World Series Game 2 Updates

Lineups are set for Game 2 (baring any Friday morning changes).

Avery goes with pickup Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants who pitches Saturday night at home against the Dodgers (odd choice - Bush, Manship, and Fister were all available.) After playing defense by picking up Tim Hudson, Jake is going with Jon Lester tonight at home against Tampa.

UPDATE 815pm

Alright. Just got back from dinner. Baked cod at Nardo's and a few adult beverages at Ivie's. Let's see what we got...

Still raining in Boston. Jake's pitcher Jon Lester allowed bases loaded with one out in the top of the first when the skies opened.

Jake's Plan B if Lester is rained out is Josh Beckett tomorrow night.

UPDATE 850pm
Bob Dylan (aka Ryan Zimmerman) has hit a solo home run for Jake.

UPDATE 855pm
The game in Boston had been rained out. Jake will get Beckett tomorrow night.

Weather in Boston tomorrow calls for a 60% chance of rain. The Friday game will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.

UPDATE SATURDAY 600am

What a mess.

Yes, I'm up this early. If you have dogs you would be too. Been up for a half hour.

What's a mess is the Game 2 boxscore. Rainouts in Boston And Texas have a lot of players in play today, with Jake holding a slim but insignificant 20-16 lead.

Avery's starting pitcher will be Jonathan Sanchez of the Giants who pitches tonight at home against the Dodgers and Vincente Padilla. 9:05pm game time. He will also be on Jose Valverde watch again who did not pitch on Friday. This time Avery is rooting against Valverde playing as then he would get 7 points from Trevor Hoffman. Avery's DH Kevin Kouzmanoff apparently has a strained left calf and will miss the next 6 games. Bad luck there. Outfielder Johnny Damon sat out last night's game with "a stiff lower back". No news as to whether he is expected to return tonight. Avery also had 3 hitters rained out last night; Jose Lopez of Seattle, and Kevin Youlilis and Jason Bay of the Red Sox.

Jake missed only one hitter: Ben Zobrist of Tampa who was rained out in Boston. His expected starter, Jon Lester allowed based loaded with one out in the first inning of last night's game before the game was rained out. His next starter is Josh Beckett who is pitching tonight. The weather forecast in Boston tonight calls for a chance of showers and patchy drizzle. With a doubleheader already scheduled for Sunday, I'm sure they will ride the weather out well into the night. Jake also has Tim Hudson pitching tonight in St. Louis if Boston is totally washed out, however if the game tonight is rained out, Sunday's game(s) would be used. It would be plausible that either Lester or Beckett would pitch then. In the bullpen Jake has a similar situation to Avery with his #2 RP getting 7 points. Mariano Rivera is his closer and would erase Jason Frasor's 7 if he pitches.

I've got plans for tonight so I probably won't have any live updates. But never say never.

UPDATE 410pm
Johnny Damon did not play in this afternoon's game. Neither did Mariano Rivera. These are both good news for Jake as he will now get Jason Frasor's 7. It's 27-16 Jake right now.

UPDATE 640pm
The start of the game in Boston is delayed by rain. Hard to tell by looking at the radar if they'll get it in. There's a glop of crap doing circles around Cape Cod. Probably no more updates until late tonight or tomorrow morning.

UPDATE SUNDAY 700am
I've taken the asterisk off of Game 5. If is now necessary. With the help of Mother Nature, Jake has won Game 2 of the FNFT World Series 45-44 and knotted the series at one game apiece.

Despite picking a dud for his starting pitcher, Avery was still in a position to win, riding a home run, a single and a walk by Kevin Youkilis. But five innings of baseball was all the skies would allow in Boston. Josh Beckett picked up a 2-point bonus for a 5-inning complete game. Youkilis and Jason Bay were denied any more at-bats, and Jake sneaks away with a 1-point win.

Earlier I had jokingly (because of their names) suggested that Avery could have pickup up either Bush, Manship, or Fister. Ironically, any one of the three would have given Avery a Game 2 win. Dave Bush threw a 31 point gem for the Brewers, Manship's -1 was 1-point better than Sanchez' -2 (Avery would have won the tie), and Fister didn't play which would have given The Moops a second reliever.

So we play on. Game 3 is Tuesday night.