How in the fucking hell can Terry Francona sit on his ass in the dugout while Eric Gagne throws away this game? Seriously. (Did I read correctly at ThreadSox that Jonathan Papelbon wasn't even warming up?)
WTF? Was Bot totally off limits tonight? If so, who was going to pitch the ninth assuming Gagne was fine? Why not have MDC start the eighth?
What's Francoma's thought process? Did he keep Gagne out there on the mound -- throwing 14 balls in 19 pitches at one point with the Jays fans howling with glee -- with the irrational hope that he'd suddenly regain his confidence? Or did he not want to Gagne to think he had no faith in him? Is that important at this point?
Many SoSHers think that Tito is managing this series (and the Yankee series last weekend) as if the Red Sox have already clinched a playoff spot and he's playing out the string, not necessarily managing to win every single game. Tonight was a perfect example of that mindset.
Gagne retired Reed Johnson on a nifty 3-1 play to start the bottom of the eighth. Alex Rios lined out to shortstop. Two quick outs -- Sox still holding a 2-1 lead. Frank Thomas walked on five pitches, then Gagne fell apart.
Aaron Hill looked at two balls and singled through the infield to left. Matt Stairs fell behind 0-2, but then looked at four straight balls -- none of them even close to the strike zone. Bases loaded. And no one was warming up in the bullpen. No one!
Gregg Zaun looked like he had no intention of swinging the bat at all -- who could blame him? -- and he walked on five pitches, forcing in the tying run. And Gagne was still left out there to allow a line drive double to Russ Adams, which brought in two more runs. A possible third run on that play was cut down at the plate to end the inning.
Julio Lugo hit a two-out home run to left in the top of the ninth, but the Sox came no closer. Coupled with New York's 12-0 win against the Orioles, the East lead is down to 2.5 games.
And it is more than past time for Francona to get his thumb out of his ass, wake the fuck up, and start trying to win a few ballgames. His actions tonight are an absolute mystery. I can't imagine what excuse or reason he could give for what he did (or didn't do) tonight.
***
Jon Lester (4.86, 94 ERA+) / A. J. Burnett (3.42, 136 ERA+)
In his last seven starts, Burnett has a 1.78 ERA (he's allowed only one earned run in five of those seven starts).
This is Burnett's first start against Boston in 2007. Lester has never faced the Blue Jays.
We'll be sitting in Skydome Aisle 116, Row 18, Seats 5 and 6, so head over to ThreadSox for game chat.
Link
ReplyDeleteHave fun! Make some noise!! Throw some sunflower seeds!!!
Have fun! Doesn't look like I'll be able to make a game this week after all...looks like we will have to rendezvous at a game next year!
ReplyDeleteI'm also considering making the drive to Detroit if they somehow end up playing the Tigers in the playoffs, but a lot has to happen between now and then...
Burnett was good in his last outing. But we need a win.
ReplyDeleteI believe it will happen -- one way or another. Triple dong or not, the Jays lineup isn't at full strength either.
Is anyone else tired of GAG-ME?
ReplyDeleteHe just walked in the tying run, then gave up a 2-run single to a *(&*S(&(&SD& no-name pinch hitter. The guy couldn't find the stike zone to save his sorry life.
I don't what's worse - GAG-ME's pitching or the fact that Francona had Papelbon sitting (not warming up) in the 'pen.
Un-*(&*^%$ing believable.
ANOTHER piece of shit game
ReplyDeleteTito completely blew this one... Timlin could have come in if he didn't want to pitch Paps (which makes little sense at this point). You just can't lose close games like this at this point in the season. Awful, awful managing.
ReplyDeleteIt was bad. It hurt. It sucks.
ReplyDeleteThat fucking magic number won't budge.
I'm beyond fucking sick of hearing these loser Jays fans acting like they won the fucking pennant.
ReplyDeleteFUCK THEM ALL!
