I'm glad that Terry Francona finally listened to me and benched Ortiz against Kazmir. And I'm sure it was me and only me that made Terry come to this conclusion.
End of sarcasm.
This was a nice, easy, and enjoyable victory. No Eric Gagne, no small army left in scoring position, nice starting position, and early offensive opportunities exploited.
Is Mike Lowell a dark horse for MVP of this team? Without his 85 RBI, where are we? For most of the season, he's led the team in RBI. For a while, he was the team leader in homeruns, as well. I really do hope we extend his contract and keep him on the team. He seems like a quiet guy, he's no Kevin Millar, more of a Billy Mueller kind of guy. He produces, he fields well, and he seems to gel with this team. He'll also make about a third of the money A-Rod will make. Is Mike Lowell on the same level as Rodriguez? No. But is A-Rod three times better than Lowell? No.
I'm really glad Ortiz was benched, and Kielty was hitting 3rd. I know it didn't really seem to work out as Kielty went 0 for 5, but before the game, when the lineups were announced, I think Francona put out the best possible lineup to score runs.
It was also nice to beat Scott Kazmir, and beat him pretty badly. Nothing against him, I'm just sick and tired of watching Manny and Ortiz looking like fools every time Kazmir throws that low slider.
Kevin Cash had his first start with Wakefield, and looked pretty good. I think it's either very smart or very fortunate for the Sox that we have some knuckleballers in AAA to give guys like Cash and George Kotteras some experience catching the knuckleball.
And how about Timmy Wakefield this year? He's a huge reason why we're in 1st place. his 4.35 ERA is unremarkable, but I think he's pitched better than that number suggests. This was his 13th Quality Start of the season. And for the $4 million Wake is earning this year, he might just be one of the best values in baseball. He's now tied with Beckett and Lackey for most wins in the Majors.
Lester goes tomorrow night.
