Filed under: Boston Red Sox
Yeah I know they are dilapidated by injuries. But they are still the Yankees. And any win over the Yankees is a good win. Schilling looked marvelous last night, pitching eight full innings in only 99 pitches while allowing only five hits, one run, and zero walks while fanning six in a 9-5 Sox win over the Bronx Bombers.
So I know what your thinking when you read that last statement. Schilling pitched eight full with one run allowed? What the hell happened in the ninth? Keith Foulke happened in the ninth my friend. Foulkie allowed 5 hits and 4 runs in the ninth turning a 9-1 blowout into a “don’t turn the channel yet” ballgame. Foulke allowed a single to begin the inning and then collected two quick outs, before giving up back to back home runs to Alex Rodriquez and Jorge Posada. He then allowed back to back doublesto Robinson Cano and Bernie Williams before finally recording the last out of the ballgame.
With a 9-1 lead in the ninth we can cut Foulke some slack. His main objective at that point in the game is to throw strikes. As long as he doesn’t walk anyone, some of those strikes will inevitably end up as outs. That’s the theory anyway. So perhaps we can attribute Foulke’s batting practice session yesterday to the fact that he simply just wanted to throw strikes. At least that’s what I am telling myself.
The problem with Foulke’s outing yesterday is a little more complex than four runs on five hits(four for extra bases). In a weird way it puts a lot more pressure on David Wells. Boomer, who finished his rehab stint this week, should be back pitching for the Red Sox Friday. As much as I love DiNardo’s guile, he has been largely ineffective. In his five starts, he is 1-2, although the Sox have won three of those five. But last time he pitched, we got blown out by the Phillies in a game in which Lenny didn’t make it past the fourth inning.
With Foulke still inconsistent, Papelbon is almost guaranteed to stay as the closer for the rest of the season. This leaves Timlin as once again our only really reliable set-up man. Starting pitching is obviously important, but it only goes as far as the bullpen can take it. If Boomer’s knees only allow him to throw a few solid innings, it could wear out our already thin bullpen. When we activate Wells, there is a chance DiNardo might head back down to Triple A for a while to get his head back on straight. It is important that he does that considering he might be one of the better long inning set-up men we have in the organization.
I’ve almost felt bad for DiNardo. I have always liked him and had a lot of respect for him as well. No matter what the situation is, Lenny has never turned down an opportunity to take the mound. Whether its long-distance set-up out of the bullpen, Pawtucket, or keeping the seat warm for Wells, Lenny has done whatever he could for the Sox organization. It didn’t help that Francona seemed to throw in the towel for DiNardo’s starts before a pitch was ever thrown out either. How many times in only five starts did we see Willie Harris, Dustan Mohr, or Alex Cora in the lineup with DiNardo pitching? With this last start, Francona sat David Ortiz. Tito stated before the interleague series that Youklis, Lowell, and Ortiz were all going to get one day off. He gave Ortiz the DiNardo start off, and sat Lowell the second game of the series despite Mike going 3 for 3 the night before. Is it just me or would it have made more sense to put our best hitters against our interim number five pitcher?
In any event, the DiNardo experiment is over. For now. If Wells implodes again this Friday we might have a bigger problem on our hands. I can gaurentee the result of Wells’ start on Friday night will have a direct impact on the amount of Dontrelle Willis/Roger Clemens rumors on Monday. Frankly I’d rather just see him pitch well.
theaveragefan@bostonprosports.com
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