Dice-K

Can you believe it? Two consecutive quality starts by Dice-K; two consecutive starts without giving up a single run! After going seven shutout innings against the Jays on Patriots Day, Dice-K returned to the mound Saturday night, and threw eight shutout innings against the Angels, in their park. Tito had pulled Dice after seven innings and only 89 pitches against the Jays. But on Saturday, he allowed Dice to go eight complete, and to toss 115 pitches. The result was nine Ks, three walks, and best of all, a single hit. I don’t think there was a baserunner beyond second base all night. As a result, his ERA plummeted to around four, having been up in the stratospheric range only a week previously. What a turnaround!

In truth, these are the kind of numbers everyone had hoped for, when Dice first signed back in 2007. And even though he occasionally showed some brilliance over the past four years, too often, even when he had his good stuff going, he had to come out of games early. His pitch count would get away from him; or he would walk too many guys at critical stages of the game. (Think of Game Three in the 2007 Series.) I know that two great starts don’t mean he will have a great season; and I know there remains some concern about his durability over the course of the entire season - with thirty some starts. So maybe Tito will have to give him some rest occasionally. Or maybe we won’t worry about durability right now; maybe we’ll just be glad that he is helping the Sox dig their way out of that deep hole in which they found themselves at the start of the season. Everyone can worry about how strong Dice will be in September, once we get to September. Hopefully, it will matter in September. But let’s worry about it then, not now.

Yesterday, the Sox completed their sweep of the Angels with another outstanding start, this one from John Lackey, who for some reason, hadn’t shown us much of anything before yesterday. But Lackey continued the string of great performances by the starters, going eight shutout innings. Over the past nine games, including six on the road, Boston is 8-1, and no starter has given up more than two runs. Their collective ERA over that stretch is around one.

As this string of good pitching continues, it appears to confirm John’s theory of contagious pitching. It all started with Beckett and Lester, and then spread next to Dice-K. If yesterday indicates that it was spread to Lackey, and really Buckholz has been close this year, even if he’s off his 2010 form, and the pitching bug spreads to the entire staff, that will certainly help the Sox live up to their 2011 potential. Right now, they want to get their heads above water, the water level being .500. If they can get back to .500 after their atrocious start, then we can being to reassess this season. But first things first; right now let’s just continue the good pitching against the Orioles this week. Then we can think about the rest of the season. Go Sox.