I Warned You to Not Make Me Bust Out the Showtunes Again.

This one might seem like a wee bit of an over reaction, I'll give you that. Lately, however, the offense has stunk and a faltering bullpen hasn't helped too much either. Even when they were winning, they weren't playing all that well. This team should be better than that. So far this season they have not been swept, right now I'm not all that confident that they'll make it out of tomorrow's game alive. Hopefully, Jon Lester will both prove me wrong and decide that he doesn't need a bullpen.

Albatross.

The Mariners can pitch there's little doubt about that. Scoring runs, however, has been an issue for them. Some good news though: There was some talk of trying to get Erik Bedard into this series but they've apparently decided to hold him back until Tuesday against Baltimore.

Felix Hernandez brings his upper-nineties fastball and pretty strike out numbers to Fenway Park tonight. When he isn't striking people out, Hernandez gets plenty of ground ball outs. He gives up very, very few home runs. And he also throws around 115 per outing. Lefties do have a slightly better shot against him.

Garret Olson was the pitcher they were hoping to replace with Erik Bedard. Olson throws a high-eighties fastball, a slider, a curveball, and a change up. On May 16 he took the loss against Boston. He threw six innings and gave up five earned runs on four hits--including three homeruns (Varitek, Bailey, and Bay). He also walked four.

Brandon Morrow is making the transistion from a relief pitcher to a starter. Morrow has a mid-nineties fastball, a slider, a curveball, a changeup, and a split-fingered fastball. Too many walks, though. Lots of fly balls but not too many home runs.

With the loss of Adrian Beltre to a shoulder injury, their offense consists mostly of Ichiro Suzuki and Russell Branyon. They don't walk a lot. They don't strike out all that often. And except for Ichiro, they don't run very well--they kept running themselves out of innings against New York.

And because I can't think the word albatross without thinking of this:

The Gruff Boys.

It would be easy enough to lay the blame for today's loss on Nick Green. He was, I suppose, directly responsible for the winning run; an accurate throw probably gets the runner and we move on to the tenth inning.

The fault, however, lies with the offense. It is not a good thing when you load the bases with no outs and can't get home a single run. It is, in fact, a Mariner-like offense and that is not a good thing either (but kudos to Happy for getting out of the same exact situation in the next half inning.) Still, if this chameleon-esque trend continues we may be in luck when the happy hitting Blue Jays come into town.

Also, Rocco Baldelli better get his act together soon or I may be forced to start rooting for him. I can't imagine that, given my habit of really pulling for guys who are struggling, my support would be a desired thing.

Vapor Lock.

It's funny how things change. A week or two ago you'd be crazy if you counted this team out before the final out was recorded but there was a finality to Jon Lester giving up those runs. The game was over, there was no come-from-behind magic to be had on the road.

It started out well enough (four runs in two innings, a single, a double, and a triple for Ellsbury) but then it just kind of stalled. I don't know what happened. Complacency? The opposing pitcher (I'm not going to attempt to spell his name and I don't feel like looking it up) suddenly figured out how to not suck? Bad luck?

I'm digging the commentary of Dave Roberts but despite what he said, Lester again didn't look good and, quite honestly, he was lucky he was playing Seattle this time. He looked so defeated in the dugout afterward that my immediate thought was "I hope his dad is ok." (Which I probably shouldn't type for fear of rumor mongering but there you have it.)

Still, until the beginning of October there's always tomorrow (or, you know, twenty and a quarter hours from now.) And with Josh Beckett on the mound we turn to the Muppets' rendition of the Hawaiian war chant for extra inspiration:

DeMarlo Gets His Turn.

DeMarlo Hale's interview with Seattle Mariners is this morning. I would wish him lucky but it would be a shame to lose one of the few working stoplights in Boston (not my joke but I liked it so I took it.)

Millsie's Big Chance.

At some point today Brad Mills will be interviewing to be the manager of the Seattle Mariners. I don't know whether to wish him luck or not but I suppose I should.

