Series Wrap-up: Rays & Red Sox
They say rain is a good thing for farmers and perhaps today it was a good thing for the Red Sox as well. After dropping the first two games of the 3 game set to the Rays, the finale was postponed on Wednesday night and will be made up in August (dates to be finalized). Maybe this break will do the Red Sox some good. Maybe this break will give them a chance to regroup and get back to the basics. Maybe this break will give them a chance to look at each other in the clubhouse and realize that in order to win, no one else will do it for them, they have to do it themselves.
Ok, so Red Sox Nation was relieved when their beloved Red Sox won the series against the Yankees over the weekend. Then the struggling Tampa Bay Rays come to town. That’s a perfect opponent right? Wrong! The tone was set when Dice-K faced just his second batter of the evening on Monday, a familiar face in Johnny Damon. The first pitch Damon saw he belted to right and into the Ray’s bullpen for his second home run of the season. And when it rains this season it really pours. Dice-K had nothing after that and everything was flat and over the heart of the plate. He gave up 7 runs, all earned, on 8 hits, in just two innings of work. Quite frankly, Dice-K was horrific. After that, well the bullpen didn’t fair much better as the Red Sox used 3 more relievers and eventually lost 16-5. It was an ugly game and the Fenway faithful let the home team know it on many occasions with steady boos pouring out from the stands.
Tuesday night’s contest saw two dominant lefties square off in David Price against Jon Lester. It was a tight game throughout, with the Red Sox grabbing a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd thanks to Darnell McDonald’s first long ball of the year. When the top of the 5th rolled around, the Rays stung Lester for 3 earned runs that were capped off by a Damon two run single up the middle. Jed Lowrie brought home Dustin Pedroia on an RBI double, but that’s as close as the Red Sox would come, losing the game 3-2. Price was excellent against the Sox and Lester was equally dominating, aside from one inning.
Series Monstah’
This one is a little tougher to pick, due to a short series and really no outstanding performances by anyone. But, Jed Lowrie did do his best to prove to both Terry Francona and Theo Epstein that he deserves more playing time and the Red Sox are a better ball club with him in the line-up. Lowrie went 3 for 5 over the two games, with 1 RBI and 1 walk. His defensive throws were clean and crisp and judging by his performances, he’ll be back in the lineup this weekend.
The Last Word:
Yes, the Red Sox are only 2-9 on the season, but look at this number. They still have 151 more games to play and get themselves back into the division race. You can pretty much throw a 100 win season out the window, but a realistic shot at a 95 win season and the division are still a strong possibility. The Sox just have to get it going soon, real soon.
On Deck:
The young, upstart Toronto Blue Jays will make their way to Boston for a four game series against the Red Sox. The series begins Friday night and will conclude Monday afternoon on Patriots Day, with the Red Sox annual 11:00am start to the game.
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