Nice way to conclude a West Coast road trip. In perusing the boxscores, I saw that Patterson and Hermida are edging close to the "Mendoza line". Bill Hall is batting .230 but contributes with power and versatility. Hall has hit 11 dingers this year despite not playing full time.
Just think how solid the lineup will be when Ells and Petey return from the DL. Of course, Hermida fell victim to one of Beltre's forays into OF. I suspect that the injury slowed him a bit this year. At this point, I would keep McDonald over Hermida when Petey and Ells return. McDonald, though struggling at the plate of late, is out of minor league options and would have to clear waivers before returning to Pawtucket.
It was great to see Tito declare both Pap and Bard as unavailable for today's game -- way to go, Tito!
Beckett seems to be pitching better. Not sure as to his velocity these days. Hopefully, it is in the 90's. How did he look to you, Southpaw?
Sweeping the Angels makes the trip back home easier. Mike Sciosa is a good manager who has a way to keep his team in a game and keeps the opposition off balance. It seems that they miss Guerrero who has regained his stroke in Texas.
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Oh, how sweep it is!! Broom Day is always the best! What a great way to end the road trip. The boys are on their way home for an all too brief homestand. Mrs. Brady & I will try hard not to think of the good times we'll be missing tomorrow and Sunday. The Beckett Bowl is tomorrow night at Lucky Strikes across the street from Fenway and Picnic in the Park is Sunday. According to Beckett, most of the guys will be at the bowling party. That's one of the more populated team activities for the guys. I'm going to try to NOT focus on the fact that I'm absolutely living in the wrong state.
ReplyDeleteMoving on...I was really surprised when Pinero was yanked before the start today. Guess he pulled a Strasburg. Shields had a "hurry up and warm up" before being thrown into the lions den of Sox hitters. I quietly gloated that if we were in that same situation, we've got Wake in the pen, a starter not that long removed from the rotation who can basically take over pitching duties without falling apart. I heard Don Orsillo say that the last time Shields was a starter was in 2003! Yep, he certainly showed it.
I didn't get to watch as much of Beckett as I would've liked. The gentleman that I work for had the nerve to interrupt my game watching on several occassions for work-related tasks. Boy, some people! Beckett did look a little bit rusty at first. He was missing a bit with his pitches, but there was nothing off in terms of velocity. I think he was still shaking off some of the cobwebs in trying to find the strike zone. He seemed to level off after the first couple of innings, but not before enducing a tie game. I also thought it was interesting that Linus went to the mound again without his blanket. No Tek behind the plate for Beckett's 2nd start. This didn't seem to bother Beckett, so maybe that little insecurity is over with. But then again, he didn't have a choice. I can't wait for Tek to return just to see if there's any difference in Becketty-boo.
Jerry Remy, my good buddy, suggested that even when Ells comes back, the Sox should still hold on to D-Mac. Jerry believes that he can play any position in the OF and as a pinch hitter, he's come through in some key situations. With Cameron and Nancy's on-again-off-again situations, it may behoove the Sox to hold on to D-Mac. With Hermida, Ells and D-Mac, we still have a solid OF when Cam and Nancy can't play.
I was not happy to see Wake throw another side. I thought maybe he'd come in for the bottom of the 9th. Nope. Ram-Ram of all people closed us out. I hope Wake did indeed throw a side and it wasn't just another Sox dry hump.