*Update* In the Seattle Times there was a list of all the candidates the Mariners were considering and while Mills and DeMarlo Hale were on the list, there was no John Farrell. I was certain that someone (the Herald, maybe?) had him on Seattle's list.

Next Up: the Seattle Mariners

Replacing Bedard for tonight's game is the lefty Jarrod Washburn. He throws a four-seam fastball that can get into the mid-nineties. He also throws a good slider, a curveball, and a good change up. He pitches to contact and he walks too many batters. Righties have a much easier time against him.

Tomorrow's pitcher will be R.A. Dickey. In addition to his knuckleball, he throws a low-nineties fastball and a curveball. They've been using him as a reliever/spot-starter and the last time he threw was Saturday against Cleveland-he gave up one hit and two walks in two innings of work. Earlier this season against the Sox, he gave up two hits and one run in two and two-thirds innings. Right-handed batters have an easier time against him than left-handed batters.

The last pitcher of the series is Felix Hernandez. Hernandez throws a high-nineties fastball, an excellent curveball, and a good change up. His command isn't yet all that it should be so he will walk batters but he gets plenty of ground ball outs and strike outs. He pitched against Boston on May 26 and gave up five runs on seven hits in seven and two-thirds of an inning. He also walked five and struck out five. In his next start against Boston (on June 6), he gave up six hits in six innings but didn't allow any runs to score. That time, he walked three and struck out five. Lefties have a little more success against him.

They have just gotten their closer, Putz, back from the DL. Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, and Ichiro Suzuki continue to be their best hitters. Ichiro is always a threat to steal a base, he currently has one less than Ellsbury. He continues to play excellent centerfield (he made a spectacular catch off Varitek earlier in the season.) Defensively, they get most of their errors at short and third.

Bedard v. Masterson (Game 66)

Yet another good start by Masterson; the kid continues to impress. He threw eighty-eight pitches over six innings. He gave up only three hits and allowed only one run. He did walk three but he struck out four. He was aided greatly by the impressive right-fielder they've uncovered. (Seriously, I'm starting to feel bad about the way I've made fun of him.) Masterson did seem to be having trouble throwing strikes but the only time it proved to be a problem for him was in the second inning. He walked the first two batters of that inning on nine pitches. Then the third batter got a hit to deep right that was miraculously snagged by Drew. With runners then on first and third, the fourth batter grounded into a fielder's choice to bring in the only run the Mariners would score. He gave up another hit before he got out of the inning with a ground out to third.

Craig Hansen pitched the seventh inning and did a nice job as well. He walked the first batter of the inning but the runner never advanced as he got the second batter to foul out to Varitek, the third batter to strike out, and the fourth batter to strike out.

Okajima came out for the eighth inning. Almost as quickly as he was out there, he was done-he needed only nine pitches to get his three outs. The first batter grounded out to short. The second batter flied out to center. And the third batter struck out swinging.

Papelbon finished off the game and picked up his eighteenth save of the season. The first batter flied out to center. The second batter grounded out to Papelbon-which was a nice little bit of fielding by Paps. And the last batter flied out to right.

The Sox were only able to get two hits off Eric Bedard but they did draw three walks (which turned out to be quite important.) With one out in the third inning, Coco got the first hit off Bedard-a single to right. After trying repeatedly to pick-off Coco, Bedard ended up issuing a walk to Moss. Lugo flied out to center for the second out and Coco moved over to third. Then after a nine-pitch at bat, Pedroia also drew a walk to load the bases. Then the man of the hour was up, on a one-two count Bedard came too far inside on Drew and hit him on the wrist to knock in a run and tie the game. Manny struck out swinging to end the inning.

They managed to wear Bedard out after five innings and the Mariners brought in their first reliever, Sean Green, for the sixth. Drew was the first batter to face Green. The first pitch he threw was a little bit outside for Drew's liking so, even though it was a strike, he watched it go by. The second pitch was closer to the center of the plate but a little bit too high, so he fouled it off. The third pitch was too far inside and was, in fact, a ball. The fourth pitch Green threw was, again, too high and Drew, again, fouled it off. The fifth pitch of the inning, though, that one was perfect. It was right down the middle off the plate and Drew cranked it to almost dead center field for the second Sox run of the night-and the win.

