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Performance Pitching

Monday brought its share of dominant pitching performances. Yesterday alone, seven pitchers went at least 7 innings and gave up no more than 1 earned run. This stat isn't even including the Pirate's Kevin Correia who threw a complete game against the Reds, only surrendering 2 earned runs.

Daisuke Matsuzaka
Red Sox find hope in Monday's outing


The Red Sox Daisuke Matsuzaka started off the day holding the Blue Jays to only one hit over seven innings. Matsuzaka only needed 89 pitches to get through his 7 innings of work, in which he struck out 3 and walked 1.

As the day turned into night, MLB's evening schedule began, and the strong pitching continued. David Price shut out the offensive force of the White Sox over 8 innings, giving up only 4 hits while striking out 9.

david price
Price helps Rays continue hot streak


C.J. Wilson of the Rangers faced off against the team's AL West rival Angels. While his counterpart Ervin Santana did not add to the list of performances, Wilson had a good night. He was able to scatter 9 hits and limit the damage, only allowing 1 earned run and striking out 9.

In a West vs. East battle, Ted Lilly led the Dodgers to a victory over Tim Hudson and the Braves. The Dodgers gave Lilly an early 3 run lead and that's all that he needed, going 7 scoreless innings. Lilly allowed only 4 hits and punched out 6 Braves.

While most games offered one strong pitching performance, there was one match up where both pitchers wanted to get in on the action. The Cubs faced off against the Padres and both sides pitched so well that extra innings was needed to decide the outcome. Both starters were very solid, Tim Stauffer of the Padres going 7 scoreless, allowing only 4 hits. However, Stauffer was bested by Cub’s enigma Carlos Zambrano, who struck out 10 over 8 scoreless innings.

tim lincecum
Lincecum has been dominant


While these were certainly some great match ups and performances, Monday saved its best show for last. The Freak Tim Lincecum faced off against the red hot Colorado Rockies. The Rockies and Coors Field were no match for the former Cy Young winner as Lincecum held the Rockies hitless over 6 innings. Colorado was able to get to Timmy in the 7th but they only managed one run. Lincecum finished the night going 7.2 innings; he allowed a single run and struck out 10.

On Monday, pitching was king. We will see what Tuesday brings, if the pitching continues or if the offense controls the night.
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Trouble in Beantown?

The MLB offseason certainly took some interesting turns. Several of the larger name free agents wound up in destinations that many did not predict. A few of these moves left us entering the season with fairly clear favorites to represent each league come October.

The big fish this offseason was undoubtedly Cliff Lee, coming off a strong performance last year especially in the playoffs. He shocked the baseball world by passing on the Yankee's higher paycheck to join a filthy rotation in Philadelphia.

In the American League, most expected Carl Crawford to sign with the Angels. He seemed a great fit in Mike Scioscia's system. That and the owner's promise to shell out the dough needed to bring the Angel's back to contention after an embarrassing year seemed to almost guarantee Crawford's arrival in the AL West. Instead another team coming off a down year in their standards swept in and grabbed the former Ray. Along with adding Crawford, the Boston Red Sox went out and tabbed All-Star Adrian Gonzalez as their starting first baseman by trading several talented prospects.



Expectations were high not only in Boston and Philadelphia but nationally for the two teams. Many analysts and sports fans alike chose the duo as their favorites to make the World Series. The Phillies got off to a fast start against the Astros behind their stellar rotation. The same could not be said for the Sox, who stumbled out of the gates against the power-packed Rangers.

After 4 games the team remains winless, allowing just over 7 runs a game. Perhaps more astonishing, the vaunted Red Sox offense is averaging only 3 runs a game while playing 3 of their 4 in hitter-friendly Arlington. Terry Francona surprised many by moving Crawford down to the 7 spot in the order, and many questions surround the Sox rotation.

So the question is, should Sox fans be sweating this early season ineptitude? While I think it is way too early to worry and I know the Red Sox are not going to go 0-162, there are some questions being raised about the ability of this preseason favorite.

Most of my questions surround the starting pitching. After last season, the two wild cards of the rotation were Beckett and Matsuzaka. After his down year and rocky first start, many are starting to add John Lackey to that group. I think that Lester and Buchholz will be fine, but the veterans need to do their part if this team expects to be as successful as many predicted.

As far as the offense goes, I feel confident that they will not be averaging 3 runs a game for very long. Francona manages his lineups well, and once the new players gel with the returning stars, this should be a very formidable bunch of bats.

One thing that stands out to me is the catching situation. New addition Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been coveted by Theo Epstein for a while, and was seen as the young catcher Jason Varitek could pass the torch to. However, in his first 10 at bats, Saltalamacchia was 0 for 10 with 5 k's. His other responsibility will be handling this pitching staff. If he is not swinging a better bat than Varitek, why not allow the veteran with much more game calling experience to start and see if it not only improves the lineup's numbers but also the starters.

Even with this start it's hard for me not to have the Red Sox as a favorite to represent the American League in the World Series. If they were to lose 4 straight games in June or July fans wouldn't be nearly as worried as they are now. They may appear a bit more vulnerable now, but if the Sox real off a streak of convincing wins, this start will be all but forgotten.

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