wrap it up as soon as we could. We both have other issues to address.”

Infante batted .271 in 66 games in a utlity role for the Tigers during the 2007 season, including six doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI.
***********

Milwaukee’s 3rd baseman Ryan Braun narrowly beat out runner-up  Rockies’ shortstop Troy Tulowitzki for NL Rookie of the Year honors while Boston’s Pedroia outdistanced his closest rival, Tampa Bay’s outfielder  Delmon Young by a wide margin garnering 24 of 28 first place votes.

AP Baseball Writer Ben Walker provides background on both winners for Yahoo sports;

The little Boston second baseman with the big swing…. generously listed at 5-foot-9 became a fan favorite at Fenway Park with his all-out style. Plus, few knew he played with a broken left hand down the stretch.

“Everyone doubted me at every level I’ve been to, saying I’m too small, I’m not fast enough, my arm’s not strong enough,” Pedroia said. “There’s a lot of people that have stuck by me and knew deep down in, that there’s something about me that makes me a winning baseball player.”

Pedroia hit .317 with eight home runs and 50 RBIs.

Braun’s brawn earned him the NL award. The slugging third baseman from Milwaukee finished two points ahead of Tulowitzki, Colorado’s sparkplug shortstop.

Braun received 17 of 32 first-place votes and finished with 128 points. Tulowitzki got 15 first-place votes and 126 points. Ballots were completed by the end of the regular season, before Pedroia and Tulowitzki met in the World Series.

“To show you how good Ryan was, in any other year Troy Tulowitzki would have won hands down,” Brewers general manager Doug Melvin said.

Called up from Triple-A in late May, Braun hit .324 with 34 home runs and 97 RBIs. The Brewers led the majors in homers this season and stayed in contention for the NL Central championship until the final week.

Braun’s .634 slugging percentage led NL players and was the highest by a rookie in major league history. He did not have enough plate appearances, however, to qualify for the title.

His big offensive numbers were enough to overcome 26 errors, tied for most in the majors with Minnesota shortstop Jason Bartlett.

“Everybody has things they need to work on,” Braun said on a conference call.

The Phillies will surely vouch for Braun’s huge bat.  In 3 games against the Phils last season, Braun was 6 for 14 with 3 of those hits being homers.

Regarding Tulowitzki, AP’s Walker wrote;

He also set an NL rookie record for home runs by a shortstop (24) and batted .291 with 99 RBIs as the Rockies surged to the NL pennant. Colorado won 14 of 15 to take the wild-card spot — Tulowitzki had four hits in a one-game tiebreaker for the slot, including a key double off Trevor Hoffman.

MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy added these stats on Tulowitzki;

Tulowitzki… proved a superior defender. His .987 fielding percentage and 5.39 zone rating led Major League shortstops, and Tulowitzki committed only 11 errors in 155 games.

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I had a joke going amongst friends and fellow baseball fans (of the Mets,  Cubs and even one Rockies fan) here in Israel this weekend as the Holidays came to an end.  It went something like this; “In a short series, you can’t go 4-11 and win.”  Considering that the Phillies trailed the Rockies 2-0 in games going into yesterday’s clincher, they got the point.

The Phillies fought hard in game 3 against the Rockies, but once again Colorado won the game this time by a 2-1 score.  They won the series on the strength of 3 young starting arms, my choice for series MVP, 2nd baseman and leadoff hitter Kazuo Matsui and a bullpen which absolutely caught flaming, unextinguishable fire as the Rockies won 17 of 18 games down the stretch, caught and defeated the San Diego Padres in a run-off game to make the wild card berth and swept an equally hot Phillies team who had won 13 of their last 17 games in catching and surpassing the Mets for the NL East division title. 

You could roll out the what-ifs; If Cole Hamels had not been tagged for 3 runs in a bad 2nd inning in game 1 (he went on to go clean on the Rockies in the 3rd through 6th innings before issuing a lead-off walk in the 7th inning); if Charlie Manuel had not pulled Kyle Kendrick for Kyle Lohse in a two out, bases loaded situation in the 4th inning of game 2 opening the way for Matsui’s slam; had Manuel called for Clay Condrey instead of the attrocious Jose Mesa to open the 6th inning and had avoided surrendering 4 more runs; had the offense showed it’s regular season league-leading punch; etc., etc.

