Crazy game. At one point, the Sox were down 1-0. Then up 2-1. Then up 4-1, but with two runners on and 1 out, then up 10-1.
Good pitching from Wakefield, and a good (and rare) Hold from Papelbon. Of course, had the Sox not scored 6 runs in the 8th, one can assume Papelbon would have stayed in the game to pitch the 9th and gotten another 5 out Save. Once again, this was due to some trouble with the set-up pitching.
I really am not sure why Wakefield started the 8th inning. I know his pitch count was still very low, but pitch counts aren't everything. In the 7th, he allowed a single, and a double. I guess it wasn't too bad since the 9th hitter was due to lead off. But I think when you have a 7 inning start by Wakefield, you take it. Then again, with our crappy middle relief and set-up situation, I guess Francona was forced into trying to extend Wakefield as much as he could.
Having good middle-relief makes a manager's job so much easier. And it makes a closer's job easier, as well. But we don't have that.
Thankfully the offense exploded in the 8th so Papelbon could sit in the 9th, and Timlin could get another stress free inning of work.
The 8th was just a good old-fashioned crooked number rally, compliments of Darren Oliver.
Mirabelli leads off with a fly out. 1 out
Pedroia works a walk. Man on 1st, 1 out
Lugo lines a single to center, 1st and 2nd, 1 out
Youkilis singles to left, bases loaded, 1 out (classic Red Sox station-to-station baseball)
Ortiz with a nice 8 pitch at-bat and a ground rule double, 2 runs score, men on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out
Manny walks on 4 pitches, bases loaded, 1 out (Pena pinch runs for him)
Drew singles to left, 2 runs score, 1st and 2nd, 1 out (Hinske pinch runs for Drew, I wonder how many times in his life Hinske has been used as a pinch runner)
Lowell doubles to left, 2 runs score, man on 2nd, 1 out
Crisp and Mirabelli strike out, inning over
5 HITS, 6 RUNS, NO ERRORS, 1 LEFT ON BASE
Nice inning.
And Mirabelli actually contributed offensively. He was 2 for 5 with a solo homer, and an RBI single. I think he'll have 7 or 8 hits this year, and 5 of them will be homeruns.
Coco Crisp did not contribute offensively. Hitter usually find their jobs in jeopardy if they're having trouble staying above the Mendoza Line (.200 batting average), but Crisp is below the Wakefield Line (Wake has a career average of .125, Crisp is batting .121)
Here are Crisp's at-bats:
Bottom 2nd, runner on 1st, 1 out, Crisp strikes out on 4 pitches
Bottom 4th, runner on 1st, 2 outs, Crisp pops out to short on 1 pitch
Bottom 6th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, Crisp grounds out 4-3, advances runner to 3rd, 2 pitch at-bat, this was his most productive at-bat.
Bottom 7th, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs, Crisp grounds out 6-3, 6 pitches
Bottom 8th, runner on 2nd, 1 out, Crisp strikes out on 4 pitches
Total: 0 for 5, 2 strikeouts, 6 left-on-base, and for some reason, he was hitting 7th instead of Pedroia, who is actually hitting with some decency.
When the hell is Francona going to wake up and put Pena in for a few games? I know Pena is a horrible defensive center-fielder, and he strikes out a lot, but he can actually hit the ball, and hit it hard. And he can hit for a good average if given sufficient playing time.
Man of the Game is Tim Wakefield who went 7+ innings, allowed 5 hits, 2 walks, and only 1 earned run.
Honorable Mentions:
Jonathan Papelbon: perfect 0.2 IP, including striking out Guerrero with 2 on and 1 out, Vladimir is not very easy to strike out.
David Ortiz: 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and a big ground rule double in the 8th which sealed the game
Julio Lugo: 3 for 5, with a double and two runs scored
Schilling vs. Carrasco this afternoon, the game will be on Fox nationally.
This is odd, every game in this 4 game series has a different start time. 7:05 PM last night, 3:55 PM today, 1:05 PM tomorrow, 10:05 AM on Monday.
Just imagine being an Angels fan in LA, and the Monday game starts at 7:05 AM Pacific. Weird.
No comments:
Post a Comment