Milkman delivers

QUOTE(Gene Honda Civic @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 09:12 PM) IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE STADIUM!!!! It has to do with the offense being a cock tease and forcing our pitchers to basically be perfect to have a chance to win, or at least not lose. They show flashes of brilliance, but pretty much score in one inning and go through the motions for the rest of the game. This pitching is amazing, but this offense is just plain bad.

Anyone else feel like they're gonna pull the same thing from last night? Score all the runs in one inning, get shut down the rest of the game. This game isn't over, but a team starting Timo Perez shouldn't expect to win. Our offense certainly isn't nearly good enough to allow that guy to play.

Another thing to consider is how few innings that El Duque and the Count might throw. I'd feel much better if Contreras could go deep into game while doing what he does, but he doesn't always do that. Those two guys leave in the 5th inning enough to where it can really tax the bullpen. I just don't like the idea of have both Cubans, but then I wonder how one would react if the other was trade or put in the pen.

I don't understand why the Padres would send two bad pitchers for another bad pitcher, and still send money, too.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 01:46 PM) No we see what Contreras can do. 4 starts and peopel forget how much he kicked ass earlier in the year. I know some of us were saying he had pitched as good, if not better than any of the other Sox starters at one point this year. He was kicking butt and after a few rough outings people forget that. Last night was ugly, but every pitcher is going to have ugly games, most of them end up as games where a ton of runs are given up as well as hits, Jose's happen to be with tons of walks/wp's, etc. It was crappy, but overall he's kept the club in games and done a pretty good job. I'm not talking about Duque because I think he's worthless. However, I have a lot more faith in Bmac than most and I do tend to agree with the theory of adding another starter and I'd like to see the Sox work out something for Burnett but I just don't see it happening. Starters like that are going to cost a whole lot (both financially speaking and in terms of prospects) and its not worth giving up all those prospects for half a year of Burnett. All that said if Jose can go back to pitching like he did earlier in the year, and he's very well capable of that, than I'm less concerned and can live with either Brandon or Duque down the stretch in the 5th spot. In that situation I'd rather see someone like Lidge or another very good reliever acquired for the stretch run. I haven't forgotten how well he pitched, but I feel like the Contreras we see now is the real one, and the good one was an aberration. It's just my opinion. Do you think they'll get another starter? And if so, who?

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 01:45 PM) Just thank heaven we didn't end up swapped with Texas when they set up the divisions. Wow, would that have been the worst thing to ever happen to this team.

QUOTE(YASNY @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 01:26 PM) The runs were charged to Shingo, Cotts let the runners score, I believe. That's what I'm saying. There was nothing encouraging about last night's game. Shingo gives up 2 ER, Cotts allows them to score, Vizcaino seemed serviceable at the best, Walker gave us what we expected, and the offense disappeared after the first inning. That game just sucked ass, like all other Oakland games before it.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 01:29 PM) There is a difference between pitching in the majors and pitching in Cuba. He's got issues and a lot of it may due to him not being comfortable. El Duque being in the clubhouse probably helps him but he's still developing himself. This is stuff thats between the ears and he's going to have to adjust to the way major league baseball is played. I know most expected him to adjust more quickly (the Yanks sure did) but he's made strides this year. Just look at his numbers and compare them to previous 5th starters the Sox have had. Contreras may be in a funk, but I can't see how people can forget the way he pitched for most of this season thus far. The guy has been pretty damn solid and should have 6 or 7 wins if it weren't for crappy relief and zero run support in his games. He causes a lot of problems, but he's not near as bad as a lot of you say he is. I'd be the first to say I don't like watching him pitch, but that doesn't mean he's an awful pitcher, in fact he's better than the major league average, imo. And how the hell people are calling for El Duque to replace him I'll never know. Duque had a ridiculously high WHIP and not only walked too many batters, but he also gave up way too many hits. Maybe when he comes back Duque will pitch more like the Duque of old, but I'm not holding my breath and he's not a better option at this point than Jose. What do we do when El Duque gets hurt again? Will Contreras s*** his pants again when his friend isn't there to comfort him? Duque will get hurt again, that might as well be written in stone. I just think there's too many ifs in our rotation now. I'm sure a lot of people disagree, but that's how I feel.

