Bad Days Turn Into Bad Nights.

So this is what it's come down to? This is what you've reduced me to? Posting Andrew Lloyd Webber in an effort to stem the losing. You do realize that someone out there in Internet land is going to think that I appreciate the work of that no-talent hack, right? Have you no compassion? Don't you care one iota for my reputation?

For the first time in a year I actually thought: We need Manny. Of course, I didn't mean it but once the thought was out there it wasn't just going to go away. Even 2008 David Ortiz would suffice. Any other version of Jason Bay would be fabulous--sadly, Bay is not responding to my threats of having him banished to Pittsburgh (It works on Ramon Ramirez; "Get this out or I'm sending you back to K.C." almost always leads to the out) and more drastic measures may be called for. The pitching has been more of a problem than the hitting for the last couple of games but it's easier to pick on the hitters. I do wish that Justin Masterson would care about losing, though. Even just a little bit.

If more than two or three of you decide that you're actually going to play tomorrow, do let me know in advance. It would be much appreciated.

Black Jack.

They're like rambunctious, undisciplined children. You whine and moan and complain about the offense enough and they figure out how to pull themselves together (Although it may just be a minor lull in their suckitude because let's face the As are a terrible, terrible team.) but the moment you've turned your attention exclusively to the hitters (even if it's just long enough to give them a stern mom look) the pitchers decide that it would be a fabulous idea to go sit in the middle of a busy street.

Tonight the Oakland As had twenty-one hits. The God-awful, pathetic Oakland As successfully put the ball in play twenty-one times. Twenty-one times. They only have two regular players with an OPS+ of over 100 (and they're 105 and 101). Clay gave up nine of those hits but he really did keep it together. The bullpen? Not so much.

And much of the ire should be directed at the supposed leader of this merry band of misfits, Jonathan Papelbon. Papelbon seems to have been living dangerously all season long and tonight it caught up with him. The street he's sitting on is on the downside of a hill and he can't see the Mack truck barreling toward him from the other side.

If there's anything to take from this game (and really there probably isn't), it would be that the last time the Sox lost to the As in heart-breaking, extra innings fashion they responded by going on an eleven game winning streak. If they could do that again, it would take them through the Yankee series which would be awes. It would really be beyond awes.

You Should Be Beckett.

First things first: Josh, kitten, did you buy that shirt in 1976? Because paired with some white polyester bell-bottomed trousers, it would be the perfect leisure suit. You could kick it with the Bee Gees.

And since I don't want to be someone who uses this space simply to whine about faults the team has on any given night (and really they should have been able to score more runs than the did), I'll just say that while Beckett may not have been at his absolute best, he was sufficient. And that's all they can ask of him. They had a little bit of offense going and they had some nice defense as well. So that was all good.

And Craig Breslow did well, so that's a bonus.

Bummer.

I'm pretty sure John Smoltz has the right reaction to that game. The good news boyos (for you at least, it's certainly not good news for Braden or whomever he lost) is that Dallas Braden has been placed on the bereavement list and replaced by Dana Eveland. Eveland, you'll remember was the starter of the twelve inning debacle out in Oakland. Sadly, Eveland is still a left-handed pitcher (which is all kinds of not good) but last time around you managed to get eight hits, three walks, and five runs off of him. Let's hope for some more of that kind of hitting.

To Build a Baseball Team.

As far as I can tell (and I'm probably missing something extremely obvious) there are no literary references to the city of Oakland, CA. And so we go with Jack London's (who grew up in Oakland) To Build a Fire. And given that we're talking about the As, it seems like a good title.

For NESN, this is all about the return of Nomar and, to a lesser extent, O Cab. For me, I'm most excited about the return of best beloved, Craig Breslow. It's odd to be as invested in the success of someone you don't know as I am in Breslow's but I couldn't shake it when he was with the Indians or the Twins. I don't suppose that there's any reason to believe that since he's with Oakland I'll be free of him now. Incidentally, he's been doing well out there--the walks are mostly down.

Lefty Brett Anderson pitches for Oakland tonight. He was the opposing pitcher during Wakey's near no-hitter in April. He gave up two runs on five hits in seven innings; the two runs being the result of a Mike Lowell home run. He struck out five and walked two (one intentionally). In general, he has struggled against left-handed batters. He's only made it to seven innings one other time this season. He can get some velocity on his fastball (he hit 97 mph in his last start) but his control also took a hit in the start.

