| 05 August 2009
Jon Lester went toe to the to with Matt "The Human Lamma" Garza yesterday and had the spitting Ray on the ropes after seven solid innings and 10 strikeouts... but he plunked Carlos Pena to start the 7th and the league's best bullpen struggled to close out the game.
Okajima got two outs after relieving Lester, but "Mr. Strikeout" (Daniel Bard) couldn't beat Jason Bartlett and Pena scored from third on an RBI single to cut the 2-0 lead in half.
Bard got out of the inning on the next at-bat, but Evan Longoria took him deep to lead off the 8th and then a poor fielding play by Bard almost gave the Rays a 3-2 lead. bvut with the bases juiced, Bard managed to fan BJ Upton and Tito went to MDC to close out the inning - which he did.
Bard hadn't allowed a run since July 11th and had fanned 10 batters in 7.1 innings of work since that game, but last night was not his night, and it reminded me of Rocky 4 when Rock cuts Drago's eye and Duke yells "You see! He NOT a machine!" He's a man!"
Bard may be "cut" right now, but I expect him to be ready to mow down some Pinstripers this weekend.
This game was labeled a pitchers deul from the get go, but it ended up being battle of the bullpens and we should have had the edge there... Unfortunately, the Rays had the edge offensively, so while our lineup was failing to capitalize (Pedroia's DP in the 10th), the Rays eventually got to Takashi Saito in the 13th, and Longoria ended the game with his 2nd ding dong of the night.
Bottom Line: You gotta give both teams credit for grinding this one out to the bitter end, but this was a game we should have won and an extra inning's victory would have pumped these guys up. Instead, the Sox will have to fight the erge to hand their heads tonight and try to earn a split before they hop on plane and head to NYC.
Also... look for an RP to be called up before tonight's game with Brad "5 innings" Penny on the mound and the bullpen taxed from last night's game. Adam Kilgore lists a few candidates that include Michael Bowden, Marcus McBeth, Hunter Jones and our old frined Javier Lopez.
Side Note: What should not be lost in all of this is Jon Lester's performance. Lester is now 5-2 with a 2.18 ERA, 22 Ks and a .191 BAA since June 1st.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