AP sports writer Arnie Stapleton recaps the game for Yahoo sports;

The Rockies roared into the NL championship series Saturday night… on pinch-hitter Jeff Baker’s tiebreaking single with two outs in the eighth inning.

Kaz Matsui, who had five RBIs in Game 2, broke a scoreless tie in the fifth with a triple that skipped past diving left fielder Pat Burrell, scoring Yorvit Torrealba from first base with two outs.

Colorado’s 17th win in 18 games was fueled by [Ubaldo] Jimenez, the hard-throwing 23-year-old who allowed one run and three hits over 6 1-3 innings during a pitchers’ duel at Coors Field, of all places. Then, those reliable Rockies relievers silenced Philadelphia’s dangerous bats for the third straight game.

“We’re winning with our bats, our gloves and our arms,” Rockies MVP hopeful Matt Holliday said. “We’re winning with both youth and experience, with power and little punches. That’s a good brand of baseball to be playing.”

[Jimmy] Rollins,  [Chase] Utley and [Ryan] Howard went a combined 7-for-34 (.206) with 15 strikeouts in the series.

Jimenez’s only mistake was a hanging slider that [Shane] Victorino drove into the right-field seats in the seventh to tie it 1-all. It was the first hit Jimenez allowed since Howard’s single in the first inning.

Jimenez matched Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia’s 44-year-old left-hander who allowed just one run and five hits in six innings. Moyer wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam unscathed in the second.

“They had timely hits,” Moyer said. “They pitched very well for a team that’s supposedly very young.”

And Moyer pitched very well for a guy who’s supposedly very old.

“The kid’s out there pitching the game of his life and it’s like he’s facing Whitey Ford,” Hurdle marveled. “Jamie Moyer, how good was he tonight?”

The wild-card Rockies get four days off before opening the NLCS on Thursday in Arizona, the first time two teams from the NL West have met in the league championship series.

MLB.com’s Ken Mandel adds these comments on the game;

If J.C. Romero was to allow his first run since Aug. 30 — a span of 22 games and 17 2/3 innings — it had to happen like this, on three successive gut punches.

Sure, they might’ve been caught. But, realistically, the maximum effort wasn’t going to be enough.

Rockies closer Manny Corpas preserved that eighth-inning rally… and saved Colorado’s 2-1 win over Philadelphia…

“It’s crazy, man,” added Romero. “I know I executed my pitches, but … that one out of the reach of Jayson, and [the hit past] Chase — I tip my hat. They put enough wood on the [ball]. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It’s unfortunate that we came up short. We showed a lot of character, and now we have to go home and watch the [Rockies] continue to play.”

The… Phillies lost the series by not hitting. A vaunted offense that led the NL with 892 runs scored and logged the second-highest batting average managed three hits off Ubaldo Jimenez and three relievers, wasting a brilliant effort from veteran starter Jamie Moyer. The Phillies ended up hitting just .172 (16-for-93) in the series.

MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro sums up the Phillies sentiments with this quote from 2nd baseman Jimmie Rollins;

They’ve won 17 out of 18, and they’re doing everything right — not just one guy. [Jeff] Baker came off the bench tonight and he came up with the big hit. He was sitting the whole series, and he comes up with one at-bat, and that’s the game-winning hit. That’s what happens when everything is going your way.

The Phils fought admirably in game 3 but the offense just couldn’t get untracked through the entire series, and so the Rockies meet another surprisingly team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, for the NL Pennant. 

The Diamondbacks swept the Chicago Cubs in only a slightly more convincing style than the Rockies swept the Phils. 

It should be a great series for baseball fans.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on both of Saturday’s playoff games,  click here.

On Sunday, both the Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels face the possibility of being swept by the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox respectively.

Jake Westbrook goes for the Indians vs Roger Clemens for the Yanks.  One of my all time favorites,  Curt Schilling goes for the Red Sox vs Jered Weaver for the Angels.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on both of Sunday’s playoff games,  click here.

