posted on Thursday, April 13, 2006 9:41 PM
by
Jim
It's in the bag ... isn't it?
Watching Jon Garland blow gigantic early leads in his first two starts takes me back to last May, when he had a
similar game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Sox gave him a 10-2 lead, and he let the Blue Jays get back in it, chipping away at the margin with an array of hits. He did come away with the win, but he didn't do it in a pretty fashion, giving up six runs and getting pulled before he could complete six innings. It was frustrating to watch, because it seemed like one of the few times where I could settle in and watch a rout and he still ended up making me nervous by leaving way too many balls over the plate.
The only difference between that game and
today was Scott Podsednik. In that game, he scored each time he reached base (three) and stole four bases. Today, he played like a turd.
I figured I'd find more examples of this since Garland did alright in the run support department (35th in the majors last year), but he ended up being the pitcher of record in the game where the Sox put up a 10-spot in the sixth inning against Russ Ortiz and the Diamondbacks, and another game in which the Sox put up six runs in an inning late against the Red Sox. Both games skewed the numbers slightly.
On the other hand, he pitched extremely well in a lot of close games, even ones that he lost. So maybe he just has trouble bearing down when there's not a lot of pressure on him. Toronto, Kansas City, and now Detroit -- three's a trend, right? It'd certainly make sense, with him
being so laid-back and all.