LVSoxFan
06-02-2005, 12:21 PM
I swear for maybe the last seven games it has all been the same pattern:
1. Sox jump to early lead. It will max out at three or four runs.
2. Offense then completely disappears. It is up to starter to hold it down.
3. Starter gives it up, either tying it or giving them lead
4. We lose that way or we tie/lead... only to have bullpen blow it.
It's like Groundhog Day.
Granted, we managed to survive the first two Angels games here thanks to Dye and Timo's 9th innning heroics. Last night was exactly the same deal--exactly--until the inexplicable 2-out rally at the bottom of the ninth. But in the end, this is basically how we lost.
Anyone else notice this? The one thing we haven't really done in a long time is rack up the Big Inning, where we have a cushion too big for them to overcome. It's always these 1-run leads.
My biggest concern is: the bullpen. Coming into this year, we had Mr. Zero and the surprise Hermanson as 0.00, with our regular guys like Politte and Marte ("Wild Thing") pretty sturdy. Almost from week one, Shingo is a ghost of his former self, Hermanson has been great--but Vizcaino has been a huge disappointment. Don't even get me started on Walker. Now that the starters are all starting to fall back to Earth, low run output + shaky bullpen = potential disaster.
Caveat warning: it's still early in the season and yes, how we finish is more important than how we start. I hope we're not talking about this at the ASB. I'm trying to think of how you overcome this, though. Honestly, I don't know enough to suggest...
1. Sox jump to early lead. It will max out at three or four runs.
2. Offense then completely disappears. It is up to starter to hold it down.
3. Starter gives it up, either tying it or giving them lead
4. We lose that way or we tie/lead... only to have bullpen blow it.
It's like Groundhog Day.
Granted, we managed to survive the first two Angels games here thanks to Dye and Timo's 9th innning heroics. Last night was exactly the same deal--exactly--until the inexplicable 2-out rally at the bottom of the ninth. But in the end, this is basically how we lost.
Anyone else notice this? The one thing we haven't really done in a long time is rack up the Big Inning, where we have a cushion too big for them to overcome. It's always these 1-run leads.
My biggest concern is: the bullpen. Coming into this year, we had Mr. Zero and the surprise Hermanson as 0.00, with our regular guys like Politte and Marte ("Wild Thing") pretty sturdy. Almost from week one, Shingo is a ghost of his former self, Hermanson has been great--but Vizcaino has been a huge disappointment. Don't even get me started on Walker. Now that the starters are all starting to fall back to Earth, low run output + shaky bullpen = potential disaster.
Caveat warning: it's still early in the season and yes, how we finish is more important than how we start. I hope we're not talking about this at the ASB. I'm trying to think of how you overcome this, though. Honestly, I don't know enough to suggest...