Wild Daisuke, Slow Francona Help Rays Overcome Patterson's Dingers
by Ben Buchanan on Jul 6, 2010 11:21 AM EDT
in Game Stories
Email
Print
Eric Patterson isn't expected to do much. The Red Sox aren't expected to do much against Matt Garza. So when Patterson hits two solo shots and the Sox chase Garza after scoring four runs in three innings, you kind of have to win the game.
The Red Sox did not, however, as the Rays came back against Daisuke Matsuzaka and Ramon Ramirez to down Boston 6-5.
Daisuke was very shaky early on, but allowed only one run in a 30-pitch first inning. As has been the case with Matsuzaka this year, after the difficult start, he settled down with a few quick and scoreless innings before running into trouble again in the fifth, allowing a pair of runs partially thanks to a run-scoring passed ball by Kevin Cash. Coming back out in the sixth, the Rays put four straight runners on base before Francona came out with the hook, leading to a game-tying two run inning.
Now, unlike on Sunday when Terry Francona brought John Lackey back into the game with a high pitch count, leading the Orioles to blow the game open, Daisuke Matsuzaka came back in with only 90 pitches. Still, when Daisuke had already allowed a pair of runs in the fifth, he was allowed way too much of a leash. The leadoff double probably should have been enough.
Dustin Richardson held the tie for two outs before being replaced by Ramon Ramirez, who recorded the final out in the sixth after walking Evan Longoria. The seventh inning wasn't nearly as successful, as two straight singles led to a game-winning sacrifice fly by Jason Bartlett.
This was a game the Sox were supposed to lose in a lot of ways. But after scoring four in the third inning, there's no excuse for letting it slip away. Daisuke was his usual disappointing self, the bullpen gave up a winning run, and Terry Francona spent was once again slow with his trigger finger--though given the quality of who he has to turn to, can you really blame him?
35 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
We're going to disappear during this stretch of injuries...
If starters like Dice K, and Lackey, cannot pick up the slack. Dice K’s act has gotten tired, old, and quite frankly, he’s not good anymore. He’s more of a joke to watch than anything. Lackey has improved, and I actually have faith in him, because unlike Dice K, he’s not gutless.
But unless those two step up, along with the rest of our starters, during this stretch, we’re gonna have a taxed bullpen, which is already mediocre at best…to go with a lineup that is 50% dessimated. I don’t see us hanging around unless the rotation stops bullshitting.
you can't expect an ace-pitched game every game
we’ll be fine. Players will be starting to filter back in soon. We’re in a great position right now and the team is just going to be improving as VMart, Beckett, maybe Lowrie, and eventually Pedroia come back.
But you can expect more than Daisuke has given us.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Jul 6, 2010 12:09 PM EDT up reply actions
he’s not good anymore
Anymore? When was this time when he was much different from the way he is now? He really hasn’t changed much over the years, he will always walk a ton of guys. 2008 was incredibly lucky with that 2.90 ERA, which came along with a 1.30 WHIP (a 5 BB/9!!) and a 4ish FIP. He managed to strand a ton of runners. He’s about the same every year, some years he’s lucky, other years he unlucky and then other times he’s quite average, which is the way I classify him in my mind, average.
We may slide a little bit here but we were way behind before and most people thought that we would never be in contention but yet here we are near the top and right there with the Yanks and Rays. We know that if we do slide, once these guys start coming back from the DL, we have every ability to get right back in this thing. We were playing pretty well considering we only had 1 or 1.5 of our starting OF healthy and our opening day pitcher on the DL.
Nothing but hope here.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
Edes, relaying a conversation with Orestes Destrade (emphasis added):
He, like so many fans, finds Daisuke’s constant nibbling to be maddening, and wants him to simplify his approach, rely on three pitches and challenge hitters more. He also believes that Daisuke gets frustrated when he doesn’t get calls that would have automatically gone in his favor in Japan.
