Sox sweep Baltimore, pitching still putrid

[jacksonianmarch]

Well, the sox broke out of their funk and took 3 in a row against the putrid Baltimore Orioles. They did it by scoring 28 runs in 3 games against quite possibly one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball (actually 2nd worst in team ERA in the MLB at 5.37!!). In doing so, they gained two games on the yankees and now sit 2 games back in the loss column. At the same time, the yankees are playing their nemesis in LAA and have one more game to go against them before they get to play the Baltimore cupcakes. So all seems to be right in Beantown right? Well, no.

 

The Red Sox got lucky these last 3 games. Had they played a team that could actually pitch or could actually hit, then they likely lose the series 2-1, but instead took the sweep. Why do I say that? Well take a look.

 

Here are the pitching #s over the last 3 days against the Orioles, who are 10th out of 14AL teams in scoring.

 

28IP 18ER 36H 11BB 20K. 5.79, 1.68WHIP, .316BAA

 

That is completely and utterly PUTRID. The sox have turned into the Texas Rangers of old. All hitting, no pitching. If they can outbash you, they will win, if their hitting isnt stellar, they will lose. Make no bones about it, if this pitching were against any other team, namely against the next 2 opponents the sox will be facing, then they would lose both series.

 

In a time of optimism for the sox, one must look at the underlying way they won to see how much trouble this team is actually in. If one thinks that the sox can actually pull this off against the Tigers [7th in AL in scoring, 1st in ERA] or the Yankees [4th in the AL in scoring, 5th in the AL in ERA] then you are deluding yourself. The pitching must improve or this short term good feeling for sox fans will turn back to sour quickly.

[a700hitter]

Well, the sox broke out of their funk and took 3 in a row against the putrid Baltimore Orioles. They did it by scoring 28 runs in 3 games against quite possibly one of the worst pitching staffs in baseball (actually 2nd worst in team ERA in the MLB at 5.37!!). In doing so, they gained two games on the yankees and now sit 2 games back in the loss column. At the same time, the yankees are playing their nemesis in LAA and have one more game to go against them before they get to play the Baltimore cupcakes. So all seems to be right in Beantown right? Well, no.

 

The Red Sox got lucky these last 3 games. Had they played a team that could actually pitch or could actually hit, then they likely lose the series 2-1, but instead took the sweep. Why do I say that? Well take a look.

 

Here are the pitching #s over the last 3 days against the Orioles, who are 10th out of 14AL teams in scoring.

 

28IP 18ER 36H 11BB 20K. 5.79, 1.68WHIP, .316BAA

 

That is completely and utterly PUTRID. The sox have turned into the Texas Rangers of old. All hitting, no pitching. If they can outbash you, they will win, if their hitting isnt stellar, they will lose. Make no bones about it, if this pitching were against any other team, namely against the next 2 opponents the sox will be facing, then they would lose both series.

 

In a time of optimism for the sox, one must look at the underlying way they won to see how much trouble this team is actually in. If one thinks that the sox can actually pull this off against the Tigers [7th in AL in scoring, 1st in ERA] or the Yankees [4th in the AL in scoring, 5th in the AL in ERA] then you are deluding yourself. The pitching must improve or this short term good feeling for sox fans will turn back to sour quickly.

I agree completely. The pitching, especially the starters, have to step it up big time this week or this team will be a pile of rubble by next Sunday. The starters are going to have to start going 7 regularly. When we get 7 now, it's like a SportdDesk Newsflash. The 2004 streak started when the starters regularly went 7, even the #5 guy.

[yeszir]

I think the bright side of this is that, despite its shortcomings, our pitching isn't as bad as it has shown recently. So things have nowhere to go but up. Right?

[a700hitter]

I think the bright side of this is that, despite its shortcomings, our pitching isn't as bad as it has shown recently. So things have nowhere to go but up. Right?

I hope so.

[Cityofchampions33]

Theyr'e gunna NEED to step up now otherwise we're gunna ahve a few mor 1-5 strecthes ahead of us. The one thing Im worried about is our young guns, who all looked very shaky today. Besides fatigue, the loss of Jason Varitek is a big factor, and has possibley already shown its effect. It really shows how underrated Tek is as a caller.

