Boston Red Sox News & Notes – 4/27

Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek is congratulated by teammates after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 13-12 in a baseball game in Toronto on Monday April 26, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

399 pitches, 25 runs and 34 hits. That’s what the Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays combined for in a 13-12 win by the Red Sox on Monday night at Rogers Centre.

The Red Sox got a run in the first and it stayed that way until the third inning. They added four in the top of the third that staked starter Josh Beckett to a 5-0 lead. Now normally when Beckett has a 5-0 lead, he’s lights out. But that wasn’t the case this time around.

By the end of the third inning, the Red Sox found themselves trailing 6-5 after Beckett lost the command of his pitches. He was leaving pitches up in the zone or his pitches would trail back into the heart of the plate and the Blue Jays took advantage of it.

The game was turned over to the bullpens in the fourth inning and it really didn’t get much better from there as both bullpens showed their ineptitude (with the exeception of Manny Delcarmen, Daniel Bard and Jonathan Papelbon on the Red Sox side of things and Scott Downs and Kevin Gregg on the Blue Jays side). The combination of Scott Atchison, Scott Schoeneweis and Hideki Okajima gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk

To me though, the MVP of last night’s game wasn’t the Red Sox offense but rather Delcarmen. He needed just 24 pitches to get through two innings to settle the bullpen out (Okajima replaced him and didn’t record an out). There had been concerns about Delcarmen’s velocity but it has improved and it looks as though he’s back.

In his last five outings (6 1/3 innings), he hasn’t allowed a run or a hit although he has issued four walks. But with the way things were going last night, Delcarmen was the bright spot.

Beckett’s 2010 numbers are almost identical to his start last season and it turned out okay for him. But as the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays continue to win, the Red Sox need all of their starting pitchers to get going. On paper going into the season, they looked to have one of the best starting rotations but in reality it’s far from it. That’s why that hype is overrated.

Something does need to be done with bullpen. Alan Embree stated yesterday that if he isn’t called up by Friday, he’ll leave the organization. Atchison and Schoeneweis haven’t pitched well. Yes Tim Wakefield, probably the most consistent starter, is in the bullpen now but he probably can’t help out down there until Friday (Red Sox are on Thursday when he could first pitch).

So why not call up Embree and Joe Nelson and see if they can breathe new life into the bullpen. They’d have to release Schoeneweis but Atchison has an option left. Yes they’ll have to make a move when Daisuke Matsuzaka makes his 2010 debut but does it matter right now.

The bullpen is already overworked and with the exception of Ramon Ramirez, all of them were used last night. They could even call up one of the starters from Pawtucket to give them some middle relief should Clay Buchholz or Jon Lester falter.

We’ll be back later with the lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and afternoon links but for now, enjoy the overnight links from the local Boston media.

(Josh) Beckett blasted; DL anyone? [Batter-up with Bruno]

Beckett outing bad, but Sox’ batters are better [Boston Globe]

Matsuzaka on target for Saturday [Boston Globe]

Quite an outing for Delcarmen [Boston Globe]

Cuban catcher signed [Boston Globe]

Josh Beckett failing to deliver like true ace [Boston Herald]

Sox recap: Sox win slugfest over Jays [Boston Herald]

Daisuke Matsuzaka wants redemption [Boston Herald]

Marco Scutaro, Alex Gonzalez not short on fondness [Boston Herald]

Trading places: Castro in, Atchison out [Clubhouse Insider]

UZR owes Jason Bay an apology [Clubhouse Insider]