Dallas Braden makes the start for Oakland tomorrow. Off all the promising lefties Oakland started off the season with, Braden has been the most successful. On April 13, he allowed six hits in six innings; two runs, one walk, and three strike outs. Youkilis had both a double and a home run. Braden has been really tough on lefties this year.

Trevor Cahill pitches the last game of the series for the As. He's got a ninety mile per hour fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a changeup. He had shown strike out potential in the minor leagues (he was often compared to Brandon Webb) but it hasn't really translated. He gives up too many walks and not enough strike outs (his season high is five). He's pretty young and so they keep a pretty tight leash on him; the most pitches he's thrown in seventeen starts is 107.

Oakland's offense has struggled this year. If Matt Holliday was hoping to hook up with the Yankees next year for spectacular money, then he's going to have to have a spectacular second half. Jason Giambi has eleven home runs and Jack Cust has fourteen. Adam Kennedy and Kurt Suzuki are having decent years. The As aren't going to score a lot of runs. If you can score more than four runs off of them, it's likely that you'll win the game.

Annoyed Toe Tapping.

Here's the deal boyos: I should have gone to bed hours ago. My alarm clock is going to start screaming at me in just about three and a half hours. I really think that if I'm going to stay up until almost one o'clock in the morning (and invariably be tired tomorrow at work--and exhausted by Wednesday) to watch you play baseball, then you should make a sincere effort to win the game. And don't start in on "Well you should have just turned the game off" baring extreme extenuating circumstances, I don't leave early and I don't turn off losses. It's just who I am. Thank you for your consideration.

I will admit to getting a severe case of the giggles when Nomar started in on his tapping-patting, CDO (it's like OCD but with the letters in the right order--not my joke but too amusing to pass up) routine. It's been a long time.

Next Up: Oakland As.

Dallas Braden made one start against Boston last season. He gave up four runs on six hits in three and one-third of an inning. He had one strike out (David Ortiz) and no walks. Mike Lowell and Dustin Pedroia each hit a double and Jed Lowrie had a triple. In a different game (4/29/07--and how I love the new baseball-reference.com), Rocco Baldelli was 1 for 3 with a home run and a strike out. Braden throws a high-eighties fastball, a slider, a change-up, and a screwball. He doesn't give up many walks and he seems like he should collect strike outs.

Dana Eveland started against Boston on August 2 of last year. He allowed nine runs on eight hits (including two home runs, one to Youkilis and one to Jason Bay) in two innings. Jason Varitek and Coco Crisp were the only two players to not get a hit in those two innings--Mike Lowell had two. He struck out two and walked two. He has been described as a David Wells type. He keeps the ball down and gets a lot of ground ball outs. He can also strike you out. He throws a four-seam fastball, a slider, a change-up, and a curveball. He has had issues with his control in the past.

Brett Anderson will be making his second major league start. He spent most of last season in A+ making 13 starts. He also started 6 games in AA. He throws a low-nineties fastball, a hard slider, a big curveball, and an eighty mph change-up, all with good movement. He induces a lot of ground balls. Throughout his career he's been particularly hard on lefties.

O. Cab, Jack Cust, Ryan Sweeney, and Jason Giambi have all gotten off to good starts this season. Matt Holliday has gotten off to a slow start; he's four for seventeen with a double. Nomar has gotten time at third and first for the As, finding his way into five of their six games so far. Jack Cust has the only home run the As have hit so far.

Beckett v. Duchscherer (Game 52)

What a waste. Josh Beckett put in a very nice performance tonight but the offense failed to do anything that would get him a win. He threw one hundred and seven pitches over seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits. He didn't walk anybody and he struck out nine. Normally, that line should have been enough to get him a win but not tonight.

Manny Delcarmen pitched the eighth inning and didn't have an easy time of it. He got the first batter to ground out to third but then gave up a single, walked Frank Thomas, and gave up another single (that allowed a run to score), before getting the last two outs. The good thing for Manny Del was that Frank Thomas doesn't seem to have gotten to him. Yeah, he walked him but the first pitch he threw to him was a strike, he ran the count full before giving up the walk, and if Coco had gotten a better read on the ball it very well might have been caught. So there's that.

