Derek and the Domino Effect
In honor of Carl Beane’s passing there was no public address announcer for this game. Sadly the team didn’t play well enough to honor Carl’s memory.
Josh Beckett probably wished it were as silent during his departure in the third inning. He was serenaded by a chorus of jeers. Even if he hadn’t made the news recently for golfing two days before his scratched start he still deserved the taunting given his line: 2⅓ innings pitched, 7 hits, 7 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts, and 2 home runs.
Meanwhile Derek Lowe induced 12 ground outs and posted a quality start: 6 innings pitched, 9 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 base on balls, and 3 strikeouts. So far this season Lowe has a ERA+ of 157. It made me think that perhaps Lowe would have been a better option than John Lackey, but comparing the two pitchers across 2010-11 there wasn’t a significant improvement. Lowe’s WAR was 2.7 and 2.5 while Lackey started promisingly at 4.1 but plummeted to 1.5. But in September, as we well remember, all the Red Sox needed was one more win.
| Game 31: May 10, 2012 | ||
 Cleveland Indians18-13 |
8 |
W: Derek Lowe (5-1) |
| 2B: Asdrubal Cabrera (11), Michael Brantley – 2 (10), Shin-Soo Choo (6) HR: Jack Hannahan (3), Jason Kipnis (6) | ||
| Boston Red Sox 12-19 |
3 |
L: Josh Beckett (2-4) |
| 2B: Adrian Gonzalez (9), Daniel Nava (1) HR: Dustin Pedroia (5) | ||
