May 2009 Archives

Well, dropping David Ortiz from third to sixth in the batting order has neither improved Ortiz nor the Red Sox. In fact, things have gotten worse for both.
In his five games as the No. 6 hitter, the Red Sox have yet to score more than three runs in any of them. Right now the Red Sox have been held to three runs or less in more than one-third of their games with the season just about one-third over, too high a ratio for them to remain as genuine contenders in the AL East no matter how good their pitching is.
And their starting pitching, while improving, is still a long way from being what it's expected to be. But that's another story.
Ortiz is 2-for-19 with one walk, no runs, no RBI, and 6 strikeouts since his demotion in the batting order. To be fair, the few balls he has hit hard have been atom balls right at the fielders. But he has hit too few balls hard.
What happened to the guy with so much bat speed I saw him pull a 99-mph fastball from Phillies closer Billy Wagner over the first-base side luxury suites at Fenway a couple of years ago?
I thought Ortiz might be coming out of his funk a couple of weeks ago when he started hitting more balls to left field, like he did when he first came to the Red Sox and hit a high number of balls off and over The Wall. Going back to basics is often a good recipe for getting your swing back. But ever since he hit his first -- and only -- homer on the last home stand, he's gone back to trying to pull everything, and he's regressed.
Those who criticized Terry Francona for sticking with Ortiz in the No. 3 spot too long now know why he did. Not only were the Red Sox winning enough to be in first place despite Ortiz' lack of contributions, dropping him to sixth only proved the old baseball adage that there's no place in the lineup to hide a slump-ridden hitter.
He's going to come up with runners on base in key situations no matter where you bat him.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Boston Celtics associate head coach Tom Thibodeau may be on his way to landing an NBA head coaching job in the near future.

Thibodeau met with Philadelphia 76ers general manager Ed Stefanski last week about their head coaching position. The Sixers confirmed the meeting on their website.

The website quoted Doc Rivers in a Philadelphia Daily News story, saying, "He's terrific, with unbelievable knowledge. He knows the game, is a great teacher. And he knows more than defense. In some ways, he's so good defensively, people overlook his overall knowledge. Thibs is our defensive assistant, but has offensive input. Armond Hill is our offensive assistant, and he has input in the defense. But as good as all of Thibs' schemes might be, when you lose Kevin Garnett [for most of the season], somehow it doesn't look the same. Thibs' isn't Buddy Ryan. He knows so much more about basketball."

The Sacramento Kings announced on Tuesday that they will interview Thibodeau later this week. According to their website, the team requested and received permission from Boston to speak with Thibodeau about their head coaching position.

A defensive guru, his teams have finished ranked among the top 10 in the NBA in defense 15 times in his 18 seasons as an NBA assistant coach.

Thibodeau's previous NBA stops during his 18-year career include stints as an assistant with the Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, and Philadelphia 76ers.

The question for Celtics fans: Do you believe Boston's defense will take a major dip without Thibodeau on the bench next season? Might this potentially loss be bigger than losing some of the key players on this year's squad?

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

A few post-Memorial Day thoughts to heat up the unofficial start of summer:

Have to laugh every time one of my fantasy baseball players misses a few games with a strained hamstring, especially after finding out Ray Allen played the entire Orlando series with the same injury. (Guess that explains the sudden loss of shooting touch)

That's nothing compared to hockey players and what they play through. Phil Kessel struggled through two playoff series with a torn rotator cuff and labrum that required an operation. Then there's Mark Recchi, who played most of the Carolina series with kidney stones. He underwent procedures to remove them less than 24-hours before Game-7, and then skated in the series finale. That's tough!

My mom used to deal with kidney stones. Said it was the most painful thing she ever endured, worse than giving birth to me. Of course, she never did say how it compared to the pain of raising me. Hmmmm...

Recently read an online article touting ways to speed up baseball. One suggestion was to have a "pitch clock." I say forget that. Here are two simpler steps:

Hitters aren't allowed to step out of the batter's box unless there's a foul ball or they've been knocked on their behind by a brush back pitch. Mike Hargrove was once dubbed "the human rain delay" for his between pitch antics. In today's game, Hargrove would be "Speedy Gonzalez."

