SOX ESCAPE SCARE

Mueller and Miller both had great nights. Mueller got his first homer of the season and Miller got his first win of the season. The game was too close though. The Sox squandered a few big opportunities to blow the game wide open but they failed to get the big hit. And by they, I mean Edgar Renteria. Then Foulke came in and nearly blew what should have been a routine and easy save.

The Man of the Game is Johnny Damon who went 2 for 2 with a single and a triple. He also walked twice. He only scored once but that was mostly due to the 2, 3, 4, and 5 hitters oging a combined 1 for 15.

Tim Wakefield will take on Kyle Davies who will be making his Major League debut. you'd think that this game would be a lopsided victory for us but the Red Sox have been known to make random pitchers look like Cy Young.

For the first time all season, Wakefield won't be pitching to Doug Mirabelli. Mirabelli injured his wrist in an at-bat on Wednesday in the blowout loss to Oakland. Francona had take Varitek out in order to give Mirabelli some plate appearances and rest Tek and it backfired. This is the first time in his career that Mirabelli will be on the DL. Francona made no public decision as to who would catch for Wakefield. It will be either Varitek or Shawn Wooten who was brought up from Pawtucket. Francona might also have Millar catch because for some reason, he beleives Millar can do anything.

Sick of seeing Johnny Damon on TV? Then don't watch Fox tomorrow afternoon because Damon will be hosting This Week in Baseball.

Posting might be light in the next few days because I'm going to a casino in upstate New York and then going to Cooperstown to hopefully catch some of the Hall of Fame game. Then I might go up to Portland to see the Sea Dogs but that's still up in the air.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS TEAM?

There's been alot of talk on WEEI and amongst fans of the Sox about what is wrong with this team. The focus of this ameteur analysis has been individual hitters. Kevin Millar is being slammed for his lack of performance. Mark Bellhorn is receiving his share of criticism for his strikeouts. People are finally realising that Renteria isn't that great of a player. The player escaping his share of criticism is Manny Ramirez.

Something is up with Manny. He isn't on pace for the RBI he is supposed to be getting. His batting average is almost .100 points lower than it should be. The most telling thing are his strikeouts. It isn't the number of strikeouts, its the way in which he has struck out and the situations in which he has struck out. He's taking alot of called strikes recently and he is having alot of swings that don't look like Manny Ramirez swings. Lately, he has been a hole in the lineup. I don't know if he is still hurt, but you can tell he is tentative at the plate. This, in my opinion, is the result of being hit by so many pitches.

Manny is pretty sensitive when it comes to being hit. Remember the beanball incident in the 2003 ALCS when he nearly charged the mound for a pitch that was merely slightly inside? Manny also seems to be a fe winches farther from the plate than he used to be. He isn't using the outside part of the plate. He hasn't been hitting the ball hard the other way. This is understandable if he is standing farther from the plate and isn't diving to hit the outside pitch. Even though being tentative is understandable, it is unacceptable. Manny needs to dig in and if he gets hit, he gets hit. I know its alot easier for me to say it than for Manny to do it, but it is his job to hit and drive in runs. Our cleanup hitter can't be a hole in the lineup if we hope to win the World Series again.

Another group of people escaping criticism is the pitching staff. No-one seems to care that the Sox allowed 23 runs to the terrible offense of Oakland. One sixth of Oakland's annual run production has been against Boston. That's simply pathetic. The Red Sox have been scoring about the same amount of runs as they did at this time last year. However, the pitching staff is less than what it was last season. Much less. This staff reminds me of the 2000-2003 Red Sox. One Ace and then 4 pitchers capable of solid starts but also capable of terrible outings.

I think this team has some sort of complacency to it. This wasn't acquired from winning the World Series. I think this team gained a sense of confidence from coming back and winning the ALCS last season. They didn't turn it on until they needed to and perhaps this season they're hoping to do the same thing. This can work out, but what if Baltimore or New York also turn it on and no matter how many games the Sox win in August and September, it might not matter.

Just imagine if we had kept Cabrera or signed Eckstein (and then been able to afford Pedro) and signed Tino Martinez. The Red Sox made very little effort to improve themselves in any way even though it was obvious they would be losing something in the rotation with Martinez and Lowe leaving and Schilling being a question mark. The only position at which the Sox attempted to improve themselves was at shortstop, a position at which they were fine at with Cabrera.

One thing I learned last year was that it isn't over until the math says so. We aren't failing as bad as the Yankees were a few weeks ago. We still have alot of work to do.

SOX GET CLUTCH HITS, THEN GET HIT

In this series, the Red Sox allowed the 2nd worst run scoring offense in baseball and the 2nd worst hitting team in baseball (batting .211 as a team, ranked below 15 NL teams that have pitchers batting) to put up 24 runs in 3 games. This is why we lost the series. It doesn't get much easier with the Braves rolling into Fenway this weekend and then going back on the road to Cooperstown and Toronto.

The Man of the Game for the 7-5 win on Tuesday is Edgar Renteria who went 2 for 4 with 2 runs, and 2 RBI. He also walked. It was one of his token good games that will be overshadowed by some 1 for 5 performances coming up.

