I'll give credit where credit is due: Jim Palmer absolutely killed the Red Sox last night in the Angels' 8-4 win. I mean, he was on. Five hits in a complete game? That's what a Hall of Famer does, folks. Jimmy boy, he just had the stuff. He was bad the first couple of innings, but after that, Jim Palmer did what Jim Palmer does -- dominates.
Oh, crap. That wasn't Jim Palmer last night, was it? It was who? MATT? Matt Palmer? Who the **** is Matt Palmer?!
Well, I guess you could say the same thing about Matt Palmer -- whoever that is -- in the lead. He pretty much dominated from the 3rd inning until the 9th. The Sox managed a Jason Bay home run off him in the first and Nick Green and Jacoby Ellsbury RBIs in the second, but after that? Ugh.
It didn't help that Tim Wakefield couldn't get out of the 5th inning. He gave up seven runs, 11 hits, three walks and struck out two while just going 4.2 innings.
But there was a bright spot: Daniel Bard made his debut. While Bard did let an inherited runner score (sacrifice fly), he was pretty dominant in his two innings of work. He allowed one hit, one walk and struck out one. The radar gun read about 96 MPH, but the pop on the fastball was Papelbon-esque. He handled his debut well and it's going to be excited to watch him this season.
The Sox will try to win the series tonight with Brad Penny on the mound. The Sox will face Ervin Santana, who is making his first start this season off the disabled list.