2-0: Red Sox Defeat Second Ace Of May

by Ben Buchanan on May 3, 2011 1:46 AM EDT in Game Stories

First Felix Hernandez, now Jered Weaver; the Red Sox are off to a strong start in May. And while only a few of the runs actually came against the Angels' ace, there's no discounting the nine they put up on the scoreboard Monday.

The Sox did manage to mount more offense against Weaver than any other team this season, starting in the first inning when Kevin Youkilis singled in Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Angels struck back in the third and fifth innings, getting single runs of Clay Buchholz each time as the Red Sox' starter couldn't dodge every bullet. But the Sox responded, scoring again in the fifth. Carl Crawford doubled to get things started--joining the Sox in their early success in the month--and Jason Varitek walked before they both advanced on a ground out from Jacoby Ellsbury.

Up came Dustin Pedroia, and so began one amazing at bat. Weaver alternated between balls and strikes for the first four pitches for a 2-2 count. After Pedroia fouled off a pair of fastballs, he took ball number three to bring the count full. Weaver would deliver five more pitches only to see them fouled off, building his count up over 100. Finally, on the thirteenth pitch of the at bat, Pedroia swung at a fastball away, and knocked it right back where it came from, past Weaver and into center field to score both runners and give the Sox a 3-2 lead.

The real explosion came in the seventh inning, though. The Sox loaded the bases with only one out, and for the third time that night, found a hit with runners in scoring position, this time from Adrian Gonzalez, who doubled off the wall in center-left. Then another, as Kevin Youkilis did the same. Then a third, this one all the way over the Monster as David Ortiz picked up his third homer of the season.

When all was said and done, the score was 9-2, a lead not even Dan Wheeler could give away (try as he might).

The Red Sox won't have it much easier tomorrow, as Dan Haren and Jon Lester have a rematch of their game from the last series.

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Another gem from the Pastor of Despair, the Master of Disaster, the Priest that hates the East, Rev Halofan:

I’m not going to whine about the terrible umpiring because that is what losers do. Oh wait, we lost, hey since we are losers it can be pointed out that everyone in the stadium thought Jason Varitek had struck out except some guy standing behind the plate waiting to get his Whitey Bulgger cut form tonight’s gate receipts. Pink Hat nation won, big whoop, they are not that good, they won’t be making the playoffs and we actually might seeing as how lousy our division is. So there.

DFA Rev Halofan
I'm a 7 WAR player in bed.
Official Baker of Red Sox Nation

by TheLoneDavid on May 3, 2011 1:54 AM EDT reply actions

I still cannot fathom why they allow him to maintain that garbage that is Halos Heaven.

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on May 3, 2011 2:09 AM EDT up reply actions

Shitty Team Bias

"Laser show. So relax."
I am unable to certify that this team contains an acceptable level of feces.

by nuthinboutnuthin on May 3, 2011 2:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Someone is a sore loser.

I seriously hope this guy is a kid. Like seriously, below the age of 14 or something. There is no excuse for being that biased and hateful.

The Red Sox suck, and I am the dirt that was sucked in, I am a dirty.

by outofleftfield on May 3, 2011 3:18 AM EDT up reply actions

Nah.

Old dude.

"Laser show. So relax."
I am unable to certify that this team contains an acceptable level of feces.

by nuthinboutnuthin on May 3, 2011 4:42 AM EDT up reply actions

Yup. Super old. Like, 37.

Like me!

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard

by Bloggy on May 3, 2011 2:08 PM EDT up reply actions

Wow... someone on here is older than me?

Not by much, though… less than two years or so, I’d guess.

by AlohaSox on May 3, 2011 4:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Now I feel really old.

"If your happiness depends on Boston winning or losing, you have to get a life." Manny Somebody-or-other

by Tessie's Dad on May 3, 2011 6:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Rev is seriously facts challenged.

Go to Brooks Baseball and compare Weaver’s zone to Clay’s. It confirms what I thought watching the game. Weaver got a massively better K-zone than Clay did. Weaver got 6 balls inside the zone that should have been strikes called balls. That includes the call Rev is bitching about most likely. He got 4 balls off the box called strikes, for a total of 6/4 “harmful to helpful.” Clay got 9 strikes called balls and one ball called a strike for a 9/1 “harful to helful” call ratio. Massive difference. Clearly the ump was basically helping the Halos all night.