Otherwise, there's not much to say. Varitek spoiled the perfect game in the sixth inning by getting hit. Ortiz broke up the no-hitter in the seventh with a single to right (the only hit they would come up with on the night.) But that's it.

I suppose the question should be: Is Duchscherer really that good or are the bats really that bad? I'll be contrary and go with neither. He got a lot of fly ball outs (sixteen total.) If you put him in a different park, one where his defense isn't as certain of which way a ball is going to break or a park without acres of foul territory, then some of those balls might have dropped. One could also make the argument that he wouldn't have fared nearly as well if the umpire didn't have so ample a strike zone. If one was looking to make excuses for the Sox' bad performance, one might claim that the magnanimous strike zone coupled with the hustle edict caused the Sox to take swings that they might not normally take.

Wakefield v. Harden (Game 51)

Not a good game for Wakefield. He made it through five innings and then some on ninety-nine pitches but he allowed seven runs to score and left with no outs and runners on second and third. The problem seemed to be a somewhat undynamic knuckleball coming in that picked up quite a bit of pep when sent back in the other direction. At least the misery didn't last too long, it was over in less than two and half hours (Like a band-aid: right off!) Wakefield walked four and struck out four. He allowed eight runs on eight hits, most of the damage coming off the two homeruns he allowed-one to Frank Thomas for three runs and one to Mark Ellis for three more runs.

Aardsma came in to pitch the sixth inning after Wakefield couldn't get it done. Wakefield started off the inning by walking the first batter and giving up a double to the second. Aardsma got the third batter to ground out to first and prevented the runners from advancing. The next batter, though, hit a sacrifice fly to center that brought in Wakefield's eighth run. There was a good throw home by Ellsbury to try and turn the double play and it was very close but no dice. Aardsma struck out the last batter to end the inning.

Mike Timlin was the third Boston pitcher of the night and it was a really good outing for him (must be because he shaved off the silly moustache.) Timlin went two innings, faced six batters, and got two strike outs.

As to the offense, it was just a case of: Given the pitching they were facing, they simply got themselves into too deep of a hole to be able to dig themselves out of it. But it didn't stop them from trying, which is something positive to be taken from the game.

Pedroia hit a homerun in the fourth for one. In the fifth, Drew legged out a double. Lugo struck out. Cash struck out. Ellsbury got a single and Drew legged out a run for two. In the seventh, Lugo got a single and then took second on a throwing error. Cash grounded out. Ellsbury got a single and Lugo came home for three. But those were the only runs in the cards tonight.

Other interesting tidbits: Ellsbury got caught stealing for the second time. There really wasn't much of a contest on the throw to second but Ellsbury's hand came off the bag on the slide and he was out. Also, hitting coach Dave Magadan got himself kicked out of the game somehow (it was speculated on Don and Remy's part that he was continuing some complaining for Youkilis-doesn't really make sense though, he didn't seem to have anything to complain about.)

Next Up: the Oakland As.

Rich Harden is the pitcher for tomorrow. When we saw Harden in March, he gave up one run (a home run) on three hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out nine. When we saw him in April, he didn't allow any runs on four hits over five innings. He walked four and struck out six. In mid-April he went on the DL with an injury to his right shoulder. He came back in May and struggled against Texas (3.2 innings, five runs, eight hits.) In his last start against Atlanta, though, he was much improved (7.0 innings, one run, four hits.) He's got a mid-nineties fastball, a really good slider and a strong changeup. He's generally not bothered by baserunners and keeps a cool head if he ends up in a tough situation. He does tend to run his pitch count up, though. If the As are interested in at least trying to keep him healthy, the way to beat Harden would be to get him out of the game as quickly as you possibly can.

Saturday's pitcher is scheduled to be Justin Duchscherer. Duchscherer has ridiculously good control. His fastball is only in the high eighties but he changes speeds very well and very often. He uses a good curveball as his out pitch. He doesn't strike out many batters and he doesn't walk many batters. He can be quite hittable if he's distracted and he can be distracted by baserunners.

