Mariners Series- Sox take 3 of 4
I am incredibly impressed with how the Red Sox are battling through some key injuries (Crisp, Wells, Nixon), and still winning close games. All three of our victories over Seattle were by one run. In all three, Papelbon picked up more saves. He is now seven-for-seven in save opportunities. In the process, he tied Jeff Gray's team record set in 1990 for saves by a rookie in one month, and let's also not forget that he is boasting a 0.00 ERA-- that's right, not a single run allowed yet. I knew Papelbon would be a special pitcher, but I had no idea how dominant he would be in his first full season in the majors.
The one loss to the Mariners was on Saturday, and Wakefield actually pitched brilliantly. Our bats were just shut down by Joél Pineiro. There is also no excuse whatsoever for loading the bases and not scoring a run. The lineup on Saturday was pretty ugly, and I'm not sure I agree with Terry Francona's decision to give Mike Lowell and Mark Loretta the afternoon off, especially factoring in that Bard had to be in the lineup, as he is Wakefield's personal catcher. Wakefield should NOT have had to take a loss in this game. He pitched beautifully. You have to believe that Wakefield, with his crazy knuckler, is going to give up at least four runs in a game, so therefore the offense must score five. Didn't happen on Saturday... but we sure had a great chance to sweep this series.
The pitching performances from Schilling on Friday and Beckett on Sunday were remarkable. Schilling's fastball is up to mid-90s, and he really looks comfortable out there on the mound, for what it's worth. He only allowed three hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking NONE. This is also his first time since 2002 that he has started out 3-0. He lowered his ERA to 1.64, and his WHIP is a ridiculous 0.64, which is good for first in the majors.
From one 3-0 starter to the next, Josh Beckett just looked unhittable on Sunday. He was getting his fastball up close to 100 mph on NESN's radar gun. When he did allow runners to reach base, like in the sixth inning when Raul Ibanez was on third thanks to WMP's error, Beckett struck out two straight Mariners to get out of the jam. Beckett's 1.29 ERA thus far just shows that he is adapting well to the American League, and hopefully picking up a few pointers here and there from Schilling. You always see them sitting together in the dugout...
I suppose I should mention Mark Loretta's walk-off home run on Patriots' Day. The Sox were down one going into the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Youkilus hit a dribbler to José Lopez on second and hustled to beat out the throw. Loretta followed with the game-winner into the Monster Seats, just minutes after all of the Marathoners had passed through Kenmore Square. Loretta said after the game that it was his first walk-off home run ever, including Little League and Legion Ball and all that good stuff. The feeling must have been euphoric. Have I mentioned that I'm really, really taking a liking to Mark Loretta? The improvement over Mark Bellhorn is just outstanding.
I also would like to mention that Wily Mo Peña may be the most worthless POS player this team has had in a looong time. We're talking Tony Clark-worthless here. He makes Manny Ramirez look like freaking Ichiro out there. He's a total basketcase. He can't field balls in the deep right field triangle, and he lets fly balls go right over his head. His error total doesn't show it, because he can't even get the glove on the ball. There needs to be a new stat in baseball called "Stupid Wily Mo Peña-esque errors," and I think Peña would lead the league in his own category. He's terrible... just attrocious. Trot Nixon cannot get back soon enough. And another thing, it's not even like the guy is making up for it at the plate. I cannot believe the Red Sox pinch hit for Alex Cora in the bottom of the ninth of Monday's game. Predictably, he struck out. At least Alex Gonzalez is a terrible hitter, but makes up for it by fielding nicely. Wily Mo does nothing. I haven't even seen the so-called "power" that scouts said he has. He's hit one home run and is batting .261, which I'm sure will drop as the season progresses and he gets more at-bats.
Well, that's my short recap of the Mariners series. Tonight the Red Sox (9-4, 1st place AL East) begin a three-game series with Tampa Bay (7-6, 3rd place in the division) at Fenway. Clement will look to rebound from a bad start at Toronto, when he gave up seven runs in four innings. He faces lefty and former Red Sox Casey Fossum, whose cousin lives down the street from me (just added that for good measure). Last season, C-ment went 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA against the Devil Rays. This may be his first time facing them since he took a Carl Crawford line drive off his face. But I'm too lazy to look it up. Manny has great lifetime numbers against the Devil Rays, so look for him to bust out of his slump with authority.
