SOX EARN FIRST ROAD SWEEP

Technically, their first sweep of a 3 game road series. They swept the Yankees in a 4 game series in the Bronx a few weeks ago.

Wakefield was solid, and did a great job of getting ahead in the count. Francona pulled him in the 7th after only throwing 81 pitches, but I think with this bullpen, and with the speed Wakefield can collapse, you've got to take him out once you see a few well struck balls. Even if they're foul, or outs.

Dontrelle Willis is horrible. He's why I hate when the cover of Sports Illustrated has some 16 year old prospect touted as baseball's LeBron James. In baseball, once you lose your edge, you're toast. And some extremely talented players never get their edge at all.

Jason Bay has an argument to be the MVP of the season 1/3 of the way thru. He hit a 2 run double in the 3rd, and now has 53 RBI to lead the team, and have the 2nd most in baseball.

The Man of the Game:
Tim Wakefield - 6.2 IP, 3 runs, 0 walks

The Sox are back at home Friday night, hosting the Rangers. Brad Penny takes on Kevin Millwood.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Duane Burleson

BECKETT: THE BEST OF WHAT PITCHERS DO BEST

Josh Beckett is on fire. And Red Sox pitchers have continued to demonstrate why a 6 man rotation is moronic. Daisuke with his consistent strain on the bullpen, and now Beckett. Do you really want to reduce this guy's starts just as he's heating up?

7.2 innings pitched, 2 hits, 2 walks, 9 strikeouts, 0 earned runs, and a no-hitter taken into the 8th. In his last 22.2 innings, he's allowed 1 earned run. He's had 6 straight Quality Starts, and he's 4-0 since the start of May.

JD Drew's starting to look good. June is his month, and he was 2 for 3 with a homer. It was also nice seeing Ortiz get an RBI double in the 8th. Then again, everyone was hitting the ball in the 8th inning.

The Sox look for their first 3 game road sweep of the season Thursday afternoon at 1. Wakefield faces Dontrelle Willis.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Duane Burleson

BRUINS BRILLIANTLY RESIGN KRECJI

The Bruins answered one of their two biggest off-season questions by extending David Krejci's contract for 3 more years. The deal is said to be worth a bit more than $11 million in total, which means the 23 year old will only be hitting the cap for $3.75 million a year.

This is a steal. Krejci had 22 goals, and 51 assists in 08-09, along with the best +/- in the NHL (+37). He has nothing but upside, and reminds me of Marc Savard, only with more shooting ability.

Now the next question is Phil Kessel. There are rumors of Kessel being traded for the 3rd overall pick. There are also rumors of Savard being traded. If Savard goes, then keeping Kessel is a piece of cake, and you promote Krejci to the top line.

I don't think I've ever been this excited in June for an upcoming Bruins season.

Source:
Boston.com

THE SOX SOMEHOW GET THE JOB DONE

Despite allowing 9 hits and 3 walks, Red Sox pitchers held the Tigers to 1 run. Daisuke was greatly assisted by 3 double plays turned behind him. And after struggling at the start of the 9th inning, Papelbon bore down and struck out the side.

Daisuke's performance is a great example of why a 6 man rotation would be devastating. Losing a bullpen pitcher would mean one less arm to absorb the 4 innings of work Daisuke gives to the bullpen, even when he pitches well.

But I'll say this in Daisuke's favor. He allowed 6 hits in 5 innings. But they were all singles. He gets slightly burnt, but he doesn't burst into flames.

David Ortiz has one more week until he has to leave the lineup for an extended period. I'm sorry, but getting a looping line drive single doesn't encourage me. He needs to hit .250+ for a 5 game stretch. That's not asking too much, is it?

Jason Bay blasted his 16th homerun of the season, and it propelled the Sox to victory. He has 51 RBI now. That's 7 more homers than Manny Ramirez, and 31 more runs batted in. Manny's been stuck on 6 HRs, and 20 RBIs for awhile now. Don't know what's up with that.

Man of the Game:
Jason Bay. Only one hit, but it was a big one.

Josh Beckett takes the hill tonight, looking to continue his hot streak.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Duane Burleson

WHY A 6 MAN ROTATION IS A BAD IDEA

It's been an idea floating on sports radio and on blogs. With John Smoltz two rehab starts away, and also with Clay Buchholz flirting with perfect games in AAA Pawtucket, could/should the Sox go with a 6 man rotation?

The answer is No! Nein! Nr! Non! Αριθ! いいえ! Não! Нет!

People who support this notion point to a stretch of games this summer. 19 games in 20 days. But this, to me, would be the worst time to shift to a 6 man rotation. It's true that starters would get additional rest, with older guys like Wakefield and Penny benefiting the most. But using up a roster spot for a starter will take one away from the bullpen. And during this 19 game/20 day stretch, the bullpen will need the most relief (pardon the pun).

