According to www.ballparkdigest.com and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the Sox have held initial discussions with a Sarasota city official about the possibility of relocating their spring training home. City manager Robert Bartolotta said the Sox have interest in replacing the Cincinnati Reds, who are departing for Arizona after 11 years at Ed Smith Stadium.

The Sox are unhappy about the divided situation in Fort Myers - the minor league camp is approximately two miles away from City of Palms Park - as well as the condition of the neighborhood surrounding the downtown ballpark. Their current lease doesn't expire until 2019 but they can buy out the remainder beginning in 2011 if they are unable to find another team to assume it.

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Justin Masterson had a rough return to the minors, lasting only 3 innings in Double-A Portland's 5-3 loss to Bowie last night.

Masterson, who pitched six outstanding innings (one run, two hits) in his big league debut against the Angels on April 24, gave up four runs last night on five hits, while striking out five. .

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Terry Nau - On the road to "The Show"

Why do some players succeed in their first attempt? Talent is surely the answer to that question.

Why do a few more players make it on their second or third try? This has something to do with getting acclimated to the big leagues, to becoming comfortable with your new teammates and showing them you can help the team win - which is all anyone cares about at the big league level.

And why do some players get to Triple-A and hit a road block when they get called up to the big leagues? To succeed at such a high level and then fail at the top level must be extremely frustrating to professional ball players who have experienced success at every level of their baseball careers, from Little League on up.

PawSox pick on Liriano

Hard times continued for Liriano after a 1-2-3 first inning. He walked two batters to start the second inning and then gave up a sacrifice fly to Chadd Spann.

In the third inning, Pawtucket scored twice as Gil Velazquez led off with a single and came home on Jeff Bailey's two-run homer to left.

Liriano put together another 1-2-3 inning in the third before running into trouble again in the fifth. Joe Thurston got things going with a double. After George Kottaras struck out, Sandy Madera walked. Keith Ginter, who went 3-for-3 on the day, followed with a double to left.

BOSTON - In all likelihood, the Red Sox will decide between remaining in Lee County and moving their spring training headquarters to Sarasota sometime over the next 30 days.

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Sarasota offers the additional benefit of being within an hour's drive of seven other Grapefruit League teams. In Fort Myers, which the Sox share with the Minnesota Twins, the next closest spring training site is Sarasota itself, although the Tampa Bay Rays plan to move into the vacant complex in nearby Port Charlotte next spring.

If the Sox decide to remain in southwest Florida, it's likely that the team would build a new complex in the Estero-Bonita Springs area, some 10-12 miles south of Fort Myers. The current complex, City of Palms Park, is just outside downtown Fort Myers and offers little room for expansion.

Ed Gosner - PawSox 9, Chiefs 3: Thurston and Bailey lead offensive attack

Joe Thurston was 4-for-5 and scored three times while Jeff Bailey went 3-for-5 with a monster home run off Mike MacDonald in the ninth to cap off the night. Bailey doubled and scored in the sixth.

Sandy Madera blasted a two-run homer to left-center field in the fourth inning off Syracuse journeyman starter Kane Davis that gave the PawSox a 2-1 lead. It was the second homer for Madera since being promoted to Triple-A to replace Brandon Moss. The designated hitter is 6-for-17 with six RBI.

A quality job delivered by the PawSox relievers under a steady rain from the third inning on in Syracuse. Starter Devern Hansack was electric in his second start since coming off the disabled list but was limited to 4 2/3 innings. Abe Alvarez, Eric Hull, Jon Switzer and Bryan Corey went the final 4 1/3 innings, allowing one run on six hits. Alvarez (2-1) earned the win.

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Kottaras entered the game with only one hit in his last 16 at-bats and was hitless in his first two plate appearances last night. Kottaras followed his excuse-me single with a solid shot to right in the eighth and a double to right in the ninth. Kottaras must like Chiefs' pitching; he's hitting .462 (6 for 13) against Syracuse.

Paul Kenyon - Red Sox rookie Moss wins praise from Francona

"He's an interesting player," manager Terry Francona said when asked about the 24-year-old, who was Pawtucket's MVP last season. "He's a good outfielder, actually he can play center although I don't think that's his everyday position. You can put him there. He can play the corners, he's fine. Can he play first base. [The position the Sox want him to play in Pawtucket this season]. All of a sudden, you've got a young left-hand hitter who can play three or four positions and hit a fastball. That's pretty valuable."

