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One of the features I’m going to try to implement each day — more than likely the next morning due to West Coast games — is a segment that I’m going to call “Winners and Losers.” What this will be is a blog entry that tries to highlight the days best and worst performances, along with some other various notes thrown in every now and then.

With only one game today, it makes finding the day’s best and worst performances fairly easy.

Today’s Winners:

• Manny Ramirez - Ramirez doubled twice in five at bats today in the season’s first game. His first double tied the game at 2 and his second put the Red Sox ahead 6-4 in the tenth inning. Already batting .400 with 4 RBI with 161 games left to play, I think it’s safe to say Manny’s off to a good start in 2008.
• Brandon Moss - J.D. Who? ESPN hadn’t been on the air for 10 minutes before they announced that J.D. Drew was going to miss the game with a back injury (more on that later). Moss stepped into Drew’s spot in the lineup and went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs and his first major league homerun. His RBI single in the sixth inning gave the Red Sox their first lead of the game and his homer tied the game in the ninth inning.
• Jack Hannahan - Hannahan is reaping the benefit of Eric Chavez’ latest injury and did his best to tell the A’s they can place Chavez on the DL and not worry about missing a beat. Hannahan went 2-for-4 with a walk in the contest. His first hit put the A’s on top in the bottom of the sixth as he belted a two-run homer. His second hit came in the tenth inning off Jonathan Papelbon.
• Keith Foulke - Foulke pitched in his first major league game since pitching for the Red Sox in 2006 today for the A’s. He finished with a perfect inning and a strikeout of Manny Ramirez.

Today’s Losers:

• Huston Street - What a horrible outing for Street today. He not only blew a save, but he was also dealt a loss in the contest. Street gave up the homerun to Moss in the ninth inning to tie the game at 5, then returned in the tenth inning and allowed a two run double to Manny, which eventually proved to be the game winner.
• J.D. Drew - Drew was having a good time of it in Japan and it all came crashing down just like that. Drew was in the initial lineup before being scratched because of a bad back. Moss stepped in and homered, possibly giving the Red Sox brass more confidence in Moss and sitting Drew more often throughout the year.
• Jason Varitek - Varitek’s opener couldn’t have been any worse for the veteran catcher. He was 0-for-4 at the plate with three strikeouts. On the defensive side of things, the Oakland catcher even swiped a base against him.
• Emil Brown - Though the box score will show Brown went 1-for-4 with an RBI, it was that RBI double that got Brown on the list. Brown doubled home Daric Barton in the tenth inning to cut the deficit to one run, but tried to advance to third on the throw home from the outfield. The throw was cutoff and the Red Sox erased Brown from the bases. With two hits from Bobby Crosby and Hannahan to follow, the A’s would have surely tied the game and, at worst, headed to the eleventh inning if not for the baserunning mistake by Brown.

Filed under: Boston Red Sox, Brandon Moss, Emil Brown, Huston Street, J.D. Drew, Jack Hannahan, Jason Varitek, Keith Foulke, Manny Ramirez, Oakland Athletics, Winners and Losers