Is Jason Bay ever going to cool down?- A recap of last night's game

To start off with - yes, he is.  But let's not jinx him.  I've written time and time again that Jason Bay is not going to stay this hot and I'm worried that there are some fans out there who think he's superman and will go 2-4 every game until the season ends.  While that's not going to happen, I'm as happy as anyone that this guy has gotten a hit every single game he's played for the Sox.

Alright let’s talk about last night’s action:  They say Wakefield’s knuckleball moves better in humidity, and boy did that happen last night.  Through 6 innings of work, Wakefield gave up only 2 runs (1 earned), 4 hits, zero walks, and 6 strikeouts.  After Wakefield gave up three walks last Friday, I mentioned that this is something that Wakefield rarely does.  And we saw that last night, as he didn’t walk a single batter.  Granted he may have give up a walk had Francona allowed him to pitch in the 7^th – speaking of which, why didn’t Francona let him pitch in the 7^th?  He had only thrown 81 pitches, 68 of which were strikes.  I saw the clip of Francona talking to Wakefield in the dugout after the 6^th inning ended, but I have not yet heard what it was about.  Perhaps he just didn’t want his 42 year old pitcher to over work himself, considering it was so hot and humid. 

In any case, both Wakefield and Kansas City pitcher Luke Hochevar had their share of 1-2-3 innings.  This was probably why the game only lasted two hours and forty-seven minutes.  Eventually Hochevar stopped getting his 1-2-3 innings and was driven out of the game with two ours in the 6^th. 

The 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th innings were when Boston got all that scoring done.  Jed Lowrie put the first runs on the board for Boston with a 2-RBI double to center.  Tons of people were hot this series, and Lowrie was one of them.  He soon crossed the plate after David Ortiz singled to center field.  The next inning, Hochevar loaded the bases, bringing in Ron Mahay.  This didn’t stop the Red Sox, as Drew singled in another pair of runs.  That would be it for the 6^th, but Jacoby Ellsbury put threw more runs on the board in the 7^th with a shot over the centerfield fence.  This guy clearly wants to be back in the leadoff spot. 

I guess the only downside to last night was Kevin Youkilis leaving the game early, after getting hit on the wrist by a pitch.  It wasn’t a pretty sight, but you gotta give credit to Sean Casey for being such a good sport about being a utility man.  If he played for any other ball club, this guy might be a starter.  But he opted to be a utility man for the Sox, saying that he cared about playing for a good team.  With him on the bench, I really don’t get as worried as I should when Mike Lowell’s hip is hurt, or Kevin Youkilis gets hit by a pitch.  Give them a few days off and give Casey some playing time.  (Granted right now they’re both hurt, so that’s not a good thing.  But if worst comes to worst, which I don’t think it will, Lowrie can move to third and Casey can play first.  We can worry about that if the situation calls for it, but not now.)

The Sox get the night off tonight (which means I won’t get to see Heidi Watney).  This came a good time considering Pedroia won’t need another night off in a while, and Youk can continue to rest his wrist.  The White Sox sure aren’t going to go down without a fight, considering they’re neck and neck with the Twins.  Let’s keep this offense going boys!

Keep the faith.

Post game notes:

-Jacoby Ellsbury:  In addition to his three run shot, Jacoby singled twice, making it 3-4 for the night (2 R, 3 RBI).  He’s been saying he wants to be back in the leadoff spot and now he’s showing it.  Don’t be surprised to see him there on Friday night. 

-Boston Bullpen:  They were a little shakier last night than usual, with Delcarmen and Papelbon each giving up a pair of hits.  Of course this was a great time to do that, having a lead like they did.  Also you need to remember that Papelbon hadn’t pitched in a few days, so it’s always good to have your first day back in a non-save situation after not pitching in over a couple of days.  The Red Sox bullpen has now gone the last 16.1 IP without giving up a run.  That brings us back to last Friday night’s game against Oakland, when Okajima gave up a solo homer.  We’ll see how long this can last, but you gotta hand it to those boys in the bullpen for all their hard work. 

-Brian Giles:  Apparently the Red Sox have claimed Giles off waivers and have 48 hours to make a deal with him.  I don’t see where he would fit in the line up.  When we had Brandon Moss, we would send him back down to AAA when there wasn’t room for him.  I can’t see that happening with Giles.  I agree with rumors I’ve heard about this possibly being a move by the Sox to stop Giles from going to another team like the Rays.