After losing Tuesday nights abortion, I agree. winning 3 of 4 needs to happen. Not a MUST, but it would be extremely helpful. A MUST would be to avoid losing 3 of 4, and a death sentence would be getting swept.:eek:

Did you see their rotation for hte week? 3/4 will be very hard.

Likewise, they will see our best as well:

Chen - 2.03 ERA
Santana - 2.97
Guthrie - 3.96
Shields - 3.36

If we want to be a playoff team, we're going to have to beat the best. Early in this season seems like a long time ago, but we went into Boston and won 2/3, so no reason we can't win 3/4 at the K. Let's do this, boys and girls.

So, depending upon when Davis comes back from bereavement leave, is he inserted back in the rotation for Monday's opener vs the Marlins? My guess is yes, although I'd LOVE to see Duffy back in his spot, Davis to the Pen, and Mendy to Omaha. I'd also love to see Will Smith back as well, but who would he replace?

I actually like our pitching matchups against Boston tonight and Friday.

Tonight: Chen is really mixing his pitches well and keeping hitters off balance. Lester, who we have traditionally struggled against, is a shell of his former self and is really having a rough year. Hopefully it continues tonight . . . .

Friday: Peavy . . . meh. We've knocked him around before with the 'other' Sox. We know what he's got. And Santana . . . . need I say more?

Saturday & Sunday: I don't like these matchups near as well, but I do like the fact that we've got Shields (yes, I realize he sh*t the bed against Minny Tues.) going in the last game, a former AL East guy who knows what it's like to pitch in these big games against top notch AL East opponents. Hopefully "Big Game" James lives up to his name come Sunday.

We'll see . . . . .

So, I was at the game last night. Split time between Gordo Nation and the Diamond Club thanks to my Brookside Godfather (who's a great, great guy and got us in without tickets because the door guy loves him).

I didn't get to see Duffy from back there, but his performance was about what I expected from him. His stuff was excellent. He really does have TOR-quality stuff, if he can improve his control and command. LHP who can pump 95-96 can succeed in the majors for a long time if they have good control and can throw quality strikes with the fastball for strike 1.

We were starting to see that before the Tommy John last year.

Loved making Deduno lose his mind in the dugout. Like many Twins pitchers, he needs to realize he isn't very good and deal with it.

Why are the Sox having such a strong season? I know losing Valentine was important .

May we not shit the bed this series :grovel:

Lead the league in Runs, and OPS

Saturday's game is going to be tough. Felix Doubront has only given up 16 ER's in his last 10 Games. That's VERY good. He's a big strong lefty that is hard to hit. His biggest weakness is his control - and it's not a glaring problem at all. We'll need to get to him early to have a good chance in that game. That said, Guthrie has been very good in his last 3 starts. His last game was masterful. Let's hope his mojo continues.

Sunday's match-up with Lester going against Shields.......If we were talking 3 weeks ago, I would have loved our chances. Now? Let's just say that I am hoping for an off day for Lackey. Lackey has owned in day games, where James has definitely struggled more in Day v Night Games.

David Ortiz has returned to form.

And they have 10 batters with an OWAR of 1.0+... 7 guys with 2.0+.... to be honest that's pretty amazing.

Detroit's awesome offense only has 7 players with 1.0+ oWAR... only 3 with 2.0+

KC has 6 players with 1.0 oWAR but only 1 with 2.0+ (Hosmer)

I thought they'd finish last in the East when the year began and that Toronto had a chance to win it. Ortiz has been mashing, and the rest of the lineup is solid pretty much all the way through. Their starting pitching has been serviceable and the relief guys have been pretty good.

Their team ops is 787, Hosmer has our highest ops for our regulars at 785.