Nickwatch, Part 6: Sox-A's Gamer II

Josh Beckett goes for something only three other Red Sox pitchers have done since the Retrosheet era began in 1957, and what only seven Sox pitchers have done, period -- start a season 6-0 in six starts.

• Roger Moret began 1973 as a reliever/spot starter. He started the season 11-0 in 11 starts -- but one of those wins came in relief, and an August no-decision snapped his string at seven wins in seven consecutive starts from the beginning of the season. He finished the year 13-2 in 15 starts and 30 games.
• Ike Delock was similar, starting the 1958 season in the bullpen and winning four games. He was moved to the roation in late June, where he promptly won his first six starts, four by complete game, to run his record to 10-0. He went 4-8 the rest of the year.
• Roger Clemens is most famous for his 14 consecutive wins without a loss in 1986, but in 1991, he was nearly as good. He started the season with eight strong innings and a 6-2 win. He followed up with a complete-game, 11-strikeout three hitter. After his fourth start, his ERA was a microscopic 0.28. When he finally lost in his seventh start, a hard-luck 4-3 defeat in which he gave up two runs in eight innings, his ERA was up to 0.95. Hard luck followed Clemens to an 18-10 record.
  

When you consider that Moret and Delock both started their seasons in the pen -- and won games there -- before moving to the rotation, it's safe to say Roger Clemens is the only Red Sox pitcher in the last 40 years to truly begin the season (not just his season as a starter) with six winning starts. Beckett looks to tie him tonight; he'll face the punchless Athletics, who nevertheless punched around two of the Sox' pen's most reliable members last night.

In opposition is Chad Gaudin, who looked good in his first four starts before imploding against the Devil Rays. Here's hoping the Red Sox rebound quickly and help give Beckett another slice of Red Sox history. Comment away!

Red Sox

1. Julio Lugo, SS
2. Kevin Youkilis, 1B
3. David Ortiz, DH
4. Manny Ramirez, LF
5. J.D. Drew, RF
6. Mike Lowell, 3B
7. Jason Varitek, C
8. Coco Crisp, CF
9. Alex Cora, 2B

SP - Josh Beckett

A's

1. Shannon Stewart, LF
2. Mark Ellis, 2B
3. Eric Chavez, 3B
4. Mike Piazza, DH
5. Dan Johnson, 1B
6. Bobby Crosby, SS
7. Travis Buck, RF
8. Jason Kendall, C
9. Ryan Langerhans, CF

SP - Chad Gaudin

Drew returns to the lineup, Cora replaces Pedroia, and Papelbon will not be used tonight. Also, Hideki Okajima is the AL Rookie of the Month for April. Well deserved.

Comments

[Lar]

Too bad Captain America's still out. Ah well.

[Josh SF (D1)]

"Too bad Captain America's still out"

...I don't get it...

[Paul SF]

Me neither... Coming from a Yankee fan, no lie, I thought he was talking about Jeter. But seeing as how this is the Sox thread, I really have no clue...

[Michael]

Nick Swisher?

[Lar]

Actually, brain fart. For some reason, I thought that was Swisher's nick, but it was actually Eric Byrnes. D'oh!

[Devine]

One of the great things about baseball (among lots of great things) is that after an awful, hard-luck regular season loss, you get to play again in the next day or two and try to redeem yourself (or at least, you know, the players do).

Oh man, I hope they f***ing kick the s*** out of the A's. I hope Beckett goes 8 with 17K and the Sox hit seven home runs in a row or something (you're hard-pressed for an encore once you've done 4 in a row, after all).

[Lar]

Devine - isn't that a bit of an overkill? =P It's not like you just lost your "pitcher of the future" or anything..

[Devine]

Lar...I don't normally consider myself a vengeful person (and yes, you have a right to feel more vengeful, realistically), and normally for me as well, any win is great (1-0, 5-3, 18-1, whatever). Tonight, for whatever reason, I'd like to see them get slaughtered.

[Lar]

Well, if Ortiz and Manny hits 3 HR a piece, I wouldn't mind that at all!

[Devine]

I know the feeling, Lar. Cano is my fantasy team second baseman.

[Devine]

Beckett gets his first K on the first batter.

[Ayuh - SF]

That's why I can't do fantasy leagues. I HATE having to root for an opposing player.

[Devine]

Uneventful (the good kind) 1st for Beckett.

[Dionysus]

Real efficient inning for Beckett. 8 pitches. Nice.

[Josh SF (D1)]

1-2-3, 8 pitches; 1 k, 1 popup, 1 groundout. Team could use a laugher...against someone besides the Yanks.

[Paul SF]

Nice. Eight-pitch inning kicks it off...

