May 31, 2008
Boston 2, Baltimore 0
With a strong lead in the division and a pitching staff that has been above expectations, you have to give manager Terry Francona some latitude in his decision making. But, when he rides his ace, with a history of breakdowns, for as long as he did last night, with nothing to gain but a statistic, you have to have some accountability.
During the post-game press conference, Francona defended his move:
"We talked to Josh [Beckett] about this arm, and he said it was fine. Everyone now and again, you have to push these guys to make sure they have it in them. They've been monitored their entire careers, kept on limits and babied. Sometimes, you need to see if you have a workhorse who, when the time comes in September and October, can be counted on to do this sort of thing."
This sort of thing that Francona refers to is throw 147 pitches in a complete game, two-hit shutout that ended up with Beckett being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sore wrist.
"It's a precaution," pitching coach John Farrell said after the move was announced. "The season is early and we can control Josh's innings this way, keep him fresh for later while monitoring his fatigue. We have the depth and this gives us a chance to see what our sixth and seventh guys are made of."
The previous highest pitch count for Beckett as a Red Sox was 118 back in July, 2008 against the Blue Jays.
Baltimore starter Garret Olson was the tough luck loser, allowing two runs on seven hits in six and two-third innings. Jason Varitek and Mike Lowell had RBI-doubles in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively, against Olson for the Sox.
W: Beckett (5-2) L: Olson (1-2)
Player of the Game: Josh Beckett (9 IP, 2 Hs, 0 Rs, BB, 9 K's, 147 PI)
Around the League:
...CF Jason Place (Lancaster) retired...SP Matt Albers was recalled from Pawtucket...Houston RF Hunter Pence (.305 avg., 3 HRs, 19 RBIs) was placed on the disabled list with a damaged meniscus. He is expected to miss 6 weeks...The Astros changed their team focus to 'Rebuilding' and put the following on the trade block: Mark Loretta, Brad Ausmus, Darin Erstad, Shawn Chacon, Morgan Ensberg and David Newhan...
New England 1, Dallas FC 0
Despite not living up to expectations last season with a 5h place finish in the Western Conference last season, Houston is still a formidable foe not to be overlook. As the Revolution move through the schedule, its easy to lose one's focus when the schedule comes to a team like the Dynamo (3-3-3, 12 pts.), but a championship team does not lose these types of games.
"They play us hard, that's for sure." manager Steve Nicols said during his post-game news conference. "Houston is a tough foe, they play a solid defensive game. We were ready and the final score should show how tough the are to play."
New England scored early, netting a goal in the 5th minute, before settling down into a ball control offense. After some back and forth ball play at midfield, Matt Reis skied a clearing ball that managed to sneak past two Dynamo defenders to find Taylor Twellman alone with the goalie. With a small deke, Twellman was able to clear past Zack Wells to put the ball into the back of the net.
The revs did have a scare in the 66th minute when Twellman went up for a header and collided with Dynamo defender Craig Waibel. Both players laid motionless on the pitch for a few minutes before ultimately leaving under their own power.
Both players were reported to have suffered minor concussions that will keep them out of action for between 3 days and a week.