I should be gloating up a storm, considering the Sox are up 3-0 in the third and Phil Hughes looks about as sharp as a butter knife. But I'm a Sox fan, and that means I'm paranoid. The source of my paranoia: Papelbon and Okajima are likely both unavailable tonight.
That means Matsuzaka has to go deep into the ballgame, and he's up around 50 pitches in the third inning. Gulp. If Dice K holds on to the lead through the middle innings, Francona is going to have to be creative with the bullpen - guys like David Aardsma and Julian Tavarez could be used in pressure situations. Tavarez reminds me more and more of Bob Stanley these days - boorish temperament, "meh" sinkerball, questionable salary.
Dice is up to 60 pitches through three ... the Sox are going to need to hit Hughes hard to hold this lead.
--Whittle