Red Sox Weekly Recap 6/29 - 7/5
6/29 at Houston Astros (3-2 L)
The Sox got a solid outing from Beckett (7 IP, 2 ER, 4 K), but the bullpen coughed up yet another game. After Aardsma gave up a hit to Miguel Tejada with one out in the 8th, Okajma came on and allowed Tejada to score on a Mark Loretta single to center. Adding to the frustration caused by Oki is the fact that Tejada was only in scoring position because our late-inning lefty uncorked a wild pitch in the at-bat prior to Loretta's. On the positive side, Dusty and Manny both had solo shots in the game.
6/30 at Tampa Bay Rays (5-4 L)
In spite of having two more hits than their counterparts, the Sox couldn't overcome a solid outing from Boston nemesis James Shields (6.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 K). Masterson matched Shields in the strikeout department but gave up 2 more earned runs in 0.1 less of an inning. Lowell had a nice day at the plate with a 3-4 performance, while Tek dropped his BA to .222 thanks to an ugly 0-3 game.
7/1 at Tampa Bay Rays (3-1 L)
The Sox really need to stop squandering these excellent Wakefield outings. The Sox' elder statesman went 7 full and recorded 3 Ks to go along with 1 ER, but shoddy defense and a lack of offense really hurt Wake's cause in this one. Matt Garza didn't let up a single run in 7 innings as the Sox dropped to 0-5 on the road at the Trop this season. Ellsbury and Moss recorded 2 hits apiece.
7/2 at Tampa Bay Rays (7-6 L)
Not only did we end up getting swept this series, but we lost every game played at Tropicana Field this year. If you didn't believe in the Rays in May, you have to like their chances of being a playoff contender now. Dice-K (5 IP, 5 BB, 1 ER, 5 K) pitched well enough but only last 5 innings, leading to the coughing up of a combined 6 earned runs by Delcarmen and Hansen. (I wonder if a bullpen arm is in Theo's mid-season acquisition plans?) Dusty (4-5, 2 2B, 3B, HR) was a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
7/3 at New York Yankees (7-0 W)
After dropping 5 in a row to Houston and Tampa Bay, the Sox needed to have a solid showing here and they did. Lester was asked to stop the bleeding and did just that with a brilliant complete game, 5 hit, 8 strikeout performance. The Sox collected 11 hits and benefited from 2-hit games from Drew, Youk and Coco. Ellsbury was caught stealing for just the fifth time all season.
7/4 at New York Yankees (6-4 W)
Beckett (6 IP, 3 ER, 4 K) picked up his eighth win of the season in spite of looking pretty mediocre thanks in large part to solid bullpen outings from Okajima, Delcarmen and Lopez. All 3 pitched 0.2 of an inning and got the ball to Papelbon, who picked up his 25th save, in spite of giving up a run on a Derek Jeter double. Ellsbury, Dusty, Lowell, Youk and Tek all had multi-hit games.
7/5 at New York Yankees (2-1 L)
Mike Mussina (6 IP, 0 ER, 5 K) improved to 11-6 on the season (how's this guy not on the All-Star Team???) thanks to some timely hitting from Melky Cabrera and recent call up Brett Gardner. Hurting the Sox' cause was the fact that the 5-9 hitters were a combined 1-19 with the lone hit being a Mike Lowell single. Moose needed just 89 pitches to get through 6 innings and scattered 4 hits and 1 walk over that period. Did I mention that I think this guy should be on the All-Start Team yet?
The Sox got a solid outing from Beckett (7 IP, 2 ER, 4 K), but the bullpen coughed up yet another game. After Aardsma gave up a hit to Miguel Tejada with one out in the 8th, Okajma came on and allowed Tejada to score on a Mark Loretta single to center. Adding to the frustration caused by Oki is the fact that Tejada was only in scoring position because our late-inning lefty uncorked a wild pitch in the at-bat prior to Loretta's. On the positive side, Dusty and Manny both had solo shots in the game.
6/30 at Tampa Bay Rays (5-4 L)
In spite of having two more hits than their counterparts, the Sox couldn't overcome a solid outing from Boston nemesis James Shields (6.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 K). Masterson matched Shields in the strikeout department but gave up 2 more earned runs in 0.1 less of an inning. Lowell had a nice day at the plate with a 3-4 performance, while Tek dropped his BA to .222 thanks to an ugly 0-3 game.
7/1 at Tampa Bay Rays (3-1 L)
The Sox really need to stop squandering these excellent Wakefield outings. The Sox' elder statesman went 7 full and recorded 3 Ks to go along with 1 ER, but shoddy defense and a lack of offense really hurt Wake's cause in this one. Matt Garza didn't let up a single run in 7 innings as the Sox dropped to 0-5 on the road at the Trop this season. Ellsbury and Moss recorded 2 hits apiece.
7/2 at Tampa Bay Rays (7-6 L)
Not only did we end up getting swept this series, but we lost every game played at Tropicana Field this year. If you didn't believe in the Rays in May, you have to like their chances of being a playoff contender now. Dice-K (5 IP, 5 BB, 1 ER, 5 K) pitched well enough but only last 5 innings, leading to the coughing up of a combined 6 earned runs by Delcarmen and Hansen. (I wonder if a bullpen arm is in Theo's mid-season acquisition plans?) Dusty (4-5, 2 2B, 3B, HR) was a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
7/3 at New York Yankees (7-0 W)
After dropping 5 in a row to Houston and Tampa Bay, the Sox needed to have a solid showing here and they did. Lester was asked to stop the bleeding and did just that with a brilliant complete game, 5 hit, 8 strikeout performance. The Sox collected 11 hits and benefited from 2-hit games from Drew, Youk and Coco. Ellsbury was caught stealing for just the fifth time all season.
7/4 at New York Yankees (6-4 W)
Beckett (6 IP, 3 ER, 4 K) picked up his eighth win of the season in spite of looking pretty mediocre thanks in large part to solid bullpen outings from Okajima, Delcarmen and Lopez. All 3 pitched 0.2 of an inning and got the ball to Papelbon, who picked up his 25th save, in spite of giving up a run on a Derek Jeter double. Ellsbury, Dusty, Lowell, Youk and Tek all had multi-hit games.
7/5 at New York Yankees (2-1 L)
Mike Mussina (6 IP, 0 ER, 5 K) improved to 11-6 on the season (how's this guy not on the All-Star Team???) thanks to some timely hitting from Melky Cabrera and recent call up Brett Gardner. Hurting the Sox' cause was the fact that the 5-9 hitters were a combined 1-19 with the lone hit being a Mike Lowell single. Moose needed just 89 pitches to get through 6 innings and scattered 4 hits and 1 walk over that period. Did I mention that I think this guy should be on the All-Start Team yet?
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