Very Long Weekend Ends With Sox Embarrassment

Saturday night's tough extra inning defeat, coupled with the Patriots' hardships in California were made bearable because Jon Lester was pitching on Monday. Jon Lester would make things good again for Boston sports fans. Jon Lester would shut down the Rays, and the Sox would be up 2-1 in the ALCS.

Jon Lester came, he saw, he got knocked around.



He dominated the first two innings. The Rays drew a cheap run in the 2nd thanks to a missed strike call, a passed ball, and a bloop single. But Lester fell apart in the 3rd, giving up a single, a double, and a pair of homeruns. He put himself together and pitched well after that, but sufficient damage had been done.

Why was 5 runs enough to end a game in the 3rd inning?

Because this offense has decided not to hit, or at least not to hit at the right times. Ortiz + Youkilis + Drew = 1 for 12 with a single and 5 Ks. Ellsbury is 0 for his last 20. Ortiz is 1 for his last 17. It's one thing to have Varitek and Cora struggling, it's something entirely different to have your leadoff hitter and middle of the lineup slugger unable to do anything at the plate.



The offensive woes have been frustrating. But the starting pitching has given two very shabby performances the last two games. Had Beckett made a solid start Saturday night, the Sox would be up 2-1, not down 1-2. Playoff baseball is won and lost by pitching, not hitting. And for the last 19 innings, that pitching has been dreadful.

The news doesn't get much better. Andy Sonnanstine takes on Tim Wakefield Tuesday night. Sonnansitine pitched 13 innings against the Sox this year without allowing an earned run. Ellsbury, Pedroia, Ortiz, and Youkilis are a combined 10 for 55 (.182) against him. Wakefield, on the other hand, was 0-2 against Tampa, with a 5.87 ERA.

But anything can happen. And at the very least, we won't have to suffer through 4 Jason Varitek at-bats. And at least none of our pitchers worship Satan.



Finally, did you know that Rocco Baldelli is from Woonsocket, RI? You'd think the TBS guys might have mentioned it at least once.

Commandor
Boston Blood

Sox 5, Tigers 0

The Tigers were one of the trendy picks to win it all by the experts before the season. But now they're 0-7. I know it's early, but getting swept by the Royals is inexcusable.

The Red Sox got their World Series rings, then beat up on Detroit. But it wasn't as bad of a beating as it could have been. Kenny Rogers had nothing, but the Sox only managed three runs off him, two by sac-fly, and one thanks to a throwing error. The Sox never got the big hits against Rogers to really do some damage and pull away from the Tigers.

Thankfully, Daisuke didn't need much run support. He's looked sensational in his two starts on this continent. Although he allowed 4 walks and 4 hits, he struck out 7 and was never in much danger of giving the game up. He's currently 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA, and a league leading 21 strikeouts.

I would have liked to see Francona leave Daisuke in the game to finish the 7th. He was pitching fine, and was only at 108 pitches, which isn't a high count for Matsuzaka. But Francona pulled him. If it had been Curt Schilling in that situation, Terry wouldn't have dared take him out in the middle of an inning.

This was the fourth different Opening Day for the Red Sox, fifth if you count Spring Training games in Dodger Stadium. The Red Sox have played three teams, in four cities, three countries, and three time zones. If you count the exhibition series with the Dodgers, they've played four teams, in five cities, in six ballparks. Crazy.

-The Commodore