via www.fangraphs.com

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:

via d.yimg.com

Comment of the Game:

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

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.

via d.yimg.com

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:

via d.yimg.com

Comment of the Game:

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

via d.yimg.com

There are probably a number of Red Sox who would argue that they didn't suck at baseball this weekend. If they're not one of the above two gentlemen, they can save it.

Summary: Vaguely Coherent Rant:

No. No. No. No. No. I'm sorry. 5 runs in 3 games. Five runs in three games. 5 runs in 3 games. No. No. No. No.

One not-awful start and two great starts wasted? F no.

Credit to the Rays' pitching? Well. Absolutely. And this is a different Rays' team. I'm aware that I'm the 8 billionth person to say that. If Buchholz was good on Saturday, Edwin Jackson was able to spread his runners and mistakes out a bit more. If Beckett was mostly dominating on Sunday, then James Shields was cool, calm, collected and efficient. I also respect the argument that Buchholz was let down not only by his "offense", but also his manager.

Shields was particularly impressive, and it is today's sort of efficiency that makes him a good bet for long-term success. Think about the Rays in a year or two: Scott Kazmir, James Shields, Matt Garza, and David Price. The first two are as proven as any good young starters in the game right now. The last two might only have to realize 1/2 - 2/3 of their potential to make the Rays' rotation a "difficult" one to face. Jose Lima could be the 5th starter, and it would make no difference.

Comment Goodness:

Somebody please tell Lugo he’s playing FOR the Red Sox, not against them. I’m getting sick of these 1-out, clutch double plays. - ecoli

well I'm here...and I don't give a crap about gridiron, professional basketball, or any other, lesser sport. All I care about are the Sox and Buchholz is just awesome. -sydneysox

on the upside, Buch and Beckett both lowered their ERAs...Of course, it would have been nice if every last batter didn't lower their average, along with it. - DJDP23

via www.fangraphs.com

Summary:

Jennings v. Lester

Woohoo and whatnot. Jon Lester threw 6 innings. I threw a little party for him last night, on behalf of that. Good work by the 'pen as well, with J-Lo, MDC, Timlin and Paps combining for three scoreless innings after Lester left. Hitting-wise, Dustin, Papi, and especially "Being" threw down the other night. Manny just keeps on hitting for us in big moments, answering the question we all wondered about just what might've happened 2003-2006 if Papi didn't come through every single time.

Millwood v. Wake

First of all, Wake was ridiculously efficient. Averaging about 2.7 pitches per inning, several innings were over before the infielders and outfielders were actually through warming up. The Rangers were jumping on pitches, exhibiting no patience, and actually were fairly successful doing so. They were able to get their 7 hits in bunches, and combined with two of those hits being HRs, scored 5 off of Wake by the 6th inning. If you caught the game thread, you know a lot of us were pretty despondent. In retrospect, I suppose I'm not sure why. I think it's that the runs scored off of HRs, which always seem like more than they really are. Nevertheless.

...so what happened? 2 runs in the 7th, run-scoring singles by Papi and Drew brought us to within 3. We entered the 8th inning, and the magic really began. All with 2 outs: Tacoby 1B, Jed Lowrie 2B (5-3), Papi 1B (5-4), DP PH 2B (5-5), Youks IBB, Drew BB, Casey BB (5-6). Kevin Cash, who made the first out of the inning, also made the third, and Paps came on for the save, though it wasn't the most relaxed save he's ever given us.

Players of the Gamez:

Jennings v. Lester

via d.yimg.com

Who else, really?

Millwood v. Wake

via d.yimg.com

Thank you, Yahoo! Images. This way I don't have to choose. Also, good job Jed Lowrie.

Comment-mania:

GIDP - Now Papi is trying to make Lugo look good. There’s a lot of love going on in this team. :) - MerryGoByeBye

There's no element of surprise. I'm just watching our inexorable march towards yet another amazing win.Tedious is hardly the word. - britsoxfan (Proper context: We were still down 5-2, and there were 2 outs in the 8th inning with only one runner on.)

via www.fangraphs.com

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:

via d.yimg.com

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

courtesy of www.fangraphs.com

I forgot how much harder these are to write when we lose, after the positive-fest that was Game 4. Sure, we had missed opportunities, but we cashed in later, and Jon Lester was pretty good. Not going to gloss anything over. We haven't played well. Some of the defense thusfar in the series has been questionable at best, on our part. Despite the negative things I might say about us, have to give the lion's share of the credit to the Jays. They've played excellent ball thusfar. I have a feeling, after two straight team losses, that Becks is going to force them to play really well if they want to win tomorrow.

Game 5 Summary:

Wake was solid. Solidly mediocre. We didn't lose because of him, but he wasn't a huge help. It wasn't really until the 6th inning that he got into trouble, but the wheels kind of fell off at that point, with the Jays scoring 3. Surprisingly enough, the Sox answered back on a David Ortiz Manny Ramirez J.D. Drew 3-run HR. My apologies for the mistakes, it just took a couple of times to reconcile that he was the one who came through for us. Thankfully for the Jays, none of Aardsma, Lopez, or MDC had it going, and the trio would combine to allow 3 more runs to make the final score 6-3.

Game 6 Summary:

If you think Game 5 was not enjoyable, you should have seen Game 6. Buch pitched pretty well. Not great, but good enough for his first ML start of the season. 8 baserunners in 5 innings, 7 Ks, and 7 groundouts vs. 0 flyouts. The 3 (earned) runs, plus one unearned, he allowed were enough to give the Jays the win (and Buch the loss), though they certainly didn't stop there. The Sox middle relief this afternoon:

Or, if you prefer, "not good". Kyle Snyder and Bryan Corey "combined" for 2 outs and 6 earned runs. After those two put the game out of reach, Batshit McCracken was able to come in, stop the bleeding, and ensure the game would be a complete embarrassment rather than a complete and total embarrassment.

On the offensive side of the game, we were able to manage 12 baserunners while plating a grand total of two. DP went 2-4 with a BB, JD Drew went 2-4 with a 2B, with both "Being" and Mayor McSpeed knocking in runs.

Player of the Games:

Drew made this decision easy. He was the strongest offensive cog in both games, and none of the pitchers save McCracken warranted much consideration. Nonetheless, nice to see Drewlicious showing the ability to come up with important hits.

Comments of the Games:

i love baseball - Classic JD. He makes you think he has no chance of doing anything, and then.... Boom -Tippecanoe

F*CK -KFC