Offensive Slugfest/Pitching and Defensive Woes @ Fenway

If there was ever a time where pitchers could get away with fugly half-*** performances, this is the time.

Yes 31 runs were scored on Friday night but what really alarmed me was the pitching. Pettitte was not as sharp as he would have liked and he knows that. Giving up seven runs is not a good thing for any pitcher. Bullpen was better (Marte was the only one who did his job….sad but true) but not by much. And even when I saw Girardi’s reactions, he was far from thrilled so I could sense there was going to be a huge pep talk after and before today’s game….

….or he clearly must to have forgotten to add that to today’s schedule of things to do or the only one’s that got it and handled their business was Swisher and Cano (even Melky) it seemed.

Granted it was only one loss and we were on a five game winning streak up until today but that loss in a sense didn’t suprise me too much given Burnett’s history so far at Fenway wearing the Pinstripes. He’s 0-3 with an ERA of over 14 and was torched for a career-high nine runs. A far cry from the outstanding one hitter he did against Boston at home during the four game sweep in the Bronx in which he got a no decision. Even when he let Roidtiz knock a tater over the Green Monster and you could clearly see the frustration on his face while on the mound asking himself “Why?” at least six times, you can tell he was beyond peeved, annoyed and digusted with his performance. It’s definitely something in the subconscious psyche that just kicks in whenever he’s in Boston but he’s going to have to fight through it somehow. At least this will be his last start in Fenway for the season but we still have to play another three game set at home in the Boogie Down but that won’t be until near the end of next month.

These last two games have been pure 100% offense all the way regardless of the lopsided blowouts. It has carried both games without question. Tazawa was much more comfortable this time around even though he was knocked around hits wise but that was all he dealt with. Bombers left 13 men on at least three different occasions we had runners on third and couldn’t cash them in….and that was beyond annoying…. my beloveds went 0 for 9 with RISP….that was what got my blood boiling!

Hinske in left was not good at all defensively (kinda like how Youklis is NOT an outfielder). Now considering he wore that dreadful Fenway uniform in 07′ he would have had some understanding and insight into handling the Green Monster but he was a rightfielder while there so I could let him slide a bit in that regard because left field in that ballpark was clearly NOT his specialty but then again Damon was sidelined because of a bruised knee from Friday’s game…and he would have been a perfectly logical choice for today’s lineup. He played there for several seasons. Lots of patchwork and hole-filling on both teams which really got under my skin…jeez.

Well, Sunday’s rubber match finale will be worth watching due to the pitching match up which I thnk will be stellar to say the least…Sabathia and Beckett. Both are 14 game winners, both are aces and both can go deep into games (provided that neither starts to malfunction…then we may have another day of Offensive Slugfesting). At least I can take some comfort in knowing that regardless of what happens we will, at the very least have a 5 1/2 game lead. My babies just have to keep pushing and play every game as if it was Game 7 of the World Series.

Until I blog next time folks…Peace, Pride, Power, Pinstripes and Soul. (Hey I like Soul Train and Don Cornelius…whatd’ya wanna know).