Good morning all. Yes, it is still morning for those of us who stayed up last night to watch the Sox loose in extras.
But let’s go back. We actually won a game on Friday night, which seems like forever ago because last night’s game was so long. But we did play on Friday, and we played quite a ball game. We’ll start with Dice K….Dice-K….I don’t even know what to say. You walk the bases loaded in the first, yet do not surrender a hit until the 7th inning (Thanks for jinxing it, TBS). This guy is quite something, and I like him. I love close
ball games, so Game 1 was pretty fun to watch.
Does anyone else love it when Jed Lowrie drives in Jason Bay? This happened on August 1, The Bay State man’s debut, when Lowrie drove in Bay on an infield single in the 12th. Then it happened again in Game 3 when Lowrie’s single scored Bay from second to win the ALDS. And what better way to score the first run of the ALCS than a sacrifice fly from Jed Lowrie to score Bay? Gotta love having Lowrie hitting behind Bay. Great combo.
Now if someone told me a year ago after the Sox won World Series that Josh Beckett would be a completely different man in the 2008 playoffs, I’d tell them to go jump off the Tobin. Now I find myself wanting to jump off the Tobin because of the way Beckett’s been pitching. Really now, 8 earned runs? That’s a bit much. If we wanted a pitcher to give up a bunch of long balls, we’d bring in Paul Byrd (who would not be a bad option for later on in this series, if the situation calls for it).
Speaking of situations, there were a few last night that I was not very happy with. Such as bringing in Lopez to face one batter. I’m sorry, but I don’t trust Lopez. Get a new lefty from AAA to pitch to one batter a game, because Lopez isn’t getting it done. Second, I think Masterson should have stayed in the game longer. Masterson, although now a reliever, can pitch for a good three of four innings if needed. This would have been a huge relief last night. Papelbon could still have pitch the final inning (if the Red Sox had actually come back) and we wouldn’t have gone to Timlin simply because we needed another pitcher. However, I’m not upset with Timlin. There were several calls that did not go his way last night, which strongly impacted the result of the game. If you disagree, tell that John Farrell.
Although we did not win last night, we had some really strong offense going early in the game. Youk and Bay hit back to back homers in the 5th, and Pedroia had a pair of homers himself. Yes it’s great to see Youk and Bay continuing to hit, but how about Pedroia heating up after his quiet ALDS? It makes you feel a lot better knowing that your boys are hitting – and last night they sure were hitting.
Well now the series comes back to Fenway. Couldn’t ask for much more than that. Don’t know where I’m watching the game on Monday, but you can look right below the Ford sign to see me on Tuesday!
Keep the Faith!
