SOX CRUSH YANKS 7-0

Not to sound too pessimistic, but it's a very good thing the Sox beat the Yankees in the sole pitching matchup of the series that favors Boston. Wakefield vs. Wang is a bit of a toss-up tonight, but I can just see a classic Wakefield vs. New York performance of 4 innings and 6 earned runs. Then Penny vs. Sabathia tomorrow night is an obvious mismatch.

Josh Beckett is on a killer hot streak. To Lou Merloni and the other idiots who're clamoring for a 6 man rotation, do you really want to mess with a guy pitching this well just so Brad Penny can get a few extra innings in before he's traded? 1 earned run allowed in Beckett's last 31 innings. That's a 0.29 ERA folks. 7 Quality Starts in a row, and he's 5-0 since the start of May.

David Ortiz was 1 for 4 with a homerun. Once again, I'm going to be annoyingly pessimistic. Ortiz's homer came off a pitcher having a lousy night. 5 hits, 5 walks for AJ Burnett in 2.2 innings. And as good as it was to see him hit a 450 footer to dead center, to me, that still means he's being late on the ball.

When David Ortiz is on his A Game, the homeruns are bombs over the Monster, and screeching line drives over the bullpen in right. I'm not criticizing him for hitting a homerun, but let's not get all excited about him hitting the ball straight instead of pulling it.

That being said, Ortiz is still a Yankee killer. He's hitting .304 against them with a .988 OPS. 7 of his 24 RBI have come off the Yanks, as have 5 of his 18 extra basehits.

Overall, he's 8 for his last 29 (.276). A few days ago, I declared that he needed to hit .250+ for a stretch of 5 games, and he's doing that. By doing so, he's continuing to earn his spot in the lineup.

The Man of the Game:
Nick Green - 2/4, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 R

Wakefield vs. Wang tonight.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Winslow Townson

LESTER BEFUDDLES RANGERS

Nothing but good news from Fenway Park last night. Jon Lester was simply dazzling. He started the game with 6.1 perfect innings, and finished with a complete game 2 hitter. He struck out 11 batters, 10 in the first 6 innings. And this Rangers lineup is hardly a bunch of pushovers and easy outs.

Even more good news: David Ortiz was 2 for 3 with a homerun. He actually has a 5 game hit streak going, and he's batting .285 in that stretch. It's hardly time to declare him out of his funk, but perhaps like the economy, he's getting worse at a better rate.

That being said, Ortiz's 2 homeruns this year both came against poor pitching in blowout victories.

Daisuke pitches this afternoon against the Padilla Flotilla.

The Red Sox passed the Yankees for 1st place as New York lost to Tampa Bay.

Man of the Game:
Jon Lester - 9 IP, CG, 2 H, 2 BB, 11 K, 1 ER

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Mary Schwalm

RANGERS SPOIL HOMECOMING

Lackluster defense, mediocre pitching, and no timely hits. Did the Red Sox forget they were finally playing at home again?

The Sox were 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position. Julio Lugo will take a lot of crap for his defense, but Brad Penny was the one who gave up the homerun ball, not Lugo. And I'm far from a Lugo fan, I'm not defending him, I'm just clarifying that Brad Penny gave up the homer.

Julio Lugo does suck though. The signing of JD Drew has never been popular amongst Sox fans, but at least Drew plays solid defense (when he plays at all), and can go on hot streaks. Lugo's never impressed me at the plate or on the field.

I can't wait for Jed Lowrie to get healthy so we have a .200 hitting, dependable short-stop. Speaking of Lowrie, he's ready enough to take batting practice.

John Smoltz is also making a rehab start for AAA Pawtucket today.

Man of the Game:
Kevin Millwood - 7 IP, 0 ER

Bitch-Goat:
Brad Penny: 0.6
Julio Lugo: 0.2
Mike Lowell: 0.2

Tonight at 7, Jon Lester looks to get a good start against a team that doesn't come from Ontario. He faces converted reliever Derek Holland.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

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.