Stop Embarrassing Yourselves: Sox v. Pirates

Okay, well in what should have been one of the most lopsided beatdowns in recent history, despite the pitchers going, the Red Sox once again, embarrassed themselves by losing a couple to the worst team in the NL.
The Padres are about as bad an offense as you'll find in baseball, and their pitching isn't much better, but somehow, the Red Sox managed to lose two of the three games at Fenway. They outslugged the Padres nearly 3:1, but just couldn't bring those ducks in off the pond when they needed to. Yesterdays rainfest was the straw. With four rain delays in the game, Lackey completely shitted the joint up. Again. The DL list is starting to hurt a little bit, as yesterdays gamed featured both Darnell McDonald and the ghost of Mike Cameron in the starting lineup - nevermind Drew Sutton, but I'll get to all that in a later post about roster moves that I've been cooking up.
But, this is a new series, and the Sox have to take advantage of what is an imperative set of games in the NL parks. The Yankees aren't falling back anytime soon, so they can ill-afford to start losing games and series that they should win, less they find themselves four games out at the break.3
So, while I called for a sweep of the Padres (foolish, I know), I'm once again making that mistake for this series (steak dinner be damned). There is a little bit of a mix-up about who's gonna start Saturday, as Beckett has been diagnosed with some kind of stomach problem, but we'll go with the scheduled starters for now. With the off day today, things might change, which I'll reflect tomorrow.

Lets break it down:

Tomorrow's Game:
Jon Lester [9-3, 3.70] versus Paul Maholm [3-8, 3.29]
-The Good: It's the Pirates, and granted I said the same thing about SD, c'mon now. If the Red Sox can't beat a lowly Pittsburgh team with Jon Lester on the bump, we're in pretty bad shape right now.
-he Bad: Jon Lester's last few outings have not inspired me at all.
My keys to this game lies solely on Lester: he has to throw strikes and get them deep into a game and give this team a chance to get those bats heated back up. The Sox have been good on the road after that first road set of the year, so let's hope the big left pulls it together.
Brad Picks: Red Sox win.
Randy Picks: Red Sox Win

Saturday's Game:
Josh Beckett*[6-2, 1.86] versus Jeff Karstens [4-4, 2.54]
-The Good: Again, it's the Pirates, and the Sox have seen Jeff Karstens before, so many of them are at least a little bit familiar. I don't really think it matters if AGon has seen him (or any other pitcher on this planet).
-The Bad: Beckett has been sick for a week, so if he makes this start, he could be a little shaky after the time off, but on the other hand, it could help him as well. Hopefully he comes out and is as absolutely brilliant as he's been all year.
Brad Picks: Red Sox Win
Randy Picks: Red Sox Win

I think beckett got pushed back not sure of rotation

Sunday's Game
Tim Wakefield [4-2,4.56] versus James McDonald [5-4, 4.56]
-The Good: Wakefield has been pitching well, and despite the fact that the Pirates have beaten the piss out of RA Dickey twice this year, Tim's flutterball is a little different than Dickey's, so I'm hoping for the best. I absolutely hate picking Wakefield to win any game ever, but I'm going with him on this one and hope the Sox knock around McDonald early. The Pirates hurler boasts a very, very bad stat line the second and third time through the lineup this year.
-The Bad: Wakefield is due to be taken to the woodshed anytime now...
My keys to this game are the offense. Wake's gonna give up a few, so you gotta score in this one. Wake loves to face the team he came up with, and in the past has done well. He's also a decent hitter in his interleague games, so we'll see...
Brad Picks: Red Sox Win
Randy Picks: Red Sox win

In closing, let me say this: If AGon finds himself in RF this week, to avoid David Ortiz getting his panties all bunched up about not playing, I'm going to think much, much less of Terry Francona. Ortiz could use a night or two off, and to be honest, when these games get out of hand, he'll be put in anyhow (crosses fingers).