Then you weren’t watching. His strike:ball ratio was near 1:1. That’s not good, and is a sign of trouble. Did he grind out a decent outing? Yeah. But 5 2/3, 3 ER and 110 pitches is less than I expect from Andy. If it was an isolated incident, I wouldn’t be worrying. But he’s been doing this same dance for two months now. Sometimes the hitters help him out and he squeezes six or seven innings out of his 110 pitches. But he was better than that in the early going, and they need him to figure out how to be that guy again if they want to get deep into the postseason. Also, they need a more reliable relief corps, and I don’t think that Brower really helps them there.

SJ happens to have extremely high standards for his starters. I cant really blame him for that. I do think Andy pitched very well today and would take this kind of outing any day of the week from anyone.

But I also think the Moose has been largely effective too.

You can succeed in the playoffs with this kind of effort, something I have seen very little of lately.

A nice catch by Damon would have kept this game to one run.

BJ

Sj, I know you are responding to another poster, but I am gonna take you task on this statement.

All pitchers who give up any runs will tell you they did poorly. You don’t use this kind of statement as a meter of success. The stats help, but watching them pitch is the most telling.

The other night you said Hughes pitched well giving up 6 runs yet petitte wasn’t good giving up 3 (2 of which should not have scored with a good catch by Damon)?? BTW, I was one of few who agreed he was good but ran out of gas.

Petitte worked in and out of trouble admittedly. He was good today my friend. Cleaning up after yourself defines a good game. His location was solid from where I sat, recording a 7 strikeouts.

This was almost as good an outing as any this season. Not stellar or lights out, but effective and solid. I would take this kind of performance from any of our pitchers any day of the week.

BJ

and Eric Gagne has given up 5 hits and 2 runs in his first 2 innings with the Red Sox.

as long as we’re making judgements based on 2 inning stretches…

On Friday, it was Jon Bon Jovi at Yankee Stadium. Today, David Beckham. Tomorrow, who knows? Kyle Farnsworth once told me about meeting Shania Twain when he played for the Cubs. She was so small, he said, he picked her up sideways and held her in front of him, like a lunch tray or something. How’s that for imagery?