I don't know what kind of view you guys had at the game, but the Buffyvision camera was continually close-up on Gagne's face. The fat, sweaty prick just DID NOT want to throw the ball, even before he got into trouble. Literally melting down on the mound. Pathetic. One of Tito's little outings to allow the man to "feel good about himself?" Jesus.
ReplyDeleteman sorry you had to endure such a shitty ending.
ReplyDeleteCould not see his face much, but he was taking a fuckin' long time between pitches. He waddled in from the pen really slow, but he may always do that.
ReplyDeleteWe were fucking fuming.
He should have been pulled after the single to Hill. Tito left him in for 3 more batters and it might have been more if not for the out at the plate.
Francoma, Tery, Stupid Fucking Shithead -- all the insults are applicable tonight.
i tell you what though, the third batter (the first one he walked) he was getting fucking squeezed. there were TWO really good pitches that weren;t called strike. in the end he still fucked it up, but i couldnt believe the ump didnt call them strikes, especially with his bullshit low strike calls all night.
ReplyDeleteNESN showed Papelbon standing on the bullpen mound, just watching the game. Joe Castiglione kept saying that Papelbon was standing in the bullpen but not loosening. He had his jacket off, but I couldn't tell if he had a glove on. But he looked poised to get the signal to start warming up. When Gagné was facing Stairs, they showed Bot beginning to warm up.
ReplyDeleteThen when Gagné walked in the run, Papelbon sat down and Bryan Corey got up.
"managing this series [...] as if the Red Sox have already clinched a playoff spot"
ReplyDeleteI've been saying this since June.
redsock-At the point when the neighbors banged on the ceiling from our screaming at the TV to get Papelbon up (when the bases became loaded), they showed Pap in the pen. Standing there, flipping a ball up and catching it! Tito clearly made the call that Gagne would pitch the eighth, Pap the ninth. And that's as far as he thought, I guess. And once he got the two outs, he probably just went to sleep on a cot in the clubhouse. But after a borderline call prevented the third out, Gagne pulled a Dice and let his frustration get to him, and he couldn't do anything right from then on.
fuck gagne, but most of all...fuck tery. gagger got 2 outs in the 9th then the shit went down - so why not warm paps...why stick with ol fuckface down the stretch?
ReplyDeletesorry im fumin' n swearin - had too many at the campus bar tonight but seriously, im pissed that tery would let this shit go on.
more tomorrow (+more coherency!) haha...
This fucking team is slowly wearing me down. And I still love 'em, God bless me, I do. But watching that magic number just...not...move is slowly killing me. I really want them to win the division, and not give yet another crown to the goddamn jackass MFYs.
ReplyDeleteCourse, if the Sox hoist the trophy in a few weeks, who'll give a shit about a stupid division title? :)
What Tony said.
ReplyDeleteI'm a nervous wreck. I'm not hanging out here because it makes me feel worse. Somehow I only like the community when we're winning. When we're losing everyone's complaining (including my own) just makes me feel worse.
Hope to see you all again real soon.
Yeah, as I said last night before signing off at Threadsox, misery loves company, but this is just too miserable. When the usual boundless optimism of the folks at JOS ("We have a 98+ % of winning the division") starts wearing thin, it REALLY makes me nervous. Maybe this is the low that the team had to hit to start fighting to get back on top? Let's hope so.
ReplyDeleteBeckett, Matsuzaka, Schilling in the playoffs. That's what Remy is saying. Are they fragging nuts!
ReplyDeleteYou have to switch daisuke and schilling, they have to.
Remy also said Okajima is hurting, as for Papelbon not being ready in the eighth so that he could come in who the Frag knows what Francona is doing.
Remy is starting to beat up on Manny also, Remy says Manny looked great in BP so why the heck isn't he playing, MBM is what he's saying.
Fragging Sox, Fragging Jays (why the fuck couldn't they play like this against the MFY's).
Arrrrrgggggggh.