The Positives. Or, Rationalizing losing 2 of 3 to the Yanks.

by Allen Chace on Sep 17, 2007 1:38 PM EDT in Game Stories Comment 8 comments

First, a non-positive. My cable (and thus internet) was out all weekend. The only game I caught at all was the Patriots-Chargers last night, which is of course irrelevant to this post.
Starting pitching: All three of our guys showed that they could go toe-to-toe with the best lineup in the Majors and give us a good chance to win. Schilling was remarkably efficient, Matsuzaka was inefficient with better use of his off-speed stuff and (I thought) better movement on his fastball than we've seen lately. All Josh Beckett did was prove to the mediots that only one of the starters on Saturday was an actual Cy Young candidate.
Offense: 20 runs in 3 games should almost always get you more than a single win. Despite that, some good individual efforts from everyone on the team, with Hinske and Crisp in particular providing some unexpected help. Mike Lowell made a strong case for a three to four year deal from the Sox, even if conventional wisdom still argues otherwise.
Joba Chamberlain is apparently not a demigod. (This doesn't mean he's not still an excellent pitcher)
Called upon twice to keep it close, Eric Gagne pitched well.
Mike Timlin was balls-out on Friday. I was questioning the move at the time, but the fact of the matter is, you want a guy who doesn't pick at the strike zone in that situation. Even considering he allowed a run to come in, he was excellent out there.

Unfortunately, it wasn't all hearts and flowers.

Paps and Oki decided to simultaneously crap the bed on Friday night, ruining what was shaping up to be a sweet victory.
Youks. He seems doubtful that he'll return by tonight's game against the Jays. Eric Hinske and Kevin Cash in the same lineup. Note to Tito: this is not a good game to give Lugo or Pedroia a day off.
Not really a positive or negative, but this was pretty funny. Paps:
"I can't remember a closer who ever went through a season without blowing a save. If you're a closer that goes through a season and doesn't blow a save, I'd like to meet you."
2003, LA. You may be able to find this guy somewhere.
Maybe I'll put some more up later today, but I wanted to post this now so you all knew I didn't die/abandon the Sox.

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Positives.

I was really disappointed that the internet was out, because I had this thought about Saturday's game even before it started.

After a soul-crushing loss in the late innings to the Yankees on Friday night, ace Josh Beckett took the ball on Saturday with a smile on his face and a song in his heart. And he said: Piss on them.

by Allen Chace on Sep 17, 2007 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives.

Good post re: the positives. One other negative: is Francona demonstrating Grady-itis? I'm sure I wasn't the only one surprised when Oki and Schilling came out in their respective eighth innings ... and even if you bring Schilling out for the eighth, it's a no-brainer to take him out after Giambi's double. (Or at least it's a no-brainer if you can hear me screaming on my couch).

by BlowUp on Sep 17, 2007 2:34 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives.

Correct. I think Schilling should've been on a shorter leash for the 8th, though I'm on-board with him being out there. He only threw 90 pitches even after the blowup (no pun intended) was finished.

Oki felt like almost overkill at the time, and a 5-run lead seemed like the perfect time to continue giving him rest, so yeah, that was all very puzzling to me too. Pretty sure MDC was ready, and I definitely have enough faith in him for that situation and worse...

by Allen Chace on Sep 17, 2007 2:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives. Or, Rationalizing losing 2 of 3

OTM for tonight: Sox score at least seven runs.

They'll probably need them, too, the way Wake has pitched lately.

by RSNexile on Sep 17, 2007 6:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives. Or, Rationalizing losing 2 of 3

Did you take a look at the lineups at all before making this prediction? :)

by Allen Chace on Sep 17, 2007 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives. Or, Rationalizing losing 2 of 3

No, but the way Tek has been hitting, it doesn't matter if Cash plays, and Lugo and Youk haven't exactly been big run producers of late.

Besides, it's McGowan on the mound. In 30 ABs (granted, small sample size, but still...), the Sox have an OPS of 1.064 against him.

by RSNexile on Sep 17, 2007 6:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives. Or, Rationalizing losing 2 of 3

Good point on Youk and Tek, I think, but I'll take Lugo 99 times out of 100 over Alex Cora. At least he didn't rest DP instead, right?

by Allen Chace on Sep 17, 2007 6:47 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: The Positives. Or, Rationalizing losing 2 of 3

Actually, I'd take Lugo 100 times out of 100 over Alex Cora, especially since the all-star break -- he's still hitting about .290 in the second half.

At this point, Scrappy should only ever sit if he requests a day off or the team medical staff says he needs it. The kid's a sparkplug; he's certainly one of the four most valuable players on the team this year.

by RSNexile on Sep 17, 2007 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs