WAKE UP CALL

After the pitching we got yesterday, it was hard to watch the display put on tonight in Arlington. Wakefield couldn't get past the 4th inning, allowing 7 runs off 7 hits and 3 walks. He got behind early in counts with the knuckler and was forced to resort to his fastball, which was crushed by Texas hitters, frequently over the wall.

The Red Sox offense was just as disappointing as Wakefield. Manny looked absolutely dreadful at the plate, going 0 for 4 with 3 strikeouts and 6 LOB. He looked bad on a lot of swings, which is very rare for Manny. The Red Sox had a scoring opportunity in the 1st and didn't get anything from it. That was essentially the game.

Only Ortiz and Crisp really impressed. Crisp went 3 for 5, Ortiz went 1 for 3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Other than that, the Red Sox had a few sporadic hits but couldn't come up with anything significant.

The Man of the Game is Phil Nevin who went 2 for 4 with a homer, 5 RBI, and a walk.

Here is the first B*tch-Goat of the season. In case you're new to the blog, the B*tch-Goat, or B-G is my division of responsibility for the loss. Each loss is 1.0 full B-G and it gets divided, then added up during the season and we see who was the most responsible for losses. Anyway, here it is:

Wakefield: 0.7 - 3.2 IP, 7 ER
Ramirez: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 3 Ks, 6 LOB
Bard: 0.1 - 0 for 3, 3 passed balls

In the rubber game, the Red Sox send Josh Beckett to the mound to face off against rookie Kameron Loe. I think the Sox will fair much better.

SO WHAT'S THE STORY WITH ROGER?

Here's the deal. Roger is still up in the air about whether or not he'll pitch this season. If he does pitch, it will probably be for only half of the season. He's being courted by a lot of teams and as soon as pitchers start going on the DL and the playoff races become more apparent, he will be courted even harder by anyone in need of pitching and with a few million bucks lying around. Now, the Red Sox payroll is right on the verge of going over the luxury tax, which means every $1 spent above it will cost $1.40. The Red Sox do have the cash lying around to pay Clemens $10 million or so for half a season of work. Are they willing to spend it? I hope so. Furthermore, the Red Sox have somewhat of an edge in this whole thing. Roger considers Boston like a second home to him, and the Red Sox will be competing for a World Series ring, especially if he is on the team. He also is friends with Al Nipper, and I can definately see him forming a bond with a guy like Curt Schilling.

I think if Roger decides to pitch, he'll pitch with us.