More on yesterday’s game

Yesterday I drove home from Calgary. Three and a half-hour drive. Before leaving, I had a long lunch with my sister and watched the first three innings. Then I listened to the game on XM Radio on the way home, with the Red Sox announcers. I got all the way home and saw the last pitch at home. That I managed to stay awake while listening is praise for their broadcast.

The Red Sox announcers were bored. They talked about woodworking. They spent 2 innings talking about Roberto Clemente (which I enjoyed), which led into talking about Willie Mays and then Jackie Robinson. Then there was a condemnation of the Red Sox racist past.

They did their best to keep the broadcast interesting. And they talked about Rowdy Tellez. One of the things they said was Tellez has 33 career home runs, and 11 are against the Red Sox. Four of his eleven home runs were at Fenway. He’s had 15% of his career plate appearances against the Red Sox and 33% of his home runs. He’s hit .377/.451/.857 against them.

One of the things they talked about was the lack of pitching depth on the Red Sox, and how they are using guys who shouldn’t be in the majors. They have had many injuries, but so have the Blue Jays, and we seem to have relievers who belong in the majors. I mean, our worst reliever is Wilmer Font, and he pitched a good inning yesterday and then sat for 40ish minutes while the Sox threw 48 pitches, had a pitching change, and an injury delay. Then Font gave up a couple of singles, a couple of walks, and a sac fly, before coming out. I’m sure that, if we weren’t up by so many runs they wouldn’t have sent him out after that long a time on the bench.Not that it makes an excuse for Font, he had an ERA of 9 before yesterday’s game. Batters are hitting .373/.415/.542 off him. I’m wondering when they will ax him and let Sean Reid-Foley stay with the team for more than a game at a time.

But then Font has been a major league pitcher in the past. And I can understand, with all the injuries there has been and will continue to be, that letting go of a pitcher, who has had success in the past, would be a tough thing to do.The Red Sox are running out guys who couldn’t find the strike zone with both hands and a compass. If I were a Red Sox fan, it would drive me crazy that they play the service clock game with a few of their top prospects.

Anyway, that’s a long way around to give the front office a tip of the cap for gathering so many pitchers who can pitch in the majors and not make me want to tear out my hair.

The other thing that got the Red Sox broadcasters through the game was talking about how terrible Jose Peraza was in left field and how unfair it was to make him play in front of the Monster. It does make me feel good when other teams make mistakes.

Did Dan and Buck give a reason for Jansen replacing Joseph in the ninth? The Red Sox guys didn’t mention it at all.