‘08 Games 44, 45, and 46: A Sweep of the Brew Crew

The weekend return of an old American League foe to Fenway was good for the Sox. The Brewers got swept out of town by the Sox, thanks in most part to a lineup that beat up Brewers pitching for 23 runs in the 3 game set. Only DiceK in Game 1 of the Saturday twinbill was able to hit the quality start barrier. Wakefield feel short on innings, and Beckett decided it was ‘all-or-nothing’ day on Sunday, giving up 6 runs in most part from 4 dingers and whiffing 9 batters over 7 innings. So what did we learn – more of the same from DiceK, Wakefield continues to be adequate most times out, and Beckett is having some struggles (9 HR allowed in 54 innings pitched over 8 starts in 2008). Time to be concerned yet? No, but lately he is looking more like 2006 Beckett than 2007 Beckett.

Here’s the QS Bottom-Line:

Game 44	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
DM #18	6.7	7	2	0	2	6	1	103-66	2.15

Game 45	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
TW #49	5.1	6	3	3	3	5	1	10/-67	4.33

Game 46	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
JB #19	7.0	6	6	6	1	9	4	107-75	4.67

The End Result:

The Sox are done with inter-league play for a little while now and are back in a virtual tie at the top of the division with the Rays. While it is nice to see the bats going again, and hopefully that will continue, the starting pitching has become inconsistent again (only 4 quality starts in the last 10 games).

Red Sox Record:	27-19
Total Quality Starts:	23
Record in QS games:	15-8

A Look Ahead:

Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, and Bartolo Colon are scheduled for the Sox as the Kansas City Royals come to Boston for their annual visit. Lester leads the team in starts, and is tied with DiceK and Wakefield in quality starts (5). Masterson will make his second start and Colon his first start of the season for the Sox, due to Buchholz’ injury and the Friday rainout. We’ll see if the sputtering Royals can get to the Sox staff or if the quality start train can get rolling again.