Don't Bogar That Plate, My Friend

Boston Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield, in for Josh Beckett yet again, had another terrible outing as the Sox lost to the Oakland A's by a score of 9-8. Boston tried to climb back but with the combination of Wake's too high in the zone knuckies, Manny Delcarmen's 2 home run meltdown (the deciding runs) and two men thrown out at the plate after third base coach Tim Bogar wildly waved them in spelled defeat for Boston. The bright spot for the Sox was the bottom of the order. Hall and Hermida were a combined 7-10 (!). But it wasn't enough. Here's Mr. Hall right now...

“The bottom of the order did great,’’ Hall said. “We swing the bats like that, it’s going to be way more positive than negative. We did a great job of swinging the bat, a lot of guys did. We just look to continue. It was a great homestand."

As I said in an earlier post, Timmy HAS TO step up while taking the place of Josh Beckett, who won't be back for a month or so. He's got to get better. If not, there's a huge hole in the rotation. Period. Here's the pitching matchups for the upcoming three game weekend series in Baltimore, 3 games the Red Sox must sweep...

6/4/2010 at Bal 7:05 PM ET** NESN/MASN Buchholz (7-3) vs. Tillman (0-0)
6/5/2010 at Bal 7:05 PM ET** NESN/MASN Lester (6-2) vs. Guthrie (3-5)
6/6/2010 at Bal 1:35 PM ET** NESN/MASN Lackey (6-3) vs. Matusz (2-6)

That's it for this Friday. Oh, I almost forgot. I HATE that MLB commissioner Bud Selig doesn't have the guts to overturn the terrible umpire call made by Jim Joyce that happened two days ago, denying a perfect game for Armando Galarraga. Shameful, Bud, you oaf. Click on this post's title for more about that travesty SI style and as always, BE WELL.