Wow, that game had everything. Five home runs, all huge; 10 pitchers; 28 hits (only one of the 18 starters, Kevin Millar, failed to get a hit); awesome baserunning, by Bellhorn; horrific baserunning, by Manny (Sizemore actually got an assist for that!); another scary outing by Embree; another scary outing by Foulke. Hard to say which is weirder: Wells getting the win, or Foulke getting the save. Wells took 111 pitches to get through 5 innings, giving up 5 ER, on 10 hits and 2 walks (having given up 6 walks in his previous 10 starts). C.C. Sabathia was much more efficient: only 92 pitches to get through 4.2 innings, giving up 9 ER on only 9 hits and no walks. Hard to do, really; I think the key is to give up big home runs. Embree was once again misused -- maybe it wasn't "close", but he had pitched in the previous two games -- and gave up a 2-run homerun. Foulke looked terrible, for the first time in a while, giving up two runs on two hits, with the last two outs hit very, very well. Thank goodness for Damon's solo HR in the 8th, off Riske. Final score 10-9. Sox left only 3 on base; Cleveland left 11.
Somehow I hadn't noticed until tonight what a stellar season Arthur Rhodes has been having. Record of 3-1, 0.94 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 27K/4BB. (Actually, the Indians relievers all look good: ERA's of 2.38; 2.10; 0.94; 3.00.) Seems lots of Sox fans are excited about Mike Timlin being an All-Star. Unfortunately Rhodes beats him in almost every category. And Jesse Crain probably deserves to be there before either of them. I know, I know, Terry gets to pick the pitchers, and Joe Torre played favorites all the time...but maybe Tito's better than that? And maybe RSN's better than that? And besides, Sox already get Manny, Ortiz, Damon, Varitek, and Clement. I'm just sayin'.
Orioles and Yankees both lost, to weaker opponents, so Sox move up relative to both, and are 9 above .500 for the first time this season (meaning I can't say "They have been playing .500 ball since..." without going back to late 2001 or so). Next is Arroyo vs. Millwood, with both bullpens depleted.
Yeah, Rhodes for kendall did not exactly work out for the A's the way Billy had imagined.
ReplyDeleteAs for timlin over Rhodes, well I think the likelihood of Rhodes going is slim. Its not just that Torre overstocked All star teams, it is one of the rewards of being the league champ. Scioscia brought Donelly (and pine tar). Torre got in a few tiffs with Nelson over his non-selection one year. I'm just not sure it is a matter of Tito being better than that. He almost have to do it (pick Timlin) or else he could run the risk of alienating a player - I'll have more on this in my next book review.
As for the Cleveland pen - yes they are much improved. In fact, if they had last year's offense (3rd best in AL) with this years pen (best in AL this year, last in AL last year), they would be our wild card leader.
Sox pen is not that depleted - Halama has pitched once in the last ten days, Mantei had tonight off and has not pitched much lately (albeit for a reason) and Timlin and Foulke could both throw tomorrow. Myers maybe. Embree will most definitely not pitch tomorrow. In fact, I think Embree's days are numbered. The guy has some serious velocity still, but is not fooling anyone. It would not surprise me if he came up with a mystery injury. Or worse - ends up getting released.
Call me crazy, but I thought that was Embree's best outing in a while (barring the two innings against the Pirates). I know he gave up the two run homer, but he was hitting his spots and throwing a lot of heat. If you watch the replay of that home run, if it is a swing and miss (which it wasn't), Embree hits Varitek's glove.
ReplyDeleteEach hitter knew he was going with the fastball, and they still couldn't hit it. Varitek and Embree agreed on that pitch and location.
Also, there was a reason there were so many hits last night. The strike zone was incredibly small. No corners were given to either side. In fact, Embree struck out the side, but it was called ball four.
Like I said, I know it is nuts, but I think that he's turning it around now.
Also...maybe it was hard to tell if things were balls or strikes because (to me) the camera angle from center looked off.
I may be more inclined to agree if it wasn't becoming a trend - Embree getting lit up.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, what is up with Sabathia and that hat! I know we hve our own guy (Alvarez) who does it, but Sabathia's hat was practiclly sideways.
I agree, Embree does look better than he has for a while. And I thought that was strike 3 also.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "Mantei and Halama are available, and Foulke maybe", that to me translates as "the Sox bullpen is depleted." In a nice bit of managing, Arthur Rhodes faced just one batter, so we'll be seeing more of him. Our best reliever, Timlin, pitched 1 1/3 innings; he's available, but not for more than a couple innings the next few games.
Yeah, CC's hat bugs me too. A manager's going to complain one of these days.
Myers can go. Timlin can go. Halama, Mantei...Wait, who's pitching tonight? I am so confused...!
ReplyDeleteWait, Arroyo...Ok, he'll go 6 or 7...Then on to the pen...Yikes. I would say that Foulke is available again. He likes to work a lot. Embree could face a batter (left-handed specialist type deal).
Timlin is going to have to throw an inning or two, no doubt tonight.