Moving on
Manny Delcarmen walked out of the Red Sox clubhouse right behind Justin Masterson, just after midnight, and placed his hand on Masterson’s left shoulder. “Unbelievable, dude,” Delcarmen said, and then they both walked silently down the tunnel toward the exit.
Delcarmen, Masterson, and the rest of the Red Sox bullpen knew they had to return to the clubhouse in less than 10 hours. That’s how long they have to learn from or erase what happened during the 11-10 collapse to the Baltimore Orioles, or some combination of both.
“It will be important to bounce back tomorrow,” manager Terry Francona said. “I don’t know that I necessarily want to forget about it at this moment. Playing with some energy tomorrow will be very important.”
“There’s games in a year you just chalk up to fluke,” said John Smoltz, who redefined the term tough-luck starter. “Our bullpen is outstanding. As far as our bullpen is concerned, this is one that will sting a little bit. But when you got Josh Beckett on the mound tomorrow, he has a tendency to erase that.”
Smoltz, in employing the momentum-is-only-as-good-as-today’s-starter idiom, has a point. Beckett has pitched following a loss seven times this season. The Red Sox are 6-1 in those games, the only loss coming May 23 against the Mets, when he allowed one unearned run in eight innings on five hits and a walk.
In games after losses, Beckett has a 0.86 WHIP, a 1.08 ERA, and a 5-0 record. In four of the seven starts, he hasn’t given up a single earned run, including a complete game against the Braves. He is a stopper of the highest order. If the Sox could choose handpick anyone to start Wednesday's game, it would be Beckett.
So the members of the Red Sox bullpen can count on Beckett to deliver. In the scant hours until Beckett takes the mound, they’ll have to deal with a catastrophic defeat, or at least find a way to forget it. When he wakes up tomorrow, Masterson was asked, would he think about the game?
“Probably not,” Masterson said. “Probably just move on and be ready to go tomorrow. Because that’s what you have to do.”
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TO THE BOSTON RED SOX BULLPEN:
YOUR COLLECTIVE FAILURE EQUALS LITTLE BIG HORN, WATERLOO,
THE TEUTONBURG FOREST, AND BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT AT THE
MONONGAHLELA. GREAT WORK!
Could be worse.
Could be October.
It is just one game.
better to learn this lesson now in June.
Just one game versus many that they've preserved.
Thanks for staying up late with us on this difficult evening Adam.It is 4 am here and I haven't slept.Too sick.Yes the bullpen blew it but they are the best in the game and have been great for half a season.Got this out of their system in one fail swoop,instead of twice a week meltdowns like the Indians pen.You are a consummate pro Adam...As much as I like Amalie,you are the best.
I used to be a sports writer.We did our own captions and layouts( old school cut and paste) even pounded the pavement to sell advertising to the locals.
The rain delay was what did them in. I don't get to see all the games down here so can someone tell me was it thundering? Were animals crossing the field two by two? Why did they delay the game when they have played through monsoons in Boston?
the red sox are a very professional team, but that was a very un-professional performance. it is one thing to lose, happens 60-70 times for even good teams...but it was clear as day that what happened here was a lack of focus...
big lead, rain delay, next thing you know pitches are sailing over the middle of the plate, at-bats are looking hurried, and guys are running off the field with two outs and cutting up about it..serves 'em right. hope they learn from this one.
very embarrassing.
The O's stock rose a lot last night. Beat the SOX
The O's stock rose a lot last night. Beat the SOX
My couple of thoughts were somewhere between holy s*&$ and huh, then is it odd that when our bullpen blows up (only twice now) generally our whole bullpen blows up and when they are going good they are all going good? They talk about pitching well being contagious, but that was ridiculous (I had questions, like in the eighth why was Okajima back up, first he struggled through the seventh, Saito was warming, and remember, the Orioles for some reason have Okajima's number, but whatever, Masterson really should have been able to give the club three innings or at least 2 and 2/3). It was a different feeling team that went out there after the rain delay. I hope Beckett makes the Orioles feel bad.
I think I'm at a point where the game was just absurd, and I can laugh about it a little. I mean, if this had been another team giving up the lead, and I were watching on Baseball Tonight, I would probably be at least smirking. It's kind of funny!
If we were doing badly all season, and this was just yet another one of our bullpen's meltdowns, then yes, I would be miserable. But to me, this just feels like one of those days. Just wake up the next day and move on.
Did anyone notice that the pitching collapsed when Francona removed Varitek when Baltimore came to bat in the 7th?
still the best bullpen in the big leagues and who cares about 1 game in June? these things happen in the course of a baseball season.
Just another example of "anything can happen" in MLB.
They can learn from it and move forward.
A blessing in disguise!
Yes, I noticed. And I also noticed the gaffs that the young catcher made: being thrown out at home, freezing with the ball in his hand (instead of throwing to first) after a dribble in front of home plate, etc.
Talk about a game altered by rain - John Smoltz was doing great on the mound for the Red Sox until knocked out of the game by rain.
On this website, Redsox.com, and espn, I read about how good the Red Sox bullpen is.
Good? How many times has Ramon Ramirez entered a game and given up runs? How many times has Jonathan Papelbon given up hits if not runs? Add Masterson and Okajima to the list of relievers who are a sight for sore eyes by the opposition. The middle relievers and set-up men were awful, yet the Sox still had the lead when Papelbon entered the game.
Papelbon saved 19 of 21 games he entered and that's great. Still, didn't we know he is on the edge of blowing most of the games he enters? We've seen him walk batters, give up extra-base hits, and give up home runs. In 34 innings pitched, he has allowed 49 batters to reach base - that is awful for a closer and disqualifies the Red Sox bullpen as one of the best in baseball.
The Red Sox sat David Ortiz to get him out of his horrible batting slump. The Sox better do something with Papelbon soon or there will be more blown games and the Yankees and Rays will be blowing by the Red Sox into first place.
Way to go O's! The Sox forgot the number of outs, and how to protect a lead. Great stuff.
Frank,
Little Bighorn was a tactical victory for the Sioux that had far more symbolic than practical meaning, and probably sped up their strategic destruction by the US Army--ironically great analogy!
Dave Chatzky, you are measuring Papelbon against his own past standards, which were all-time, off-the charts, great. The guy still holds hitters to a .225 average and has still only blown 2 saves. He is still a dominant closer--see me come October (when he still has never allowed a run). Ramirez has had a couple rough outings, nothing more--he is a quality reliever by any objective standard. And yes, by every known standard, the Red Sox bullpen IS good, and incredibly deep. Your use of anecdotal evidence, and emotional ranting after one bad game is typical of those old-time, irrational Sox fans that I'm embarrassed to acknowledge share the same oxygen I do. Your challenge of a simple statement that just happens to be supported by a mountain of statistics is beyond hilarious. Since the Sox bullpen is "automatically disqualifed" as one of the best in baseball, I'm wondering "who is better?" >
Oh, and please, please--for the love of God--stop "the sky is falling" crap--you are ridiculous. How many years does this team have to perform well for you stop sounding like you see Mike Torrez coming in from the bullpen? Just stop it.
In the words of the imortal Yogi, 'It aint over 'till it's over'
You have to play all nine innings, and each of them have THREE outs !
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