Too Little Punch

(April 28)

Short Take:  Valiant effort, not enough.

Rocky Biddle battled for four innings, but the roof caved in in the fifth.  Ray Durham reached base twice in five appearances, but contributed nothing but an error after the third inning.  The Sox managed four earned runs, plus another unearned one and left eight men on base.  Seattle left 13 on base, but unlike the Sox, they are hot.  The Sox were doomed in spite of these and other valiant efforts, 8-5 losers to the Mariners.

Biddle has been the most consistent of all the Sox starters, but he was wild Saturday night.  Two walks in the fifth made the difference in a three-run inning for Seattle.  Though Seattle took the lead, give the Sox credit for coming back to recapure the lead in the bottom-half of the frame when Harold Baines doubled home Jose Valentin and Magglio Ordonez.  

Seattle however, would not be denied.  After Biddle gave up a dinger and walked his fifth man of the game, Bob Howry got the call in relief.  Doing his best Bill Simas impersonation, he promptly let the inherited runner score before shutting the door.  Seattle had the lead and wouldn't look back.

Just to underscore what kind of season this is turning into, consider the relevance of the last three innings of this game.  Down one run last year, the Sox were almost expected to come back and win such a game as this.  Instead the Sox hitters managed just one hit across those final three frames while the Sox bullpen gave up another two runs.  

Seattle has set a major league record with 20 victories in the month of April.  Sox Fans wonder when our team will claim its tenth.