 Javier Lopez in Pawtucket. Photo taken by Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.net and used with permission. |
I have odd residual feelings from last night’s game. I’m happy the Sox one. I’m thrilled that Papelbon pitched the ninth inning the way a closer is supposed to pitch and I’m especially pleased with the way Jon Lester pitched. Having written all of that, I woke up this morning feeling like the Sox had lost last night. I get that the Royals are a major-league team. They aren’t going to go 0-162 on the season so there will be teams that they beat and teams that they play hard – but watching the last two games was almost painful.
Today I want an ugly beat down by the Red Sox. John Smoltz is on the mound and he’s yet to have that game where everyone will be congratulating themselves for bringing him to Boston. I’d like to see that game happen today. I’m not asking for a no-hitter, hell I’m not even asking for a shut-out. I just want a fabulously pitched game that leaves the Royals depressed and makes the Sox want to go out and celebrate. And a win. I really, really want a win.
Last night I missed Kyle Snyder pitch in Pawtucket. I knew the possibility of that happening was great but I was still a little bummed I didn’t get to see it, especially considering that he and Javier Lopez were pitching against each other. There’s something cosmically perfect about that scenario. The Bisons, incidentally, took both games from the PawSox. Given that the Bisons are 31-53 and the PawSox are 43-42, I’m okay with being happy for the Bisons. Now that they’ve left town, back to wanting the PawSox to dominate. (The PawSox are in 3rd place, 6.5 games out of first. PLENTY of time to make that up!) Charlie Zink is on the mound tonight against the Syracuse Chiefs. Hey, the game doesn’t start until 6:05pm. Hit the road and go take in a minor league game!
I fell asleep last night while watching the Yankees pounding on the Angels. I was disappointed that the Sox (well, their pitching anyway) toughed out such a win only for it to be, essentially, voided by the Yankees winning. How wonderful to wake up and find that the Angels fought back to win 10-6. Peter Abraham has an interesting take on young Justin Chamberlain:
Girardi defends the right-hander and the decision to use him as a starter, etc. Girardi thinks it’s unfair that “so much attention†is paid to Joba.
But part of that he brings on himself with the many commericials and his persona. Which is fine, but at some point you need to back that up.
Well put. They can tout this guy as the next greatest thing and TREAT him like he’s some superstar and then complain when he continues to come up short and the media points this out. If he wants the benefits of being over-rated by the Yankees then he has to take the negatives that come along with it. Then again, I’m becoming a fan of all the Joba criticism. I hate to see most any young guy get piled on when he’s down but in the case of Joba I’m more than willing to make an exception.
We have two games left before the All Star break. I’m still debating the possibility (and the point) of live blogging the ASG. The Red Sox also have the Thursday after the break off, which means after Sunday, and not including the All Star game, we’ll be going four games without Red Sox baseball. My eye is starting to twitch just thinking about it.