G8: Athletics 6, Red Sox 5 (12)

Red Sox   - 300 020 000 000 - 5 12  1
Athletics - 500 000 000 001 - 6 11  2

Forget Dice's 1-5-5-2-0, 43 disaster of an inning, after being handed a 3-0 cushion. And don't even ask why Javier Lopez (.2-1-1-3-1, 25 (13 balls)) still has a job in Boston.

Just enjoy the fantastic 10.2-5-0-3-12 line put up by the quintet of Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen, Ramon Ramirez, Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon. (It's the most strikeouts from a Boston bullpen in a game since September 28, 2000.)

And know there is a game tomorrow (well, later today).

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Daisuke Matsuzaka (6.75, 77 ERA+) / Dana Eveland (4.50, 101 ERA+)

In a Extra Bases post, Adam Kilgore has a great line:

If the Red Sox were playing an NFL season, they would be about halfway through the third quarter of the first game.

Then, in a breath of fresh air and progressive thought, he talks about BABIP (and OPS+ and WHIP):

The Red Sox have a .250 batting average on balls put in play. (This means that if you take away home runs, sacrifices, and strikeouts, the Red Sox are batting .250.) The .250 mark is worst in the American League and better than only the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. The league average is .300. That means the Red Sox have run into some good defense, gotten unlucky, or both in relation to the rest of the majors.

SoSH also has a BABIP thread.

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Lefty Eveland made 29 starts for the A's last year, posting a 4.34 ERA. He also walked 4.1 batters per nine innings (77 in 168 innings), excessive though not quite Diceian (97 in 167.2, 5.0).

BP 2009:

Almost a throw-in as part of the Haren deal, Eveland always showed plenty of potential on a pure stuff level, but he almost ate his way out of both the Milwaukee and Arizona organizations. Although he's still a big guy [6-1, 220], he fit in much better with a team that knows it isn't selling jeans. He pitched like the steal of the century in the first half, putting up a 3.46 ERA in his first 19 starts, but the wheels fell off after the All-Star break, when he posted a six-plus ERA and took a brief trip back to the minors when the Red Sox hammered him for nine runs in two innings [August 2]. ... He's an average, usable starter, which is all that the A's are expecting from him at the back end of their rotation this year.

***

Matt from Dirty Watah posted some pictures and audio clips from last night's game. He may have more from tonight's game.