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John Kruk on M&M: ‘They have to do something’ about slow pace of Sox-Yankees games 08.09.11 at 2:54 pm ET
By Tyler Murray

John Kruk

ESPN baseball analyst John Kruk joined Mut & Merloni Tuesday afternoon for his weekly interview to discuss the ins-and-outs of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry, including how slowly the games were played this past weekend. To hear the full interview, check out the Mut & Merloni audio on demand page.

Boston’s 2-1 Sunday night victory over New York lasted four hours and fifteen minutes, which will reportedly prompt a letter from the MLB. Despite the excitement of Josh Reddick‘s 10th inning walk-off RBI, Kruk admitted that the pace of the first 9 1/2 innings made the game tough to watch.

“They have to do something,” Kruk said. “You’re going to a ball game, and the beauty of baseball is there’s no time, but according to the rule book there is time. I understand TV, two minutes between innings, that can cause some issues. But to me, the rule is 12 seconds from once the pitcher gets the ball to when he should throw it, 12 seconds according to the rule book.

“We were timing them. [Angels pitcher Jered] Weaver was averaging 25 to 26 to 28 seconds, [Josh] Beckett sometimes was over 30 seconds, [Yankees pitcher Freddy] Garcia‘s never going to be in a hurry to do anything. And then we watched Derek Lowe pitching for the Braves last night. He was seven to eight seconds, nine seconds. [Tim] Wakefield was eight to nine seconds last night against Minnesota, and the games seemed to be quicker-paced games. I understand with runners in scoring position, shaking off and stuff because you want to make sure you got the right pitch, but I mean, there’s no one on base and it’s taking 30, 40 seconds to throw a pitch, there’s some problems.

“We’ve been getting killed about the lethargic play and Beckett taking his time. [Garica]‘s in no rush either. I always knew that when I was excited for a game and amped up for a game, when a guy was slow and delivered taking his time, sometimes you expand the strike zone just to speed things up, just because you’re impatient. You can put a clock on [Garcia], it’s going to be really, really slow whenever he pitches and with Beckett going against him, jeez, was that long.”

When the game did come to an end, the Red Sox emerged with a 2-1 series victory and sole posession of first place in the American League East. Kruk still has Boston as his pick to win the AL pennant, but he was hesitant to crown them World Series favorites.

“I’m going to say they’re the best team in the American League,” said Kruk. “I think the Phillies, with the addition of Hunter Pence, might have taken a step ahead. Not a big step, but a step ahead and it really balances out their lineup, add the right-handed bat in there to hit behind Ryan Howard. I mean, the Red Sox are just, oh my god, they just kill people. It’s fun to watch.”

Kruk had similar praise for the Yankees, who have a seven game lead in the Wildcard entering Tuesday.

“The thing is they’ve taken Alex Rodriguez out of that lineup and they haven’t missed a beat. They’re actually scoring more runs without him in the lineup than they were with him in there. It is amazing too because when you look at the Yankees lineup you think, ‘OK, well there’s a hole here maybe, a hole here, you can get around this guy, [Mark] Teixeira can be pitched to if you make good pitches,’ but at the end of the night they score seven runs a game. They are amazing. I know the rivalry and everything and Boston hates the Yankees and all that stuff, respects them but doesn’t like them, but you have to give credit to the Yankees this year with the way they’re playing with guys having years that aren’t typical years.”

New York’s ace, CC Sabathia, is having a typically dominant year, against just about every team except Boston. After Saturday’s 10-4 loss, Sabathia is now 0-4 with a 7.20 ERA in four starts against the Red Sox in 2011. Against the rest of the league, he’s 16-2 with a 2.11 ERA. Kruk shared a few theories about this phenomenon.

“Sometimes even the players are amazed, like, ‘How are we doing this against him?’ because you don’t really know,” he said. “You can be scientific about it and say he pitches differently to the Red Sox than he does to other teams because of that great lineup. And a lot of it just could be basically they had his pitches and he’s tipping his pitches and they have them all. The lefties against him are having great at-bats, I mean really good at-bats against him. [Adrian] Gonzalez took him deep earlier in the season, [Jacoby] Ellsbury of course on Saturday took him deep, so the lefties are having really good at-bats against him and that doesn’t usually happen.”

Although the Yankees’ prized left-handed starter has struggled against the Red Sox so far this season, Kruk said Boston needs to find a consistent left-handed reliever if the team expects to contend deep into the playoffs.

“I always hated it, I always hated when teams had that one lefty that could come out. It’s vital to have someone who can come in. Most teams, they have that one lefty. The Yankees are going to have [Robinson] Cano, Texas is going to have Josh Hamilton if you play them in the postseason. So you have to have that lefty to come in, and even if it’s just that one guy, that could be the game-saver right there. And yeah, Franklin Morales, I don’t know where Terry Francona‘s confidence is on him. The stuff’s there. He has great stuff, but when you’re walking guys and not throwing pitches close to home plate, you can’t trust him.”

Read More: Derek Lowe, freddy garcia, jered weaver, John Kruk Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Babe Ruth Is Dead

    the game I watched was 3-2 not 2-1….

    the reason Francona trusts Morales is that he “trusts” everyone and is usually afraid to make a decision that “disrespects” (hate that word) a player…but BoSox fans have gotten used to it…because after all we love to win…and that is most important…

  • Gray

    Hmm I didnt find the game tough to watch because of the time Kruky boy.. Just because of the RLB and blown chances to easily break a game wide open. RedSox Yankee games are usually long.. Deal with it Kruk stop crying.

  • MstrFantastic

    Kruk seriously needs to shut up on this subject. Yeah they’re long but I don’t hear Sports chanels airing the games complaining. I don’t hear fans complaining how long they are. If the Umps are complaining, guess what…it is your JOB. No one has to do ANYTHING. Long games are fun to watch, good for making more ad revenue, better than watching World Poker reruns and provide more entertainment than Kruk’s 5 minute rant. #endrant

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