2 Down in Motown...

So, as it turned out, Dice didn't pitch so great a game, but, like Lester before him, somehow managed to avoid getting hurt...he gave up 1 ER in this game, but did that while issuing 8 BB and striking out 1...no, that's not a mistake...I don't have Sox dyslexia...that's not backwards in any way whatsoever...he pitched 5 innings...walked 8...struck out 1...gave up 1 run...I didn't get to watch much of this one (did I mention I have a 5 month-old daughter...great time to start a blog that requires daily attention, huh?), so I'll stop the bewilderment there (it doesn't translate as well in writing either...if you could see my face right now...bug eyes...slack jaw...I dunno....)...I really don't know how it's possible to even do that...he's walking 2 guys an inning and somehow getting out of it...it's becoming more and more clear to me that Dice and Lester are long lost brothers...seriously, they have to share some genes somewhere, because they pitch the same games...they're either attacking the strike zone with 2-3 great pitches and piling up the Ks or they can't throw a strike and have to rely on magic to get out of innings...which, luckily they seem to be able to conjure lately...look, they're both young and still trying to adjust to big AL bats...not an easy thing I would imagine, but these cardiac kids need pitch a little more to contact and trust the D or else we're in for some long nights and and overtaxed bullpen...

Speaking of the bullpen, we come to Craig Hansen again...been here once before, it's worth expounding...1.2 IP in this one, 2 ER...yes, Tito, he throws hard, but you say you like his "stuff." You're probably saying that to keep the kid's spirits up because I would think that by now you know the difference between gas and stuff...Hansen throws gas, no doubt there...kid hits 98+ on the gun...but he doesn't have stuff...stuff has life...it has character...it moves, it bobs, it weaves...anyone that saw Pedro throw his fastball in his prime knows what stuff is...it's a fastball that starts out in one vector and then somehow (whether this is perception or not is irrelevant) darts to another...sometimes the ball seems to actually leap to another path on the way to the plate...sometimes it's just the mythical late life or late action where the ball stays on the same line but seems to get a turbo boost as it nears the catchers mitt...describe it how you like, it's not easy to explain, but it's easy to see...the first time I saw Petey's fastball I just stared pop-eyed afterwards and thought "What the hell was that???" Now, granted, his stuff included gas...it was flying in there at 97 with late movement and a little special Pedro attitude to go along with it, so I don't expect that kind of stuff from everyone...everyone's stuff is different, but one thing's for sure, you need stuff to make it in this game unless you're the rarest of the rare...the guys like Maddux, Hoffman and maybe now Schilling who are so accurate and so smart about the art of pitching that they can use guile to get outs...Hansen doesn't have great stuff...as I've said before, the kid throws it hard but it's about as straight as can be...as a hitter, that's cake...you see the guy once and it's done...and I don't mean one at-bat...I mean one pitch...any big league hitter can get a pitchers timing down...that's what they do...you've seen one 98 mph fastball, you've seen them all, so one pitch might remind you "hey, I need to swing earlier" and then you do, bam...it's that easy...the kid's got a decent curve and slider but he can't get them over consistently, so it always comes to having to throw an arrow of a fastball at 98 right down the pike...so, Tito, you're a smart guy...this game was 5-1 when you brought him in...no no no...let's apply a formula, and since I'm a helpful guy, here it is:

Innings Remaining in Game + Runs Ahead - (Planned Hansen Innings * Hansen's Current ERA) - Desired Lead in 9th (3 constant) = Safe to Pitch Hansen

Simply, if "Safe to Pitch Hansen" is negative, you don't pitch him...applying that formula to last night's game would give us:

4 + 4 - (2 * 5.4) - 3 = -5.4

DON'T PITCH HANSEN!!!

That simple...sure enough, it's a 5-3 game when he gets out of there with a couple of innings left...we just happened to tack on the extra run to feel good about the 9th, but ya just never know...a couple of things about the formula...you may have noticed that Runs Ahead, if less than 3 and including if we're trailing (i.e. - Runs Ahead) pretty much means don't pitch him (his ERA would have to be in the low 1s to make that work at all)...yes, that's right...this means that he should NOT PITCH IN CLOSE GAMES UNTIL HIS ERA IS TINY!!! The only exception to this formula is if Runs Ahead is -6 or less, then we can pitch him to see if he can lower that ERA a bit for the next time...

So, there you go Tito and Mr. Farrell...it's that simple...use the handy dandy Craig Hansen formula from here on out and we should be all set...like I said, we took him out, tacked on a run and got the 6-3 win...the pop came from the corners with Youk and Mikey Lowell providing 2-run HRs in this one...

Saw more of the second game and this was a trademark "The knuckler is dancing tonight!" game from the Wake...Tigers hitters were baffled and became more and more aggressive as they were more and more baffled which only makes them worse hitters (it really is a vicious circle)...Papi and Manny went back to back, Manny's 497th on the way to Cooperstown, and that right there was more than we'd need after some small ball runs early...5-0 Sox win including a pretty easy 9th from Timlin, and we're half-way to a road sweep in Motown...not going to count those chickens since their better pitchers (of late and overall) are coming up, but I'll take the first two in hand...Sox 5th win in a row and let's hope they have a little mo building here...Buchholz on the hill tonight against some angry Tigers...

GO SAWX!!!