3-24-08: Sox 1 - Mariners 3

This game was a duel of starting pitchers. Unfortunately, Jose Contreras gave up a few runs and lost the game because of that. His performance was outstanding though. I believe that Jose is ready for the season and that last year's poor performance was a fluke. His personal problems are mostly behind him and he should be ready to concentrate on baseball.

Ichiro was a thorn in the Sox side in the game. He hit a single, a double, stole two bases, walked once and scored once. The bullpen held the Mariners scoreless though. That is a great sign! Once the bell rings next week, there are no do-overs. Everything will count. I think the Sox will be ready.

The good:
Jose Contreras was dominating for the majority of his outing.

Nick Swisher tripled and scored.

The bad:
Toby Hall had a single. His average is now at .077.

The Sox kept giving up doubles to the Mariners.

The ugly:
No Sox player walked today.

Thome and Anderson combined to go 0 for 7 with 4 strikeouts.

The anemic hitting needs to come around. The Sox can't expect to win games when the team only gets 7 hits, 1 run and no walks. Jarrod Washburn threw 7 shutout innings, so the Sox can't be blamed entirely when they run up against a great pitching performance.