In movie theaters right now you can check out "Hot Tub Time Machine," and if you get NESN or know anyway to watch or listen to Red Sox baseball, you can tune into "Red Sox Bullpen Time Machine." Watching the Red Sox right now is like taking a time machine back to the 1990's and the years of the bullpen by committee.
The Red Sox are 1-3, and last night spoiled another great effort by a starter, this time though it was an old face, a very, very, very old face the bullpen collapsed for. With his first knuckleball to David DeJesus in the bottom of the first inning, Tim Wakefield became the oldest starting pitcher in Red Sox history (43 years, seven months and seven days to be exact).
The knuckleballer who was born on August 2, 1966, has been the model of consistency for the Red Sox. Whenever he steps on the mound I always pencil him in for six innings, and three to five runs.
More times than not he proves me wrong; like last night's outing where he went seven innings, striking out six and only making two mistakes: a 73 mph four seamer in the sixth to Billy Butler that was nothing more than a batting practice pitch, which Butler kindy deposited into the left field stands, and the next pitch, a 63 mph knuckleball to Rick Ankiel (yes, that Rick Ankiel) which landed fair and in the bleachers down the right field line.
Besides those two pitches Wakefield was phenomenal; he allowed just those two runs through his seven innings, and most importantly, only needing 98 pitches to do so. That is now two strong starts in a row for Red Sox pitching; Wakefield's performance came on the heels of a six-inning shutout performance by John Lackey who needed 100 pitches to do so.
With the travel day between games the Red Sox bullpen did not need the help, at least that's what the common consensus was until the Red Sox bullpen took the ball in the eighth.
Holding on to the 3-2 lead Hideki Okajima allowed a leadoff double, but got the next batter out when Terry Francona called on Daniel Bard to get the final two outs. Bard allowed a walk, got the next out, and with runners on second and third allowed a broken bat single to Ankiel who sawed the pitch into left and the lackluster arm of Jacoby Ellsbury.
Just like that a 3-2 lead turned into a 4-3 deficit and a great pitching performance by the oldest starting pitcher in Red Sox history, vanished. It was the bullpen's third straight loss (second straight blown save for Daniel Bard) and stopped Wakefield from gaining his 190th win (176th win the Red Sox), which would put him just 16 wins shy of the all-time Red Sox record owned by Roger Clemens and Cy Young.
But most importantly, that third straight loss by the bullpen is harkening back images (nightmares?) of the days of Heathcliff Slocumb and the Bullpen by Committee when Red Sox fans knew that they were in for a roller coaster ride once the starter was out. The problem here is hard to grasp; Francona has two legitimate set-up men in Okajima and Bard, but right now he has them splitting the eighth, and it just seems that both are uncomfortable knowing that neither owns the inning and that at the slightest trouble, one will go in for the other.
The Red Sox most impressive bullpen season in recent memory was in 2007 when it was Okajima in the eighth and Papelbon in the ninth, and until this question of "who owns the eighth?" is resolved, you can be assured the bullpen struggles will continue.
No matter "whodunit" in the latest bullpen collapse of this very early season, the saddest thing is to see another chance at history dance away from Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox. Here's to hoping that the man who has done everything for the Red Sox over the past 16 years starts to get some help from his bullpen... Oh yeah, one more thing; did we mention he has 22 saves as a Red Sox pitcher?
No comments:
Post a Comment