Red Sox Weekly Recap 3/25 - 4/5
I know, I know... it's supposed to be a WEEKLY recap and 3/25 to 4/5 is a bit more than a week, but I was stuck between
doing it like this or making a post last Sunday just on their first two games, so I decided on the former (clearly). I hope this sits alright with all of you... Anyway, onto the recap:
Time to panic, the Sox are just 3-3 after their first 6 games... David Ortiz and Mike Lowell are batting .115 and .214 respectively and Sox starters have only 2 total wins to their credit! Alright everybody, just calm down... just like with spring training, the first couple weeks of the season are hardly an exact indicator of how the team will perform in the long run over the course of 162 games. As loyal reader HJD correctly points out, their little skid these past 6 games is not entirely insignificant, but let's give them a couple more weeks before we collectively hit the "panic button" on the 2008 Red Sox season.
3/25 at Oakland in Japan (6-5 W 10th)
That's the way to open the season, even if I did have to get up at 5:45 AM to watch it. The since-demoted Brandon Moss played hero in the 9th, swatting a solo homer to tie the game. Manny "1,000,000 Yen" Ramirez capped the victory with a 2 run double in the 10th, and Jonathon Papelbon got the save in spite of giving up a run. Emil Brown was tossed out trying to advance to third; it's a good thing because Paps allowed back-to-back hits after Brown's blunder that would have likely resulted in the game being tied.
3/26 at Oakland in Japan (5-1 L)
Plain and simple, Rich Harden looked great on the hill. He mowed down Sox hitters to the tune of 9 K's and 3 hits over 6 innings. His stuff has never been an issue, so if he can stay healthy and reach 180-210 innings, he'll be this year's AL Comeback Player of the Year. ManRam registered his first round-tripper of the season in the 6th against Harden, but that was the only offense the Sox could muster in this one.
4/1 at Oakland (2-1 W)
Back stateside, Matsuzaka outdueled the Oakland Athletics' resident Pillsbury Doughboy impersonator, Joe Blanton. Dice-K gave up just 2 hits over 6.2 innings and recorded 9 K's. The extent of the Sox's offensive production was a Jason Varitek double and a Kevin Youkilis triple, but it was enough to get the job done. Hideki Okajima let up just 1 hit for the hold and Paps struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. Good stuff.
4/2 at Oakland (5-0 W)
David Ortiz got off the shnide in this one in a big way; after opening the season 0-for-21, Big Papi went 2-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBI. Lester looked solid in his second start, lasting 6.2 innings and giving up just 3 hits and 3 walks. The Sox had 26 runners left on base (including 8 for Manny), but that says just as much about the Athletics' poor pitching (13 hits and 5 walks) as it does about the Sox's lack of offense.
4/4 at Toronto (6-3 L)
The Sox only recorded 4 hits in this one and the 1-5 batters were an abysmal 2-for-19. On the positive side, J.D. Drew picked up his first homerun of the year, a 3 run bomb off winning pitcher Shaun Marcum. David Aardsma and Javier Lopez gave up a run apiece and both pitchers failed to record an out when called upon. With Kyle Snyder being designated for assignment (more on that tomorrow), Mike Timlin on the DL and Bartolo Colon looking worthy of an MLB roster spot, keep an eye on the bullpen situation (specifically the status of Aardsma and Bryan Corey) as more moves will likely be made soon.
4/5 at Toronto (10-2 L)
Another game against the Jays, another lopsided loss... what gives? Clay Buchholz pitched well enough with 7 K's and 3 earned runs over 5 innings, but the offense choked (Papi had another 0-for-4 night to lower his season AVG to .091) and the bullpen and defense sucked. In 2/3 of an inning, Snyder and Corey gave up a combined 6 earned runs and the defense committed 2 errors. Ouch.
