Red Sox Starting to Bring Back That Winning Feeling
We'll run through the highlights of the last seven days, exploring the main themes, the standout players and the odd occurrences that make baseball so great.
Without further ado, let's get this party started:
Winning When it Counts
One of the most widely discussed themes on local talk radio this week has been the fact that the Red Sox have been winning games they hadn't been winning before.
During the month-long (give or take) slump following the All-Star break, a period that coincided with the Yankees reeling off an unreal streak of success, it seemed like the Sox just couldn't get that clutch hit. It seemed that their starting pitching just wasn't coming through consistently enough. They just weren't agile enough to make that big play in the field. Or their bullpen just wasn't reliable enough to get that important out late in a game.
But when your defense is making the plays up the middle and you're getting late home runs from David Ortiz and Jason Bay, all is right with the world once again. When your veteran, All-Star pitchers are giving you quality starts most nights and your late-inning fireballers are once again their old, lights-out selves, you can breathe a sigh of relief.
There's no guarantee this trend will continue the rest of the way, of course. But it's a good sign that as the stretch run approaches, the team is buckling down and playing to the best of its collective ability.
'Wake' Up
With the recent struggles among Red Sox starting pitchers, the rotation was looking for a boost. It got it on Wednesday night against the White Sox as the king of the knuckleball, Tim Wakefield, returned to the Fenway Park mound for the first time since July 8.
Wake's knuckler was dancing up, down, left, right, in, out, back, forth and every other way imaginable as he stonewalled the ChiSox, efficiently holding them to one run on just six hits over seven innings. New arrival behind the plate Victor Martinez even looked comfortable catching Wakefield, not allowing a single passed ball in his first live-game effort, a good sign for both the team and the roster moving forward. Yes, reliever Ramon Ramirez ruined Wake's shot at improving on his already stellar 11-3 record, allowing a game-tying home run in the eighth, but the crafty 43-year-old did lower his ERA to 4.12.
There's no telling how Wakefield will continue to hold up down the stretch, especially with his sore calf and his less-than-cat-quick (or is it sloth-slow?) mobility. But when that special pitch of his is moving that way in the late-summer (or early-autumn) air, there isn't much that's more fun to watch than opposing hitters coming out of their shoes with each violent swing and miss.
Hitches in Their Pitches
Following Wakefield's impressive return on Wednesday night, the Red Sox released Brad Penny, who made 24 starts for the Sox this season but had been struggling mightily of late. Like, mightily, to the tune of 0-4 with a 9.11 ERA in his last five starts.
But before we start congratulating the team for finding the key to consistent starting pitching the rest of the way, let's remember this: Despite three fantastic previous starts, Clay Buchholz is still just 25 and got shelled on Monday against the White Sox.
And before you go penciling Junichi Tazawa's name into the postseason rotation, let's hope that there aren't too many more nights like the one he had Thursday, allowing nine runs on 10 hits in just four innings.
Green is Good
While some pitchers have struggled, others have surprised on the hill.
In his journeyman career, Nick Green had played shortstop, second base, third base, first base, DH, left field and right field for the Braves, Rays, Yankees, Mariners and Red Sox over parts of five seasons. But for the first time as a pro on Thursday night, he was sent to the mound by Sox manager Terry Francona with the team down late 9-2.
And the slim 6-foot righty didn't disappoint. Yes, Green walked three batters over two innings (he only threw 13 strikes among his 35 pitches), but he hit 90 mph and — thanks to a surprisingly solid cut fastball — allowed neither a hit nor a run in shutting down the White Sox bats in the eighth and ninth innings at Fenway.
Green joins Jonathan Van Every (who did it back on April 30 at Tampa Bay) as the second Red Sox position player to pitch in a game this season. More interestingly, though, he was just the second Red Sox position player ever to go at least two hitless innings on the mound, joining Eddie Lake, who last did it on May 17, 1944 (which, if memory serves, was Tim Wakefield's rookie season in the majors).
More Zest From the Left
Part of the reason for Francona's concern over using his bullpen on Thursday was the recent arrival of Billy Wagner, who will reportedly be available for use on Friday. The 38-year-old lefty underwent Tommy John surgery last season and has been rehabbing hard to get back to the majors, where he pitched in two games for the Mets before the trade to Boston.
"My biggest thing was, can I fulfill what they're asking for?" the six-time All-Star said of coming to the Red Sox. "Can I go out there and pitch? Can I be like I was after 11 months of recovering from a major surgery? The last thing you want to do is not be able to perform the way you did in the past and not help and not contribute. But talking to Tito [Francona] and [general manager] Theo [Epstein] and these guys, they understood what they were looking for and what I could offer them. They think I can do it."
Let's hope they're right.
Power Surge
Is it just me, or have the Red Sox been hitting home runs lately with reckless abandon?
No, it's not just me, say the numbers: With their three dingers on Thursday night, Boston established a club record for the month of August with 48 home runs. The previous mark of 46 during August was set in 2003. Only twice before in their 100-plus-year history have the Sox tallied more home runs in a month: the 55 they hit in July of 2003 and the 53 Dick Stuart, Felix Mantilla, Tony Conigliaro and 24-year-old Carl Yastrzemski ripped in July of 1964.
The Red Sox have gone deep in 12 of their last 13 games, hitting multiple homers in 11 of those contests, 13 of their last 17 and 20 of their last 26 since July 31.
Thanks for backing me up, numbers.
Will the Real Big Papi Please Stand Up?
How much fun was it to party like it was 2004 on Thursday night, when David Ortiz's walk-off shot around Pesky's Pole won it in the bottom of the ninth? It was Papi's second homer of the game, his 10th career walk-off homer and his ninth with the Sox.
More importantly, though, Ortiz is returning — just in time — to his regularly scheduled role as a serious run producer for the Sox. Since Aug. 14, the Biggest of Papis is raking at a .333 rate with seven homers and 16 RBIs.
Bam! Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Papi doubters!
Standing Tall at Short
As Sox fans, even if it had only been for his prowess with the leather, the front-office's addition of Alex Gonzalez would have been enough for us.
He's quick, agile and adept at making the turn at second, he can range into the hole at short and he has a strong enough arm to throw runners out, even from the outfield grass.
But three home runs in his last six games? Eight runs scored in his 12 games with the team? A .273 average? His stick work has been far better than even the optimistic Sox brass could have hoped for.
Jimmy Fund Telethon
When you have stars like Denis Leary, Lenny Clarke, Donnie Wahlberg, Terry Francona (among others) stopping by, Alyssa Milano (among others) Tweeting about it and $1,175,845 raised in 18 hours of work, you know you're a part of something amazing.
Thus went Day 1 of the eighth annual WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, where money will continue to be raised until midnight Friday to benefit cancer research and treatment.
When you see the kids and their families and hear the stories of the countless people who have been helped — and in many cases cured of their diseases — by the wonderful people at the Jimmy Fund Clinic (and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute), you almost forget about those who are still struggling, still fighting every day to overcome whatever hideous ailment happens to be afflicting them.
But as everyone knows, even though they might be less likely to tell their stories right now, those people are out there, too … still struggling, still fighting. So as much as you're donating in honor of and in support of the success stories, give of your time or money for those who are still under attack, those who still need that cure or treatment. Hopefully next year or the year after that, they'll be the ones telling their stories of success.
There's still a long way to go before we reach our goal of $5,000,000 raised, so please donate now and ask your friends and family who are able to do the same.