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The Phillies won the NL East Division crown with a convincing 6-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on the last day of the regular season as veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer pitched a clutch 5 1/3 innings giving up 1 run on 6 hits to win his 14th game of 2007. Amidst the chants of “MVP, MVP” which have reverberated throughout Citizens Bank Park for days, shortstop  Jimmy Rollins went 2 for 3 with an RBI and his 20th triple which gave him 20 or over 20 in homers, doubles, triples and stolen bases, only the 4th player in MLB history to accomplish the feat. 

Last year’s NL MVP Ryan Howard pounded his 47 homer of the season while going 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs to bring his league-leading total to 136 RBIs.

The Phillies bullpen trio of Tom Gordon, J.C. Romero and closer Brett Myers were once again air-tight and the Phils’ offense executed bunts, steals and sacrifices to perfection.  The Phils were not to be denied in 2007.

Meanwhile, in New York, veteran lefthander Tom Glavine lasted but 1 out in the 1st inning giving up 7 runs in the first frame to Florida.  Although the  Mets scored a single run in their half of the 1st inning and Dontrelle Willis chased himself by walking 5 Mets, the Met’s offense never got untracked as the Marlins used six pitchers to nail down the 8-1 win and completing the Mets’ monumental late-season dive which leaves them out of the playoffs entirely.

The Phillies opposition in the first round of the playoffs is as yet undetermined as the Milwaukee Brewers defeated the NL wild card leading  San Diego Padres by an 11-6 score. The Padres have slid into a tie for the wild card lead with the Colorado Rockies who defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks by a 4-3 score.  The playoffs will likely start on Wednesday, October 3, 2007.

The Phillies tacked a run on the board on starter Jason Bergmann as Rollins lead off the game with a single, stole 2nd and 3rd bases and scored on 2nd baseman Chase Utley’s rightfield sacrifice fly. 

In the 3rd frame, Howard stepped up with the sacks jammed and smacked a two-run single to rightfield off of Bergmann to put the Phils up 3-0 after 3 innings. 

In the meantime, Jamie Moyer retired 9 of the first 10 hiters he faced, only giving up a one out 1st inning double to 2nd baseman  Ronnie Belliard.

Thing went a little awry for the Phillies as Belliard led off being
safe at first on third baseman Greg Dobbs’ hurried throwing error.  3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman followed by striking out looking.  1st baseman  Dmitri Young grounded out to third with Belliard advancing to 2nd base.  Rightfielder Austin Kearns singled to leftfield scoring Belliard and advancing to second on leftfielder Pat Burrell’s throw home.  Luckily, Moyer escaped further damage when leftfielder Wily Mo Pena struck out to retire the side.

Moyer handled the Nationals in the 5th inning, even though catcher Carlos Ruiz was hit by a pitch thrown from Nationals reliever Jonathan Albaladejo, thus causing a change in Moyer’s battery-mate to Chris Coste. But after Belliard and Dmitri Young both singled in the 6th inning with one out, Manuel lifted Moyer for Tom Gordon who got Kearn to ground into a second to first doubleplay to end the inning.

The Phillies added two insurance runs to their lead in the 6th inning
as Burrell led off with a walk off of Saul Rivera and was replaced by pinch runner, leftfielder Michael Bourn.  Chris Coste was hit by a pitch.  New 3rd baseman Abraham Nunez laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt along the 3rd base line which moved Bourn to 3rd base and Coste to 2nd base.  Tadahito Iguchi, who the Phils acquired after Chase Utley went down and who performed brilliantly replacing Utley at 2nd base, then hit for Tom Gordon and lofted a sacrifice fly to right centerfield to score Bourn and move Coste to 3rd base.  Then Rollins smacked his 20th triple to rightfield scoring Coste with the 5th Phillies run.

Howard’s 7th inning belt off of reliever Mike Bacsik was icing on the Phillies cake as J.C. Romero and Myers were awesome and the team was pumped seeing the Mets down by 8-1.

For the scores, boxscores and recaps on these and all of Sunday’s games,  click here.

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