[Dionysus]

At least Lugo took some pitches. Better than anyone last night.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Lugo grounds out weakly to short. Some chick in the audience is really fricken loud...or she's right next to one of the mics.

Youk hits one kinda hard down the 3b line and Eric Chavez makes a nice play on it. Two down on eight pitches...

[Dionysus]

Jays with an early lead against the Indians.

[Paul SF]

I don't suppose this game is somehow on TV and I missed it?

[Paul SF]

There we go, Papi! He's so hot right now.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Hahaha, Ortiz smokes a liner to left...Stewart has a play on it, hits it with his glove, hits it again with his bare hand, and it falls in for a surprising double. Tough play.

[Ayuh - SF]

It's on NESN, Paul

Manny just misses one. He's still not right...deep fly to the dirt near the CF triangle for the last out.

[Paul SF]

Well, duh. lol. I meant someplace that's not blacked out on my TV. :-P

[Josh SF (D1)]

Anon was d1...testing...

[Paul SF]

Man, we think we have it bad. Those averages along the right hand side for the A's are NOT pretty.

[Paul SF]

Wow, Johnson takes it for a ride to the deepest part of the park.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Boston pitchers take note: Don't miss with a fastball to Dan Johnson. Long, loud out...got away with a bad one there.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Another ground out. 2 innings done on 18 pitches.

Now score some damn runs!! It's Chad GAUDIN!

[Paul SF]

Nice couple of innings. 18 pitches for 6 outs... Niiice.

[rootbeerfloat]

I'm stuck on a conf call so I'm using Gameday -- can't tell you how much I appreciate the extra info you guys are providing!

[Paul SF]

Hehe, we're on the same wavelength tonight, d1.

[Paul SF]

Well, Gaudin is giving up his share of fly balls. Now we just need some of them to find walls...

[Josh SF (D1)]

Gaudin misses badly on 3 straight pitches to begin Drew's ab. Wind is doing really weird things to the ball; A's CF started out drifting back towards the track before suddenly sprinting in to make a running catch. Drew had a pitch to hit there...still not swinging the bat well.

Lowell hits another one to the warning track in dead CF. Gaudin's getting away with a lot right now, possibly thanks to the wind blowing in towards the INF. This is either gonna be a very frustrating game for SF's to watch, or he's going to start getting shelled in short order. (Or he settles down...you know, one of the three...)

Varitek hits a hard grounder up the middle and beats out the throw.

Crisp rips a GB single past Chavez, who was in close to respect the bunt.

[Paul SF]

GameDay brain farts and tells me Tek hits the ball in play "out(s)", and it ends up being an infield single...

And Crisp gets another single. Is it too soon to talk about what a better year he's having than Johnny Damon? ;-)

[Dionysus]

I would say so, Paul. I imagien Damon will eventually go on the DL, get fixed up and be back to ol Johnny. Crisp.. may or may not someday become the Crisp we paid for.

And COra groundsout... we gotta fix this RISP problem.

[Paul SF]

Cora strands the runners with a groundout. Blech. Pedroia woulda brought em home... :-)

[Josh SF (D1)]

Cora grounds out to first; the only pitch Gaudin has that seems to be the least bit effective is the sinker, which Cora just pounded into the dirt. Looked like the best pitch he's thrown so far. I hate benching Pedroia...

"And Crisp gets another single. Is it too soon to talk about what a better year he's having than Johnny Damon? ;-)"

Yep. Heh...he's hitting a terrifying number of GB's right now--52.7%--but thanks to speed/good luck, he's getting away with it. LD% is actually lower then it was last season at a fairly pathetic %10.9; that number needs to improve, and fast.

[Dionysus]

Indians pitcher just went out in the second with some sort of injury. This is looking like a tough one for them, I fear. That makes it a must win for us.

[rootbeerfloat]

how bad are we RISP-wise than other teams?

[Josh SF (D1)]

2nd pitch of the Kendall ab was a nasty changeup; followed it up with two heaters, the second one painting the outside corner, perfectly. Pretty.

[Devine]

Is that 9 up, 9 down for Beckett?

[Josh SF (D1)]

Haha, Pavano shut himself down again...

Another weak groundout to end the inning. Beckett's been pretty good so far...best part, 4 outs have come on the ground, and only one of the 3 flyouts actually left the infield.

[Andrew]

HAH, d1, only one of the Sox's games could be considered a laugher. The depleted Yankees were in each and every other game.

Such vitriol!

[Josh SF (D1)]

"Is that 9 up, 9 down for Beckett?"

Yes...shhhhh! Heh...

[Dionysus]

Pavano again? Ok.. something is seriously wrong with that guys head. I don't doubt that alot of his early injuries WERE real, but nwo I wonder if he's so afraid of reinjury that he's jumping at shadows.

