fathom

QUOTE(Frankensteiner @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:33 AM) I actually think bullpen is the least of our problems at the moment. We should be looking at another starter and a possible position player. While we're in the middle of the league in overall offensive categories, we still have the WORST offense in all of baseball against RHP. That's a problem, especially since a majority of pitchers are right-handed. Yeah, against a tough righty, we really don't have a lot of options from the left side. A big problem against RHP is that Rowand is brutal against them. I definitely don't want him hitting 3rd against RHP.

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:30 AM) 7-7 I believe. On a team that is 29 games over .500, that's a pretty poor record.

QUOTE(Milkman delivers @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:27 AM) That right there just makes me think we're losing this game. f***ing Contreras shat the bed once again. 2 runs won't win you many games, especially on the road against a team playing with a ton of confidence. I would have rather Contreras gave up 7 runs, and get hit hard, then the s*** that happened tonight. We have 6 outs to try and get any type of offense going.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:22 AM) This year he's been real good against lefties and horrendous against righties. Stanton isn't great, but he's infinitely better than Kevin Walker. If we have the chance to sign him, we should lock him up. However, we'd have the last chance out of all the AL teams to claim him, so I'm sure a team looking for lefties in the pen will get him first.

QUOTE(DBAH0 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:19 AM) Difference - Danny Wright had an ERA above 6. El Duque and Contreras DO NOT. That's what I'm saying. Recently, Contreras's ERA has been well over 6 in the last month or so. It's definitely brought back shades of the Wright era.

Tomorrow's game is absolutely critical. Garland against Saarloos is a match-up that we should have the advantage for. Since we always seem to struggle hitting homers when we're in Oakland, Ozzie really has to implement everything possible in order to create offense. No more of this sitting on your ass, waiting for the homer offense.

I was excited when we released Danny Wright because I'd never have to watch such an annoying pitcher again. However, Duque and Contreras are doing their best Danny Wright impression far too often now.

In his last 23+ innings, I'm pretty sure Contreras has given up 21 ER.

QUOTE(JimH @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:07 AM) Bad outing for Walker there, all he had to do was get it close to the strike zone. Now, let me explain why they brought up Walker. It as much to force the other manager into something as anything else. You absolutely need two lefthanders in the bullpen to prevent the other manager from doing things you don't want him to do. Problem is, they need a better LH option than Kevin Walker. Before someone says Arnie Munoz, I personally don't think he's the answer, he has control issues too. It is easy to say Bajenaru and he cannot be worse than what we just saw, but he is also not the answer for a long man. That should be Walker's role but he is not proving he can do it. Had he gotten Swisher he could have been left in there. It comes down to this, they need better pitchers. I'm not going to freak out over one wacky outing here but they need more relief depth. Then again so do about 26 other teams. We need a long reliever, plain and simple.

QUOTE(Cerbaho-WG @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:06 AM) If Baj isn't called up after this game, I may, I may....laugh a lot. Trust me, he's not coming up. Walker walking one batter isn't going to make Baj look any better to the Sox brass.

MOST ANNOYING GAME OF THE YEAR!

QUOTE(ZoomSlowik @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 04:02 AM) He's still better than virtually any #4 starter you're going to find. He's having a bad month. The guy's ERA was 3.13 after his first June start. We're really splitting hairs if we're that worried about the back end of our staff considering how well our top 3 are doing and how far in front in the division we are. Contreras has been sharp in like one out of his last 5 starts. His last two starts have been absolutely brutal. If he continues to struggle like he's been, we WILL need to be concerned about finding another starter. The thing with Contreras is that his approach is so different from the attitude of the big 3 starters.

I hate watching these f***ing games in Oakland. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

What does Walker have to do in order to get released from the organization? I'm stunned that he was called up with Marte injured.

What a pathetic pitcher. More than half of his pitches aren't even close to the strike zone.

If Walker comes in and s***s the bed here, there's no one to blame but KW and/or Ozzie. He's been brutal in AAA, and looked like s*** in the majors. HOPEFULLY, he'll prove me wrong....but I don't think Walker deserves to be in the majors.

This is officially the most annoying pitched game we've had all year. If I had gotten home earlier tonight, I was going to type before the game that I didn't like Contreras's chances against a patient hitting team. 7 walks later, I'm thankful we still have a chance to win.

QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 03:50 AM) isn't cotts doing pretty terrible against lefties this season? Again, i'm not the biggest fan of using a pitcher just for lefties, if he can pitch, let him pitch. I'm fine with letting cliff be setup. Cotts' numbers against lefties have improved, but that's not the whole factor. A lot of lefties are just so much worse against LHP, it doesn't matter who's on the mound. You can negate a lot of the power some lefty hitters have by pitching a lefty.

QUOTE(Soxnbears01 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 03:47 AM) alright, it's obvious contreras has nothing today. he shouldn't go another inning. This is when having someone like cotts who can go 2ish innings comes in huge That's where the Marte injury really hurts us. We need Cotts to be the set-up man against the tough A's lefties. Unless Ozzie has confidence in Walker, we can't be using Cotts for 2 innings in the middle of the game.

This is getting beyond frustrating.

Never in a million years would I have thought that Everett would have a better defensive season than Pods or Dye. Kudos to Carl for his hard work in the outfield.

My advice for the Sox when facing a tough pitcher: If you get runners on base, and the opposing team's catcher sucks, don't be afraid to try a hit-and-run! It's hard to string together 3 hits against Harden in an inning, so we're much better off not waiting for the 3 run homer, and trying to get a cheap run, etc.

MERCY, MERCY, MERCY! What an unbelievable win. I'm just speechless.

Wow, Inge really helped out Shingo there. It's Polanco's turn again to be the hero.

I hate this umpiring crew