[jacksonianmarch]

Theyr'e gunna NEED to step up now otherwise we're gunna ahve a few mor 1-5 strecthes ahead of us. The one thing Im worried about is our young guns, who all looked very shaky today. Besides fatigue, the loss of Jason Varitek is a big factor, and has possibley already shown its effect. It really shows how underrated Tek is as a caller.

 

 

I am not sure that it infers how good tek is, it could just be that the inevitable happened. Papelbon was a closer in college, was converted back into a starter and then back into a closer. He is not used to the workload of a major league closer on a playoff caliber team. I thought he would nosedive before, but he is still holding his own. I just have this feeling that he is gonna divebomb soon, though. We'll see.

[Cityofchampions33]

Im not just talking about Papelbon, but the whole staff, ever since Tek has gone down, everyone ahs been underperforming, and I mention the kids because they ahve to depend on Tek, whereas someone like Schill prepares a lot anwyay.

[jacksonianmarch]

I hear ya. Lester is also being pushed. I would like to assume that he is well over his career high in IP, but he is needed so they really are stuck.

[MANNYHOF24]

We just won three games and people are bitching. A win is a win. Schilling and Beckett will turn it on down the strech, and Paps will continue to dominate. If you think about it we have 2 solid set up guys and a dominiant closer. Wells seems to be back, and If Lester can rebound, when Wake comes back we have a pretty darn good rotation. Isnt it good to win games when you dont pitch your best.

[yeszir]

We just won three games and people are bitching. A win is a win. Schilling and Beckett will turn it on down the strech, and Paps will continue to dominate. If you think about it we have 2 solid set up guys and a dominiant closer. Wells seems to be back, and If Lester can rebound, when Wake comes back we have a pretty darn good rotation. Isnt it good to win games when you dont pitch your best.

I don't think anyone is bitching about the wins. It's good to win games with bad pitching, since it means you don't lose with bad pitching. But the main argument here is that we beat the Orioles, whoop de doo, now the same pitching that beat the orioles (barely) has to play against the Tigers and the Yankees.

[jacksonianmarch]

We just won three games and people are bitching. A win is a win. Schilling and Beckett will turn it on down the strech, and Paps will continue to dominate. If you think about it we have 2 solid set up guys and a dominiant closer. Wells seems to be back, and If Lester can rebound, when Wake comes back we have a pretty darn good rotation. Isnt it good to win games when you dont pitch your best.

 

Holy Rosey colored glasses batman. We'll see I guess.

[noonanberg]

hopefully it's just a funk for our pitching. every staff goes through it at some point, hopefully that's the case here. schilling has been good. beckett has been dominant at times, ok at others, and bad on occasion as well, but he still is up there in wins, so he's doing something right. lester will find his groove again, he's a rookie, can't expect him to be strong the whole year. papelbon had a rough going today, but again he got put in a 'please pap save us' situation. it would probably be good if he could come in when he had three runs to work with and no one on. wells has shown signs of finding his form. wake will be back soon. and if the number five is a constant toss up between johnson, snyder and _________, oh well. if we're lucky enough to make the playoffs we'll probably be using a four man rotation anyway.

[jacksonianmarch]

See, Schilling has not been that great either. Since his stellar outing against Oakland, he has started 5 games. In those 5 games, he has this line.

 

3-2W/L 32.1IP 46H 21ER 6BB 25K 5.84ERA 1.61WHIP and 14 more hits than innings pitched and he has seen his era rise from 3.42 to 3.89. Yes, he won 3 of those 5 starts, but that is not ace material, especially when you consider that those games were vs TEX, OAK, LAA, TB, and KC. He should be better against those guys too. As a matter of fact, here are the era's of the pitchers after the AS break.

 

Lester 4.91

Schilling 4.81

Johnson 5.82

Wells 5.09

Beckett 5.45

 

That just isnt getting it done. BTW, a gold star to whomever can guess which pitcher currently on the red sox MLB club has the lowest ERA since the AS break.

[Rdsxmbnt]

This series was huge, coming in we were 3 games back and the Yankees were surging and the Sox had just got swept by the Royals, things were looking very bad. To come out with a series sweep and gain 2 games is huge. Ya the pitching wasnt great but our two best SPs didnt even start in the series, Wells showed us he can still pitch and Jason Johnson accounted for almost half the total runs allowed in the series. This was big and hopefully with Schilling and Beckett coming up we can step it up.

[Jon_Papelboner]

That pitching isn't going to cut it against the tigers who obviously have better pitching. Though I think Verlander is still out with the arm trouble.

