posted on Wednesday, August 02, 2006 11:52 PM
by
Jim
Righty-lefty mismatch
One reason the Sox aren't able to get a big winning streak going is because two specialists on whom the Sox heavily rely aren't performing their specialty.
Namely, Juan Uribe isn't fielding, and Neal Cotts isn't getting lefties out. I don't think either is anything to worry about in the long run, but they're partially the reason why the Sox can't quite get a big winning streak going.
With an inexplicable drop of the most routine of foul pop-ups, Uribe has now committed four errors in seven games. Two of them have turned into runs, and all of them have meant extra pitches for a staff that doesn't really need them. Ozzie Guillen's
not happy with him, and rightfully so. But I don't know what one can do about it, because given Uribe's unorthodox-but-effective style, I imagine he's due to get in some ruts from time to time.
It's the same deal for Cotts, who has struggled in his last five games, giving up nine hits in 3 1/3 innings. They haven't amounted to much in terms of blowing up his ERA, but he's allowed his only two inherited runners to score -- and stranding runners is something Cotts normally excels at.
More troubling is his work against lefties over that stretch. Match-up advantages -- against both lefties and switch-hitters who are flipped to their weaker side -- have backfired. Everybody from Joe Mauer to Brandon Fahey is teeing off on him, as the supposed disadvantaged batters are 7-for-10 in the last five games, including a homer, two doubles and a walk.
Even with this recent streak, lefties are only hitting .200 off him, but it points to how much he's relied upon to get that one key out -- and he hasn't gotten it as of late.
Neither of these are huge problems, but they're snags nevertheless, and can turn eight-game winning streaks into merely 5-3 runs. Plus, it's a rain delay, Cotts is entering the ballgame, and what else is there to talk about?
Update (12:27 AM): After David DeJesus' RBI triple, make that 8-for-11, and that makes three straight inherited runners scoring as well.
Update (12:28 AM): After Mark Teahen's single, that's 9-for-12.
Update (12:33 AM): 9-for-13 after Shane Costa strikes out. In this case, two of three
is bad.