Futbol faux pas in Buenos Aires

I committed a capital offense in the eyes of the sports fans in my homestay this weekend.  To be fair, I had no idea what I was doing, but ignorance is no excuse.  Let me explain: Saturday afternoon, I went to La Boca, a neighborhood known for its futbol team, Boca Juniors, and I purchased some shorts with their logo as a souvenir (their colors are also the same as Trinity's).

When I got home, I put the shorts on and went up to dinner with my giant homestay family (besides the two parents in their sixties, there are 13 foreign students living in the house, and about 7 of us show up to dinner every night).  My host mother asked me what I had done that day, and I told her, in my broken Spanish, that I had done some shopping in La Boca (also a renowned tourist destination).  She asked what I had purchased, and I proudly indicated the shorts.

Big mistake.  She gasped (a bit dramatically, I thought at the time), and hurriedly told me that my rather gruff host father was a fan of the rival team, River Plate.  essentially, it's like someone walked into my house sporting a Yankees hat, and telling me that they just liked the color.

Boca Juniors and River Plate have a rivalry similar to Red Sox/Yankees, except it's even more intense, since they are both located within the city limits of Buenos Aires - imagine the Red Sox and Yankees residing in the same town (somewhere in Connecticut maybe), and how that would intensify the rivalry.

I promised my host mother I wouldn't wear the Boca Juniors paraphernalia in the house anymore, she agreed to hide my logos from my host father, and it was a happy ending for all.

[Sorry this had only a tangential connection to baseball and the Red Sox; I'm working with what I've got.]

Wakefield and Crawford: Sox heroes of the day

Despite missing most of today's game because I was slightly lost in Buenos Aires, I couldn't be happier right now.  While I was lost and confused, I had the best ice cream of my life, and I returned to my homestay to find the Red Sox tied in the 8th inning, that Tim Wakefield had tossed 5.2 innings of shutout ball, and that my internet was actually fast enough to stream the rest of the game.

I couldn't be happier for Wake, who really deserved to get the win.  Alas, Bobby Jenks came in and gave up two runs, so a "W" just wasn't in the cards today.  Nevertheless, Wakefield certainly deserved the ovation he reportedly got when leaving the mound this afternoon.  After last year, when he was often sarcastic and passive-aggressive about his reduced role, Wakefield has taken things in stride this year.  He's mopped up more than a few games at this point, and was ready and very able to take the ball for the spot start this afternoon.

The Red Sox certainly needed a performance like Wake's today.  When I realized that he was going against King Felix, I was extremely worried, and had even conceded the game in my head; what business does a 44-year-old knuckleballer have beating the reigning AL Cy Young winner? (Yes, I know Papelbon is TECHNICALLY credited with the win, but it's a moral victory for Wake.)

This win brings the Red Sox to 12-15, last in the AL East, and 5 games behind the streaking Yankees.  The victory was much needed, and brought some much needed spotlight to Carl Crawford, who knocked in Jed Lowrie to win in the bottom of the ninth.  In a quick interview with Heidi Watney after the game, Crawford acknowledged how nice it was to do something to win the game, and how much the Red Sox - and he - needed some success.

Thankfully the Angels come to town starting tomorrow - hopefully the Red Sox can start a long winning streak against them, juts like they did out in Anaheim last week.  Clay Buchholz gets the ball tomorrow... hopefully he's recovered from his "internal issues" enough to notch a quality start.

Something's gotta give. Right?

Okay.  Enough is enough. The Red Sox may be a better team than they've been showing, but until they start putting their proverbial money where their mouths are, I'm done predicting their success.  The raw talent is obviously there, but something is clearly not clicking.  Can they do better than this? Certainly.  WILL they do better than this? I'm no longer so sure.

After tonight's travesty of a game the Sox fall to 1-7 against he Orioles, Mariners, and Indians.  This is unacceptable, especially in a division like the AL East.  to get to the playoffs the Red Sox must win about 95 games, and the easiest way to do that is to win series against mediocre teams like, I don't know, the Orioles, Mariners, and Indians.  If you can't even beat the Indians, how do you expect to beat the Rangers? The Rays? The YANKEES?

Again, this is clearly not a question of talent. The talent is there.  It's at every position, and in most cases that talent is backed up by awards like Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, All Star selections, and MVP votes.  But something isn't clicking. The Red Sox hitters left runners in scoring position tonight like it was going out of style (let's hope that's the case), and it's old news at this point.

