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Summary:

I pretty accurately summed up Wake's outing in the title. Sure, the Tigers offense is struggling. But I think any time Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, and Carlos Guillen are limited to 1 hit in total (Granderson's was, of course, v. Timlin), most of the credit has to just go to the pitcher. Wake struck out 6 and allowed 2 hits (and no walks) over 8 IP, just to remind us all that yes, when he's on he is VERY good.

Offensively, kind of a mixed bag. The two at the top surely not Coco Crisp, Coco and DP were basically black holes. However, Kevin Cash went 3-4, Youks went 2-3 with a BB and 2 2B, and "Being" and Papi went back to back. Don't look now, but Julio Lugo's OBP is .341. Not tremendous, but is it just possible he's getting back to not making outs on a ridiculously frequent basis?

Papi's HR was a no-doubter that put an end to Nate Robertson's day. "Being"'s was to straightaway CF, and the proverbial "welcome to the big leagues" moment for Tigers' RP Freddy Dolsi. I should be more fair to Mike Timlin. He allowed the leadoff single to Granderson, but settled down and got a DP to erase Granderson, then got Carlos Guillen to flyout to LF to end the game. A decent performance, and the kind of pitch-to-contact, trust the fielders behind you kind of outing he needs to give us consistently. 

Player of the Game:

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Comment of the Game:

The Knuckler's a-Dancin' Tonight. -soxaholic

Walks.  Walks. Walks. Walks. Walks. Walks. Walks. Walks. Walks.

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Walks. Walks...

Summary:

So, to be fair to Dice-BB, the strike zone last night was...tight. However, the umpire wasn't biased or anything; it was up to Dice-BB and 'Tek to make the adjustments. They didn't. I told a friend of mine, before the game, that this game could have been a statement game for either starter. Neither Bonderman or Matsuzaka delivered. 

Thankfully, Mike Lowell did. 3/5, 2B, HR, and almost missed another 2B or HR due to the glove of probably anyone but Gary Sheffield Gary Sheffield. A good game, too, from Papi, who went 2/4 with his own HR and a BB. Or, a walk. A walk. A lot of f'n walks.

Craig Hansen. The one hitter where I felt he got squeezed, in the 7th, was of course Gary Sheffield. Ball 3 was particularly suspicious, even if ball 4 was all Hansen. Nonetheless, he looked strong, and it was his own error bizarre infield single that was scored ridiculously ruled a hit, and so no doubt was a hit, even if the hitter would've been out by a mile if Hansen had fielded the ball properly. I'm so f'n confused by the scoring on that particular play. I suppose it doesn't matter in the grand scheme, but holy crap some homer-scoring there. Oh well. F.

Player of the Game:

Have to, again, disagree with WPA. See the guy on the left for our PotG.

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Comment of the Game:

holy shnikees, I didn't even look at how dice k was because I was looking at hansen...8 walks? is this a joke? -pedroiastroika

5.01.08 v. Jays

Summary In a Nutshell:

A.J. Burnett. Tim Wakefield. We should've seen it coming.

Player of the Game:

Burnett. .487 WPA on his own. 

Comment of the Game:

Wow. When did we become the Twins? -MerryGoByeBye

5.02.08 v. Rays

Summary In a Nutshell:

Edwin Jackson = inconsistent. We should've seen it coming.

Player of the Game:

WPA says Buch (.221). I say: SwordBat-fighting midgets.

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Comment of the Game:

I'm on Gameday. How irate should I be about the throwing error by Lugo? -nuthinboutnuthin

5.03.08

Summary In a Nutshell:

James Shields. Josh Beckett. Revenge. We should have seen it coming.

Player of the Game:

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Comment of the Game:

On the plus side...I am forced to admit that Lugo is looking sharp at the plate. WTF? -nuthinboutnuthin

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Summary:

I don't even know what to say at this point. The Jays and the Sox have the best pitching since the I didn't care about actually looking that up. The Jays and the Sox also have the worst offenses, from the same timespan. There's no way to tell which statement is more true less false. Was Daisuke just good, or was he helped by a Jays' offense seemingly committed to ineptitude? Dustin McGowan, same question kind of.

Offense included a solo Papi HR, an attempt at a walkoff single by Brandon Moss, and a real walkoff single by Kevin Cash Jason Varitek. 35-almost-36 year old "Being" is apparently faster than our young non-DP middle infielder. WTF is that about, right?

