No Mother's Days Miracle...Minnesota 9 Boston 8

It wasn't like last year's furious and successful ninth inning five run Mother's Day comeback win. This was probably Tim Wakefield's worst start in a Boston Red Sox uniform ever as the Minnesota Twins defeated the Sox by a score of 9-8. The Sox were in a 7-1 hole after just three innings, and Wakefield couldn't even finish that third frame. Here are the ugly pitching stats for the champs. Time to cringe. Ready?

IP H R ER BB K HR Season ERA
T. Wakefield 2.2 7 7 6 2 2 2 4.25
J. Tavarez 1.1 1 1 0 2 1 0 6.39
D. Aardsma 2.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 2.33
M. Timlin 1.2 1 1 1 0 0 1 10.00
J. Lopez 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.38

Peter here, and I told you they were ugly, but don't worry, Wakes is NOT injured in any way. Sometimes the Minnesota Twins' Metrodome is not kind to his knuckleball OR his team. This is what he had to say after his abbreviated outing, an outing to absolutely and very quickly forget, maybe even turn the page and burn it to mere cinders, ashes to be scattered by the wind...

"It was just one of those weird nights," Wakefield said. "I didn't feel like I was struggling. I thought I had good stuff. It's just one of those nights you'd like to forget. Obviously, I would say I didn't pitch very well. My mechanics felt good. I thought I made a good pitch to Monroe and he just ran into it for a three-run homer. I tried to get back in the count to Everett and left a fastball up and he hit it out."

Peter here, and it wasn't pretty, Timmy. But the Red Sox were in double figures in hits with fifteen, and that's something they seem to have made a habit of lately. And that bodes well for the club. But three out of our five starters seem like they're headed into a "win one, lose one" scenario, and we have to hope that will not be the case for long. The two who are not amongst that trio are Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka. Clay Buchholz goes tonight in the series finale, and he'll be opposed by a hot Twin pitcher, Livian Hernandez. A win tonight means a series split, and on the road under a dome, that is just fine.

I hope all the Moms (and Dads) and their kids had a great Mother's Day, with many many more to come. I did visit my Mom, but her memory is pretty much gone. She DID said "Hi Peter!" when I came into her room. If you want to read more of the ugly details of last night's exciting (yes, it WAS exciting, even saddled with the loss) game, just click on the title. That'll transport you to Amalie Benjamin's Boston Globe recap, and she writes SO well. If you didn't have a chance to read my last post, my Mother's Day post, which is directly below this one, and hear the linked song I put up for all the Moms out there, just scroll down, turn on your sound, and click on its title. As always, be safe, be happy and always be well. FOREVER.