Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Back on track in Baltimore
Click the play button below to hear Sean's comments, recorded this morning in Seattle. The topics: Boston's bullpen on a hot streak, Manny's 500th home run, David Ortiz's injured wrist and the fantastic debut of Cincinnati's Jay Bruce.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:
On the weekend series: "If you had said a week ago that the Red Sox were going to come home with a .500 record [on the current road trip -- something that hasn't been decided quite yet] and do it on the strength of a bullpen and an offense that suddenly was very much in gear, I think people would have had a pretty hearty laugh over that. You look at how the trip started: 1-5 in Oakland and Seattle, where the offense was almost nonexistent, and the bullpen wasn't very trustworthy, and then they got to Baltimore, had the day off, and it was like someone flipped a switch. They start cranking out the runs and getting very good relief from a number of guys in the bullpen, and turned the trip around."
On Ramirez: "I don't think there's any question, having seen him the last couple of weeks, he would joke about it before the games and with his teammates in the clubhouse, but I think it was wearing on him, the fact that it took so long to get not only 500 but 499. He hit three home runs I think in the span of 25 or so games -- that's certainly not usual and normal production for Manny. So the fact that he got 500 on Saturday night I think does remove some pressure from him, whether it be self-induced or not, and the fact that he hit one yesterday indicates that, you know, he might be able to cut loose now. Everybody has stopped watching and stopped anticipating every at-bat, and things can return to normal for him."
