Jon Lester got the win last night for the Red Sox thanks to a healthy offensive outburst. For his part Jon allowed 5 runs all earned in 5.1 IP to the Rays on 4 hits, 4 walks and 4 Ks. He also coughed up HRs to Akinori Iwamura and
Mike Mussina gave up 7 runs, all earned in just 5 outs on Tuesday night against the Angels. He was torched for 7 hits, he walked two, and he struck out 1. With the loss, Mussina drops to 8-9 on the year while his ERA bloats to 5.22. He is suffering from unfavorable BHIP (.333) and strand (66.3%) rates this year but there is more to it than that. Mike’s K rate is down to 5.6/9 his worse since 1995 and batters are hitting .300 off him. His GB rate is level with his norms and his indicators were level in 2006 as well. I have to guess a physical problem here, even if it is simply nagging a man who is very ritualistic. Mike had posted 3 QS in a row (but even those starts were somewhat vanilla) before giving 6 up to
Erik Bedard could not quite match Johan Santana last night but he did just fine. The Rangers struck out 19 times in their last game, including falling to Johan Santana 17 times, but Erik got “just” 11 Ranger hitters via the whiff last night bringing his league-leading total to 218 on the year which ties Mike Mussina for the O’s single season strikeout record. Bedard allowed just 2 runs in 7 IP, giving up 5 hits without a walk to improve to 13-4. He has now won 9 consecutive decisions. His 11.1 K rate is a huge leap over his near 8.0/9 rates of the past three years. He has also cut his BB rate to 2.6 and actually, this is the 4th straight year that that indicator has seen improvement. Erik is benefiting from a favorable 79.8% strand percentage but this level jump is for real. Bedard becomes one of the better starter options in the
The A’s will activate Esteban Loaiza off the 60-day DL to start today’s game against the Blue Jays. This will be his first MLB action of the year after recovering from neck and knee issues. He was 1-1 in 5 AAA rehab starts with a 4.62 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, fanning 4.5/9 while walking 0.8. A .333 BHIP% contributed to that line but it seems extremely risky to pick up today’s start in this case. Sit back and take a look before you leap. Loaiza will have to prove himself before you get involved.
It was a great matchup of young arms in
Justin Morneau was 1- for -4 last night with a single in his last AB, but his 4 ABs stretches his homerless streak to 100 ABs, a career worst. After a .295, 24, 74, .581 SLG% first half, Justin has gone .268, 4, 18, .428 since the break in 138 ABs. He will hit and hit for power. Stick with him.