[Josh SF (D1)]

...wow, relax, Andrew. Christ. I'll take those rate stats any day of the weak; 9 series out of 10 and the score isn't even close.

Lugo walks again.

[Dionysus]

Where'd you get the info on Pavano, d1? Its not on yankees.com and I fear I am poorly informed for yankee news locations

[Andrew]

Yeah, Pavano's a weakling. Apparently Ron Guidry keeps trying to tell him there's a difference between discomfort and pain. I guess pretty boys don't understand.

Meanwhile, Wang threw in the bullpen and is good to go for Saturday - they're pushing his start back a day. Who the hell knows what the Yanks will get from Igawa and pitcher X, but that's pretty much been the story all season. I just keep telling myself at least we don't have to deal with Tim Redding and Darrell May. Or Runelvys Hernandez.

[Ayuh - SF]

I never knew that Bubba Crosby was such a defensive liability- that was an ATROCIOUS throw by him.

[Dionysus]

Yet ANOTHER steal for Lugo.

Arer we sure these are the Red Sox?

[Josh SF (D1)]

Agreed, Dio. He said he "felt something" in his forearm and shut himself down. Unreal.

Lugo steals 2nd; he's 9/9 this season. Youkilis grounds weakly to SS, tough play for Crosby, who doesn't charge hard enough and doesn't make a good throw; goes as an infield single. My God does he suck.

[Paul SF]

A fantastic first trip through the lineup for Beckett. 29 pitches, 19 for strikes, two strikeouts, only one ball hit for any distance at all.

(That last comment a victim of Captcha).

I asolutely love the way the Sox are using Lugo. Nine steals, none caught. For the season now, 14 steals, two times caught. That's a far better strategy than the run-at-all-costs "small-ball" crap espoused by the ESPN talking heads...

[Dionysus]

Productive out from the big man.

[Dionysus]

I'd love a link on the Pavano thing, d1. Just so I can read it and.. well, I'm not sure what I'd do. I think I'd giggle.. but I almost feel bad for a guy that messed up in the head.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Dio, I just flipped to rotoworld for the hell of it; it linked to a story at LOHUD.

Ortiz lunges at a sinker away and beats out the DP. Manny up; 2-0 count, neither pitch anywhere near the zone. Rips a hard groundball down the line, Chavez gets a glove on it to save the double, but can't come up with it. It goes as a single.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Gaudin drops the ball by accident while he's on the rubber. Balk, runners on 2nd and 3rd. BIG break.

http://yankees.lohudblogs.com/ Dio. Second story right now.

[Dionysus]

Another infield single for the Red Sox this time by ManRam. I wonder if its another 'error ruled a hit' (not listenign tot he audio) but either way... anythign that raises his BA.

Now lets see if Drew can work his way out of his slump here.

Whoa. Balk. Unfortunatly, Papis slow so a ground out wont score him.

[Devine]

Maybe the dude just hates baseball...it's not like anyone will EVER hire him again. He got his payday, maybe that's all he wanted.

[Andrew]

Oh jesus. Maybe they think it's a pattern - give the Red Sox every chance they can to win, and while they're comfortable strike when they least expect it!

It won't work.

[Dionysus]

And Drew strikes out. Great work. Your hot start is starting to be forgotten.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Drew foul tips a changeup Gaudin left at the letters for strike 2. Looks AWFUL on the 2-2 changeup, which was a good one low and out of the zone.

Up to Lowell, after Drew wastes a gift from the pitcher. F*cking sh*t.

[Devine]

Dio...that ball was SLAPPED...was it called an infield single? That's kinda weird...don't know if the 3rd baseman had a play, but it rolled off into the outfield pretty far (I'm guessing off a glove or something).

[Rob SF]

Wow..anyone see Gaudin's pitch count?

[Dionysus]

I just had a terrifying thought.

What if Drew is injured? And thats why his so cold? Oh god.. I think I just threw up a little.

[Dionysus]

And Lowell strikes out (but he's been reliable so I'm not angry at him)

RISP rears its ugly head again. We should have gotten a lot more out of that inning. I bet Beckett is PISSED.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Lowell waves at a good slider. This team wastes SO MANY F*CKING opportunities. CHRIST.

On the plus side, Gaudin's already up to 56 pitches and he's only through the third inning. But ah, that's not much consolation since the Oakland pen is...good.

Heh, wouldn't worry about Drew being hurt, Dio. Though he is still sick, I think. MO on him has always been that he takes himself out when he's achy; I don't know if that's actually true, but I think that's what I've heard.

[Brad]

Three straight breakers? Who is this man?

[Josh SF (D1)]

Boston's batting .272 W/RISP coming into tonight; 4th in the AL and above the team BA of .260. Weird, because it definitely doesn't feel that way...

