Red Sox 5, Braves 2
Game story here, box score here, Kevin Millar’s defense of Edgar Renteria here.
I have to be honest. I’ll never understand booing as a general practice. Never done it, never been inclined to do it. I am as frustrated as anybody by Renteria’s performance to date but he certainly appears to be trying out there. Even more damning, the booing has ramped up as reports of Renteria’s sensitivity have emerged. Anyway, kudos to Kevin Millar for having his teammate’s back. And for realizing that he himself stinks.
As for the game, don’t look now but it appears that Matt Clement may have “harnessed his stuff”. He’s 5-0 now and appears to have figured out “how to win”. And no, the wins have nothing to do with pitching for the team with the 2nd highest run total in baseball. All kidding aside, yesterday was damn encouraging as Clement was able to go the distance while yielding just 4 hits and no walks. That’s right, no walks. If Clement can avoid the bases on balls, he can be one of the best starters in baseball. Even when he is walking batters, he’s still pretty darn good because his high strike out totals allow him to wiggle out of jams. But yesterday was a little glimpse of what Clement could be.
Manny Ramirez was the offensive star. After a weekend of being pounded away by Braves pitchers and some very un-Manny like cuts at some fastballs on the outside part of the plate on Friday and Saturday, Manny was locked in on the outside pitch yesterday. He had three hits, including a home run over the bullpen in right field. Detractors keep trotting out Manny’s paltry .242 batting average but the fact is that he has a .356 on-base average to accompany a .530 slugging figure. Not the kind of numbers you’d expect from Manny but not the type that will kill your offense either.
I don’t really get this hall-of-fame game today but apparently the Red Sox play Detroit in an exhibition game up in Cooperstown. From there, it’s on to Toronto where David Wells will try to improve upon last Wednesday’s blood-curdling, smoldering catastrophe of an outing out in Oakland.
C’mon Jeff, you know how sensitive I am.