Better. Definitely better. We needed someone to step in and stop the bleeding, and Lester got it done, which is more than I can say for Josh Beckett at the moment. Lester and Dice-K have both become in ‘08 what Beckett was in ‘07: aces who can deliver. One run on four hits over seven innings pitched with a walk and five K’s. Allowed a solo homer for Aubrey Huff, but that’s hardly a concern. What is a concern is, as usual, Manny Delcarmen. He came in to pitch the eighth, issued two walks, and left two men on base for Pap, whose inherited runners scored but as the system points out that’s not completely his responsibility. The final score was 6-3.
The other big story of the night was the long ball, and who came through but Jason Bay. Two home runs, a solo shot in the second and a two-run shot in the eighth. That’ll give him 25 on the season. And guess who also hit a home run. Jason Varitek. I’m not kidding. I saw it and I couldn’t believe it, a solo shot in the second with two out. Clearly the captain has his moments. Ortiz went two for five and also had himself an RBI. Big Papi is doing fine, averaging almost an RBI a game these days. Bay collected a fourth one on the night as well as a theft, and Coco was caught stealing. Again.
Let me just say this. So many people are focused on the fact that Jason Bay is no Manny Ramirez, but what about the fact that Manny Ramirez is no Jason Bay? We can’t spend the rest of ‘08 wishing that the deal never went down and that we still have Manny, because the truth of the matter is that we had him and he started to ruin us. Don’t get me wrong, I love the guy. He helped bring Boston baseball to a whole new level, and we owe him a lot. But what’s true is true, and in the end he made sure that he had to go. So why complain that Bay isn’t comparable? They’re two completely different players, and he’s better than Manny in more categories than he is worse. He runs the bases. He’s defensively solid. He can steal. He hustles. He’s a team player. And on top of all that, he’s a great hitter and sometimes he even puts it out of the park. Anyone who doesn’t see that this change is for the better is probably focusing on Manny’s numbers and not on who Manny was and what he became. We’ve all made that mistake before, but every once in a while it’s important to remember what we have and be thankful for it. Corny, but true.
JD Drew was out again with back stiffness. I really hope it isn’t serious because we need him and his ever-increasing on-base percentage in there. Someone who doesn’t get a lot of credit, DeMarlo Hale, showed why he’s the third base coach of the Boston Red Sox. Choosing to send Pedey and Papi in the ninth inning was risky, but it also worked. The dude is phenomenal. Finally, Schilling is apparently in no rush to make his return, not that I mind that. I was actually kind of hoping he’d run out of time this season because if he did return, he’d be returning from major shoulder surgery. You need to do extensive rehab after something like that, including substantial stints in the minor leagues. Then you need to come back to the Majors and get used to the feel of things all over again. And I’m just glad to see he won’t try to do all of that at such a critical time of year when we can’t afford to be patient and take losses for his benefit. It’ll be interesting to see what he does next year, though.