The Man of the Game for Wednesday's 13-6 loss is Eric Byrnes who went 4 for 5 with a double. He scored three times and knocked in a run.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Wells: 0.7 - 1.1 IP, 7 ER
Gonzalez: 0.1 - 3.2 IP, 3 ER
Halama: 0.1 - 2 IP, 3 ER
Francona: 0.1 - No Renteria after 2 for 4 day, no rehab start for Wells

SOX LET ONE SLIP

The Red Sox had every opportunity to break this one open but they failed to get the big game breaking hit at every point. It seems as though when Arroyo is pitching, when the Sox get a lead they just settle in and don't do anything to add to their lead. Usually Arroyo is able to get out of jams and keep opponents to 1-3 runs but this game he was human. Plus, Damon and Nixon appeared to misplay some balls in the outfield and Renteria bumbled a ground ball with a runner on 3rd allowing Kotsay to score.

Let's look at the big opportunities the Red Sox had.

Top of 2nd, bases loaded, 2 outs: Bellhorn singles
Top of 2nd, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 outs: Damon strikes out
Top of 4th, bases loaded, 0 outs: Bellhorn strikes out
Top of 4th, bases loaded, 1 out: Damon strikes out
Top of 4th, bases loaded, 2 outs: Renteria flies out
Top of 7th, runners on 1st and 2nd, 0 out: Renteria singles
Top of 7th, bases loaded, 0 outs: Ortiz doubles
Top 7th, runners on 2nd and 3rd, 0 outs: Ramirez strikes out
Top 7th, runners on 2nd and 3rd, 1 out: Nixon intentionally walks
Top 7th, bases loaded, 1 out: Varitek strikes out
Top 7th, bases loaded, 2 outs: Youkilis grounds into FC
Top 8th, runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out: Renteria strikes out
Top 8th, runners on 1st and 2nd, 2 out: Ortiz grounds out
Top 9th, runners on 2nd and 3rd, 2 out: Mueller flies out

In 14 situations to score runs, the Sox capitalized only 3 times and got an intentional walk. Ten times in situations which made scoring alot of runs possible, the Sox failed utterly. They didn't even get sacrifice flies or groundouts that advanced runners. They utterly failed.

Myers didn't do his job either and in my opinion, he shouldn't have been in to face Durazo. Durazo was 11 for 33 against left handed pitching on the season and was 3 for 8 against Myers in his career. It was a freak hit but a hit nonetheless.

I don't know what it is about the Pacific Ocean but it seems to have some sort of effect on the Red Sox. Against Seattle and Oakland last week, we took 5 of 6. Now, we've been beaten 3 out of 4 and need to take the last two against Oakland to go .500 on the trip.

Renteria should not be batting 2nd. It just isn't working. Hopefully he'll come through and he's had a few good games to make you think he might be coming around but right now, I think he is a bottom of the lineup hitter and nothing more. I'd still like to see Bellhorn have a shot at batting 2nd. If not, I think Varitek should be up there.

Tek is batting .325 compared to Renteria at .246. This means Varitek is getting another hit more than Renteria every 8 at-bats or about every 2 games. Varitek's OBP, which is a crucial stat for the #2 hitter in this lineup, is .379. Edgar's is .296. This means Tek is getting on-base an extra time every 10 plate appearances, or once every 2 games. Their walk and strikeout numbers are similar. Renteria is faster and has stolen 2 bases but batting in front of Manny and Ortiz usually means the #2 hitter, if he gets on base, will stay put and avoid the risk of running into outs. So there is very little point in having speed on base in front of Manny and Ortiz. Maybe once or twice in a year, Tek might not be able to score from first on a double whereas Renteria could, but to me, this isn't worth the offensive downgrade from Renteria to Tek.

Not only does Tek hit more and get on base more, he has more power. Tek has 7 HRs and is hitting one out of the park once every 16 at-bats. Renteria only has 2 HRs and is hitting one every 71 at-bats. Tek is on pace to hit 30 HRs this season and Renteria is on pace to hit 9. Renteria typically gets in between 10-13 HRs a season and Varitek typically hovers near 20 in about 100 fewer ABs a season. Varitek has 14 extra base hits compared to Renteria's 8. This means that Tek gets into scoring position or scores on his own with a homer almost twice as often as Renteria.

I think Varitek would be a better set-up man for Ortiz, Manny, and Trot because he gets on base more, gets more hits, and gets more extra base hits. In this lineup, however, the #2 hitter often has opportunities to knock players in. The Sox have a lineup that has quality hitters from 1-9 so there are always runners getting on base from the 7-9 spots so the leadoff hitter and #2 hitter have to be able to knock guys in. Damon does this pretty well with 20 RBI so far. Varitek only has 15 RBI but compared to Renteria's 11 in more at-bats, Tek has an edge over Renteria.

Tek also does alot of the little things that a #2 hitter is supposed to do. He can hit for contact and when the opportunity presentes itself, he will steal a base here and there. He is an intelligent baserunner and an intelligent hitter. He should be given a shot at the 2 spot for a week or two.