You mean he played on the Japanese Yankees? Seriously, though, this just adds to my impression of Dice-K as a mentally un-tough pitcher. I know a lot gets lost in translation (no movie reference intended), but he just seems off. Maybe its a cultural thing, maybe its a translation thing, maybe I’m looking to attribute my dislike for him to reasons not related to his performance…
Wait 'til next/this year?
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jul 7, 2010 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions
Figures
Team is 49-33 sitting in good shape in the East and within the Wild Card race – this after a terrible April and having been decimated by injuries and all many on this blog can do is weep, moan and prognasticae failure….Typical Red Sox fan lamentations
Doom and gloom are easy...
… when Bad Dice-K shows up.
Agreed, though. I think we’re in pretty okay shape. Pedroia’s absence is going to sting for a while, but we’re still more than enough for any other major league team when V-Mart and Beckett return. Ells and Lowrie would be bonuses at this point…
Wait 'til next/this year?
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jul 6, 2010 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Eh -- par for the course
Francona is often slow to give a starter the hook this year. So what? Even with all the injuries and poor pitching, we’re still just half a game back of the wild card.
And really, what’s the alternative? Yes, we should have won last night. But if Francona always goes to the pen when the starter struggles, we’re going to need a much better pen than we have. I think his strategy of riding the starters as far as they can take us and counting on Lester, Buchholz, Lackey, and Wakefield to squeeze out an extra few outs every time they start is a good one considering the total unpredictability and lack of consistency by the bullpen this year. And as for Dice-K, we can all pretend that he was ever good, but he was about league average or slightly better for a couple years and has been horrible for a couple years. It shouldn’t surprise anyone anymore when he blows a game.
This
Exactly, so what if Francona pulls Dice-K after the lead-off hit? Is any member of the bullpen really much more reliable than Dice? I mean, you could use Bard there but then he’s done for the night and we’re liable to give up an 8th inning lead when Oki or RamRam go in. The bullpen is really forcing him to make some tough decisions because really if the starter doesn’t get through the 7th or at least the 6th with a large lead, there isn’t really anything he can do that we would say “at least he tried” if things end up poorly.
"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.
I saw that...
…is there a limit to the number of people you can DL?
Wait 'til next/this year?
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jul 6, 2010 1:20 PM EDT up reply actions
Francona needs to learn when to say WHEN
It is tiring to see Francona always waiting too long to pull a pitcher, waiting until a lead is erased and the opponents have loaded the bases. He’s done it again tonight with Wakefield, just letting the Rays score over and over. I believe TF has his “favorites,” such as Wakefiled, and is just too hesitant to pull them. Wakefield is good for 2-4 innings and then just unhinges Most of the time when he has gone beyond 5 innings the Sox have already scored enough runs to give Wakefiled the “padding” he needs. Personally I hope Wakefiled is gone next year. And if TF is hesitant about going to his bullpen because of the problems they’ve been having then maybe it is time to do something about that. Okajima needs to go and so does Manny D. Doubront did a good job last night in 5 2/3 innings and Okajima loses the game in only 2/3 inning.. And I can’t believe Lackey was kept in the game with such a high pitch count. Everyone knows Lackey hates to be pulled but if he is calling the shots instead of TF then it may be time for a managerial change. I can almost guarantee Theo will be having a talk with TF if the latter continues to leave SP’s in until the game is lost. Garza is a good SP but still was pulled after only 3 runs. Maybe TF should pay attention to what Joe Maddon is doing as the Rays pull ahead of the Sox.
no
First of all, you’re dead wrong about Wakefield. He’s erratic, certainly, but it’s not because he tires out. The reason he frequently stays in after giving up quite a few runs is because, more so than any other pitcher, he can recover from that and perform well the rest of the time.
