Okie Blows Another One - Jenn

Manny and JD went back to back in the 5th to put the Red Sox on top and potentially hand Beckett his 7th win. But then Okajima took over the mound.

As I said back on June 3rd when Okie blew that save against the Orioles, he's not the same pitcher we loved last season. For some reason the lefty just can't handle the O's. And since the Sox face them 11 more times this season, that ain't good. Just look at his record against them.

Back on May 14th the Sox were playing the O's at Camden Yards. Jon Lester left the game at the end of the 6th with the lead and potentially the win. Then Okie took over and gave up a grand slam to Jay Payton to give the O's a 3 run lead the Sox wouldn't be able to beat.

Then on June 2nd, again at Camden Yards and again with a 1-run lead, Wakefield pitched 7 innings and left the game with another chance at the win. Unfortunately the Sox handed the ball to Okajima for the 8th, and by the time he left, the O's were up by three runs and surprise, surprise, the Sox couldn't bounce back.

Then last night, Manny's 505th home run to deep right and JD's homer over the green monster finally gave the Sox the lead after five innings and Beckett walked off the mound confident his team would finish the visitors off. He was wrong. Okie did manage to get the first batter he faced, Freddie Bynum, to strike out. Unfortunately that's the only out Okie would record. The next four batters he faced all reached, and by the time Francona pulled him, the O's had tied the score, and Okie had blown the save, his 6th of the season. Although Delcarmen got Millar to fly out to center, it was deep enough for Mora, who Okajima had walked, to tag up and score the O's 7th run. Although they'd score 3 more times in the 9th, that 7th run Okie gave up is all the O's would need to win the game.

So, in the 4 times the O's have faced the lefty, they've scored an astounding 8 runs in just 5 1/3 innings. And that doesn't include the 3 inherited runners who crossed the plate when Payton got that grand slam back on May 14th. Which reminds me, the reason Okie's ERA is so low - out of the 14 men Okie inherited from previous pitchers, 11 of them have scored. That's appalling.

I don't have a fix for this problem. The best I can suggest is that for the rest of the season, the Sox don't play Okie when they're facing the Orioles. As for the other teams and those inherited runners - maybe Okajima should just start innings as opposed to taking over for someone. And since they can't keep him on the bench for the next 3.5 months, I suggest they keep the lefty on a very, very tight leash.