6th April 2003, 12:20 AM
Speaking of not surprising, the Red Sox bullpen has been abysmal, blowing leads in 4 of the 6 games so far... and its just good luck that won two of those games...
Lets see. Chad Fox, Alan Embree, Ramiro Mendoza, Bob Howry, and Mike Timlin are the main relievers (not counting the 2 long relievers)...
And in the first 6 games one or another one has blown it at least once each. In game 1 it was a 3 run lead blown in the 9th when Embree and Fox combined to give up 5 runs in that inning. In game 2, a 3 run lead was blown and only 16 innings (including 6 shutout innings from those long relievers) saved the day. Game 4? They almost blew a 5 run lead when Mendoza gave up 4 runs in the 9th.
Then today, the game was tied in the bottom of the 9th when they (surprise!) blew it... and WALKED in the winning run when Fox walked someone with the bases loaded. Just great.
Umm... is it too late to fire all five of them and start the bullpen over from scratch?
Lets see. Chad Fox, Alan Embree, Ramiro Mendoza, Bob Howry, and Mike Timlin are the main relievers (not counting the 2 long relievers)...
And in the first 6 games one or another one has blown it at least once each. In game 1 it was a 3 run lead blown in the 9th when Embree and Fox combined to give up 5 runs in that inning. In game 2, a 3 run lead was blown and only 16 innings (including 6 shutout innings from those long relievers) saved the day. Game 4? They almost blew a 5 run lead when Mendoza gave up 4 runs in the 9th.
Then today, the game was tied in the bottom of the 9th when they (surprise!) blew it... and WALKED in the winning run when Fox walked someone with the bases loaded. Just great.
Umm... is it too late to fire all five of them and start the bullpen over from scratch?