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The Red Sox let another lead disappear in the late innings as they dropped their fourth straight and got swept by the Orioles. Some thoughts on the game:
Jon Lester continues to deliever solid starts. He was very effective in mixing his pitching, and he only walked two in six innings. Lester has been very consistent this season, and he lowered his ERA to 3.95. Lester has completed at least five innings in all but two of his ten starts, and one was his first of the year in Japan. As long as he does not walk opposing batters, he will continue to be succesful, and his record should be much better than 2-2.
Speaking of young starters and doing better, Clay Buchholz was placed on the 15 day disabled list because of a broken nail on his finger. The Sox were aware of his injury, and as of yesterday morning, his usual next start day on the schedule was offically listed as "TBA" as they Sox were not sure if he would start. By the time of last night's game, however, it was believed that he would be healthy enough to start, and he name was placed back on the roster. The Sox called up Jonathan Van Every to replace him on the 25 man roster, as the depth of the outfield is shaky at the moment. Because of tomorrow's off day, the Sox will be able to skip Buchholz's usual start day, which would have been Sunday, and all of the starters will move up a day. Josh Beckett will now start Sunday. However, the Sox may not be able to crunch their rotation again for Buchholz's next scheduled start after Sunday, because they do not have a day off again until April 29. If they figure Buchholz to miss only two starts, then they probably will not bring up Bartolo Colon. The Sox will likely only like to bring up Colon if they know that he is going to be on the team for a while. If Buchholz only needs the 15 days, then Colon would only make two starts, and he would have to be designated again. If the Sox designate him (they cannot send him outright to Pawtucket), then Colon would have to accept the assignment. If he pitches well, then Colon could refuse the demotion and file for free agency, whereby any team could sign him. The Sox would likely call-up Justin Masterson or David Pauley to make the emergency starts.
The Sox bullpen needs serious work. Hideki Okajima, good though his numbers are, has great difficulty pitching with runners on base. His inherited runners statistics are absolutely terrible. However, the worst part is that nobody in the bullpen, with the exception of their closer, is reliable enough to inherit runners. The Sox have a trade coming up soon that includes Julian Tavarez, and Sox fans had best hope that the Sox are getting some kind of reliable middle relief in return.
Look for this recap following Friday's series opener, and interleague opener, with the Brewers. (To view all previous recaps, follow this link.)
Keep the Faith.
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