Beckett gets Ellis waving at a nasty curve. Finishes it up with a weak grounder to 2nd; 37 pitches through four.

[Devine]

Beckett's been, you know, pretty good through 4.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Yep. He's been OK.

[Dionysus]

No it doesn't, d1. Not at all.. btw, what do you use for your stats source? baseball-reference is an enigma for me to navigate

[Josh SF (D1)]

First two pitches to Tek were very good, low changeups; nothing he could do with either. (2nd one might have been a breaking ball, couldn't tell...)

Gaudin misses badly with his fastball twice in a row to even the count at 2-2. Tek swings over what looked like another changeup for the harmless groundout...it was away enough to keep him off balance but high enough that he probably could have done something with it...

[Andrew]

ESPN is your friend, Dio. That site is a monument of baseball statistic greatness.

[Dionysus]

Good news on the Sox, they are working the count more tonight, even when they get outs.

[Dionysus]

but, Andrew.. its.. its.. ESPN... they employ Joe Morgan...

[Josh SF (D1)]

Bookmark this one, Dio:

http://tinyurl.com/29jfpm

Most useful think ESPN has available. For individual stats, thehardballtimes.com is great.

Coco smokes a linedrive to CF...and Langerhans closes his glove too early. He hit it hard but that should have been an out; instead, Coco's on 2nd.

[Paul SF]

Stats are one of the few things ESPN.com does very well...

Still love Baseball Reference though. Their Play Index (which I used for this post) is a wonder...

[Andrew]

Haha Dio, I doubt very much that Joe Morgan has anything to do with numbers. He doesn't really believe in them himself, you know.

[Ayuh - SF]

It's a lot easier to work that count against a guy who doesn't throw strikes- last night, Blanton threw 70% strikes.

[Josh SF (D1)]

"Most useful think"

Meant "thing," heh. Can we all accept that Alex Cora was just in the midst of a hot streak and is not the long-term answer at 2B now? F*cking Francona has such a mancrush on that dude...

[Josh SF (D1)]

Lugo with the most clutch hit (that I can remember) of his short Red Sox career! Great piece of hitting; fastball way up and in and he gets the good part of the bat on it anyway, sending a nice liner to center for the RBI. 2-0 Boston.

[Paul SF]

Lugo! Drives Coco home, 2-0 Sox! I'm really enjoying having Lugo at short, as opposed to Gonzalez...

[Lar]

d1 - you can argue they *must* be that way, since they don't feel like they're doing much hitting.. but they're been winning a bunch or games!

[Dionysus]

All this speed is REALLY paying off between Lugo and Crisp

[Josh SF (D1)]

"It's a lot easier to work that count against a guy who doesn't throw strikes- last night, Blanton threw 70% strikes."

Yeah...Blanton threw a very good game last night. Far better then the 4 ER and all those hits would indicate. This guy, meanwhile, has come very close to a good 3-4 HBP and has no idea where his FB is going, most of the time.

[Dionysus]

3-1 look for lugo to run on this count.

[Dionysus]

Everyone know what time it is?

[Dionysus]

..First pitch swinging. God DAMN it Papi. You know better than that!

[Paul SF]

I hate it when Papi swings at the first pitch when it's clear the pitchr cannot throw strikes... It seems he does that a lot. Sometimes it works out. Usually it doesn't.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Ortiz with an ugly ab, hitting the first pitch he sees hard, but on the ground and into the shift. What a waste; first time at the plate tonight he looked good, last two he's looked terrible. I feel like this Gaudin guy might be tougher on lefties then righties, or maybe it's just a coincidence that Drew, Tek, Ortiz, and Cora have all seemed to struggle the most.

[Paul SF]

EIGHTY pitches through four for Gaudin. Not good for him -- or for the Sox, really. I'd rather face him a few more innings than the A's bullpen.

[LocklandSF]

Although I agree with you Paul, seeing Agon bat .333 with 4 HRs, 11 RBIs, including 5 doubles and a tripple just makes my ass itch.

[Dionysus]

Umm... Trot Nixon looks to be having BETTER numbers than Drew at the moment. .295, 2 HRs, 8 RBI

[LocklandSF]

AHHHHH!!!! There goes the perfect game.

[Josh SF (D1)]

Was that as lame a basehit as I think it was? I had this mental image of Piazza breaking it up so I went to the bathroom and missed it...heh.

[Dionysus]

*sigh* Yep, Lockland. Too bad. I'll settle for the W though... and MORE FREAKIN RUNS.

Stupid Men left on base... way too high.. grumble.

[Dionysus]

Oh god.. oh no...

[Josh SF (D1)]

God f*cking dammit. Hits it with the handle of the bat, but hard enough to get by Lowell for a really f*cking uncomfortable looking double.