Sitting down to watch some of yesterday?s game, I honestly didn?t expect to win the game. We had Lenny DiNardo pitching in the Rogers Centre, a living hell for certain Red Sox pitchers over the last few years, and an offense that included J.T. Snow, Josh Bard, Alex Cora and Dustan Mohr. Not exactly keen when you?re facing one of the best pitchers in baseball, Roy Halladay. So my expectations we?re very low. And after the first two innings, I didn?t even bat an eyelash.
While DiNardo did get knocked around a bit, he unfortunately was the victim of very bad luck. Vernon Wells reached on an infield single in the first inning that resulted in first and third with 1 out instead of a runner on first with 2 outs. Later in the inning, Glaus drove in those two runners with a double and Molina followed with a homer. In the 2nd inning, Alexis Rios reached on a cheap infield single with 2 outs that scored a run and kept the inning alive, and rightfully so, Vernon Wells followed with another infield single. That damn Skydome turf. Blow the whole thing up.
Basically, don?t give up on Lenny DiNardo. It would be really, really nice to trade for a quality starter in the near future (anyone besides Barry Zito), more because I?d like to see DiNardo as a lefty option in the bullpen rather than a fifth starter. Of course, we can always go the other route and offer Roger Clemens every single perk in the book in exchange for five months in a Boston uniform, mapping out the best rotation in years. But even I think that?s not going to materialize.
The offense also worries me, but not too much. Once we get Coco Crisp back and move him back to that leadoff hole, the offense will be back to normal. A lot of people are calling for Youkilis to remain in the leadoff spot and Crisp to move down to #5, but A) Terry Francona, judging by watching his managerial habits for three years, will not do that and B) Crisp is too much of a stolen base and speed threat at the top of the order to deny. Plus, Youk is a threat batting lower in the order at #7. It would be nice to see his OBP before Papi and Manny, but Crisp is our guy for now.
While we have slipped, I?m not concerned yet. The Jays are a tough squad, and the offense sort of came alive Friday night with some pretty home runs. The offense, hopefully, will be solid when Crisp is back. The bullpen will also look better with Seanez out the door (again, hopefully), and Craig Hansen making his way to the majors. As for today, PLEASE MATT CLEMENT FOR THE LOVE OF GOD SHOW ME SOMETHING!!!
