Bad baseball overshadowing good baseball. Never any excuse to lose to Tampa Bay. Untimely errors and an inability by Wakefield to pitch around those errors. I still thought we were going to win though. The big double play turned by Vazquez, Bellhorn and Millar with the bases loaded in the 8th and then the way the Red Sox built on each other's efforts to score their 3rd and 4th runs of the game made me think that we had the game. All we had to do was have a scoreless ninth and then Manny, DO and Millar would be up in the 10th. It was not to be though as Allan Embree threw one pitch that was rapidly sent into the left field stands to end the game.
The Man of the Game is Scott Kazmir who went 7 innings holding the Red Sox to one run off 4 hits and 3 walks. He was able to work out of some jams and give his team a great chance to win the game. Even though Julio Lugo's offense was a big reason for Tampa's win, without Kazmir's pitching, it may have been irrelevant.
The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Alan Embree: 0.6 - IP, H, R, ER, 0 BB, 0 K, HR
Tim Wakefield: 0.3 - 6 IP, 4 R, 2 ER, didn't pitch around errors too well
Jay Payton: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 4 LOB
It was nice to see Bellhorn batting before a hitter like Ramon Vazquez but I think it would have been better if Bellhorn was batting ahead of Payton as well. Once again, I think it may have been a mistake to drop Youkilis down to AAA just to save Blaine Neal.
The Sox bullpen has been unreliable thus far. Hopefully the pitchers are just waiting to get into mid-season form. I don't feel safe with any of them coming into a game though. I think this potential bullpen problem is due to the way the Sox pen has been assembled. Career releivers surrounded by burned out starters and 30 year old minor leaguers. Truly amazing bullpens, like the one Anaheim had a few years ago, are bolstered by YOUNG minor leaguers with strong arms. We don't have anyone like that.
RENTERIA VS. CABRERA
You may have noticed the Renteria vs. Cabrera portion of the blog on the right sidebar thingy. It has been there since Spring Training. Renteria has struggled at the plate. He's batting .203, with an OBP of .225. He is slugging a mere .362. His OPS is an unimpressive .588. Cabrera hasn't been tearing the cover off the ball but he is putting up decent numbers. He's also hit a pair of game winning homeruns.
Now, I don't think Cabrera is better. I think Renteria is a slightly better defensive player but offensively, I think they are a wash. Cabrera fit into the Sox lineup perfectly when he came here and once we picked him up, we went on a tear. I just don't see why the Sox management decided to drop Cabrera and pickup Renteria. Why risk making a major change to the lineup and clubhouse chemistry when the only reward is maybe a few more plays made at SS?
SMALL MARKET VS. BIG MARKET PART II
Every time a fan of a big market team and a fan of a small market team enter into an intelligent conversation, it seems to devolve into the small market fan whining and moaning about not having enough money to "buy the World Series." Up in Toronto, some moronic Blue Jays fan sitting in front of me who celebrated his team's early April victory to the point of near heart attack, remarked to me in the 7th inning that teams like the Red Sox and Yankees were ruining baseball with their seemingly wreckless spending. However, I think that teams like Boston, New York, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Atlanta stimulate much of the baseball economy. A perfect example of this was the scene at Tropicana Field last night. 30,530 fans went to the game. That's about 4,000 more people than Tampa's Opening Day. That's more than twice as many fans as any other day besides Opening Day. On Thursday, the Rangers drew a mere 8,799. Small market teams make tons of money off big market teams when they come to town. They also get 10% of the gate when they go to Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park. The fact of the matter is, teams like Tampa Bay and Toronto and Kansas City make alot of money off the big market teams they often lament.
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