Sox Down By 3 Runs, Up With 1 Gordon Beckham

Before I talk about the game, let’s get it out of the way: BECKHAM IS COMING! Not David, but Gordon. Yes, prodigy, first-round draft pick Gordon Beckham. Yes, Josh Fields’s worst nightmare is coming true. And my dream has come true and Wilson Betemit is going back to Charlotte. This can either be a big mess or the beginning of something great. If he does decently against major league hitting (which may not happen for awhile, mind you), he could be the answer to Joe Crede's absence. If he fails to adjust, the discouraged fans and coaches may prematurely write him off as a bust, sending the media into a disastrous frenzy of negative feedback. Boy, isn't that a scary outcome? I guess we’ll see how things will be when he is in the lineup tomorrow. Beckham was hitting .464 in 7 games at Charlotte with 6 doubles and 3 RBI. He was hitting .299 with 17 doubles and 4 homers in Birmingham. I will get the nickname generator going after his first couple of games.

Speaking of Josh Fields, he received one vote in the blog's poll about the most pleasant surprise of the year. All other votes were for Scott Podsednik. This leads me to believe that Josh Fields or family reads this blog and voted for himself. Hi, Josh! Sorry that I pick on you. Maybe Nair would help you clean up the cleft? (Just kidding. I'm sure Brian Anderson is the only one that sits at home and Google-s himself.)

As Hawk said, the Sox played some “good, old hard-fashioned baseball.” Apparently, that means that the Sox played a game where they scored little and the pitching hurt them as much as possible. Clayton was missing his pitch location. It started with missing way out of the zone. Like I tell Gavin Floyd (in my head, of course), “Better miss in space, than to miss and let them get a homer.” But, that’s exactly what came next. Two back to back homers, to be exact. Four home runs total, one of which a 2-run shot.

In the meantime, the Sox were playing horseshoes at the fence. Well, since this is baseball, not hand grenades, close wasn’t good enough, and a bunch of almost-homers added up to just 2 runs.

Dotel was brought out in the 6th, which seemed a bit out of order. The 6th seemed like a place for Carrasco. Maybe Gobble. Both got their chance later and all three performed wonderfully.

As for the rest of the game, BA had to leave because of lightheadedness due to the flu. Doc looked like he died his hair. And replacement catcher Castro did nothing.