Get ready to see a lot more of this face. (John Wilcox/Boston Herald)
Once again I journeyed into the black hole that is New Hampshire and once again I slacked on my blogging duties. There’s already been another game since Saturday’s Game 2 against the Yankees, and you’re probably already familiar with what happened, so this is going to be mostly housekeeping.
How great has it been to have Alejandro De Aza on this team? He’s a sparkplug, flat out, and okay, he occasionally takes a bad angle in the field, but he gives it his all on every play. It’s not just that – he’s hitting for average, and even though the power of a few weeks ago has abandoned him, he’s forcing Farrell to keep him in the lineup until his bat falters. In the 2nd inning on Saturday, he singled to lead off, stole second, advanced to third on a bad throw, and scored on a Hanigan groundout to tie the game. That’s good hustle! Maybe one day I’ll say that the trade was a mistake – maybe Joe Gunkel goes on to do great things (like he’s doing in AA with the Orioles’ Bowie Baysox), but for now, De Aza is one of the main reasons that the Red Sox are still in contention.
Eduardo Rodriguez continued to be his normal strong self. It seems unfair that his ERA is up above 3.50, considering that in all but two starts, he’s allowed 2 earned runs or less. It’s really been a remarkable and impressive run, and it’s a shame that those two bad games are haunting his stats. The two strikeouts he recorded on Saturday were a little disappointing, but it was probably just a fluke.
Hanley Ramirez hit another home run on Saturday, his 19th of the year.
If you told me at the beginning of the year that he was going to hit .275 with 30 home runs and 85 RBIs, I would have said jeez, we’re pretty bad at getting runners on base ahead of Hanley. Either that or historically terrible at hitting with RISP. But I also would have taken that line, because that’s a pretty good line. And who knows? Maybe it’ll even end up better than that.
Koji Uehara had one of his more hittable outings, giving up a Chris Young double off the Monster with 1 out and a Brian McCann 410-foot fly out to the center field triangle to end the game. Just something to keep your eye on. I love the guy, but he worries me sometimes.
Clay Buchholz was placed on the 15-day disabled list yesterday with “right forearm tightness,” so you can all breathe a temporary sigh of relief. The MRI found no structural damage, so we don’t even need to think about our old friend Tommy John. What it does mean is that Brian Johnson, Pawtucket’s golden boy, got the call-up. So all you believers, get ready to see at least a couple starts from the lefty after the All-Star Game.
And that’s all I got. Stay tuned for tomorrow morning’s recap of today’s final game before the break.