Conversely, pitchers aren't allowed off the mound except to field a ball in play. Is there any need for Dice-K to walk off the hill after a pitch, take the throw from Jason Varitek, remove his glove, take his hat off, wipe the perspiration off his forehead and neck, rub the sweat onto the baseball, dry off his hands on his uniform, then finally step back on the rubber to prepare for the next pitch?

No wonder the guy can't throw strikes. He's like the weekend hacker who has to retrain his muscles to properly swing a golf club after not playing golf for months. Except the time between Matsuzaka's pitches sometimes seems longer than winter.

Guess there's no more argument about whether David Ortiz should be moved out of the 3-hole. The question now is whether he should be moved to the bench, as painful as it is to say that about one of the players most responsible for breaking "The Curse."

Terry Francona's loyalty to veterans is admirable, but at this point, watching Big Papi flail away helplessly in the batter's box is worse torture than anything our intelligence community was doing at Guantanamo. You want to catch Bin Laden? Put away the water board and force Al Qaeda to watch endless TiVo streams of Ortiz at bat with men on base.

What does it say about the state of Indy Car racing in the U.S. when more people remember Helio Castroneves as a former Dancing with the Stars champion than as a 3-time Indy 500 winner? Then again, what does that say about the sad state of American television?

Speaking of reality TV, remember a few years back when I predicted American Idol winner Taylor Hicks was destined for a career singing aboard Carnival cruise ships? (Guess I overestimated his talent...Carnival cruises would be a step up from what Hicks is doing now) Well, I feel safe telling you newest "Idol" Kris Allen will be fortunate if he can afford a boarding pass on a cruise ship.

Seriously, does it hurt that much to hit a note, kid? I haven't seen painful facial contortions like that since Jim Carey's over-the-top role in Ace Ventura.

That's the view from here...how do you see things? Who is the toughest athlete of all-time, in terms of playing through pain? How would you speed up baseball? What should the Sox do with Big Papi? Adam Lambert or Kris Allen?

The Red Sox are pondering dropping struggling David Ortiz out of the No. 3 spot in the batting order, and it's time. Terry Francona has been immensely patient with Ortiz. But even though he hit his first home run of the season two days after getting a three-day sabbatical on the West Coast, it's clear he's unable to deliver in that key spot in the order.
Reports out of Boston were that Ortiz might be demoted to the bottom half of the lineup tomorrow afternoon when the Red Sox begin a road trip in Minnesota.
This afternoon's performance in which Ortiz stranded eight more runners -- four of them in scoring position -- while going 0-for-5 wasn't as bad as that extra-inning game in Anaheim on the last trip when he left a staggering 12 runners on base. The Red Sox lost that game but overcame their DH's lack of production today to come from behind and beat the Mets 12-5.
But Francona can no longer blind himself to the huge void in the heart of the Red Sox' batting order.
Ortiz is now hitting .195 overall and .209 with runners in scoring position. Going into today's game the rest of the Red Sox were collectively hitting .285 with runners in scoring position, topped among the regulars by Kevin Youkilis at .400, Dustin Pedroia at .375, and Jason Bay at .326.
Those three batters bracket Ortiz in the lineup. So, as incongruous as it sounds, it's really no surprise that teams are now pitching around the little mighty mite Pedroia and going right after the gasping giant, Ortiz. Pedroia walked three times in today's game.
Bay (45), Mike Lowell (32), Youkilis (26), J.D. Drew (21), and Jason Varitek (20) all have more RBI than Ortiz's 18. And considering that all of them bat behind Ortiz and his woeful .301 on-base percentage, their RBI totals are even more impressive.
They are all on a 75-RBI pace or better for the season, and Ortiz has scored only 15 runs in 40 games.
Benching Ortiz for an extended period really isn't an option. There's no one else on the 25-man roster capable of giving the Red Sox anything more offensively.
It's really hard to blame Francona for not dropping Ortiz down sooner. But Francona is certainly aware of the unwritten rule of baseball that there's nowhere to hide a slumping hitter.
Wherever you bat him in the lineup -- cleanup, ninth, sixth, or second -- it's a given that he's going to come to the plate in a crucial situation with runners on base.

Although it wasn't a save situation, Jonathan Papelbon came on to pitch the ninth for the Red Sox. He gave up a harmless one-out single to Hill, and the Red Sox beat the Blue Jays 5-1 to sweep the three-game series. They now trail the Jays by just a half-game in the AL East standings.

