Here's the thing that most bothers me about Keith Foulke. Not that he ****** last year. Not even that he's been pitching arguably well-numbers wise-this year and still somehow manages to give fans an uneasy feeling. I say, arguably well because his stats show he's been pretty decent with 24-plus innings pitched, 19 ks and 3 walks. But my gut tells me otherwise.

Two years ago, I used to have this calm, soothing feeling when Foulkie took the mound. This year: not so much. Evidenced by him giving back-to-back home runs last night in the ninth inning. And everyone says it's okay b/c we had a 9-1 lead going into the inning anyways, but that's not the point. That doesn't mean you slack off just because you're ahead. You play every night, every batter as if you were in the bottom of the ninth with the tying run on third.

That's how you pitch regardless what the scoreboard says. So, no, it's NOT okay he pitched that way just b/c we won anyways.

But I digress, and I still have to tell you what really irks me about Foulke. It's his annoying habit of getting so angry after giving up a bomb late in the game. That camera shot where you see him dropping F-bombs and getting all huffy and puffy.

Don't do that Keith, it's your own fault for throwing a meatball down the center of the plate! And don't give me this "it's all mental thing," either b/c with $7 million dollars a year, I'm sure you could afford to get that head of yours straitened out.

So, let's just wait and watch as Kieth Foulke keeps pounding his fist every time someone takes him deep and we DON'T have the luxury of an eight-run lead!

There's a reason managers use pitch counts. When Curt Schilling threw 133 pitches, he went over his pitch count and I don't think he's been the same since. It hasn't been night and day such as Josh Beckett pre-Cleveland Indians and Josh Becket post-Cleveland Indians, but he certainly threw some meatballs in Yankee Stadium last night.

I don't care how well you're pitching, that's what we have a bullpen for. Why risk a multitude of possible shaky starts for the sake of one win. Besides, if the starter's doing so well, you should be leading and can depend on a combo of relievers to close the deal if need be.

So that's just it, Francona should have never let Schilling start the last inning, we were leading, Cleveland's offense had been shut down and the momentum wasn't going to return in the final innings. Now you have Curt coming out and he doesn't look the same, he's hanging balls right over the plate, getting behind hitters early, and American League hitters will make him-and the Sox-pay.

It's called pacing yourself...it's only May and I'd like our pitchers ready to go come October, thank you very much!

Oh yeah...at the same time Bronson Arroyo was earning his fifth win, WIlly Mo Pena hit an inning-ending fly ball to left field with the bases loaded.

Enuff said...

Welcome home Doug, needless yo say we missed you. Call me cold but I don't feel bad for Josh Bard, he did his best, he tried his hardest, blah blah. Just get him out of here and let him lose games for the Padres.

Last night's game vs. the Yankees was no doubt the best of the season thus far, with all the melodrama of Damon coming back, Mirabelli coming here and getting naked in a state trooper's backseat during a 12-minute ride from Logan to Fenway.

Cap it off with a great pitching effort by Wake and seeing Big Papi's 3-run shot sail over the clean-cut head of Johnny Damon in the bottom of the eighth.

Little tidbit that made me laugh: Knowing Doug Mirabelli caught the first inning with no cup on. To quote the big Schill "He's either the bravest guy out there or the dumbest one."

So tonight we see Wonderboy Josh Beckett take the mound after being spanked by Cleveland just a week ago. I'll be at the game tonight, confident Wonderboy will bounce back and it'll be a clean sweep of the first series in the '06 saga.

Check back in after tonight's festivities....