Batista v. Wakefield (Game 65)

Woot for run support for Wakefield! I'm sure he's appreciative.

The win makes 158 Red Sox wins for Wake. Like he has done in his last couple of outings, Wakefield pitched really well tonight. He threw one hundred and six pitches over seven innings. He gave up only five hits and allowed only two runs. He struck out six and walked two. He had five 1-2-3 innings and got a couple of Mariners to take absolutely ridiculous swings for strikes.

Hansen came out to pitch the eighth inning. He seemed to be having trouble throwing strikes; three out of the four batters he faced were served balls to start their at-bats. He gave up a hit to the first batter he faced (Ichiro) but he was out at second on a very nice play by Cora when the next batter grounded into a fielder's choice. The third batter popped out to second and the last batter grounded into a fielder's choice and they took the force out at second.

Papelbon came out to finish the game. When he's not pitching in a save situation and he doesn't have the adrenaline going, Papelbon occasionally runs into trouble. Today's problem occurred when the first batter he faced reached on a Youkilis error (his first error in 238 games.) The runner would later take second and come around to score when the second batter got a base hit. After that Papelbon got his act together and struck out the next two batters and got the last batter to fly out to right.

Since Ortiz has been out, JD Drew seems to have flourished. Batting in the third spot and with two outs in the first inning, he hit a triple. Manny followed him up with number 504 to left and put the Sox on the board first.

They would score again in the fourth inning. With one out and the score tied, Moss drew a walk. Cash would then fly out to center for the second out. But Cora then came back with a double that brought in Moss. Not to be outdone, Coco followed that up with a single that brought in Cora and put the Sox up by two.

Manny started off the fifth inning by drawing a walk. Casey got a base hit. Youkilis flied out for the first out. Moss drew a walk to load the bases. Then, Seattle brought in their knuckleballer. Cash popped out to second for the second out. A knuckleball got away from the Seattle catcher and everyone moved up a base-including Manny who came around to score. Cora popped out to end the inning.

In the sixth inning, Drew hit a home run to center.

They would score again in the eighth inning-to make the stomping official. Cora started things off with a single but Coco lined out to right for the first out. Lugo got a base hit and Cora moved to second. Drew got a single, which brought Cora around. Manny walked to load the bases and Ellsbury ran for him. Lowell hit another double and brought in two more runs (Lugo and Drew.) Youkilis followed that up with a double of his own, which brought in Lugo and Ellsbury-as-Manny. Moss popped out and Cash struck out to end the inning.

I've got to say that Lugo had a really nice game. It's good to see Lugo smile-I'd still be scared to death to meet him in real life but it's good to see him smile. He fielded five ground balls, including an inning ending double play in the seventh. They showed him coming off the field after the play and he must have said something to Wake like "Did you see that? Wasn't that great?" because Wakefield gave him this little eyebrow-raised nod that seemed to say "Yeah. Yeah. I did. I was right here." He also caught a line out and a pop-out. He had a hit, a sacrifice bunt, and a walk. So, good on Lugo.

Wakefield v. Bedard (Game 56)

That was another one to be filed under: Well, that sucked.

Wakefield pitched really well tonight. He went eight innings with only ninety-six pitches and held the Mariners to only five hits (one of them was, unfortunately, the game deciding homerun in the third inning.) He struck out eight and didn't walk anybody. Normally, such a dominating performance would be good for a win but not when vintage Erik Bedard is on the mound for the other side.

There was no offense to speak of. They were held to two singles (one by Manny and one by Lowell.) They drew six walks but made nothing of them. Ellsbury did have a very good steal of second in the third inning. He'd already made his break for second (after walking to first) when the throw came into first, so he just kept going and reached safely because of a poor throw from first. And that's about it.

One thing to be grateful of: For awhile, at least, that's it for middle of the night night-games. I'm so tired-I repeatedly fell asleep on the ride in to work this morning.

