Patriot’s Day Preview
I was unfortunately occupied during the Red Sox marvelous comeback win on Sunday afternoon. From reading the postgame analysis, it seems Wakefield and Lowrie should share the game ball. As I say goodbye to one of the personally craziest weeks in recent memory, I’m excited to look ahead. The Red Sox go for a sweep of the Texas Rangers Monday morning.
Texas at Boston, 11:05 AM ET
Kason Gabbard at Clay Buchholz
The spoils of the Eric Gagne heist are beginning to show fruit. Not only has David Murphy laced eight doubles and stolen three bases, but lefty Kason Gabbard is sporting a nifty 2.41 ERA. Drawing conclusions from an 18.2 inning sample is foolhardy, but Gabbard has been an enigma in his three starts. His groundball rate is in Brandon Webb territory, but he’s only striking out 3.38 per 9. His BABIP is a hefty .305, but all those hits haven’t translated into runs. It appears he’s been both lucky and unlucky. Maybe the Rangers have found something, but if he shuts down the Red Sox tomorrow I won’t be calling for anybody’s head. We know all to well how this team fares against unfamiliar pitchers, more so lefties.
Milton Bradley (the baseball player) has officially taken over the top spot in my consciousness for that name. Too bad I’ll no longer associate that collection of syllables with a fun-loving board game pioneer, but one of baseball’s leading misanthropes. “The Game of Life” had a good run, it’s Bad Milton’s turn now. He has taken advantage, pairing with Josh Hamilton to lead the Rangers offense. If Hamilton makes it through the next few years without a relapse into addiction he will be legendary regardless of what happens on the field. If he hits 30 home runs, the movie rights for his story should launch a bidding war of epic proportions.
After starting the season 3-43, David Ortiz has seven hits in his last twenty-eight at bats. Not an abrupt about-face, but it’s a small step in the right direction. Getting him and Clay Buchholz on track is the last step this team needs to take to officially be “running on all cylinders.” The Red Sox have yet to win a game Buchholz has started this season, and Patriot’s Day seems like a good day to turn that around.
