Clay Buchholz returned from the DL, but was visibly rusty. For the most part, he was fine, but a few pitches were left in juicy spots of the strike zone, and he paid for it. This was the first time Buchholz allowed multiple homeruns since September of '09.
But for me, the story of this game was the injuries deadening the lineup, along with the lack of bullpen depth the Sox have featured all season.
Apart from Adrian Beltre and his 3 RBI afternoon, the Sox offense was hardly noticeable.
The Sox continue to struggle against bad and mediocre teams. And this has me concerned as they go up to Seattle for 4 games. Think about this, the Sox are responsible for 1/5 of Baltimore's total wins this season.
But I'm sure Buchholz will be sharper in his next start. He was fresh off the DL, so the occasional knee-high fastball over the middle of the plate is excusable.
Lackey faces the 1-9 Ryan Rowland-Smith, who's Australian and has a 6.18 ERA, mate.
The NHL rejected the Devils/Kovalchuk contract, determining that it was an effort to navigate around the salary cap. A player's cap number is determined by their average salary over the life of the contract. So Kovalchuk's 17 year, $102 million deal would result in a $6 million hit for the Devils. Not bad for a guy with 338 goals and 642 points in 621 games.
The problem is, $98.5 million of that deal was frontloaded into the first 11 years ($8.9 million per season). The remaining 6 years paid $550,000 a season, and served only to lower the overall cap hit. The idea was that Kovalchuk probably wouldn't be playing for $550k at that point. He'd either sign a new deal with the Devils, or with someone else, maybe even in the KHL. But the Devils would get a decade of production from Kovalchuk, and take a $6 million hit instead of a $9 million.
I'm glad the NHL stepped up and negated this deal. I think the NHL cap is too inflexible, with no wiggle room or exemptions for homegrown talent to stay with their original team. But this is the right thing for the NHL to do.
Well you're not going to get much better than 6 innings and 3 runs out of Wakefield. But the Sox squandered that solid outing, as Ramon Ramirez took his 3rd loss of the season. Even though it was Bowden who yielded the walk-off single, it was Ramirez who put the guy on with 2 outs, then balked him into scoring position.
Ramirez has been subpar this season, with a 4.85 ERA to go along with his 0-3 record and 1.36 WHIP. He's getting $1.15 million to do that. Which for the Sox isn't a lot, but still: damn.
But it wasn't entirely his fault. If a guy like Okajima could go more than 0.1 inning, then maybe Ramirez doesn't even get into the game. If Ramirez has been subpar, Okajima has been nothing short of craptastic.
The A's are a .500 team, and nothing more. I know it's tough being on the West Coast, but the Sox simply need to do better against an average team like this. The Sox had chances, but didn't cash in after the 2nd. They left 12 men on base. They out-hit the A's 12 to 6, and drew the same number of walks. The Sox also hit 4 doubles compared to Oakland's 2. But the Sox couldn't do these things consecutively, or they did them all in the 2nd inning.
The Sox also lost a chance to gain ground in the AL East, as both New York and Tampa Bay lost.
Clay Buchholz makes his return this afternoon against 8-6 Gio Gonzalez.
Ilya Kovalchuk will be a Devil for a long, long time. 17 more years, to be precise. The 27 year old stud winger signed a 17 year contract worth a total of $102 million. That only works out to be $6 million a year, on average, but the absurd length of the deal makes it worthwhile for him. He'll be receiving paychecks until he's 44. His actual salary will fluctuate up and down, peaking at $11.5 million for a 5 year stretch in the middle of the deal, and settling down to $550,000 a season at the end.
I get why Kovalchuk signed this deal. He's set for life. In my opinion, he could have gotten more salary for shorter years. But then there's a risk of being a 33 year old free agent that nobody wants because of injuries or lackluster performances. And $102 million ain't peanuts. Furthermore, he gets to play in a "big market" (at least close to one) that consistently fields competitive teams.
And while I think I understand what the Devils are thinking, I still think it's kind of crazy. He'll be drawing a $6.5 million salary in 2020. That's a long time from now. If this were Wayne Gretzky, it'd be the smartest signing in history. But as it is, the Devils have committed a lot of cap space for 17 years.
So if this is what Kovalchuk wanted, I'm glad the Bruins didn't even (apparently) place a bid. The Devils have a great scorer, and will have him for a long, long time.
Maybe Kovalchuk just wanted a deal that matched his uniform number (#17).
The Sox needed a great start from Daisuke last night, and they got one. He only allowed 2 hits and 2 walks in 6.2 innings, allowing the Sox to score only twice and still claim the victory.
Daisuke's been throwing strikes lately. 62 of his 89 pitches were strikes, and he started 19 of the 24 batters he faced with strikes. Then again, he threw 8 of his 27 balls in the 7th, which is partially why Francona pulled him for Bard. Call me old-fashioned, call me greedy, but it'd be nice if a starter could throw 100 pitches and go 7+ innings. How often is Daisuke under 90 pitches in the 7th? It's a shame not to be able to take advantage of that, and have him go 7 or 8 innings.
Then again, if it were a 4-1 game when he allowed a walk and a double in the 7th, Francona's leash may have been longer.
Bard had his 20th Hold (3rd most in baseball), and Papelbon recorded his 21st Save.
The Sox scored both their runs in the 4th, as Ortiz hit a sac-fly, and Beltre knocked out his 15th homer of the season. Ortiz and Beltre have 59 and 59 RBI, respectively.
