Again, Beckett sucked. I don't care if it was his spasm-y back or his inability to beat the Yankees that held him back, but dude has just not been good this year. I don't think it'll be like this for the remainder of his contract, but something's got to give with him. He has to figure out what he's doing wrong and fix it. We can't wait around forever for him. At this rate, we're actually getting better innings out of Wakefield than Beckett, and that tells you pretty much all you need to know.
Also on my shit list for the day... Scugo. I know the field was wet. I know playing conditions weren't optimal, but two fielding errors in one game is not acceptable. I feel pretty confident about the fact that Beckett would have gotten out of the 2nd inning with no runs allowed had Scugo not botched that ball that would have absolutely been a DP. Not cool. He damn well better dazzle me tonight if the game is actually played.
JD "Glassman" Drew is hurt. I'm not going to harp on him too much because he's been doing well. Doesn't take away from the fact that he's made of glass. It's not an insult, it's the truth. Hopefully the hamstring injury isn't going to linger because really, we need bats. Lots and lots of bats!
Anyway, on to the offense! There was literally nothing to get excited about from the Sox offense for the first five innings. Finally... FINALLY!... in the 6th, Youk took advatage of a bad Sabathia pitch and put it over the wall in left. Sabathia was hittable all night. His location wasn't on. He was all over the place, but our guys just couldn't take advantage. Maybe they were really deceptive pitches. Whatever it was, Youk's HR finally got us on the board after what was probably about 80 or 90 pitches. Luckily, the boys saved all the fun for Flyswatter and Mariano, scoring six times in two innings off of this particular combination of relievers. I don't care how bad we looked up until this point in the season, scoring runs against Mariano shows me that things are closer to getting back on track, and I am cool with that. In the eighth, we saw this sequence: error, single, double, single, ground out, single (Ortiz out at second), ground out. When it was all said and done, 4 runs got tacked on to Joba. Then in the 9th, heroics. Ronald singled, Scugo reached on an error (how appropriate), Munchkin grounded out, but then Wolverine came up against Mo and smacked a 2-run double to left over Randy Winn's head. Ugly wins are still wins, and I'll take them however they come.
Paps closed the 9th, but not before giving back a run and giving everyone a heart attack. Seriously, can we all stop considering Pap a top-tier closer now? He hasn't been this year, and he really wasn't stellar last year. Maybe I'm just being as bitchy and whiney as Joe Girardi, but Paps doesn't mean instant win to me any more, but he still acts like he's the best thing to happen to the bullpen since Keith Foulke. Him closing out the 9th of yesterday's game does not make up for the shit he put us through on Monday's game. Not even close.
Slightly off-topic... it really really pains me to read about how unhappy Mike Lowell is. I think he has every right to be unhappy. The Sox front office has gone seemingly out of their way to let him know that he's not wanted. From being forced to take him as a throw-in to the Beckett deal to trying endlessly to get rid of him.... I just don't know what Theo has against Mike. Sure, he doesn't have the offensive numbers of Beltre right now, but I don't like Beltre! Mikey is frustrated, and it makes me sad...
"I think sometimes you feel like the team might be better off if you're not on it," Lowell said. "I just eat up a roster spot. I really do. I don't know. If anything, it's a good feeling that I've had so many teammates come up to me and they say they sympathize with my situation. I think I've truly agonized over it. But it's not good or bad, it's just reality. ... I don't know what else to do."
Maybe he stays with us and gets a role on this team... more likely, he moves on. Whatever is going to happen needs to happen quick, because Mike's sadness is my sadness, and I don't want either of us to be sad. Mike doesn't deserve this treatment. He's done nothing but contribute to this team, and now we're treating him like an albatross instead of a contributing baseball player. Sad.
Fun fact: Me and Theo Epstein had something in common for one moment in time. We were both at the Pearl Jam concert on Monday, getting Sox updates on our cell phones. And for people who think that Theo (as much as I dislike him) doesn't deserve to take a night off.... seriously, shut the hell up. Theo may not be my favorite GM, but he's not the worst, and who doesn't enjoy Pearl Jam? Though, I still don't like him, and I think he should stop trying to hurt Mikey's ego. But what do I know?
Dahmer against Baker tonight at a very soggy Fenway.... if they can get the game in. We'll see.
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