Francona said he was speaking to Mike Lowell about Lowell's rehab assignment in Pawtucket and Lowell brought up Moss.

"He said the ball comes off his bat like a major leaguer," Francona related.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Dan Goldberg - 'Hawks get relief from Internet

T.J. Large, who fared well at The Hangar in 2007, has had a productive start to this season as well. In nine appearances, Large is 1-0 with a 2.93 ERA. He has a fastball that tops out in the low 90s, but his best pitch is a knuckle-curve, which breaks down on left-handed hitters and away from right handed hitters.

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Large said he has used his third pitch, a change-up, more than he ever has before.

"I'm just changing things up a little bit," Large said. "I was here last year so the staffs know who I am. I have to try and bring something else to the table."

Friday, May 2, 2008

Dan Goldberg - Jimenez continues to work through defensive woes

LANCASTER ­- Jorge Jimenez, despite his recent struggles (5-for-33 over his last seven games), entered Thursday's doubleheader hitting .333 and leading the JetHawks with 17 RBI and a .398 on-base percentage. Jimenez has been particularly effective against left-handed pitching, hitting .500, but for the past few games he has been concentrating on his fielding. Jimenez has made five errors this season, and has taken extra grounders to try and improve his footwork.

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While the JetHawks starters struggled in the first month of the season to a 6-10 record with a 5.40 ERA, the bullpen has been one of the best in the league, posting a 5-5 record and a 3.77 ERA. The group has allowed just two of 20 inherited runners to score, and is holding opponents to a .227 batting average as compared to .307 for the starters. The discrepancy is even more severe at The Hangar where starters have a 7.10 ERA and the bullpen has a 3.98 ERA.

"It just goes to show you can pitch in conditions like this," Epperson said. "You just have to show that you are willing to pitch to contact. That's what our bullpen does for the most part."

Dan Goldberg - Quakes sweep doubleheader with 'Hawks

The JetHawks put a runner on in each of the first four innings, but hit into four double plays one of several low lights that dotted their performance.

The game remained close, though, thanks to Travis Beazley, who pitched five innings, allowing two runs - one earned - and four hits.

He displayed masterful control, throwing 47 of his 69 pitches for strikes, walking none while striking out four.

Despite the strong start, Beazley continues to struggle in the first inning of ball games. Anthony Norman led off the game with a triple and scored on a Abel Nieves ground out.

Beazley has allowed eight runs in six first inning tries (12.00 ERA), while allowing just seven runs in his other 22 innings of work (2.86 ERA).

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The second game started the same as the first. This time it was Bourjos who led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The JetHawks have now allowed a first-inning run in nine of 14 home games, and have a 1-8 record, after their 4-0 loss to Rancho Cucamonga, in the second game of a doubleheader.

Alex Speier's Sox Beat: Outfield gathers Moss

Yet the questions could have just as easily fallen on different players and a different position. Last night, J.D. Drew was out of the starting lineup for the second straight night due to a tight left quadriceps muscle. The Sox seemed anything but heartbroken to put Brandon Moss into right field in Drew's absence.

"The ball comes off his bat like a major-league hitter, even when you watch him in (batting practice)," said Sox manager Terry Francona. "We think he's a good outfielder. You can actually put him in center -- I don't know that it's his natural position, but you can put him there. He can play the corners fine. Can he play first base? It's intriguing.

"If you get a young left-handed hitter who can play three or four positions, is left-handed and can hit a fastball, that's pretty valuable. Pretty valuable."

Glenn Miller - Red Sox look into moving from Fort Myers to Sarasota for spring training

"The headline here I would absolutely characterize as nothing but exploratory at this point," said Mike Dee, the Red Sox chief operating officer. "That would be the operative word. They came knocking on our door. We are in a position to hear them out. We decided to do that and see where the road takes it.

Lee County Deputy Administrator Bill Hammond doesn't believe Southwest Florida fans should be worried the Red Sox, who have won two World Series in the past four years, will leave soon.

"Anything is possible, but right now I wouldn't give it a second thought," Hammond said. "We'll have plenty of time for that at the right time."

Red Sox officials have insisted they like Lee County, City of Palms Park and the training complex a little more than two miles east of the stadium.

"We're very pleased," said Dee, who visited Sarasota with Todd Stephenson, the Red Sox director of Florida operations. "We couldn't have a better relationship with the folks of Lee County."

