| 19 August 2010
It's time for Josh Beckett to earn his money.
Buchholz plowed through the Halos and Tuesday and Lackey battled his way to another ugly win last night. Tonight we go for the sweep of the series and the season series... but unlike years past, I'm not overly confident with Beckett on the bump.
Beckett is 3-2 with a 6.51 ERA on the season. In case you missed it, he's been downright awful all season, save for one 8-inning performance against the lowly Indians on August 3rd and a solid outing way back in April against the Rays. His last two outings have been dreadful. He gave up 7 runs on 11 hits through 4+ innings against New York and followed that up with 6 runs on 10 hits through 5 innings in Texas.
At this point, I don't what his problem is and despite the Angels struggling offense, I have very little confidence in the Commander right now.
He's 3-3 with a 4.10 ERA in 9 starst against the Angels and he did pitch well against them on July 28th: 7 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 5 K, W... so that helps, but I really need to see 7 shutout innings and 6-8 Ks before I get my hopes up.
The Angels will counter with Ervin Santana (12-8, 3.99). He's 1-2 with a 4.61 ERA in 7 starst against Boston, but has earned the win in 4 of his last 5 starts. Last time out, he held the Blue Jays to 3 hits and 1 run through 7 innings, despite 4 free passes. Last time he saw the Sox, he he held us to 1 runs on 7 hits through 7 innings and struck out 7 on May 4th.
Santana is a solid starter, but nothing special. He hasn't faced a quality team since he went back-to-back against Texas to end July... but he won both of those games, so he can step it up when he needs to. The Halos don't want to be swept 10-0 on the year, so you can expect them to play for pride tonight...
Hey Josh!? One could argue that you too are playing for pride tonight... so bring it!
Key Matchups
Victor Martinez was in the heart of last night's comeback, scoring the tying run from third and adding an insurance run in the 8th, capping his 3-5 night. He's 6 for 13 (4.62) with a ding dong against Santana, so I expect him to have another big game.
Howie Kendrick (9 for 22, .409) and Macier Izturis (10 for 29, .345) hit Beckett pretty hard. They aren't a big part of the Angels lineup, but they can extend innings and turn the lineup over. If Beckett can keep these guys quiet, he'll be able to avoid extra turns for the big bats like Abreu, Hunter, Matsui.
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