I’ve seen Lester better. He had a quality start, which is awesome for any pitcher, but I’ve seen him better. We all have. He gave up three runs on ten hits over six innings, four strikeouts, no walks, and two home runs, both of which were lead-off solo shots.
Actually, when you look at his line, your first thoughts aren’t, “Good, another quality start,” or “Wow, he didn’t walk anybody,” or “I’m glad he threw only 102 pitches.” Rather, your first thoughts are, “Ten hits? Ten hits?! Since when does Jon Lester give up ten hits? And to the Orioles, no less!” and “His strikeout count was pretty low last night,” and “He gave up two home runs. Interesting. And not in a good way,” and “102 pitches only got him through six innings? Good move on Tito’s part to take him out after that batter in the seventh, because he could see some things weren’t quite right with this outing, one of them being efficiency, or lack thereof, if 102 pitches only got him through six innings.”
Well, I don’t know about you, but that’s what I was thinking. It’s not that I’m unappreciative of Lester’s effort last night, which was very good. It’s just that, the better and better a player becomes, and the more consistent the player becomes in his improvement, the more you expect that player to perform at a certain level. So when that player performs at a lower, albeit still good, level, it’s surprising. For example, if Josh Beckett had that exact line in one of his games, it would probably be an even more serious cause for concern this close to the playoffs.
The relievers, with the exception of Delcarmen, were good. They combined, with the exception of Delcarmen, to pitch three more no-hit innings, which again would have been perfect if it weren’t for Ramirez’s walk. Delcarmen, in case you’re wondering, came on to take care of the ninth. He didn’t do that. He allowed back-to-back home runs, walked two men, and didn’t retire a single batter. Exit Delcarmen, enter Ramirez, end ballgame. Red Sox win. But before we leave the subject of the bullpen, I have to say that this is exactly why Tito is a managerial genius. Nobody knows players better as a team than their manager, and Tito clearly revealed this when he put Delcarmen in to pitch the ninth. It’s no secret that Delcarmen struggles a bit at the end of the season, which is why Tito put him in to pitch the ninth inning of a ballgame that was locked. Even after he allowed the two home runs, the final score was 11-5. This may not seem like a big deal, but you’d be surprised as to how many managers don’t account for that.
Well, a final score like that needs a lot of runs, so we have a lot to talk about. And we had a little bit of everything. Pedroia went two for six with two runs and a steal. Youk plated one. Ortiz doubled twice and batted in a run. Lowell had a great night, going three for four with two RBIs. Josh Reddick hit a two-run shot off Hernandez with two out in the second, and it was a nice piece of hitting for a September call up. And by nice I mean huge, because it cleared the flagpoles in right field. And then, the eighth inning. The crown jewel, if you will, of the night’s offensive accomplishments. JD Drew is the man of the hour here. He would finish the night three for five with a double, two runs, and four RBIs. With two on, two out in the inning, and a full count, he sent a ball that was a little up in the zone to the left field seats. One swing of the bat and three more Red Sox runs on the board. Beautiful. Just beautiful. And as if that weren’t enough, Brian Anderson got in on the action by going back-to-back and hitting a solo shot beyond the center field wall in his first at-bat of the game. That was the last RBI we’d record, but believe me, that was enough.
The defense was on as well. Gonzalez, Pedroia, Youk, Lowrie, and Kotchman had three double plays between them.
A question that has recently come to the forefront is whether V-Mart will catch Beckett in the playoffs. Since this question was posed, there was no doubt in anybody’s mind that Tek would be behind the dish for Beckett in October. Tek is always behind the dish for Beckett. The one time V-Mart caught Beckett, he allowed seven runs, which may or may not have to do with the fact that V-Mart was catching. It is true, though, that a starter and catcher get into a groove faster when they’ve worked closely with each other for a long time. While I do acknowledge that our lineup is more powerful with V-Mart starting at catcher, I don’t think I’d feel very comfortable with the battery. I’d rather go without a few runs and have Beckett so on that we won’t need them than need the runs because Beckett’s wavering.
So Lowell tied the game, Youk batted in the go-ahead run, and after that we just kind of ran away with it. It was pretty nice. We’re playing the Orioles, so we know the game will have a positive outcome, so we can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, watching it for baseball’s sake and the love of the game. When you know you’re going to win, it takes some of the edge and intensity off, and you can notice nuances and finer points of play. It’s quite pleasant. And lucky for us, the fun continues. Today we have our last game in Camden Yards and our last against Baltimore this season. Dice-K will take on Jason Berken and will look to build on the success of his previous outing.
In other news, Patriots at Jets this afternoon.
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