Filed under: Boston Red Sox
Yesterday’s 6-3 win in Toronto against the Blue Jays saved the Red Sox from being swept in the 3 games series that began Friday. Clement did not dominate in any sense of the word but he did seem to get the job done. The notch in his win column wasn’t quite the same as the ones that have landed in Schilling or Beckett’s record, but a W is a W after all.
Clement pitched good enough yesterday, giving up 7 hits and striking out 4 in 5 1/3 innings. His only real mistake of the game was putting two on and then hanging one to Gregg Zaun in the bottom of the fourth. Regardless of how it looked on paper, though, it was clear that Clement did not have his best stuff, causing Francona to pull him with one down in the fifth. That ended up being completely fine since Keith Foulke came in and pitched the rest of the fifth and sixth innings striking out 3 and not allowing a hit. Mark Loretta and Mike Lowell both added to the 4-3 lead with an RBI each in the eighth and ninth while Mike Timlin and Jonathan Papelbon did their jobs in the bottom of those innings respectively. Clement came away with the win and Papelbon received his 8th save in as many chances, still keeping him atop the Majors in that category.
Sunday’s Final: Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 3
Friday and Saturday however, the Red Sox weren’t as lucky. Friday night, the Sox took the game to the twelve inning where a two out Lyle Overbay double scored Troy Glaus to end the game. Beckett pitched well until the eight inning where he gave up two home runs only to have Timlin give one up as soon as he came in. The good news was that Big Papi and Manny went back to back in the third inning, followed by a Jason Varitek home run in the 6th, and then a second Manny homer in the eighth. You would think that 6 runs would be enough with Beckett pitching but that just wasn’t the case. Although Foulke was credited with the loss, it was Seanez who gave up the winning hit, but in fact Beckett who actually blamed himself for the loss. Honestly thought I think this loss was Francona’s just as much as it was anyone else’s. Beckett probably shouldn’t have come out for the eighth and then if he did and put someone on base, it should not have been Timlin who came out to relieve him, since we all know Timlin is not good with runners on base. The bottom line is that the team needs to find a way to win up 6-2 entering the eighth. And with everyone ready to go from the bullpen, there is no excuse why we should have lost that game. Just as the bats let down the pitching, I think the management(and maybe even the pitching) let down the bats tonight.
Friday’s Final Score: Blue Jays 7, Red Sox 6
Saturday was possibly the worst game of the year for the BoSox. The line-up itself spelt loss for the Sox. With Lenny DiNardo starting in replace of injured(and almost retired) David Wells, Terry Francona for some inexplicable reason decides not to help him out by starting J.T. Snow, Dustan Mohr, Alex Cora, and Josh Bard in replace of Mike Lowell, Willie Harris(subbing for Crisp), Alex Gonzalez, and Jason Varitek. This certainly was not the most potent line-up the Sox could have fielded, something that probably would have helped considering DiNardo was starting for us and Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was started for them. Forget that Sox batters went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position, this game was almost over before it started.
As it turned out, that would pretty much be irrelevant though since the Sox pitching gave up 8 runs before the game was even half over. DiNardo himself gave up 7 runs on 10 hits in the first three innings of the game boosting his ERA to a hefty 7.43. Although newcomer Jermaine Van Buren pitched three innings and only gave up one run, while Rudy Seanez and Julian Tavarez pitched one shut out inning each, this game was settled before they entered the game.
Saturday’s Final: Blue Jays 8, Red Sox 1
Didn’t it just seem that the Red Sox had the problem of having too much starting pitching? Now it looks like we’re going to play ring-around-the-rosey with a couple of minors before we figure out a more stable solution to our #5 pitcher dilemma. With Wily Mo Pena’s defense seemingly giving up more runs than he’s manufactured, it looks as if our beloved Theo made a big mistake dealing Bronson Arroyo this spring. Now with the Cincinnati Reds, Arroyo is 3-0 with a 3.04 ERA. Oops.
The problem is that this might turn out to be a big oops. Since DL’ed David Wells is on career life support and Papelbon is the indefinite closer, the Sox have slight predicament regarding their fifth starter. DiNardo’s a great guy and always seems to give his best, but he might not have the stuff of a starting pitcher for a team competing for the pennant. Long relief guy every few games? Sure. Temporary starter for a couple of games? Maybe. But fifth starter for 200 innings? Um, I don’t think so. Theo better come up with something besides calling the Reds and saying he had his fingers crossed behind his back, or else this has the potential to be a disaster. Granted it might not make SportsCenter’s worst trades of all time, but as it relates to the 2006 Boston Red Sox, this was a big mistake. Now it looks as if the fate of the Red Sox 2006 pitching rests on the surgically repaired knees of Keith Foulke and David Wells. If Foulke rebounds quick enough, Papelbon might be able to hit the rotation. If we deem it more important that Pap stays at closer, then it essentially comes down to Wells(gulp).
I know there is no use dwelling on the past(albeit impossible in this town), but Theo needs to take a little criticism for this one. Perhaps more than a little. There is not doubt we would be a much better team with Arroyo instead of Pena. Isn’t the saying ‘always trade potential for proven young talent’? Wasn’t that how we justified giving up Hanley Ramirez for Josh Beckett. Well we didn’t follow that logic. And now we don’t have a fifth starter. And if the Red Sox Front Office is pinning its hopes on David Wells’ 42 year old knees or Roger Clemens’ agents, then we could be in trouble.
theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com
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