The reason why this happens to players in general is because our bullpen sucks. That’s not Francona’s fault. He does not make the bullpen. Lackey is not calling the shots. Don’t pretend you know what is going on. What was going on in Francona’s head that game was that the bullpen needed a rest and Lackey had a better chance of getting out of the inning than his available relievers. a pitch count of 100 is not high for someone like Lackey. Turns out Francona was wrong that time, but it wasn’t because Lackey was managing.
Garza was pulled after 3 runs and a ton of pitches when he had been completely unable to get an out (that isn’t what happened with Lackey). The Tampa Bay bullpen is also a hell of a lot more solid than Boston’s, which gives them more flexibility to do that.
I'd like to introduce my Kevin Cash rules
Kevin Cash, of the career 39 OPS+, can’t be judged by the normal metrics for ballplayers, since he’s too terrible. Instead, I root for Kevin to see at least 4 pitches in every AB. If he’s able to see 4 then it’s a successful AB regardless of eventual outcome, since his only benefit is as a cardboard cutout who slightly tires the opposing pitcher.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
Yes, exactly
So, every time a pitcher throws a ball before 2 strikes, all he has to do is not swing again until 2 strikes. Then with 2 strikes, just foul off anything you can.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
I almost agree
Even as bad as he is, he ought to be able to get to at least four pitches every time he’s made to look like he couldn’t hit a ball off a tee if his life depended on it. That means that he really needs to get to more than four pitches to have made a genuine contribution to the team’s success.
Five pitches or more is a successful AB under the Cash Rules. Anything under that and I’m just hoping it’s not a double play.
When I see him swing, I notice that a few members of the Red Sox who look like they have more hitting experience include
Josh Beckett
Jon Lester (Actually he looked great at the plate…)
John Lackey
Daisuke Matsuzaka
kinda painful.
Can't blame Francona
With this bullpen, at least before the 8th inning, we can’t blame Francona for trying to milk innings from his starters. Did you really feel any “relief” when Ramon came into the game? The weak bullpen is really in trouble when Dice-K pitches, as he appears unable to get out of the 6th inning at best.
It almost makes you think we need six starters, right?
If we could get everyone healthy and performing as they normally do, I think I’d be ok with a rotation like this:
Lester
Buchholz
Beckett
Lackey
Wake/Dice-K — the starter goes until he gets in trouble, then the other one comes in, and they switch off which one starts
It’s not without its problems, not the least of which are that Wake deserves to start and Dice-K’s ego couldn’t take it. But at least we could be ok with the first 3.5 starters, and if Wake and Dice-K were on the same schedule, you wouldn’t have to worry about killing the bullpen when either starts.
Wake deserves to start and Dice-K’s ego couldn’t take it.
Eff him – either he mans up, or he continues to suck – the worst case is no worse than we’re faced with now. My mental well-being can’t take another Dice-K rollercoaster.
If he get upset enough, he might even ask to be traded.
I agree with the poster (in the gamethread) who objected to everyone lobbying for a trade of Dice-K as a knee-jerk reaction to a bad start. But I think the real problem is not that no one would want to take him (with some money in exchange for a moderate prospect), but instead that Dice-K would not permit the trade…
Wait 'til next/this year?
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jul 6, 2010 2:41 PM EDT reply actions
REPLY FAIL
whoops
Wait 'til next/this year?
"Laser show. So relax."
by nuthinboutnuthin on Jul 6, 2010 2:42 PM EDT up reply actions
Youk...
He won’t be playing, anyway. He’s ‘apparently’ injured.
i'm curious what the apostrophe's around apparently mean
are you implying that he faked the injury so we could cleverly lull the Rays into a false sense of security before we retaliate by trying to actually win one of the games against them?
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports
- College player makes impossible over the fence catch to save tournament game (Video)
- Security!: Camden Yards guard collides with Royals’ Mike Moustakas
- The Juice: Nelson Cruz matches career high eight RBIs, Pujols stays hot in Seattle
- Benches clear at Fenway as Red Sox-Rays rivalry heats up
- Keeping good company: Albert Pujols becomes fourth-youngest player to hit 450 home runs
