Friday, September 03, 2010

HANGING AROUND


The Red Sox narrowly avoided another disaster in Baltimore, and thankfully got out of the Mid-Atlantic before Earl struck. Although Friday night's game against Chicago might be in jeopardy.

Daisuke was great, then good, then awful. He didn't allow a hit until the 4th. He didn't allow an extra basehit until the 5th. He didn't allow a run until the 6th. But he allowed 4 of those, and very quickly.

Atchison saved the day with a stunning 2 inning, 3 strikeout performance. Okajima got an out, and Papelbon pitched around some singles to record his 35th Save.

But as much as I criticize Daisuke, you don't need to throw 3 hit shutouts to beat the Orioles. The O's will let you score 5 runs with no problem, so 5.1 innings and 4 earned isn't bad. Then again, Daisuke's last Quality Start came on August 5th.

I've already conceded the Wild Card and Divisional races. But I consider the next few weeks as a preview for 2011. And part of that preview is seeing Daisuke pitch. And he's still got weird nights like this one, throwing 94 pitches to get 17 outs, and completely dissolving in a matter of minutes.

The Red Sox host Manny Ramirez and the White Sox. They may also host Hurricane Earl.

Clay Buchholz faces John Danks tonight, at least as I'm writing this, that's the plan.

No comments:

Post a Comment