Starting today, players mentioned in Notes entries will have hyperlinks to their Baseball Prospectus PECOTA projection page. I chose the BP page over ESPN and other player pages because it has links to all the other pages right under the player’s picture. It also has a handy bar graph that lets you instantly compare a player to the league average on several key metrics.
Timlin blows it again
Mike Timlin’s struggles are not exactly news. Over the last 22 games, the 40-year-old has allowed 18 earned runs in his last 21 1/3 innings and five home runs in his last 14 games.
Asked to protect a 3-2 Red Sox lead in the bottom of the eighth inning last night in relief of David Wells, Timlin surrendered a leadoff home run to Adrian Beltre and then the eventual winning sacrifice fly to Ben Broussard after back-to-back singles to Raul Ibanez and Richie Sexson. Much like his clueless comments during the Yankee’s series, Timlin seems to be in denial:
``I threw the ball exceptionally well. I can look at myself in the mirror and know I did exactly what I wanted and I got beat."
Another person who seems to be in denial is Terry Francona, at least about Timlin. Remy and Orsillo had no problem commenting on the success Beltre and Ibanez had had off Timlin up to that point. Going to Keith Foulke there would have been the smarter move.
Coco's weak arm strikes again
As Steven Krasner notes Coco Crisp's right shoulder must be bothering him again.
The Red Sox center fielder acknowledged in Kansas City about two weeks ago that the back of his right (throwing) shoulder was sore, to the point to where he was instructed to throw to the infield cutoff man on throws home.
Last night, with Adrian Beltre at second and one out in the fourth, Raul Ibanez ripped a line single to center. Beltre didn't get a great jump, but he was waved around by third-base coach Carlos Garcia.
Crisp charged the ball and fielded it cleanly, but he didn't even try to throw home. He threw to shortstop Alex Cora, who had gone out onto the outfield grass for a cutoff. Cora's belated throw home was cut off by first baseman Eric Hinske as Beltre scored the run that tied the game at 1-1.
The Mariners noticed Crisp's weak throwing effort. So when Richie Sexson followed with a high fly ball to center, shy of the warning track, Raul Ibanez, no speedster, tagged at first and made it to second into scoring position, easily beating Crisp's high-arching throw.
Roster notes...
Josh Beckett played catch yesterday and will again today as he hopes to stay on course to make his scheduled start Tuesday in Oakland.The right hander cut his right middle finger with his own fingernail in the sixth inning Thursday and left his start against the Angels an inning later. There was concern the past two days as to whether Beckett would need to be skipped, but Red Sox manager Terry Francona indicated before and after last night's 4-3 loss to the Mariners that Beckett is good to go.
Kevin Youkilis felt better yesterday after being sent back to the hotel Friday night with a stomach flu. Youkilis was still out of the lineup, but was available for pinch-hitting duty. Eric Hinske started at first base.
Another catcher, either Corky Miller or Ken Huckaby, is likely to join the team right away. Craig Hansen, Javier Lopez, Craig Breslow and Jermaine Van Buren are the leading candidates. First baseman Carlos Pena, utility man Willie Harris and outfielder David Murphy are among other candidates to be called up when the PawSox season ends Sept. 4.
Another good outing for Wells
Making his sixth start since returning from the disabled list on July 31, David Wells allowed eight hits and two runs in seven full innings. He took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh, when Mariners shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt poked a solo home run that tied the game.
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