But the facilities, as they're laid out now, are less than ideal, Dee said.

"In themselves, they're good facilities and maintained as well as anybody maintains a facility in Major League Baseball," he said.

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Henderson is taking the possibility the Red Sox may move seriously. He said the city and county should consider a way to build a training facility near the stadium.

"I would tell you it's doable," Henderson said. "It would not be an easy thing to do. If this is something that comes out of this I believe we have to look into that."

Henderson believes city and county officials should be prepared.

"It would be devastating to lose them," Henderson said. "We have a wonderful asset but there's going to be other attractive ballclubs."

The Sox pushed a run across in the eighth. Brandon Moss (2 for 4) led off with a single to right and scored on Jason Varitek's deep double to left-center, but the Rays slipped out a jam. With one out, Jacoby Ellsbury was intentional walked and Pedroia singled to right, loading the bases for David Ortiz.

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That would be a five-run fourth, surpassing the number of runs scored in their previous five games. Over that span, the Sox had a .153 batting average with just four extra-base hits.

Starting with Moss's two-out home run to straightaway center, the Sox added four more on singles (Varitek, Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Ortiz) and a Lugo walk. It ended when Ramírez struck out swinging again.

Though Francona made sure to say he wasn't criticizing Jacoby Ellsbury for how he has dealt with his sore right groin, he did say he talked with his outfielder recently.

"Well, he's a young player, he needs to get out there," Francona said. "It happens to veteran players, too. Sometimes a guy like an Ellsbury, Coco [Crisp] kind of did it yesterday, we can still win when you're not 100 percent. Sometimes you go out and you take an 0-fer for the team and we can still win. I'm not pointing a finger at Ellsbury because I think he's a pretty tough kid. I guess my point is you're not always going to be 100 percent. I don't know that we can wait for guys always to be 100 percent or we won't ever be able to field a team."

Despite a few rough spots, Buchholz, who had to endure a 2-hour-27-minute rain delay at the start, guided the Red Sox to a 7-3 victory.

Buchholz lasted 5 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and one run while walking four and striking out six. He threw 95 pitches, 60 for strikes, before being relieved by Javier Lopez. It was the first victory for Boston in four tries over the Rays this season. Buchholz is the first Sox starter to post a victory since he beat Texas April 21, a span of nine games.

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When Buchholz struck out the three straight Rays, he made sure not to get ahead of himself.

"When it comes down to having nobody out and having runners on like that, you've got to go one pitch at a time," he said. "When you think two pitches in advance, that's when you're going to get hurt. I tried to stay inside myself and trust in all my pitches that I was throwing at the time and I found a way to wiggle out of it. That was probably the biggest momentum shift in my head, just going out and getting three strikeouts right after it could have been a big inning for them."

Moss crushed a solo homer to center, a towering drive off the roof of the camera perch just to the right of the 379-foot marker.

The blast off Tampa Bay starter Edwin Jackson, with two outs and none on in the fourth, gave the Sox a 2-0 lead over the Rays.

And just like that, the Red Sox' week-long slump vanished.

By the time Jackson notched the final out the inning, the Red Sox were on top, 6-0, as Boston rained hits all around Fenway Park.

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Boston starter Clay Buchholz had difficultly locating his fastball, especially early. Of the first 24 fastballs he threw, only nine were strikes, including two that were smacked for singles.

So when his lack of command got him into trouble in the third inning, pitching coach John Farrell strolled to the mound. It was clear that Farrell discussed a change in pitching philosophy against the Rays because after the visit, Buchholz and catcher Jason Varitek stayed away from the fastball.

The result? Three straight strikeouts, defusing a first-and-second, none-out jam.

Moss' home run, a tremendous blast to the flagpole in center, came off loser Edwin Jackson with two out in the fourth and gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. It might have been just a 2-1 lead if Moss hadn't made a big play in the top of the second. He threw out Evan Longoria at the plate to end the inning as Longoria tried to score from second on Justin Bartlett's single.

"He made a great throw," Francona said, "and he absolutely crushed that ball. There were some balls hit to center field that didn't go anywhere. He was all over that ball."

Dan Goldberg - JetHawks snap out of slump in Rancho

Relentless pressure on the opposing pitcher, strong starting pitching, flawless baserunning and reliable relief led the