Final Score: Boston Red Sox 6, Atlanta Braves 3Tim Hudson? More like Tim Suckson...am I right? Seriously, though: Kason Gabbard's start yesterday was like finding a whole roll of cash in the pocket of a jacket you were about to throw away. The rotational shuffling that put Wakefield, Tavarez and Schilling in the line of fire against the Yankees and Gabbard on the mound to face the Braves wrote off Sunday's game as an acceptable interleague loss to save up for a good pounding of a division rival, a strategy that suddenly paid big dividends as Gabbo started striking out Braves with all kinds of nastiness. Seven Ks on the day, with the kill pitch alternating between curve ball, change up and fastball in a deadly trio that kept most of the lineup guessing through five innings. Although his appearance was a spot start, I'm willing to bet Gabbard will go back to AAA and dominate thanks to the confidence booster shot he gave himself yesterday.
Come to think of it, there may have been a second half to the Operation: Gabbo strategy: Tim Hudson has never pitched well against Boston, making a slug fest that would have been a saving grace to a bad Gabbard start more likely. In the event, the Sox kept up their history against Hudson and their torrid run production in the first inning (36 total so far, eclipsed only by the 42 they've scored in the eighth inning), loading the bases and scoring three on a Tek triple into the right field corner. That inning set the stage for the six run, eight hit, two walk beating the Sox administered to Hudson, putting Boston on top through the remainder of the game.
Taking a closer look at those run totals: if you've gotten the impression the Sox do their best work at either ends of a game, you're correct. Boston has scored 88 runs in innings 1 - 3 and 80 runs in innings 7 - 9, a difference that exists perhaps because Boston has played nine full innings only 28 times this year (we're at game 44, remember). The middle three innings lag behind at 64 innings, which has its own interesting correlation: the Sox offense does well against a starting pitcher the first time through the order and even better on round two, but slacks off pretty dramatically by the third time. I have no idea what it's happening, but the neat thing is that it's the exact opposite of what the lineup's done since 2004, so while the overall team balance between starters, relievers and hitters seems to be much better than in the past, this year's lineup is definitely its own animal.
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