Let's talk about the last two innings, since the first seven were basically filled with pop-ups, strikeouts and stranded runners.
First of all, we've seen a theme develop in this Rangers series that should've been common sense to begin with -- do not walk Ian Kinsler with two outs with Michael Young on deck. Mark Buehrle
did it yesterday, and Young followed up with a three-run homer. Today, Bobby Jenks walked Kinsler after being ahead in the count, and Young followed up with a two-run single that would decide the game.
I know
Kinsler is a Missouri Tiger, and that automatically makes him ultra-fearsome, but there's no excuse walking a rookie twice (even if he went to Mizzou) to get to an All-Star who has
a history of getting the job done with runners on base.
It looked to me like Jenks didn't have his good fastball today -- he was topping out at 95, and was leaving it down in the zone. That could be defensible in and of itself. What isn't defensible is that he threw off-speed pitches to Kinsler -- two curveballs in the dirt, and then a slider also low -- and then "challenged" Young with two fastballs. He located the first one well, as Young swung and missed at a ball at the knees and on the outside corner. But the second fastball was right down the heart of the plate, and Young, a good hitter just went the other way into right field, and the game was over.
Against Baltimore, before the All-Star break, Bobby appeared to make strides by adjusting in the inning to what the Orioles were looking for. They were only going for the fastball, so Bobby switched to almost all breaking balls. Tonight was the other way around, with the Rangers keeping an eye on the curves in the dirt, and Bobby wouldn't try to sneak a fastball by them until their best hitter was at the plate. Big mistake, ballgame over.
What's unfortunate is that Jenks got three outs in the inning. Kevin Mench was called safe at first after a weak grounder to short, but Juan Uribe's throw beat him there. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt, and then Jenks induced a grounder to short. But since Rob Mackowiak was wrongly called safe on a steal attempt in the bottom of the eighth, it's not like the Sox didn't receive a gift as well.
Of course, maybe Bobby just put us out of our misery sooner rather than later. William Nathaniel Showalter has eight relievers at his disposal, and once again he put the Sox in match-up hell, which climaxed in the bottom of the seventh when Ozuna came to the plate facing a righty. Ozzie Guillen pulled him for Scott Podsednik; Buck went to lefty Ron Mahay, last seen retiring Sox lefties yesterday. He struck Pods out without a fight, and then got Tadahito Iguchi to fly out to deep right to end the threat.
That was pretty much the story -- the bottom of the order showed up, but nobody else did save Paul Konerko, who homered off John Koronka for the only run. The start of the game looked promising, as they made Koronka throw 60 pitches in the first two innings. Yet they couldn't manage a single run, leaving the bases loaded in the first (all off walks), and a runner on second in the second.
Today's culprits? Joe Crede (four pop-outs), A.J. Pierzynski (left bases loaded in first), and Jim Thome (struck out in first, couldn't move runner in third). But really, everybody sucked except for Iguchi and Uribe, who reached base six times between them. Brian Anderson had his second straight hitless game, the first time he's done that in more than a month, but even he moved runners twice.
It overshadowed a terrific start by Freddy Garcia, who was backed by terrific defense. Freddy didn't bring his "A" arm, the one that starts firing 94 mile-per-hour fastball after 110 pitches. Instead, he did a good job of battling, and the defense helped him out. Jermaine Dye had three putouts in the first inning, bookending a routine catch with diving one and a sliding one. Crede added a nice stab later on. He deserved the win, and the offense couldn't give it to him. Then again, when he's facing a lefty, he pretty much has to be perfect.
Record: 58-38 |
Box score |
Play-by-play