Dragnet Roadtrip!: Sox at Tigers

We'll make this quick because, hey, when you're one five of six you tend to not want to question too much and throw the whole karmic balance out of order. At least that's the way WMYM rolls.


So, the start of a week+ long road trip to the midwest-plus-Baltimore kicks off against the heavy hitters - and yes, they all definitely remember that they're heavy hitters this time around - of the Tigers in Detroit. After an almost unprecedented string of terrific starts, the Sox send Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound tonight, where he'll try and recapture the magic he used to shutdown Toronto last week. He remains one of a handful of undefeated pitchers in baseball, and while his four wins aren't up to the somewhat jaded standards of Joe Saunders, they're still pretty impressive. Well, they're impressive when you consider the fact that he hasn't lost. So there you go.

On the other side of the plate, David Ortiz continues to hit the cover off the ball. Over the past 12 games he's had one of the highest batting averages in baseball, complete with double-digit RBIs, a penchant for going with pitches and hitting through the shift. To say that it's been an impressive return to form is an understatement.

That, of course, has been balanced by the home run struggles of Manny Ramirez. Four dingers from the magic 500 number, ManRam has scuffled at the Fens, hitting plenty of warning track shots and striking out a touch more often than traditionally, with plenty of his hacks looking like he was swinging far too much for the fences. It's a disturbing trend that one assumes will cease with No. 500, though you never know. After all, everyone was banking on him hitting the milestone last year.

Tonight's potential ManRam and Big Papi victim? That would be Jeremy Bonderman, who's off to 2-2 start, though his 3.86 ERA is, somewhat surprisingly, one of the better ones on the team.

Oh, and one last man to look for out of the bullpen, depending on the situation: Craig Hansen. That's right, the onetime closer delegate is back on the roster, filling the roster spot of Brandon Moss. And if he succeeds, that could DEFINITELY spell trouble for Manny Delcarmen or David Aardsma. It has to be said, and it certainly bear watching.

As does this game, which starts ... right .... now.

Leave A Comment

---

---

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)

Please only click "Post" once. It may take a few moments to process.