Baby I got your number

SPORTING GOODS

I used to groan when I would see that Rodrigo Lopez was facing the Red Sox. Like Ted Lilly, he just seemed to be one of those guys that killed them.

Looking at the numbers, it holds true. Coming into this year, Lopez was 10-5 against the Sox in 17 starts, with an ERA of 3.78, a batting average against of .246, and over 6Ks per 9 innings.

Not bad for a pitcher with a career ERA near 5, who would barely be over .500 without those wins. Those 10 wins represented 1/5 of Lopez's career total.

This year, Rodrigo is 0-3 against the Sox, with an ERA over 9.00. Law of averages? I say no. Fact is, this is a different offense than in years past. While Lopez strangely owned the high-scoring Red Sox of Damon-Mueller-Millar, this lighter hitting version with Lowell-Youk-Wily Mo has no reason to fear this mediocre pitcher throwing meatballs in a hitter's park.

Next up, if they could only figure out how to solve Lilly and Scott Kazmir...