The pitcher for Sunday is Joe Blanton. He throws a low-nineties fastball, a slider, and a curveball. He has fabulous command on all of his pitches. He doesn't have really, really dominant stuff and seems to function without an out pitch so he doesn't get a lot of strike outs. He does regularly go deep into games. In both of his starts against Boston this season, he's given up seven hits, walked one, and struck out three.

Since we last met the As they've added Manny Delcarmen's nemesis Frank Thomas. Thomas has been hitting pretty well for them since they've picked him up. The other DH that they have is Mike Sweeney and he's a decent hitter. Bobby Crosby and Jack Hannahan are decent hitters but their best hitter so far this year is Jack Cust (he was their DH back in March/April but has switched to left field since.)

And the Moral of the Series (Oakland Games 1-4) is:

It may be too early to try to pretend that we can learn anything valuable about this ball club from the first series. The whole thing seemed to have everyone slightly off balance, the first two games were more like Spring Training games, and the whole endeavor lacked the monotony, and general drudgery, of the baseball season. But is that going to stop me from attempting to extract some meaning? Hardly.

One thing you could come away from that series inclined to believe is that on the strength of their lineup (and with a little luck) they could muscle out a win against a pitcher of Blanton’s caliber. Are they going to slug out a win against every back end of the rotation starter? Of course not. A couple of bad outings by their own pitching staff, however, might not be disastrous.

The same cannot be said for a pitcher of Harden’s caliber. During the eleven innings they saw him, the only one capable of doing any damage against him was Manny. Quite obviously, the pitching and defense will have to be on their toes to win those games. I believe that in their second game against him they showed they were capable of doing that.

Offensively, Youkilis, Manny, Ortiz, and Varitek have all found their swings. No doubt at some point during the season it might look like each of them have picked up a bat made of spaghetti but they’re off to a good start. Lowell, Pedroia, and Ellsbury, are still struggling at the plate. Coco and Lugo are doing reasonably well for the kind of hitters they are. And Drew? Well, Drew’s only played in one game and, therefore, hasn’t had enough at bats to display his pretty swing and what he intends to do with it this season.

Defensively, there were a couple of dropped plays, grabs that probably could have (and probably would have) been made if the players were more deeply entrenched in their grooves. But, as I said, it’s been kind of wacky and they haven’t had a chance to establish those grooves as of yet. Right at this moment, it’s hard to remember which games counted and which plays really didn’t matter but there were a couple of balls that just got by Lowell, the ball got away from Pedroia in his face-planting leap in the last game, and I think there might have been a ball that Coco couldn’t quite get to in center. Not really anything to worry about at this point, though.

Lester v. Harden (Game 4)

So that wasn't too bad. Maybe, just maybe, I don't have to be so terribly concerned for Lester's starts. Who am I kidding? One decent start doesn't a season make. But he did go six and two thirds innings without allowing a run and kept his pitch count down. Otherwise, it was a game of threes; he allowed three hits, walked three batters, and struck out three batters.

And contrary to what I said earlier about him, for the most part Lester pitched well without any run support. He did have an excellent set of defenders behind him. They turned three double plays for him.

Offensively, they weren't able to do much against Harden. Harden loaded the bases with no outs to begin the game but then struck out the next two batters and got a put out at first. Once he came out of the game, they again loaded the bases to start the inning and ended the inning without scoring any runs. They loaded the bases for the third time to start the eighth inning and were finally able to convert those runners into earned runs.

David Ortiz had a big night. He got both his first base hit of the season in the fifth and knocked a two run home run in the seventh. He also drew a walk in the first. Varitek also had a good game. He drew a walk in the sixth, had a base hit and crossed the plate on Pedroia's single in the eighth, and knocked a home run in the ninth.

Besides being error-less at first, Youkilis had a double, a single, and knocked in a run. Alex Cora also had a nice night. He had four at bats and got to first base four times; he had two base hits, one walk, and was hit by a pitch.

Matsuzaka v. Blanton (Game 3)

Now that? That is the Matsuzaka we like to see. I guess that nerves are a legitimate excuse for pitching poorly because he was on today. He went six and two thirds innings and threw just under one hundred pitches. He struck out nine and didn't walk a single batter. He did give up a home run to Jack Cust in the second but the only other hit he allowed was a single by Kurt Suzuki in the third. It was a beautiful performance.

Papelbon also had a really stellar performance. He struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning.

