Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

by Allen Chace on Jun 28, 2007 2:46 AM EDT in Game Stories Comment 9 comments

Rock beats scissors; Daisuke beats MDC.

...no pitcher is that good. No pitcher can win a game when the offense scores no runs. At least they got him off the hook for the loss, but the rest of it was just ridiculous, especially considering:

The table-setters (Coco + Pedroia) reached base 5 times out of 10 PAs, and one of the outs made was a SF from Crisp for our only run.
Papi-Manny-Youks: 0 for 14, BB. Extra BP gentlemen. Should probably bring 'Tek with you. Not sure anything short of an exorcism would help Lugo at this point.
Daisuke: ...may I just say, in your not native tongue, gracias. In a game that was overall a steaming truckload of deer vomit, you were the surprisingly hot woman driving the truck. Keep it going. I've seen this team score enough runs to win games; it might have even been recently.
Paps: Super-ridiculous. 5 outs on 17 pitches, 2 Ks.

Daisuke. 8 IP, 1 "E"R, 3 H, BB, 8 K.

Awfully tempting to put Pineiro here, but we had enough baserunners that we failed to bring across that I've gotta blame the meat of the order: Papi-Manny-Youks. You're better than this.

Up next: Stay tuned for an announcement about a new feature on OTM. Or don't. Just in case I got your hopes up for no reason just now.

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Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

I'm feeling bad for Daisuke. He could have 11 or 12 wins at this point but the offense just isn't there.

Paps was ridiculous yesterday. It's too bad he didn't get anything out of it. And what was with Manny jumping at the wall? He really didn't have to jump...

OverTheMonster.com

by Randy Booth on Jun 28, 2007 4:42 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

What was REALLY RIDICULOUS was for Francona NOT to have pinched hit for Lugo late in the regular innings with men on first and second. Luga was zero for 30 (now 31), and even the Seattle Announcers seemed stunned by this Francona move! Francona's judgement baffles me over and over, but what do I know!

by NG on Jun 28, 2007 4:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

He baffles me on occasion, and there are a lot of ways his players could be making him look more intelligent than he is (Okajima/Papelbon, and oftentimes Lopez). I still find it hard to find a game that can be blamed on his management, including this one. This is hubris from me, but I'm absolutely not wrong in pointing the finger at the middle of our order. The guys above them got on, and they didn't come through repeatedly. This game should have been blown open, especially with Daisuke having possibly his best game in the States thusfar.

That being said, Cora doesn't exactly light up the world at the plate himself, and can no longer be considered "the hot hand". Would I have PH for Lugo earlier? Absolutely. Is it really a crucifiable move from Francona? I don't think so.

Lugo's career shows him to be a decent hitter most of the time. Has that deserted him? Maybe. Maybe not. Cora's career shows him to be a hitter who's lucky he's got a good glove for the MI.

What should really upset Sox fans is Lugo's reaction to being PH for. He of all people should know how badly he's been struggling.

"Interesting. No wait, the other thing. Tedious." -Bender Bending Rodriguez.

by Allen Chace on Jun 28, 2007 5:06 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

I agree with Allen. While Lugo sucks right now, Cora isn't exactly setting the world on fire. Cora is 6 for 30 (.200 BA) with 1 RBI this month.

Tito left Lugo in with 2 on and 2 out in the 8th, and he struck out on 7 pitches. Basically, Francona was looking to jump-start a player the organization made a huge commitment to. If Lugo gets a hit there, maybe he drives in a run which could turn his season around. As noted earlier, the alternative (Cora) isn't that much better. If Tito went to Hinske, who is hot right now (6 for 18 this month, with 2 HR and a .429 OBP), Hargrove would have brought in a LHP because he had one warming. Two innings later, Cora did pinch-hit with a runner on and hit into a DP.

Allen is also right in faulting the middle of the order for the lack of runs Wednesday. Rather than calling out the #9 hitter for failing to drive in a run from second with two out (or the manager for swapping one struggling hitter with another), how about getting on Ortiz and Manny? Here's an example: After Crisp's SF tied the game in the 7th. Pedroia walked. With two on and one out, Ortiz flied out on the first pitch he saw from Sherrill. A single probably would have scored Lugo from second. Manny ended the inning, also flying out. Papi stranded 7 runners.

The Sox as a team left 11 men on base. That's why they lost. It happens some times, although some fans always think the sky is falling.

I gotta go 'cause I'm probably definitely gonna nod out again.

by Drugs Delaney on Jun 28, 2007 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

Do you remember last year when the sox hit the skids in July for the umteenth time and never recovered! The team today, IMHO, is not that different now and maybe even weaker hitting-wise. Rather than just pray or justify, maybe a truly winning perenial team makes changes when they see such slippage so it does not become the norm. I admit I don't have all the vision and info on what could be done, but I do have the unhappy experience of witnessing this slide much too often! I hate it!

by NG on Jun 28, 2007 8:17 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

As my mom is fond of telling me, they can't win every game.

Weaker hitting-wise? I might give you that, though Pedroia >> Loretta, Drew has shown how he can be >> Trot, Youks has improved and Lowell at least put up an even better 1st half than he did last season. Also, Tek is hitting again, which he basically didn't do all year last year. 07 Manny << 06 Manny so far, and Lugo is one of the worst regulars in the game.

Stronger pitching. Beckett + Matsuzaka make an extremely strong 1-2 punch, and aside from the other night, Tavarez has been perfectly acceptable as a 5th starter. The pen is better (Paps was IT last season, at least he has Okajima as backup). I'm a little weary of Wake lately, and not in small part due to his caddy.

I'll unhappily eat crow if I'm wrong about this, but I really don't think the resemblance between the team this season and that of last season is really that strong.

"Interesting. No wait, the other thing. Tedious." -Bender Bending Rodriguez.

by Allen Chace on Jun 28, 2007 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

Let me know when you finally see a real problem so I can adjusted my over-sensitive (in your opinion) barometer. I just hope that by then it is not too late to do anything about it! The sox in the last week, and especially in the last 3 games, have looked and felt very much like lasts years team to me.

by NG on Jun 28, 2007 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

I'm not saying there aren't real problems. But we're like 9 games up in June. Let's give them a chance to really start tripping over themselves.

"Interesting. No wait, the other thing. Tedious." -Bender Bending Rodriguez.

by Allen Chace on Jun 28, 2007 8:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Gentlemen. I have some news for you...

I seem to remeber saying something about RUN SUPPORT for Dice K the other day...jeez, between him and Wakefield I can't tell who has the worst luck! The lumber be-a slumbering. As someone once said at a NY Giants game a long time ago..."let's get some hits!"

You can take the boy outta Boston, but you can't take the Boston outta the boy.

by B Cap on Jun 28, 2007 5:05 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs