Beckett blames location, not injury
"I can understand it," Beckett said about the queries from the media. "But if I tell you I'm fine, that's what you've got to go on. Unless you guys are getting information somewhere else, I don't know what to tell you guys. You guys keep asking me the same question about my health. I tell you I'm fine. Just go on that. Write that. I'm fine."Here's some of what Tito had to say about Beckett's outing on Saturday:
"I saw probably a lot of what you guys saw, maybe from a different angle,’’ Francona said Sunday when asked to assess Beckett’s performance In Game 2. "I thought he was inconsistent, especially out of the stretch. I thought out of the wind-up there was a little more finish to his fastball, but when he got out of the stretch, I think he's still fighting some inconsistencies on what pitches he feels he can throw maybe in a key spot and not get hurt. You could see him thinking through it and kind of grinding through it a little bit."
Amalie Benjamin summed it up quite nicely:
Despite the avowals of the Red Sox that Beckett is fine, it seems difficult to understand where the ineffectiveness is coming from. Pitchers don't just lose multiple miles per hour off their fastballs, as Beckett has, without something being wrong. Could it be the elbow he dealt with in August? Perhaps, though it's hard to believe the Sox would put their ace in jeopardy. Could it be the oblique? Sure, even as Beckett and others say that hasn't been a problem. Could it be the rust of having pitched little in the final months of the season (34 1/3 innings since Aug. 17)? Possibly.
I think it could be a combination of all of those things, but Bottom Line, Beckett is not right and Tony Mazz remdins us that the Sox have the option to skip him in Game 6 and go back to Jon Lester, thanks to the travel day in the schedule.
Before anyone dismisses that possibility out of hand, remember that there is an extra off day in this series, between Games 4 and 5. Thanks to that cushion, Lester could come back and pitch Game 6 on full rest. Furthermore, the extra off day could allow the Sox to skip Beckett entirely and come back with Tim Wakefield in Game 7 if that seems a more palatable option, something not entirely out of the question given the way Beckett has performed in the postseason thus far.
Lester's performance today will be a huge factor in the decision for Game 6. If Lester throws another 100+ pitches today, it may not be wise to ask him to do it for a fourth time - even on regular rest - so last in the season. But if the Sox go up early, Tito could keep Lester's pitch count low and pull him early - just incase they want him to go in Game 6. The same theory applies if he gets shelled early today - but let's not go there...
Bottom Line: You can't plan for Game 6 in the middle of Game 3, but the rest of this series is going to require some guts and gile from Terry Francona - let;s hope he makes the right choices.
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Ellsbury and Tito talk about Jacoby's current slump:
Asked if anything was going on with Ellsbury, Francona replied:
"Kazmir. They have pretty good pitching, and they went to that pitching, and they got him on his back - I don't want to say back foot," Francona said. "His bat head got a little deep."
"This is the way it goes sometimes," he said. "It'll turn. It's a matter of time. Obviously, you want to go out there and have a great game every time. You're not going to have an excellent game every time. Just staying confident. It's a long season, you're not going to go 4 for 5 every night."
Bottom Line: Jacoby is 0 for 15 in the past 3 games... Dustin Pedroia was 0 for 13 before lining a double off the Monster in Game 4. He's 4 for 8 with 2 homers and 5 runs scored since then... Ells is 6-13 (.462) against Garza and batt8ing .298 at Fenway this year - that sounds like a slump-busting scenario to me...
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Cora gets the start in Game 3
Alex Cora will start at short stop today, instead of Jed Lowrie.
Huh?
Lowrie is 0-3 against Matt Garza and 0 for 6 with 3 walks and a sac fly RBI in the ALCS. Cora is 0-3 against Garza was well and hasn't started since Game 2 of the ALDS... I was having trouble undertanding this move, but a look at the Day/Night splits sheds some light on the subject (pun intended): Cora in daylight - .316 in 57 ABs ... Lowrie is a vampire - .184 in 76 ABs.
* * * *
Dan at Red Sox Monster has five reason to chillax about today's game...
Mike at Fenway West wants to know who kidnapped Sean Casey and Paul Byrd...
And Sox & Dawgs has a nice roundup of reactions to Game 2...
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