Timothy may be older than our other pitchers. He doesn't throw 90... he doesn't even throw 80. No one on Earth, including himself, knows where his pitches are going to end up. When he's going bad, it's stomach-turning. When he's going good, it's baffling. He's been on this team longer than I've even watched baseball... or sports at all. He needs his own personal catcher, and can't stop baserunners. He's been injury-prone the last few years, and has caused a great many of us to call for his retirement.
And then he goes out and pitches a gem when we most need a gem. And we are reminded why Wakefield still has a job with a major league baseball team. His performance last night, coming off a heart-wrenching 12-inning loss, was inspiring.
He worked fast, threw strikes, kept his pitch count low and just went about his business. It had a positive effect on our guys. They saw Tim keeping it together, and they kept it together.
Defense was solid, aside from a rare mishap at 3rd by Mikey. Green and Ellsbury (yes, even Ellsbury) looked fab in the field. The offense clicked. They strung together hits. Ortiz, Kottaras, and Bat hit doubles. Drew hit a home run. Mikey hit a home run. For the second game in a row, we reduced our runners LOB by half. Everyone in our lineup except for Munchkin had a hit. THIS looked like the team we had been waiting to see. I think they finally woke up. Wakey pitched all 9 innings, giving up 4 hits and 2 runs (all hits and runs coming after the 7th inning), and lowering his ERA to 3.00, which is a respectable number if I do say so.
It's easy when he's going bad to think he's done. But on days like yesterday, we know he's not. It may not have been a no-hitter, or even a 1-hitter, but it was exactly what we needed.
Thank you, Tim. I needed that win for my sanity far more than you knew.
3 years ago
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