2 years ago I politely went on HH to point out a similar fact after the infamous Fuentes-Green at bat. I had people over their claiming that Brooks is doctored, not accurate, etc. Those guys just live in their own reality.

by Buzzy on May 3, 2011 10:25 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed

Here are the zones for both teams:

I’m not big on conspiracy theories. But if the ump was cheating for anyone it was the Angels.

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

by Drugs Delaney on May 3, 2011 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions

"hurtful to helpful" -spelling challenged.

by Buzzy on May 3, 2011 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions

Since you dropped a letter from both...

…I was wondering if you did it on purpose!

Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.

@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard

by Bloggy on May 3, 2011 2:09 PM EDT up reply actions

all of my spelling errors

(which generally) occur at a frequency of one every other word) are on purpose…:)

by Buzzy on May 3, 2011 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Plus

Pedroia got that tag on whatshisface on that single he tried to turn into a double.

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on May 3, 2011 11:33 AM EDT up reply actions

+1

But Rev would never mention that

by AJBlue7 on May 3, 2011 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions

Dan Wheeler

is another example of why its not smart to build a bullpen through free agency.

by beantownboy171 on May 3, 2011 2:04 AM EDT reply actions

Let's be honest

The bullpen we had blew chunks. We could afford to take some risks so we did. We didn’t exactly have the means to do it entirely with our own system anyway. If we hadn’t gone out to get guys, we’d have like 2-3 guys in the pen.

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on May 3, 2011 2:08 AM EDT up reply actions

No, Dan Wheeler

is another example that ROOGY’s should not be used against LHH.

Wheeler against LHH: 3.00 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, .500 avg
Wheeler against RHH: 9.53 K/9, 0.00 BB/9, .150 avg.

Of course these are huge SSS, but they conform to career trends.

Career vs. LHH: 4.89 FIP, 4.77 xFIP
Career vs. RHH: 3.48 FIP, 3.53 xFIP.

As soon as Terry learns that Wheeler is a true ROOGY, the better. He can stay in for maybe one lefty, but he is the worst guy possible to try to go multiple innings.

by ThePanda on May 3, 2011 2:58 AM EDT up reply actions

So, I'm going to drop this into the recap thread because I responded so late in the Game Thread.

I made the comment that we kill aces, and someone responded – who kills aces?

Now… maybe that was all in fun, but this 13-15 team has beaten:

C.C. Sabathia (April 10th)
Ricky Romero (April 18th)
Gio Gonzalez (not an ace, per se… April 20th)
Dan Haren (maybe Jered Weaver is the ace,but… April 22nd)
Felix Hernandez (May 1st – didn’t get the loss due to Jenks implosion, but…)
Jered Weaver (May 2nd)

So, six wins come against the top tier pitchers in the American League. Not too bad… how many losses do we have to the other team’s aces or top pitchers?

Here’s hoping the trend continues tomorrow with Mr. Haren.

by AlohaSox on May 3, 2011 5:00 AM EDT reply actions

Gotcha, I'm sorry, I misunderstood.

I thought you were lamenting that the Sox didn’t kill aces.

I was thinking the same that you were, that the Sox have actually been pretty good against aces but it wasn’t an imperative loss if they weren’t. Being aced by aces is expected, but it seems the better the competition, the better the focus from the offense.

by cds7c on May 3, 2011 10:17 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, to be honest, I wasn't sure if you were challenging or supporting my thought.

I wasn’t sure I hadn’t missed some sort of joke built into your reply.

by AlohaSox on May 3, 2011 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Brett Anderson is the most obvious loss given how badly he destroyed us.

We’ve also got some sort of faux aces from Texas and Cleveland. Good pitchers, but not ace-like.
I’d maybe count Britton as the Orioles’ ace already. He’s the only guy in their rotation that really strikes fear.

