Just a quick morning post about something I didn't pick up on after last night's game....stolen bases. Tampa, who was dominated by both Jacoby's defense and Papelpon's fastball in the late innings, failed to steal a base against the Sox last night.
This has to be a first right? I mean, they stole like 23 bases against us in a game earlier this year didn't they? Maybe that by itself is the immediate impact of getting rid of Brad Penny. Thanks Brad, but if you start throwing gems and holding runners on in San Fran, I'm going to bash you.
Not only did the Rays not steal a base, but their fans didn't turn out for the most important game of the year for Tampa thus far. Only a little over 17 thousand decided to go and watch a great baseball game. No wonder why they shipped Kazmir out of town, they'll need to start charging 20 bucks a beer to keep their 65 million dollar payroll at this rate. The kids go back to school and no one shows up, simple as that (then again the Rays are 12th in the AL in attendance anyways).
The Sox turn to Beckett tonight in what is a must win game for Tampa. With Papelbon and Wagner both likely unavailiable tonight, the ace will need to go deep into the game.
So the Sox have set the tone. Tito showed last night, by going to Papelbon for a 6 out save (something he's never done), that he wants to eliminate the Rays in this series. Maybe a few stolen bases and a thousand more fans will keep the Tampa's season alive tonight.
1 comment:
I hadn't even noticed that there wasn't a SB. Weird. Victor seems to throw it into center field more often than not. I'd have run Pat Burrell if given the chance.
Post a Comment