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The Enterprise |
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For Sox, it'll be no West coast By Glen Farley, Enterprise staff writerBOSTON — Men at work. “I don't know if anybody likes working 14 days in a row,” Boston Red Sox first baseman Kevin Youkilis said following Thursday afternoon's 6-4 win over the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park. “I don't think there's anybody in America that likes going to work every day of the week. That's why you learn to cherish each and every off-day you get.” The Red Sox aren't scheduled to get one of those until next Thursday. Even with a record of 58-36 for their best mark through 94 games since 1979 and a 2 -game lead atop the American League East, the Red Sox arrived at Seattle's Safeco Field for Friday's late-night start to a six-game western swing with plenty of work to do. After their road trip opener with the Mariners and matinees at 4:10 this afternoon and 4:05 on Sunday, it's on to Oakland's McAfee Coliseum for a series with the West division-leading Athletics that will consist of games on Monday and Tuesday nights at 10:05 and Wednesday afternoon at 3:35. While all that is going on, the Yankees will continue their four-game set with the third-place Blue Jays in Toronto and then travel to Texas to conclude their own seven-game trip. In the wake of the All-Star break, neither the Sox nor Yankees will have a day off until Thursday — a stretch of 14 straight work days dating back to July 13 for Boston; 13 straight work shifts dating back to July 14 for New York. “The thing is,” catcher Jason Varitek stressed, “we've just got to worry about ourselves.” Don't tell the captain, who seems to be saying “no” to scoreboard watching, but after seeing their lead over the Yankees shrink to a half-game last Sunday, the Red Sox added two games in two days when they completed their three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday followed by their win over the Rangers in Thursday's makeup of a May 14 rainout at Fenway. “We started off slow: You know, three out of four losses to the A's,” second baseman Mark Loretta said, reflecting on the just-concluded eight-game homestand. “To come back and have a winning homestand after that shows a lot of character and it's good momentum going into this West Coast swing.” “You don't set out at the start of an eight-game homestand to go 5-3, but when you start 1-3, that's as good as it's gonna get,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. “Now we go out on the road and get to see if we can play well there.” “We evened things out and then some after the first series with Oakland. Now we turn the page and have a tough road trip coming up,” utilityman Alex Cora added. “Seattle's playing a lot better and Oakland, of course, beat us three out of four. Hopefully, we can win both series, then come back home and do our thing.” While the Red Sox had posted a record just three games above .500 (26-23) on the road entering Friday night, they have taken care of their business on the home front, boasting a record of 32-13 at Fenway. As for Seattle, it's left the Sox sleepless for years. The club hasn't enjoyed a winning record there since 1999. The Mariners, meanwhile, have played .500 ball at home (24-24) and been subpar on the road (21-26), but they're still very much in the mix in the mediocrity that is the A.L. West. The first-place Athletics have been fairly constant, if unspectacular, whether playing at home (24-22) or on the road (26-23). While they just saw the A's, getting outscored, 28-15, over their four-game series by the major leagues' poorest-hitting team, which has a club average of .245. The Red Sox haven't met up with the M's since Patriots Day when Loretta's two-out, two-run, walk-off home run off Eddie Guardado (since dealt to Cincinnati for a minor leaguer) sealed a 7-6 victory that completed a four-game set that saw Boston win three. “This is a different team from what we saw open the season at Fenway,” Cora said of the Mariners. “So hopefully we can win two series and get back to Fenway.” Red Sox pitching will be under the microscope on this trip. The club gave righthander Kyle Snyder the ball for his third start Friday night, with his fourth start penciled in for Wednesday afternoon at Oakland. Claimed off waivers from Kansas City — and when you can't crack the Royals' roster, you've got problems — on June 16, Snyder sandwiched a split of two decisions around a demotion to Triple-A Pawtucket despite getting rocked to the tune of an earned run average of 10.03. Today, it will be 24-year-old Pawtucket call-up Kason Gabbard in his major league debut with veteran knuckleballer Tim Wakefield disabled by a stress fracture in his ribs, scratching him from his scheduled start. Gabbard, who was 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA in four starts for Pawtucket after starting the season in Portland, will face 20-year-old righthander Felix Hernandez (8-8, 4.89) of the Mariners. Youkilis believes the Red Sox could flourish in the days ahead. “This team can bounce back from anything and go on streaks with wins,” he said. “When we're playing well, there aren't too many teams that can beat us.” |
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