Game 15

Final Score:

Boston Red Sox 8, Baltimore Orioles 0

So I insult the man, call him The Embedded Yankee and he wins two in a row. And not only does he win two in a row, but he hasn't been scored on in his last fifteen innings of work. And not only has he shut down the competition, but he shut down Baltimore, who was alone on top of the AL East and eight for their last eleven. Meanwhile, Bruce Chen does his part of the pitchers duel for four innings, pitching around danger zones, then starts making mistakes: he balks in Varitek, then gives the Cap'n a meatball that Varitek served up for a three run homerun in the fifth. Chen leaves in the seventh and the Orioles bullpen collapses, giving up three runs and the blowout to the Sox. Wells works eight innings, Blaine Neal, who is doing a lot better at one run in his last three innings (as opposed to three runs in his first inning and 1/3) finishes it out and the Sox are tied for first place.

Wade Miller is scheduled to make another rehab start in Portland on Saturday and the pitcher feels he may need one more start after that to be ready to come back up to the Bigs. If he's in top form, he's going to be a monster and at the moment, he's in pretty good company. All five starters are pitching pretty well, which begs the question of who's going into the bullpen when Miller comes back. My guess at this point is Arroyo; Clement seems like he'll be able to float in fourth/fifth starter land, Schilling is a no-brainer, Boomah and Wakey are, well, on fire right now and Arroyo's the youngest member of the staff besides Miller and has bullpen experience. The solidity of the staff, of course, also gives Theo's pet project time to recover properly; he doesn't have to be rushed back in because things are going so well.

Red Sox and Orioles part 2, tonight - Clement and old Red Sox nemesis Rodrigo Lopez go head to head at 7:05. Lopez is eight and three lifetime against the Sox and I remember his only loss against Boston last year well because of how close the Sox came to losing it. GO SOX!!!