Trust me, the title fits. Penny was rocky. The game was a horror show. I didn’t picture this outcome going into it. There you go. Let’s just get this over with.
We lost, the Yankees won. The final score was 11-20. Penny gave up seven runs on seven hits, five earned, in four innings with two walks and four strikeouts. He took the loss and just might be calling John Smoltz for advice. With Wake pitching almost six strong innings for Pawtucket and scheduled to make another rehab start within the next few days, don’t be surprised if we release Penny like we did Smoltz. Smoltz had to go; he was doing way more losing than winning and wasn’t showing any signs of improvement. Penny’s doing the same thing; what’s holding us back is his success and consistency in the first half. But it’s a long season, and he’s been injured. It’s possible that at this point he’s just worn out and can’t continue. Either way, the performance he gave last night can’t continue.
Michael Bowden came in and only lasted two innings, the final two innings of Major League action he’ll see this year, and let me tell you why. Seven runs on eight hits with three walks, no strikeouts, and a three-run home run’ll get you demoted real quick. Speaking of relievers, we just claimed the Mets’ Billy Wagner on waivers.
Delcarmen allowed one run in the seventh, and Ramirez gave up four runs, three earned, in the ninth. Saito used eleven pitches, seven of them strikes, to polish off the eighth. No runs. No hits. One interesting idea that maybe he should’ve started the game.
It’s not like the Yankees’ pitching sparkled, either. We did score eleven runs of our own. You have to admit, the offense put up a good fight. Ellsbury batted in two and stole in the first to tie the Red Sox’ single-season steals record. Pedroia went two for five, both of them doubles, and batted in one. He hit what could’ve been a triple in the third inning, but A-Rod tagged him out. Rough. Seriously. The ball was hit really well down the left-field line. Had he arrived at third about two seconds earlier he probably would’ve been safe. Martinez collected an RBI, and Tek came into the game and homered with one out in the ninth. He’ll probably be back in the lineup today. Green batted in two but made a fielding error. Ortiz went two for four with a double and two RBIs. Lowell went three for five, including a two-run shot with two out in the ninth. It’s good to see him back at third base, and that home run tells me he’s still got plenty left in the tank. Baldelli doubled and plated one. And there you have your eleven runs. We lost by a nine-run lead. It could’ve been a lot worse. Besides, this is nothing like the time the Tribe scored more than twenty runs against the Yanks this season. Just sayin’.
I don’t even want to attempt to describe what it felt like to watch that. Now that was a wreck in slow motion. It was one of our pitching staff’s worst games of the season. If you go by runs allowed alone, it was the worst. It was exhaustingly excruciating. It would’ve been nice to get a win; start the series off on the right foot and welcome Jerry Remy back with a bang. But no.
I’ve read articles claiming that, after last night, we’re officially done with the division and should instead focus on the Wild Card. Personally, I think that’s the completely wrong approach. If you focus on the division, the Wild Card will come. It sometimes makes it awkward for fans who have to choose who to root for in certain situations, but it’s a sacrifice we’re willing to make. But I don’t even think the division is a done deal yet. We’re halfway through August with plenty of games (and plenty of home games) left to play. You never know what’s going to happen this time of year. It’s Burnett at Tazawa tonight. Hopefully Tazawa will have better luck this time around. Welcome to Sox-Yanks at Fenway Park. It’s better here.