Matsuzaka v. Batista (Game 55)

A strange game to be sure. Daisuke giving up hits and allowing runs only to be pulled from the game after the fourth inning with a mysterious injury. Lugo getting himself thrown from the game in the fifth inning (which isn't all that strange-he's never hidden the fact that he's got a temper.) Francona getting thrown from the game after he defended his shortstop. And it was long-like epically long. At least, it seemed that way (as it turns out the game was over in three hours.) West coast games are generally difficult but when they last until 1:15 in the morning and my alarm clock is going to start beeping in three and half hours to wake me up for work, it becomes harder to care about a single game in Seattle: It's ok if they lose this game, I don't want to watch extra innings-I just want to go to sleep.

Matsuzaka was not having a good game before he hurt himself. [Aside: As it turns out, the mysterious illness is shoulder fatigue. Apparently, it's something he struggled with in Japan, as well.] He threw sixty-five pitches over four innings. He allowed two earned runs (and one unearned run) on four hits. He struck out two batters. Impressively (or not, given the way the Mariners are only too happy to swing their bats), he didn't walk anyone. He did fall behind to a count of three-balls four times, though. Normally a superior defensive player, Daisuke made a strange play in the first inning on a bunt bid back to him that he decided to throw to third and didn't get anybody out.

After he came out of the game, David Aardsma was up. He pitched the fifth inning (which was interrupted by the Lugo/Francona fracas) and the start of the sixth inning. He seemed to be chugging along nicely by getting two ground ball outs (one to himself and one to Lowell) to start the inning but then he walked a batter on seven pitches. The last batter of the inning got two balls (the second of which Lugo was sure he went around on) and two strikes before he grounded out. When he came back out for the sixth inning he seemed to have lost it. He issued a four-pitch walk to the first batter and gave up a single to the second that turned into a put-out at third on an impressive play by Manny.

Delcarmen came out to finish the sixth and pitch the seventh inning. He got a ground out and a line out to end the sixth inning. In the seventh inning he got two quick ground outs before giving up a double. He got another ground out to harmlessly end the inning.

Okajima was brought in to pitch the eighth. Okajima really had to battle for his outs and so it seems surprising that he had a 1-2-3 inning but he did. The first batter fouled out. The second grounded out and the third struck out swinging.

Timlin pitched the ninth inning. Timlin gave up a single to the first batter and the second hit a sacrifice bunt. The third batter grounded out to second. They intentionally walked the fourth batter. With two outs and two strikes against him, the last batter singled to drive in a run and end the game. But me? I was just happy to go to bed.

The Red Sox were having trouble getting hits off Batista to start the game. Pedroia got a single in the first and Casey got a single in the fifth but that's all they were able to do until the third time through the order. In the sixth with one out, Pedroia reached on an error. Ortiz singled to right. And then Manny took the the first pitch he saw and turned it into no. 499 by sending it out to right. And that was it for Red Sox runs.

Colon v. Hernandez (Game 54)

Maybe the win could be attributed to the fact that Seattle hasn't been able to get it together so far this season. Maybe it could be attributed to Varitek blending into the background because of his fancy camouflage gear and Colon really needing to concentrate to find him and his mitt. Either way, a win is good for the soul.

Colon looked really good tonight. He went seven innings on eighty-four pitches (which is almost where they wanted to get him.) He gave up one earned run on five hits. He walked one and struck out four. For the most part it was an easy outing for him. He had two 1-2-3 innings before he got himself into a mini-jam in the third: with one out he gave up a double and a single before getting a fly out and a ground out. Then he kept himself out of trouble until the sixth inning. The first two batters of the sixth reached via a single and a HBP. The third batter had a sacrifice bunt to move them over and the fourth batter grounded out to second to drive in a run. The last batter grounded out to end the inning. There was another mini-jam in the seventh. He struck out the first batter before giving up a base hit to the second. The third batter flied out to right. The fourth got a single and the other base runner moved over to third. The last batter harmlessly flied out to center.