Offensively, Youkilis had a really good night. He had three hits: two singles and a triple. He also scored both of Boston's runs (one off Ellsbury's base hit and one off Varitek's double.) Other bats besides Youkilis' decided to show up tonight; Ellsbury, Manny, Varitek, Coco, and Lugo each had a hit.

Besides his single, Varitek had a home run that was ruled a double. Don and Jerry seemed absolutely certain that it was a home run and it certainly seemed that way to me. A question though: Didn't they agree during the winter meetings to have video set up so they could do instant replays on suspicious home runs? Whatever happened to that plan?

Watching Foulke pitch to Varitek was a strange experience. I kept thinking: He must know exactly where that ball is supposed to go just from the way the ball comes out of Foulke's hand. And Varitek did get a base hit off him.

It was a good game though, well pitched on both sides. In the first four innings, Blanton allowed only two hits. He did have a wild pitch in the second (that moved Manny over to second) but no damage was caused as a result. He might have become a little bit flustered in the fifth because he walked Pedroia and he rarely walks anyone. But he stymied Ortiz and Lowell the three times each of them came up to bat.

Opening Day: Take 2

Let's hope that the second go 'round has a better outcome than the first.

4/1: Daisuke Matsuzaka v. Joe Blanton

The last time Daisuke pitched against Joe Blanton and the As his command was crap. He was, presumably, unable to get the pitch to go where he wanted it to go. He pitched five innings and gave up five walks, allowed two runs, gave up a home run, and struck out only six. His lack of command has been commonly attributed to nerves. It's not really a good thing if he lets a situation get to him like that but, at least, it shouldn't prove to be a problem again any time soon.

Papelbon didn't pitch well in Japan. In his one inning he gave up one walk and three hits, he allowed one run, and only struck out one. I will say, in his defense, that in the photos from Tokyo he looked like he was about to collapse from exhaustion. But he hasn't pitched well since they came back either. Still I refuse to worry about him, yet.

Offensively, Manny was the only one able to do any damage against Blanton. He knocked in a total of four runs. Moss also contributed two runs but he's now safely ensconced in Pawtucket.

4/2: Lester v. Harden

Lester's outing in Tokyo was a typical game for him. He's never had particularly good command. As he settles down, though, and gets deeper into a game-the fewer pitches he needs to get his three outs. But until he learns to refine his command, Jon Lester is not going to win a pitcher's duel.

That's not to say that he can't win. He can-if he has the offense to back him up. Unfortunately, on the day of his last start, the offense decided that getting up at four in the morning to play a baseball game was silly. Harden gave up three hits but the only run he allowed was the home run by Manny. Hopefully, they'll all decide to play on Wednesday.

Since getting back from Japan the As have been engaged in a three game series with the Giants. Who, by most accounts, are not going to be a spectacular team this year. They lost the first of the three but won the last two.

And We're Back.

And first up: the Oakland Athletics.

Their scheduled pitchers for the first two games are Joe Blanton (3/25) and Rich Harden (3/26.) Blanton is not a star pitcher but he's still talented. He won fourteen games last season with an ERA of 3.95. He has very good control; last season he struck out an average of 4.12 batters per game and he walked only 1.18 batters per game. He's not unhittable, though; his fast ball tops out around ninety miles per hour. He gave up an average of seven hits per game last year. On average he gave up a home run just about every other game. He is a horse and can go really deep into games.

Rich Harden, on the other hand, has the potential to be a very, very good pitcher. His issue has been recurring shoulder problems, these have consistently kept him on the disabled list and from reaching his potential. He appeared in only seven games last spring. It's still too early for him to have hurt himself significantly this season and so far he has pitched well this spring. When healthy he has the ability to hit 100 on the radar gun with his fast ball. He also has a splitter that moves a little bit like a knuckleball.

Their designated hitter is Jack Cust. Last year he was more likely to strike out than get a hit. He was also slightly more likely to draw a walk than to get a hit. His batting average was only .256 but his on base percentage was .408. When he does get a piece of a ball he can launch them-almost 26% of the balls he hit were home runs. His slugging average was .504. He also had 82 RBIs. Their starting lineup for tomorrow/today hasn't been published anywhere (that I can find) but if Daric Barton is playing he has the potential to be a very good hitter.