More mediocre starting pitching, more shabby bullpen work making comebacks more difficult, more runners left on base, more stupid mistakes, more misery.
Just a few words about the bench-clearing incident in the 1st. The umpire granted time-out too late. There's little that gets me angrier then when that happens. Other sports have timeout limits, why doesn't baseball implement something similar? At the very least, it will speed the game up.
Bobby Abreu, shut the fuck up and get back in the batter's box. The ball didn't hit you, didn't even come close. Grow up, do your job, and stop making mountains out of molehills. Hitters go nuts when somebody throws inside on them, and I'm sick of it.
Josh Beckett, stay on the goddamned pitcher's mound. You're lucky you didn't get ejected for that. A bit of tension turned into something much more volatile because you too acted like a child.
Back to the game, I don't think the Sox offense will continue to struggle as badly as they have to collect key hits. HOWEVER, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell clearly do not have the same kind of power they once possessed. Pedroia's going to come around and be productive, same with Drew. The runs will come, but not like they came in 2007 or 2006. There won't be many crooked numbers or big innings.
In other words, the pitching is going to have to be much tighter than they've been.
And stupid mistakes need to vanish NOW. JD Drew throws home instead of to the cutoff, Beckett gives up a 2 run single instead of a 1 run single to the next hitter. David Ortiz's caught-stealing, I don't know what happened there, but somebody messed up.
Kevin Youkilis is the Man of the Game. He was 2 for 4 with a homerun and a walk.
Here's the Bitch-Goat:
Beckett: 0.4
Okajima: 0.2
Pedroia: 0.3
Lowell: 0.1
The 2-4 Sox go to Oakland for 3 games to face the 2-4 Athletics. More good news: after this series, the Sox won't have another 10 PM start time until May.
Source:
ESPN.com
Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Lori Shepler
"HOWEVER, David Ortiz and Mike Lowell clearly do not have the same kind of power they once possessed."
ReplyDeleteLowell is like 80 and Ortiz is off the juice. Seems pretty cut and dried.
I love people who hate Boston so much that every good thing that a player or coach does in this town is automatically attributed to cheating.
ReplyDeleteOrtiz's power is gone because his wrist isn't transmitting the same torque it once did. Stop being so cynical, Andy, and give one Boston athlete credit just once.