Penny Flips The Coin

Sox: 3 Rays: 5

A pitcher's win-loss record can be very deceiving. Brad Penny has had a few outings this year where he's given up a slew of runs, but took the win because the offense lifted him up. Today, he tries the flip side: pitching a quality outing, giving up 3 runs, but the offense didn't give him enough support for the W and he ends up with a tough-luck loss. His tough luck was compounded by a Lugo error (sound familiar?) which would have gotten him out of an inning before giving up the third run. I bet he's crossing his fingers that Nick Green gets the start the next time he takes the mound.

Penny's much improved work in this game is the silver lining on an afternoon when Shields limited the Sox to one run, that run coming in a rough first inning for him. He buzzsawed them the rest of the way, through his remaining 6 1/3 innings. They managed to break even with the number of runs Penny allowed courtesy of Youk's sixth dong of the season in the eighth. MDC had a rare meltdown in the 7th that cost the Sox another Rays run. Ramon Ramirez let an inherited runner cross the plate in the bottom of the 8th, his first run allowed of the season. Sounds like the 'pen needs a little vaykay. Memo to Lester: Go deep into tomorrow night's game.

Papi's struggles continue. Having him in the 3-hole is not the best thing for the team right now. Moving him down in the lineup to sixth or seventh might better serve them. Plug JD in the 3, where he thrived last June while Papi was DL-ing it. JD's another lefty with a high OBP due to his patience at the plate. He can also hit for power, although it's been over a fortnight since he's hit his last long ball. Having guys on base for the hottest hitter in baseball right now is key. Let Papi work out his struggles further down in the lineup, away from the pressure of the 3-hole.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!! GLAD TO LEAVE THE TROP!