Despite the fact that Jon Lester did not have his best stuff, he gutted it out and kept the Sox in the game, pitching 5 2/3 innings of 3-run ball.
The rest of his line: 115 pitches, 74 for strikes, giving up 6 hits (including a homer) while walking 6 (Yikes!) and striking out 5…
The bullpen, while not as good as they have been, got the job done, with the most notable performance by interim close Andrew Bailey, who notched his 5th save in 6 chances with a perfect inning, striking out the side, throwing 19 pitches, 13 for strikes… Hanrahan may not have a job when he gets back next week, which is ironic, because Bailey was supposed to be the closer LAST year, but then fracked up his thumb, and was out for 4 months, which necessitated putting Alfredo Aceves in the role
And speaking of Aceves, the Sox demoted him to Pawtucket yesterday. I am thrilled Ben Cherington pulled the trigger, but would have rather a DFA, rather than a demotion, although I fully expect this move by Sox management won’t be a happy one for Aceves, so this problem may very well resolve itself. While the Sox have not made a corresponding roster move yet, it’s expected to be Ryan Lavarnway… Read more…
When my stepdaughter played baseball, they had the mercy rule, where if you were ahead by 10 runs after 4 innings (or middle of the 3rd if you were the home team) the game would be called, so that the other team would not suffer further humiliation. Of course, this is little league, not major league.
But Holy Buckets, last night was certainly the night for the Sox needing a mercy rule–getting slaughtered by Oakland, and fracking Bartolo Colon of all people! So because of the rain, the game was ended in the 7th inning–and I think it’s safe to say they wouldn’t have been coming back from a 13 run deficit…
Someone asked me what happened last night–and it can best be summed up as: Aceves and a knuckleballer…’Nuff said…
Let’s not forget the GEM Of a 3rd inning where Aceves gave up SIX RUNS, without a homer. Nope, that amazing feat was completed by giving up 3 hits and 3 walks a throwing error–and 2, count ‘em TWO balks–Holy Hell, who DOES that? Read more…
And, frankly, it was only because Daniel Nava (who is leading the Sox hitting .326–Yeah, go back and read that again) jacked a 3-run shot in the 8th inning on Saturday that they won that game. The KC Royals are a much better team this year–and they snapped the nice the 7 game win streak the Sox had going.
Fortunately, no one else did well enough to unseat the Sox from 1st place in the AL East, still with a lovely 1.5 games lead over the Skanks…
Ryan Dempster is still looking for his 1st win in a Red Sox uniform, and did OK in the start on Sunday afternoon, giving up 4 runs on 6 hits (including a homer) while walking 3 and striking out 8. He threw 107 pitches, 71 for strikes. Hopefully, he will not be the goat of the staff, where the bats are always quiet on the day he pitches… Read more…
Shameless Plug: Join me tonight at 9:10pm, EST, as I sit down with Dave Mitchell of BBA Baseball Talk to talk chat Boston, the Red Sox, and Boston Red Thoughts. The show is broadcast on Ultimate Sports Talk and you can find it here. Then, just click on “Listen Live” and you’re all set. Hope you can join us!
And I completely missed the boat yesterday that my review of Closer was my 1300th post. Consequently, we are celebrating Post #1301…Never thought I would write 1300 posts on ANYTHING… Yay!
So, the Sox won their 5th game in a row, and are currently the owner of a gaudy .714 winning %–and #1 in the AL East…At this pace , they are projected to win about 110 games–Yeah, right… heh heh heh…
It’s early, but starting record of 10-4 is a damn sight better than the 4-10 start of the 2012 campaign–and this team is INFINTELY more likeable… Read more…
The concept of a closer we know today–someone who comes into the game in the 9th inning to shut the door on the opposition, and get the win, its a relatively new concept. The first year a “save” was even a MLB stat was 1969
There have always been guys who pitched the 9th inning, but in the earlier years of baseball, they often pitched the 8th, and sometimes the 4th and 7th inning as well.
Closer focuses on 62 of the best relievers of all times, and is split into 3 sections “The Early Year, “The Transition Years” and “The Modern Day Closer”, and within those sections, its further broken down by the dominant relievers of that span.
Its interesting to trace the progression of the position from when Hoyt Whelm and Ollie Fingers would average 2-3 innings per outing, and have win loss records of 143-122, and 114-118, respectively, as they generally started out as starting pitchers, and moved to the bullpen when they lost their effectiveness there. And their stories are remarkably similar: They all wanted to be in there with the game on the line–whether than was the 9th–or the 6th inning… Read more…
On behalf of Boston Red Thoughts, our thoughts and prayers go out to those impacted by the explosions during today’s Boston Marathon.
After Josh Beckett was traded to the Dodgers, the discussion began as to whether or not the Sox had a legitimate ace in Jon Lester. After all, prior to the meltdown in the Sept of 2011, and the subsequent debacle in 2012, Lester was one of the winningest lefties in all of baseball with a 54-23 record and a 3.40 ERA from 2007-2010. And he is certainly doing well this season, with a 2-0 record, and a sparking 1.42 ERA.
And That Clay Person had a no-hitter on Sept 1st 2007 (I was on my honeymoon in Bermuda and missed the damn thing) in only his 2nd start in the bigs, but then he would struggle mightily, and we often wondered if he was just too much of a head case to be “that guy”… But over the years, we have seen flashes of brilliance (like his 17-7, 2.33 ERA season in 2010)…and yesterday’s “6 outs away from no-hitter #2″ gem that he tossed against Tampa Bay, which included a career high 11 strikeouts. It was his 3rd win for 2013–and what is even more telling is the minuscule ERA of .41–Yep, like 41 cents… Read more…
If you're a die hard red sox fan then you probably find yourself looking for Boston Red Sox Tickets all the time. We have a large selection of tickets for all games at Fenway Park.
The concept of a closer we know today–someone who comes into the game in the 9th inning to shut the door on the opposition, and get the win, its a relatively new concept. The first year a “save” was even a MLB stat was 1969
