Projo Sox Blog

Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning. This will be the last edition of SoxTalk this week, as I will be on vacation. We'll return after the Bronx trip on Monday. The topics: the Manny backlash, the weirdness of Tropicana Field, Justin Masterson's control problems, and Tim Wakefield being just the man the Sox need to take the hill tonight.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

Fans' reaction to the Manny story: "I think that there is a segment of the fan base that is particularly loyal to Manny, and believes probably that this is being overplayed, and that this is some sort of camaign by people to make Manny look bad. And I think that there are some pretty staunch Manny fans who think that maybe he crossed the line this time. ... Whether there will be any sort of backlash against him, or whether in a week's time [when the Sox return to Boston] its all forgotten as another Manny moment and an episode that's in the past, I don't know."

Masterson: "The key for him ... is to throw more strikes, which he has not been doing lately. Nine walks in his last two starts ... and the thing that really hurt him last night was walks with two outs. Twice -- in the fourth and fifth innings -- he had two outs and was one out away from getting himself out of the inning when he issued walks, and at one point gave up a two-run homer, and then a run-scoring single. So they produced three runs, and really that was the difference last night. He needs to stay ahead, and he was saying [after the game] that there's probably some focus issues ... You kind of get the feeling that a young pitcher thinks that there's two outs and isn't bearing down as hard to get that third out as he was in getting the first two, and before you know it there's a big inning."

Wakefield: "Combination of Wakefield always having success, or most often having success, in domed stadiums -- something about this atmosphere that seems to benefit the knuckleball -- and this lineup is kind of the perfect storm for Wakefield. And then you add in the fact that he is on a good roll, and he would seem to be just the guy to turn this thing around for the Red Sox this evening."

 Tags  Justin Masterson Manny Ramirez Sean McAdam SoxTalk Tampa Bay Rays Tim Wakefield

---