Over the Monster -- SB Nation's Resident Red Sox Site
USG

by Ben Buchanan on May 3, 2011 11:19 AM EDT up reply actions

I saw him pitch and he is a good pitcher that will continue to develop

Good composure, great sinker against the Sox and of course lefty. He did put some meatballs over the plate that the Sox passed on. I think if they face him again they will lay off the sinker and wait for his fastball. He is good but he probably appeared even better (gooder – so to speak) than he is based on the fact the Sox were seeing him for the first time.

"Man that ball got outta here in a hurry, you know anything that travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don't you think?" - Crash Davis

by Dave D on May 3, 2011 11:45 AM EDT up reply actions

So, roughly a 6-4 record against aces, by that count.

Assuming we faced the “ace” of the Texas and Cleveland staffs.

Not a bad situation, considering our overall record, that we win a majority of the games against the other team’s aces. Especially if the World Series opponent is a team like Philadelphia, boasting four “aces:” Halladay, Lee, Oswalt and Hamels.

by AlohaSox on May 3, 2011 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions

I think 'ace' is dumb, because it limits the number to just 30 and gives Kevin Correia credence in the conversation

I think we do do (ha, dodo) pretty well against ‘very good’ pitching.

Quick analysis of the season so far:

5/2 Weaver – Win
5/1 Hernandez – Win
@ 4/30 Fister – Loss
@ 4/29 Vargas – Loss
@ 4/28 Bergesen – Win
4/27 Guthrie – Loss
*/@ 4/26 Britton – Loss
@ 4/24 Palmer – Win
@ 4/23 Santana – Win
4/22 Haren – Win
@ 4/21 Chatwood – Win
4/20 Gonzalez – Win
4/19 Anderson – Loss
4/18 Romero – Win
@ 4/17 Litsch – Win
@ 4/16 Reyes – Win
@ 4/15 Cecil – Loss
4/12 Price – Loss
*/@ 4/11 Hellickson – Loss
4/10 Sabathia – Win
@ 4/9 Nova – Loss
@ 4/8 Hughes – Win
*/@ 4/7 Carmona – Loss
@ 4/6 Talbot – Loss
@ 4/5 Tomlin – Loss
@ 4/3 Harrison – Loss
*/@ 4/2 Lewis – Loss
4/1 Wilson – Loss

is for pitchers that are pretty good (on my subjective scale) @ is for pitchers we should probably beat regardless of the matchup, a couple were inbetween, like Britton, who is a rookie but also a very good one, Hellickson is in the same boat.

But by my count we are 6-8 against teams putting forward good starters and 7-11 against starters we would beat (counting Britton/Hellickson/Carmon/Lewis twice). Of course, this doesn’t take into account how good of a game we or the starter had and on who the loss was assigned to.

So far, it seems that we do just as well (or poorly for our case) against good starters as we do the guys we should beat regularly.

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on May 3, 2011 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions

I hate auto formatting

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on May 3, 2011 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, I'd have to agree with your analysis there...

I didn’t dig that deep when I scrolled through the schedule and looked at winning vs. losing pitchers. I only knew Felix had started our win on Sunday because I was paying attention on Sunday… harder to do that going back.

Thanks for the extra effort on my original thought, even if you knocked my analysis down a little in the process.

by AlohaSox on May 3, 2011 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

6-8 against the top pitchers in the league is actually pretty decent all things considered

"We are not normal, We are Legends. People will tell their kids about us." - Deon Butler before Ohio State Game 2008.

by Rogue Nine on May 3, 2011 6:51 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, at least the bullpen minus Wheeler is pretty fresh

Last night the Sox used Bard (only 5 pitches) Wheeler (26) Oki (12)

I think Wheeler is a model of consistency and over the season he will not disappoint too much – last night was rather ugly; but, Oki was serviceable.

(I wish we had picked up Scott Downs – oh well!)

On another note, Buch was not super but he kep the team in the game – the starters have done that for awhile now. My thinking this year is that as long as the starters are decent enough the hitting should make up the difference in the later innings when the opposing team trots out their relievers – like last night for instance!!! I hope we see much more of those breakout innings.

