Manny Delcarmen

all for you. 

Then both bullpens had some trouble once the starters were taken out.  Manny Delcarmen only made it through two-thirds of an inning, while surrendering 3 hits, 3 runs, and a walk.  Not his best outing.  I’m not going to be angry with Delcarmen, however, because he was one strike away from getting out of the jam.  Had he done so, his line score would have looked like this (1.0 IP, 2 H, R, BB).  Unfortunately the man who wouldn’t allow Delcarmen to escape was none other than Alex Rodriguez – not the easiest out in baseball. 

Continue reading "“Go Crazy Folks, The Red Sox Win This One!”"

Lost in the shuffle of Matt Cassel beating Brett Favre in the most hyped Week 2 game in years around these parts on Sunday afternoon, Jon Lester continued his march toward becoming a truly elite pitcher by outdueling a man largely respected as perhaps the best hurler in the AL, in a game the Sox needed to have. Any question marks that surrounded Lester at the All-Star break have been officially converted into exclamation points. In fact, pencil him in for Game 2 right now - it doesn't matter who we are playing or what Daisuke's record ends up being ... Lester's earned the spot right behind Beckett in the playoff rotation.

Continue reading "Q & A ... well, at least some Qs"

Those runs would be all Wakey would need as he had his good knuckleballer going throwing 8 shutout. Manny Delcarmen finished the team 3 hit shutout in the 9th and the Red Sox would tack on 5 more in the late innings to complete a 7-0 victory. Wakefield has definetely been inconsistent this year as one start he'll be the worst pitcher in the world and the next he'll throw a shutout. A lot of that depends on the weather, because his knuckleball can do some crazy things if the weather is a certain. This is why I think the Red Sox should always make Wakefield questionable. If the conditions are right for a good knuckler, start him, if not, use a spot starter like Bartolo Colon.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/13"

The Red Sox had already used Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen and Javy Lopez and, with Papelbon having pitched each of the last three nights and thus pretty much unavailable, had to go to Mike Timlin. Timlin has been reliable over the years, in fact this was his 1050th career appearance, tied most all time for a right hander, but this year he has had injury problems and looked lost at time with his diminishing velocity. He allowed two to reach base and eventually someone was going to drive in a run. Carlos Pena, a former Red Sox, blasted a three shot run to break the tie and give the Rays a 4-1 lead.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/11"

The Red Sox took on the Rangers today. I'll get to that in a moment, but first, some other happenings that could effect the Sox in the long run. The Rays won yesterday over the Yankees. The Red Sox thus gained a half game on the Yankees but fell a half game to the division leading Rays. The Twins ended their long road trip by losing again as they were swept by the Blue Jays. Boston now leads the Twins by 5.5 in the Wild Card. The Jays then helped the Red Sox some more today. They extended their winning streak to 6 in a win over the Rays. The Twins won and the Yankees currently trail the lowly Mariners 3-0 in the 7th as Brandon Morrow has a no hitter going for the Mariners. On to today's game.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/5"

sed" by the Red Sox - Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jonathan Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen, Jon Lester (and you could throw in Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson) - a list, by the way, that includes two MVP candidates (Youk and Pedroia), the best closer in baseball (sorry Mariano "Skeleton Face" Rivera) and a potential future Cy Young winner (Lester).

Continue reading "The Tables Have Turned"

uot;Have a nice night."

But after the chaos, something crucial and almost silent took place. Manny Delcarmen shut the door.

It's not exactly cause to hang "We love Manny" banners off the Zakim Bridge. Obviously, it wasn't a pressure-packed situation, and it wasn't a 1-2-3 inning. But it does matter. The night before Delcarmen had what pitching coach John Farrell called "dominant stuff" and yet he issued two walks that almost cost the Sox the game. This, unfortunately, has become the new definition in Beantown of "Manny being Manny."

Continue reading "The Manny we still have"

Let’s hope Dice-K can make this two in a row!

Keep the faith!

Postgame notes:

-Manny Delcarmen:  Delcarmen almost made it through the 8th last night, but was pulled after giving up two walks.  I personally would have rather seen Masterson warm up in that situation.  Delcarmen’s struggled this season, so I’m just glad the Sox got some insurance runs in the top of the inning (as well as the top of the next inning). 

Continue reading "Game 1 - Sox win"

have.

But as good as Lester was, there's still plenty of time and places to express worry.  Manny Delcarmen could not get to the end of an inning again.  Terry Francona, who has been quoted as saying sometimes you need your closer to close it out in the 8th inning (the extra runs in the top of the 9th made it a much more comfortable game), put out the fire that Delcarmen began by walking two batters after getting the first two outs.  Maybe we can petition MLB to only require two outs in the last three innings of a game, but then we might be using rules copyrighted by the Olympic people (see below for an Olympic Baseball rant).

Continue reading "Lester: The New Stopper"

nbsp; And then the fireworks started – no really, there were actual fireworks.  If I was Manny Delcarmen right there, I’d be even more frustrated with those annoying fireworks.  I can understand fireworks for a walkoff or something like that, but I dunno that bothered me. 

Continue reading "Frustrating loss for (Red) Sox in series opener"

nal League team and get something good in return.  I’m proposing this: Manny Ramirez and Manny Delcarmen for a first-round draft pick, a minor-leaguer, a relief pitcher like Hong-Chih Kuo and player similar to Justin Upton. 

Continue reading "Is it a bad thing to trade Mr. Ramirez?"

h, outside of Jonathan Papelbon and Hideki Okajima, has been shaky at best and putrid at its worst. Manny Delcarmen, who was expected to step into Mike Timlin’s role as the top right handed set up man, has been awful, especially when it comes to inherited baserunners. Opposing hitters boast a .385 batting average against with runners in scoring position when facing Delcarmen. Javier Lopez has given up 6 walks already in only 9 and 1/3 innings pitchers, 5 of those to the lefties who he is usually brought on specifically to get out. Mike Timlin is doing better after a shaky return from the disabled list but still sports and ERA of 13.50. In fact, after Papelbon and Okajima, the only other reliever with an ERA under 4.00 is David Aardsma.

Continue reading "Get Masterson in the Bullpen, Now!"

Without the services of Okajima or Papelbon, Francona turned to Corey for an inning-plus and Manny Delcarmen sealed the deal.

           Offensively, Kevin Youkilis had a double and a run-scoring single, while defensively, he set the MLB record for consecutive errorless games, passing Steve Garvey’s mark of 193, set back in the mid-80s. In a classy move, the Athletics gave him first base, which he then proceeded to have signed by his teammates. His sites are now set on the “successful offensive chances at first base” mark (1,700; he’s 72 away) set by former Red Sox (and Cleveland Indian) first baseman, Stuffy McInnis, back in the early 20s.

Continue reading "Don't get too excited. . .but the ..."