- 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.
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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.
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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.