Maybe this is just how we're going to do it from now on. And Paps will make a bid for 30 wins.

Player of the Game:

Kidding. I just really liked this picture. Here he is:

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Comment ...Sequence of the Game:

When you walk Julio Lugo, there's something very wrong with you, and you should have your (ed: expletive) sent to AA in the morning. -MerryGoByeBye

...on 5 pitches, no less - BoSox415

Before yesterday, I would have bragged that Lester would have done it 20% more efficiently. -nuthinboutnuthin

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I will remain calm. I will trust in David Ortiz at all times. 

I will remain calm. I will trust in David Ortiz at all times.

I will remain calm. I will trust in David Ortiz at all times.

Summary:

"Everything's groovy."

Y'know, it's amazing what an opposite-field HR at Fenway Park will do for people. I was having a not-great night at work, and Baseball Tonight comes on the big-screen, and there's David at the plate, with runners on base. He popped up got a big hit, and I have to admit to immediately thinking that it was a replay from last season or something. Nope. Current. Tonight. Sweetness. Still got a long way to go before he, I, or us will feel completely comfortable, I imagine. 

Daisuke should watch more Beckett starts. His start would've been pretty good if he had allowed himself to pitch a little longer. The 2008 Red Sox middle relief was up to the task, after Daisuke exited, with J-Lo, Aardsma, and Timlin picking up where he left off.

Jed Lowrie is doing his best to force the Sox into a tough decision, eh? Yeah, it probably won't happen, but I have to imagine several more 2-3, 2B, SF-type performances will make the FO think long and hard about who plays SS in Boston. At the very least, I think the Sox will be less likely to overwork Youks while Lowell is out.

Player of the Game:

...duh?

Comment of the Game:

I've got an idea. Why don't you stop panicking? -RickD

Grand Salami, eh? And Allen was ready to put Papi out to pasture -tommy

...I stand corrected. And apologize for the lack of gamethread. My fault completely, as Randy is enjoying a well-deserved vacation.

All right. I've got kind of a radical idea, but not, about this David Ortiz situation.

DL him. 15 days. Call it his knee, it's believable. No team in the history of the universe of ever of all-time has ever been completely honest about the DL. Hell. It might BE honest to list him "15 day-DL, knee". He's gotten into a funk, and I'm not on the "work through it" bandwagon. I think he needs a decent-sized mental rest, followed by some intense sessions with Magadan about his stance and how he's not able to do anything with pitches on the outside part of the plate.

Bring up Brandon Moss, and rotate Manny to DH for most of the games, with possibly Drew and Youks getting a game or two apiece as well. Think about how good a defensive OF (especially in non-Fenway parks) we'd have with Moss-Coco/Ells-Drew, all while Papi is getting his head straight. This isn't the kind of guy for whom this would hurt his confidence. He's not fragile in that department, but I think he might be overthinking himself at the plate. Get it done. Agree? Disagree?

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There's not much to say about Manny Ramirez except he's a bad, bad man.

Ramirez proved too much for the Yankees yesterday. While the rest of the Red Sox lineup didn't seem to get it all going, Manny was in the zone all 9 innings. Manny's 4th inning home run put the Sox on the board first. The Yanks struck back scoring two, but Manny wasn't done.

With the score 2-1, Manny smacked a double scoring Dustin Pedroia and Jacoby Ellsbury. A Kevin Youkilis single scored Manny, putting the Sox up for good.

Josh Beckett looked a lot better than his first start of the season. Beckett went 6.2 innings, struck out five and only gave up three runs while only throwing 88 pitches.

This was one of the best games we could ask for out of Beckett. He wasn't perfect, but he didn't have to throw a lot of pitches to get a lot of outs. I think that's one of the most important things to look for when pitchers come off the disabled list. Only 88 pitches this time means he can throw more next time.

Manny Delcarmen and Hideki Okajima combined to bridge the gap to Jonathan Papeblon who, after a two hour rain delay, struck out three batters in 1.1 innings to earn the save.

I sure do love that guy.

In other news, David Ortiz goes hitless again. Shocking. His batting average is now .070 ... Ellsbury was the leadoff man and went 2-for-3 with a run, a walk and a stolen base. This guy looks ready ... Pedroia and Youkilis also had two hits on the day.

Comment of the Game:

"where's the hawk that attacks small children when we need it?" - pedroiastroika