Friar Watch

Jake Peavy: Wow. Jake is back to 2004/2005 form. 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 16 K. 9 strikeouts in a row. His slider was moving all over the place. Guys were swinging at balls they thought were strikes but LaForest was catching them two feet off the plate. MLB really needs to get the Enhanced Gameday system installed in all parks, I’d love to see tonight’s data.

Scott Linebrink: Faced four batters, struck out two and gave up a home run to make the score 2-1. Funny how even a new manager will stick with the roles the bullpen is comfortable with. Linebrink hasn’t been the best choice for the 8th inning for over a year at least but that’s his role so they keep running him out there. The Linebrink trade rumors have resurfaced lately, I think it might happen this time.

Trevor Hoffman: You can usually tell pretty quickly if Trevor is going to have a rough outing. If he’s not getting the first pitch over for a strike or if he doesn’t have command of his change up he’s forced to go with the fastball. That’s what happened tonight. After a walk he went to 3-1 on Drew and had to come in with his fastball. It was up in the zone and Drew was all over it. It hurts to lose a game where Jake pitched so well but these things happen.