Roy Halladay

[Soxfanspcu11]

So Roy Halladay is the next pitcher we have to face. Not exactly the pitcher to face when we are coming out of a slump. He has always appeared to me to be a streaky pitcher. He can string together a nice streak of wins, but can also do the same with loses. Going into tommorow, here are a few numbers to ponder;

-5 of his last 6 starts have been quality starts. The one that was not, he only gave up 4 earned runs over 6 innings.

-However, prior to that little streak, he had 3 starts in a row where he did not record a quality start. He didn't exactly get shelled either, giving up 4 earned runs in those starts, I believe.

Anyway, in his career versus the Sox he is 1-1 in 8 games, which I guess is a good sign, meaning that we have at least been in the games in which he has pitched against us. He also has nearly the same amount of strike-outs to walks against us (22 K's/18 walks).

He also has pitched 156.2 innings of ball so far this year. Compared to TOTALS of 133 in 2004 and 144.2 in 2005. I'm assuming that this is due to past injuries. Hopefully he is not used to pitching this many innings and it will show come tommorow.

So basically, how do we beat this guy? He has shown that he can go late into games, but can he still be effective? Should we be patient with him? As I said, his strikeouts to walks against us are relatively similar. Should we try and attack him early, or should we wait back and try and get his pitchcount up?

We have 16 earned runs against him, 5 via the longball.

What should we do? Thoughts??

[cwsfannick]

I say the sox should try to grind Roy and try to get the Jays bullpen early. Yankees seem to have lit the Jays up in all three games so I have to believe the bullpen saw a lot of work. Maybe some tired arms up north of the border. Go Sox.

[hawkjt]

Be patient early but if he is on, gonna have to swing the bat cuz if you get behind in the count - that curveball of his is a killer.

This is a game we have to win 2-1 or get to the bullpen in the 8th. The ninth is Ryan. But he has been touched up a little lately. Anyway you slice it we are in trouble as once again we manage to get the ace of the other team. Just like on Monday we get Wang from the yanks and he has 17 consecutive shutout innnings- he is their best pitcher right now.

[DumpJerry]

We have Garland pitching tonight. No worries.

[INSox56]

Garland is our biggest key tonight. Last three games Jays have scored only 4 runs against Wright, Wang, and Lidle. Not really amazing pitchers, so hopefully they'll keep their offensive slump going and we can turn it into an Astros-Clemens day for Halladay and win it 2-1 or something.

[BNLSox]

I expect the Sox to score 3-4 runs off of Halliday and a few insurance runs of the bullpen in the 7-9th. Final score 6-1, CG Garland.

[Foulke You]

I say the sox should try to grind Roy and try to get the Jays bullpen early. Yankees seem to have lit the Jays up in all three games so I have to believe the bullpen saw a lot of work. Maybe some tired arms up north of the border. Go Sox.
Good call on the tired bullpen. The Jays must have used quite a few pitchers trying to stay in that series with the Yanks. However, they did have the off day yesterday to recoop a bit but it could still be beneficial to get into that bullpen early. The Sox aren't likely to explode on Halladay but they need to have quality ABs against him. See a lot of pitches, foul the ball off a lot, and drive up that pitch count.

[kwolf68]

My religion is pitching and defense.

We will beat Roy Halladay if we OUT PITCH HIM. Garland...ya ready champ?

[Baby Fisk]

If the Sox don't win tonight, I will wander the streets of Toronto until someone kidnaps me.

[SpartanSoxFan]

As good as Garland has been pitching, I seem to remember he folds when he goes head-to-head with the other team's ace. Knock on wood and hope he reverses this trend tonight.

[Meixner007]

Take off your Blinders. Roy Halliday is top 3 in all of baseball. Garland Struggles on the road, but is pitching better as of late. Toronto has been struggling hitting, and has a tired BP. We're going to have to take a lot of pitches and work deep in the count, as well as Jon having a good game to have a shot at this one.

[spiffie]

Take off your Blinders. Roy Halliday is top 3 in all of baseball. Garland Struggles on the road, but is pitching better as of late. Toronto has been struggling hitting, and has a tired BP. We're going to have to take a lot of pitches and work deep in the count, as well as Jon having a good game to have a shot at this one.
Note to Sox hitters...don't swing at the first pitch every freaking time up. I'm looking at you Mr. Pierzynski. I know you love to be aggressive, but for goodness sakes unless it's an 85 MPH belt high fastball, make Halladay throw some pitches!