[jacksonianmarch]

This series was huge, coming in we were 3 games back and the Yankees were surging and the Sox had just got swept by the Royals, things were looking very bad. To come out with a series sweep and gain 2 games is huge. Ya the pitching wasnt great but our two best SPs didnt even start in the series, Wells showed us he can still pitch and Jason Johnson accounted for almost half the total runs allowed in the series. This was big and hopefully with Schilling and Beckett coming up we can step it up.

 

well, the sox pitching will need to step up, or the ground you just gained will be replaced and doubled before you know it.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

That pitching isn't going to cut it against the tigers who obviously have better pitching. Though I think Verlander is still out with the arm trouble.

Verlander pitched on Friday against the White Sox. That would put him on pace to face David Wells on Wednesday. I dont know if they will skip Verlander again.

[Jon_Papelboner]

Did he pitch well? I missed it.

[RoyNHSox]

BTW, a gold star to whomever can guess which pitcher currently on the red sox MLB club has the lowest ERA since the AS break.

 

Rudy Seanez?

[jacksonianmarch]

The matchups are.

 

Robertson vs Beckett

Bonderman vs Schilling

??? vs Wells. Likely to be Verlander, but they havent finalized it yet.

 

All three of these pitching matchups will have the tigers starter having the better ERA (barely in the schilling matchup). Robertson is a lefty who is having a great year. The sox don't hit lefties very well (.269/.357/.443/.800) compared to how they hit vs righties (.288/.365/..467/.832) so they will have a disadvantage there. Beckett has trouble with good hitting teams, but he is better against inpatient teams, and the tigers are very impatient. Bonderman and Verlander have been aces and should pose a huge task for the sox offense.

[jacksonianmarch]

Rudy Seanez?

 

http://www.dcs.wisc.edu/images/services_goldstar.gif

[Beckett95]

Rudy Seanez?

that would be correct. His era has been .84 since the break. 2ND is papelbon with an era of 1.93. Then 3rd is Timlin with a 4.26 ERA.

 

The Sox team ERA since the All-Star break is 4.92, which is 6th worst or 9th best in the AL.

[yeszir]

Rudy Seanez?

That's so pathetic. Should we start cheering the guy? :dunno:

[Pesky]

That pitching isn't going to cut it against the tigers who obviously have better pitching. Though I think Verlander is still out with the arm trouble.

 

That pitching, except Wells, who was fine, wont pitch vs. the Tigers. The good pen pitchers, Timlin, Paps and Delcarmen, were fine as well. Johnson doesn't count. Lester was bad, but what's new. He will struggle until he can find the plate.

 

The Yankee series will be the tougher series, because Lester and Johnson will both pitch, unless something changes.

[jacksonianmarch]

That pitching, except Wells, who was fine, wont pitch vs. the Tigers. The good pen pitchers, Timlin, Paps and Delcarmen, were fine as well. Johnson doesn't count. Lester was bad, but what's new. He will struggle until he can find the plate.

 

The Yankee series will be the tougher series, because Lester and Johnson will both pitch, unless something changes.

 

Thing is, every single pitcher in the rotation is between 4.9-6 in era since the AS break. So, essentially every spot in the rotation has been horrid of late.

[Cocos Disciples]

Sox are gonna sweep the Tigers.

[Beckett95]

Sox are gonna sweep the Tigers.

 

they very well could. the Tigers have been awful lately, while the Sox offense was on fire this weekend. Granted it was Baltimore pitching, they still hit well against them.

[jacksonianmarch]

Sox are gonna sweep the Tigers.

 

Verlander will start on Wednesday.

[RoyNHSox]

That's so pathetic. Should we start cheering the guy? :dunno:

 

He’s been barely used since the ASB, and all but one of his appearances have been in low leverage situations. The one and only occasion he was used in a close game, at KC, is when he gave up the one run. He still ranks high on the list of veteran players who have been big disappointments this year.

[jacksonianmarch]

He’s been barely used since the ASB, and all but one of his appearances have been in low leverage situations. The one and only occasion he was used in a close game, at KC, is when he gave up the one run. He still ranks high on the list of veteran players who have been big disappointments this year.

 

Fact is, nobody in that pen save Papelbon have been good since the AS break. Maybe they should try Seanez one more time.

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nah man, I'm just playin, lol.