Series Wrap-up: Jays Ugly Sweep over Red Sox
Three steps forward and two giant steps back. It kind of sounds like a bad country music song doesn’t it?
Bad doesn’t really describe the latest debacle in what has been a season of ups and downs for the Red Sox so far in 2011. In fact words like disgustingly ugly is more accurate. After taking 3 of 4 from the Twins at home, the Sox were swept in a 2 game mini-series by the Blue Jays in Toronto.
But what makes this sweep so disheartening was the performance by John Lackey. Lackey got the call on Wednesday and once again the team needed him to eat some innings due to an overworked bullpen of late. Well, Lackey went 6.2 innings, but he was anything but productive. After he was finally pulled in the 7th, Lackey would be tagged for 9 runs on 9 hits and walked 5. His record drops to 2-5 while his ERA balloons to 8.01. All the weight that Lackey lost this off season has been put on to his ERA this year. Aside from the performance from Lackey, the Red Sox got kicked 9-3. His last two outings combined produce even uglier stats: 10.2 IP, 19 hits, 17 earned runs, 8 walks and only 2 K’s. Ouch.
The night prior saw Jon Lester on the mound and the way he has been rolling of late it was looking good for a Red Sox win. But even Lester is entitled to an off night and that’s what happened on Tuesday. Lester gave up 3 runs in the first and despite the offense bouncing back to tie the game all night long, it was Matt Albers who served up the winning run and saddled with the loss in a 7-6 Jays win. Lester would only go 5.1 innings while surrendering 5 runs on 7 hits. He walked 5 and struck out 5 on a night where he didn’t have his best stuff.
Series Monstah’
Without a doubt the Monstah’ was Adrian Gonzalez. He continued his torrid pace at the plate by belting out 3 home runs in the two games and collecting 4 RBI. What’s more impressive is all 3 of his homers were to the opposite field (left) which is what Red Sox fans had been waiting for. Gonzalez is starting to heat up and is becoming more dangerous with every trip to the plate. Thanks in part to his nice little performance in Toronto, Gonzalez is now batting .329 on the season, has an OBP of .378 and SLG of .566.
The Last Word:
The Red Sox had a chance to win the opener of this series but couldn’t get it done. They were only 5-14 with runners in scoring position which is the same old story for this club. A couple of positives out of the two games in Toronto saw both David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez homer in each game. In fact, the Red Sox rocked the Jays pitching on Tuesday for 16 hits but could only muster 6 runs. Rookie shortstop Jose Iglesias also saw his first start at short on Wednesday, and while he was solid on defense he proved why he’s not ready for the big leagues. Iglesias was 0-3 at the plate and he looked like he was guessing a lot of the time, swinging at pitches that weren’t even close.
Will this ball club ever reach the .500 plateau? They were sure in good shape to do so after the Minnesota series and now with the Bronx the next stop, it doesn’t appear the .500 mark will be the Red Sox record anytime in the near future.
On Deck:
After an off day on Thursday, the Red Sox travel to New York to take on the evil empire for 3 games starting Friday night. For more on this series look for my post Series Snapshot.
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