Dodging Bullets...and a Moose

This visual matchup here would be the Mariners Moose versus Coco Crisp. Crisp was nearly leveled yesterday in front of the Sox dugout by this antlered would-be killer, as if yesterday's game needed any more excitement. Had this been pre-broken "Curse of the Bambino" Crisp would be out for 8 weeks after being run over by a stuffed moose.

After Friday night’s choke job, I was sure that the Sox were either going to be swept or lose the series to the Seattle Mariners. Boston has a history of suckage at Safeco Field and I didn’t really expect too much out of them. So, Saturday and Sunday’s wins were a little surprising especially with yesterday’s contest finishing up as a 9-2 victory in the Sox favor.

Yesterday’s game was a little bizarre. Manny celebrating a little too much for his 489^th home run of his career and of course, Crisp almost getting splattered by the mascot for the Mariners who was speeding around the field on an ATV. What the fuck was that all about? Coco took it in stride, almost got hit by a pitch later in the game and went on to have a good day hitting 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. Out of all the players to be used in the leadoff spot, Crisp seems to be the guy, at least in my opinion. With RF JD Drew playing once every series it seems (or less) and SS Julio Lugo having a streaky season at the plate, Crisp may seem like a lock to play the duration hitting lead in the lineup.

Josh Beckett had another solid outing picking up his 14^th win on the year. Beckett pitched into the 7^th inning giving up only one run, only walked two and struck out nine. Francona is also doing a good job of keeping his young ace in good condition for the home stretch limiting him to less than 120 pitches per start. It’s also important to not that having the bullpen that the Sox do for Francona to turn to doesn’t hurt either. I’m not one for babying pitchers and being a pitch count hawk because at this point in the season you should be able to take the cap off your guys and let them win. However, with the damage being done by the time the 7^th inning rolled around there was really no point to keeping Beckett in the game.

Reliever Eric Gagne ran into a few problems in Saturday night’s game and made things a little too interesting before getting out of his own self-created jam. He took a 4-2 lead into the 8^th and almost blew said lead after the Mariners scored on a Kenji Johjima single to deep left field bringing in Ben Broussard. Gagne got out of the jam by getting Yuniesky Betancourt to ground out to him and make the inning ending out at 1^st. Yikes, hopefully he can create a little less drama on the field and make the transition from starter to closer a little smoother. Closer Jonathan Papelbon came in to collect his 25^th save of the year.

Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz won’t have their normal output on RBI’s this season, however they have started to pick up the pace slightly and are at 72 and 68 RBI’s respectively. Both are hovering around .300 which is an improvement for Manny when held up against his slow start this season. Hopefully they peak at the right time through August and on into September.

Curt Schilling (6-4, 4.20 ERA) will make his first start since mid June in Atlanta tonight as the Sox travel down the Pacific Coastline to face off against the AL West leading Los Angeles Angels. Schilling returns to a rotation that has a pair of 13-game winners and a 14-game winner in Beckett, so if Schil can stay healthy the Sox may be fielding one of the best starting rotations in the Major Leagues. The Sox will try to keep the momentum rolling against the Halo’s as they put Jered Weaver (7-5, 4.00 ERA) on the mound tonight.