Games 9 & 10: Ups and downs, not necessarily in that order
WEDNESDAY
Jon Lester had a tough outing on what was supposed to be the first “normal” game of the young season. There were parts of the game, particularly in his early innings, where he looked really good, and other parts where he seemed less in control. Despite the loss, though, I still think it was a step in the right direction for him. One aspect of his game that I’d like to see him work on is his pacing; he works very slowly, and while he seems to be more comfortable that way, I’d prefer it if he was able to speed things up a tad. Hopefully that comes with experience and maturity.
Losing Mike Lowell isn’t a good thing, but the signing of Sean Casey combined with the brilliant defensive ability of Kevin Youkilis should keep the team balanced for the next few weeks while we wait for Lowell to come off the DL. I was really impressed at how Youkilis was able to shift from first to third in the middle of the game, no warning, no drills before the game.
All in all, it was inevitable that the Tigers were going to win a game at some point. Frankly I’m surprised that it didn’t happen sooner. It’s hard for me to be really upset about the game.
THURSDAY
Fortunately, the Sox did what any good team can do after a loss, which is simply to go home, sleep it off, and come back the next day ready to go. Youkilis made a few nice plays at third, including one barehanded grab early on in the game (1st? 2nd?) that would have been impressive for anyone, especially so for someone who’s not an everyday third baseman.
Sean Casey certainly had himself a good night, getting some nice hits, making some good plays. And how about that Kevin Cash, you know, the guy who wasn’t supposed to be able to hit anything? J.D. Drew is off to a great start too; I’m finally starting to see what it was that the front office saw in him. Hope he keeps it up. And I’m not worried about David Ortiz. He’s going to hit. Probably sooner vs. later. At some point everything is going to click into place and he’s going to make a lot of opposing pitchers pay dearly.
With Lowell on the DL and Alex Cora’s elbow acting up a little, Jed Lowrie was called up from AAA. He’ll be making his major league debut whenever he finds himself in a game.
About 3 1/2 hours until the first Red Sox vs. Yankees game of 2008 begins… hopefully… there’s some rain in the forecast…
22 Talks: Random Musings on the Red Sox 