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The surprising Tim Wakefield is part of the best series of the week, the best matchup in that series, and is one of the best two-timers. |
Series of the Week – Monday through Thursday
Detroit Tigers at Boston Red Sox
As of this writing, the records of the Tigers and Red Sox are almost identical, with the Red Sox at 24-11 and the Tigers at 23-12. Monday’s game has Nate Robertson (3-2, 3.43) taking on Dice-K, Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-2, 4.80), Tuesday has Justin Verlander (3-1, 2.83) facing the surprising Cy Young candidate Tim Wakefield (4-3, 1.79), and Wednesday features Mike Maroth (3-0, 4.69) dueling with “we don’t need no Roger Clemens taking my job” Julian Tavarez (1-4, 6.60). Thursday’s game features Curt Schilling (4-1, 3.63) against what is tentatively listed as T.B.A. but we are going to presume Chad Durbin (3-1, 5.08), as he made the start yesterday for the Tigers, an 8-2 whooping of the Twins.
Dice-K certainly has been hit or miss for the Red Sox so far this year. Of his seven starts, only four have been quality starts, and he certainly has shown no love for Fenway Park, as he is 1-1 with a 7.58 ERA in three starts. In the Fens, opponents are hitting .276 against Dice-K, compared to just .200 in his four starts on the road. His last two starts at home saw him surrender eight hits, one walk, and six earned runs to the Yankees, although he did strike out seven and pick up the win, and he got a no-decision in his rematch with the Mariners despite being tagged for five hits, five walks, and seven earned runs
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Which Dice-K will show up next?
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in just five innings, and he only struck out one. It was certainly not a highlight game for Matsuzaka.
One would think Robertson would have the advantage coming into the game on Monday then, but he is coming off of a pounding by the Mariners that saw him surrender ten hits and six earned runs in just 4 2/3 innings. Robertson has made only two starts on the road this year so far, ironically both also in the American League East, against the Blue Jays and Orioles. In those two, he was 1-1 with a 1.26 ERA, striking out 10 while walking just three in 14 1/3 innings. Can he keep that road success going? The Red Sox are certainly tougher than the Orioles and Blue Jays, so it will not be easy.
The hitter to watch for the Red Sox in this series is J.D. Drew, who has been absolutely dreadful so far this season, especially of late. Drew has just two homers on the season, the last of which came way bay on April 22nd, and he is hitting just .194 for May so far. Drew is certainly a better player than he has been showing of late, and he will turn things around, the only question is when.
On the other end of the spectrum is Carlos Guillen, who is hitting .419 for the month with a home run, seven RBI, and seven runs. He is in the midst of an eight game hitting streak that has seen him go 13-for-28 with six extra base hits. Just about the only thing he is not doing right now is stealing bases, as he has just one attempt in May, where he was caught, and he has actually had more failures than successes this year in terms to basestealing.
Series of the Week – the Weekend Edition
Chicago White Sox at Chicago Cubs
Both teams are supposed to be contenders right now. Neither one is looking like it. In the American League Central, the Twins, Tigers, and Indians are all playing better than the White Sox are right now, and in the National League Central, the Cubs are going to be looking up at the Brewers all year at this rate.
So, when all else fails, you can vent all your frustrations on your hated rivals. Personally, I have never gotten the whole, “if you like one team from a city you have to hate the other” thing that goes on there – after all, my Grandfather never hated the Boston Braves as far as I know – but it does, so you are going to have rioting in the streets, bloodletting in the stands, and rumbles on the field. Okay, not really, but the language in the stands probably won’t be Disney pure.
The pitcher to watch for the White Sox is Mark Buehrle, who has struggled
somewhat since the no-no he tossed April 18th. He has pitched three quality games in four starts since then, but the classic Buehrle efficiency has not been there. He needed 103 pitches to get through seven innings in the first post-no-hitter start, 102 to get through six in the next, 109 to get through six in the first start of May, and 119 to finish six innings in his last start.
The Cubs starter that we are looking
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Is Dr. Z's slow start contractual or the result of the cold winds off Lake Michigan?
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forward to seeing what he does is Carlos Zambrano. Carlos said this was going to be his Cy Young year, and right now that is certainly not happening. Through eight starts, Zambrano is 3-3 with a 5.83 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP. I wrote this a few weeks ago, and someone emailed me to say I was wrong and that Zambrano is typically a slow starter, but this is more than a slow start – this is contract pressure getting to Zambrano. We’re too far into the season for the slow starter excuse to work.
So when is Paul Konerko going to get hitting? After hitting .198 through April, May has not been much kinder too him, as he is hitting .200 through his first 40 at-bats in the month. The power is still next to nonexistent as he has just one homer this month and four on the season, and he has just two extra base hits in his last 12 games. At some point, one would presume that he would start hitting, but there have been absolutely no indications that this will occur soon.
I have certainly lambasted the Cubs plenty of times for their offseason stupidity, and there was no more idiotic this season than the large contract given to Mark DeRosa, who had been a career utility player before breaking out with the Rangers last year. This month has been ghastly for DeRosa, as he is hitting just.174 with only two runs and one RBI in 23 May at-bats. The Cubs were hoping to get some power out of DeRosa, but his last homer came way back on April 18th. If DeRosa does not turn things around soon, Ryan Theriot could move to second and DeRosa would be losing time to Cesar Izturis.
