So three days ago I was sure the Sox had turned a corner, by taking 2 out of 3 from the Yankees. Turns out even the Royals can take 2 out of 3 from the Yankees. So it's not so much that that the Sox are playing well again, it's more that the Yankees are stinking it up again. Four games above .500 -- awesome.
Thoughts on Shoppach coming in with the Sox down by 7? Obviously the callers on WEEI are going to have a field day, but that's hindsight. As much as I wish it had been Varitek coming in with the bases loaded, I don't know.
Of course it looks bad now and is easy to second guess, but we were down 7 and if not for the injury to Mirabelli, Tek would not have been playing at all. So Terry saw it as a chance to get him some rest the night before a day game.
ReplyDeleteOf course with the Sox offense 7 runs is not impossible and Varitek had a night off on Sunday. And there is also no guarantee he would have done any better than Shoppach.
Well, as long as we split with the O's it isn't too bad. Sooner or later we will get to play the lesser teams like KC and make up some ground there. If memory serves we still have 13 games left against the D-Rays, too. And...we still have 9 left against the Yankees (hehehehe)...
ReplyDeleteI understand what Francona was doing with Tek. I will say this, though. This is the second time they were trailing were he replaced just about everyone he could with bench guys in this series. I hope that the team doesn't start to develop the attitude like, "Well, we're down by 7 so the game must be over."
Replacing players in blowouts sometimes is ok, but I hope this doesn't become the norm.
Of course it looks bad now and is easy to second guess, but we were down 7 and if not for the injury to Mirabelli, Tek would not have been playing at all. As long as we split with the O's it isn't too bad.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that this will become a habit. Although, if I remember correctly the magic number last year was 5 runs. It's still relatively early in the season we don't have an off day this week and Francona is going to have to do a little juggling to keep guys healthy. I am just glad Shoppach didn't strike out.