Sox Take Marathon Rubber Game
With two of baseball’s best offenses handicapped by injuries and slumping superstars, Phil Hughes and Daisuke Matsuzaka were victimized by patience and high pitch counts. The former didn’t get an out in the third, and the latter struggled mightily through five. Matsuzaka was handed the big lead but couldn’t keep runners off base in the early innings. His fastball command was typically spotty, the difference Sunday was an inconsistent change-up. In his previous three starts he has relied on the change to lefties; without an out pitch he went to the curve more, with mixed results.
The back of the bullpen was unavailable, leading to tense middle innings and a tightrope act without a net. Mike Timlin didn’t retire a batter but was bailed out by Javy Lopez in the seventh. Lopez and David Aardsma were effective; early results on recent bullpen cuts suggest the right moves were made.
Turning to media watch, Jon Miller and Joe Morgan need to be led to pasture. If your job is announcing baseball games, it’s not acceptable to routinely get players’ names wrong. They’ve never offered thoughtful insight, but Sunday Night Baseball has become a tired repeat of the same stories over and over. Did we need a steroids/curse diatribe again? No, but we got them both.
Monday night, Jon Lester faces off against Jake Westbrook in Cleveland. Will David Ortiz be back in the lineup? Will his “mental health day” get him back on track?
Sunday Night Baseball is the bane of my existence.
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