| 15 May 2009
When I glanced at the preview for tonight's Red Sox vs Mariners game, I noticed Seattle's starting pitcher - Chris Jakubauskas.
Your guess is as good as mine on how to pronounce that, so I'm going to reffer to him as the Jabberwocky.
Jabberwocky has lost four of his last five starts and most recently got shellacked by the Twins to the tune of 9 ER on 8 hits (3 HRs) and 3 walks. He's a converted reliever that hasn't adjusted well to starting games, so the Sox should be able to right the ship with a win tonight.
But the Red Sox are hitting a mediocre .272 against southpaws as a team. Our lefties in particular struggling - Jacoby .211, Ortiz .222 and Drew .259 with 13 Ks. Drew is 3 for his last 13, so we may see Rocco and his .368 BA vs LHP in the line up tonight. Also...Jeff Bailey is hitting a dismal .159, but he's hitting .364 with a homer in 11 at-bats against lefties.
Jon Lester has been all over the place this season, but he told the media he doesn't think he needs to tweak his approach, he just needs to grind it out and find his groove.
"I don't really know what to say," Lester said. "Try to shake it off. I don't think there are a whole lot of adjustments that need to be done."
What Lester is trying to shake off is the recent beating he took from the Rays in his last start. In his shortest outing of the season (4.1 IP), Lester was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits.
Seattle is 20th in the league against lefties with a .249 BA and 25th over all with a .252 BA. They're also 1-9 in their last 10 games, so this series is a great opportunity for Lester (and Beckett) to work out the kinks and get back to being ace-like.
Ichiro remains Seattle's best hitter, but he's just 2 for 10 against Lester in his career ... Andrian Beltre has had a rough season (.227 BA) but he has hit Lester well: 4 for 7, 2B, 3 RBI ... and 1B Russell Branyan has come on strong with 8 ding dongs and a .275 average.
Bottom Line: Kick 'em while thier down boys and come home on a positive note.
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