Has this man righted the ship? Hint: He’s Carl Willis, the Sox’ new(ish) pitching coach. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
After what has to be considered a successful West Coast swing (especially given the modest offensive performance), the boys were back in town: both the Sox and the A-squad for the broadcast team – Don, Jerry, and Gary. Couple that with a solid 4-3 win over the Rangers and this game was an absolute delight to watch.
Right off the bat we saw the return of broadcast booth chemistry with Orsillo and Remy.
Don: Good to have you back in your rightful place over there to the side.
Jerry: We’ll see how right it is.
*Chuckles*
Wade Miley must’ve been able to feel the good vibes from the booth. He was able to build on his last start where he was good, but often working out of trouble; this one was a more solid overall performance.
| Boston | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miley (vs. OAK 5/13) | 6.2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5.60 |
| Miley (Last Night) | 7.0 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 5.10 |
Obviously a much better K/BB ratio in last night’s start, and the two earned runs don’t really tell the whole story here. The first run scored with Kyle Blanks on second and two outs. Thomas Field hit a sharp single to left, and Hanley sort of stared at Blanks and double clutched (thinking he wouldn’t go). Blanks stumbled around 3rd, and if Hanley threw right away he would’ve been dead. The next batter was Robinson Chirinos who hit a fly ball near Pesky’s Pole in right. Daniel Nava did his best to live up to his nickname “Thumb Faced Idiot” (it’s affectionate, I swear), staggering back awkwardly and eventually having the ball glance off his glove and roll around the corner for a triple. Both plays likely have different outcomes with better defenders in place. By the way, if you knew who all of those Rangers were before I mentioned them, you’re a scout or a liar.
In any case, another quality start for Miley. He didn’t have pinpoint control – 106 pitches in his 7 innings – but when he missed, he missed down. This is generally desirable for a pitcher because it’s much more difficult for a hitter to handle a ball that misses low than one that misses high. Unless you’re Vlad.
The offense had a much better game than what we saw on the road trip. Even though they only scored 4 runs, they banged out 13 hits. Granted they left 12 men on, and were 3-11 with runners in scoring position, but statheads preach that batting with RISP is far more luck than skill. This basically means that your team will hit for about the same average with RISP as they do in other situations, and any significant variations are mainly due to luck. While I think there’s definitely some skill and mental toughness required to hit with ducks on the pond, it’s a no-brainer to think that as the rest of the offense comes around, so will hitting with men in scoring position.
The one through four batters went 9-19 and Mike Napoli added a homer and two RBIs. He absolutely bundled this flatter-than-roadkill breaking ball.
Big Papi also homered and had two RBIs.
Hanley went 3 for 5 with two doubles, and had quite the slide into second base on his first two-bagger. It was actually so good I’d go so far as to call it “Such the Slide.” As he was approaching the bag he leapt into a flying crane-kick, then cannonballed onto his ankle. He looked like he was in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Swimming Pool.
Ramirez was shaken up on the play, and I hope he’s fine (he stayed in the game), but don’t tell me you didn’t laugh progressively harder each time they showed the replay.
Notes:
-The Red Sox starters have been undeniably better since Carl Willis took over as pitching coach. He’s brushed off praise to this point, but he’s definitely made some adjustments that are working. I don’t think this is an indictment of Juan Nieves, who let’s not forget worked miracles in 2013, just more a case of looking at the staff’s problems with a fresh set of eyes.
-In the bottom of the 7th Sandoval got hit square in the knee by fastball and it looked BAD. It sounded even worse. As Lefty pointed out, it sounded a ball hitting a bat, not a human being. Hopefully it’s just a bruise and he can play as soon as it stops hurting.
–Koji gave up a homer and a single tonight, but aside from that the combination of him and Tazawa has been lights out for opposing teams.
-Fenway needs to stop playing Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball” after homeruns. I get why they do it but, honestly. It’s embarrassing. Let’ stick to LCD Soundsystem.