During the first skid of the season, Dustin Pedroia called out the Sox pitchers for not living up to their potential.  He had a point, and now the tables are turned, so which Sox hurler has the gall to make a statement? My vote is on Josh Beckett - he's never been one to keep quiet about his feelings, and if the lineup wastes a good start of his like they did Lackey's tonight, heads might roll.

Either the Red Sox step up, starting immediately, or this season starts to slip out of reach. It's hard to dig yourself out of a hole like this one when you can't even beat the perennial cellar-dwellers of the American League.  Something's gotta give. Let's hope it gives soon.

Lester is a champion (especially against the O's)

The Red Sox were just 9-9 against the Baltimore Orioles last season, 4-4 against the Cleveland Indians, and 1-6 against the Chicago White Sox.  Beyond the 2010 Parade of Carnage, this poor performance against mediocre and bad teams was a large part of the reason that the Red sox missed the playoffs.

Thus far, the 2011 Sox are 1-2 against the Orioles, and 0-3 against the Indians (they are 10-8 against everyone else), and they need to do better. Jon Lester set the tone by turning in a 2-run, eight inning performance even when, according to Adrian Gonzalez, "his command was not quite there, but he still goes out there and gives us eight innings and two runs. He’s definitely a Top 5 pitcher in the league."

 Interestingly enough, Jon Lester has never lost to the Orioles, owning a 14-0 record with a 2.33 ERA.  You could chalk this statistic up to the Orioles now being a very good team while Lester's been in the league, but he certainly has notched losses to other mediocre teams, so it's likely an anomaly.  The southpaw did note that he enjoys playing at Camden Yards, but that's hardly reason for his ridiculous run of success against the O's.

I had to monitor the game on ESPN Gamecast last night, since MLB.tv was busy hating on me, and worked only for a very short time during the bottom of the second inning.  However, it was clear that Lester was battling, and he was finally supported by the bats.  Dustin Pedroia's RBI squibbler in the seventh inning to score Carl Crawford put the Red Sox on top for good, and then RBIs by Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jacoby Ellsbury (2) settled the final score at 6-2.

The Sox head home starting tonight, and will play the Mariners, Angels, and Twins, before heading out on the road again.  I see the turnaround starting now... for real this time.

Crumbling Clay?

So maybe my predictions were a little TOO optimistic, but I stand by what I said.  I'm entirely unsurprised that the Red Sox bas were stifled by left-handed rookie Zach Britton (who I have now added to my fantasy team), as thy've been struggling mightily against lefties this season, and Britton has been quite effective thus far.

However, things are looking up: the Orioles have two righthanders going for them in the next two games, and the Sox have Josh Beckett and Jon Lester on the docket, two of the hottest starters on staff - though, to be fair, the only starter NOT on a roll seems to be Mr. Clay Buchholz...

And speaking of Clay, he was very impressive at points last night, despite the four runs and 12 hits he gave up in 6.2 innings.  Three of Baltimore's runs came on sacrifice flies, which is interesting, even if it doesn't absolve Buchholz of any blame (he is, after all, the one who let the runners get to third base).

The most impressive moment, in my opinion, was in the second inning, after Matt Wieters hit that squibbler down the first base line that should have been an out but bounced off the bag and scored the runner.  Clay buckled down and struck out the next two batters he faced, a beautiful sequence of pitching.

So why didn't this dominance continue throughout the game?  Obviously, Clay Buchholz has the physical tools to dominate any lineup, and he was able to do it last night, at least in short bursts and flashes.  When asked about his performance, Buchholz mentioned "tipping [his] hat" to the Baltimore lineup, intimating that he had executed his pitches, and all TWELVE of their hits had been due to their own prodigious skill and not any mistkaes of his.

Sorry Clay, but I'm calling shenanigans on that.  The Orioles just aren't that good.  Sure, they don't look to be the laughingstock that they once were, but they're also no Murderer's Row.  Perhaps the focus just wasn't there last night, or maybe he needs more time to get a handle on his stuff, but the four runs given up last night were not luck, and they weren't a fluke.  Buch should take a leaf out of Beckett's book, and admit when he doesn't have his best stuff.

I do recognize that if the bats hadn't been so effective;y silenced by Britton this post would look very different: we would be celebrating the Red Sox' triumphant turn to .500 (which must now wait at least two more games) and their sixth straight victory.  So yes, the lineup takes some of the blame for this loss - scoring 5 runs is not out of the real of possibility for this team, and they were shut down by a hotshot rookie.

But I'm less worried about the hitters on this team than I am about Buch.  Not that I'm SUPER concerned about him, I think he'll get back on track, but at the very least I think he should be honest and look back on what wasn't working last night. Growth and improvement comes from reflection.