A 6 man rotation with Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Penny, Wakefield, and Smoltz will murder a shortened bullpen. Lester has always had trouble pitching more than 6 innings. Matsuzaka passes 100 pitches in the 4th inning. Penny gives 6 innings AT MOST, and Wakefield usually gets figured out by the 5th or 6th. Then there's Smoltz, who should hardly be counted on do go much deeper than 5 innings coming off the DL at his age.

Supporters of this idea also point to the insurance and risk management aspects of keeping 6 starters. If you keep Penny for a few weeks after activating Smoltz, for instance, you protect yourself in case Smoltz doesn't work out.

And that's nice. You can also bring up Buchholz, and if he struggles like he did in '08, you aren't stuck with him.

But at some point, a decision has to be made. It's sort of like football teams that rotate their quarterbacks. If you have 2 QBs, you really have 0 QBs. And if you have 6 starting pitchers, you really don't have 5 good ones.

Daisuke Matsuzaka can't be demoted to AAA, but he can be placed on the DL. And if he continues to struggle, another stint for arm fatigue won't be too heavily scrutinized.

There's also no pressing need to bring up Buchholz ASAP. In fact, a little Lou Merloni style "stuck in Pawtucket" frustration might be a good test of his ability to handle adversity.

And I wouldn't mind trading Buchholz for a big bat like Victor Martinez. Clay's value will never be higher.



There's also Wakefield. He's been roughed up a bit his last two times out. If he continues to struggle, he can be shifted to the bullpen. And I actually think he'd be a decent bullpen guy (again), with his knuckleball contrasting so much with hard throwers like Beckett and Papelbon.



My point is, that all the benefits of a 6 man rotation can be attained via alternative methods. A DL stint for a struggling starter, or a bullpen trip for Wakefield, and so on. But the costs of a 6 man rotation - shallow bullpen, and taking starts away from hot starters like Beckett (and now Lester) - are steep enough to want to stay with 5 starters.

I'm fine with adding Smoltz to the roster for his first start, without removing another starting pitcher. But more than one cycle with a 6 man rotation is one of the dumbest things the Red Sox could do.

IS JON LESTER BACK?

I sure hope so. At the very least, his start Sunday afternoon was encouraging. He struck out a season high 12 batters, and cruised through 6 innings. The inning count was low, but with the Red Sox' bullpen, it isn't as big of a concern as it would have been last year. He only allowed 3 soft hits and 3 walks.

Lester needs to put together a few good starts, and this was a major step forward in doing so.

The offense also exploded as Francona juggled the batting order a bit. But I think facing Ricky Romero had more to do with the Red Sox' 8 runs than the lineup. 6 of the 8 Sox runs came with 2 outs, the big hit being Dustin Pedroia's 3 run shot with 2 outs in the 4th. That blast turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-1 lead.

Every Sox batter registered a hit, except Varitek, who walked 3 times.

Man of the Game:
Jon Lester - 6 IP, 12 K, 3 H, 1 ER

The Sox have a tough task this week, taking on the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers, who are 15-7 at home. Daisuke Matsuzaka faces Rick Porcello Tuesday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese

MORE ROAD WOES

The Jays were riding a 9 game losing streak, and had a winless pitcher on the mound. The Sox still couldn't beat them.

Wakefield's hot-streak seems to have come to an end. 11 earned runs in his last 2 starts (10.2 innings for a 9.28 ERA). He carried the team for a while, but he's come back to earth.

The Sox managed 11 hits and 2 walks off Janssen, but never scored more than 1 run at a time. Drew hit a homer, with nobody on base. But two double plays grounded into, 8 men left on base, and 5 of those left in scoring position hurt. What killed was Ortiz going 0 for 4, leaving 3 men in scoring position.

For me, it's getting very hard to endure Ortiz for much longer. He's a black hole in the lineup, sucking up all the offensive potential.

Man of the Game:
Scott Rolen - 2 for 4, 2 doubles, 2 RBI (both with 2 outs)

Bitch-Goat:
Wakefield: 0.5
Ortiz: 0.3
Pedroia: 0.2

Brad Penny faces Brian Tallet this afternoon.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese

BECKETT BACK AT IT

Matsuzaka and Lester may be struggling, but it's starting to look like Josh Beckett is back on his game. 7 innings pitched, only 3 hits allowed, and 8 strikeouts. That's only 1 earned run in his last 15 innings, and only 3 in his last 22 innings. 5 straight quality starts for Beckett, who is now 3-0 in May.

You know Beckett's doing well when you use the word "only" about a dozen times in a paragraph.

Jason Varitek continues to be solid on offense. It doesn't belong in the 3, 4, 5, or even 6 slot; but he's contributing. And actually, with Ortiz and the crapfest at the bottom of the lineup, maybe Tek belongs in the 6 spot. 2 more homeruns this afternoon and he now has 10. He's already more than halfway to his RBI total from 2008, and only 3 HRs shy of his total from last year.

The Man of the Game:
This is tough because Varitek and Beckett played so well. But I'm gonna give it to Beckett this time. When in doubt, go with pitching.

The Sox go to Toronto this weekend to face the slipping Blue Jays. Wakefield faces Casey Janssen Friday night.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Jim Mone