"Man that ball got outta here in a hurry, you know anything that travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don't you think?" - Crash Davis

by Dave D on May 3, 2011 7:53 AM EDT reply actions

Forgot Bard only threw 5.

I was expecting a 1.1 inning performance, but then the offense went nuts and we didn’t need it.

Over the Monster -- SB Nation's Resident Red Sox Site
USG

by Ben Buchanan on May 3, 2011 11:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Question Regarding Weaver's Loss

Checked the box score and it says that Weaver only gave up 3 earned. LAA scored 5 runs in the game. Wouldn’t this pull Weaver off the hook? (I ask this purely for fantasy purposes).

Maybe I misunderstand what gives a pitcher a win and a loss, and if someone could explain it, I’d appreciate it.

by BillMac on May 3, 2011 8:51 AM EDT reply actions

LAA was losing

When Weaver left the mound and they never retook the lead.

A-Gon Will Be MVP
DFA Dice-K

by sonicdeathmonkey on May 3, 2011 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions

yeah winning and losing is decided by

whoever is pitching whenever the last lead of the game is taken.

by wolf9309 on May 3, 2011 9:51 AM EDT up reply actions

This is correct

If the Angels had just tied it up after Weaver left the game, he would’ve been off the hook and whoever gave up the runs (earned or not) to give the other team the lead would’ve gotten the loss.

by The Name is Dalton on May 3, 2011 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

which reaffirms for the zillionth time

that pitcher W’s & L’s are a pretty silly stat except maybe over the looooong term.

"We will take it easy, and walk on down our road at our pace with our focus ahead, and your focus on us." - Warrior Spirit, on what Celtics' Ubuntu is.

by mmmmm on May 3, 2011 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I think

and I could be wrong here, it’s because he left with his team losing, and they never regained any sort of lead. When he went out it was 3-2 Sox which is effectively a loss for the Angels and Weaver because at no point after that did they take the lead.

Now if he had left with the Angels losing but they later took the lead, and still ended up losing because of a reliever, then I don’t think he would be credited with the loss, the reliever would.

by AJBlue7 on May 3, 2011 9:27 AM EDT reply actions

Reply fail

by AJBlue7 on May 3, 2011 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Good News Is...

If we can beat Haren tonight the other 2 pitchers that have going aren’t nearly as good.

A-Gon Will Be MVP
DFA Dice-K

by sonicdeathmonkey on May 3, 2011 9:29 AM EDT reply actions

But, as Aloha mentioned, the Sox hit better pitchers better

and, if I recall correctly, that crappy Joel Piniero has befuddled the Sox before. I think it’s the anger for what a disaster his stay in Boston was, compared to the rest of his career. He win’s the Edgar Renteria Award for pitchers.

by cds7c on May 3, 2011 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Let's hope the same doesn't become true of Bartolo Colon.

Is it me, or is he pitching much better for the Yankees than he ever did for us?

by AlohaSox on May 3, 2011 12:43 PM EDT up reply actions

True.

I think they must just have a much better buffet table.

"Laser show. So relax."
I am unable to certify that this team contains an acceptable level of feces.

by nuthinboutnuthin on May 3, 2011 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions

So Colon did pitch for the Sox.

I couldn’t remember if that actually happened, of it was some cruel dream or vision.

Colon v. Buck
CCheesburglar v. Lester
Garcia v. Beckett

I’ll take my chances with those matchups.

(but, frankly, I look at the Yanks pitching matchups every week and see every start by someone besides CC as a likely loss….yet, they keep winning)

by cds7c on May 3, 2011 1:31 PM EDT up reply actions

well Burnett hasn't blown up yet

So if (when) he does blow up, I assume it will have a trickle effect and Colon and Garcia will be hit with bad luck shrapnel and lose their effectiveness.

by The Name is Dalton on May 3, 2011 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions

Or

When their Colon blows, it’ll have a trickle effect …

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

by Drugs Delaney on May 3, 2011 2:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Well, if that happens they will really stink out loud

"Man that ball got outta here in a hurry, you know anything that travels that far oughta have a damn stewardess on it, don't you think?" - Crash Davis

by Dave D on May 3, 2011 3:20 PM EDT up reply actions