It took a kid from Pawtucket, not Josh Reddick, in order for the Sox to finally win a game. After all it’s been since last Wednesday that they’ve done just that. So on a night the Celtics had their game well at hand against the Heat, we look to Fenway for some excitement.
And excitement is what we got thanks to Darnell McDonald. He was called up after the Sox placed Jacoby on the 15 day DL and he pinch hit for the aforementioned Reddick in the eighth. All he did was tie the game with one swing of the bat in the eighth.
If that weren’t enough, with the bases loaded in the ninth and two outs, it looked like he was going to hit a walk off grand slam. Instead, the ball bounced off the wall and the Sox won on a walk off single. Not as dramatic as the walk off grand slam but the result is all the same, a Sox win. Finally.
Now the negative. My blog, my rules.
Ortiz is still an absolute embarrassment at the plate. Despite being moved down a spot in the lineup he was still a typical 0-3 with two strikeouts. A .146 batting average on the season and no home runs. He looks lost at the plate and should really should hang up the spikes and go home. Thanks for all that you did in 2004, but you’re tarnishing your legacy every day you step up to the plate. A series against the Orioles this weekend may help his numbers, but does nothing for the rest of the league.
He’s not the only one though.
JD Drew is even worse. Sure he has a home run to his cred, but his average is even worse than Ortiz’s. Drew is batting .133 on the young season and can’t buy a hit either. He looks lost even against righties, who he’s supposed to hit very well. I trip to the DL is an inevitability at this point as soon as the rest of the outfield comes back. Hopefully that turns him around.
The calls to sports radio had fans requesting Adrian Gonzalez, Prince Fielder and the most absurd call I’ve ever heard saying the Sox should get Albert Pujols. Requests were also heard to make Varitek the full time catcher and move Victor Martinez to full time DH. Amazing what a couple weeks can do for people. Over the winter people were calling for Varitek to retire, now they want him to be the full time starter again. Ridiculous.
I know it’s only 14 games into the young season but a team touted for it’s pitching and defense, should have exactly that. Their starting pitching has sucked and Scutaro in particular hasn’t been a very good defender. They best buckle down and right the ship before they’re looking up and they’re 12 games out of it. Just saying.