Recently, the Bruins signed Mark Stuart to a 1 year deal worth $1.675 million. This means that the Bruins have 6 defensemen locked down and under contract for 2010-11: Chara, Seidenberg, Boychuk, Stuart, Hunwick, and Ference. And I think 5 of these guys (everyone but Ference) is a good, solid D-man. And as far as Ference goes, you can do a lot worse that low on the depth chart.
The team is decidedly defensive in nature now. There's no feasible way to acquire a guy like Kovalchuk, or even a second-tier kind of scoring forward. And it seems like shipping Thomas' contract has proven more difficult than anyone could have imagined.
Rask will be in net, with frequent cameos from Thomas. It's funny how many Tuukka Time Twits criticized Thomas' style but fail to notice that Rask's style is even more, shall we say, original. Rask collapses back into his net like a funnel spider. Then again, it's been working... so far.
Chara and Seidenberg will pair up most of the time. That is a formidable duo. And with Boychuk, Hunwick, Ference, and Stuart; the Bruins have a good blend of youth, experience, puck-skills, and utter ferocity.
The forwards are not as deep, nor as menacing. The Bruins have a bevy of playmaking centers, but nobody to finish the plays made. Guys like Marco Sturm and Nathan Horton will get their 20 goals, but there won't be the On-Demand offense that's needed to win big games. And if there are just one or two injuries to guys like Savard or Sturm, the offense really gets anemic.
Tyler Seguin can start the season at AHL Providence. If he dazzles, which he likely will, the Bruins can trade Savard or Krejci. I'd rather trade Krejci since he has more value in a trade, and is essentially Savard Jr. By that I mean he's both younger, and not as good.
I've asked it before, but do the Bruins really need so many playmaking centers, when they lack wingers that can put the puck into the net?
The wingers are really weak for the Bruins. Guys like Lucic and Ryder need to step up. Lucic, when healthy, is a bulldozer, but he has no touch with the puck. Again, another guy who can help create chances for teammates, if only there were scorers he could play with. I'd put him on a line with Seguin when the time comes.
Mark Recchi is the best finisher on the team, but he's an AARP member.
Nathan Horton will contribute some offense, and should excel when paired with Savard/Krejci.
The Bruins can put out a solid team, worthy of a top 4 seed in the East. Their goaltending and defense will have to take it from there. The hope is that Seguin is a quick learner, and is capable of being an NHL scoring machine by the Spring. That's asking a lot in such a short time frame.
But this team's not bad. They've got the right coach for a defensive philosophy. Chara, Lucic, Boychuk, Thornton and Stuart can be physical, and can impose their will on opponents. Some people, like Michael Ryder, need to step up to the plate. They're not physical, so they must be skillful or be eliminated.
I think they still need a veteran forward, either a grinder, or just a solid type of guy that doesn't make mistakes with the puck. Their psychological difficulties last season were a real handicap. A guy like Seguin can add goals, but how much leadership can he contribute? There are a lot of followers on the Bruins, a few lead-by-example guys, and almost no true leaders.
It'll be hard to fit him in, but I still want Billy Guerin on this team. He's from Wilbraham, MA. Friendly's is from Wilbraham, MA. Everything from Wilbraham is exceedingly awesome.
But even without Guerin, this team is shaping up to be a competitor. And without borrowing against their future. There'll be a considerable amount of cap room opened after the upcoming season. But still some key players will be locked up.
It's asking a lot in the salary cap era to completely transform a team in just one off-season. If not for that #2 overall pick, the Bruins would look pretty much exactly the same. I don't think they'll win the Cup, or even advance further than the 2nd round. But like I said, the 2010-11 off-season could see some radical change.
While the Fenway crowd booed and berated homeplate umpire Gary Darling, the real blame for Sunday's loss rests on the Red Sox' shoulders. Lester was solid, but the best thing he threw was that mini-tantrum as he left the mound after the 8th. Double-steals, and bang-bang plays at the plate ultimately undid Lester's efforts, but teams can't double-steal unless the pitcher lets runners get to the corners. And Lester's 8th inning started with a double, then a walk, then a single. That's a good way to give up runs, with or without close calls at the plate.
Then there was the Red Sox' hitting. CJ Wilson was throwing well, but the Red Sox did him favors by swinging at balls. He issued 5 walks in his 6.2 innings, but had the bottom of the lineup been more patient, they may have drew more. At the very least, they could have inflated his pitch count to get him out of the game earlier.
The Sox were 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.
It was a rough weekend, and it ended with the Sox being 7 behind New York in the loss column, and 5 behind Tampa. And things don't look too hopeful in the immediate future.
The Sox play 20 of their next 27 games on the road, where they are 22-20 this season. They have a long trip out West, a 7 game homestand, then trips to New York, Toronto, and Texas. This team has excelled in tough stretches this season, however. And they'll get to play some poorly teams like Seattle and Cleveland on the way. So even though it looks bad, it might not turn out that way.
The Rangers welcomed themselves to Fenway Park with a 6 run 1st inning. After that, Tommy Hunter turned on the cruise control, and that was that. Not a fun way to begin the 2nd half of the season. And while Wakefield had been tolerable the last few weeks before this (4.92 ERA in his last 7 starts), he had a major setback last night.
JD Drew and Bill Hall provided the Sox with a solo homerun each. The 1-4 hitters in the lineup were a combined 0 for 17, and none managed to reach base.
Felix Doubrant faces Colby Lewis tonight. Doubront is the one on our team.