The one loss to the Mariners was on Saturday, and Wakefield actually pitched brilliantly. Our bats were just shut down by Joél Pineiro. There is also no excuse whatsoever for loading the bases and not scoring a run. The lineup on Saturday was pretty ugly, and I'm not sure I agree with Terry Francona's decision to give Mike Lowell and Mark Loretta the afternoon off, especially factoring in that Bard had to be in the lineup, as he is Wakefield's personal catcher. Wakefield should NOT have had to take a loss in this game. He pitched beautifully. You have to believe that Wakefield, with his crazy knuckler, is going to give up at least four runs in a game, so therefore the offense must score five. Didn't happen on Saturday... but we sure had a great chance to sweep this series.
The pitching performances from Schilling on Friday and Beckett on Sunday were remarkable. Schilling's fastball is up to mid-90s, and he really looks comfortable out there on the mound, for what it's worth. He only allowed three hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking NONE. This is also his first time since 2002 that he has started out 3-0. He lowered his ERA to 1.64, and his WHIP is a ridiculous 0.64, which is good for first in the majors.
From one 3-0 starter to the next, Josh Beckett just looked unhittable on Sunday. He was getting his fastball up close to 100 mph on NESN's radar gun. When he did allow runners to reach base, like in the sixth inning when Raul Ibanez was on third thanks to WMP's error, Beckett struck out two straight Mariners to get out of the jam. Beckett's 1.29 ERA thus far just shows that he is adapting well to the American League, and hopefully picking up a few pointers here and there from Schilling. You always see them sitting together in the dugout...
I suppose I should mention Mark Loretta's walk-off home run on Patriots' Day. The Sox were down one going into the bottom of the ninth. Kevin Youkilus hit a dribbler to José Lopez on second and hustled to beat out the throw. Loretta followed with the game-winner into the Monster Seats, just minutes after all of the Marathoners had passed through Kenmore Square. Loretta said after the game that it was his first walk-off home run ever, including Little League and Legion Ball and all that good stuff. The feeling must have been euphoric. Have I mentioned that I'm really, really taking a liking to Mark Loretta? The improvement over Mark Bellhorn is just outstanding.
I also would like to mention that Wily Mo Peña may be the most worthless POS player this team has had in a looong time. We're talking Tony Clark-worthless here. He makes Manny Ramirez look like freaking Ichiro out there. He's a total basketcase. He can't field balls in the deep right field triangle, and he lets fly balls go right over his head. His error total doesn't show it, because he can't even get the glove on the ball. There needs to be a new stat in baseball called "Stupid Wily Mo Peña-esque errors," and I think Peña would lead the league in his own category. He's terrible... just attrocious. Trot Nixon cannot get back soon enough. And another thing, it's not even like the guy is making up for it at the plate. I cannot believe the Red Sox pinch hit for Alex Cora in the bottom of the ninth of Monday's game. Predictably, he struck out. At least Alex Gonzalez is a terrible hitter, but makes up for it by fielding nicely. Wily Mo does nothing. I haven't even seen the so-called "power" that scouts said he has. He's hit one home run and is batting .261, which I'm sure will drop as the season progresses and he gets more at-bats.
Well, that's my short recap of the Mariners series. Tonight the Red Sox (9-4, 1st place AL East) begin a three-game series with Tampa Bay (7-6, 3rd place in the division) at Fenway. Clement will look to rebound from a bad start at Toronto, when he gave up seven runs in four innings. He faces lefty and former Red Sox Casey Fossum, whose cousin lives down the street from me (just added that for good measure). Last season, C-ment went 2-0 with a 3.14 ERA against the Devil Rays. This may be his first time facing them since he took a Carl Crawford line drive off his face. But I'm too lazy to look it up. Manny has great lifetime numbers against the Devil Rays, so look for him to bust out of his slump with authority.
posted by Jennifer at 11:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home