I have never cared less about a local squad (Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, Red Sox) than this one. Things get more predictable by the day, it's like paint by numbers. Tonight, Josh Beckett (5-10) "pitched" and the Red Sox (57-60, 28-26 away) lost the series opener 7-1 to the Orioles (63-53, 31-28 home) at Camden Yards.
The end of the season can't come soon enough for this truly hateable team. The Texas Toughguy went 5.1 innings, allowing six earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts, two walks and two home runs allowed. After Matt Wieters reached on an infield single (scoring a run) and Chris Davis (2 hits, walk) had an RBI single in the sixth, Beckett was pulled from the game by Bobby Valentine. Would you believe Mark Melancon gave up a three-run bomb to Mark Reynolds (his second of the game) on the next pitch? Haha unbelievable, pass me a couple beers Lackey.
Not that it mattered anyway. Baltimore has the look of a playoff team this season despite the fact that their lineup isn't very good, their rotation is average at best and they play terrible defense (worst in the AL). Still, they make up for it by hitting homers, having a good bullpen and being clutch. What a concept!
Their de-facto ace Wei-Yin Chen (11-7) went six innings, allowing one earned run on nine hits with four strikeouts and a walk. Baltimore's bullpen kept the lead intact as Darren O'Day, JC Romero and Matt Lindstrom all threw scoreless frames. Too bad nobody in Baltimore has figured out yet that the O's are a team to get behind, I guess they are all busy on the corners like in The Wire.
The Red Sox actually outhit the Orioles 11-7 but they were 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position and they left 12 men on base. You couldn't be that ineffective if you tried, you have to give Boston credit for that. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia (double, triple, walk), Cody Ross (run, double) and Carl Crawford all had two hits in the loss.
Mighty Omar Quintanilla-Orioles No. 9 hitter-took Beckett deep in the third, a solo shot and his 3rd of the season. Crawford tied it with an RBI single in the fourth but Reynolds woke up with a solo homer in the fifth (his 10th of the season) and Baltimore was on their way.
All was not lost for the Red Sox though since Danny Valencia got his first hit for them while Andrew Bailey made his debut. The former A's closer walked Davis then struck out Reynolds to end the eighth. Too bad he couldn't have returned oh I don't know, a month ago. Oh well, like I said before, it doesn't matter.
Aaron Cook (3-5) takes the ball against Miguel Gonzalez (4-2) tomorrow night (7:05 p.m., NESN) in the middle game of this three-game series. At least I can stomach watching Cook play baseball, Beckett literally makes me sick.
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