JMDurron

Actually, it gets worse. It was a choice of Womack vs. Crespo. We kept Crespo because he impressed people in Spring Training.

I bet we see the K argument return now. Both Pokey and Bellhorn let us down in the same inning...again.

That was low AND outside. Robbed.

Looks like the bashing Lowe got from Francona might have actually helped. Seems like the whole team stepped up a bit afterwards, could it be from the shock of the "Player's Manager" actually slapping someone over a lousy performance? "Whoa, we're actually accountable! Time to get it together!"

I'm expecting a slight letdown from our offense. Maybe we'll only get 6-7 runs today.

How about Pokey making one error (and it was an error, in spite of a friendly scorer) in an inning of 3 errors between SS and 2B leading to 6 unearned runs? That was just bizarre. As far as Pokey being benched, based on the lineup of the last week or so, I'd say that he HAS been benched. He seems to only be starting when Bellhorn needs a day off, or when a LHP means Nomar can DH instead of play in the field. I think it's perfectly appropriate to start Pokey in both circumstances. We KNEW he couldn't hit before the season started, and he's extremely handy to have in the field with a groundball pitcher like Lowe on the mound. We don't need to trade him (you want Crespo back as the backup IF?!? Can I slap you please?), we don't need to banish him to AAA. We need him as the excellent defensive and baserunning substitution that he has been the past week or so.

Good news in the ESPN.com game notes from tonight's win. "Red Sox manager Terry Francona said Tuesday that Kevin Youkilis and Mark Bellhorn would being taking ground balls at 1B to prepare for a possible start there." This opens up some excellent possibilities for the lineup (Why choose between Mueller and Youk?) and defense (Why choose between Pokey's glove and Bellhorn's eye/bat?), if one or both of them can adapt to the position. The fact that they're considering moving Youk tells me that Terry is confident that Mueller is recovering well.

I'm proud to say that I got the "JMDurron went to the last game and they sucked, so they're going to mock him by showing up now" mojo going for this game.

Actually, there ARE 82 games left. 43 + 37 = 80. 162 - 80 = 82.

I think that the team's main concern is all in their minds, or in their hearts (or the lack thereof). However, since we can't do anything about that, we might as well nitpick about what we think could be improved. That pretty much leaves 1B and #5 starter/long relief.

OBP would be overrated if you were talking about a 3-4-5 hitter. For a 1-2 hitter, OBP is potentially huge. How exactly do you think Ortiz became the AL RBI leader? He's had Damon and Bellhorn getting on for him all year! I really don't get why people are so quick to ignore Bellhorn, I know he looks like the poster child for Valium, but he can get on base and hit.

My argument for when everyone is hitting up to par is that we can afford to downgrade offensively...from Millar to McCarty. Keep Bellhorn's OBP in that #2 spot. Who bats 2nd when Mueller plays, otherwise? Nomar? You want one-pitch outs coming up five times a game? You said yourself that 1B is the biggest problem, and with Ortiz at DH and Bellhorn over Pokey at 2B, we can get away with McCarty's excellent defense at 1B. As for pitching, we could use a slight upgrade, I agree.

Looking at the starting lineups, does anybody else wonder if the AL has a prayer?

Considering the team's defensive woes whether Pokey's been in the game or not, I'm shocked that you're willing to add another black hole to the lineup for an improvement at one position. Daubach's no better than Millar when you have him face LHP, he actually might be a bit worse, and I'm not a Millar fan. Also, given that this is Youk's first year in the big leagues, he doesn't technically have a history of OBP at this level. He may be building one now, but he doesn't have it quite yet. Mueller has also always been more comfortable hitting lower in the order, so you can't really plug him in at #2. I really don't think that the top 4 of our order can be optimized any more than it already has been. 1) Damon (Speed, OBP) 2) Bellhorn (OBP, some power) 3) Ortiz (Two OBP guys in front = runs!) 4) Manny (Just for when Ortiz misses) If you're desperate to get Pokey in the lineup, then put Bellhorn at 3B and have Pokey at 2B, or have Nomar DH with Ortiz at 1B, Bellhorn at 2B, and Pokey at SS. In one case, you have no Youk/Mueller, and in the other, you get Ortiz fielding. I'm not sure that those negatives don't overwhelm Pokey's defensive contributions.

