Last nights game was pretty hard to watch. The Sox basically gave away a game they should have won. They did a great job getting to Harden yet failed to break the game wide open. But still, taking a 7-4 lead in the sixth should have been enough to carry them home.
They lost this game for a number of reasons. Horrible defense, bad calls, injuries, you name it. But the biggest part of the blame has to go to Ozzie. It was clear all night that Buehrle didn’t have his best stuff. He wasn’t striking out anyone and needed 3 double plays to escape jams in the early innings. So it was no surprise that he gave up 4 in the 5th to let the A’s take a 4-3 lead.
So when the Sox got the lead back he needed to be on a short leash. This was especially true in the 7th as the top half of the inning took over 15 minutes to play. Uribe went down with an injury just standing in the batters box and the trainers were forced to come out again when Ozuna was hit in the forearm with a pitch.
I didn’t have a problem with Buehrle starting the inning as his pitch count was still in the 80s. But he needed to be pulled when Byrnes opened the inning with a single. He really needed to be pulled after Kendall followed with another single. How do you let him face Chavez in this situation? Marte was warmed up and ready to go. But Ozzie left Buehrle in, Chavez doubled, and the Sox went on to lose.
I shouldn’t be too upset as the Sox won a couple of games they had no business winning during this streak. But somehow that fails to make me feel better. Luckily there is a quick turnaround and I can erase this one from my memory with a Sox victory this afternoon.
And one final thing: Harden clearly threw at Everett, nailing him in the back in the 5th. It was really a punk ass move that required some sort of retaliation. The Cheat is right that something needs to be done today if Ozzie wants to back up all his smack with some actions.