looking good for the Sox with a 3 game set against a Pujols-less Cardinals team... but things went terribly wrong this weekend.On a night when they were supposed to celebrating a 17th Championship with the Celtics, the Red Sox lost to the team they had beaten in 2004 to win their first in 86 years. Then on Saturday, the return of Daisuke Matsuzaka was over before it even started and the Sox never dug out of that grave. And on Sunday, it took 13 innings to put away Joel "0-1 in my last 6 starts" Pineiro and the Cards... not what RSN was hoping for.
Here are the low lights:
Julio Lugo hit his first home run of 2008 on Friday, but made two more errors, one of them cost the Sox a run in what eventually became a 5-4 loss.
Jacoby Ellsbury went 3-15 as the leadoff man for the series with 2 doubles and 3 Ks... he's 4 for his last 25 since his 3-5, HR, 2 SB game in Cincinnati on the 15th.
Despite his current four game hit streak, Manny has also struggled as of late, going 5-22 (.227) versus NL teams with just 1 RBI and extra base hit. He also has two separate bases loaded opportunities on Friday night, but struckout in the 5th and grounded into a rally killing DP in the 7th...
Daisuke Matsuzaka's return from the DL was just plain awful: 1.0 IP, 6 H, 3 BB, 7 ER... 48 pitches - just 24 strikes.
Francona's response: “When he came out, there were not complaints about soreness, fatigue, anything, so that’s a good sign,” Boston manager Terry Francona said. “I’m hopeful we’ll just chalk it up to a bad outing.”
I'll do the same Tito, but with Lester as the current No. 2... I'm officially nervous.
Everyone else seems to have slipped into a funk, but Yuke has gotten hot. He's currently riding a 7 game hitting streak that includes 3 multi-hit games and four homers, including yesterday's walk off: 11-27 (.407) 2 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R
Jon Lester is also red hot. He's mastered the art of the no decision, taking his 8th of the season yesterday, but it should be noted that he gave up just 2 runs on 9 hits and just 1 walk over 6.1 innings. Lester has given up just 5 earned runs and 3 walks while fanning 16 in 27.2 IPs in June - earning him a 3-0 record and a staggering 1.65 ERA on the month.
Hideki Okajima on the other hand has not faired well in June. Oki-Doki's line for June is as follows: 9 appearances, 8.0 IP, 9 ERA, 16 H, 5 BB, 12 K, 10.13 ERA... With Timlin on the DL and Okajima struggling Delcarmen and Hansen need to rise to the occasion if the Sox want to stay on top.
Bottom Line: The Red Sox held onto first place despite dropping 2 of 3 over the weekend, but with Dice-K lasting just 1 inning and the 13 inning game yesterday, the bullpen will be spent for the D-Backs series, so they'll need Beckett and Masterson to go strong in Games 1 and 2.
6 comments:
I think Lester is a pretty legit number 2. Throughout his whole career he was projected to be a number 1 on a lot of teams but a number 2 in Boston.
I never believed that but now I'm game.
I think Masterson and Beckett can turn the page and help out the bullpen during this series. The Diamondbacks are young so hopefully Beckett's experience will shut them down.
Thanks for checking in guys. Lester may finally be emerging as the pitcher we all want him to be - and his timing is perfect.
As for Beckett and the D-backs... they're 3rd in Ks with 592... Expect Beckett to mow them down tonight... if the rain holds off.
Thats the best thing about playing against a young team, they aren't usually patient. With a guy like Beckett on the mound, I'm relaxed.
His nickname is spelled Y-O-U-K. You know, like the first four letters of his last night. Not "Yuke."
Phonetically YUKE is the same as YOUK... does it really matter?
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