A Tail Between the Legs

Well, the Sox played well this weekend eh? It's not even sad, it's infuriating. It's infuriating because the lowly Rays are playing smarter than the Red Sox. The Red Sox are playing, to be frank, like a bunch of pussies. Let's look at the positives and negatives of this series:

Positives:

• Josh Beckett is healthy. If by some stretch of the imagination the Sox stave off the surging Mantas from St. Pete, we at least have someone that we can throw in the fire and know that he's going to give a Texas-sized effort and impose his will on the outcome of the game.
  
• Offensively Mike Aviles can swing the stick. He is a year removed from hitting .300 for the KC Royals and Fenway's atmosphere and ballpark dimensions really seem to suit him.
  
• Jonathan Papelbon owns the Rays. That is all that needs to be said regarding that.
  

That's it. A 4-game series we have 3 goddamn positive points.

Negatives:

• Jon Lester where art thou? Where is the guy that everyone said is the Ace of the Staff? Your stuff is undeniably excellent but when the Boston Red Sox need the cornerstone of their rotation to step up and pitch like an Ace you puke on your shoes. Yes, you got deeper into the ballgame than most of the other guys had done in the last 2 weeks but your offense didn't even get to hit before they were in a 2-0 hole. For the first time in your Big League career I do not have confidence in the Big Lefty, and that hurts.
  
• The base running blunders are disgusting. What the hell is Jacoby Ellsbury doing? Why would you take the bat out of Pedroia's hands? You are the fastest guy on the field and will score on just about any single in the outfield. Giving away outs is unacceptable especially when your team is wilting like a September rose.
  
• Adrian Gonzalez goes 0-12 in the biggest series of the year. He's a little nicked up in the shoulder which is robbing some power to the opposite field. You're the best hitter on the Red Sox and you go 0-12? You can have a bad series and go 2-12 but 0-12 is unacceptable. Jeremy Hellickson is a very good pitcher. But you KNOW he's throwing changeups in fastball counts, when does someone sit on a change-up for one pitch? I understand if you sit change-up it's impossible to hit a fastball but for one at-bat? Someone needs to adjust and right now no one is.
  
• Jarrod Saltalamacchia is not a good catcher. Wakefield's knuckleball is violent. Does anyone that has watched this team not know that? If you can't catch it let it hit you in the goddamn chest protector and keep it in front of you. He has a great arm but his accuracy is so erratic that it negates his arm when he's throwing 5-6 feet to the right and left of the bag. Watching him catch is laborious and exasperating, and it's to the point where I don't think you can go through another season with him as you're primary backstop.
  
• The starting pitching not just in this series but for the last 2 weeks has been unacceptable. For a team with this payroll and postseason aspirations, consistently not getting through 5 innings is impermissible. Players need to be accountable for their performance and right now the performance is lackluster.
  
• Terry Francona is the leader of this (sinking) ship and right now he may be the only one that can right the situation. It may be time for Terry Francona to either lose his cool with his team or get tossed out on the field. Joe Maddon wasn't afraid to let his team play without him for a game when he got tossed the other night. It may be time for Francona to do the same. LIGHT THE FIRE.
  
• Defensively the Red Sox have been putrid, and there is one reason for it. They are playing tight. They know they have to make every play and some players aren't handling the pressure well. Cutoffs are there for a reason, HIT THEM. Back to the basics: throw the ball, catch the ball and hit the ball. Baseball is a simple game that gets made complex by people who think too much.
  
• Why did the Red Sox sign Carl Crawford if they are going to sit him in the biggest series of the year? I honestly don't care if he is 0 for 200 against David Price you need to win (or lose) with your best players on the field and you just sat your 20 million dollar player for Connor Jackson. If you're going to do that you might as well deal this guy in the offseason. He is hitting .313 during day games this year and shouldn't be sitting because a lefty is on the mound. It doesn't make sense. You don't sit a 20 million dollar a year player, PERIOD. Any confidence he had is gone and will not be repaired this year and hopefully it can be fixed next year.
  

The Sox have 10 games left that start with a double-header today, with Kyle Weiland followed by John Lackey. Let's say the Sox go 5-5 to end the season the Rays would have to go 7-3 and that is including 2 series against the Yankees. The Yankees don't have much to play for with a playoff berth just about sewn up, and if they feel they can beat the Rays more handily than Boston in the postseason, it would behoove them to essentially tank the 2 series against them. Despite the record against the Sox this year, I think their best chance would be against the Red Sox and not the Rays in a 7 game series.

So basically it's a race to 6 games for Boston because the odds of the Rays winning 8 of the next 10 are going to be monumental. If the Sox only win 5 the Rays could very easily go and win the next 3 series and force a playoff game, especially with the Yankees not having any motivation to win any games.

All you can ask at the end of a season is to control your own destiny. The Red Sox have that luxury because of how well they played between May and August. But if the Red Sox can't pitch better, limit their errors, or stop running themselves into outs and out of innings they will be playing golf and the Greatest Team Ever Assembled will be the Choke Artists of the Century.

Stay Tuned

Norton