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Chien-Ming Wang made the Red Sox his whipping boys last night.

I always give credit where credit is due. The player that deserves the only credit from last night is Wang who shut down the Sox to the tune of just 2 hits and one run over 9 innings of work.

Wang has a strong arsenal of pitches, but usually not everything of his is on. Last night, everything was on. The most impressive thing may have been his fastball which hit 95 consistently. Sox batters didn't look ready for that.

Unfortunately, Clay Buchholz goes completely overlooked but he handled the Yankees lineup pretty well last night. His curveball was on and he painted the corners for most of the night. Buchholz ended up throwing 99 pitches over 6 innings, but only surrendered one run. He walked 3 and struck out 3.

The offense obviously wasn't there last night. But the man that stepped up -- AGAIN -- was JD Drew. Drew hit a dinger in the fifth inning to finally put the Sox on the board. Coco Crisp had the only other hit for the Sox.

I'm not really worried about the offense. I'm more worried about the bullpen. Mike Timlin let this game get out of hand in his first outing of the season. Timlin gave up 2 runs and only recorded one out.

Timlin looks like he doesn't have much left. I think he'll battle it out through the rest of the season, but I can't see him pitching in 2009. His tank is running on empty and I think we saw a glimer of that last night.

Hideki Okajima looked good, but only worked two batters. Javier Lopez came in, struggled, but didn't give up a run. Then my bullpen sleeper Mr. David Aardsma came in to keep it close. He surrendered a run, but he was throwing heat and got the last 4 outs for the Sox. Aardsma could develop into the Sox's 7th inning guy.

Sox look for revenge today at 3.

Comment of the Game:

"Chein Mein has no wang" - BoSox415 (Had to use this one...)

P.S. Sean Casey looked pretty good last night...

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The 2007 World Series MVP is on the shelf for a little bit. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list before last night's game prompting the Sox to call up prospect Jed Lowrie from Pawtucket. With that, how's this Sox lineup supposed to shake out?

The Red Sox have veteran Sean Casey on the bench for these type of situations. With the mobile Kevin Youkilis able to shift over to third base, it seems like a no-brainer to just slide Casey into the lineup. But does anyone else feel like we need to give Lowrie the bulk of the playing time with Lowell is on the disabled list?

We know what Casey can do; he doesn't need to prove anything to Sox fans or baseball fans. Lowrie, though, has a prime opportunity right now to get his name out there and make a big splash.

If we look at this position-by-position, I'd take Lowrie defensively over Youkilis at third base. Youkilis is a great gloveman but he is much more valuable at first base than at third base. Youk can play third, but we know his specialty is digging the balls at first. If we had the luxury, I'd never move him from first base ... ever (Remember the outfield fiasco awhile back? That was ugly).

Lowrie has range at third base. He's actually a middle infielder (shortstop, second -- choose your poison) with a pretty strong cannon for a little guy. I have no doubts he could be a successful third baseman at the major league level.

At first, Youkilis wins the job defensively hands-down. Casey isn't a slacker over there, but c'mon -- we all know Youk is the best of the best at first base. If we have the best of the best, we need that guy to actually be there, too.

The issue comes down to offensive production. Casey has a long career behind him of solid production for MLB teams. Lowrie, not. But like rookies before him, Lowrie could come up and set the world on fire. And if it's only for 15 days then I think the rook can do it. Even if he doesn't go on a 15-game hitting streak after his callup, I want to see what he can do in Fenway Park and other big boy ballparks.

I cast my vote for Lowrie at third base and Youkilis at first base until Lowell is healthy enough to come back. Do I hear a second?

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Summary:

You know, it's tough to start a long winning streak. Have to give credit: Nate Robertson was excellent through the first 3. He mowed down the Sox, and racked up the strikeouts in the process. Made the Sox look silly, and not just David Ortiz. Wake was not so much in control. He was wild from the get-go, and never really got it under control. He needed 108 pitches to get through 5 innings, and we're probably pretty lucky he didn't need more.

The Tigers scored 2 in the 4th, and it felt over, at least for me. The Sox had looked...impotent in the first few innings and I wasn't sure the situation was going to get better. One man decided he'd had enough. Who decided that? You guessed it. Frank Stallone. J.D. Drew. Drew knocked in the first run, and scored the third on the way to a four-run 4th inning. 

After a scoreless 5th and 6th from both teams, the Tigers got a solo HR from Magglio Ordonez to make the score 4-3.  One-run games are annoying, just as a side note. Apparently the Sox agree with me, as Manny Ramirez ended up in an epic battle with Zach Miner after both DP and Papi reached on walks. "Being" won, of course, and knocked both in with a 2B. 6-3. If you can believe it, J.D. Drew ended up being in the middle of another Sox rally, getting the intentional respect walk, and scored on a Mayor McSpeed single, along with Tacoby Bellsbury. 8-3.

Comfortable, right? A four-run lead? Excellent. No. Not really. In comes Julian Tavarez to make his best attempt at ruining your evening. Two truckfuls of napalm and a six-three Julio Lugo double play later, and the score was 8-6 and the Sox needed Paps to come in and save the day. Thankfully, he brought his kick A game and got down to business. But the Sox, it seemed, were still not comfortable.

The 9th 8th inning saw Tigers' manager Jim Leyland call upon Yorman Bazardo, who gave his best effort at not being outcrappitched by Julian Tavarez. Thankfully for us, he succeeded. Youks (2), Drew, and McSpeed all knocked in runs in the 9th to make the final 12-6. Paps threw a more interesting 9th than usual, but brought us home happy all the same. .500 again!

Player of the Game:

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The player of the game is Drew. The picture's not from today, but I really enjoyed this one from the home opener with him brushing off "Being"'s uniform. 

Comment of the Game:

He's a knuckle-newbie - It's gotta be one of Cabrera's first - if not the first - appearance against Wake. -soxaholic

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Summary:

Ugh. Just ugh. I mean, you hate to see a team like the Tigers (save for Gary Sheffield himself) go on such an extended losing streak to begin the season. Gary Sheffield needs to find a way to lose all of his games this season, but it's okay with me if the Tigers make the playoffs.

However, if I were the Tigers, I would consider myself still worried. With 9 baserunners over 5 innings, Jeremy Bonderman actually had a higher WHIP than your own Jon Lester with the same while recording one more out. 

The problem for the offense, of course, was extra and wasted outs. Two CSs, and four DPs. Sean "Mayor McSpeed" Casey, Manuel "Being" Ramirez, and Julio "Are you seriously PHing for me after a 2-3 game" Lugo all had two hits apiece. The 1-3 slots in the order went a combined 0-12 with 2 BBs (both Pedroia's). 

On the pitching side, Jon Lester was not in control, of the game or of his pitches. 4 walks is not progress. In the battle for "don't get DFA'd for Mike Timlin", David Aardsma would seem to be in the lead over Bryan Corey. 

On the Tigers' side, Edgar Renteria came back to haunt us, in person, and not even polite enough to do so as a ghost. 3-4, 2 2B, 2 R and 2 RsBI. Carlos Guillen also had a decent day at the plate, scoring 3 and hitting a solo HR off of Javier "No LHHs please" Lopez. 

Player of the Game:

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Yeah. Unfortunately it's the guy on the left, Renteria and not Youks.

Comment of the Game:

You wonder if Lester is aware that he doesn't really get hit that hard. It's when he walks someone, and someone else, and someone else, that things start to get bad. -soxaholic

...oh yeah. We F'n lost Mike Lowell, at least for awhile.