We'll have the second installment of our Red Sox Weekly Recaps for you next Sunday, when we'll start with today's ugly 4-7 loss to the Blue Jays (yeah, that'd be a sweep). Happy times... at least baseball's back on though, right? See you with a report on another week's action in 7 days.
Time to panic, the Sox are just 3-3 after their first 6 games... David Ortiz and Mike Lowell are batting .115 and .214 respectively and Sox starters have only 2 total wins to their credit! Alright everybody, just calm down... just like with spring training, the first couple weeks of the season are hardly an exact indicator of how the team will perform in the long run over the course of 162 games. As loyal reader HJD correctly points out, their little skid these past 6 games is not entirely insignificant, but let's give them a couple more weeks before we collectively hit the "panic button" on the 2008 Red Sox season.
3/25 at Oakland in Japan (6-5 W 10th)
That's the way to open the season, even if I did have to get up at 5:45 AM to watch it. The since-demoted Brandon Moss played hero in the 9th, swatting a solo homer to tie the game. Manny "1,000,000 Yen" Ramirez capped the victory with a 2 run double in the 10th, and Jonathon Papelbon got the save in spite of giving up a run. Emil Brown was tossed out trying to advance to third; it's a good thing because Paps allowed back-to-back hits after Brown's blunder that would have likely resulted in the game being tied.
3/26 at Oakland in Japan (5-1 L)
Plain and simple, Rich Harden looked great on the hill. He mowed down Sox hitters to the tune of 9 K's and 3 hits over 6 innings. His stuff has never been an issue, so if he can stay healthy and reach 180-210 innings, he'll be this year's AL Comeback Player of the Year. ManRam registered his first round-tripper of the season in the 6th against Harden, but that was the only offense the Sox could muster in this one.
4/1 at Oakland (2-1 W)
Back stateside, Matsuzaka outdueled the Oakland Athletics' resident Pillsbury Doughboy impersonator, Joe Blanton. Dice-K gave up just 2 hits over 6.2 innings and recorded 9 K's. The extent of the Sox's offensive production was a Jason Varitek double and a Kevin Youkilis triple, but it was enough to get the job done. Hideki Okajima let up just 1 hit for the hold and Paps struck out 3 of the 4 batters he faced. Good stuff.
4/2 at Oakland (5-0 W)
David Ortiz got off the shnide in this one in a big way; after opening the season 0-for-21, Big Papi went 2-for-4 with a homer and 2 RBI. Lester looked solid in his second start, lasting 6.2 innings and giving up just 3 hits and 3 walks. The Sox had 26 runners left on base (including 8 for Manny), but that says just as much about the Athletics' poor pitching (13 hits and 5 walks) as it does about the Sox's lack of offense.
4/4 at Toronto (6-3 L)
The Sox only recorded 4 hits in this one and the 1-5 batters were an abysmal 2-for-19. On the positive side, J.D. Drew picked up his first homerun of the year, a 3 run bomb off winning pitcher Shaun Marcum. David Aardsma and Javier Lopez gave up a run apiece and both pitchers failed to record an out when called upon. With Kyle Snyder being designated for assignment (more on that tomorrow), Mike Timlin on the DL and Bartolo Colon looking worthy of an MLB roster spot, keep an eye on the bullpen situation (specifically the status of Aardsma and Bryan Corey) as more moves will likely be made soon.
4/5 at Toronto (10-2 L)
Another game against the Jays, another lopsided loss... what gives? Clay Buchholz pitched well enough with 7 K's and 3 earned runs over 5 innings, but the offense choked (Papi had another 0-for-4 night to lower his season AVG to .091) and the bullpen and defense sucked. In 2/3 of an inning, Snyder and Corey gave up a combined 6 earned runs and the defense committed 2 errors. Ouch.
We'll have the second installment of our Red Sox Weekly Recaps for you next Sunday, when we'll start with today's ugly 4-7 loss to the Blue Jays (yeah, that'd be a sweep). Happy times... at least baseball's back on though, right? See you with a report on another week's action in 7 days.
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