Yeah. I dunno. So that sucked. We're so spoiled by the likes of Becks and Paps. Did anyone have any doubt, at all, that after the ball-busting loss that was Wednesday's game in Detroit, that Josh Beckett had a little something for the Tigers to chew on for Thursday? And guess what? He did.

Tonight, we entered the 9th with a one-run lead, and was there a doubt in anyone's mind that only Julio Lugo was capable of preventing Paps from getting his 11th save of the season? And yet, this is what reminds us to enjoy the good times. Paps didn't have it, mentally as well as physically, and the Twins used that combination quite effectively to engineer a walk-off win. I'm not going to get into the specifics. Suffice to say, it was not a good night to be a Sox fan. 

Also, I apologize. I'll take responsibility for a thread not being up tonight, and you can rest assured there will be one ready for tomorrow, though probably once again sans lineups. So, I'll take blame of the game with Paps.

But y'know what? Let's talk positive for a bit. Lowell and Papi are back, ladies and gentlemen. Lowell, in particular, seems intent on proving me wrong that we'll be getting '06 Lowell this season. He wants to repeat last season instead. All right. *shrugs* I'll take it. KY continues to take care of business, ditto Tacoby. 

Tomorrow? Daisuke v. Glen Perkins. Am I being too optimistic when I say that all I'm hoping for is < 8 walks?

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Oki did more than his job tonight. Kudos to him, even if it ended up being in a losing effort.

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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...

courtesy of www.fangraphs.com

Summary:

The Sox, seemingly, had this one well in-hand early. Daisuke cruised through the first few innings, and the Sox would score the first (and the only one they needed) run in the second inning. Kenny Rogers was off, but also inefficient. 

Daisuke, MDC, and Oki would combine to shut out the Tigers over 9 innings, limiting the Tigers to just 9 baserunners and striking out 11. It was an excellent, and yet somewhat understated collective pitching performance, aside from the Lesterized sixth inning from Matsuzaka. 

Lowell and Papi were the only two Sox who did not get hits, and both walked twice in the game. Coco, to the surprise of some, was able to knock in the first run on a sacrifice fly. Youks went 3-3 with two walks, while DP, Lugo, and Tek all reached base twice apiece. "Being" had an interesting triple, which ended with him crossing the plate on Placido Polanco's first error since leaving the womb. Miguel Cabrera was not GG-material at 3B today either. 

Oh yeah. If you're a fan of the Sox, and judging by your perusal of this website you are, the Sox received their WS rings today. 

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That's, of course, Pesky with Wake.

Player of the Game:

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Gotta be Daisuke. He took care of business today, striking out 7 and allowing 8 baserunners over 6 2/3. 

Comment of the Game:

Grilli's thrown 40 pitches,