the cheese stands alone

i'm going to go out on a limb here & taking the far less popular view on Eric Gagne.

he didn't ask to come to Boston. he specifically said that he didn't want to go somewhere that didn't need a *closer*. and from everything i've read, heard & seen, closers have a certain mindset. Gagne is not "mentally wired" to be the set-up man. and before anyone gets all critical of that statement, look at what happened when we brought Cheerio Mouth in for the eighth inning against the Yankees: complete & total meltdown.

prior to last night, Gagne had not given up a run that ended in a Sox loss since August 17. he did give up one run to the Rays back on September 11, but it was in a game that the Sox were winning 16-9 at the time.

August 2 (vs Baltimore): pitched the 9th, gave up one run, Sox win 7-4.
August 4 (at Seattle): pitched the 8th, gave up one run, Sox win 4-3.
August 8 (at Anaheim): pitched the 8th, gave up no runs, Sox win 9-6.
August 10 (at Baltimore): pitched first out of the 8th, gave up four runs, Sox lose 6-5.
August 12 (at Baltimore): pitched the last two outs of the 8th, gave up the tying run & credited with a blown save, Sox lose 6-3 in the tenth on a Millar home run off Kyle Snyder.
August 14 (vs Tampa): pitched the 9th, gave up no runs, was credited with the Sox win 2-1, on a Mike Lowell walk-off homer.
August 17 (vs Anaheim): pitched the 9th, gave up three runs, was credited with a blown save & a loss when the Sox lose 7-5.
August 19 (vs Anaheim): pitched the 9th, gave up no runs, Sox lose 3-1.
August 22 (at Tampa): picthed the 9th, gave up no runs, Sox lose 2-1.
August 24 (at CWS): pitched the 9th, gave up no runs, Red Sox win 10-1.
August 26 (at CWS): pitched the 8th, gave up no runs, Red Sox win 11-1.
September 11 (vs Tampa): pitched the 9th, gave up one run, Sox win 16-10.
September 14 (vs NYY): pitched the 9th, gave up no runs, Sox lose 8-7 when Papelbon gives up three runs in the 8th and is credited with a blown save & a loss.
September 16 (vs NYY): pitched the 9th, gave up no runs, Sox lose 4-3.
September 18 (at Toronto): pitched the 8th, gave up three runs, credited with a blown save & a loss when the Sox lose 4-3.

the games in red are losses that can be linked in some way to Gagne's performance. while i would prefer there be none, of course, it is obvious that he has more games in which he does not cause Sox losses than games where he does damage. of the eleven games when he did not lose or contribute to losing a game, the Sox have won seven. the remaining four games, when the Sox lost, he came into an already losing situation, and gave up no runs. it's just those four glaring cases that he fell apart seem to be all people want to see.

i feel badly for him. if you watch him pitch, it clearly is not lack of effort or desire. i cannot imagine how supremely frustrating this must be for him.

let's look at something else:
Apr-Jul 2007: 16-17 in save opportunities, 23-25 in save opportunities
currently in 2007: 16-20 in save opportunities, 35-38 in save opportunities

Jon is clearly the better closer, but all i'm saying here is that he only has one fewer blown save than Gagne. it's unfortunate that we've not seen the caliber of reliever Gagne can actually be.

anyway.

the Orioles pick now to roll over & play dead against the Yankees. who are breathing their hot stinky breath down our necks. two-and-a-half games behind us.

hopefully Buchholz (this kid really needs a nickname!) can pull off another jaw-dropping performance in our favor tonight in his first away start. he's going opposite Litsch, who is 1-1 with a 7.20 ERA in two starts against the Red Sox this year, and who has gone 0-3 with a 10.37 ERA in his last three starts, earning only one win over the last eight. if we can't break it open against this kid, i am pressing the panic button.

with the Yankees starting Pettite against Baltimore, tonight is Must.Win.Ball. for Boston.
it would be nice if the Sox could actually pull of a freaking win already.