Innings of Doom

You know which innings I'm talking about--the ones following the ninth. Extra innings, where the Sox have won exactly ONE game this season and lost seven. After two nights of awesome offense, the bats mailed it in yesterday after a 2-run shot by V-Mart in the second inning. It was a case of scoring more runs than they needed for two nights, but coming up short in the finale. Some of those ten surplus runs from Friday night would have been helpful yesterday, you know? Alas, runs cannot be banked for a rainy (or, in this case, dry) day.

The lack of reliable bullpen arms was the other half of the equation in yesterday's 11-inning loss. Delcarmen was money up until Thursday, when he started unraveling again. Now, beyond Bard and Pap, who can Tito trust in a close game? Oki? Maybe a few years ago, but not so much anymore, especially against the O's, who are his personal kryptonite. RamRam? Too hit or miss. Joe Nelson? Don't think so. Atchison (when he's not in Pawtucket)? Fuhgeddaboudit! I worry about the overuse of Bard. The Sox really need another solid arm to take some of the load off the young flamethrower. Color me skeptical about Boof Bonser. He was a reclamation project and we know how those have panned out for the Sox in recent years. Bowden is another shaky pick, seeing how he's struggling to get AAA hitters out. He's one they should have traded awhile back. Dustin Richardson would be worth a shot, though.

The Sox have touched down in Cleveland for a set of 4 against the Tribe, including a reunion with the former Sox hurler who got them V-Mart--Justin Masterson. Tonight's matchup has the Dice-K Mystery up against Fausto Carmona. I don't know what to expect out of this one because I don't know which Dice-K, or combination of Dice-Ks will show up.

Congrats to the Celtics for taking Game 2. I'm hoping once the series moves to Boston, the Kobe Bryant lovefest will be toned down a notch or ten. He's like the A-Rod of the NBA, which fits in with the Lakers being their answer to the Yankees.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!