“I have no hard feelings whatsoever. I’m in a good situation here. I learned a lot from them. I got a World Series win with them. I’m not trying to rub anything in anybody’s face whatsoever.” - Lenny DiNardo after his six shutout innings last night

While Lenny DiNardo may be saying all the right things off the field, he pitched liked he had something to prove. In his second start this season for the Oakland A’s after being waived in spring training by the Red Sox to make room for J.D. Drew on the active roster (I am sure some people might trade Drew straight up for DiNardo right now, but that is another story for another day), the former Red Sox rule 5 draft pick went six shutout innings scattering six walks amidst four double plays. DiNardo kept his team in the game, working out of bases loaded jams in the first and sixth innings that could have each changed the course of the game dramatically.

The twin killing to end the sixth inning came with the A’s ahead 2-0 with the bases packed with Red Sox, one out and DiNardo’s former roommate (2004-2006) Kevin Youkilis at the plate.

“The one from Youkilis was one that stands out in my mind,” DiNardo said. “That was kind of key in the last inning. I knew I was probably getting a little tired out there. And he’s my former roommate [2004-06]. I had him three balls and I knew I needed to make a pitch there. I just tried to throw it right down the middle and low.”

DiNardo’s outing pushed his record to 2-2 with a squeaky clean 1.45 ERA on the season.

On the other side of the hill, Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched well in his fourth loss of the season throwing 130 pitches over seven innings of work.  Matsuzaka lowered his ERA from 4.83 to 4.63 giving up two runs while striking out eight.  Matsuzaka had been fifth in the A.L. in Run Support with 7.43 runs per game on average from his offense.  Needless to say, a little clutch hitting could have easily given Matsuzaka the room he needed to grab a win tonight.

The Red Sox loss, their fifth in their last six games, represents their first major bump on the road of the 2007 season.  Even with all that, the Red Sox still own the best record in baseball by 1.5 games over the Mets and a nine game lead in the American League East over the Toronto Blue Jays.

Given the opponents (Cleveland, New York, and Oakland) and the circumstance (flying cross country for an 11 inning game), it is hard to separate those factors from the underlying performance of the team.  There have been two one run losses, a two run loss, and two larger losses in the mix.  It would appear to me that a few key Red Sox hits or opponent outs could have easily swung three of those losses.  It were those key hits and outs that the Red Sox were getting when everything was going their way.

They often say that momentum (both positive and negative) is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher.  For the Red Sox, it falls on Tim Wakefield tonight to right the ship for both the team and for himself.  After a great start to the season, Wake is 1-3 in his last four games with a staggering 9.13 ERA and 1.814 WHIP on 28 hits and 13 walks vs. only 12 strike outs.

This next time round the rotation could be a critical five game stretch in the pace of this season.  The Red Sox have maintained their comfortable lead in the East despite the recent drought of wins.  But now it becomes a little bit of damage control.

Tags: boston red sox, red sox, boston, baseball, tim wakefield, daisuke matsuzaka, lenny dinardo, oakland as