The Blue Jays finally nicked Jon Lester for a run in the seventh. After a one-out walk to Jose Bautista and a single by Scutaro, Ramon Martinez relieved Lester and gave up an RBI single to Aaron Hill. But that was all the damage the Jays could do as they left the bases loaded.

The Red Sox upped their lead to 5-0 in the fifth with an unearned run. Julio Lugo reached on a throwing error by shortstop Marco Scutaro but was forced at second by Ellsbury. Ellsbury stole his 17th base of the season on a pitchout and raced home on a single to center by Pedroia.

The Red Sox extended their lead to 4-0 in the third. Dustin Pedroia smashed a double off The Wall in left-center, and with two outs Youkilis grounded a single up the middle to bring him home.

Former Lowell Spinner Jacoby Ellsbury extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a leadoff double tonight and scored the first run of the game. After slashing a groundball inside first base for his double, Ellsbury took third on a groundout by Dustin Pedroia and came home when David Ortiz grounded out, putting the Red Sox ahead 1-0.
The Red Sox added two more runs off Robert Ray before the inning was over. Kevin Youkilis drew a walk, and Jason Bay hit a homer that struck the top of the bullpen fence and bounded over the dugout and into the stands.
For Bay it was his 11th consecutive homer with runners on base, setting a Red Sox record. Kevin Youkilis and Tony Conigliaro shared the old record.
Hank Aaron and Ken Griffey, Jr., share the all-time record with 12.
Twelve of Bay's 13 homers this season have come with runners aboard, accounting for 29 of his 44 RBI.

Jason Bay's last 10 homers and 11 of his 12 this season have come with runners on base. Twenty-seven of Bay's 42 RBI this season have come on home runs ... The Red Sox are 15-4 at Fenway as they try for a sweep of the Blue Jays tonight that could put them only a half-game out of first place.
Tonight's lineups:
Blue Jays
Marco Scutaro, ss
Aaron Hill, 2b
Alex Rios, rf
Vernon Wells, cf
Adam Lind, dh
Scott Rolen, 3b
Kevin Millar, 1b
Rod Barajas, c
Jose Bautista, lf
Robert Ray, rhp

Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, cf
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
David Ortiz, dh
Kevin Youkilis, 1b
Jason Bay, lf
J.D. Drew, rf
Mike Lowell, 3b
Jason Varitek, c
Julio Lugo, ss
Jon Lester, lhp

Hard-working assistant coach Chris MacKenzie is leaving UMass Lowell to take the job as head coach of the women's hockey team at Niagara University. Niagara announced MacKenzie's hiring today.
MacKenzie is a Niagara alumnus who played for current UML coach Blaise MacDonald at Niagara. MacDonald brought MacKenzie with him when he took the UML job eight years ago. A tireless worker, MacKenzie performed a multitude of tasks for the River Hawks. In addition to recruiting duties, he also worked on instructional videos and was involved in community endeavors.
MacDonald will begin searching immediately for MacKenzie's replacement. Former NHL star Shawn McEachern remains on MacDonald's staff.

Jonathan Papelbon set down the Jays in order in the ninth for his league-leading 11th save as the Red Sox trimmed Toronto 2-1 to pull to 2 1/2 games of first place.
Tim Wakefield pitched the first eight innings to record his fifth win.

The Blue Jays retaliated in the fifth when ex-Soxer Kevin Millar lofted his third home run of the season into the Monster Seats, a solo shot off Tim Wakefield that cut the Red Sox' lead to 2-1.

The Red Sox took a 2-0 lead against lefthander Brian Tallet in the bottom of the second inning.
Mike Lowell led off with a single and J.D. Drew walked. After Julio Lugo popped out, Manager Terry Francona sent the runners on a 1-and-2 pitch to Jeff Bailey, who lined a single into left center for the first run as Drew coasted into third. A sacrifice fly by George Kottaras brought home the second run.

Slump-ridden David Ortiz, who sat out the Seattle series, was back in the Red Sox lineup tonight, batting in his customary third slot in the order.
Kevin Youkilis played a full game at Pawtucket today as the designated hitter and went 0-for-4. He is expected to rejoin the Red Sox tomorrow. Youkilis was 0-for-6 during his rehab stint with the PawSox.
The Red Sox will catch a break in this three-game set with the AL East-leading Blue Jays. They won't face Roy Halladay (8-1, .278) or Scott Richmond (4-2, 3.64), Toronto's top two starters.

