Nice outing for Josh Beckett ... well, the first 28 batters. An error by JT Snow and an eight-pitch walk to Chase Utley opened the eighth inning and brought Ryan Howard to the plate. Tito should have pulled him there -- Julian Tavarez was warm.
Beckett stayed in and Howard hit a first-pitch, three-run home run. The 8-1 lead was 8-4.
Beckett had 91 pitches after seven innings and I wouldn't have minded him being pulled. If the Red Sox bullpen can't hold a 7-run lead with six outs to go, well ... And why not save some of those Beckett pitches for October?
Still, you could argue that Beckett was cruising and should have started the 8th. That's reasonable. But after the walk -- and at 105 pitches -- no. This is one of Francona's obvious faults (Gump had the same problem). And he can't use the excuse of a weak pen this season.
Fortunately, what could have been very ugly was not. Tavarez gave up two one-out singles, but got out of trouble and Mike Timlin threw a perfect ninth on nine pitches (all strikes).
Besides the pitching, Boston got some bizarre offense: Beckett hit a solo home run in the 7th (he also singled home a run in the sixth); Kevin Youkilis followed that with a triple; and Alex "The Pitcher" Gonzalez pounded a two-run shot to dead center in the 8th.
Jason Varitek did not hit a home run for the sixth consecutive May 20th.
Also: 714.
[Gordon Edes writes that David Wells's knee feels good and he expects to be pitching in Fenway against Tampa this Friday.]
Red Sox down 1-2-3 again in the top of the fifth. One measly single in five innings. WTF? Is Myers dealing (only 54 pitches) or are the Sox bats AWOL?
ReplyDeleteLooks like my post woke up the bats.
ReplyDeleteSixth inning: 4 runs, 5 hits, 10 batters, 37 pitches for Myers.
Beckett: RBI single, scores a run...then hits a homer? Arroyo has competition.
ReplyDeleteLast Red Sox HR by a pticher: September 26, 1972, Marty Pattin, vs. Brewers. Sox lost 6-4 at Fenway.
ReplyDeletetito with the late hook on the starter, yet again. christ.
ReplyDeletei think tito is a bit of a weener sometimes when it comes to pulling people. he needs to be more dominant.
ReplyDeletegood to win the first two with lenny going tomorrow (and flo out of the lineup).
ReplyDeletethen it's another 3-game war with the mfy. monday is the first time i'll see them battle it out this season.
Well, look at it this way, at least Tito doesn't wait until the game is tied like Grady did or like Randolph doesn't wait until the closer has imploded like the met yankee game yesterday. Thats at least 3 games this year where an opposing team has had a big lead late in the game vs the Yanks only to have them implode. Sox should be 2 1/2 up not 1 1/2.
ReplyDelete