Beckett v. Guthrie (Game 42)

Normally, I make it a point to not rag on umpires. They've got a tough job to do and, obviously, they've got a better angle to see the play standing right behind it than I do watching on television. From where I was sitting, the home plate umpire (Laz Diaz) seemed to have a pretty wide strike zone but he was consistent with it, there were players from both sides pissed off with the calls. The wide strike zone seemed to work out pretty well for the Orioles, possibly because they're used to hacking away at bad/questionable pitches; whereas the Red Sox, are better batters and are so used to not swinging at pitches that are balls, that they just stood there watching the balls outside being called strikes. But what was the point of ejecting my Papi? Granted, I don't read lips, so maybe he said something really awful to him but what other reason could there have been for ejecting him? Yeah, he argued the call but he had a genuine beef. Hell, he had already started to walk away when he was ejected. It was just stupid.

Beckett's outing was less than stellar. He went five and two-thirds of an inning and gave up five runs on eleven hits (including a three-run home run.) With a strike zone wide enough you could drive a truck through it, he got five strike outs but somehow managed to walk two. Manny Del and Aardsma finished off the game and did a perfectly fine job of it. Delcarmen went one and one-third of an inning. He walked one and he struck out one. Aardsma pitched the eighth inning and possibly with the help of the overly generous strike zone didn't walk anyone and struck out two. He seemed rather pleased with his effort and I'll admit I was rather excited for him as well. I've been pulling for him since they were making the first roster cuts and Amelie Benjamin dumped all over him, declaring that he would be the first to go (I've got a bit of a contrary streak in me.)

As for offense, they again got going right out of the gate but stalled quickly. They scored three runs in the first inning: Coco got a single, Ortiz got a double, Manny singled (drove in Coco), Lowell reached on a fielding error (drove in Ortiz), Youkilis moved Manny over, Drew reached on Millar's fielding error (drove in Manny) and that was it until the eighth inning. In the eighth, Ellsbury walked with one out, Varitek walked, Cora singled to right and drove in Ellsbury.

They continue to leave men on base at an alarming clip but I've got to believe that it's going to come to an end. How many times a season do you think this could possibly happen: Bases loaded, nobody out, and Manny is up to the plate. He has a long at bat, fouling off pitch after pitch, searching for the perfect one to hit. Finally, he spots it. The baseball hurtling toward him is his. He owns it. It's perfect. He transfers his weight to his back foot, adjusts the angle of the bat, with a light step he shifts his weight back to his front foot, creates significant torsion throughout his mid-section as he places the bat on the ball, and hits into a double play. Blah.