Colon Dominant as Sox Beat Mariners

By KC Downey in Featured, Red Sox ⋅ May 27, 2008 at 7:44am ⋅ Post a comment

The Red Sox have a very rare, but really good problem: they have too many starting pitchers. When faced with the same problem a few years ago, the team traded Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena and proceeded to have a rough 2006 season, suffering from poor pitching and injuries to the staff. This year, let’s hope the Sox treat that problem differently. New starter Bartolo Colon looked really impressive, pitching seven strong innings with only one run allowed in the 5-3 win for the Sox.

Sox Stud of the Game:

David Ortiz is really starting to heat up. The big slugger went 1-4 with his 12th HR and a walk. He also scored two runs and is now batting .247.

Diamond Dud of the Game:

A wild Jonathan Papelbon earns the nod of Diamond Dud for this game after a crazy ninth inning. Paps was in with a 5-1 lead and needed to shut the door. After a wild pitch, an error and two hits, Papelbon had allowed two runs and the M’s were back in the game. He obviously has to be more careful, especially on the road when your opponent has the last at-bat.

The Rich Get Richer

When healthy, the Red Sox could conceivably throw out eight starting pitchers that are major league ready: Josh Beckett, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Bartolo Colon, Curt Schilling, and Justin Masterson. Now, Buchholz and Schilling are injured and Masterson is in the minors, but we know that all eight are capable major league starters. The Sox should hold onto all of them, because as we see with the Yankees, injuries can happen quick and in bunches, which can decimate a staff.

Other Notes:

Clay Buchholz looked good in a minor league outing, going four-plus innings and allowing just one run. He threw mostly fastballs at first (reaching 96 mph) and gradually mixed in curveballs and changeups.
J.D. Drew was the only Sox hitter with two hits, finishing 2-3 and raising his batting average to .290.