After an weird, but great outing from Jon Lester on Friday night, the Sox turned to their Cy Young candidate Clay Buchholz to win game 2 against Matt Garza. Buchholz did everything he could to push the Sox to victory, but it just wasn’t enough as the Sox offense struggled, collecting 10 hits, but only pushing 2 runs across in the 3-2 loss in 10 innings. The loss now puts all the pressure back on the Red Sox to salvage the series with a victory on Sunday, a game crucial to keep themselves in the hunt for October. These types of games are always painful to watch, because Buchholz gave the Sox all he had, lowering his league-leading era to 2.21, but has nothing to show for the outing except a team loss.
The other bright spot of the game was Victor Martinez, who homered for the 3rd time in this series in the 8th inning to put the Sox temporarily on top 2-1. He also had 3 other hits in the ball game, finishing 4 for 5 with an rbi and 2 runs scored and now has 9 hits in his last 4 games and has hit in 9 of his last 11 games, pounding 3+ hits in 4 of those contests. His hot streak is great to see, but may have come too late for the Sox, who now have a 5.5 game deficit again with just 31 games to play. A win on Sunday would salvage the opportunity to gain ground on the Rays and put the Sox 1 game closer than they were on Thursday at 4.5 out of the AL Wild Card. With 9 games left against the Yankees and Rays, there still is hope, but it’s shrinking daily.
When watching last night’s game, about the 6th inning, it felt as if this was going to be either an extreme heart-breaker or a lucky win. The problem that the Sox have had, is being able to back their best pitching performances with run support. This Sox team has scored the 2nd most runs in baseball this year (behind the Yankees) and have been able to put up big, crooked numbers on the scoreboard, but when they need to scrape together a run or two in support of an excellent outing from a starter, the team tends to look lost at the plate. Yes, they are facing some of the best pitching in baseball in the AL East, but that does not excuse their 8 left on base on Saturday or their 7 left on base on Friday, in a game that should have been much more comfortable than 3-1.
Ultimately, they Sox need W’s and they need them fast and in bunches. I can analyze for days all of the reasons they are in the position they are in now, some due to tough injuries and some due to the play on the field, no matter who is on the field. It seems that in close games instead of buckling down and focusing more, the Sox commit a costly error or make a mistake that ends up hurting (Buchholz’s errant pick-off). On Friday night, the Sox tried to give the Rays a victory by throwing 3 wild pitches (2 in 1 inning leading to a run) and committing a throwing error, but luckily for the Sox, Lester was able to keep them in the game.
As I have been saying for a few weeks now, the Sox are going to do just enough to keep us strung along, then miss the playoffs with a week or 2 remaining in the season. They can’t seem to make a big push or fall back, but just take baby steps forward and then backwards to remain in the discussion. It is always tough to be in a position for needing a big push late to make the post-season, but this year just feels like it is going to be an even more heart-breaking season come September. I sure a hell hope I am wrong…
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