Gut Check

It's early in the year still, but the Red Sox didn't want to come out of their game in Anaheim Saturday down 3.5 games to Toronto. Why start looking like Kansas City if you don't have to?

And in such a critical game, the Sox got to see just what they had in reclamation project Brad Penny. Is he the Cy Young type of pitcher the Dodgers had in 2006 and 2007, or the injury-ridden bust of 2008?

As happens so often in the comparison game, the truth lies somewhere in between. Penny went six innings (good). He gave up two homers (bad). He only walked two batters (good). He only struck out two batters (bad). And so forth and so on. But Penny did the one absolutely critical thing any pitcher must do; he kept his team in the game. Boston was down only 3-2 to Anaheim when Penny was done and up 4-3 when Ramirez toed the rubber in the seventh. And with Boston holding on for the 5-4 win, Penny starts off his year at 1-0.

Penny showed that he is a good fit in the fifth slot. If he can continue to give Boston this kind of outing, then the Sox are solid at the top and the bottom of the rotation. It's the middle that's dropping the ball right now.

And Ramon Ramirez for Coco Crisp is looking like an inspired piece of work by Theo. 4.1 innings of work so far with just one hit surrendered, no runs and a .23 WHIP. If Okajima continues to struggle, Tito should forget about whether a pitcher is a righty or lefty and just use Ramirez and Masterson to bridge to Papelbon.

It was rough watching 2-4 in the lineup go a collective 0-11 with one walk. More encouraging was the continuing solid play of Rocco Baldelli. As a "super-sub" for the outfield, he has excelled thus far. Then there is the steady production of Jason Bay. His 2-3 performance with a pair of homers and three RBI were the difference for the Sox. And don't look now, but Jason Varitek is hitting .267 from the ninth position. If Boston can get a year like that out of 'Tek, it will improve their run production noticeably.

First Pitch Strikes

Penny had 13 strikes/outs on a first pitch out of 24 batters faced, a rate just a little better than 54%. That usually ends badly for the pitcher in question, but Penny was able to get past that problem. But he shouldn't count on it to happen all year.

Next Game

April 12/ Away against LA Angels/ Beckett vs. Moseley/ 3:35 PM