Ok, so Friday night’s game against the Angles was a strange one. First of all coming into the game, I really didn't expect much because we had Phil Humber on the mound against Jared Weaver who has absolutely been shutting bats down. Coming into Friday night Weaver had pitched something like 27 innings and had only given up 9 hits.
Needless to say the way the game went was still frustrating, despite my low expectations. We took an early 1-0 lead and Humber was looking all right, pitching his way out of jams. Until the s*** hit the fan in the 4th inning, a few bad pitches and some poor defense led to a 4 spot by the Angels, which would prove to be their only runs. Unfortunately, 4 was enough on Friday.
Weaver was mowing us down and it looked like he was in a monster groove, as if nothing could stop him. Then the rain hit and I thought, "Well this might be our only chance to break his rhythm." Well after a 35 minute rain delay Beckham reached on error and Dunn hit a rolling curveball from weaver about 10 rows deep in the right field bleachers. And those 2 runs would be the last 2 that the Sox would score for the night.
There were 2 turning points in this game. The first one, early in the game, the Sox threatening Weaver had 1st and 2nd nobody out with Morel at the plate. Well Morel attempted to move the runners over with a sacrifice bunt and popped it up to the catcher, which seemed to really kill what could have been a big 3rd inning.
The second one (one that boggled my mind and raised my blood pressure) the Sox are down 4-3 in the 8th. We have 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. Fernando Rodney was struggling big time with his control on the bump for the Angels. He had fallen behind to all of our hitters and had walked Adam Dunn. He falls behind 3-0 to Quentin with first base open. At this point Im thinking, well he'll be taking all the way here, if he walks bases are loaded and the way Rodney is going, he might walk in the tying run! Well for what ever reason (I don’t know if it came from the dugout or Quentin's own intelligence) but HE HAD THE GREEN LIGHT, SWUNG 3-0 AND FLEW OUT TO RIGHT FIELD!!! At this point, I lost it. Why on earth, in that situation, would you give him the green light? I don’t mind the green light on 3-0, but only if the situation is right! Not when you NEED a base hit or a base runner. It was just dumb baseball and that absolutely killed it, at that point, I knew it was over.
There were a lot of positives, the team fought back again, bringing the go ahead run to the plate multiple times. The bullpen really stepped up, picking up the slack for Humber and pitching 4 solid innings. Sergio Santos got the nod in the 9th and looked sharp, I think he's our best shot for closer as of right now. To have made this game such a good game with such a lopsided pitching matchup was definitely a positive thing.
I know it might seem like the team is slipping or just aren't as good as we all thought they were going to be. But remember, we have 150 games left people. This is going to be one damn good team when they settle in a click as a team. We've been winning games with Dunn out of the lineup and Peavy still in rehab. Wait until Peavy comes back and Dunn settles in at DH. This team will contend for the American League Pennant in October. Mark my words right now. We just have to be patient and let them work out the kinks, and it will really flow.
They will hang around the top of the division for the rest of April, as soon as May hits and the weather starts warming up, watch out. The bats will start heating up even more than they already are. The bullpen will be settled in. The defense will calm down and start making all the plays. They're going to be a fun team to watch, just hang in there and remember its early, its no time to give up hope or start doubting them. Remember, the 05 Houston Astros started the season 15-30 and went to the World Series.
Tomorrow we're on FOX at 3:10 (central time). So sit back, relax, and strap it down, because the Fox announcers suck
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