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SOX ON THE ROAD
July 21, 2008
Well gang, we were swept by the Halo's. That was the sixth time we've been swept on the road this season. I've been reading around the Internet just to see what the media has to say about all of this. I must've looked at 50 sites over the past hour and I'm really disappointed in what I'm reading. They're actually placing the blame SOLELY on the pitchers. Yes, the game does revolve around the pitcher, but losses come as a team effort. I saw only three poorly placed pitches from Wake yesterday but our bats also never stayed awake. We're leaving a lot of runners stranded. Maybe it's time to take a closer look at the line-up. Things seemed to work a little better for us with Manny in the DH spot. If, IF, Manny is really acting up or whatever is going on with that man, he's a little more harmless in the DH spot for us. I'd like to see Jacoby in LF and the rest of the defense to stay the same. Then I would like to see the line-up varied up a little bit. I can see why Tito wants to leave Jacoby in the lead-off spot and I'm fine with that decision. Dusty P. looks fine where he is at but the rest needs to be changed up a little bit. I'm not quite sure how, but SOMETHING isn't working out with what we currently have. That's pretty obvious when we've gone 2-10 out of 12 of our last road games.
Our starters have been sticking with the game through a lot of innings. Beckett on Saturday night and then Wake last night. Wake allowed an early run when Vlad sent a hanging knuckleball deep and out giving the Halo's an early 1-0 lead. Torii Hunter would then step in and send one out. With those back-to-back homers, the Halo's found themselves a 2-0 lead. Over Wakefield's last 10 starts, he's gone seven innings nine times and given up three earned runs or less nine times. Wake hasn't been able to catch much of a break this season. He's been going out there and pitching some solid baseball. The lack of run support just ends up killing him. He had two misplaced pitches that he paid for back-to-back then went on to pitch incredibly for the rest of the game. Once our boys climbed their way on top according the scoreboard, Wake kept the Halo's at bay until the eighth inning. He left one pitch hanging in there which ended up tying the game. In the press conference after the game, typical Wake showed through. He took the burden of that loss entirely on his own shoulders. He said, "I just didn't get it done." Wakefield didn't walk a single person in that game and lasted just about eight innings. Manny Delcarmen was called upon from the pen and didn't exactly hold onto anything for us. He left the control over his changeup in the bullpen somewhere and left a pitch hanging over the plate for Kotchman to hit one into the RF corner allowing two runs to score. Not a great way to start the second half for our bullpen.
Now onto our offensive out-put of last night's game. It seems as though Peds, Youk and Manny are the only ones who are really producing anything for us as of late. I think we all watched that terrible defensive move on the Angel's side of things early in the game when the ball dropped just in front of the pivot man allowing our man to reach first safely. Jacoby hit a pop-fly to RF in the seventh with Coco on second and somehow Guerrero dropped the ball for an error and Crisp scored easily to make it 3-2 Sox. That would be the end of run production for our offense for the remainder of the game. I'm not quite sure exactly what is going on with our bats right on the road, but our boys need to find a solution for that pretty quickly. There's only 60-something games left in the regular season. Time to find that groove on the road.
Masterson has been recalled and Aardsma is now on the DL. For the fourth time this season, Justin Masterson was recalled from the Minor Leagues. This time, it was different. Instead of joining the rotation (his natural role, and one he's excelled at this season) Masterson's return marked his arrival in the bullpen. Aardsma was forced to the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin. The RP role is a completely different beast of pitching, but I think he'll do just fine. The Sox were looking to get him back-to-back stints while in Pawtucket in the pen, but weren't able to quite get that. He arrived in California Saturday night. Let's all give Justin our support as he makes this transition (on the major league level) from rotation to the bullpen. Let's also keep Aardsma in our thoughts and pull for a full and complete recovery.
Tonight should feel a little more like home to Jon Lester as we play the Mariners in Seattle. Jon Lester is from the Seattle area so let's all hope it gives the rest of the team a more "at home" feel. Lester is 7-3 so far this season showing us his best stuff early in the season. Let's hope that his second half is just as solid as the first. He'll be taking on Jarrod Washburn who is 4-8 on the season. Washburn has given up two earned runs or less in six of his past seven starts. Let's all get behind Lester and show him our support and gratitude for the great season he's had so far.
GO SOX!
-BoSox Hooligan - RSM™
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