Sadly, I'll be missing tonight's matchup between Beckett and Jeremy Guthrie, because I'm attending a tango lesson in Buenos Aires (I know, tough life).  However, my thoughts, as always, will be at Camden Yards with the Red Sox - tonight should be better than last night.

Looking ahead...

Tonight, the Red Sox will head to Baltimore, where they will play a 3-game set against the free-falling Orioles, and then return home to the friendly confines of Fenway Park to play the Mariners (3 games), Angels (3 games), and Twins (4 games).  As of this afternoon, these teams are 38-49, a combined record well under .500.  However, since the Red Sox are currently ALSO under .500 (10-11), we know you can't take an April record and say what caliber team you have.

In the last 10 games, the Red Sox are 8-2, tied with the Marlins for best in the Majors in that span.  They are a different team than the one who started off 0-6, and thank goodness.  The Orioles are 2-8 over the last 10 games, and 5-7 at Camden Yards.  Their pitching for the upcoming series includes one lefthander (tonight) and two righthanders, and if the Sox can beat tonight then the Sox might be able to complete their second sweep in as many series.

Not to be overly optimistic, but if all of the Red Sox pitchers can continue to toss the ball the way they did during the last turn through the rotation, we might even pick up a few games on the Yankees and forget the horrible start that had all of Red Sox Nation reeling just a week ago.

I'm feeling optimistic, so I'm going to make some bold predictions:

1. Carl Crawford will take the next two weeks and pull himself above the Mendoza line - and then some.

2. Jed Lowrie will continue to rake.  Perhaps not at the ridiculously torrid pace he's been setting, but the numbers will be respectable nonetheless... Tito will be making some tough decisions, soon.

3. Adrian Gonzalez will knock a few more homers.  The much-heralded first baseman's rather slow start has gone unremarked upon because of the struggles of Crawford... but we've been saying all winter how perfect his swing is for Fenway - we'll start to see that now.

4. The Red Sox will finish this upcoming road trip (and 3-game series at Camden Yards) with a 10-3 record, bringing them to 20-14.  I know that's optimistic, but with everyone playing the way they have been, I can't help it - I know this team is that good.

Lackey turns hurt pride into increased drive

John Lackey turned in his second excellent start in a row yesterday, becoming yet another cog in a Red Sox rotation that is turning out to be a well-oiled machine.  One starter after another has turned in a great start over the last week or so, and Lackey was no different yesterday afternoon, tossing eight shutout innings, and giving up just 6 hits and one walk with 108 pitches, 73 of which were thrown for strikes.

According to Lackey, he was able to use the slight of being skipped in the rotation back on April 13th as motivation (to be fair, it was rained out, and instead of pushing everyone nack, he was skipped).  And why not?  The anger and annoyance of being underestimated and overlooked has been motivation enough for teammate Dustin Pedroia to build a ROY/MVP/All Star career on, so it should certainly work for Lackey.

Lackey reported that the skipped start "pissed [him] off," and when asked if he used that as motivation, he quipped, "What do you think?"  It seems that Lackey's got some snark, but it seems to be working for him.  Personally, I could get on board with a bit of sarcasm from the big righty: I find it wildly entertaining when Josh Beckett shuts down reporters (ahem, Heidi Watney) with his snipe.

The fact is, Lackey has always been a quality pitcher: he has a career record of 118-84, with a 3.92 career ERA, and he tosses an average of 219 IP per 162 games.  That's certainly nothing to sneeze at, and Lackey knows it, but he also knows that the expectations in Boston are a bit higher than they were out in southern California.  With the Angels, Lackey won more than 14 games just once, with 19 in 2007.  In his first year with the Sox, he went 14-11and tossed 215 innings during a Parade of carnage that saw nearly all of his teammates miss some time to injury.

But still, the fans howled: "We didn't pay $80 million for a 4.40 ERA!"  Lackey's paycheck is neither here nor there.  It obviously hasn't stopped the front office from going after other high-price talent, and the thing about rooting for a big market team is that they can afford to overpay when they deem it worthwhile.

It's certainly been worth it, in my opinion.  Clearly, Lackey is capable of brilliance, as he's shown us over his last two starts (giving up just one run in 14 innings).  Like Daisuke Matsuzaka, John Lackey seems to have found something to motivate him to turn in his very best every five days: anger.  If all it took to get John Lackey to turn into a bona fide ace was a few days of hurt pride, I can certainly support that.


[Quotes in this post found on the Extra Bases blog, Boston.com]