I've got to hand it to the Pittsburgh Pirates. They played a pretty good game. They capitalized on a Damon miscue in the 1st to score 3 runs. They pulled out the double steal and appeared to baffle Varitek and the Sox. Thankfully, the Sox were able to get the lead back with a 3 run shot off the bat of Mark Bellhorn. After this, the Sox were never behind. The Pirates were able to tie the game up at 4-4 and at 5-5, but Damon hit a single up the middle with the bases loaded to win the game. By the way, Damon is 6 for 13 this season with the bases loaded. The Red Sox improve to 21-9 in Fenway Park. That's .700 ball. If the Red Sox keep this pace up, and go .500 on the road, they'll win about 96 games which should be enough to put them in close contention for a playoff spot.
Miller didn't pitch as well as Clement, Wells, and Arroyo did against the Big Dead Machine earlier this weak, but he pitched well enough to keep the Sox in the game. His control wasn't good early but he seemed to settle down. Unfortunately, he was not very efficient and got his pitch count up early and could only go 6. But it was enough.
The pen wasn't lights out, but they did enough to keep the Sox in the game. Foulke was impressive, pitching a perfect top of the 9th with 2 strikeouts.
The Sox offense was truly a team effort. Every starter had a hit. Manny, Millar, and Mueller all seem to be hitting now. This means our middle of the lineup is once again VERY threatening and the bottom of the order will be able to complement them and add more runs to our offensive efforts.
Jason Varitek proved why he has a C on his sweater, I mean jersey. He blocked the plate in the 8th, keeping the game tied. He laid down a bunt in the 9th that moved Youk over to 3rd and allowed him to reach on an error. (I say he was bunting for a basehit with the 3rd baseman so deep and the hesitation to drop down the bunt). Tek does alot at the plate with his bat and with his game-calling, but he also does small things.
The Man of the Game is Billy Mueller who went 2 for 3 with a double, a triple, a walk, a run, and 2 RBI.
The Orioles lost to the Rockies 2-1, and the Yankees came back to beat the Cubs 9-6. The Yankees couldn't break the tie between them and Toronto as the Jays beat the Brewers 9-5. I think I speak for the entire AL East when I say that I wish we could face the NL Central more often.
Wakefield goes against his former team on Saturday night as he opposes Dave Williams. This is how little the Red Sox have seen of Dave Williams. The Sox player with the second most ABs against Williams is Curt Schilling with 4. Renteria is 1 for 5, Bellhorn is 1 for 2 with a homer, Mueller is 0 for 2, and Payton is 0 for 1. Meanwhile, only former Indian and Twin Matt Lawton has seen much of Wakefield. We'll see if Doug Mirabelli's touch with Wakefield continues.
SCHILLING THROWS OFF BULLPEN MOUND
The good news so far with Schilling is that he hasn't experienced any setbacks at any stage of his rehab. The Red Sox and Curt are really taking their time with this rehab which I think is the right thing to do. We need a healthy Schilling in September and possibly October. That is the most important thing with Schilling. Plus, if he has any setbacks, we might never get him back. It is of paramount importance that he progresses slowly.
I FOUGHT THE LAW, AND I WON
Time for a little NFL stuff. Ty Law still doesn't have a home. This isn't too surprising considering that he is 31, wants top dollar, and is recovering from a broken foot. Why would any NFL team take the chance and risk that much cap money? It'll be interesting to see where Law ends up. I think we can still win without Law. We've won alot of games when he has been injured. Gay, Samuel, and Poole are all decent and the defensive schemes we've had made them look even better.
RICHARD WANTS TO SEE MORE MONEY
Richard Seymour has been a holdout from Pats mini-camp. Seymour feels he is being under paid. He still has 2 years left on a 6 year deal. He's been one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL, he's still young, he's a team leader, and he is the key to running the 3-4 defense which the Pats have thrived with. Without him taking up a double team, the defensive line just isn't all that effective. I'm sure Belichick will do what is best for the team, but I think Seymour is one of the individual players we cannot win without, or at least without a replacement.
I realized something about how the Sox have never gone to extra innings this year--it means every time they have had a game go into the bottom of the ninth tied, the home team has won it. I can easily remember four cases at Fenway, and one in Toronto, where there was a walkoff hit; it's kind of cool and speaks well of their clutch hitting this year, but not so much their bullpen.
ReplyDeleteIn the department of crazy baseball stats, I wonder what the record for "longest time from the beginning of a season without an extra inning game" is.