The reason I put Millar in is because Ortiz can hit great, and play lousy D. McCarty can play great D, and is lousy at the plate. Millar's the closest thing to middle ground that we have at 1B. The only way I take him off 1B is A) In NL parks, or B ) When Bellhorn or Youkilis prove they can play the position Mueller over Youk is a tad risky. I think Mueller is going to recover nicely, and that we may need a right handed bat off the bench who can actually HIT RHP more than we'll need Youk playing every day.

Mueller at 2B? Why? Millar batting 6th, ahead of Nixon and Varitek? I know Varitek's slumping, but he's still better than Millar. That also leaves us with a bench of Kapler, McCarty, Pokey, Mirabelli, and Bellhorn. We could pinch run or have defensive substitutions, but no solid pinch hitting (not a big market for pinch walking). That's kinda scary. My suggestion: 1) Damon CF 2) Bellhorn 2B 3) Ortiz DH 4) Manny LF 5) Nixon RF 6) Nomar SS 7) Varitek C 8) Mueller 3B 9) Millar 1B Flip Trot/Nomar as you see fit, but I get annoyed with having 1-pitch outs too high in the order. I'm also not sold on Nomar getting his power back. Millar is easily the worst hitter in this lineup (could argue Bellhorn, but only by ignoring OBP), so I want him 9th. This also leaves a bench of Kapler, McCarty, Pokey, Youkilis, and Mirabelli. Gives the bench defensive options (Pokey, Kapler, McCarty), running options (Pokey, Kapler if desperate), and more than one solid pinch hitter (Youk, Mirabelli).

Amen! I totally agree. We even have two new additons (Pokey and Bellhorn) who have performed ABOVE expectations (when you look at career averages), and we can't get it done. Our guys from last year just need to get back to doing what they used to do so well - get the clutch hits, claw back from behind, and don't play in the field like they're blind and mired in quicksand.

I saw this game in person, my annual Red Sox game was just as tragic in person as it was on TV/Internet. Regarding taking Lowe out, with the bases loaded, 1 out, and only one run in in the inning, I can understand Francona not pulling Lowe, and not having someone warming up to psyche the manchild out. After that, things happened quickly enough that, aside from lots of Varitek visits to the mound to stall for time, I don't think Anderson could have been warm enough to come in. Lowe was absolutely GREAT up until that point, so I can understand why Terry wanted to give him a chance to work out of it. When he couldn't, things just went to hell too quickly. That said, I hate the manchild with a deep, burning passion now. That inning started when he walked a guy after being up 0-2 on him, which happens WAY too often. THROW A FREAKING STRIKE, MANCHILD! The umpire was giving a wide strike zone the whole damn game. I was sitting right behind the plate in the upper deck, so I had a good view of the width of the strike zone. It was REALLY wide.

We got the OBP Trio on all the bases (Youk, Damon, Bellhorn), and the biggest of our big bats don't do anything. Would anyone else like to complain about us not trying to steal often enough? Even with Pokey's speed, he's going to get caught a few times when we're going to wish that we had another out.

Mueller is even a bigger addition in a NL park. We now have two guys who can actually smack LHP as pinch hitters when needed (Youk, Millar), alongside our defensive replacements (Kapler, McCarty). And we have POKEY backing up SS/2B instead of Crespo. Good times.

To: Cesar Crespo From: Red Sox Nation Nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah nah, HEY HEY HEY, GOODBYE!

There's no way this team scores 9 runs in an NL park. We scored 2 on the last two scrubs we've faced, and that's WITH a designated hitter.

Nixon to DH, Millar to RF, and Ortiz to 1B was apparently a last-second decision before the game started. I'm guessing Nixon said something to Francona about his injury still bothering him a little bit.

Aside from the crisp game part (hitting? ANYONE other than Ortiz?), I agree with you. I'm especially enjoying the idea of a sweep against the Braves.