May 20: Angels 6, White Sox 5

After putting together three really nice starts to open the month of May, Jake Peavy faceplanted last night at the Cell, essentially putting this game out of reach by the 3rd inning following an RBI single by Kendry Morales and sacrifice fly from Hideki Matsui. Peavy is quickly becoming the poster child for the "AL > NL" debate, the guy is just struggling in his first full season in the Junior Circuit. And it's not like he's just been facing a plethora of really, really good teams, he's had two starts a piece against Kansas City and Cleveland who are currently jockeying for that #2 overall pick in the 2011 Draft behind Baltimore, two more against the middle-of-the-road Blue Jays, and now a dud against the Angels, who have been good in recent memory but entered this series struggling as much as the Sox offensively. The only two really above average teams he's faced so far this year have been the Rangers and Rays. And yes, he was terrible in those two games, a combined 10.2 IP, 13 H, 12 BB, 12 K, and a slash line of .295/.446/.432 and ERA of 10.97. It has been a rough year for Jake.

After the game, he told reporters that he felt wholly responsible for last night's loss. So at least we all can agree on that; Peavy was easily the LVP last night, posting a -.271 WPA after his shaky 6 innings of work punctuated by a 2-run Juan Rivera HR in the 6th inning that really put the game away because, as it turned out, the Angels' bullpen needed every one of those runs.

The Sox MVP for the game was A.J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski posted a .131 WPA fueled by a 2-run, ground-rule double in the 8th inning that brought the Sox back within 1. That hit was worth .202 WPA and was, far and away, the biggest of the game. My only complaint: how does Juan Pierre not get awarded home? You're going to tell me that, with two outs, Pierre doesn't score from first if that ball just rattles around in the corner? Please. I'm so jaded about this Sox team, however, that all that call did was probably save us from losing an hour later. May as well save the arms for interleague, we stand a chance to win a few there!

Pierzynski's hit was immediately followed by a fly-out to center from Andruw Jones, worth -.173 WPA and the biggest out of the game. Jones posted a -.214 WPA and was completely ineffective at the plate last night; his only positive at bat occurred in the 1st when he drew a walk, otherwise, the Sox were worse off every time he stepped to the plate. Jones' renaissance was one of the big, positive storylines of the early 2010 season, but over the last few weeks, he's really hit a wall; since May 4, Jones is batting .170/.259/.298. This is especially troubling considering that it was about this deep into last season when Jones' renaissance in Texas fell apart, as FanGraph's Joe Pawlikowski points out.

Sustained Mediocrity: Maybe this happens more often that I realize, but now that we're 40 games into the season I find it very interesting that the Sox have been 4-6 in every 10-game block so far. 4-6 after 10, 8-12 after 20, 12-18 after 30, and now 16-24 after 40. They've been remarkably, consistently mediocre, especially over the past 20 games, which has to be the lamest roller coaster ride ever; since sweeping Seattle at the end of April the Sox have yet to win consecutive games, have only lost consecutive games three times, and haven't lost more than 2 in a row. It's basically been win-loss-win-loss, which, I suppose, makes me confident for tonight's game against Florida.