Don’t Let the Door Hit You, Monsieur Gagne
Red Sox 3
Blue Jays 4
I’ve officially had it with:
- Eric Gagne’s Keith Foulke Impression
- Terry Francona’s blind faith in veterans
- Eric Hinske.
- Red Sox Nation Elections
- Manny’s injury
We can call last night’s edition of the Gagne experiment a huge, steaming pile of failure without a long discourse. Beyond that, why wasn’t anyone else ready to go? It was obvious Gagne wasn’t going to get that third out of the inning. He got two quick ones on Reed Johnson and Alex Rios, two tough hitters, but completely lost control of every pitch after that, missing by four feet at times. After walking in a run, he barked at Ed Rapuano like a pissy high-school kid. Dude, its not the Ump’s fault you suck. It could have been even uglier, the last out came at home plate on a bases loaded double just over J.D. Drew’s glove in right.
This was an important game for the division, but don’t lose sight of what really matters. I don’t care if this team squeaks in as the wild card or blows everyone out of the water, its all the same come October. A division win would go a long way to healing the wounded psyche, but I’ll get over it in about 15 seconds if the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the ALCS. Jon Lester settled down and pitched well after struggling in the first with his control; that’s all I care about right now. With the rotation struggling, he could be a bigger part of this team in the playoffs than we all realize.
Tonight, Clay Buchholz faces Jesse Litsch (5-9, 4.37, 1.47). The Sox roster has only faced Litsch 41 times, but is hitting .390/.400/.561. His last start against the Sox was a short one, 3.1 IP, 7 ER on September 3, but he spread nine hits over 6.2 for 1 ER in July. Temper your expectations for Clay, if he gives us 6 IP and 3 ER I’ll be happy. Francona has been quiet regarding how long they’ll leave him out there, citing the usual “A lot depends on how he’s throwing, the score of the game,” but I can’t see him topping 100 pitches under any circumstance.
I’m normally pretty lenient when it comes to Francona’s decisions, but last night…not having Papelbon ready was puzzling. Very puzzling.
I wish managers would use their best relief pitchers in the toughest situations.
Horrible game last night- and the third poopfest in a row!
Tito’s decisions blew again & JD’s bat-on-shoulder uselessness seems to be catching on, as Ellsbury, Papi, Hinske, etc., all gave up on close pitches.
I’ve officially had it with all these analysts saying the division doesn’t matter!
Its all about momentum, and if we just back into the wildcard, all the flow would be on the Yanks side. Of course momentum can shift like in ’04, but I’m telling you this team doesn’t seem to have all the horses like they did a few years back. Its scary to think that we have only ONE solid starter now (J-Beck), and an offense that reeks more often than not!
i thought that was grady little managing last night good grief charlie francona.
YIKES! Is Gagne pulling a check from NY? I hope the “Gagme Experiment” is over. Thanks for coming to Boston Eric. We won’t we needing your services any longer. No Crisp, No Manny, No Youk equals No Win situation. And now Ortiz is going to be out tonight also. Blue Jay sweep anybody? Maybe Baltimore could act like a MLB team tonight and win one for the ‘Coma