Look who's coming back!

Lost in today's uproar created by David "The Big Mouth" Wells is that Foulke completed his third of three scheduled reahab starts on Tuesday.

"Foulke, who will be activated from the disabled list Thursday, leaves the short-season New York-Penn League with a 7.36 ERA and a .421 opponents' batting average, along with eight hits, five strikeouts, and one walk in 3 2/3 innings."

He didn't exactly pitch lights out on Tuesday either with 1 IP, 7 batters faced and 2 ER. It looks like we'll be seeing him soon, but can the Sox handle another critical pitcher who isn't pitching at top form at this point in the season? I'll be glad to have him back, but with numbers like that, I can't say I'm not going to be worried.

Bellhorn for Arod?

I would have done that trade. But when you're the NY Yankees this year, you have to do what you have to do. Not only did they pick up Embree with his 7.04 ERA, but then they went and picked up Bellhorn with his 109 K's and .324 OBP this year. And would anyone have guessed Bellhorn's first job would be to fill in for an ailing A-Rod? Hah! Bellhron promptly went 0-4.

It's a wonder the Yankees are doing as well as they are, when they keep picking up anyone who can throw the ball anywhere near home plate!

This should not be taken as a disparagement of either Embree or Bellhorn for whom I have a great deal of respect for. Last year's performance by both were key, especially in the playoffs. But when it comes to this year's performance, there's a reason they were both waived.

Is Jonny going, going, gone?

In a word, yes. He'll talk about how much he loves Boston and wants to end his career here and so on and so forth, while taking a tour of NY, LA, Chicago, Anahiem, etc... And in the end, he'll be heading somewhere else. The truth is, the red sox are no longer going to be the high bidders in these sorts of games. They've decided that they are no longer going to pay out the nose, even for the "stars", of which Damon is not, although he thinks he is. I mean was anyone really surprised to hear about (or see on TV) "Johnny's last supper" artwork over his fireplace?

Will I be sorry to see him go? You bet. He's a great, steady lead off man with a lot of steals, which makes him a big threat on the bases. His defensive ability is above average, and who doesn't love watching him dive after the balls with aggression and style in center field? But in the end, he'll be another player lost to free agency and although it's sad, it's a fact of life now.

Taking advantage

Well, in the past 10 games, the Sox are 4-6 while the Yanks have gone 7-3. It seems to me that the Yankees are taking advantage of the chances they're getting, while the Sox are letting them slip away. After looking at the schedule for the end of August, I was beginning to think the Sox could run away with the division. Or at least maintain the 5 game lead they had. But so much for hope.

Now it's just going to get tougher, although the one hope (schedule-wise) I'm maintaining is the number of home games the Sox have left. And it's a good hope to rest your head on, since they're 2:1 win:loss ratio is one of the best in baseball (see Atlanta).

If they maintain their win:loss ratio through the end of the season, they'll end with 93 wins or so. That's not a bad record, but will it be enough if the Yankees don't stumble against TB?

Umm.. then what are they going to do?

I'm real happy to hear the Foulke's almost back. At the end of the season, I think how he pitches will have a bigger affect on how the Sox do in the playoffs than even Schilling.

From the Boston Herald: ``I don't think you just hand him the ball with a one-run lead after not pitching for a month,'' Francona said after the Red Sox opened a homestand with last night's 9-8 victory against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park.
Well, if Foulke isn't going to be the closer, then who is? Timlin is not a closer. He's a middle reliever and he's going to need some rest before the end of the season. And what will Foulke's role be?

In other news, I'm glad they won one, but I think a caller on WEEI today had it right. Unless there's a big change in the bullpen, they're going to have to keep winning this way, by simply outscoring on the offensive side of the ball, because their pitching just isn't getting the job done. I felt so much better about the team last year at this point. I felt like they had underachieved up to this point with the pitching they had (Lowe in particular). But this year, I feel like they're overachieving with the talent they have. Offensively, you just can't ask for more, but their pitching is just struggling right now.