If you’re going to go into extra innings, you may as well do it before a day off. And with a series against New York coming up, I’d say that’s mighty wise. We won it in twelve with six pitchers to complete a sweep of the Seattle Mariners. Personally, I’d have been much happier if we took two in this series and two in the previous instead of a sweep followed by a sweep, but at this point I’ll take what I can get. We’re still 0.5 games out. We’ll get there. It’s just a matter of time.
So Buchholz turned in a decent effort. Sort of. He pitched just over five innings and allowed three runs on seven hits, but all three runs were scored with the long ball: a solo homer by Ibanez in the fourth and a two-run homer by Vidro in the sixth. On the bright side, he walked only two, struck out seven, and managed to lower his ERA from 5.88 to 5.81. A little-known fact: dude has a lightning-fast pickoff move. Ichiro had no chance.
Masterson made an appearance in relief and was perfect. Surprise, surprise. No runs, hits, or walks and three strikeouts in 2.2 innings. It kills me to see him in relief. It just kills me. It’s such a waste. Buchholz is the one who allowed three runs on two homers. Let him relieve. In a rare moment of brilliance, Okie and Delcarmen were both perfect. Okie being brilliant is surprising me less and less lately, though, which is a good sign. It isn’t too late for him to come around, and perhaps he will. Delcarmen, on the other hand, still scares me. Pap got the win and improves his record to 4-3, and Craig Hansen got the save, his second of the season and of his career.
So the pitching in yesterday’s contest was a little Twilight Zone-esque, no? You had Masterson relieving. You had Okajima and Delcarmen pitching perfectly. You had Buchholz faltering. You had Papelbon winning and Hansen saving. That has to be one of the weirdest, most counterintuitive sequences of pitching I’ve ever seen.
The offense was a very nice example of the fact that you win when you have contributions from up and down the lineup. Youk, Crisp, and Casey each had an RBI, and Lowell had two. We scored three in the twelfth and made no errors (no errors!). Pedroia earned a steal (his tenth of the season) and a caught-stealing (his first of the season) while batting .321.
Manny Ramirez was out with a sore knee. I’m a big Manny fan, and I love the guy, but right now he’s a little exasperating. It’s not like we don’t need him in the lineup against New York. Terry Francona was pretty good-humored about it, though:
“…jaywalking, if you do it right, you won’t hurt your knee.”
Manny being Manny. You’ve got to take the good with the bad, I guess. In the long run it’s always more good than bad. But lately the bad’s been ugly.
Smile, Red Sox Nation; we’re goin’ home! Finally, some consistency. We’re 24-32 away but 36-11 at home, and now would be a bad time for a meltdown at Fenway. Josh Beckett opposite Joba Chamberlain Friday night. Should be fun. The Stud versus The Kid Who’s Out of the Stud’s League.
By the way, did you know Dice-K is undefeated on the road?
