| 18 May 2010
“I can’t even find the words."
That was Daisuke Matsuzaka's response, when asked about his outing against the Yankees last night, and you know what?
Neither can I.
After mowing down the Blue Jays with a steady diet of fastballs and a more aggressive approach, Matsuzaka admitted that he wasn't as aggressive last night against a superior Yankee offense:
"I tried to pitch carefully, but it was just too much of a drastic difference from my last outing."
What was different?
“I think I just threw fewer fastballs.”
Could this guy be any more frustrating? He knows what works, but decided to go back to his nibbling ways, shaking off V-Mart all night and eventually imploding for 7 runs in just 4 2/3 innings.
The Sox made an amazing comeback in this game and applaud them for not quitting, but that's what made this game even more frustrating than your average loss to a division rival. This team simply finds new ways to lose... over and over again.
There were so many little things that went wrong last night...
Matsuzaka and Martinez clearly don't work well together and I'm not sure why the Sox ever thought that they would. The language barrier is just the tip of the iceberg and the glacier underneath is made of V-Mart's poor game calling skills and Matsuzaka's stubbornness. Both Dice-K and Beckett seem more comfortable with Varitek, and although the Sox don't want to take Martinez' bat out of the lineup, I think it's time to lock Tek in as the primary catcher for these two guys. Vartitek's actually hitting better than Martinez these day and you need quality starts out of your starters more than you need a 2-4 night from V-Mart.
I know MacDonald and Hermida are not here for their defense, but there were a handful of hits to the outfield last night that should have been caught or played differently. Ellsbury and Cameron cannot get health fast enough, but my concern is that the shuffling of the lineup may disrupt the current offensive mojo we have going...
And then there's Paps. He wasn't going to be perfect fort 162 games, but last night was the worst time to to have a meltdown. After throwing 2+ innings in Detroit on Saturday, Papelbon's fastball had no movement and the Yankees pounced all over it. We can't be certain that his lengthly outing in Detroit was the cause, but Tito used his two best RPs to get the save and the win and it just didn't happen.
Bottom Line: This game went from disaster, to a possible season-changing win, to a heart-breaking loss. The season is now 1/4 complete and although the Sox are capable of playing better, I don't see them making a strong enough run to overcome this hole they've dug.
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