QUOTE(elrockinMT @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:25 PM) Why all the gloom? We are 9.5 games up with the best record in baseball and we want to execute the usual suspects. We don't need any blockbuster trades. What we need is to get those two Cuban pitchers straightened out. Ozziie has the Coopmeister working on a plan I hope. last night was like a butcher at work on the mound. Contreras has a fragility about him that is very troubling and if everything isn't just right with him then last night is what you see. All I said was the truth, don't stick this gloom and doom tag on me for that. And Contreras and El Duque will not straighten out. They are guys that have been around baseball their whole lives and clearly don't like to change. Contreras will always shake off the catcher when the slightest trouble arises, that's just how he pitches. El Duque will always throw a lot of pitches, walk guys, etc. That might work if he could throw faster than 85 mph. Hell, Shingo throws harder than that. I stand by my belief that we should get another starter. You won't change my mind by insisting that Contreras and El Duque will change. I just have no faith in them.

QUOTE(Ozzie Montana @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:21 PM) I hope Jon brings his A game. Our offense needs to take their heads out of their @sses and start being more consistent. One good thing to note, yesterday Takatsu definately showed signs that he is turning it around. He wasnt nit-picking and was attacking with the fastball and using the frizbee effectively. Didn't he still give up like 2 runs? All in all, there was nothing good about last night's game.

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:14 PM) What are you talking about. Early in the season he continually got screwed out of wins by the bullpen. Jose has pitched very well this season. I know he struggled last night and can be tough to watch, but his numbers have been good and he's kept the club in most games. Its frustrating to watch him, I'll admit, but thats probably because we all have seen the potential he has and expect to see it. I know I've seen a few starts this year where I'm just in awe at how he pitches. Problem is once he gets into a jam he's gonna struggle the rest of that inning. He just creates problems and needs to learn to pitch with some confidence. That's the thing. The guy is like 35-40 years old and has been pitching since he was probably 14. He's not learning anything else. This is the pitcher that Jose Contreras is, but he's actually more of a thrower. He has no idea how to pitch and he's too pig-headed or scared to listen to the catcher. The thing that scares me is that I don't trust him or McCarthy now. I really feel like we need another starter.

QUOTE(Texsox @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 10:12 AM) BTW Excellent screen name Gotta love the Milkman.

Yea Haw! This is a good idea, the other one was gigantic. NOW GET JASON SCHMIDT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At least nobody can jinx this game talking about a sweep for us before we've even played the first game. Let's hope the offense crawls out of this hole they burrowed themselves into and perform like they did in the 1st inning last night.

QUOTE(southsideirish71 @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:16 AM) The Butchers Bill for tonight 4 hits 9 strikeouts and 1 walk. Well lets just get them tomorrow. Wow, we really only had 4 hits? God damn, this last week or two has been just like the last few years. Score a lot once in a while on homers, and get embarrassed in the others. The only difference is great pitching, which has won us a lot of those games. I hope I wake up tomorrow to the news that KW has made some big move. Ugh, this f***ing sucks.

I hope Cotts isn't deciding to come back to earth. That would suck. God, this game blows in every sense of the word. There's two more. f***

QUOTE(fathom @ Jul 2, 2005 -> 12:01 AM) Marte's injury really hurts us a lot more than we thought. The difference between Marte and Walker is huge, and the effect it has on our bullpen roles is bad. Instead of the lights-out Cotts being put in for the 5th inning in the crucial situation of this game, we had to bring in Walker, who hasn't done a f***ing thing to deserve a spot on our roster. Just sucks to lose a game when you lose with your worst player on the roster f***ing up (bases loaded walk) with the game on the line. Didn't take him long at all to f*** things up, huh? Like I said before, I hope he gets hit by a car and breaks both of his arms.

Wow, 10 walks. That's a shame.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:52 PM) Cheat's got that thing pattened He doesn't feel it tonight so he's not bringing him out. GONG Alright then. Well, I tried all the optimistic stuff I could muster. I got nothin' left.

Somebody please post the rally mojo. It can't hurt, right?

QUOTE(WHarris1 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:34 PM) I think Buehrle gets less run support and you can't say they don't play hard for Mark. That's true. But it seems like they don't have much wind in their sails when Contreras pitches. Like in today's game they looked pretty good through the first couple innings, then after a while they just look like they're going through the motions.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Jul 1, 2005 -> 11:31 PM) Good. If WHarris is right, it's not good. 7-7 is decent, but it makes me think that the team doesn't play as hard when the Count is in there. We know they don't score runs when he pitches. I'm probably just letting my dislike for the guy cloud my judgment, though.

What's the Sox' record when Contreras starts?

That right there just makes me think we're losing this game. f***ing Contreras shat the bed once again.

Could someone post the MOJO? We really need it.