Sox Lose Again

Michael Bowden drew the start tonight after Beckett was a late scratch and the youngster did not impress. The 23-year old right-hander gave up seven runs in three innings of work, and he clearly needs yet more seasoning at the Triple-A level. The terrible outing brings his season ERA to 10.80 in 16 1/3 innings of work. Hunter Jones entered in a 7-3 game and gave up any hope of a comeback in the rain yielding four runs in 1 1/3 innings. Dustin Richardson, who was just called up today, got into the action too. With the pen heavily used over the weekend and Bowden moving into the rotation, the Sox called up the 2006 5th round pick. The 6'6" Richardson is intriguing and had great success this season between Double and Triple-A (2.55 ERA). Delcarmen finally pitched a clean inning to finish off the loss.

The offense put up five runs tonight mainly with the help of the long ball. Youkilis went deep twice on the night and brought his season totals to .305-27-90. Papi also went yard again and is up to 28 long balls and 95 RBIs.

It's tough to judge these past few games. The pitching hasn't really been reflective of the pitchers we will be using in the postseason, so we have been working from behind. The offense is starting to get into a nice groove though, and the line-up is becoming deep.

NOTES:
-The game went just seven innings due to rain.
-Francona hoped after the game that Beckett could go on Saturday. As it stands now, if the Sox make the playoffs (which they most likely will) they will open up on Thursday. That would put Beck on normal (not extra rest). I'm sure they won't let him throw more than 80 pitches if he goes Saturday though.
-1B/OF Chris Carter was designated for assignment to make room for Richardson on the 40-man roster. Carter was reported one of the players that was supposed to be going to the Mets as part of the Wagner deal.
-Texas is losing 8-0 in the fifth inning. If they lose the magic number will one. Any Sox win or Ranger loss would result in a clinching of the Wild Card.