Game 61: Lester dominates, but Sox win in extras
by Randy Booth on Jun 12, 2009 11:36 PM EDT
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Two points that I must make note of:
- Jon Lester is nasty.
- Daniel Bard is nasty.
OK, so the points are similar, but they are still different. Lester dominated the Phils' lineup tonight, going seven, allowing two hits, one run, two walks and striking out 11 -- which includes six straight strikeouts at one point. Lester didn't get the win, however, because the game went into extras, where the Sox promptly won in 13.
Since Jonathan Papelbon wasn't available, Ramon Ramirez went in the 9th for the save, but it just wasn't in the cards. With the Sox up 2-1, Ryan Howard hit a solo shot to tie it and send it into extras.
In the 13th, with the bases loaded, Jacoby Ellsbury came through in the clutch with the game-winning RBI single. Nick Green hit a sac fly and Mike Lowell followed with an RBI of his own to put the Sox up 6-3.
Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson and Takashi Saito pitched well in relief, but Daniel Bard was called upon in the 13th for the save. After a leadoff walk, he struck out Jayson Werth, struck out Ryan Howard, hit Raul Ibanez (99MPH in the arm. That is a dent in the morning), and capped his first career save by striking out Shane Victorino. All three batters looked ugly in their Ks.
Bottom line is that the Sox win. As ugly as it may have been, there were many good performances. Let's hope we can keep this momentum building. Daisuke Matsuzaka and Antonio Bastardo matchup Saturday at 7 in game two of the series.
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Bard
Bard should be the back-up closer for when paps is unavailable.
Because one closer who gives up walks and pitches wildly
is clearly not enough?
"It's just a tiny little nick, but it hurts when I get champagne in there."
- Jason Bay, on getting spiked scoring the winning run in ALDS Game Four.
I think RamRam is a good No. 2, but maybe down the road for Bard. He’s fun to watch, but he’s not ready yet.
by Randy Booth on Jun 12, 2009 11:57 PM EDT up reply actions
RamRam
should almost be considered a “ROOGY;” even last year in KC he was much weaker against LHB, and as we have seen recently with 3 HRs against LHBs, this trend continues. He is better than a one out guy, but Francona should be a bit careful, as good as he is, when he is asked to face strong left hand batters.
No..
He still needs some work. He has to control his pitches if he is throwing high and inside. He was impressive with his accuracy low and away. He probably needs a two seam or a split fastball.
Saito isn’t a bad back up, I don’t even think RamRam did a bad job, he just screwed up on one pitch that was too high and and too slow for a monster batter like Ryan Howard.
But that is the thing
his strength is also a potential weakness. He gets batters out, especially RHB by the combo of high hard fastball and then changeup. To LHB, the high fastball is easier for them to pickup from his funky delivery. His L/R splits in batting average last year really show this…
Though when you have a three run lead...
…I think it’s ok to let a guy who still needs some work get a little experience in a save situation.
And if the MFY continue hitting our guys left and right and whining when they get a little payback, I’d be in favor of letting Bard throw high and tight against them every time we play them for the rest of the year.
Is Diasuke ever going to get us a QS?
Magic Eight Ball…..
For all things Boston College please visit my blog: Towers on the Heights
Let's hope
Apparently Dice-K doesn’t “feel 100 percent.” DL visit soon? Maybe. If so, that’d be sad.
by Randy Booth on Jun 13, 2009 12:09 AM EDT up reply actions
Enrique Gonzalez time?
Wait…I may’ve gotten that wrong.
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 13, 2009 12:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Depleted bullpen
and with DiceK going tomorrow, should the Sox send down Masterson and maybe bring up somebody like Bowden? he hasn’t pitched since 6/7, so he’ll be fresh.
Yeah, that was my idea.
He’d be missing a Pawtucket start, but possibly going 3 innings. Good move if you ask me.
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 13, 2009 12:50 AM EDT up reply actions
Oh, except send Bard down. He's got all his options.
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 13, 2009 12:51 AM EDT up reply actions
True.
Isn’t there some kinda condition that sending Bard down (at least once) prevents? Something about arbitration?
They can keep his service time down.
Avoiding Super Twos, pushing arbitration back a little. But I don’t think Bard will be a Super Two threat necessarily, and a few days in the minors won’t make a difference.
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 13, 2009 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions
That's what I was thinking of, but I wasn't sure.
MLBTR’s definition of a Super Two didn’t quite make sense to me.
I don't really know how many rookies are playing this year
But if after next year Bard’s time with the Sox is in the top-17 of all this years’ Rookies’ times with their teams, then he’s eligible for arbitration.
There’s an asterisk there about years of service vs. days of service, but really it depends mostly upon when during the season he was called up. A few days in the minors isn’t gonna change much.
by Ben Buchanan on Jun 13, 2009 4:40 PM EDT up reply actions
Also,
relievers don’t really get paid out enough in arbitration to make it that big of a deal. Its not like Bard is going to be getting Ryan Howard-type money in arbitration. He won’t even be getting Papelbon-ish money because he won’t be accumulating saves the Paps did.
Also, is service time measured in days on the major league roster, or number of appearances?
"Ninety percent [of my salary] I'll spend on good times, women, and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
-Tug McGraw
Does anyone know how fast Bard's off-speed pitches were?
Because they didn’t look like his usual Slider, but I think they were faster than his Slider is when he throws it Slurve-style.
I was at the Philly Stadium-ballpark area last night.
I could have gone to either the Sox game or to the Steve Winwood-Eric Clapton concert. What would you have done?
Hint to what I did: Eric Clapton is still the best guitar player in the world!
Not the best ever though.
Yeah, I would’ve gone to Clapton too. What time was it over? You coulda snuck in for extra innings.
Nobody on SoxProspects can figure out what to call Bard's breaking pitch either.
Most probable answer is that he’s started incorporating the break he was getting at 75 into his 85 MPH Slider.
Which would be RIDICULOUS.
You saw yesterday what happens when guys have to guess. Fastball or Slider? They guess fastball, he threw them that, and made guys like Howard look like rookies.
The last two weeks have given us some of the best Sox pitching in ages
They have made some of the best-hitting players in the major leagues look absolutely foolish.
And Daniel Bard is going to be a scary, scary pitcher someday soon.
Yet, oddly, MDC and RamRam missed the memo.
We need all the other pitchers to pay a visit to their cubicle. :)
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