Live by the knuckleball, die by the knuckleball

Some days you just can’t hit Wake’s knuckleball even with a bat the size of a cricket bat. Last week, Wake thoroughly shut down one the National League’s best teams, the Philadelphia Phillies, as he went 8 innings, and allowed only 5 hits, 2 walks, and no runs.

Today, Wake was back up on the mound at Fenway pitching against the lowly Royals, and his performance was the complete opposite. He couldn’t make it out of the 4th inning and his line for the day is ugly- 3.2 innings, 12 hits, 9 runs, all earned, 3 walks, and a home run. Sigh. Like I said, you live by the knuckleball, and you die by the knuckleball. This is typical of a knuckleballer’s total performances. One day totally unhittable, the next he’s serving up meatballs. Last year in Oakland, he had a no hitter going into the 8th inning. (It was a perfect game going into the 6th, and it was an error by a fielder that ended the perfect part.) Today’s conga line of relievers- Atchinson, Ramirez, Okajima, Nelson, and Hall- wasn’t too bad- 8 hits, 2 walks, and 3 more runs. Wait a minute! Hall? Yes, the outfielder Bill Hall. Jonathan Van Every had already been DFA’d and was not available. He actually fared well. In the 1 inning he pitched, it only took him 11 pitches to get the side out in order.

The offense put up 10 hits and 5 runs, but it just wasn’t anywhere near enough. Scutaro, Beltre, and Cameron all had multi-hit days. Papi hit a run scoring double and scored once himself. Martinez is still wielding a hot bat as he went 2/4, 1 run and 4 RBI’s.

 

Sox 5 Royals 12 BOX SCORE

UPDATE:  Hall’s 1-2-3 9th inning video