Tonight's lineups:
Blue Jays
Marco Scutaro, ss
Aaron Hill, 2b
Alex Rios, rf
Vernon Wells, cf
Adam Lind, lf
Scott Rolen 3b
Lyle Overbay, 1b
Kevin Millar, dh
Rod Barajas, c
Brian Tallet, lhp

Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, cf
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
David Ortiz, dh
Jason Bay, lf
Mike Lowell, 3b
J.D. Drew, rf
Julio Lugo, ss
Jeff Bailey, 1b
George Kottaras, c
Tim Wakefield, rhp

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard didn't appear to pull many punches after the Game 5 loss here at the TD Banknorth Garden.

His comments were critical of the Magic's play, and coach Stan Van Gundy and his staff.

"I think you're supposed to play to win, not supposed to try to lose, that's not why you play the game," Howard said, probably bringing a smile to Herm Edward's face somewhere. "You play to win. When you're up big, when you're up 14 or whatever, you don't try to hold the ball or let the clock run out, you gotta go with what got you the lead. Then you have to be able to lock down on defense, and unfortunately, this game we didn't do that."

Van Gundy had made mention of the same critique in his post-game comments, that the team tried to slow things down and run down the clock after they were up big.

However, Howard had pointed a significant portion of the blame on the coaches.

"I will say it's tough to win when all season long you play inside out and you trust one of the people to that got you off to a good season," Howard said. "I think I'm capable of scoring the post so you know, I just don't think ten shots -- I don't want to say it's all about offense.

"You gotta dominant player, let him be dominant."

Howard went on to add to his comments, saying, "The coaches have to recognize what's working on the floor and stick to it. Even if you don't have your starters in. the guys you put the most trust in, you gotta have trust in everybody. When you're in the situation where, okay, guys got it going, you know everybody's moving the ball and energy is up, you have to stick with it. You have to stick with what works. When you take out certain guys and you know some guys have to get into the flow of the game, it's tough."

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Boston Celtics forward Brian Scalabrine will play in Game 5 tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden.

According to reports earlier today, Scalabrine did not participate in the morning shoot around and had been feeling ill. However, he was on the court warming up for tonight's game and Celtics head coach Doc Rivers confirmed that he will be available.

"He is feeling better, he's been able to keep his food down the last couple of hours," River said.

There will be no restrictions heading into the game, and the plan is to play it by ear as the game goes along.

"We're just going to play him," River said. "Obviously, if he's out there and you see that he's struggling then you'll react, but athletes have that ability at times. We're hoping he can muscle his way through it. You just don't know. We'll just wait and see."

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

A few enhanced thoughts while hoping random steroid testing of sports bloggers and writers isn't implemented:

At this point, Major League baseball should just inform us when a player is actually NOT using performance enhancing drugs.

The Manny Ramirez revelation sealed the deal for even this cynical scribe. There's nothing and no one left to believe in. Even those who did it cleanly are now tainted. Seriously, at this point, would you be surprised by any name associated with PED's?

We're told Kevin Garnett has really taken Glenn Davis under his wing since arriving in Boston. Apparently, the tutelage doesn't end on the court. Did you catch the slo-mo reaction after the Game 4 buzzer-beater? Big Baby seems to have taken on some of KG's colorful vocabulary, too.

At least, in that moment of ecstasy after hitting the game-winner, Davis was thoughtful enough to remember that Sunday was also Mother's Day.

You have to love Dwight Howard. This man-child has been in the league four years now, is built like the Incredible Hulk and plays the game with about as much finesse as the Incredible Hulk would. Yet Howard, who has amassed more than 15,000 minutes of combined regular season and post-season playing time, has yet to commit a single foul. Just ask him. (drip, drip, drip goes the sarcasm!)

Hey kid, you should at least wait till you're old enough to shave before looking befuddled by every single call that goes against you.

Speaking of poor officiating, the NBA hasn't improved a lick since the Ed Donaghy point fixing scandal a couple of years ago.

In pivotal Game 3 of the Denver-Dallas series, an attempt to intentionally foul in the final seconds was ignored, leading to Carmelo Anthony's game-winning 3-pointer. This, despite the fact 61-fouls (roughly 1.25 per minute) had already been whistled in the contest.