Okajima took over in the eighth inning and was alright. He gave up a base hit to the first batter he saw but then got two fly-outs and a strike out. He wasn't following Farrell's first-pitch strike philosophy (only the first batter he saw got a first-pitch strike) and you wonder if the league is starting to catch onto him with all the foul balls but he was alright.

Papelbon was not alright. He came out for the ninth and needed to see six batters to get his three outs. He seemed to be having a bit of trouble finding the strike zone; of the six batters he faced he greeted four of them with a ball. I know that there's usually a slight air of confusion about Jason Varitek but at one point (I think it was after a pitch bounced in) the camera lingered on him and through his catching gear he looked absolutely befuddled by what had just been thrown at him. Papelbon struck out the first batter. He then allowed the next runner to reach on a piddly base hit (I don't think it was a sacrifice) back to him that he threw over Casey's head. The next batter got a single to right. With runners on first and third, Papelbon got the next batter to strike out swinging. The next batter got a base hit and drove in the first Mariners' run of the inning. To the last batter of the inning, Papelbon threw a pitch that bounced in front of Varitek and then got away from him, allowing the Mariners to get the second run of the inning; eventually the batter would be put out at first on a nice play by Pedroia.

Hernandez was really on his game at the start of the night. He plowed through the Red Sox order, going three-up-three-down for the first three innings. He seemed to be continuing in that dominating manner the second time through the order when, with two outs, Ortiz hit a solo shot to center.

After that he switched to pitching four-up-three-down for the next three innings. Drew singled in the fifth. Ellsbury walked in the sixth. Manny walked in the sixth but was then knocked out when Lowell hit into a double play, but Drew also drew a walk to make it four batters.

Their offensive push of the game came in the eighth inning. Casey started it off with a single to right. Lugo reached on a fielder's choice, narrowly beating out the double play. Ellsbury had a sacrifice hit to move Lugo over. Then Pedroia had a ground ruled double to bring Lugo around to score. They decided to intentionally walk Ortiz and pitch to Manny. Manny, who seems to have figured out how to hit again, singled to right and brought in Pedroia. (I'm fairly certain it was at this point that Hernandez fell apart.) Lowell reached on an infield single and Ortiz scored. Drew got an infield hit to load the bases and Varitek walked to knock in Manny.

To give credit where credit is due: the Mariners had some really nice defensive plays on the night. In the fifth inning, Ichiro Suzuki made a spectacular jumping catch into the wall to take extra bases (and a run by Drew) away from Varitek. In the ninth inning, Pedroia grounded into a double play to get the force out at third and then the put out at first. The third baseman dived for the ball, reached over to tag the base and then made a solid throw to first. It was impressive.

Next Up: the Seattle Mariners

Tonight's pitcher is Felix Hernandez. Hernandez has the potential to be an absolute star. He throws a very fast fastball (he can hit 97 mph on the gun), an excellent curveball, and a really good change-up. He has excellent command of everything he throws. He induces a lot of groundball outs, so having a speedy lineup is important to beating him. If runners do get on base, he can become bothered by their presence. He also tends to be a slow starter, having a rough first inning before getting down to business. Lefties have had better luck against him in the past.

Miguel Batista is the scheduled pitcher for tomorrow. He's more of a finesse pitcher who outsmarts hitters than a power pitcher. He does have a very good cut fastball. If he starts to over-think things, it can go badly for him-the ball stays up and he gets hit hard.

Wednesday is Erik Bedard. It would seem that the breeze off Puget Sound is no better for his health than the one off Baltimore Harbor; in April he went on the fifteen day DL with a hip injury. When healthy, Bedard is a dominant strike out pitcher. He has a deceptive fastball and a really great curveball. He doesn't give in easily but he has had a history of falling into slumps.

Their two best hitters are Raul Ibanez *tilde implied* and Adrian Beltre. They don't have a lot of power hitters; besides those two, Richie Sexson is the only other player with more than four homeruns. Ichiro Suzuki is really the only threat to steal a base (he has twenty-one so far this season.) They don't bunt a lot. They don't walk a lot. They don't strike out a lot but they don't get a lot of hits either.