Sean McAdam and the Boston Red Sox had one thing in common last night. Both of their performances were terrible.
With that said, thank goodness for Rex Hudler in the third and fourth innings.
Jered Weaver struck out eight batters in 6 2/3 innings pitched allowing four hits and one run — unearned — to notch his first victory of the season.
In the box score, Tim Wakefield was touched up only for three runs but it could have been much worse as Boston’s knuckleballer escaped two bases loaded situations — first inning with two outs and fifth inning with no outs — allowing no runs in either situation.
Goat of the Game – Pitchers
Wakefield and Justin Masterson were just not effective, plain and simple.
In the one inning that Masterson came in to relieve Wakefield, he let up three runs on four hits stopping any real chance the Red Sox had at climbing back into the game.
Upside, at least Javier Lopez had a scoreless inning in the eighth.
Next Game – Sat. 4/11 vs. Los Angeles Angels – Brad Penny/Shane Loux
Brad Penny makes his Red Sox debut in what some fans may be saying is a must win game. Penny is 1-3 with a 4.99 ERA in his career against the Angels (17 ER/30.2 IP) in 5 games started.
Shane Loux will make his first Major League start since 2003 on Friday.
Loux is a 6′2 right-handed thrower from Rapid City, San Diego. The last
big league club he pitched for was the Seattle Mariners in 2007. He
pitched in an independent league in Florida in 2008.
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I don’t see how you can rate the performances of Wakefield and Masterson as equally poor. The goat was Masterson, pure and simple. He was the one who put the game out of reach.
Wakefield, actually, is credited with a “quality start” — six innings, three runs allowed. Yes, he had baserunners all over the place; but he did keep most of them from scoring, did he not? If he gets criticized for loading the bases twice, does he get any credit for unloading them without harm?
No, it wasn’t a great performance, but it was adequate. He kept the Sox in the game. It was Masterson who blew it wide open.
like i said yesterday, Wakefield is useless. Not to mention how weak this lineup appears. I’m not buying MLB extra innings this year. I’m buying this product.
FYI – Shane Loux pitched most of 2008 for AAA Salt Lake City.
In 2007, he tried out the Atlantic League, which holds tryouts in Florida after spring training, but failed to make the cut.
What caught my attention is that there isn’t a Florida-based independent league, and only one Florida-based team, the Pensacola Pelicans, which rarely has guys of AAA-caliber that are only 27 years old.
The comeback story of Shane Loux is, however, the stuff of dreams. After getting cut a second time in 2007, he got a job at a baseball facility in Arizona. One day, while catching/coaching a pitcher he had the kid catch him so the kid could see for himself what he was trying to teach him.
The facility owner, former MLB pitcher Rich Barker, saw something in that moment and dropped a dime to the Angels and asked for a tryout on his behalf. He was signed and made the aforementioned Salt Lake club and then ended up winning 12 games in 22 starts with a 3.98 ERA, in a league that’s filled with hitter-friendly parks (league ERA 5.25 that year), which earned him a September call-up.
Wakefield useless? I mean, hes not a 20 game winner, but he will win 12 games with an ERA just above or below 4 for next 30 years. He is a great element to have mixed in with the power pitchers. You must have been joking.
Wake was fine, anytime you can get 6 innings with 3 runs out of your #4 guy, you’re happy. The real goat is the offense which so far has had absolutely no teeth this season, things better start getting turned around soon or I’m starting to feel like this may be a 3rd place team.
Agree that Wake did his job again, and was again victim of low run support and poor relief pitching . . . which cost him a good half dozen Wins last season, which would have given him an easy 15 win season, again.
I had hoped the Sox would be first out of the gate this year, and take advantage of the absence of Upton, A-Rod, and Teixeira’s slow start. With a 1 – 3 record, they are not in terrible shape, and being 3 – 1 wouldn’t guarantee winning the division, but it would at least be going in the right direction. If Penny has his stuff today, and Beckett is even close to his opener level, the world will be back on its axis. .
It is definitely not a “must-win” game, although a win would be nice. The offense will come around, I am not sure how much, but it will be better than it has been.
Impressive story.
I don’t call a quality start useless…
I call uncertainty useless.
So who the heck is certain in your book Marcos? Lester and Dice-K were definitely not certain the first time around…are they useless? How about Beckett in the playoffs last year…he was anything but certain. Is he therefore useless too?
I have to say your complete denigration of Wake really gets old in a hurry. We all realize Wakefield’s limitations, but you seem to take it personally (and I believe wished for an injury to him in an earlier thread( and you ignore what has given the team and continues to give the team. Its really sort of pathetic.
I hope he blows his shoulder and elbow. Its time for him to go. Buchholz is wasting his talents at the AAA level.