Not to sound like Tommy Heinson here, but the Celtics-Bulls officiating crew included two guys from Chicago. In Game 4 of the Magic series Paul Pierce, the one TRUE superstar on the court, was called for a phantom fifth foul on an inbounds play where he never touched the man he was guarding.

Orlando guard Rafer Alston earned a one-game suspension for dope slapping Eddie House, as did Los Angeles guard Derek Fisher for lowering his shoulder and bulldozing Houston's Luis Scola.

Kobe Bryant elbows Ron Artest just below the neck area and doesn't draw a foul, while Artest gets tossed from the game by referee Joey Crawford for getting in Bryant's face after the flagrant elbow. That's the same Joey Crawford who once threw Tim Duncan out of a game for laughing on the bench.

I don't know what speaks worse for the NBA...the fact that such questionable officiating leads people to continue suspecting more referees of fixing games, or the fact that such incompetence is still on display in games that matter most.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Thank you Bud Selig. Thank you Donald Fehr. Thank you owners, executives, managers, players and trainers. In short, thank you Major League Baseball.

One of the few guys we had faith in doing it legitimately, Manny Ramirez, is now tarnished forever. Guess I shouldn't be surprised. With each passing cheating name released, the shock is less and less. Did I think Manny cheated? No, but then again, I was hoping A-Rod was legit.

None of them are. Even the ones who never used are tainted now. An entire era of baseball is now nothing more than fodder for ridicule. A former terror at the plate now struggling? "Must be cause he stopped juicing for fear of getting caught." A fireballer blows out an elbow tendon? "The stuff destroyed his body."

We can't tell anymore who used (uses?) and who didn't. From muscle-bound sluggers, to scrawny basestealers, to career journeymen who only got a cup of coffee in the majors, the names keep coming out. No, they didn't ALL cheat. But because too large a number of them did, they are ALL under suspicion now.

Manny Ramirez, like A-Rod before him, was the one we could at least hang our hat on for doing it the right way. That's no longer the case. Next hat holder: Ken Griffey, Jr.

Is anyone clean?

Takashi Saito retired the Indians in the top of the ninth, and the Red Sox won 13-3.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The UMass Lowell men's basketball team signed Tilton School point guard Scott Tavares-Taylor and former Methuen High swing man Romeo Diaz as the incoming freshman class of 2009-10.

Tavares-Taylor, a Boston resident who played high school basketball at Lexington High School, led Tilton to the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) Class B championship and the 2009 Prep National Championship.

The 5-foot-10 speedster (pictured) manned the point guard position on a Tilton team that finished the season with a record of 29-2.

Diaz, a 2007-08 All-Merrimack Valley Conference selection as a senior, had one of the performances of the year with his 51-point 17-rebound 11-assist performance in an triple-overtime thriller against Dracut last winter.

The 6-foot-5 guard/forward averaged 26 points, eight rebounds and three steals per game during his senior year for the Rangers.

The duo will join forward Kyle Mayers out of Ontario, Canada, and center/forward Lance Greene out of Boston as new faces next season. Mayers and Greene were redshirts this past season.

UMass Lowell finished the 2008-09 season with a record of 21-8, second in the Northeast-10 Conference and the third seed in the NCAA East Region. The River Hawks fell to Merrimack in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Indians picked up a run in the eighth off struggling reliever Javier Lopez. Wakefield pitched the first six innings for the Red Sox, and Manny Delcarmen threw a scoreless seventh.
Josh Barfield stroked a one-out single and scored on a two-out double to left by Garko, trimming the Red Sox' lead to 13-3.

