It was a very busy weekend for our local sports teams. Although there are multiple winter sports going on, we are a baseball town. Theo Epstein and Co. came through in a big way for our local nine, sending a package of minor leaguers to the San Diego Padres for perennial all-star and 2 time NL gold glove winner Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez has averaged 31 homers and 100 RBIs in his 5 seasons with the Padres. The Sox gave up 3 of our top 6 prospects, including a potential ace pitcher Casey Kelly. Overall, it was a very fair trade that helps our team incredibly. Gonzalez fills that power bat we’ve been missing the last few years. His swing is perfect for Fenway and this may become one of the best lineups we’ve had since Manny and Papi were in their prime. Although a contract extension has not been reached, it is expected the two sides will finalize one just after opening day, in order to help out the luxury tax.
The Sox are still in need of an outfielder and bullpen help. Both of these questions should be answered at the Winter Meetings, which are going on this week in Florida. All in all, solid weekend for the Boston Red Sox.
Amass the craziness on Yawkey Way, the Bruins were in action Saturday night north of the border as they took on Phil Kessel and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Once again, Tim Thomas had an incredible game, tallying 38 saves on 40 shots. Nathan Horton put the B’s on the board first with his 9 goal of the season 5 minutes in to the first period. The Leafs came back off of Carl Gunnarson’s give and go to tie up the contest at one apiece. That was all of the scoring until the 3 period, when Gregory Cambell put the Bruins ahead on a nice goal that beat JS Giugere top shelf. With under 2 minutes left in the game, Patrice Bergeron was called for a “soft” penalty, one of those that should be overlooked in the last two minutes. Nevertheless, the B’s were down a man, when Toronto pulled their goalie to give them a 2 man advantage. Toronto ended up scoring off of Kris Versteeg’s shot, to even up the game with seconds remaining.
There was no scoring in OT, which led to a shootout. After made shots by each team, Phil Kessel came to center ice with the game in his hands. He beat Thomas, securing Toronto’s two points for the win. The B’s do get 1 point out of this shootout loss. The B’s are 5 points back of the Canadians for 1 in the Atlantic Division. Their next game is Thursday against the Sabres at the Garden.
Other local sports:
· The Celtics beat the NJ Nets by 25 points to better their record to 16 – 4. Nate Robinson had 21 points in Rondo’s absence.
· Tiger Woods lost in a Playoff to Graeme McDowell at the Chevron Championships. Tiger officially went winless during the 2010 campaign.
· The Pats are in action tonight against division rival New York Jets. This game will have implications on AFC East champion, playoff seeding, and Super Bowl.
· UCONN and BC both received Bowl Bids, with UCONN gaining a trip to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.
· Everett High Beat St. John’s to secure the D1 High School Super Bowl.
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