Monday, August 10, 2009

Escape from New York

The Red Sox limped out of New York this past weekend. They were not limping like they slightly twisted their ankle, they were limping like they blew out their ACL. The Red Sox were handed an embarrassing sweep, one that ballooned the Yankees lead in the AL East to 6.5 games.
In my mind the Sox and Yanks are at different levels, the Yanks have grown into a better team as the year has gone on. They righted the ship through a tough start, and since A-Rod returned they have been pretty great. The Sox on the other hand came out of the box quickly and their success has waned in the past two months.
I spent Saturday driving to Fairfield listening to the game. C.C. Sabathia sounded unhittable. Friday night, Burnett was unhittable, and so was Pettite on Sunday. Now I know good pitching stops good hitting, but in August? In the heat? The Sox cannot hit. They are hurt and more importantly, they have gotten old a little quicker than I thought they would. Lets take a look shall we?


1) Mike Lowell can barely run full speed and can really only play 3 or 4 days a week...
2) Ortiz is just slow and old. I don't know who gives second baseman more infield practice J.D. Drew or Ortiz. Brutal....
3) Tim Wakefield is getting cortisone shots...yikes...
4) Jason Varitek
5) Jason Bay is struggling to hit. He is hurt but I think the whole contract issue is also affecting him...
Remember when we had "too much pitching?" Yeah so do I, it was in June. We were spoiled. We had Beckett, Lester, Wake, Daisuke, Penny, and Bucholtz was unhittable in AAA. The bullpen was the best in baseball (and is still up there) We were set. The offense was waiting for Ortiz to rise from his historic slump. Now we are stuck watching most of the hitters struggle at the plate. When will it end? Will it end?
The move for Victor Martinez was great, it filled four needs with one player. First base, third base, catcher, and DH. However, I am left to wonder if this team can make it through the next month and a half holding off the Tampa Bay Rays and the Texas Rangers. Both teams have been playing better baseball than the Sox. The Rays only trail the Sox by a game and a half in the East. They face them six more times this year. They also face the Yanks six more times.
The thing that worries me the most about this team is their inability in recent games to pull out close finishes. The bullpen is starting to lose games, like the 13 inning game against the Rays, the game Sunday night when Victor Martinez got the Sox the lead and the bullpen blew it. This trend is the scariest, because those games are the ones that wear you out. Those are the games that count, no matter how much you hear players say, "Its just one game." Many times that one game can lead to a streak, in either direction.
The Sox need to put this weekend behind them and move on and start pulling out the close games. They have 7 weeks to get their act together.

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