The Red Sox reclaimed the lead against southpaw Jeremy Sowers in the bottom of the sixth as the first 12 batters all reached base and scored, setting an American League record.
Lugo started the rally with a single and Pedroia walked. Jason Bay lashed a double into the gap in left-center, chasing home Lugo with the run that tied the game at 2-2. After Mike Lowell was walked intentionally to load the bases, Rocco Baldelli -- just off the disabled list -- lined a single into right-center that scored Pedroia and Bay and put the Red Sox back in front 4-2.
J.D. Drew walked, the sixth straight batter to reach base in the inning, reloading the bases. Cleveland manager Eric Wedge then went to his bullpen for righthander Masa Kobayashi. Jeff Bailey whacked the reliever's first pitch into the left-field corner for another double, upping the Sox lead to 6-2.
When Kobayashi forgot to cover first base on Nick Green's groundball to second, a ball first baseman Ryan Garko dived for and took himself out of the play, and Green won the footrace with second baseman Valbuena to the bag for an infield hit, again reloading the bases. George Kottaras lined a single into center for two more runs as the Red Sox had batted around against the worst pitching staff in the league.
Lugo made it 10 straight batters to reach base by beating out a slow chopper up the third-base line, and the bases were loaded for the fourth time in the inning. Pedroia lined a single into left-center for another two runs, finishing Kobayashi and increasing the Red Sox' lead to 10-2.
Matt Herges, the Indians' third pitcher of the inning, fared no better. The first batter he faced, Bay, blasted his eighth homer into the Sox bullpen, a three-run shot that made it 13-2. After 12 consecutive batters had reached base to start the inning, Lowell finally made the first out by grounding to short. Herges retired the next to batters as well.
The first 12 batters scoring set an AL record, breaking the old mark of 11 set by the Detroit Tigers against the New York Yankees on June 17, 1925, in the sixth inning. The Sox tied the modern major-league record set by the Brooklyn Dodgers against the Philadelphia Phillies in the eighth inning on May 24, 1953.

The Indians finally got to Tim Wakefield for the first time this season in the fifth inning, taking a 2-1 lead.
Wakefield, who pitched seven scoreless one-hit innings in Cleveland last month, didn't give up a hit last night until Asdrubal Cabrera led off the fourth with a single. That ended a string of nine consecutive no-hit innings by Wakefield against the Indians this season. Wakefield pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth but couldn't stop the Indians in the fifth.
Rookie Matt LaPorta, a one-time Red Sox draft pick, led off with a single and raced to third on a bloop double by rookie Luis Valbuena. LaPorta scored on a wild pitch to tie the game while Valbuena took third, from where he scored on a sacrifice fly by Cabrera.
Wakefield got out of further trouble by getting Mark DeRosa to rap into an inning-ending double play with runners at first and third.

The Red Sox struck quickly for the first run of the game. Julio Lugo led off the bottom of the first by tripling off The Wall in left-center, and Dustin Pedroia singled him home to stake the Sox to a 1-0 advantage.

Red Sox Activate Baldelli
The Red Sox activated center fielder Rocco Baldelli from the disabled list before tonight's game against the Indians and optioned outfielder Jonathan Van Every to Pawtucket. Baldelli, who had been on the DL with a tight hamstring, was put right into the lineup.
Jacoby Ellsbury could have started, but manager Terry Francona held him back with lefthander Jeremy Sowers on the mound for the Indians, giving Ellsbury an extra day to rest his tight hamstring.
Kevin Youkilis was still out of the lineup with tightness in his side. Jeff Bailey plays first base.
The Indians' lineup:
Ben Francisco, cf
Asdrubal Cabrera, ss
Victor Martinez, c
Mark DeRosa, 3b
Dave Dellucci, lf
Ryan Garko, 1b
Jhonny Peralta, dh
Matt LaPorta, rf
Luis Valbuena, 2b
Jeremy Sowers, lhp

The Red Sox scratched David Ortiz from the starting lineup 45 minutes before tonight's game. Ortiz complained of a stiff neck. Julio Lugo was switched from shortstop to designated hitter, and Nick Green was inserted at shortstop.
The new Red Sox lineup:
Julio Lugo, dh
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
Jason Bay, lf
Mike Lowell, 3b
Rocco Baldelli, cf
J.D. Drew, rf
Jeff Bailey, 1b
Nick Green, ss
George Kottaras, c
Tim Wakefield, rhp

The Red Sox activated center fielder Rocco Baldelli from the disabled list before tonight's game against the Indians and optioned outfielder Jonathan Van Every to Pawtucket. Baldelli, who had been on the DL with a tight hamstring, was put right into the lineup.
Jacoby Ellsbury could have started, but manager Terry Francona held him back with lefthander Jeremy Sowers on the mound for the Indians, giving Ellsbury an extra day to rest his tight hamstring.
Kevin Youkilis was still out of the lineup with tightness in his side. Jeff Bailey plays first base.
The lineups:
Cleveland Indians
Ben Francisco, cf
Asdrubal Cabrera, ss
Victor Martinez, c
Mark DeRosa, 3b
Dave Dellucci, lf
Ryan Garko, 1b
Jhonny Peralta, dh
Matt LaPorta, rf
Luis Valbuena, 2b
Jeremy Sowers, lhp

