Lackey: Getting A Win

Another game that just wasn't pretty to watch. Lackey lasted 7 innings, but I wouldn't even dare venture to say that any of those innings were relaxing. He allowed 3 runs on ten (10!) hits, giving up 2 walks and getting 3 strikeouts. It's the Orioles. The Orioles probably hadn't had ten hits in all their other games for the entire week before this game. They ended up finishing the game with an absurd 17 hits, making our measley 9 hits look even more pathetic. Usually in a game where you have nine hits, you feel good about it. But when you get outhit, by almost double your hit total, by a team that only has two wins to call their own for the month of April, you start to wonder if perhaps the pride is unjustified. I don't know. All I know is that Lackey and Lester are both still sporting ERA's over 5. I don't care how discredited the good ol' ERA has become. It's still a big, garish number that you have to look at, and it still shows you on average how many runs you can expect your starter to surrender. We're almost at the point where the sample sizes are large enough to actually give you a decent indication of how our pitching is doing. They're, in a word, crappy. But there is room and time for improvement, so I'll just keep that with me and bury all of my hopes into it.

On the plus side, my darling Jason hit his fourth home run of the season. He's batting over .300 on the year. In 23 AB's, Jason has 7 hits. Four of them are home runs. All of those home runs are solo shots. What, no one can get on base in front of him? I know this pace isn't going to keep up, but it makes me really happy for right now. Any time I get to see Jason on my screen, I will refrain from complaining. And as much as I want to like Victor Martinez and I want him to succeed, I don't think he's going to be around for the long haul. The Red Sox are targeting catchers left and right. We need someone who can throw out base runners, and it's clear that Jason and Victor aren't big on that. Tek has allowed 11 SB's, and caught no one. Victor has allowed 27 SB's and caught 2 runners. 38 SB's off Red Sox catchers in APRIL! Ugh, that just gave me a stomach ache. Let's not think about that any more.

So the Sox put up 7 runs on three home runs. Tek's was obviously a solo shot. Scutaro got hold of a pitch for a three run blast in the 7th, and Youk followed up with his own three run shot in the same inning. We were a whole 2 for 4 with RISP. Doesn't exactly make you feel good knowing that all the offense came directly from home runs, but at the same time, I'll never complain about a home run. Wolverine did have an error in this game, but what's a Sox game with no errors by our defense? Boring, that's what it is!

Oh! That's right, I don't want to forget... a GIANT welcome back to Vantastic. He was dumped by the Pirates and picked back up by the Sox. When I tell you I love this kid, you can believe that I truly love him. I don't know what it is about itty bitty baby Sox outfielders, but I think I have a soft spot in my heart for them. It's fine. I'm happy that he's back, even if he didn't do much in terms of adding value to the ball club on Saturday night. He'll come in handy as CRW continues to recover from his fractured ribs. I know that Vantastic can field, at least. And every once in a while, he has been known to pop up with a much needed hit, so there's that. I love getting to welcome people back. Time to update the nickname list!

Then there's the bullpen. Oh, bullpen. I'll give them their dues. They were superb during the Rangers series. They went a good long while without allowing a run between them all. BOP was almost unhittable during that series. Unfortunately, starting Friday night, they were pretty damn hittable. In a total of two innings that the pen had to work, we had three relievers. Rambo actually took the biggest hit to his ERA, but Paps was the one that allowed the hits that caused those runs to score. There were five straight hits in the ninth. Schoe was great in the 2/3rds of an inning he was allowed to pitch. After getting the first out in the 9th, Rambo gave up a HR and a double and was lifted for Pap. Pap allowed the next three batters to reach on singles. I was ripping my hair out, as I'm sure you guessed. Finally, Farrell came out, smacked Paps in the head and told him to cut the shit*, after which he promptly and excruciatingly retired the next two batters via strikeout. Damage done, though, as two batters had already come around to score. I don't know what gets into Paps sometimes, but that many hits to the Orioles? Ugly. Just glad he got out of it.

*Disclaimer: This has never actually happened, but it's the only thing I want to see John Farrell do before he retires. Come on! It would be so damn funny! And probably effective!

So that was Saturday. Again, a win is a win. Doesn't matter if it's ugly. Unfortunately, ugly catches up with you eventually. When I can stomach it, I'll write about Sunday's game. It may take me until the start of tonight's game, but I'll do it. I promise! Have I ever lied to you? Sure I have, but you guys don't care. You're good troopers!