The Sox looked glad to be at home. And why not? The last game they played there was nearly 6 months ago...
They battered around Mike Mussina. Finally, they didn't let this guy settle in. How many times have we seen Mussina struggle early against the Sox always to find the key double-play ball? Too many. But not yesterday. They never let him rest, getting his pitch count high early.
So, they had accomplished that. What else? They scored some two out runs...AND...the biggest point of the day...The bullpen looked great. Finally...
And, yes, they are tied for last place now, but they are also only a 1/2 game out of the wild card and only two out of first AND it is early.
Schilling is now back and he will be our number one. That means it isn't Wells against Johnson, it is Schilling against Johnson. Wells against Mussina...Clement or Wake against Pavano or Wright...and Arroyo versus ???
I still say if you line that rotation up against anyone else you are in good shape. Toronto is off to a solid start, but they do not have the pitching to do it all year. Now if they land a Ben Sheets, there will be a dog fight for the wild card...
I’m not really panicking about Wells and Clement. I think they will be okay and I think the offense will start clicking (including Renteria) and everything will be okay in RSN.
ReplyDeleteI’m not sure you can put a lot of merit in the “alignment” of the rotation. The way things work with off days, travel, injuries and extra days rest, it is rare that both number ones will actually match up with each other. Like today, Schilling versus Wright. In fact, the Sox will face the Yankees 13 more times and it is possible that we will not see Johnson versus Schilling in any of them. Both managers have shown that they will not tinker with their rotations just to get guys starts against the other. That being said, this season may actually be really, really close and adjustments may be made. We always had Pedro to deal with and his need for extra rest. In the end it all come out in the wash.
And even in the playoffs, if one team goes to five in the division series and another sweeps, you could be faced with Johson versus Clement or Schilling versus Pavano. You never know.
I'm glad we are already looking at Wild Card standings on April 12th.