Red Sox
Julio Lugo, ss
Dustin Pedroia, 2b
David Ortiz, dh
Jason Bay, lf
Mike Lowell, 3b
J.D. Drew, rf
Rocco Baldelli, cf
Jeff Bailey, 1b
George Kottaras, c
Tim Wakefield, rhp

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett and point guard Rajon Rondo were both named to the NBA All-Defensive Team today. Garnett garnered a First Team selection, while Rondo was named to the Second Team.

The voting panel consisted of the NBA's 30 head coaches, who were asked to select NBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams by position. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own team. Two points were awarded for a First Team vote and one point was awarded for a Second Team vote.

Garnett, the 2007-08 Defensive Player of the Year, earned 35 points (13 first team votes, nine second team votes. Dwight Howard was the top choice with 55 points (27 first team votes, one second team). Also being recognized on the first team were Los Angeles' Kobe Bryant (53 points overall and 24 first team votes), Cleveland's LeBron James (47 points), and New Orleans' Chris Paul (36 points).

Rondo tallied 23 points (four first team votes and 15 second team votes). Other second team selections were San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Miami's Dwyane Wade, and forwards Shane Battier and Ron Artest of Houston.

Posted By Lynn Worthy, Sun Staff

The Boston Celtics announced today that forward Leon Powe underwent successful ACL revision reconstruction with microfracture and cartilage repair at New England Baptist Hospital this morning. The surgery was preformed by Celtics Team Physician, Dr. Brian McKeon and was assisted by Dr. Paul Weitzel and Dr. John Richmond. No timetable has been set for Powe's return.

Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Taking a few swings to see what falls out of the sports piñata this Cinco de Mayo:

I'm not happy they lost Game 2, but at least now we get to find out what the 2008-09 Bruins are made of.

After sweeping a Canadiens team that should have put up a better fight and coasting past Carolina in the series opener, all signs pointed to the Black and Gold storming past the Hurricanes and into the Eastern Conference Finals. However, just when it appeared the B's wouldn't get tested till the Eastern Conference Finals against either Pittsburgh or Washington, the 'Canes stood tall and fought back to even the series.

It says here, that's a good thing. Every champion gets punched in the mouth at some point, if not several times during the post-season. How they respond to the challenge will go a long way toward determining whether the B's will eventually skate around the ice with Lord Stanley's Cup.

Better to have that first punch come from an opponent they should be able to take instead of a heavyweight that'll knock them out, much like the Celtics only got better as last year's playoffs progressed after having their championship mettle tested by Atlanta.

Speaking of the C's, I think they might have an easier time with Orlando than they did with Chicago.

Sure Dwight Howard is a beast, but boxing out and some well-disguised double teams should neutralize an offensive repertoire that begins and ends with ferocious dunking. And the Magic don't posses anywhere near the multiple outside threats the Bulls threw at the Green. Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo will greatly benefit from not having to chase around Derek Rose, Ben Gordon, Kirk Hinrich, and John Salmons for 4-quarters (or more) each night.

The pick: Boston in 6.

By the way, most interesting line in the Game 7 box score: Tony Allen, DNP Coach's Decision. That's the same Tony Allen who Doc Rivers kept on the court for almost all of crunch time, while the C's blew a late lead in Game 6.

Good to see Doc actually reads the SunBlogs.

While scouring box scores Saturday night, I saw that every Red Sox regular had at least one hit against Tampa Bay. Every regular, except for David Ortiz.

On April 13th, while he was batting a paltry .208, I suggested it might be time to slide "Not So Big Papi" out of the #3 hole in the lineup, move Kevin Youkilis up a spot and insert Jason Bay into the cleanup slot. Fast forward three weeks to May 4, and Ortiz is still stuck at .208 with a Lugo-nian .302 slugging percentage. Even worse, zero home runs in 96-at bats places Ortiz behind the likes of Nick Green (1-in-56 AB's), Jeff Bailey (1-in-12) and Jonathan Van Every (1-in-5).

Here's hoping Terry Francona also reads the Sun.