Still With Streaks: A Beginning and An End--Peter

Well, the Sox returned to their winning ways today--big time! Like last night's game had its tone set early on, so too did today's. Only this time it was the Sox who were setting the tone. In the first inning with JD aboard, Manny waited through a pair of pitches away from the plate and then took the next one he saw and planted it beyond any outfielder's grasp in the seats and instantly it was Sox up two zip.

The M's got a pair in the 3d, but that was the last time they'd be anywhere close to the Hose on the scoreboard--as far as runs were concerned went. Bunching hits together inning by inning, the Sox led after six by 6-2. Then, just to remove any remaining doubt about the outcome, they tacked a fin on the board in the bottom of the 8th and that was that.

The M's did score a single unearned run off Laserman in the 9th, but it wasn't his fault. Part of the blame goes to the end of a streak, a very long streak at that. Leading off the 9th, the M's Bloomquist reached on an error by Youk. That's what I said, an error by Youk. You don't see that written or said very often. In fact, Youk had, up to that point, a major league record 238 game errorless streak at first. Gone in a heartbeat. From there Bloomquist managed to get to second, where a base hit by Cairo, who was pinch hitting for Richie Sexson, brought him around. After that Laserman slammed the door on any further nonsense. Two K's and a pop fly and the game was in the books.

Another streak that went by the way today, and this was a good one to end, was Wake's winless streak against the M's. Through thick and thin, no matter how well he has pitched (last week's 1-0 complete game loss) or how poorly, no matter how well the M's have done as a team (their 116 win season a few years ago) or how poorly (the last few seasons since the 116 win season), one thing has seemed almost a certainty. They somehow always manage to beat Wakefield. In fact, it was way back in 1997 that Wake had last defeated the M's. After today's game, that streak's up on the shelf next to Youk's--history and nothing more.

Wake wasn't quite as brilliant as last week when he got no support, but he was better than just OK. In seven innings, he gave up only five hits, two runs and K'd six. His WHIP was a very cool 1.00 for the game. Added to this was the fact that he received some offensive support, something that usually is absent whenever he faces the M's. Today, the aforementioned four-bagger by Manny was bolstered by a 3-5 day by JD, including a homer and triple; as well as doubles by Lowell, Youk and Cora. In fact, of the 13 hits the Sox recorded, six were for extra bases. Adding to his two hits, Coco also stole two bases, giving him ten for the year.

At this point, I also want to comment on one other aspect of our bullpen. While I know everyone likes to look at the ERA of the relievers, and the same everyone worries when the members of the relief crew have ERA's above 2.00 (and I do this myself), an equally important thing to look at is the opponents' batting average. The reason I say it's equally important, when a relief pitcher enters a game, it's rarely for longer than two innings at most. Some middle relievers may occasionally go longer, but in most cases, one or two innings is it for one of the pen crew. So, if they give up a run or two, it has an unnaturally large effect on their ERA because they haven't pitched as many total innings as a starter. This is true whether it's Papelbon, Okajima or the Yanks' Rivera. In fact, though he got the W yesterday for the Stripers, Rivera gave up a single run in the only inning he pitched and his ERA went from 0.37 to 0.67--almost double what it had been.

Take a look at the opposing BA's against some of the Sox pen crew and you can see how important this stat is. Pap has an opposing BA of .219. If you looked at Hansen's ERA, even after pitching an inning of shutout ball today, you'd see it at 4.60, well below where it's been recently, but still ugly. However, and this is a BIG however, his opponents' BA is at a sub-Mendoza line .197. Early on this year, he had one or two horrible outings, and his ERA was left so bloated that it's taking him months to get it down to where anyone would want to lay claim to it and say, "Look at my ERA."

Before I shut down for the evening, I have one more item to cover. Regular visitors to this site know that I occasionally will also mention something not Sox, but something that I consider worthy of mention in the context of sports. Today is another example like that, but one which I truly wish I were not mentioning.

Jim McKay passed away today. Best known as the original host of Wide World of Sports and of many Olympics broadcasts, he was more than just a sportscaster--far more. Anyone who watched him immediately knew and appreciated that. Jim was a true gentleman and one who was far more concerned with the human condition than merely who won or lost. He will be truly missed. Rest easy, Jim.