What the hell happened to the Boston Red Sox in Pittsburgh, PA? I’m not talking about losing 2 out of 3 to the Pirates, nor am I talking about the quieter offensive production (9 runs in 3 games), I’m talking about the sloppy, pathetic play (as if you couldn’t tell from the post title). As a group this season, the Red Sox have been strong defensively, appearing near the top of the league in fielding percentage and with a low error-count, but after their 4-error showcase in Pitt, they are slipping. The series was a mess for both teams, with 10 combined errors, many of which were just awful lapses in focus. Playing in a NL park will hurt an AL team’s offense, but it should have no impact on their defense.
It was as if the team just didn’t show up to play in Pittsburgh. They looked weak offensively, poor defensively, leaving 29 men on base and committing 4 errors in 3 games. The team lacked a spark and seemed to be just going through the motions, not giving the Pirates enough credit for being a legit team this season. This Pirates team is not the team of the past several years where 50 wins is an accomplishment and 100 losses is the norm. They don’t hit well, but their pitching staff is drastically improved from last season and although they won’t likely be a playoff team this season, they need to be respected. Some blame the poor results on interleague play (no-DH in NL parks), but this team is in a funk and needs to climb out of it, regardless of where they are playing.
The type of the lineup the Red Sox have should not be drastically affected by removing 1 bat and, considering it removes a player who doesn’t play the field, it should have little to no impact on the defense. It is a case of lack of focus, plain and simple. If the Red Sox want to come back to Boston off of this NL road trip in 1st place in the AL East, they need to re-focus quickly. The next 3 games will be a much tougher challenge than Pitt with a trip to face the team with the best record in baseball, the Phillies. If the Red Sox continue to make mistakes in Philly, they will either lose 2 out of 3 or head to Houston swept, because the margin for error shrinks dramatically against such a high caliber team.
The Red Sox have come a long way this season, but the past week or so is a prime example of how far they still have to go in order to make waves in the post-season. You can’t give good teams extra outs and unearned runs, which is emerging as an area of weakness as of late, not to mention you can’t leave 10+ guys on base every game and expect to win. Almost halfway through the 2011 season, the Red Sox are looking like a strong contender, but have a lot of work to do.
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