Reeling In Mid-Summer

The Boston Red Sox lost to the KC Royals in the rubber game of their three game set Wednesday by a score of 6-5. Julian Tavarez, who must be ejected from the rotation and shot on sight as soon as possible, failed to go five innings, giving up his usual five plus runs on too many base hits. To continue to let him pitch every fifth day would be ludicrous and would ensure further .500 play by the low-flying Bosox. Mike Lowell put it this way....I'll put it very differently. From the Hartford Courant.......

"We're actually fortunate. We've played, what, .500 baseball for over a month and we're up seven games? We've got to be lucky. We could be down seven games. We're almost dodging a bullet. I don't think anyone expected us to be up seven games at this point of the season."
"We don't want to be a .500 team. We feel we're a better team. You just don't put your hands up and give up."
In 22 games since June 22, the only consecutive victories for the Red Sox occurred July 2-5, a four-game stretch that included a sweep of the Devil Rays.
Since that sweep, the Red Sox have lost seven of 10, with five of the losses by one run."

Mike, I love ya, but c'mon. When the Red Sox were flying high earlier in the season, their pitching strong, their bullpen one of the best in baseball and their hitting good enough, every upcoming game was a sure victory in many of our minds. Now? Julian Tavarez is an utter failure who can't go five innings without giving up five plus runs. Tim Wakefield is a .500 pitcher. Always was, always will be. Curt will be coming back. Beckett and Daisuke? Wonderful, but we can count on the Sox to NOT hit in one of their starts. Sound familiar.....that adds up to losing 2 1/2 out of every five games, precisely what's been happening the last seven (!!!) weeks. Something must be done.......Tavy is gone, he has to be, with Gabbard taking his place. Schill has to come back within eight days. Wakes, we'll live with him, and Josh and Daisuke are just fine. The club needs another hitter and a healthy Curt. If not, the Yanks and the Red Sox will be neck and neck by August 10th. Believe me. I know. Oh, as Coco said, and this is from the Globe, written by the one and only Gordon Edes............

"So now, the Yanks are comin'. And with the White Sox here for four starting tonight, Daisuke is on the parapet.
"They've never been out of it," Crisp said of the Bombers. "If we keep playing ball, they won't catch us. If we keep winning one, losing one, then anything's possible. That's the name of the game. If we were down 10 right now to them, we could catch them, too. Our team's that good."

Coco, I so disagree. PROVE IT!!!

The White Sox come in for a three game set......here are the pitching matchups.


Javier Vazquez (6-5, 3.77 ERA) vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka (11-6, 3.94) tonight
Jose Contreras (5-11, 5.32) vs. Josh Beckett (12-3, 3.35) Friday
John Danks (6-6, 4.81) vs. Kason Gabbard (3-0, 3.38) Saturday
Jon Garland (7-6, 3.88) vs. Tim Wakefield (10-9, 4.69) Sunday

Our team needs help. Let no one else tell you differently. Click on the title for more on the June and July swoon. As always, I HAVE FAITH!