Had a bad day...

I was very optimistic about both the Phillies and the Red Sox today.
They have both been playing extremely well, and their respective opponents seemed ripe for the picking.

Well, so much for the optimism. Both teams had their chances to win, but just couldn't get it done. Two games, two losses.

The Sox played at 3:55pm, with Tim Wakefield facing the Yanks' Jeff Karstens (14.05 ERA). The Sox' top of the 1st lasted approximately 86 years, and they knocked Karstens out of the game.When Karstens left the game, his ERA was still 14.05. Sounds promising, right?

Well, as Borat would say, it was NOT promising. Karstens got smashed with a Julio Lugo line drive on his 1st pitch, fracturing his right fibula. He stayed in the game, and five pitches later, he allowed a single to Kevin Youkilis. That was the last batter he faced. The Yankees brought in Kei Igawa (7.84 ERA, ticket to AAA Scranton (Go Greyhound!) likely waiting for him in his locker), and it looked like it was about to be another huge inning, and quite possibly, another huge win. But the Japanese southpaw, acquired via the posting system for a pittance ($26 million), got out of the inning without allowing a run. Then he managed to get out of the next five innings without allowing a run. All while randomly wearing sunglasses. The Yankees had attempted to skip him in the rotation, but he wound up pitching six scoreless innings, and picking his second win of the season. I'm guessing he won't be skipped next time. I wonder if he wears his sunglasses at night? (Sorry. Couldn't help myself...)

Tim Wakefield wasn't very effective, pitching 5.1 innings, and allowing 3 ER on 5 hits and 6 (!) walks. His ERA rose from 2.08 to 2.59, and the loss dropped his record to 2-3. It seemed certain that the Sox would come back to win, against Igawa, or the over-worked Yankees bullpen, or the venerable closer with the ERA of 12.15. But they were held to one measly run, with the venerable closer (Mariano Rivera) picking up his 1st save of the season, and lowering his ERA to 10.57. (Which is, incidentally, still 10.57 higher than the Sox not-venerable closer.) The Sox were held to 7 hits, with Ortiz-Ramirez-Drew combining to go 0 for 9. The game was on FOX, so there was no Remdawg. Or Don. Or Tina. Or Kathryn. Or Amalie. I missed them all. So, it was pretty much a day with no sun for the Sox. Actually, I think only Igawa noticed the sun today. (Note to self: Stop beating sunglasses metaphor to a red painty death.)

The Phillies 7:05pm game was, quite possibly, worse. The lineup included Rod Barajas AND Abe Nunez, which didn't seem to bode well from the start. (Of course, the two went 4 for 7 with a Barajas HR, so I obviously know nothing.) However, SP Adam Eaton earned about 24.5 cents of his $24.5 million contract, allowing 7 ER on 10 hits in 4.1 extremely ineffective innings. Reliever Victor Rosario allowed 3 ER in 1.2 innings, digging too deep of a hole for the Phillies bats to escape. Leadoff hitter (!) Aaron Rowand extended his hitting streak to 16 games, and 3-hole (!) hitter Jimmy Rollins had a pair of hits. They seemed one swing away from a huge inning most of the night, but they didn't manage to get that swing. The Phillies broadcasters bored and irritated me, and once again, there was no Amalie. The games pretty much sucked today. But they'll get'em tomorrow.

The Phillies will try to win the rubber game of the series, with Jamie Moyer facing the Marlins' Wes Obermueller. I think that matchup definitely favors the Phillies, especially with the Phillies playing at home. And with Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia both unavailable to "pitch."
The Sox send Batshit Crazy Julian Tavarez to the mound against Yankees ace, Chien-Ming Wang, who is coming off an injury, and has only one regular season start so far. But Wang is still kind of "ace-y." This could be a tough one for the Sox. But at least we'll have Remdawg, Don, Kathryn, and Amalie back. That should be enough to make the difference.