The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: 1. Salty looks like a good pickup at catcher. He had no trouble catching Dice-K, who has 5 or 6 different pitches.
2. Dice-K pitched well against the Rangers in the insane heat, but he got burned big-time by Manny Delcarmen and the offense. Wouldn't it be better if relievers shared some of the ERA burden of allowing inherited runners to score?
3. Kalish continues to impress at the major-league level. Some great at-bats today, but unfortunately nothing to show for it. He had an extra-base hit stolen from him by Julio Borbon.
4. Pedey's back on Tuesday.

The Bad: 1. Scufflin' Scoots looks like he might need some more days off. He got a hit today that could easily have been ruled an error on David Murphy, but he's been making far too many outs lately for the lead-off spot.
2. The Sox offense made CJ Wilson look like the second coming of Jon Lester. Wilson is a good lefty, but the righty-stacked offense couldn't do much against him.



The Ugly: 1. MDC's poorly-located pitch that put the game just out of reach for the Sox in the 7th inning when Michael Young blasted it out of the park for a 3-run homer, making Dice-K's pitching line a poor reflection of how he actually pitched.

2. The exasperatingly sloppy defense in the 8th, turning a 2-run lead into a 4-run with an error and two guys missing a grounder up the middle.


The Sox get an off-day tomorrow and then face the Angels, who are having about as disappointing a season as the Sox. Both teams are accustomed to making the playoffs and this year, it's very likely neither will make it. The Angels are 8.5 games back of the division-leading Rangers and the Red Sox, while closer to the division and wild card, can't seem to put together any kind of run with their wildly inconsistent play. So far this season, the Sox have had the upper hand, but it would be foolish to take this series with the Halos for granted. Nothing pisses off the baseball gods more than tempting fate. Mike Scioscia's squad still has guys who can run and test the Sox defense.

Tuesday's matchup is a pitcher's duel waiting to happen. Clay Buchholz vs. Jered Weaver. Wednesday, it's Lackey vs. Kazmir and Thursday, Beckett vs. Santana.

LET'S GO RED SOX!!!!