Last night, Eric Gagne entered the 8th inning trying to preserve a 5-1 Red Sox lead over the Orioles.  Then, the game fell apart.  Gagne gave up 4 ER in 1/3 IP and blew the game. The bottomline is without Gagne, the Sox would've easily won yesterdays game, using the combo of Okajima and Papelbon. Gagne has had only 4 appearances for BOS.  In 3 of them he's given up at least a run.  He's given up a total of 6 ER in those 4 appearances....not good.  Before he came to the Sox, Gagne's ERA was 2.16.  The ERA has shot up since then to 3.44!  So the question is should the Sox consider putting Okajima back in the 8th inning and push Gagne back to the 7th at least for now? 

The one and only bad thing about bringing Gagne here was that it messed up the perfect 2007 combination of Okajima and Papelbon in the 8th and the 9th.  It's kind of unfair to push Okajima and his near 1 ERA back to the 7th after such a successful season.  Gagne seems to be pressing early and trying to impress his new team.  He needs to relax.  Pushing him back to the 7th for a while could help that, but maybe time will just help the Sox new set-up guy.  Gagne has been far from effective so far, but he should get back to normal soon.  I do feel a lot more confident with Okajima out there, however, so I wouldn't be opposed to moving Okajima back to the 8th inning spot.  We'll have to wait and see what happens.  The name Eric Gagne may keep him there over Okajima, but if it continues to hurt the Sox, then there could be a switch soon.

UPDATE:AUGUST 12, 2007: GAGNE BLOWS IT AGAIN!!!

What the heck is wrong with Gagne?  Are the Yanks paying him to be this bad???  He blows his 2nd game in 3 days and is the ONLY reason why the Sox lost 2/3 this weekend.  Without Gagne, the Sox would've easily swept the Orioles, because of the simple combination of Okajima and Papelbon.  There would be no 4 game lead...it would be 6.  I am now demanding that Francona take Gagne out of the set-up spot at least for now!  We can't let him blow any more games.  He should move back a spot to the 7th inning.  This way the better combo goes back into action and Gagne will start pitching in less-stressful situations.  Hopefully, that will allow him to relax and maybe get him somewhat back to normal.  This trade is turning out to be awful!  Here come the Yanks...thanks a lot Eric!!!!!