The Man of the Game is Mark Kotsay who went 1 for 3 with a bases loaded triple. He then scored on a groundout. The next inning, he made a heads-up play in right center field to cutoff a double off the wall by Ortiz and keep Renteria from scoring what was the go ahead run at the time.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Arroyo: 0.2 - 7 IP, 4 ER
Myers: 0.4 - 0 IP, 2 ER
Ramirez: 0.1 - 1 for 5, 2 Ks, 2 LOB
Damon: 0.2 - 0 for 3, 2 K, 5 LOB, misplay in CF
Renteria: 0.1 - 1 for 5, 5 LOB, misply at SS

Oil Can Boyd pitched 3 innings for the Brockton Rox against the Worcester Tornadoes. If I ever get a little bit of money, I'm gonna start a Can-Am League team in my backyard. We wouldn't be a good team, but we'd be entertaining.

The Red Sox play the A's again tomorrow night. Clement pitches for us and is due to have a bad start. Meanwhile, the Yankees are winning like crazy against these AL West teams. They've won 9 straight.

MANNY GETS 400, SOX GET A LOSS

Manny Ramirez became the 4th player to hit 400 Homeruns and the 5th to do it in a Red Sox uniform. Gil Meche was the 262nd different pitcher Manny hit a homer off of.

Unfortunately, Manny's homerun was not enough as Wakefield couldn't hold the Mariners and the offense couldn't really capitalize on any baserunners.

The Man of the Game is Miguel Olivo who went 3 for 4 with a double and a homer. He wasn't even supposed to play but Gonzalez was injured. He knocked in 2 and scored 2 runs.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Millar: 0.2 - 0 for 4, 4 LOB
Renteria: 0.2 - 0 for 5, 3 LOB
Wakefield: 0.6 - 7 IP, 5 ER

The Sox should roll in and out of Oakland this weekend.

LINEUP CHANGES SHAKEUP THE M's

Christopher Trotman Nixon is having a pretty good year wherever he bats in the lineup. His projected numbers look like this:

Average: .319
On Base %: .433
Slugging: .564
Homers: 27
RBI: 108
Runs: 95

I think moving him to the #5 spot in the order is the right thing to do. He can give Manny some protection, keep the lineup switching from left to right, and provide some solid power at a power spot in the lineup. However, I still don't think Renteria is the right man for the #2 spot in the order. I'd rather see Bellhorn or even Varitek up there. Varitek is the only other guy that has hit well all season and Bellhorn flourished in the #2 spot last season.

Wade Miller is looking pretty good until he gets over 90 pitches or so. This is good news. Hopefully within a few more starts he will be able to go over 100 and still be effective. The short releif out of the bullpen has been very reliable as of late. I think pitchers might be adjusting to their roles with the team.

Manny climbed one HR closer to 400. His 400th will break him out of a 3 way tie with Andres Galarraga and Al Kaline for 39th all-time. I beleive the last player to hit his 400th HR in a Red Sox uniform was Andre Dawson in 1993. Other players who spent time in Fenway and have 400+ HRs are: Carl Yastrzemski, Jose Conseco, Ted Williams, Jimmie Foxx, and Babe Ruth.

The Man of the Game is Trot Nixon who went 2 for 4 with a single and a 2 out Grand Slam that gave the Sox a lead.

The rubber game is this afternoon as Wakefield faces Meche. Then its down the coast to Oakland to play the Pathetics who have been getting crushed by the Yankees lately.

MARINERS POUR IT ON

The Sox shouldn't have won this mismatch from the start. J-Gon against Piniero is a pitching inequity that would require the Sox getting to the M's pitchers, which they did, and the Sox pitchers to pitch decently, which they didn't.

The Man of the Game is Ichiro who went 3 for 4 with 2 singles, and a triple. He walked, stole a base, knocked in a run and scored three times. He ignited the Mariners offense allowing guys like Beltre and Winn to drive in runs. Ichiro also had an outfield assist. For as much hype Johnny Damon has, deservedly so at the moment, Ichiro is twice the player. Faster, better hitter, better baserunner, more range, much better arm.

The Bitch-Goat shall be divided thusly:
Gonzalez: 0.5 - 3.1 IP, 7 ER
Halama: 0.5 - 1.2 IP, 5 ER

Wade Miller makes his first road start of the season against Ryan Franklin and the M's. Look for David Ortiz to have another big night against Franklin. Hopefully the pitching will hold the Mariners to fewer than 5 runs. If so, we should win.

TEK UNFOULKES THE SOX

Nice comeback to save Foulke who has been pitching poorly. All last season he gave up 8 homers. He's given up 8 so far this season. Dotel doesn't really seem like he'd be that effective of a closer. He walks alot of batters and throws pretty much just fastballs.

The Man of the Game is Varitek who went 3 for 4 with a double, homer, and a single. He knocked in three and scored twice. All the runs he knocked in gave the Sox a lead. THAT is clutch hitting.

Clement had a nice start too. If he can stay solid and have a few nice starts here and there, he should end up having a good year. Foulke needs to get back on the ball though.

The Sox head out west for 3 with Seattle and 3 with Oakland. Normally, these trips are rough on us but given the poor play these two teams are practicing, it should be a fun trip. The key word is "should."